Piece-led Fashion vs. Vibe-led Fashion
Some thoughts on how we engage with clothes, plus a weird dream I had and some outfits
I had the wildest dream the other night that I had agreed to participate in this study where a scientist who looked a lot like Smith Jarrod (wearing a plaid leather apron) would inject a gigantic needle into a vein in my arm and slowly drain my body of its blood.
Somehow it had not occurred to me in the dream (or actually I think I did occur to me but I was numb) that participating in this study meant ending my life but by the time I was ready to make good on my commitment, I woke up (not literally) and started screaming and yelling and crying at the top of my lungs that I wasn’t ready for this, that I couldn’t do it.
After hours of wailing and pleading to convince them to put off the part of the study that required my participation, they finally said okay. And then I woke up. (Well, first I was transported back to the apartment I grew up in, where I saw what appeared to be a UFO floating at eye length out my window and when I freaked out about that, my older brother told me to chill out — that it was an “experiment by the Guggenheim gone awry.”) But then I woke up.
It was one of those exhausting dreams that has you in the sort of limbo between awake and not, when your subconscious is fighting to get through to your body, but it just lays there, limber and resting. I did not expect that I would feel rejuvenated once I did actually wake up, but that’s how I felt. I think it occurred to me upon rise that I had just spent the night fighting for my life and that in the end, I won.
Waking up is so much more intense than falling asleep, but that’s what we’re doing right now.
Happy Spring Equinox.
How has it been going?
Piece-led dressing vs. Vibe-led dressing
I recently noticed a distinction between the way my daughters engage with fashion. Both of them seem to be interested in it but while one of them takes to the what while the other’s all about the how.
What I mean when I say the what: she’ll try on a specific pair of my shoes or tug at a jacket or a piece of my jewelry or whatever and pronounce that she loves something about the item — the way the top of the shoe curves or the jacket falls or the necklace dangles in a specific spot on the neck. She identifies distinctions between one shoe and another in a way that reflects a sort of sensitivity to detail that I’m not often plugged into. It’s all about the item and how the item works and what it looks like and how it feels and nothing else.
My other girl is bigger picture about it. I think she sees all blue heels as kind of the same (conceptually, she’s right), and she has fun playing dress up and all of that, but in a totally different way: she’ll drape a silk scarf over her head then place a headband over it and call it her new hair. Turn a skirt into a tube top, pair it with colored tights and call it her outfit for the day. It’s all a little bit messy, but you can tell she’s working through something — trying to find the physical representation for a vision she has in her head. It seems so much more about the how.
It occurred to me that these conditions — to take to one way or another depending on how you are wired is not unique to my kids. We all kind of do the same thing. There are those of us who are piece-led (often great editors) and those of us who are vibe-led (more likely stylists) and within the broader fashion zeitgeist, it seems we go through phases where piece-led fashion guides us forward (this, I believe, is when salient trends start to feel more pervasive) and where vibe-led fashion (which feels trendless even though it’s not and is ruled by broader personal style as opposed to specific items) governs the conversation.
No doubt we are in a vibe-led moment where so much of the conversation is dominated by the precise “how” of getting dressed. This is the well from which all conversations around the era of personal style/refined maximalism/diverse taste/”it’s good to look a little weird” spring.
Various conditions could be responsible for this moment (though it’s cyclical, so was bound to happen) but no doubt the recent emphasis on Milan (all about personal style) as the fun fashion city as opposed to Paris (all about The Things) reflects the precise difference between a moment that is vibe-led and one that is piece-led.
Substack itself could take some credit — so many among of the fashion newsletter makers (myself included) take to breaking down the technical process of getting dressed. This can often arm the reader with new savvy about how to make their clothes feel more their own.
Or as documented at length at the end of fashion week season: mainstream runway really has become impossible (unaffordable), which leaves those most interested in and likely to participate in runway fashion (with a platform at least) paying closer attention to how the garments are styled as opposed to what the garments actually are. We observe the tent-pole pieces, analyze how they’re being worn and then work from there.
Some brands will always be piece led — the styling at Loewe doesn’t matter as much because the individual item breakdown is where the magic is stored.
But at a show like Dries (Dries!), where you are sold a broader vision, there’s often a proactive, can-do sense in the room, which gives over a sense of agency to the spectator.
That can be so empowering. You get a similar feeling from Miu Miu, or Bally newly under the stewardship of Simone Bellotti. I even actually got the feeling from Loro Piana this past season.
It usually goes that in vibe-led moments, accessories stand out more than usual. This tracks what with all the personality hats and newfangled it-bags (I actually think, ironically, that it-bags are born in vibe eras — there’s more space to create “signature” moments in your outfit).
The pendulum will swing again, but for now I’m enjoying the emphasis on how to make the outfit, and what happens around it.
Outfits
Speaking of outfits, here are some recent ones:
I’m 18 weeks pregnant (just one baby this time) as of last Saturday, and really made good on that quest to find a chain belt to recreate the look from Stephanie Broek. (The suit’s from Vanessa Sposi.) This pregnancy comes after a miscarriage last Feb, a failed embryo transfer in March and then one more kind of late miscarriage last September.
It (the current pregnancy) happened spontaneously, which means that if all goes well (and I’m sure praying it does), this will be the first baby I’ve had as the result of an orgasm.
The blessing of what I’ve learned this go around is that you don’t have to sustain loyalty to your pain in order to prove that you really want something. When I was trying for Madeline and Laura (it took about 4 years and one really painful loss to ultimately conceive them), I turned my life upside down, took on so much suffering and made everything about becoming pregnant. I realize in retrospect that I did this as a sort of way to convey commitment to how much I wanted to become their mom.
It has been nice to undergo season 2 of this life cycle in private. In a way, it has not let me fall into the familiar role of victim. I have not felt bad for myself at all, at any point.
About a week after I had my miscarriage last September, I hosted a hit of a big Cafe Leandra snack dinner at home, and at the end of the night I felt so proud and satisfied, it was like I was high. I guess in a way I was — but there was an impulsive desire that followed the sense of satisfaction, and it still rings in my chest. It felt a bit like something was trying to pull me back down to earth, or maybe, actually, it was trying to pull me through the earth. I was inclined to “go down” just as I always had to prove that I was not going to give up — and that’s when it occurred to me that it was okay to keep living.
That all this time, I had been walking through life thinking that in order to get what you want, you have to perform your sadness or anger or your fear as a way to stay close to the desire, to convey a commitment to getting the thing you want. I’m so relieved it turns out the opposite can be true.
Back to the outfits:
This one’s not actually been worn yet, but the plan is to wear it to a school function next month. The top is actually a size 8 Michael Kors dress that I bought second-hand during the pandemic and shortened into a micro-ass mini.
The green pants are Prada (silk faille!) from The Real Real — I found them last fall (the search term was ‘Prada flare pants.’
A good search phrase for you: Prada runway. Sometimes it reveals a nothing burger. Other times, it opens up an interesting pandora’s box that has the power to take you on a real user journey.
The shoes are Gucci from 2019 (here they are flat, here they are with a platform, here’s a kind of similar pair). I remember, actually, that I bought them from bed the night before fashion week was starting. This technically makes them a panic purchase, which is usually when you buy the dumbest shit, but to date, they’re my most practical going out shoes — solid worn within character, but they also make for a great foil to a full denim look with socks.
They come in second only the the new Miu Mius. (Also from Miu Miu on Yoox, these shorts and these pants — both under $200, are such a good deal if you wear a size 2.)
While we’re on shoes, just a moment to acknowledge the exquisitely refined shape of these from Maria Luca.
Finally, here’s this with ripped jeans in just the right shade of a light-wash blue:
These from Still Here are a similar wash, but no holes at the knees — for that look, try these from Citizens of Humanity. I recommend sizing up in them (I did 2x) and belting the waist for a roomier but ultimately cooler fit (surprise hero of the season has been this By Malene Birger belt), and then pairing them with these 😬, and a khaki shirt styled over my no.1 t-shirt. Can’t get enough of the gold jazz shoes either.
I think they (jazz shoes) are formally coming for us, and that if you’re going to do it, you should go big — interesting fabric, gold, an even more electric color, but we can talk about it another time.
In Paris until Fri, it really is crazy how this city just kind of…burns a hole in your pocket. Have a great week,
Leandra
Mazel tov! I really applaud your candor and attitude about your struggles…for some reason, I have been following some people who have had similar journeys…don’t know why exactly,
since I am at the opposite stage of life (I’m a grandmother) ,but I found a few of them interesting. Not everyone can look at this type of issue with your insight…I hope your thoughts can be a comfort to some who are looking for a way to handle their feelings.
Congrats on your pregnancy! I'm almost 16 weeks with my first, conceived by surprise "naturally" after 5 failed rounds of IVF, being told we were out of options, and a lot of anger/sadness. Appreciate what you said about not having to sustain loyalty to your pain (although sometimes I have needed to really feel it, and that's okay, too).