We all know I live for and at the ven diagram intersection of function and fashion. And boy do I love the idea of a sporty windbreaker styled to the nines. But when push comes to shove, I was having a hard time imagining when I’d actually wear this style of jacket without feeling like it was wearing me. Am I wearing it past 5pm? With heels, and a skirt, indoors???? So like any good sartorial documentarian, I put it on and took to the streets.
But before I begin, two pieces of news, one big one small…
I did a thing!!
Nordstrom honored me this fall with the task of introducing their new division The Edit, which is basically all the great brands we want to wear on repeat: think Kallmeyer, High Sport, Jamie Haller, Maria McManus, Ruadh, Rohe, etc. etc. which launches on Tuesday in 10 of their biggest stores. It was a thrilling task and fun one, since I got to wear and dissect what I consider the most interesting category in fashion right now – great clothes made for women by women! I dove into their buy, styled the selection, got to write about a bunch of designers that I love and respect and shot the whole thing with Tommy Ton, street style photographer extraordinaire.
And the kicker…it is going to be in their actual catalog. Delivered to your doorstep. I could just die! If you get one in the mail please snap me a pic, I am still a bit in shock and am not sure it’s real. 🙂
The real joy of all this, though, was putting on all these awesome clothes that felt great to wear in the street. It was not a fashion shoot for fashion’s sake, meaning I would have happily worn all of this if there was no camera to document it. Which is my favorite type of fashion, and what we do here every week. I joked with the team that I had already pre-ordered the same High Sport red and white pinstripe pants that they bought. And playing with fall’s sure-to-be-still-trending mish mash of pastels and bold colors felt easy. Kallmeyer’s beaded pants went from a pipe dream to something I could actually find myself reaching for for in an instant if last minute plans came up – grey t-shirt, leather jacket and all.
So just taking a moment here to say thank you to Nordstrom and wow! and thank you to all of you for reading all these years that brought this opportunity to my door. As one of my very good friends lovingly joked when I showed her the photos: Of all the supermodels in the world, they chose a 40-something mom. I’m so happy for all of us!
News No. 2: Eckhaus Latta for all of us
I ran into the EL team recently and we got to talking about life, kids in school, some exciting projects they have coming up and just the way we communicate fashion now…and as they were figuring out how they want to approach sales (sometimes being a small brand is great, have an idea…go with it!) we thought, what if the Labor Day sale was just for us? So I picked some favorites from the website, and for today and tomorrow, they are on sale just for 5 Thingers. Use the code BM20 for 20% off – not sample sale territory but great fun for an independent brand that doesn’t always get to sale at all. Not sponsored – just two small businesses figuring out how to work together in a way that is meaningful for you all! Get yourself something that will give your fall outfit an unexpected twist. My favorite laptop-fitting snap bag is on there. As is the apron that I just ordered. Plus extremely cool. knits! And side zip jeans. Enjoy!
OK BACK TO THE WINDBREAKERS
I never thought wearing a windbreaker was easy. If you do, can you tell us why below? Truly, I need to know. For me it feels like something I should be wearing en route to a workout, but even then, it’s quite specific! I do love the sporting look though. So I decided it was definitely a trend worth tacklilng.
While trying them on with my entire closet, I picked up many important takeaways but maybe you have more. First and most importantly. THE WINDBREAKER THAT WILL WORK AS A FASHION STATEMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS A RAIN JACKET.
I thought maybe I could get away with styling my lightweight Nike rain jacket we got two summers ago in a 5GT. With a black little slip skirt? Chic! Maybe for an outdoor cocktail party in the rain, but now we are getting too granular. So no. The water-repellent-ness of it makes the fabric loud and bulky and hot for actually sitting down to dinner. Would I wear it on a date? I think not. So the windbreakers/anoraks/whatever we are talking about today feel and lay a little softer, for the most part. They are tissue-y enough to not feel harsh against the skin when you simply wear a cami underneath.
That said, I did happen to have plans last Tuesday evening to stop by a little US Open party and it was drizzling outside (see above.) It was the perfect occasion for all of these outfits, even if they lean more water-repellent than waterproof.
Once you have locked in on what makes the windbreaker both stylish and not horrible-feeling against your skin, you can get to the act of actually making it work outside of watching your kid play soccer.
And this is where we take a grain (a morsel, the teensiest grain of sand) from how Saint Laurent made this whole thing a trend. It has to be juxtaposed with the opposite of what you think you should be wearing with it. Do I love these photos above of the black sheer stockings and legs for days with Crayola colored nylon? Yes. Will I wear a teddy outdoors with a windbreaker? Unlikely. But I will try it with a silk skirt. Or a lace cami!
Brown, pinstripe trousers (above)? Yes! A silky pencil skirt? Yes!! Jeans?? I’m not so sure….there has to be an element of surprise with these or the outfit doesn’t end up feeling special enough for the occasion, even if the occasion is simply eating out. Because without this element, you feel like you’re in workout clothes and that feels weird!
Which brings me to another point, these can get hot, literally. If you run extra warm, Maybe consider a more modern lightweight running zip up as opposed to the oversized vintage-leaning styles. They are a little more fitted to the body (read: a quieter statement) and often have the modern tech and design details to function as a two-way insulator.
I’m also finding that they’re easier to style with more straight forward layers. This Literary Sport jacket (above and below) is the only one I tried, for example, that I felt looked great with jeans. The others reading as too on the nose / sporty mom style. These high-tech jackets give jeans and slinky black trousers the style factor as opposed to the yellow, vintage-y one that needs more unexpected extras. Does this make sense? It does in my bones, but maybe not in words yet.
But there is also a third type of windbreaker – the non-tech sport jacket. This OST version is what you would get if Orvis and Prada had a baby. Yum! This windbreaker varies from the other two in that it has an open (not scrunched) bottom and is a less techy material. This makes it much easier than the others (retro and high-tech respectively) to layer up in a non-bulky way.
Though this windbreaker leans more country living than the other two, the same holds for its need to have a juxtaposing force. I was not in love with this when I tried it on with jeans, but the same outfit with a wool straight leg pant was a total ace.
Swap those black dress pants for lounge pants and a white t-shirt and make the anorak work for what it was originally intended for: schlepping all of your family’s crap in a huge tote bag on a Saturday afternoon.
Happy long weekend. Big love to you and yours.
Yours TRULY,
Becky
