A uniform template that works (expanded)

A few housekeeping items before the main event:

1. It appears that Staud’s Keds collab, which was highlighted in the last letter of rec is avail on the Keds site at more competitive pricing.

2. This Prada skirt, avail on Re-see, is kind of like the orange one with a tail that I keep wearing, but more reasonable (chiefly because it does not have a tail).

3. And as this is usually the letter of rec slot, my one push for the week is specifically for the impregnated among us. These jeans from the Scandinavian brand Ilouity have no stretch in the denim, but are so nice and roomy on the waist (I got a sz 36 but probably could have done with a 34). A great straight fit that makes me feel like I’m dressed in real clothes. Probably need this top to pair with, no?

The template

Tuesday’s post broke down 5 solid spring basics and offered unconventional ways to wear them (alternatively: ways to fuck them up).

Five solid spring basics

Half way through making that post, I realized I was sitting on what’s become a 5th season uniform template, or a good way to get out of the jeans and button down rut, employing a whole new kind of sandwich.

The template is:

Rue Sophie trench coat, Anine Bing trench coat, Patou orange satin dress (can also try this pink one from Staud), Reformation ‘gale’ pants (‘fior di latte’ probably a better color if you’re going pink dress), A. Emery red slides, K. Jacques gold fishermans, Jamie Haller ‘walking’ sandals

• a single breast jacket (often right above knee or longer)

• an interior mini dress

• pants (frequently floor length and flowy, but tbh, anything goes: long line shorts, something toggle/drawstring bottom, cropped n stretchy, kick flares, pjs!, even capris are good here)

  • I particularly like the long and flowy styles (Silk Laundry is the best fit I’ve tried so far, but I have high hopes for these too) because they look good with, and could give new life to your button down shirts and crew neck sweaters, which could be key players in the manifestation of your dressing rut

• flat shoes — could be closed sandals, open sandals, could be sock shoes or loafers or ballerinas, your call.

Sezane trench coat (this one’s good too), Doen mini dress (maybe you’ll enjoy this one from Bode if you’re looking for something that shows a little more skin), Solid and Striped pants, The Row sneakers (Staud’s Keds are a great option in the white with green)

The only real constant in this equation is the mini dress. Think of it as your tunic. Heck, use a tunic if you have one! You’ll want this component to be either shift-y (tent-y) enough to seamlessly hang over pants, or structured enough that it doesn’t matter.

You can pretty much play around with every other element of the template (and you’ll be surprised at how different the outcome can be, see: the above look held up against this 👇🏻)

Michael Michael Kors zebra trench, Pucci dress, Gimaguas pants, Christopher Esber rubber flip flops, which I cannot recommend enough for people with feet that are neither narrow or wide but somewhere awkward, like toes that look like keftehs, in between

This is ideal because:

• it makes the template highly versatile, which means you can most likely collage it together using only the contents of your existing wardrobe. If you’d prefer a short jacket, for example:

Massimo Dutti jacket, Veronica de Piante vest/dress (the vibe is not unlike this), Dries van Noten striped trousers (these are from the same collection — I think spring 2015, and these are a good comp too), The Row clear sandals

Live your life! Wear it short.

If you’d rather wear heels:

Vintage leather jacket (hello!) , If Only If silk nightgown dress, High Sport kick flares and Jimmy Choo sandals, which I have finally taken to a cobbler to have the back straps removed. They’re useless! (An overall more comfortable option would be these.)

I’m certainly not trying to stop you.

And I’ll say again that the pants can be so many different things. My preference is something flowy like these, but a more structured style does work better with heels if that’s how you’re making it.

Michelle Waugh trench, Prada tie dye dress (wouldn’t this coat have been a perfect foil), Doen pants, Miu Miu sandals; I think I like how I sliced this one better for “What does a red accent do for your outfit?” last Fall, see: here.

• Somewhat unrelated: I’m dropping in the below picture from April’s lookbook, “Outfit ideas for limbo weather” to further illustrate the versatility point:

Pajama pants and tank dress, with a mid-length jacket

• The other thing that makes the template work so well: the weather takes on like 5 different identities over the course of a day this time of year. It might start cold and wet but end hot and bright, so the layers really serve you.

  • or you might need to configure a variation that can seamlessly take you day to night.

Tory Burch coat, Soeur x Cafe Leandra dress (it comes as the slip in the ‘Claire’), Silk Laundry pants, Dries van Noten sandals

Which is no problem with the right satin coat.

• Re: the coat, it can make all the difference to the extent that it can totally dress up or down a look. For example:

Michael Michael Kors mini dress (I shortened it), Doen pj pants, Polo Ralph Lauren sneakers and this/this is my best comp bet for coat.

Another pair of pajamas you can wear out bc of the jacket — styled with a Michael Michael Kors dress I shortened, Doen pants and Polo sneakers (I love these too).

• The most popular jacket length of the season (see: the field jacket) hits right below the top of the thigh, which also makes it the most flattering length. This is ideal with a mini dress and doesn’t really need a pair of pants under (there’s already enough style implicit in the combo) but here’s one way to do it:

Skall Studios jacket (if you’re still in the mrkt for a fielder, I still recommend this one from L.L. Bean), Area denim mini dress, Soeur drawstring pants (bulkier waist lines work better with rigid fabric dresses) (I miss high waist pants), Edie Parker lighter clutch (ya! It has a built in lighter!), The Row bow sandals

One more cheer for the straps on this dress. This is my favorite look of the loot

Honestly though, if you wanted to skip the jacket altogether, I wouldn’t tell you not to — especially if your mini is long sleeve (tunic style):

The shape of this crochet long sleeve-r is really good. The shorts are from last summer’s Soeur/Cafe Leandra collab and the sandals are Tom Ford

Because the idea, anyway, is to be able to take the crux of the uniform into the summer, which would mean the dress and pants/shorts come with you.

The ideal components: breaking down what’s best for the equation and why