264: Hitting a stride in the lifetime arc of my wardrobe
Plus Jamie Haller jeans, Old Stone Trade Cowichan knits, and Reformation on sale.
I’m really hitting a stride in the lifetime arc of my wardrobe. A few things have made all the difference: closing in on the perfect vintage Levi’s jeans from Front General Store after a decade-long hunt; identifying the basics that work best for me and buying them in multiples (shout out Cou Cou tees, Flore Flore tanks, and Comme Si button ups); getting my baseline bras and underwear in check; and investing in ultra-versatile, supreme-quality, load-baring pieces that allow me to fold in the less-frequented ends of my closet easily—I’m thinking of The Row’s Gala pants and A.Emery’s Kinto sandals here.
Back when I was wearing worse clothes, I wasted a lot of energy blaming myself and my body for outfits not coming together like I imagined them. I couldn’t grasp that, even though a $30 shirt and a $300 shirt looked identical to me on an ecomm model or as a flat lay, there was in fact a practical difference between them that could not be faked. Once I took this truism to heart—and put to bed the fallacy that a low-vibration article could somehow lend itself to a high-vibration outfit—the desire to give myself better just kept expanding over the years. With fashion being my life’s work and all, it’s really affirming to not be plagued by shitty, qi-draining clothes anymore.
This post isn’t about throwing money at the problem (even though I don’t regret a single penny spent learning the lesson that poor-fitting clothes are not a moral failing on my part). The Baserange and Paloma Wool and Uniqlo U and Gil Rodriguez and dirt-cheap eBay’ed and The RealReal’ed pieces integral to my current wardrobe can testify to that. Where price is involved, it serves a greater purpose than holding the rights to something steep.
Not all good clothes are expensive, and not all expensive clothes are good, but the line of best fit on a scatterplot shows that pricier pieces—relative to their burn-and-churn alternatives—can afford us the most precious of resources: time. If every extra dollar I spend on a piece of clothing permits that brand an extra minute of attention to fit or fabric R&D, that’s an extra minute back in my day not standing in front of the mirror, spiraling and canceling plans because I look “lumpy.” (I know this isn’t just a me thing.) That’s another minute’s sleep for me, not lying awake wondering why I felt off all day. It’s why, from time to time, I am more than happy to shell out for The Row’s quarter-zip top versus an awfully similar-looking Aritzia one or get the Fforme leather jacket when Massimo Dutti has something that gestures in the same direction. I played that game and lost too many times before.
I’m saying all of this now because it’s a bit revelatory to me. It’s not about throwing myself into the arms of q u i e t l u x u r y—I will always care more about human-sized operations brewing and executing new ideas about how to wrap a body. But the bar has indeed gone up! It might have been the case once, but now it’s not enough that a pair of pants looks the part or that a bag is a fun idea. It’s a bit of a stickler mentality, but I have to say: now that way more of my wardrobe is the real deal, the act of getting dressed flows more fluidly than it has in a lifetime.
Okay, that’s it! Thought is out. Whatever you do, don’t call it an essay.
With News Editor
What’s new
It wasn’t obvious from the outset whether Jamie Haller’s foray into apparel would be as cultishly successful as her shoes have become—making the journey over the divide is never guaranteed, even with the best of intentions and the keenest eye, the worlds are just so different. So it was a real pleasure to see and feel and touch and wear such a strong first RTW collection as it trickled in over these last couple months. Four pairs of jeans in the most convincing, considered vintage washes, one dark-wash raw denim, a kindred denim shirt, a wrap-waist fisherman pant in three shades, a curved-leg military pant in a suite of neutrals, silk blouses, sweatshirts, and Japanese cotton tees. The laser-focused lineup is strong enough to have been Jamie’s primary offering, but thank god for her shoes, too.
I’ve always said I like editor-helmed brands, a bias that’s proving truer the deeper I fall in love with Melissa Ventosa Martin’s Old Stone Trade. Melissa comes from T Mag and Conde’s travel titles, and though her venture OST has been around since late 2021, it’s been drawing in new eyes since a NYT feature on the brand. One of the latest offerings from the brand—effectively a marketplace of high-caliber artisan work that arrives in thematic capsules—are the Cowichan sweaters, each hand-knit by members of the org Knit With Purpose. The delivery already sold out once, quickly enough apparently to warrant a restock, which has since arrived and is already selling out fast. The buffalo motif stands as the face of the collection, but naturally, I’ve fallen for the hummingbirds…
With its debut footwear collection, Danielle Frankel has become a one-stop bridal shop, but it’s not cornering the market just because—the ten pairs of conveniently ready-to-ship ivory shoes capture the exact sense of mature but energetic romance Frankel has honed in her prolific gowns, from pointy-toed flats fluttering with tissue-thin petals to four-inch heels with vamps that peel away like a collar for the feet.
Though it’s technically Little Liffner’s FW24 collection, the label’s latest accessories feel energetically springy—verdant suede totes have handles that subtly resemble bent-over blades of grass, a woven leather basket it’s hard not to call “intrecciato” is vegetable-tanned to a glowing sheen, and a solid silver “Molecule” bracelet usurps the brand’s usual pasta motifs, taking a nerdier (and more glamorous) tack.
Tibi’s new arrivals point in many different directions: the techy modernism of a glossy-coated jersey pencil skirt, the militant refinement of a cropped boucle cardigan, and a weathered-looking pair of loafers with a precisely punctuated penny bridge are three compelling entry points.
Though compulsively wearable, Eckhaus Latta’s latest offerings try their best at perversity, with pieces like a bias-cut slip dress sporting “carwash panel fringe” (you’ll understand when you see it) and a gorgeously faded denim jacket with wraparound pockets and “corporate-speak poetry” tagged on the back.
Though the show is a stylist-baiting punch line, Vestiaire Collective’s curated selection inspired by Emily in Paris nails the point that the character’s outfits, when broken down into components, aren’t comprised of dud pieces—theoretically, we can take the disjointed (and discounted!) raw materials, e.g. pointy green Y/Project x Melisssa heels; a gingham Alaïa top; and a cartoon-clad JW Anderson purse, and devise some genuinely good looks.
A new batch of vintage Courreges has hit Arcade, with decades’ worth of modish dresses: a space-age coral shift from the ‘60s, an ivory A-line with an empire waist from the ‘70s, a ruffle-trimmed neoprene LBD from the 2000s, and more.
There’s also: Emilia Wickstead introduces its AW24 season with a wild assortment of fabrics—goldenrod moiré, black-and-brown denim, lime sequins—to jazz up its classic silhouettes; Hope Stockholm’s AW24 weaves a trail of icy cerulean pieces through its edged-up gray and black basics and offers a few candidates for peacoat of the season; it seems that Dyson’s new “OnTrac” headphones are diabolically comfortable and great at noise canceling, but the biggest draw might be its charge time (you can listen for 2.5 hours on a 10 minute charge); Hudson Grace collaborates with Diane Keaton on a capsule of black-and-white tableware at very reasonable prices—a salad plate that looks like the famous duochrome cookie runs $20; and Puppets and Puppets transitions into its new, accessory-oriented phase with a “Large Leather Tote” that looks exactly how it sounds, but crinkly in a playful way.
What’s on sale
Reformation’s annual summer sale delivers on its always-bountiful selection of dresses at a 30% discount, with picks like silk shoulder-tie gowns in florals that, refreshingly, veer more opulent than cutesy and linen sundresses with eye-catching T-shaped backs, but the sale’s lede is buried in its sequestered shoe selection, which boasts several sizes and colors of a curvy wedge that evokes MNZ’s Lido and a ton more late-summer sandals under $200.
While I dare to disagree with Net-A-Porter’s assertion that Summer, somehow, isn’t over (I wrote into that NYMag newsletter poll opining that it actually ended in JULY—that’s when the light changed), I’ll still gladly entertain 3,000+ opportunities for 20% off that’ll carry over into fall: a Leset satin dress, Aeyde heeled sandals, an Eres square-neck swimsuit, Prada sunglasses, a Demellier traw tote…
Few things pull the dopamine lever as hard as a gamble that you can’t lose, and Baserange’s new “Surprise Packs” are pragmatic ways to play: pick your size in your chosen style of underwear, socks, or T-shirt (long or short sleeved!) and you’ll be sent a few in randomized fabrics. There’s no chance you’ll pull a dud—as we know, Baserange exclusively makes Good Clothes—and 25% discounts are baked into each bundle’s total.
The Araks swim sale is the best in the game this season, taking up to 80% off everything from never-fail classics, like a very Jean Seberg crimson one piece ($240 from $320), to more statement-making suits with sculptural cutouts and bikini tops anchored at the shoulder by little, literal anchors for $40 down from $190.
Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s RE24 sale takes 25% off some of the label’s most inscrutable, experimental items to date—see a one-sleeved V-neck sweater and a large, louche suede belt, both worthy of further examination—but also some of its most effortless, like a black cotton wrap skirt and the still-beloved Dance Pants in a warm shade of khaki.
Transitional weather is where Maria McManus really shines, and its summer sale is no exception, taking up to 60% off the platonic ideal of a white button-down with stripes so thin and subtle they’re barely visible but give the shirt an ineffable dynamism, a convertible sweater/cape in a perfect David Hockney pool blue, and gray pleated trousers matching a collarless blazer that gamely redefine what a suit can look like.
Autumnal staples that seem too obvious to be as rare as they are abound in the Wardrobe NYC archive sale: it feels like no one uses velvet anymore, but here it is in column skirt form for 75% off; this label has one of the few low rise trousers that doesn’t feel beholden to trend, hewn in high-quality 100% wool to prove it; and the elusive, comfy cupro-lined trench is $375 down from $1.5k.
Seeing another compelling piece in velvet, this one a low-cut, (very) vaguely Edwardian blouse in Realisation Par’s archive sale, seems to be a harbinger of a velveteen winter, but plenty of the last-chance pieces on offer are ideal fodder for more imminent transitional weather, especially the animal-print slip dresses and silk maxi skirts.
Sadly, another great concept store (this one oriented around curation by fashionable “Muses”), Dora Maar, is closing out with a sitewide sale of 60% of its already-discounted consignments: think $77 Bottega leather bracelets or Marilyn Monroe-printed Loewe dresses under $600.
There’s also: LoQ continues to dominate the sandal game with its archive sale selection—also note some pull-on riding boots free from the shackles of an ugly zipper; and Le Specs takes 30% off sitewide, with tons of sunglasses ringing up under $50.
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I appreciate you saying "Not all good clothes are expensive, and not all expensive clothes are good"
But 1190 dollars for a jersey top that is dry clean only should be illegal
Paloma wool and baserange as inexpensive clothing 💀