NYFW's Fashion Pragmatism
When the city is 90 degrees, substantive dressing wins out over frivolity.
Just some initial thoughts and takeaways today as we’re now well into New York fashion week.
(As usual, I tend to filter my reporting through the lens of trendspotting and screenshotting, but if you’re looking for more traditional reviews, head for Cathy Horn at The Cut, Rachel Seville Tashjian Wise at The Washington Post, ____ at Vogue Runway, and of course, WWD).
I’m here to tell you what the girls are actually wearing.
Macro, everyone wore white. Sensibly. Because Fashion Week collided head-on with a heatwave. We collectively eeked out one last ride for our summer best. Many a white blazer, button-down, and dress laid the foundation for the show-goers who didn’t have time for nonsense. I’m here for that — I’m all for a little frivolity, but for me, it needs to be rooted in substance/pragmatism. More on that in a bit.
At the Net-a-Porter party at Raf’s last night, my favorite looks involved swept-back, well-articulated buns that lived right on the edge of messy — but certainly not the shellacked and glued mid-part bun seen on the TikTok set. Minimal nails (red, nude, and a Vampy red-black mostly) and expensive-looking skin touched by the tiniest whiff of makeup dominated. (Maybe intentional, maybe because it had melted off in the drizzle).
My favorite looks: an oversized button-down with a thin pin-stripe (it reminded me of The Row’s Gossard shirt which sports pockets at the hem) over wide-leg dark-rinse jeans, sleeves pushed up above the elbows. A Jacquemus linen blazer styled (nearly) as a dress (pants optional) with thin t-bar sandals from The Row — blazers of all sorts, really — and an Alaia leather Skater dress with Khaite’s ladylike ‘Fawn’ raised ballets.
This Khaite dress was imminent, which I saw two people wear to said party and three girls wear to the Khaite show itself. And of course (again, sensibly) loads of white shirt dresses of every cut imaginable, validating my decision to wear the same (with white Prada kitten heels and an enormous clutch from The Row). (Images on BFA if you want to snoop looks.)
I noticed a lot of people’s day-one looks involved the wide-leg denim that’s everywhere, but I’m seeing less of it as the week wears on, ostensibly because it’s just too hot. Come fall though, brace yourself for an onslaught of trouser-like denim because the girls are clearly itching to break it out, myself included. I bought a pair of men’s Levis 501s from SSENSE on sale for $40 and tailored them for another $25.
Back to pragmatism. I love a black blazer. No matter how many I have, I’ll always make room for another, because the runway I get out of it will always justify the price tag. At Tibi, I clocked many a show-goer wearing the Liam blazer (including designer Jeremiah Brent, loved seeing it on a man), which sports a conspicuous o-ring in the back, ostensibly for a scarf.
It reminded me of my Aunt Karyn, a Palm Beach county dweller who would always loop her silks through a vintage scarf ring inherited from my Grandma. When the wind would pick it up, I marveled at how chic it looked billowing behind her. I’d love to see scarf rings tiptoe back into widespread adoption, actually. Over lunch with Olivia at Chava Studio last month, I even tried (I think I failed haha, hi Olivia) to sweet talk her into doing a button-down with an o-ring in the back — a feat not every shirting company can pull off, but her materials are so sturdy and high-quality I felt like they could stand up to the hardware.
Anyway. Back to pragmatism. It’s something Tibi founder Amy Smilovic touts often in her Instagram Style Classes (and subsequent book, which I still encourage you to buy since the first time I mentioned it almost a year ago). Her runways always present stylish clothes that go inward about how people will actually wear them. I was talking to Liz (go follow her TikTok) about this exact thing yesterday — how New York demands your clothes actually work for you.
And by work, I do mean labor. In a walking city, you’re at the mercy of the elements far more than someplace you get around primarily by car. So while you want your clothes to be stylish, they can’t be only that. For Tibi to declare a creative approach to that necessary pragmatism as the cornerstone of their brand is great marketing. But for longtime customers, it is also a brilliant, helpful new(er) distillation — and point of view.
It’s the only brand I can genuinely say grew up with me in the sense that it evolved into what I needed as I grew older. I’ve been wearing it since undergrad when it was mostly sold at boutiques that catered to SEC sorority girls. Amy grew older, too — and started dressing not only the women she grew up around in coastal Georgia but real New Yorkers (and the people who want to dress like them). I’d be willing to bet other Southern-hailing Millenial women reading this will relate. Niche, but important!
There was a red sock boot that everyone freaked out over (red is going nowhere, by the way), but my favorite detail (of course, because I’m a watch dork) was the watch loops in a blazer sleeve, styled with a men’s Omega. I met
for a quick salad and pow-wow after the show and we agreed it was a runway that revalidated our mutual love for the brand. Final note on Tibi is that I loved the choice to put some of the models in headbands.More thoughts tomorrow/Wednesday. Like the Rebecca Minkoff party, which was the entire Internet in one room IRL. (Shout out to Erika at
, who decisively rocked a black Lacoste polo). Did you know Rebecca Minkoff is a Scientologist? I didn’t.I also want to tell you about Khaite! WHAT A SHOW. And we have to discuss Grace Ling.
Things I will not be discussing: your weird parasocial opinion on Kylie and Timmy. Let them have fun! Unexpected pairings are the spice of life!
OK! Talk soon! Follow me on Instagram for real-time stuff!