The best leopard things and ways to wear them

A new take on an old print

Animal prints have been circulating on the shoppable internet. In just the last week, I noticed these cow print slippers from Ancient Greek Sandals (I’m gunning for the gold in the same shape), these from Jil Sander and Le Monde Beryl. These Christopher John Rogers and Saks Potts coats (respectively), a 40% off Tod’s skirt and this parade of Acne.

On the tiger/zebra front: mostly shoes from the latter with the exceptions from Jacquemus/Alaia (I think about these jeans a lot) while in tiger news, the/sale/shirting is good. Ditto that for these pants. This great bodysuit. Then there’s this from Stella McCartney.

Jacquemus zebra skirt, Juneyen tiger pants, Baserange tiger bodysuit, Vetements zebra shoe, Acne cow print top, Ferragamo top (tbh I prefer this one from Stella McCartney), Saks Potts coat, Celine sunglasses (and kind of reasonable at $340)

But no prints return to the front of fashion’s consciousness is as familiar, pervasive, digestible and hot for the season as the onslaught of new leopard. For reference, I offer this skirt from Alaia, this $685 coat from Rixo (the short one’s good too; and I like this cotton one with the shearling collar from The Outnet), these from Toteme, a pair of briefs from Norma Kamali (great with an oversize, broad shoulder leather jacket if you’re after that Saint Laurent look) and the stand out winner of the season, Aflalo’s $10,000 coat.

I’m test driving the sample and so far, let me tell you: good engine.

We’ve spoken about this before, but leopard is one of those trends that feel omnipresent — it’s never fully in, never fully out. If you look hard enough, you’ll find a trend pattern from virtually any runway season. In this way, it can feel like the most obvious and therefore boring and eventually, the flattest way to take a style risk. Yet something about it feels fresh for the season. Why?

If I had to guess, as the cues of the collective compass of personal style keep swaying and various spins on maximalism and ‘weirdness’ churn, there is a growing and underlying desire for something else. It’s not minimalism per se, that would be too literal. I think it’s more like uneventful clothes that don’t feel lifeless.

Hold this up against a few of the season’s hit pieces and you’ve got yourself some outfit formulas that incorporate the print in a way that feels alive. The chief item among those hits as far as I’m concerned?

Swedish Stockings’ leopard tights ($59)

You can go so hard with these, or give yourself an excuse not to think for a minute about your outfit and style them with:

Khaite t-shirt, Veronica de Piante skirt (this one from Acne might be better for the season), Swedish Stockings tights

A plain ass black t-shirt and mini skirt. Granted, the red bag with beaded charms on the handle and corresponding beads/chain on my opposite arm are not an accident:

Emme Parsons sandals, Christopher Esber bag; the chain bracelet is Rabanne and the malachite beads are from Vertigo (the ring is by Pamela Zamore); also wearing an Adina Reyter necklace as a charm on my bag with an actual charm from Songmont and another gold leaf pin clipped onto it.

And neither are the shoes with their fuzzy sole but one thing I’ll actually say on this is that a plain black sandal (classic leather, no hardware) with a fur instep still somehow reads quieter than the alternative (metallic, patent, satin, etc).

Same vibe different look:

Cordera dress, Swedish Stockings tights, The Row sandals and hat (do you dare?); Studio Deve necklace

Why it works: even though the individual elements are more extra than those in the first look, this equation adds up to make sense because there’s no color, and the silhouettes are relatively classic.

On the more maximal front:

&Daughter crew neck knit, Still Here capri jeans, Ray-bans, Gucci heels (most classic strappy leather sandals without ornamentation could conceivably work)

A classic argyle crew neck and true blue pedal pushers.

Why it works: should make limited sense given the doubling up on prints, but again the shoes are, in spite of their high heel, classic and neutered on the “extra” scale c/o plain leather. The green also catches the diamond shapes in the sweater, while the yellow detailing connects back to the tights. The base of the sweater is heather grey and combined with the true blue, you get nothing if not the basis of the most classically articulated basics.

With longer line, slightly darker jeans:

Wardrobe.nyc blazer (the exact one on TRR), Re/done sweater, Another Tomorrow white button down shirt, Blaze Milano jeans, The Row ‘Mensy’ sandals (sim vibe for $150, or the O.G. by Prada), Loulou Studio bag and here are good cat eye sunglasses

Why it works: the color scheme’s (black/grey/white) subtlety, which really gives the leopard print a chance to feel like the jolt, with friends from its own family in the form of: brown sandals, bag, tortoise frame sunglasses.

Le Scarf’s silk scarf ($119)

The obvious way to do this (if you’re a frequent reader of this newsletter) is within the walls of how I had it styled in this post, wrapped like an apron around a pair of wool trousers with a cropped blazer styled over — but the way I’m thinking about it now is in my hair:

Bally blazer (Massimo Dutti is still doing damn good leatherware), Daily Blue jeans (sold out but the Auralees are still around), Chloe mules, Rue de Verneuil bag, Lescarf head scarf

Why it works: mostly because it’s the least likely way I’d expect myself to style it. The patent leather blazer also gives it a jooj that is then pared back by the simple tote and jeans. The necklaces (plain red string, a strand of blue beads) are just a tiny kiss of the-suns-out! color.

The other cool thing you can test is wearing the scarf as a belt with another belt layered under or over.

Polo button down, Jeanerica jeans (this is the shape, this is the wash), Lescarf scarf and Loewe chain belt around waist (this necklace from Roxanne Assoulin makes a good belt too), The Row canal loafers, and one of the Prada satin ‘rasso’ clutches I was pushing on you all summer

Why it works: A tried and true uniform of the ages (denim on denim), updated with unconventional belts, but not overwhelmed by too much else.

Actually, last week I was walking down the street and saw the clever way a woman on 78th street had a silk scarf tucked into her crew neck sweater. It inspired me to try something similar, tucking one end into my bra and looping the other end through over my outfit:

Khaite sunglasses, Ralph Lauren cable-knit sweater (saving a search on cable-knit across mens and womens on TRR can go a long way), Prada shorts but these from Siedres are a good compromise, or just put a mini skirt over bike shorts; Grenson x Emilia Wickstead loafers

J. Crew’s shell layer ($29.50)

You can incorporate some surprise and delight if you keep the silhouettes pretty simple. Here I am, for example, doing the grape vine:

Loulou Studio coat (there’s one left in sand), Flore Flore white button down, J. Crew t-neck, old Prada pants (try these) and science goggles

Why it works: the wide collar on the button down draws more attention to that area of the outfit, which highlights the leopard print turtleneck peaking out from the top and the sleeves —

You’ll also notice the double brooch. Gives a little umph to a plain coat — try these

— The sunglasses enhance the brown print and add good contrast for the green trousers, but this grey coat is like the neutering overlayer. I find it a little too long and overwhelming to not break up in some way, hence the pins.

If you want to try leopard as a main event, a mini dress will style well over trousers:

Zara’s skater dress

Zara dress (is gone; I like the one from MNZ’s Ba&sh collab), Cos sweater; Toteme pants (try these from Callas, they’re low rise but good), The Row Mary Janes, Altuzarra bag

Why it works: sweater around waist breaks up the dress, long line trousers make it feel more like a tunic than a mini dress styled over pants. The silver accents are less expected than gold would be and the black watch connects back to le pants.

Same gist, executed differently and with a few more layers:

Attersee jacket, Aflalo shirt, Saint Laurent skirt, Serenity Silk pants (these are still around too) , Soeur sandals, Cordera bag

Last thing: The Coat

Leset t-shirt, Saint Laurent skirt, The Row’s rubber flip flops that broke so I defer to these (am also still tempted by these), Christopher Esber sunglasses (p cool in this deep navy)

Why it works: white t-shirt and flip flops are quintessential chill out garments, which makes it more much more effortless to go big with what clothes remain.

Do you anything animal print you’re trying to style? Let me help you!!!

Awaiting your queries, baby on boob,

Leandra