Letter of Rec #051: Great bridge garments
Welcome back to Cafe Leandra
What have you been wearing lately? Does anyone ever ask you this? I love the question — it’s a good one to think about if you care enough to become more conscious of where you’ve been with your style: comfortable, writhing, in flow, out of step?
I’ve settled into a pair of white bike shorts which I have been wearing with this raw silk shirt that I bought from a gift shop at a hotel in Ibiza. It’s styled with the Gabriela Hearst sandals I’ve been telling you about since before last summer, but in black now because by some miracle of the digital glitch, I found them for $320 at Bergdorf Goodman.
Other themes in rotation have mostly included roomy pants with pursed-in ankles and lightweight, oversize button-down shirts.
I think I’m checked out of trying to get dressed. And the cues are a symptom of summer’s drag on (can you blv I’m saying this?) — the final toy pistol, shot before the ripe crispness of fall with its rigid polished leather and fine white socks and defined waistlines set in.
I’m craving its momentum, already on its wavelength with new ideas pouring out of my ears. But I know better than to speed up the end of the end and dive in to what is not here yet. My dad broke his jaw and lost 5 teeth by (unwittingly) jumping into an empty pool once.
Some bridge garments I’ve been thinking about for between now and then include:
This khaki skirt from Tory Burch. It’s a lighter weight poplin version of the white one I wore and endorsed at great length last winter. I’m picturing it with a grey t-shirt, red socks and gold shoes.
And to this point about gold, I think it’s back — like for clothes and shoes and in a more salient way. I keep thinking that my color combo of the season is going to be red, gold, black and white. Classic, but a little nasty.
Two points extra for patent leather, and in particular on these shoes — a take on Emme Parsons’ classic t-strap block heel which I gently suggested to Emme that she should make with a kitten heel in patent leather. She listened, she did it, and now they’re called the Leandra. The cafe is open for biz, ppl!
Have you heard of the brand Opera Sport? I want these capri pants to wear with the Leandras (as in, the shoes above) and a pair of socks (or maybe half a pair of socks, a la The Row) that hit mid-calf.
Meanwhile, everywhere I turn there is another mid-length denim skirt with a zip and fly.
Tory Burch Fall 2023 at left, followed by the Dries skirt ($305), Co skirt ($386) and Khaite skirt ($480) The best shapes I’ve seen are from Co and Dries van Noten, but I’ll give Khaite’s the credit for the overall surge in popularity on the shoppable internet. I have a yeshiva day school complex about it, but am inching closer to surrender with this one version ($320) Chloe from Loulou Studio sent to me earlier this summer.
On the bright side, I will definitely score points at the yeshiva day school my kids now go to.
In shopping news: Emily Bode formally launched a women’s collection on Tuesday.
But it was gone before it ever arrived. That’s just the Bode effect, huh.
From the realm of things I have bought: These Carhartt overalls in the dark, raw wash. One way you know something is worth getting is when you don’t just think of 101 ways you’ll wear it but are flooded with the ideas before even getting to add to cart. The most exciting of which on my mind right now includes a bandana in my hair, a nude chest on my chest and MNZ’s yellow Lido wedges.
Another way I’m excited to wear them: with a grey t-shirt, fancy earrings, thick white socks and polished black loafers. Per the grey t-shirt, I have been thinking again: what makes a grey tee good? Who makes the best one? What are the best ways to wear it now — a forthcoming post with the spoiler of these thought starters is in progress, with Cos in first place for fitted cropped tee, Wardrobe.nyc in second for a looser fit and Flore Flore as the best option for a long sleeve style.
Finally got my feet in a pair of Adidas x Wales Bonner sneakers.
I think my friend Laura influenced me on this one, I’ve been craving a loud shoe color pairing on a casual silhouette to pair with loud pants and quiet sweaters or a classic denim button down and that is like a page straight out of her playbook.
They’re fun, they’re practical, it’s an easy duh.
While we are still in the valley of shoes, I’ve had cowboy boots on my mind since mid July and maintain that they’re one among the best evergreen boot choices to make right now. But as a sort of portmanteau between the cowboy and moto-style are these from Paris Texas.
A trendier choice to be sure, but one that will reflect the shape of the season’s dressing cues pretty accurately.
I guess in line with the aesthetic vibe I’m after is also this belt from Maison H. Some cross between the old west and Bali, a good foil to a pair of crisp black pants and loafers and maybe…
It’s a good time to get a black button-down! I like them most with white buttons — gives them an edge that makes them feel more wearable because the buttons break up the black. For a fine-quality pick, delicate and proper, the linked one from Ines is your best bet. For an easy throw on and roll in the mud vibe, it’s obviously LMND.
From The Real Real: this relatively recent Gucci jumpsuit that is extremely on sale right now.
And these linen-printed Prada sandals with the crystal heel. They’d feel so wrong in exactly the right way with wooly grey socks and a big ass sweater. Pants optional!
If you are still thinking about this outfit Mary Kate Olsen wore to the Met Gala in 2019,
I invite you to consider this Chanel leather jacket (swapping out the buttons should not be tough) or this from Geoffrey Beene. If not for the mentioned reference then definitely because we are all going to care so much more about wearing the look of leather over the next season and onwards. (So much more that I had to bold that part of the sentence.)
Now, to the point I made initially about what you’ve been wearing lately, I ask and wonder what have you been eating?
Oily pistachios notwithstanding Lots of cherry tomatoes and Greek feta for me, sometimes with these Cult Crackers, other times with Yiayia’s mandarin biscuits. So much olive oil too.
And have you ever grilled a cucumber? My sister-in-law took me to a cooking class this week and the chef made a grilled carouse salad with radish and cucumbers she left on the grill for 6 min and fresh (raw) cherry tomatoes over a bed of lemon dill hummus. The dressing was mostly olive oil, salt, sumac and maybe some other herbs and spices that I probably won’t add when I make the salad myself tonight.
And finally, because I was in Spain for the bulk of August, one more plug for Vichy Catalan. The Ruinart champagne of sparkling water! But saltier! The ultimate thirst quencher. Come over and I will pour you a glass.
That’s a wrap for today.
I have missed you people, by which I mean that I have missed writing to you, an audience full of warm recipients that make trust within this kind of engagement feel like it is a given. Thank you for giving me that! I’m glad to be back. Have a great weekend…,
Leandra
Great to have you back! 🩵☀️💜
Hi, your question, "what have you been wearing lately" as a way to rank your mood, reminded me of the way Iraqi jews ask "how are you" which I learned from my mother in low : "A'shlonaq?" freely translates into "what is your color?" I think it's a wonderful way to reflect your mood as well:)