Leandra Medine's Blog, page 78

5 Brilliant Ways to Wear a Vest, Courtesy of Paris Street Style

A vest is to outfits as an extraneous tiny spoon is to a dinner place setting: It’s not always entirely clear when or how you should use it. Historically, I have avoided purchasing vests for this very reason, despite the fact that I often find them compelling on other people. They intrigue me not only from an aesthetic POV but also from a conceptual one, because I like the idea of having a sleeveless layer to play with–something to artfully frame the sleeves of a festive sweater. As soon as I try one on, though, this nebulous fantasy dissolves into a confusing terrain of unfamiliar shapes and proportions.

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Enter: Paris Fashion Week street style, my night in shining armor, my crimson-caped superhero, my answer to the relentless question of how the heck to wear a vest. This season’s batch of photos had plenty of great ideas when it comes to styling autumn’s most elusive layer. Keep scrolling for a rundown, and check out the rest of the photos in the slideshow above.

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Idea #1: Wrap and Belt It

Turns out a belted vest delivers the same satisfaction as a particularly crunchy chip. I mean, just look at it! A feat! The secret to this snap, if I had to surmise, is that the vest is slightly oversized which allowed the wearer to overlap the edges slightly before belting it, thus creating a wrap shirt effect. Takeaway: Buy a vest that is one or two sizes too big and replicate posthaste.

Idea #2: Wear It as a Top

Who says a vest needs to be worn over another piece of fabric to fulfill its true potential!? Clearly, as evidenced en Paris, they also look exceptional when deployed as a sleeveless top. You can opt for a more fitted iteration like this street style denizen did, or wear an oversized version for a cool boxy vibe. Recommended for earlier in the autumn season–just like Winesap apples!!! (Okay, I don’t actually know if Winesap apples are better in early Autumn, but I do know that I bought five at my local farmer’s market last weekend and they changed my life.)

Idea #3: Reinterpret What a Vest Even IS

Maybe a vest can also be a taupe cotton camisole that you once purchased to wear under a see-through shirt but you came across randomly when getting dressed on a recent Wednesday morning and thought to yourself, “Hey! That could work as a quasi-vest!” And you would be correct, because when layered over a printed turtleneck and paired with similarly-colored pants it works like a quasi-vest and then some.

Idea #4: Wear It as a Bra

While the “bra vest” in this outfit looks like it is attached to the dress and is therefore not technically a vest, it’s still a vehicle for great vest styling inspiration because the silhouette is virtually the same. You’re gonna need a slightly cropped vest, unattached to a dress or otherwise, to run with what I’m envisioning, but an alternate solution is hemming (or simply scissoring) an old one that you’ve never worn for the reasons I listed in my introduction. Step two is layering said cropped vest over whatever top or sweater strikes your fancy. Step three is the triumph of stepping back and looking in the mirror at the work of art you created.

Idea #5: Use It as a Transitional Weather Suit Opp

Like any reasonable human, I’m a big fan of three-piece suits, but the problem with a three-piece suit is that they frequently obscure what is arguably the most interesting component of the get-up: YOU GUESSED IT. THE VEST. I love the idea of wearing one sans blazer, so as to properly give the vest its due. This is also a great styling hack even if you don’t have a three-piece suit but do have a vest and trousers with similar coloring.

Are you a wannabe vest proponent or a seasoned pro? If you are the latter, please dispense your styling tips below.

Photos by Matthew Sperzel.

The post 5 Brilliant Ways to Wear a Vest, Courtesy of Paris Street Style appeared first on Man Repeller.

Making the (Absolute) Most of a 514-Square-Foot Apartment

Welcome to Make Yourself at Home, a collection of home tours as told through the items within them. Up this week, in the first of four installments we’re running in honor of Renovation Month, Jill and Steve welcome us into their London home.

In 2010, at a speakeasy on Norfolk Street called The Back Room, a man from Wales named Steve approached a woman from Pennsylvania named Jill and asked, “Excuse me, do you know where the back room is?” And the rest is history. First they rented a little place on the Upper West Side (next door to Seinfeld’s fictional address), next they moved to Orange Street in Brooklyn Heights, and then they migrated to Park Slope, where they rented an apartment on the same corner as Robin from How I Met Your Mother. “I swear we did not aim for these addresses on purpose,” says Jill. And then, five years ago, they decided to move to London to be closer to Steve’s family.

 

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7 Divorced Women on What to Consider Before You Get Married

A few weeks ago, my dad—a person who’s much more likely to launch into a discussion of the merits of waterproof, unisex leather sandals than to broach a conversation about my personal life—settled into an armchair and took a sip of his cocktail.

“So,” he said. “What’s the deal? You and Nate don’t want to get married?”

I cough-spit wine onto the counter. I get this question a lot; I’ve been dating my partner for eight years, living with him for the past three. But I didn’t expect this question from the man who, moments earlier, had been touting the breathability of his new all-weather Mephistos as he flexed his toes. Now even this person had to know.

The short answer to his question—the question—is: I’m not sure. I’m really not. Nate and I love each other very much. Most nights we fall asleep laughing, snarled in a pile of laptop cords and my egregiously ratty stuffed animals, Trit, and Frank. If I develop a weird, throbbing rash, Nate takes me to urgent care. When I’m away and Nate’s lonely, I send him unsolicited photos of Frank about to play a diabolical prank on Trit. But I have so much to figure out. Do I really want to participate in the institution of marriage, a holdover of the patriarchy? If I did, would Nate and I be able to adequately reconcile our ideological differences—some political, some societal—such that we could exist in an arrangement that requires agreement a certain percentage of the time? And, chiefly, would one of us finally learn to love taking down the trash?

In pursuit of good advice, I spoke with seven individuals who’ve seen matrimony from all angles: women who got married and then divorced. I asked about life as a legally bound couple, and what they think one should consider before becoming part of one themselves. A few things quickly became clear: honesty and trust are paramount, inorganic personal growth from a partner is about as likely as Trit learning to speak Russian, and nothing can beat knowing yourself.

Here’s what they had to say.

On the Decision to Get Married—and What They Wish They’d Thought About

“I wish I’d thought about my life 20 years down the road. We both were in a deeply religious lifestyle at the time, and the community we lived in celebrated marriage, so we stepped into it quickly. I had spoken about my hopes and dreams to my future spouse multiple times; I wish I hadn’t assumed he carried those dreams, too. Maybe I interpreted love as an automatic sharing of dreams for one another? My assumption that my dreams would be equally prioritized is something I regret.”

—Beth*, 31, tech operations, New York (married at 20, divorced at 29)

“The relationship was six years long at [the time we decided to get married], it seemed like the logical next step. Graduate school and kids were on the radar next. I wish I would’ve dated more in my 20s, lived life solo longer, and been pickier. I wish I would’ve listened to my gut and not said ‘yes’ (but I didn’t know how to then, and women are often programmed in our society to ignore their gut).”

—Rebecca, 41, full-time mother, Oregon (married at 29, divorced at 40)

“I was 20 when I got engaged to a then 34-year-old, which gave me some kind of dangerously inflated ego. I thought I was so special for being one of the first of my peers to embark on this life event, and mature for my age because I was engaged to a much-older man. I wish I knew then that there are more important and validating things to aspire to than marriage, and the bragging rights I thought I earned as a young bride were overrated.”

—Carrie, 27, illustrator, painter & tattoo apprentice, Amsterdam (married at 23, divorced at 24)

“We had been dating for more than a year, he was 32, and it seemed at the time to be the next logical step in the relationship. Both of us being children of immigrants, World War II survivors, our goal was to please our parents—have successful marriages, careers, and children who would, of course, then repeat this pattern. I wish I’d thought about myself and not about what my parents wanted. I wish I’d felt less obligated to others and I wish I’d cared less about what my larger community thought.”

—Pia, 57, writer & executive director of a non-profit, California (married at 27, divorced at 50)

“I was three months pregnant, and I’d been raised in a strict Catholic family. The idea of anything besides marriage wasn’t fathomable. And I wasn’t thinking past the fairytale of the wedding day—there was a blindness of how hard it would be in real life. I was focused on the fairytale: we can be anyone, do anything, raise a baby.”

—Lauren*, 50, entrepreneur, California (married at 24, divorced at 25)

“It was a semi-arranged marriage. We’d met over the phone and had been introduced by a family contact, and we talked over the phone for a couple of months, but we lived in different countries. And then we basically met and decided. It happened pretty quickly. At the time, I felt like it was the right thing to do. I was thinking about someone who was kind and generous, and who was easy to talk to, and who was interested in me, and someone I thought would be a good parent. Someone who had the same religion or was interested in the same cultural activities as me. But sometimes those similarities you may have—food, culture, religion—may not translate to the way people view the world or more defined roles in a marriage or communication styles, which turned out to be very important.”

—Neesha*, 53, mental health professional, Washington (married in early 20s, divorced in late 20s)

On How Their Relationships Changed After Marriage

“We turned inward. Less reliance on friends and more (too much) time with each other. Our world got smaller and our activities mostly with each other.”

—Rebecca, 41

“Complacency. He thought our married fate was sealed and subsequently stopped putting in work and I stopped asking him to. I thought silence was easier than fighting, but I was wrong.“

—Carrie, 27

“The level of responsibility we faced and discovering how unprepared we were for it. How we needed to be responsible to each other, then to a business and then to our children. It was stunning. What changed was we didn’t have fun anymore, we didn’t know how—we hadn’t had the example—to step away from work and enjoy life and each other alongside our responsibilities.”

—Pia, 57

“Respect. That changed the quickest and the most. Our marriage kind of fell apart close to the beginning. In that situation, it was related to the fact that we really didn’t know each other, and both of us went in with different expectations. We didn’t spend appreciable time together before getting married.”

—Neesha, 53

“Me, [I changed]. I grew into myself, developed feminist values, and began to feel trapped in a life I chose as a 20 year old. All of a sudden, my status as being half of a ‘power couple’ dynamic felt suffocating and I began to get more and more frustrated with not being truly heard.”

——Tiffany, 33, Innovation Management, Sweden (married at 22, divorced at 33)

On What They Wish They’d Known About Their Partners—and Themselves—Before Getting Married

“That you can change no one except yourself. That the problems before marriage only amplify after marriage, especially kids. I wish I paid attention to my ex not being proactive or interested in self-growth or growth in the relationship. I wish I knew that most relationship problems stem from wounded inner-child problems, and both partners have to be committed to acknowledging and working on them.”

—Rebecca, 41

“Can I say I wish I knew how capable [my partner] was at living a secret life while presenting the personality of the ‘dream man to be married to’? I was married so young, partly for love and partly because of the fear of going through life alone. I wish I could sit with 19-year-old Beth now and let her know that the strength and bravery she is often ‘teased’ for (because in that religious community, women were not meant to be brave and strong) was actually something to celebrate—and it would carry her toward all her dreams if she stepped forward into them. That I don’t need a partner to make sure I am okay along the way.”

—Beth*, 31

“It wasn’t a matter of wishing what I knew—I did know, so it was a matter of knowing and ignoring. Today we call that ‘red flags.’ I know that each time I saw one of these flags, I remember exactly what I told myself in order to convince myself the behavior wasn’t a big deal, or it was related to a specific event that wouldn’t occur again. I wish I knew that I was enough as I was: curious, entrepreneurial, beautiful, funny, intelligent, and insightful. I wish I knew that I could trust myself, and that I was more than my appearance, more than what others thought of me—I was my depth of experience, even just in my mid-to-late twenties.”

—Pia, 57

“I wish I knew I was strong enough at the time. I would have kept that child and done it on my own—I wish I knew I didn’t have to get married. I was strong enough a year and a half later to say this isn’t working and I’m going to stand up and walk away—which was a lot harder, to break up a family.”

—Lauren, 50

On the Most Unexpected Parts of Marriage

“How hard it is to be with that one person day after day, tackling all the obstacles, managing time, money, energy levels, kids’ needs, our own needs. I never knew it would be so hard to work with someone and I never knew that there would be days that I would hate my partner. It is messy to be human and it is messy to do it with another and with kids.”

—Pia, 57

“The ability to lose one’s identity—I became a shell of a human always been known as ‘Beth plus…’ instead of ‘Beth.’ I haven’t ever thought of my career in connection to my relationship status, but in fact, at the beginning of my career life, I was drawn to a career that complimented the marriage I was in. I was heavily accommodating to allow my partner to chase his career dreams and then I would adjust my timeline/career accordingly. Later on in the marriage as I grew older and took steps away from a belief system that taught me ‘to love my spouse was to serve my spouse,’ I was able to dream of a career in business and step outside of my comfort zone.”

—Beth*, 31

“The extended family dynamic, and how much it impacts your life. To say he had an unhealthy relationship with [his parents] would be an understatement. I knew this going into our marriage, but I didn’t know how much of this burden I would take on.”

—Tiffany, 33

“I think the strangest thing is it’s pretty boring. It’s the mundanity of everyday life. When you make a house together and throw in a baby, you think it’s going to be all picket fences and Christmas trees, but it can become monotonous.”

—Lauren, 50

On the Best Parts of Marriage

“A partnership is beautiful when it’s done well. The joy of being fully ‘known’ by someone doesn’t require marriage, but often sits deep within a marriage.”

—Beth*, 31

“The family moments. Those moments when our kids would do something amazingly quirky and we would look at each other with that, ‘OMG, how did we create this perfect creature?” look. Or when he would play the banjo and the kids would dance while I knitted or wrote, or did something that looked like I was occupied with anything other than sheer joy, pride, and love. I still miss those moments. We both have new partners now, who, I am confident love our kids, but it’s not the same feeling—I can’t explain it and I think I’ll miss our little family in some way, all my life.”

—Tiffany, 33

“Our youthful enthusiasm and delight about this little human we’d created.”

—Lauren, 50

On Sex and Marriage

“I wish I knew how important sexual compatibility is, and that it won’t change after marriage. If partners aren’t on the same page with regard to frequency, what they like, if they enjoy it, that’s not going to change with marriage, kids. So find someone who is aligned with those important needs.”

—Rebecca, 41

“The best drug in the world is new exciting people, new exciting sex, and the beginnings of something new. You can’t match it. Even in the best relationships, it’s going to go away. Once you’re married, and if you choose to have children especially, of course sex is going to change. You’re exhausted, there are kids in the house. You could be married to Brad Pitt. After some years, he’s just your guy. Over time, the companionship aspect, someone you want to snuggle up on the couch with and just eat takeout with, is completely normal and what we’re all craving.”

—Lauren, 50

Advice for Anyone Currently Married

“If you’re fighting for your marriage to survive, don’t be ashamed to go to a professional, and early. Even if your therapy visits are sporadic, it can be so helpful and validating to have a new set of eyes and ears in the room with you and your spouse. Open-mindedness is key, however, and you might hear some things about yourself that you don’t want to. Just trust that your partner and your therapist are well-intentioned.”

—Carrie, 27

“I think that what’s really important is to be true to yourself, and to not feel like your happiness is because of the other person, or that the other person has to make you happy. Everyone has to take their own personal responsibility. Not blaming your partner is also really important—not using that concept of blame, but figuring out ways to work together to achieve your goals. Aligning your goals is the other thing: how to achieve them together. And doing fun things together. Laughing together, being kind to each other.”

—Neesha, 53

Advice for Anyone Considering Marriage

“Pause and ask yourself why are you doing this. Many of us don’t take that moment to ask the why and allow yourself permission to not do it if you don’t want.”

—Beth*, 31

“Date a lot. Make your list and don’t settle. Your relationship to yourself is most important—you have to make you happy; do your emotional work and take care of you.”

—Rebecca, 33

“First, talk a lot about money, what it means to you. Talk about your parents’ marriages and what you learned from them. Talk about family trauma, secrets, your own trauma—be honest with each other and slowly build a good foundation on which to place your marriage and build from there.”

—Pia, 57

“I have no qualms about the institution of marriage, or the notion of committing oneself to a partner, but always remember that nothing is static. You’re allowed to change your mind, and so are they. The underlying sentiment of marriage, or any other relationship for that matter, should never be rooted in ownership.”

—Carrie, 27

“People should listen to their loved ones more. Oftentimes, in most cases of divorce I see, it’s not uncommon to hear ‘my mom told me…’ or ‘my best friend told me…’ or ‘this person warned me…’ [and regret at not having listened]. It’s helpful to listen to the people who really know us. Judgement can be rather cloudy when you’re dealing with sex and love and desire.”

—Lauren, 50

“Know yourself as much as possible, and be open to discussing the hard conversations. Was it on Man Repeller that I read the idea of renegotiating your relationship every year? I love that. Someone once told me that marriage should feel like a free choice every day, that you’re not bound to the person, but you choose each day to be with him or her.”

—Tiffany, 33

*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.

Interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.

The post 7 Divorced Women on What to Consider Before You Get Married appeared first on Man Repeller.

How Many Fashion Designers Actually Wear Their Own Clothes?

When fashion designers are asked about what provoked them to start a brand, many cite a similar origin story: They identified a hole in their closet and in the marketplace, so they launched a brand to fill it. In other words, necessity was the mother of their invention. I consider this noble enough, but when I started working adjacent to the industry and in proximity to the designers themselves, I noticed something odd: They rarely seemed to wear their own products. It prompted me to wonder: Do designers really design for themselves, and if not, which brands do meet their standards?

Instead of keeping these questions to myself, I asked more than a dozen designers to weigh in. We discussed whether they actually started designing for their own wardrobes at the outset, whether their internal philosophy still hews closely to such an idea, and what holes they aim to fill and which pieces have succeeded in doing so. I also inquired about what else, beyond their brand’s wordmark, they love to wear.

These designers run the gamut of the fashion landscape; I spoke with those who show at fashion week, one who aims to become America’s first plus-size luxury brand, one who designs viral activewear, one who conceives of dresses for women of all ages, one who sustainably produces undergarments, and one who zeroes in on perfecting the leather jacket. Each was kind enough to spill the beans.

On Designing Clothes for Themselves—or Not
Ellen Van Dusen of Dusen Dusen in the Jacquard Cropped Jacket and Pants.

Independent label Dusen Dusen grew out of Ellen Van Dusen making clothes for herself and her friends for years. Rendered in bright colors and geometric patterns with a level of sophistication and restraint, the brand’s genesis still threads through her collections a near-decade later. “I do design for myself,” she tells me. “When I start a new season I always think about what I wish I had. My personal style is a little narrow, so I picture what I think would look good on my friends and coworkers, too.”

Lyndsey Butler of Veda also has her co-workers, friends, and mom top of mind while designing a collection. She started Veda because she saw a hole in her closet, “but also (and arguably more importantly) in the market—for high-quality, great-fitting and well-priced leather jackets,” she says.

Baserange also targeted a specific niche: the brand materialized in part because its founders, Marie-Louise Mogensen and Blandine de Verdelhan, wanted to eliminate the limbo in underwear offerings, a gap they felt between sports underwear and lingerie. “I was wearing a lot of sports bras as underwear at that time, but wished they were in different materials or had thinner cuts,” Mogensen notes, resulting in sustainably produced pieces like Baserange’s soft bra, Triangle bra, Mississippi bra, and Odea Bra.

Rowing Blazers’ Jack Carlson cops to designing with himself in mind, too. “I pretty much design everything, so everything we make is, on some level, something I want,” he says. He rejects and revises samples until the product is up to snuff. “I approach a lot of the process with the question: Is it exactly, exactly, how I want it to be? When you’re designing stuff for yourself, instead of shopping for yourself, you have the ability to ask that question—so you might as well use it.”

I was stuck in fast fashion because that’s what fit me.

Casey Blond of Mr. Larkin, a label that deals in statement sleeves and repeat patterns of embroidery, makes the distinction between designing for her tastes and for herself physically: “Aesthetically, I would say yes, but I do consider body types other than my own when designing a piece of clothing.” This formula seems to be working, as every product on her webpage (like this exaggerated-shouldered smoke blue blazer) makes a covetous woman out of me.

Designing for more than one body type opens up the possibility of engaging a customer base who hasn’t been recognized outside of fast fashion. Brands like Universal Standard, Second Sight, and Henning, which didn’t exist up until recently, have stepped in to fill these voids. Creative Director Alex Waldman pinpointed the absence of an entire genre of clothing through her own experience as a size-20 woman, spurring her to co-found Universal Standard. The company now closes the gap between regular and plus-size fashion by offering minimal, elegant essentials to sizes 00 through 40.

Kaelen Haworth also identified the absence of an “everyone is welcome here” mentality in fashion’s practices and addressed it with her sophomore label, Second Sight. Watching the way her friends’ shopping habits were changing, Haworth structured the brand around a direct-to-consumer “monthly drop” cycle: They released their 18th limited-edition drop of fashion-forward, considered womenswear for sizes 00-24 this September.

The logic follows that if you see something distinct missing in the world, other people must sense that as well.

Henning, meanwhile, has planted its flag in the otherwise lonely plus-size luxury space. Before Henning’s conception, Lauren Chan was a fashion editor who had been between a size 14 and a size 20 and struggled with getting dressed for work at the level of her colleagues, which included iconic editors wearing current-season designer clothes. “I was stuck in fast fashion because that’s what fit me.” Hope sprang eternal each season as Chan hoped a respected designer would expand their sizing, but when nothing happened, Chan devised her own luxury brand rooted in workwear: “The pieces in Henning’s collection are the pieces that I felt I was missing in my life… I couldn’t wait to have a power suit. I really wanted a beautiful coat to wear with everything. I wanted a dress that I could wear to events with my fashion peers that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be photographed in.”

Nichole Moss of Mrs. Jones.

Addressing another underrepresented demographic, 50-year-old Nichole Moss rejected the notion of age-appropriate fashion as a “monochromatic uniform with a price point of $500 or more,” and released Mrs. Jones, a line of wash-and-wear dresses made from deadstock fabrics, all of which “go with Air Force Ones.” Contrary to the invisibility cloaks marketed to her peers, Mrs. Jones’s slip dresses, smart smocking, and billowy sleeves still get Moss stopped in the street for, as she says, “under $300.”

On an altogether different continent, Carin Rodebjer had trouble finding “visionary yet sensible, youthful yet functional fashion,” and like Moss, strove to create something that checked those boxes. This led to her founding of her namesake label, Rodebjer, which carries garments that are the opposite of flimsy, some so lush with color they make your mouth water for Sockerbit.

In Copenhagen, designer Stine Goya cited frustration as the catalyst behind her eponymous line, reacting to the characterization of Scandivinavian design as limited to the palette of mid-century modern furniture, muted beiges, and grays: “The Scandinavian design aesthetic has for decades been understood as synonymous to minimalism, which from my childhood is just not something I experienced or felt reflected my environment.” The label Stine Goya was then born out of Goya’s hunger for new ways to articulate her colorful Danish character, evident in her silken pistachio greens and Super Mario sky blues.

Designing to meet your own needs runs parallel to a maxim in writing, which declares that the specific detail or example is in fact more universal than a generalization or cliché: the logic follows that if you see something distinct missing in the world, other people must sense that as well. Or at least that’s what gets the ball rolling in the world of fashion.

On the One Piece They Genuinely Designed for Themselves

The Longjohn’s Successor: Sandy Liang’s The MaryMary Fleece Dress

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For Lower East Side darling Sandy Liang, her favorite piece that ever filled a void in her closet was her first fleece dress and “favorite cozy piece,” the MaryMary: “It features a fleece upper with a zipper, and then it has a super white and smocked taffeta skirt. It kind of filled a void that I didn’t know existed—I wanted something that would be so warm and comfortable on the coldest New York day, without feeling like the only option is to wear thermals under pants.”

The Elusive Straight-Leg: AYR’s Bomb Pop Jean

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Jac Cameron of AYR acknowledges the brand’s first rigid jean as her favorite: “The Lil Dude is the perfectly broken-in, sun bleached, pajama-soft, authentically-distressed straight leg. The Bomb Pop is the stretch version of that, which I wear about four times a week. I always had a great stack of dark washes but really felt a need for something that looked faded with age and wear. It’s historically a pretty hard wash to achieve and make it look authentic and natural.”

The Uninhibiter: Outdoor Voices’ Exercise Dress

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As the design director of Outdoor Voices, Alexa Day Silva works as the colorist behind the activewear brand. (The New Yorker has called Day Silva “ebullient.”) She ranks the scarlet Exercise Dress, a bonafide viral sensation, as her favorite piece to wear: “I’ve been someone who leans feminine but not in a stereotypical way. I love the idea of just putting a dress on and [being] dressed for the day, but oftentimes the aesthetic of dresses feels two steps more feminine than how I like to dress.” Leading the design of the Exercise Dress, Day Silva found it satisfying to create something where the mere silhouette of a dress made it inherently feminine, without ruffles or any other frills. She also touts the dress as “super flattering,” with the bonus liner inside that makes you feel secure, covered, and like you could do anything in it. (I caved and bought an Exercise Dress immediately after this interview.)

The Brassiere-Friendly Slip Dress: Mrs. Jones’ Jessica Slipdress

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For Nichole Moss, her version of a slip dress feels like something she can finally wear: “Growing up I was always large busted and slip dresses were simply off-limits. So I designed the Jessica Slipdress to look and feel like a traditional slip dress, but it can be worn with a full granny bra and not show your bra straps.”

The Boyfriend Jean That Cracked the Code: Universal Standard’s Bae Boyfriend Crop Jean

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For someone who once sat on her living room floor mapping out how to design her ideal pair of jeans, Alex Waldman can enjoy the sensation of things coming full circle: her personal favorite Universal Standard pieces have always been the jeans, which she considers the key ingredient in an ideal outfit. Waldman’s loyalty lies with the Bae Boyfriend Crop Jean.

On What They Love to Wear by Other Designers

After being immersed in your own ideas and designs, I imagine it might be a relief to wear something else for a change. Van Dusen believes in the sartorial vacation: “I do find it refreshing to wear things that I didn’t make. I can be really critical of my own stuff while I’m wearing it, which I think is an important part of my job, but also makes me kind of insane.” This year, she’s changing things up a little: “All my tees are from Dreem Street and I love pants by Caron Callahan. For everything else, my favorite store is eBay. I’m always on the prowl for Marni. I love everything they do but most importantly their shoes. I’m totally addicted and I think nothing else compares.”

Goya’s day-to-day uniform usually consists of layered Stine Goya pieces paired with trainers: “Right now, I’m very into Salomon sneakers and have them in pretty much every color.” Rodebjer also mostly wears her own brand or vintage, and is aboard the Marni train as well: “Marni has a DNA that [helps] me stay true to who I am.”

Lyndsey Butler of Veda in the Ann Leather coat.

Haworth of Second Sight declares that Rachel Comey has perfected jumpsuits: “I wear them all the time. I love that she’s really leaning into her signature. I have a denim one that I literally wear three times a week and I just ordered another canvas one last night.” Chan, meanwhile, pairs her classic Henning pieces with Tanya Taylor’s dresses, Universal Standard’s collaborations (like with Rodarte, for example), and Good American Jeans.

Butler mostly sticks to her own brand (her favorite Veda pieces as of late include the Howard Skirt, the One Jacket, and this ¾ leather coat), often testing new styles, falling in love with samples, and wearing them to death before the production even hits stores. She otherwise makes the case for supporting her community of independent designers, like Nikki Chasin (Butler owns several of her signature Baroness dress); Vada, which makes fine jewelry in Austin; and Summer People, a new swimwear brand made with recycled materials and tie dye. Carlson of Rowing Blazers likes what By Wells is doing with madras shirts, and what Eric Emanuel is doing with shorts. (Agreed.)

Alex Waldman wears only Universal Standard at the moment, though she hopes that won’t always be the case: “I really and truly hope that there will come a day when I can go into any store in Soho and buy more than a scented candle and an expensive bag.”

Feature photo of Sandy Liang via Getty Images. Photos via the designers. 

The post How Many Fashion Designers Actually Wear Their Own Clothes? appeared first on Man Repeller.

I Copied 6 Street Style Outfits With My Own Wardrobe and It Was So Satisfying

Every fashion month, after I’ve taken some time to thoroughly absorb each and every street style slideshow, I find myself fantasizing about a xerox machine for outfits instead of paper. One that would make a three-dimensional copy of whatever look I happened to fancy and present it to me fully formed, reading for wearing. Since technology hasn’t quite caught up with this idea yet, I turned to the next best thing: Juliana Salazar, a bonafide whiz when it comes to translating inspiration into a tangible result. Scroll down to see how she approximated six different looks from New York Fashion Week street style, and her commentary on each. —Harling

A Tried-and-True Combination

There’s something innately satisfying about a short-sleeved button down layered over a T-shirt with wide-leg trousers underneath, probably because the proportions are spot-on and the relaxed silhouettes convey an automatic sense of ease. It’s a combination I wear on a regular basis, whether I’m gleaning inspiration from street style or not. However, I probably wouldn’t have experimented with colors as much if not for the look that this outfit is based on, so I enjoyed the little push outside my comfort zone.

A Fresh Way to Wear an Accordion-Pleat Skirt

It seems like accordion-pleat skirts have cycled rapidly ‘in’ and ‘out’ of the fashion trend zeitgeist for as long as I can remember. Regardless of these ebbs and flows, I’ve always had one in my closet because they’re really easy to dress up or down. I was immediately drawn to this street style look because it proves that you can make a really compelling outfit from just two solid pieces. I gave it my own twist with an asymmetrical skirt from Peter Do–I loved how the playfully varied hemline looked underneath an otherwise very serious blazer. I didn’t expect to like it styled with lime green sandals, but ultimately it made the whole look more fun, not to mention more weather-appropriate for the last licks of faux summer.

A Fun Take on the Dress-Over-Pants Trend

I actually wore a version of this a few years ago during NYFW, except with jeans and Converse instead of trousers and sandals. I welcome any opportunity to wear this dress, though, so I apologize for semi-cheating here with a recycled outfit. It’s a classic for good reason though–perfectly showcasing the contrast of an ultra-feminine dress with simple, tailored pants. I opted for a daintier (i.e. barely-there) sandal in my version so as to adequately offset the top-heaviness of the dress.

An Ideal Chill-But-Not Outfit

This was probably my favorite street style outfit I saw all week (my heart jumped when I spotted Leandra walking into the MNZ show). It’s the ideal comfy and chill-but-not outfit, because the overtly fancy sheer dress component is only somewhat toned down by the cardigan and loafers. I unfortunately don’t have a sheer slip, so I went with the next best thing in my closet: a lace dress from Rodebjer. I also don’t have a cropped cardigan (although it’s now definitively on my shopping list), so decided to try this oversized one, which I actually think is the go-to move if you don’t wanna feel too exposed.

A Jumpsuit That Will Rescue You From Sartorial Indecision

I struggled to outfit myself in general during fashion week because every time I got dressed I felt TOO dressed. This jumpsuit from The Frankie Shop would have been the perfect solution if I hadn’t acquired it after the week was already over.  It’s one of those rare pieces that is effortless and cool at the same time. The above street style look inspired me to wear it with similarly-colored boots for a monochrome vibe. Since then, I’ve also worn it with sneakers and received compliments from four random pedestrians! Street style indeed.”

What looks are you excited to copy from this season’s batch of street style?

Street style photos by Karolina Kaczynska and Louisa Wells.

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How to Change Your Life, According to Science

Below, the winner of September’s Writers Club prompt: gut renovations—a how-to.

The lessons of physics class are often cast aside, by non-physicists like me, as being irrelevant to everyday life. But shouldn’t the laws that govern our universe offer some insight as to how we ought to exist in it? Could Sir Issac Newton serve as a catch-all therapist on human transformation? We are, after all, made of star stuff.

An object will remain at rest or in a uniform state of motion unless that state is changed by an external force. —Newton’s First Law

Good news! We do not have to face the chaos of transformation, the trenches of indecision and revision, so long as we remain isolated creatures who do nothing. Yet, on the off chance that you enjoy to do things and be in relation to others, you will be changed by the external. Stability is alluring—the idea that if something is good it will continue to be good is quite comforting. But so long as we believe these mythic assumptions, we are denying the universe of her proven truths. To embrace the inevitability of change, not just acknowledge it, is to shake hands with yourself, to look towards her gently, and say, “Why yes, this is what it is to be human!”

Force equals the change in momentum over time. In order words, the rate of change is directly proportional to the amount of force applied. —Newton’s Second Law

After we embrace change, we are left floating in its unruly aftermath. The particularly daunting life changes will likely propel you into a tailspin of self-doubt and self-discovery. And rightfully so! It takes more from us to accomplish hard things. You are not unreasonable or unhinged for feeling a wide range of emotions in the course of one day. For crying then laughing. For feeling affirmation in a decision then suddenly doubtful of it. For fearing the thing you love the most. Massive forces naturally increase momentum. Be gentle with yourself; it could not be otherwise.

Every action will have an equal and opposite reaction. —Newton’s Third Law

A key to transforming gracefully is to remain empathetic in the process. As we change, we also change the lives of those around us. Getting the job means someone else doesn’t. Moving in means someone else is moving out. Losing love means someone else might find it. We could concede to the worn-out narrative that it is a dog-eat-dog, every-woman-for-herself world, but the universe seems to suggest otherwise.

There is something unifying about humans transforming in a thousand different ways, all at the same time. No one has arrived at any steady state, and no one will. Change will keep occurring, actions and reactions happening with each tiny human’s breath. We are not isolated beings living only in the causal continuum of our own choices. We are, according to the universe, deeply connected, dependent beings living in a vast contingent web. Transformation is not harmonious or orderly, but together we are morphing into braver, brighter beings.

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PSA: There Are Quite a Few Perfect Leather Jackets on The RealReal Right Now

On a Monday afternoon in late August, an email popped into my inbox from stylist Brie Welch with the subject line, “I realize there’s a heat warning today….” I had just returned from getting lunch outside and could thus confirm her statement by way of the sweat droplets languishing on the periphery of my forehead. It was quite hot. So hot, in fact, that I felt simultaneously delirious and amused when I opened it and read what was inside:

I was trolling TRR on some research, and there is a bevy of great leather jackets just waiting to be scooped up. Are people over leather jackets / blazers??? Where did the 90s Julia Roberts enthusiasts go and leave their leather blazers in the dust….

Felt inclined to share in case the loyal readers of MR might also need to know!

Attached were seven screenshots of leather jackets from The RealReal, all of which were enticing enough to make me forget the back of my neck felt like a steaming macaroni noodle. It was clear to me, even in my humidity-induced daze, that they were scratching an as-yet-unformed itch–a fall style craving I would experience at the first autumnal chill–to look like Julia Roberts in the 90s, decked out in all her neutral leaf-colored, leather-jacketed glory, yes. Exactly.

The seed was planted and I couldn’t let it go, so I waited. I waited until the term “outerwear” didn’t sound like a bizarre and distant phenomenon. I waited until a few arm goosebumps announced themselves on my commute to work. I waited for October, and now it’s here, and we can get on with the leather jacket scooping, because Brie was RIGHT: there are a bevy of really good ones on The RealReal, and it’s finally time to take advantage.

If your fall style icon is Julia Roberts circa 1997…

+ Check out this classic brown leather blazer from Ralph Lauren

+ Or this delicious Jil Sander option that’s practically begging for a #stickofbutter moment

+ Or this caramel iteration with chic padded shoulders from Escada

+ Or this black one (another Ralph Lauren gem) that I have extra affection for because it’s collarless and you know how I feel about collarless coats

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If you’re keen to revive the moto jacket…

+ How about this one from Veda that is the perfect cross between burgundy and espresso brown?

+ Or this cutie patootie cerulean option from IRO

+ Or! If you’re feeling wild, an orange-you-glad-I-didn’t-say-humidity jacket from Rebecca Minkoff

+ Not into leather? Try this faux contender from Michael Michael Kors for only $36

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If you want to shine bright like a diamond…

+ This patent leather thrill from Tome is chic incarnate

+ But I also fully support the sartorial manifestation of Midas’s touch via this Tory Burch jacket

+ Ooooh or this truly unique light blue metallic alternative from St. John’s

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If you’re in the mood for something really unique…

+ It’s unusual as far as leather jacket silhouettes go, but that’s exactly why I’m so obsessed with this one by Gauchère

+ Ditto for this quintuple belted suede situation c/o Gucci

+ And THIS from Mietis is an automatic statement-maker if there ever was one

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So, what do you think? Is it leather weather in your heart, too?

Feature photo via Getty Images.

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It’s Renovation Month on Man Repeller. What Do You Want to Read?

Change is often lauded as a universal challenge, but sometimes it’s the easiest thing in the world. Buying new clothes, moving to a different neighborhood, losing touch with old friends—we crave renewal as much as we crave stability. Starting over can be a kind of release: through it we can brush off the parts of ourselves we’ve grown sick of and replace them with things unmarred by repeated exposure. This makes transformation, both our fear of it and yearning for it, quietly tricky. Parsing our productive instincts (to grow, to learn, to seek adventure) from our destructive ones (to deny, to distract, to run away) requires understanding our natures beyond the ways we’ve always described ourselves, or assumed we are. It means courting our most inconvenient truths.

Change, then, can be as necessary as it can be escapist—it’s up to us not to delude ourselves accordingly. But there will be times in all our lives when gut renovation is the only emotionally honest path forward, and that’s when things get interesting. Renovation, our theme for this month, requires awareness and humility first, a willingness to dismantle—old houses, old stories, old beliefs—and the gumption to rebuild from scratch. Maybe that’s why change on the scale of transformation is such an appealing form of renewal: Whether in the realm of homes, bodies, closets, relationships, or emotional interiors, renovation is hard-earned.

This month, we plan to delve into the sloppiness and consequent gratification of big changes. Some topics we plan to tackle: Makeovers that changed us—and makeovers we want, realized. Small hacks for big changes. RENOVATION SHOWS (obviously). Some questions we plan to answer: They say you should renovate from the inside-out, but can you renovate from the outside-in? Can one change in 30 days? How about in a single moment? How do we evolve without losing ourselves?

If you have any musings on this topic, the floor is yours. We’re prepared—eager even!—to let your ideas renovate our story plans for the month, too.

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Paris Fashion Week Is Full of Visual ASMR (And Yes I Have Chills)

Paris Fashion Week has been giving me chills. Not because of the clothes, mind you—although they’ve been great—the true source of my goosebumps has to do with their presentation. The visual elements of each show have been more ASMR-inducing than the next, resulting in the kind of social media content tailor-made for mesmerization (there have been occasions when it wasn’t totally clear whether I was watching a video from fashion week or a recent post from @ifyouhigh). Little did I know that keeping up with PFW from afar via Instagram would lead me to be indirectly hypnotized, soothed, relaxed, comforted, hugged, and tingled at random over the past five or so days. I’ve gathered up some of the five most potent instigators of these sensations below so you can start your week off right. Now, go hide in a conference room and enjoy.

1) The Bouncing Dresses at Balenciaga

 

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A post shared by JENNY BECKMAN (@jennybeckman) on Sep 30, 2019 at 4:26am PDT

There’s something very satisfying about hearing an infant described as a “bouncing baby girl.” Ditto for closing your eyes and picturing a heavy watermelon dropped squarely in the middle of a trampoline: b-b-b-bounce. Mmmm. Yes. If we were to try to prove that eyes have the ability to detect melody in the same way that ears do, bounciness would be the perfect fodder. Such was certainly the case at the end of Balenciaga’s runway show, which treated us to a lineup of bouncing ball gowns and that undulated with each step the models took, up and down and up and down, a most delightful jello wobble. The materials they were made with–richly textured metallic gold and silver, deeply saturated blue and red velvet–were clearly chosen to enhance this effect.

2) The Bubbles at Rick Owens

I could watch the bubble blowers at Rick Owens all day. #PFW pic.twitter.com/lUlYe865Ei

— Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) September 26, 2019

Vanessa Friedman put it best when she Tweeted, “I could watch the bubble blowers at Rick Owens all day”–to which I can only muster a monosyllabic same, because I’m so enchanted with the thing to which she is referring: a group of black-clad figures who surrounded the pool of water at the Palais de Tokyo and use nets to create clouds of bubbles throughout the entire runway show. So captivated was I with the ensuing litany of bubble-filled videos that I am only just now asking the important questions, like, did Owens get permission to fill the pool with soap!? The other-worldly set was a fitting backdrop for the magnificently rendered clothes, which were created in homage to the designer’s Mexican heritage.

3) The Floating Clothes at Issey Miyake

 

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A post shared by Man Repeller (@manrepeller) on Sep 27, 2019 at 6:48am PDT

I wasn’t the type of kid who fantasized about living the life of a Disney princess, except for one thing: getting dressed with the help of chirping birds. I couldn’t help reacquainting myself with that daydream after consuming no fewer than seven different videos of Issey Miyake’s runway show, which didn’t have birds but did have floating clothes. The only thing more chill than having a friendly bird help me get dressed would be having a dress simply float down onto my body as soon as I got out of the shower every morning. I have spine tingles just thinking about it.

4) The Pram Ride at Thom Browne

 

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A post shared by Pier59 Studios (@pier59studios) on Sep 30, 2019 at 5:25am PDT

While there didn’t appear to be anything–human or otherwise–inside the pram that a model pushed down the runway at Thom Browne, I was nonetheless vicariously soothed thinking about what it would feel like to be tucked up in there, underneath a soft blanket, lulled to sleep with the gentle wiggle of my mom’s (?) seven-inch high strut. I pictured this exact scenario when I got in bed last night and I can assure you it was much more impactful than counting sheep.

5) The Waterfall at Nina Ricci

 

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A post shared by Michelle Elie (@michelle_elie) on Sep 27, 2019 at 9:04pm PDT

Speaking of being lulled to sleep, why turn on my sleep noise machine when I can simply listen to the tranquilizing shhhhhhh of the giant waterfall situated on Nina Ricci’s Paris runway? In addition to the comforting sound it made, it also produced a uniquely comforting visual experience. Turns out that gazing at paper-flowery vests and cream-puffy dress collars and bubble-gummy skirts behind the screen of a glistening downpour is basically the fashion week equivalent of chicken soup for the soul.

While you could make the case that many of these ASMR-adjacent happenings were conceived for the purpose of garnering social media attention, I would beg to differ–because instead of distracting from the clothes, they enhanced them in distinctive, intentional ways, highlighting the movement of a certain fabric, illustrating the character you could become in a certain pair of shoes, transporting us to the room even if we were miles away. They reinforced the purpose of runways in 2019; despite the ability to Google a collection after it has debuted, the manner in which it did still matters.

Feature photo via Getty Images.

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Might I Suggest: A Bunch of Really Good Sweaters Under $200

As a team, we’re often fielding fashion-centric quandaries via Twitter, text, and Instagram DM, so we figured, why not make it dot-com official? Welcome to Might I Suggest, the style advice column that solves your most elusive market searches and enduring style challenges. This week, Harling answers a question from MR reader and designer behind SZ Blockprints, Sarah Zellweger:

What are the best fall sweaters that feel special and unique but don’t break the bank?
Perfect sweater-induced head tilt: check.

Apple-picking season is nigh, which means not only do we have the perfect excuse to use the word “nigh” in a sentence (blessed be the fruit–literally), it’s also officially time to take stock of our sweater inventories. I appreciate Sarah’s question because it really hones in on two of the most important aspects of sweater shopping: 1) the craving for something aesthetically satisfying (since sweaters are going to be the centerpiece of most outfits from now until April) and 2) the practical/financial considerations of investing in something that doesn’t always hold up over time thanks to the enemy known as PILLING.

Having conducted a thorough sweep of the internet, I’ve compiled a rundown of what I would consider “special and unique” sweaters under $200, categorized according to key sweater genres. Scroll down for a one-way ticket to cozy town.

Solid as a Rock

Here we have a delightful collection of solid-colored options, but solid does not = boring around these parts. On the contrary, just check out this mock neck button collar contender from Everlane, which comes in a whole array of fun shades like “Golden Palm” and “Heathered Ink” (here’s hoping a celebrity names their kid one of these in the near future). If you’re looking for a classic cotton option, might I suggest a ribbed cashmere number from Nadaam? Or this one from J.Crew? It looks like the epitome of sitting by a fire, or a smoky candle, and waxing poetic about Sally Rooney with a graham cracker in hand. This cardigan from J.O.A. is ideal for those among us who like to show off what’s underneath their knitwear. I realize it’s not 100% monochrome, but a little neon trim never hurt anybody.

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Of the Same Stripe

Stripes are my preferred fall neutral, so pardon me while I aggressively recommend this particularly dapper cardigan from Kule which happens to be 50% off at the moment. If you’re more of a horizontal gal, here are options that lean both light and heavy, depending on the temperature outside and the timeline of your menstrual cycle. Prefer a thinner stripe? I have you covered by means of this crewneck with balloon sleeves that would clearly have a swing in their step if sleeves could walk.

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Après-Ski

I predict that the après-ski trend will continue to thrive this winter, so buckle up and dive right into a Fair Isle knit like this one, a style that is fittingly called the “Helga Sweater.” Etsy has a ton of great options, too, like this one with precious little silver clips at the top, or this men’s version with the perfect mix of neutrals and pastels. Skiing is fully optional whilst wearing après-ski attire; the real goal here is to be insulated against inclement weather as you simultaneously channel a Slim Aarons photograph.

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Wild Cards

There’s no better cure to the inevitably jeans-and-knitwear fatigue onset than a sweater that makes your whole torso feel alive again–a special statement option you can rely on to cheer you up while it warms you up. Perhaps a stretch-knit piece with a fringed hemline that is sweater-adjacent but could could also conceivably moonlight as a going-out top would be just the thing. Or this cool one with a huge flower on the front and a literal statement on the back?

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Do you have a go-to brand or silhouette for distinctive knitwear that doesn’t cost an arm and a paycheck? Feel free to share in the comments.

The post Might I Suggest: A Bunch of Really Good Sweaters Under $200 appeared first on Man Repeller.