Express Lane Outfit Idea: Back to school, baby!

Alternatively: what do I wear to drop off my kids at the first day of school, then haul ass to …the first day of work?

This is a public post from the Express Lane Outfit Idea franchise. To revisit the first one, click here. To revisit the last one (second part of what became an essay about getting dressed), click here.

It’s 7:30 a.m., and your child refuses to eat the pancakes you just flipped with your own two hands. They have to get to school and you have to get to work and the secondary operating system that runs, sometimes louder than the primary one, in the background, is on the WHATEVERYOUDODONTCRY program because you have school-age kids and you are surprised at how viscerally it is impacting you for reasons both related to the year behind us and the years behind you but you have to get going! To school and work! So keep it THE FUCK together. What do you wear?

If you’re an observant Jew, none of this matters bc we at shul, but if you’re not:

Put your pockets on. All four — to hold the emotional baggage.

The jacket is Ralph Lauren. I used it to style a shoot for Man Repeller in 2016 that I still reference. It’s like enough to wear like a shirt and I like to tighten the inner drawstrings and make this peplum that flutes out under my waist. Here is a similar one from L.L. Bean for $99 (more casual, so probably better with dressier pants — tapered trousers in that fancy lightweight thin wool). Another one from Ralph Lauren for $298.

Bonus idea: get you a khaki shirt (this one from Asos is $27 and looks p. formal) and cinch it at the waist with a gold-buckle belt a la: this, from Etsy).

The pants are from The Row. I bought them at a sample sale three years ago for $89 and now that I think about it mostly miss changing in and out clothes in public in large open spaces where many people are doing the same thing and scavenging for cozy knits. Here is a relatively similar pair, also from The Row on sale for $516. Not mad at these Haider Ackermanns on sale for $315 either. These from Veronica Beard for $295 (remove belt!) are probably your best bet lest you have not already tried the J. Crew ones — $70.

The sandals are Doen. They have a teeny tiny heel in the back and I wouldn’t recommend getting a pair of sandals right now if you live where it’s getting colder rn, but if not, I kind of love these for $109?

The basket bag is a relic of the deceased season from Folkloore, an amazing commerce project that connects consumers with artisans from around the world, while the sunglasses are from Machete Eyewear. You don’t have to wear a tank top under your jacket, but this one ($28) is from Entireworld and I feel comfortable calling it among the best cuts I’ve encountered.

Per accessories, lots of gold stuff! Here are some primer pieces I’d recommend if you’re looking to beef up your stack:

Beef up your stack?

• Gold chain from Laura Lombardi for $150 (impressively does not tarnish); can’t vouch for this one from Etsy for $24, but do like how it looks.

• Herringbone collar from Brinker & Eliza for $148 (or here’s a chain from Adina’s for $68).

• Mejuri’s gold croissant ring, for pinky or not — $75.

The end! Signing off yours truly,

Katinka Igbovginana Na

This week’s Thing of Note:

This conversation, from Jay Shetty’s podcast, with Scooter Braun

Why’s it a thing of note? I listened to it following the recommendation of a friend; I had not heard of this podcast before and don’t know much about Scooter Braun other than that he manages gigantically famous artists but was taken aback by the extent to which he laid out so much of his own vulnerability. It is unusual to hear a man — much less one who commands such a specific and indelible ilk of power — open up and talk about feelings in such an honest, candid way. Respecting them and communicating them without apology just the same.

One thing he said, that really stayed with me as a sort of roundabout reference to the trauma he did not experience but did inherit from his lineage, full with holocaust surviving Jews was about realizing that he was working his ass off to achieve, but really protect something (family, love) he already has. Has working real hard to protect something you already have ever actually pushed it away from you?

It’s a refreshing listen, I guess because he seems to be an honest guy who is willing to crack open emotional shit, and that can seem kind of disarming given the internalized gender stereotypes (and double standards!) I still try to breakdown.

This might be too idealistic an opinion, but perhaps it suggests a way that “feminine” vulnerability, which has been on display over the past decade to the tune of both celebratory praise and ruthless takedown, might actually be provoking a new tide ripe for the surfing. Maybe. Listen to it here.