149: A Paris Fashion Week outfit diary

No mirror selfies this time.

Fashion is still very much on its Paris kick, but I am not. I fled the city just as I hit my limit for small talking about the local weather (nicer than expected, we agreed, packed too many coats, we commiserated).

Nearly everything I brought (save for a few of those coats) found a place in an outfit, and I left just as that capsule was about to expire—extremely satisfying to the perpetual travel optimizer in me.

The ideology, as it did in New York, had an emphasis on great pieces, worn naturally; pragmatism, ease, and exceptional quality shone through more than ever. When I was in Paris last September, I wore heavily styled ensembles that centered on the architecture of clothes laying together: a Vivienne Westwood corset over a Burberry trench, a Dilara Findikoglu boned bodice with a Cecilie Bahnsen taffeta skirt, a high-shouldered Khaite top tucked into ballooning Agolde jeans. These days, my tolerance for fussiness is way down, so the fashion week outfits you’ll find here are really just…outfits.

Is it too soon to mourn the part of me that kept editorial reserves for fashion month? Or is it still there in some subliminal way, stored in the energy possessed by a luxurious cashmere or the cut of a phenomenal bit of tailoring? Between the mood in “street style” and shows from New York to Paris (more on the shows coming soon, btw), it feels as though we’re approaching a climacteric in the way we dress and shop.

The shift is revealing powerful wisdoms I hadn’t fully appreciated for getting dressed—how restraint can be authoritative; how old, oft-worn things can be more stirring than new; how really nice clothes can be deeply erotic!

Before I let myself say too much though, here’s what I wore this past week in Paris.

Day 1, Look 1

Lauren Manoogian High-Waist Crewneck sweater, $450 / Lauren Manoogian Base Pants, $370 / Entireworld t-shirt (similar from Everlane, $30) / Nomasei Twist boots, $810 / Kassl Editions trench, $839 / Away The Large suitcase, $415

This Lauren Manoogian merino-alpaca blend sweatshirt and pants set is exactly what I mean when I refer to the travel optimizer within. It would be frankly impossible to source a more comfortable kit for a 7-hour red-eye and, as you’ll see below and in my NYC outfit recap, its pieces can be put to manifold use in one’s “real” wardrobe.

My Away suitcase—bought some 18 hours before my flight—is the first checked bag I’ve owned since moving to New York (which was probably an old one of my parents’ I abandoned along the way) and, post-trip, I can say it did me well. I can’t fathom how I used to do this trip on a carry-on alone.

Day 1, Look 2

Maryam Nassir Zadeh Apollo vest, $290 / Entireworld t-shirt (similar from Everlane, $30) / vintage Levi’s (similar, $61) / Rouje Abella heels, $320 / Janessa Leone Crossbody bag, $597 / Lié Studio Camille earrings, $250

My first night in was spared the anticipation of being immersed in a fashion crowd. I met a few friends for dinner and martinis only to find we’d all concurrently established a pre-FW vest-and-jeans routine.

This MNZ vest and tee have become a stalwart combo, but what I did find interesting is that the pair of vintage Levi’s I gravitated towards for this trip were a slimmer, shorter straight-cut version to the baggies I’d worn more regularly last year and even through this summer. I’m losing patience for such unruly lengths and widths when it comes to denim. Like, what do you mean the hems are supposed to drag along the floor?

Day 2, Look 1

Interior NY vest (similar from Isolda, $468) / Agolde Harper corduroys, $228 / Marni Rainbow Mountains sunglasses, $305 / Nomasei boots / vintage Bottega Veneta Intrecciato hobo bag (similar, $1,095) / Lié Studio Camille earrings / my father’s Seiko watch

Jil Sander’s 1991 late-Victorian menswear-inspired collection featured heavily on my moodboard for fall, though of course the execution here is many iterations removed: a really-so-extremely-wow buttoned Interior vest as the throughline, its hammered velvet exterior finding a perfect match in fellow pile weave, these corduroy Agolde pants I keep talking about.

I wore this on my first day of showroom-show traversing and was so happy to feel both me and understood by the fellow f’rowers I was sneaky-piccing for outfit inspiration.

Day 2, Look 2

Madewell Brightside tank top, $38 / Lauren Manoogian Twill Trouser, $690 / Savette Symmetry Pochette purse, $1,190 / Rouje Abella heels, $320 / Wolf Circus Tidal necklace, $325 / Charlotte Chesnais Initial Cuff, $350

If this compilation looks familiar, you might have seen me wearing (almost) it during NYFW. Further toning down these leading-man pants with a plain tank and some subtler add-ons was a savvy move IMO, since the hook, line, and sinker are all there from the get-go. Something I can especially appreciate about these trousers is that, despite their volume, they don’t swallow you—at 5’5” I can wear them comfortably in a 1.5”-ish heel without having had to hem them.

Day 3, Look 1

Lauren Manoogian High-Waist Crewneck sweater, $450 / Lemaire tank top, $120 / vintage Ann Taylor silk pants (similar from Tommy Bahama, $20) / Janessa Leone Crossbody bag, / Tkees Lily Liners flip-flops, $55

As promised: my flight sweater appropriated in a daytime fit. It was a chillier-than-usual morning for my few unscheduled hours during which I went shopping, hence the knit and the doing-business Janessa Leone bag that I just love so much lately. I’ve said it before, but the brand isn’t getting enough credit for the really great leather goods it’s putting out, like this agreeably floppy wide-strap bag that’s grown into a default carrier for me.

Day 3, Look 2

Connor McKnight Gill Back Wading Jacket, $1,200 / Toteme Double Pleated trousers, $390 / The Row ballet heels (similar, $759) / Bottega Veneta Sardine bag, $4,200 / Lié Studio Camille earrings, $250

After experiencing cartoon-eyes-bulging-out desire for the Proenza Schouler windbreaker on the SS24 runway, I fell almost immediately for another, possibly even better one from Connor McKnight. Its shape is surreal, especially when worn a bit oversized as this L one was on me; I loved the way the back billowed out in a curve when tucked into these high-waist trousers and how the funnel neck framed a gold earring. Connor is putting out some of the coolest limited collections in New York right now while still registering on the IYKYK scene, which made wearing this piece feel like holding Freemasonic dark knowledge.

Day 4, Look 1

Lemaire Housse dress, $1,175 / Fane Bra bag, $623 / Tkees Lily Liners flip-flops, $55

The fruits of my morning of free-form shopping, this Lemaire dress and Fane bag are some of the smartest purchases I’ve made in recent history. Lemaire’s flagship is one of my must-visits when in Paris, no matter how little time I have. The retail experience is precious on so many fronts—the highly engaged eye contact of the sales associates, the fact that it takes 30 minutes to get your purchase rung up, the gingerly slipping a silk tote into your shopping bag—and of course the clothing and bags that inspire you to be a smarter, more interesting person. I woke up in the morning knowing I’d find the shirtdress of my dreams there, and I did! It was worth everything I paid for it.

The bag is by Fane, whose flat, muted styles I’d watched for years before connecting with its designer, an MNZ alumna, in New York this spring. This was a premeditated purchase, but I have to report that it’s even better than I’d guessed. The narrow frame slips between your arm and torso so invisibly, it’s like wearing a phone sling, yet it’s deceptively roomy. It easily carried around my keys and wallet and battery pack and annoying little single-trip Metro tickets.

Day 4, Look 2

Tove Florence bodysuit, $803 / Toteme Double Pleated trousers, $390 / Cuyana Mini System Tote, $228 / Rouje Abella heels, $320 / Lié Studio Selma necklace, $285 / Colorful Standard cotton socks, $11

This one was for the girls. A hardy twisted Tove top and Lié necklace (a rarity for me) made me feel pretty. A staunch Toteme trouser and clownish red sock made me feel fun. This Cuyana bag, the pièce de résistance, was the necessary grounding element. The Mini System Tote’s organic, earthly pebbled leather in an extraordinarily good third neutral, “bone,” at once dynamized and centered this otherwise quite dreamy fit into one for a woman with her head on straight.

Behind the scenes, this bag was a huge help in packing and traveling, taking on the roles of safe-keeping catchall for my various plane necessities and as an inner bag organizer. Then, like magic, it transformed into a platonically great day-to-night purse.

Day 5, Look 1

Auralee tank top, $200 / Pleats Please wide-leg pants (similar, $505) / A. Emery Avery sandals, $149 / Fane Bra bag, $623 / vintage Robert Goosens earrings (similar from YSL, $800)

On the day of the Issey Miyake show, I had to stop myself from wrapping myself in all sorts of Pleats Please and Homme Plisse that I’d twisted into my suitcase in bulk. Instead, I landed with a quiet homage—Pleats Please wide-leg pants, an Auralee tank (worn backwards) with complementary ribbing, and strappy A. Emery sandals that also toyed with lines.

Many people that afternoon asked me about my earrings, a vintage pair of clip-ons by Robert Goosens who designed jewelry for YSL, Chanel, and Dior across several decades in the 20th century. They are golden masks (think: tragedy / comedy) whose lower points align with the tip of the earlobe, shielding the lower ear. Very cool, tbh!

Day 6, Look 1

Vintage Burberry trench (similar, $213) / Loretta Caponi dress (similar, $847) / Fane Bra bag, $623 / Tkees Lily Liners flip-flops, $55

The Burberry trench I wore last year beneath a Vivienne Westwood corset came with me again to Paris, more freely this time. The long coat-long dress act is once again inspired by The Row’s brain-worming pairing of an ankle-length shirt dress with a maxi wool coat. Plus flops! More proportionately aligned than directly imitated. This was a top three or four look for me.

Day 6, Look 2

Toteme trench (similar from Fortela, $865) / Attersee Sculpted Mini Dress, $895 / Merlette Lune Mini bag, $480 / Rouje Abella heels, $320 / Completedworks earrings (similar, $340)

On the topic of proportionality, this one’s a given. That Cake song, etc, etc. But among the details that I get a kick out of are how the buttons on the Attersee dress talk to the buttons on the Toteme trench, both black but with different spacing. The black bag—a silk pouchette from Merlette that’s a joy to carry in your crook or by its little handles—and the black slingbacks from Rouje that I wore a ton this week, together don’t feel toooooo matchy-matchy or boxed-set (as black accessories sometimes can), because the Attersee dress is more of a charcoal. There are a few different neutrals at play here that bring the depth.

Day 7, Look 1

Linnea Lund Ingrid cashmere t-shirt, $294 / Savette Symmetry Pochette purse, $1,190 / vintage Ann Taylor silk pants (similar from Tommy Bahama, $20) / G.H. Bass Mary Jane Weejuns loafers, $185

To set the stage for this look, it was a cold morning leading into a hot afternoon where I’d be running from back-to-back showrooms directly to the airport to catch my return. During the week, I’d picked up this cashmere tee from Swedish brand Linnea Lund, which required no mental gymnastics to arrive as the obvious choice for my varied day. What wasn’t obvious but is now a rock-hard fact of life is that a cashmere t-shirt is an unspoken absolute core wardrobe essential. Why had no one tried to tell me?

It’s very annoying to say I knew I looked good, but this fit caught a ton of compliments from intimidatingly, professionally stylish people, so at the end of the day, at least that confidence was cosigned.

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