Fall Fashion. Seven Fun Ideas.
By Karen and Erica
It’s not fall yet, despite the calendar. (If the globe is getting warmer do we need to change our seasonal terminology?) We don’t want an end to summer–-though we like fall and there are certain obnoxious bugs that plagued us this summer that we hope will be vanquished by fall.
And of course we are always happy to see what the fashionistas have in mind for fall. Why? Because it’s fun! Especially if some idea is celebrated as incredibly fashion forward and we remember it from the 70s.
And—we believe wholeheartedly that projecting a vision of ourselves is an important part of putting us all on the map. We dress purposefully, if not formally, almost every time we leave the house. It makes our identity clear, and let’s those who have to look at us know we care—in a good way. We were happy to see an article extolling the virtues of dressing for school dropoff. The content didn’t exactly match the headline, but the idea is right. For that reason, among others, we were delighted to see that loungewear (a/k/a sweats) is once again limited to the house—when you are alone.
Anyway, back to fall fashion. We have always loved hot pink. (We think hot pink is a year round color but that is a new idea for some.) Lustre Global HQ is very near Saks Fifth Avenue, so its windows are our first stop. Hot pink is everywhere! We have seen it in a number of other stylish windows, too.
We were a little bemused earlier this year, when the color seemed to have been appropriated by the Barbicore movement, as if no-one had ever understood the power of hot pink before Barbie—or 2022. But now hot pink is in for fall. Even on shoes. We are cheering!
Other bright colors are on call for fall as well. If you like them, as we do, have a look at ZCrave, in SoHo, or its website. Some of its offerings are a little crazy, but we love this pink suit, and this ode to Picasso. Both call out for someone with our experience to wear them. They are lost on the younger set. We feel the same way about sequins, and metallics generally, also featured this season. Shiny is us.
If you are a bit more conservative, we were recently introduced to a wonderfully elegant line called Salon Septieme Paris, founded by Nancy Pedot, a most remarkable woman and serial entrepreneur. Beautifully constructed everything, including divine sweaters, and pants, and skirts, in fabrics from very fancy mills in Italy, that can be worn everywhere. Ms. Pedot confessed that one cold night when she was away from home she even slept in a pair of her pants. We can’t wait to see her Paris studio, which we hear is in a gorgeous maison in a lovely neighborhood. The 7th, of course!
By the way, if you want to fantasize about amazing shoes to wear with your Parisian designs, have a look at Pavilion Parade. A painter friend put us on to this divine UK site. Their extraordinary shoes are extremely limited and sell out instantly, so if you really want a pair, move fast!
Fall means jackets, now that it’s cool enough to wear them. We love well cut jackets, silk, wool or leather. Especially biker jackets. Here’s a good list, with biker jackets at the end. This Dries van Noten number is fabulous, too, as is this long Everlane orange sherbet number. These jackets would look well with midi skirts, like some of these, or those at Salon Septieme Paris. Leather with taffeta? Made for us.
Of course, we do not love everything on offer. For one thing, we don’t go along with the idea that fall means brown. Fall leaves are brown, that’s enough. And, sadly, hot pink cannot save everything—this one shoulder balloon sleeve dress is a good color, and on sale, but no. Then there are square toed shoes, apparently in for fall. Maybe pair them with the pink one-shoulder number. Plaids? Not like these. And none that announce their branding.
We don’t buy a lot of new clothes just because the season changes. We’d go broke, but also we are strong advocates of shopping in our closets, or at least buying second hand. We do understand that donating or recycling worn clothes is not an answer in and of itself to the masses of textiles in landfills every year, but we think recycling has to reduce buying of new clothes.
ThredUp reports on the huge growth in the reuse market. You can go upscale, like the RealReal, or run for luck at Beacon’s Closet. Your own town surely offers many great resources, and the online offerings are plentiful. What is the best thing about shopping recycled? The thrill of finding a fabulous bargain, which has to be one of life’s biggest joys!
Finally, we can’t leave a fashion post without making note of a recent event that reaches the epitome of form fitting. Watch this!
What’s your vision for the fall? Where do you shop recycle? And what’s your feeling about one shoulder designs?