Letter of Rec #078: I am so sure about chemise-style dresses, silk shirts and leopard print
Plus a ballet dress, ballet wedges and 4 resulting salads from all those farmer's market visits. Welcome back to Cafe L...
But first:
Aritzia really does make the best basics. It’s a function of the breadth of the styles. What goes on in those design meetings? It’s like they have a silhouette litigator making sure every sleeve length, hem length, waist shape, crop, color and style is accounted for (this cropped 90s style tee is what I’m after these days too). I wouldn’t have known this if it wasn’t for the conversation I had with Anny Choi on getting dressed last spring, and it came up recently because there is this outfit that’s been playing on repeat in my mind to inaugurate the postpartum hurrah
which features the H&M cargo shorts I’ve worn all summer (above), an inconveniently formal belt (like Khaite’s Julius, also above), structured black loafers (Emme Parsons’ ‘Danielle,’ above, are consistently my preferred) and a very plain black tube top (you know where to look!). Originally I thought, I’ll just use a strapless bathing suit but the tube seems like it can get me deeper into the upcoming seasons.
Speaking of the upcoming seasons, I partnered with Ralph Lauren last week on 2 back to school Instagram posts.
Lots of q’s about where to get the socks and Madeline’s swing coat. Here are the links to both: socks, coats (and the rest of the clothes, if that appeals to you).
Re postpartum outfits, there is actually one more on my mind — it’s reflective of one I’ve actually had on repeat (silk slip with silk button down shacket over), but in the postpartum iteration, it features a pale blue silk Peress nightgown — extremely mini and recently purchased at 50% off from the closing-our-store sale, with this leopard print shirt from CDLP. I don’t have these clogs, but they seem like a good companion to the overall look. I did also just this morning see Alexa Chung style something similarly with her AGS jellies.
Her dress is Mirror Palais 
It inclined my own going for it, never mind the hurrah; this dress from Natori is the same color, but this silhouette feels more wearable. She’s a dead ringer too I bring it up at all because it occurred to me that the reason our nightgown-as-dress era is coming in so hard and fast is totally because of Chloe’s fall 2024 collection, which was met by pretty unanimous editorial (and consumer) praise. The brand is newly under the stewardship of Chemena Kamali —
Fall 2024 who worked with Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent for 8 years prior to taking this role, so I’d be remiss to leave his negligees out of this conversation. But I do think part of why the resonance factor is setting in here with Kamali is because there is a forgiving, feminine softness about her touch. It’s good to give women designers a chance.
We’re at only the beginning of this revolution but you’ll probably find your own renewed interest in the familiar instances of these dresses/tops (Simone Rocha, Sir, Doen), while more expensive (and unlikely) iterations slowly start popping up too.
My inclination is almost always to go the source of a trend (so in this case, ~the bedroom~), which is why I’m still pushing on the Kiki de Montparnasses, Natoris, Carine Gilsons and even Skims of the world (lest you forget this babydoll I showed you a few weeks ago). The way I see it, these dresses are too expensive when they’re purchased to be worn at home/to bed. But as key styling pieces for the season ahead, they make more sense. The exception is, obviously, a better deal from ready-to-wear. Or Only Hearts.
Part two of the above is that silk shirts will eclipse poplin shirts. I’ve said this before (in the same language, I think) but maybe the lede got buried. Something about the fluidity of silk feels more correct for the moment (and the ones we’ll enter) when held up against the rigidity of poplin. If it’s not 100% silk, it’ll be a cashmere/wool blend. I do wonder what this means for sweaters because static is a clingy bitch that has sympathy for no one. Maybe they’ll be tied around our waists. Idk! The key desire underlying this one seems to be: a flourish to add to your outfit.
Leopard print’s “back.” A story on leopard print surfaces every season as a trend “clawing back” (NYP’s pun, not mine, but I like it) for [insert every year here], but this go around, it feels less like a condition of clothing and more like an overwhelming forthcoming fall trend. I don’t know who to make responsible for it but some pieces worth paying attention to for your own styling pleasure include these tights from Swedish Stockings, this silk scarf you can wrap around your neck x 2 from Le Scarf and this shirt first, this one second and this one (on sale for $26…) third.
Other things that have caught my eye this week:
