Soooo… things are still weird.  But it’s getting better and we are all getting really good at adjusting, so there’s that!  I’m getting this quarterly out late in the season because requests have been thick as people navigate their new world.  As for clothing, they are also, shall we say… adjusting.  An email came in last week, “what is the current style for a simple black work pant?”  Exactly.  Pants and especially jeans are a bit erratic right now.  Hems are up and down, legs go from skinny to balloon (yes!), and rises are varying from high to horrifyingly low (yes, again).  Deciding where to put your money so that you don’t step in it and look like you’ve been left in pre-historic times where no one knew what Covid was – can be perplexing.  But as long as you stay far away from a low rise, please explore to your heart’s content. 

Since last Sunday, it’s been pitch black by 5pm in NYC thanks to daylight savings and it’s really been rough.  I’m thinking it’s because daylight savings was a non-event last year as I, along with most people, had nowhere to go, so it didn’t matter if it was dark.  But this year it’s very noticeable and I’d very much like my hour of daylight back.

My absolute favorite holiday is just around the corner.  I love Thanksgiving so much because it welcomes not only your version of “family” but also has such a great range of style.  Some gatherings are more casual, while some love to use this holiday as the perfect excuse to go more formal. Jeans and sweaters are just as appropriate as a velvet jacket or dress – as long as you are comfortable at the waist!  I also love the timing of Thanksgiving, just a few weeks after Halloween, which is my least favorite holiday because the focus is on a costume, a disguise of sorts.  All that effort to not look like yourself goes against my whole ethos!  This year I found a compromise and went as Rosie the Riveter to a friend’s Halloween birthday party.  I wore a denim jumpsuit that I already owned and just added accessories to finish the look.  I love what Rosie stands for and I’ll probably wear that again next year.  Maybe the answer to costumes is to find your Rosie.

Regardless of attire, I hope this finds you at the end of a smooth transition back to kind of post-covid life and looking forward to a joyous holiday season.

Is this thing on? Did you miss me? Is the plague over yet?

While it’s unclear if the pandemic is fading due to new variants with vaccines available, people going back to work, and calendars filling with plans- it has felt like everyone is trying to get on the highway at the same time. A happy traffic jam of life, if you will.

In my last newsletter I wrote about finding equilibrium in the absence of “normal life” and as requests, invites, and re-openings began in volume somewhere near the end of March, it was the first opportunity to see if I had learned anything during quarantine.  Never before had healthy eating, proper rest, and regular exercise been so high on my list of things to do in a day.  But for most of 2020 those were some of the only things on the list!  I realized if I wanted to continue this lifestyle I would have to better prioritize.  Which is why this newsletter didn’t arrive in June. 😉  Lately, things seem to be leveling off to a more reasonable pace and as the dust settles, I’m beginning to think the side-effects of pandemic-living have changed me for the better.

Did it change you?  What about the way you dress?

Many rely on external cues and visuals for their identity.  Style by way of clothing, tattoos, hair, or piercings is a wildly effective communication tool.  But during quarantine people weren’t being seen and most got into a daily groove of wearing the same few things.  Without the visuals for yourself and others, the pants we wore mattered less and it made getting dressed like asking in a vacuum, who am I? 

In The Secret of Taste: Why we like what we like, Tom Vanderbilt writes, “we say, with condescension, ‘I can’t believe people actually dressed like that,’ without realizing we ourselves are currently wearing what will be considered bad taste in the future.”  Vanderbilt also highlights economist Joseph Schumpeter, “who argued that capitalism’s role was in teaching people to want (and buy) new things.”

Put another way, capitalism’s goal in essence is to transcend taste – to sell the idea that new is always better.  Yet, more accurately – new is only always novel and only infrequently better.  In regards to fashion, novelty practically defines it.  Oscar Wilde once quipped that fashion is “a field of ugliness so absolutely unbearable, that we have to alter it every six months.”  Harsh.  But not wrong in regards to trends.

Recently at a party (so nice to be able to say that again), someone found out I am a stylist and immediately asked, “so what are the trends right now?”  To which I replied, “Oh I don’t follow them. But tell me who you are and I’ll tell you what you should buy.”

Though I’m sure we will look back on the collective quarantine trends of Zoom shirts, tie dye, slippers, sweatpants, and as some reported – no bras – with wide-eyed disdain, it was all very understandable.  It was a time of function over form as we did our best to survive with some sanity; dignity took a backseat.  But what I’ve seen as people re-emerge is a newfound desire to be seen and to share ourselves with others. Here in NYC the post-pandemic energy is palpable and form returns to the forefront of people’s minds as they decide what to wear and consider how they want to show up. However, with daily routines shaken up and many changes permanent – I’ve noticed a healthy balance of form and function that I haven’t seen before in my 12 years of working as a stylist. People have a sharper focus on who they are, their needs, and their taste. It’s beautiful.

We may not know if the pandemic is nearing the end, but this jury of one sees at least one silver lining.

PS. For inquiring minds – I recommend the Spanx stretch twill cropped wide-leg pant ($128) in soft sage to transition from summer to fall (and from quarantine back to reality)!