Letter of Rec #066: It's time to get a field jacket

And thoughts on moving passed psychic limitations

Field jackets don’t make for a novel dressing idea, but they are a strong and obvious pick for spring outerwear. They can also be worn the same way an army jacket or anorak or even a trench coat is worn and are different in that they have a pronounced collar, are always single breast (and often feature a zipper), tend to (but don’t always) stick to a color palette of khaki, brown, navy, black and the vibe overall is a bit more English countryside than it is anything else.

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But the commonality among field jackets and anoraks, army jackets and trenches does make the anterior less intimidating to style (because you have a starting point on what to wear with them).

Still, the two key reasons you might want a field jacket now more than at any other turn of the spring season are:

• Prada (shown last September in Milan for Spring 2024)

  

• The Row (first shown in a lookbook last August for Spring 2024)

  

• That’s it — Prada and The Row

I like when ubiquitous garments are fashionified. With the fashionification often comes new style insights and ways of wearing the thing that can completely explode open the bland boxes they (the garments) were in before — though this rise has been in progress for seasons (see: Burberry, Net-a-Porter stocking Barbour and so forth).

A quilted Polo Ralph Lauren field jacket (Abie’s) styled over a Rohé silk blouse with Skin grey elastic waist cotton pants (they’re the size 1) and the Miu Miu sandals I told you about last week (this color way is great too, and this one is similar to the above)

Phoebe Philo was a master of doing this with Celine, most famously turning Birkenstocks into the ideal fashion shoe. The Row has no q taken on the role of successor in this endeavor, bringing, for example, rubber flip flops to the mainstream. The brand, after all, is built on the principle that reliable basics could be as luxurious as any other high fashion one tends towards.

The goods

But as far as the field jacket goes, how much more exciting is it to consider wearing one as a way to offset dressier garments: a sequined skirt, brocade pants, a sheer skirt styled over tailored shorts.

Skall Studios field jacket, La Double J (x Cafe Leandra!) pants and wedges (…but forget those, peep these)

Skall Studios “shell parka” (not quite an FJ but again, hits many of the same notes and the color is so right), The Row silk blouse (I have this one, it’s good too), Loewe chain belt (so glam too), Khaite skirt (this one from Barena for $270 is a great comp, and I can show you how to tie a pareo into a skirt for real life wearing too…), D’Accori mirror gold wedges

Aren’t they lovely?

And the best part is that you really don’t have to spend the ticketed $3,500 or $2,870 that the garments are commanding (but also, I get it, the leather collar does make a difference, but then again…) in order to feel like you’re in on the trend. Which is actually more of an anti-trend trend. And you don’t have to feel like you’re participating in “dupe culture” either — you can just take the trend to the source and proceed accordingly. Three such sources worth closing in on:

J. Crew, Barbour (this one is rly good too), L.L. Bean

• L.L. Bean

• J. Crew

• Barbour

But there are plenty of other worthwhile iterations out there.

This one, for example, from Everlane is great. And here’s a men’s version from Bode with an elastic hem (this one, also from Bode, takes less creative license). Maybe this guy from Mango could be considered a dupe but then again, a dupe of what? I’m also really into this yellow one from Brooks Brothers too, and this more army adjacent one.

Brooks Brothers yellow jacket (you know I want to wear it with this sequined skirt from Saks Potts, but wait is this one better?) and green army jacket; brought the J. Crew jacket back because the color story is strong and uh…told you I was getting a cowboy hat!

The nice thing about the ubiquity of anti-trend trend piece is that it’s hard to nail down source. Which I think is a good thing — it affords a greater sense of creative license to the designer, a higher risk threshold unmarred by fear. And that makes the conceptions more generous in a way.

A men’s jacket, confronting and moving passed psychic limitations

You’ve probably noticed most of the recommendations here are men’s jackets. My take is: you are probably better off finding a jacket made for one of them than going for womenswear. I’m not sure if this is the case for you, but somehow it does feels harder/weirder to buy designer clothes (as opposed to more price conscious things) that are for men (see: Bode jacket).

Do you find this too? I think it’s worth pushing through the psychic limitation this go around: the look is meant to be oversize and you’ll probably end up spending less. (It takes less work to get the silhouette right and that is often reflected in the price.)

Hey, do you ever think that the difference between having faith (in life) and not is the same difference as gently deciding to pick a new way vs. continuing to live within the walls of the “rules” you have somehow adopted?

The thing about buying menswear called to mind something that’s been on my mind a bit, because I feel like I turn into a heartless zombie every winter. It is not deliberate, but I can almost feel my heart start to clench when it gets really cold and greater impediments are cast on the possibility of my sustaining healthy routines and then physically, too, I’m always bracing my chest (because it’s so cold) as if to protect it.

Offsetting winter’s blah

For this winter in particular, I’ve also felt like I’m not doing much to offset the blah. Like I’ve succumbed to mental weakness and further fed into it.

What this looks like: complaining a ton, witnessing the world through sunglasses lensed in skepticism, forgetting (1) what faith I know is in me and (2) precisely how to re-open my heart (prayer, mostly, esp. for the well-being of that which/those who get on my nerves the most).

I also know that the difference between staying in the blah and moving out of it — that is, to a version of your own life that feels saturated and inspiring — is as simple as taking a step. Literally, one step!

And that I haven’t done it, I think, reinforces how important it is to live with a sort of focus on staying close to your “tools.”

Like you don’t ascend from ashes or breakthrough whatever your hard thing has been and then that’s it: you’re good forever. Living whole (which often causes a feeling of satisfaction — the antithesis of blah) requires sharp discipline.

The first step is always the hardest and it can feel impossible to take (usually mentally) but another thing I know: our minds are like these elusive houses of cards that completely collapse and show themselves for what they are (servants) when we challenge them with our actions. Once they collapse it’s like they were never there.

The irony of the whole thing is that it’s often actually easier to push yourself into integrity (and that is what this is: a sense of being honest with yourself about your strength and limitations, of becoming whole again) than it is to stay out of alignment.

The big psychic theme on my mind this season has been distinguishing feelings from emotions. Honoring the validity of feelings but recognizing that emotions are something different — a byproduct of feelings that are more likely meant to flow through you, not bottleneck or get fully expressed through what often becomes, at least in my case, regrettable word or action.

Fortuitously, I just opened a book to this passage:

So I guess that’s my work for the end of the winter. Reflect, differentiate, act accordingly.

And to get this Bode jacket! (We got here at all, if you remember, because I was saying that it’s worth pushing through the psychic limitation of buying designer menswear, but now we’re back on track —)

Some supplementary garments to style the jackets with:

Those black pants from Max Mara are the ideal shape forward, I am convinced. And that white t-shirt is my new all-time favorite (great neckline). It’s shrunken, so I’d get two sizes bigger than you’re used to if you’re after a “true” fit (think I’m going to get the faded blue in L). I might try this silk slip dress to wear under a field jacket (probably with the first few buttons buttoned) with the T-bar sandals (or something like these) and who knows, maybe a giant floral brooch? Can’t omit this striped Dries skirt either.

And then this sequined top by Ganni has just been calling out to me and I feel like it could look great with these gym shorts, which I bought recently. I like the idea of styling them together with ~one of our jackets~ and flats like these, sunglasses notwithstanding either.

Have a great weekend,

Leandra