Letter of Rec #062: 8 good things
A good old quality list
Are you shopping these days? What are you buying? I feel like I jumped into January ideas-a-blazing, with a level of clarity on what I want to look like that I had not experienced in months.
But there’s also a stark difference between the beginning of January which carries in with it a steambath of hope — the defining quality that seems to buttress the holiday season and Real Winter — and the end of January, which often reveals the truth about what Real Winter has in store for us. (Darkness and cold.)
When the steambath was still cast over the consciousness, I bought:
These flare jeans (gone now in blue, but still avail in black; and from the Guess site, I think this is the shape) for $63 from SSENSE.
The Tyler booties in white (because I could not unsee the possibility that I could wear them as part of an off-kilter tuxedo):
Styled with a Bally leather blazer, Khaite tank top and belt, Toteme pants (from the archive sale, which is worth a visit) These navy blue Louboutin penny loafers (soles red and all), which became MY SHOES of the moment until it got too icy to consider a footwear choice that’s not lined in something fuzzy.
Big Italian mens editor energy But I bought these with a gift card, so they didn’t cost me actual money
An attempt at heather grey jersey flare leggings bc I’ve been wearing my black ones so much. They seem to be sold out the internet over in the style I’m after (this), and lead me instead to these pajama pants which have been pulling their weight most mornings.
The cobalt blue t-shirt styled with them, to wear with red sock shoes.
The tee and pants in question, styled with an old Paul & Joe coat; I’m drawn to this one right now, red Row sock shoes (these r prob the more appropriate option for right now) styled with red socks, not to be confused with The Red Sox Something’s happening with this color, which seems like a response to (as in, good companion color to) the season’s surge of red.
Becky’s kind of been calling it since the beginning of the season with this off, Bottega-ish shade and you know what?
Somewhere between these two hues, there’s a host of periwinkle out there looking for us too. If you’re not convinced, that’s okay, but I will remind you:
Summer 2024 The Row makes all the rules. You’ll start seeing it everywhere now that I mentioned it…
Patou Fall 2024 My bet on next thing worth trying in the color? Tights.
I haven’t been focused as much on what’s out there (for sale) lately though — I think the desire to welcome new incoming thrives on a continuum that is on its highest volume during moments of newness (see: The New Year) and recedes into background noise during moments of monotony (Real Winter).
It’s almost like Fashion Week (mens week was last week, couture week was this week and ready-to-wear starts in New York in a couple) is timed deliberately to take advantage of a collective yearning for concept as opposed to actual product.
Which works out nicely because you need breaks from looking outward to reflect on, analyze and understand the dressing tendencies you’re plugging into — to consider the nuances and machinations of what is happening present moment so you can a) learn if your interest is fleeting or steady and b) arm yourself with context so when the next flight of need-something-new comes through you have some intelligent anchoring under you.
To point A re: whether the interest is fleeting or steady, there are ~8 residual tabs open in my mind. Here’s what’s in them: