AMERICAN SPORTSWEAR IS APPARENTLY BACK
But London doesn't give a toss...
Basking in the warmth of my soul style having its moment in the sun.
At NYFW at least.
I mean, not to toot my own horn or pretend I started anything (I certainly didn’t) but I was posting Carolyn Bessette Kennedy as outfit inspo like, ten years ago. Actually, I do believe CBK was among other 90s fashion inspirers on my wall as a teenager. (Some gals have posters of their crushes, others, their fashion girl crushes).
When I first shared her looks on Insta, people the same age as me (hint: now in their mid-thirties) were like who is that girl? Oh wait no she died? How sad!
The thing about cultural references is when a brand takes it upon itself to package them up and share them with an unwitting new generation they stand to gain the status of social media cultural aficionado, or even fashion historian as per the current Gen Z conversion to CBK and JFK Jr by brands like Sporty & Rich or Rouje.
Earmuffs off to them for spotting a fruitful recycling opportunity!
Anyway back to me lol. All this is rather convenient because my style really hasn’t changed from something similar to this… like, ever. I go in for simple, practical and quietly fresh (but not boisterously *young*) clothes. This is I guess what I’m attracted to in the style of someone like CBK and a lot of what we just saw on the runways in New York.
I’m just not that big on trends. There are occasional exceptions though (you may have seen me presenting the Mango Live show last week in trendy see-through skirt and tights sitch).
But they’re few and far between. Mega trends usually look too literal on me, it’s cheaper when everything you own goes with everything you own, and it’s probably the only way to maintain some element of control of oneself as both a consumer and an “influencer”. Maybe I’m just a bad influencer but I do hope on occasion —despite working with a variety of brands from high fashion to high street —to be a decent influence.
So when selecting from high street brands, long-term wearability remains a huge factor in my choices.
That said, you do have to respect the creativity of the chameleons who try out some of the truly crazy stuff, especially the rare people who manage to make them look cool rather than try-hard.
A lot of these people are, of course, in London, where brink-of-madness dressing continues to rule the roost. This week featured floral-laden, Croc-decked, waterproof country garden-dwellers at Simone Rocha, Mitfordian aristocratic eccentrics at Erdem, walking play-dough people at JW Anderson, and post-pandemic survivalist punks at Chopova Lowena (great review here by Ellie Pithers.)
Gotta love the Brits.
Personally though, I’m drawn back to the quieter strides of the perfect pantsuits of New York. When I saw Cathy Horyn’s piece in The Cut last week heralding the return of “American Sportswear” (NDLR: this does not mean bra tops and leggings), my first thought was did these references ever really go away?
Wait, what even is “American sportswear” you ask? I turned to Wikipedia (not a chat GBT convert as yet) for a refresher:
“Sportswear is an American fashion term originally used to describe separates, but which since the 1930s has come to be applied to day and evening fashions of varying degrees of formality that demonstrate a specific relaxed approach to their design, while remaining appropriate for a wide range of social occasions.”
So yeah, not “activewear” which is the technical term for things you actually do sports/work out in, but the pieces people in the 1930s would have referred to as sportswear, and which these days just pretty much means normal clothes. Back then, in the early 20th Century, these pieces were freer, more interchangeable elements that reflected the more active lifestyles that women were beginning to lead. It would have been important to differentiate from, say, the daintiness of Haute Couture at the time. Got that?
Fast forward to now, let’s zoom in on Horyn’s observation. Something I often appreciate about NYFW from afar (I rarely actually go tbh) is that I can actually imagine myself wearing so many of the clothes. Of all the big fashion weeks this one seems as in touch with reality as a fashion week possibly can be. And no, I don’t mean in terms of prices, unfortunately, I just mean it in terms of day-to-day wearability.
Perhaps you are thinking “is this really what we want from fashion shows” and you’re not wrong —part of the point is to dream and be transported and be struck by utterly bonkers new ideas as in London—but all the other cities pretty much have that covered.
As Nicole Phelps wrote in her Altuzarra review “it’s been a week of ‘90s references, with other designers looking at Helmut Lang and Calvin Klein”. Phelps singles out two predominant competing visions: “cool minimalism on the one hand, and twisted conservatism on the other. But if either can persuade women to move on from the played-out provocations of edgy and sexual it will be a victory”. Amen to that.
The twisted conservatism (or “deranged bourgeoise”) attitude of many at the looks at Altuzarra —though it is admittedly a great niece of all things Prada, implies a rebellion, a weirdness, the simultaneous taking of ownership and messing with the classic codes of the jeune fille rangée that feels both soigné and current. Or maybe I’m just a deranged bourgeoise myself. Whatever.
Meanwhile some are saying that Proenza Schouler was more Helmut Lang than Helmut Lang itself in a good way and I kind of agree.
Proenza definitely went in for that American sportswear vibe, veering towards great separates with low-key attitude. Great slouch. What is it about this suit below that just gets me? Is it the straight, give a f*ck, I’ve got better things to do shape? The belty thing? Or the slick styling with the white v neck and red tights and sandals? Sold. And as I said in my stories today, I take back anything rude I ever said about v necks.
Ralph was being Ralph being Ralph this season and while some looks, I think, looked slightly dated, I’m a longtime fan of the signature Ralph Lauren vibe, it obviously fits my soul style like a glove in a different but equally important 90s way, and some things just can’t go out of style. Was glad to see the classics like the jacket below come out for another spin, with some fun styling. Great inspo for happy vintage RL owners.
Actual Helmut Lang, was a first outing for designer Peter Do and he definitely got Lang’s expert tailoring right. I feel like the importance of Helmut Lang is sometimes lost on Europeans but he was the be all of minimal tailoring in North America for a long time and it’s good to see someone filling his shoes nicely whilst added some rather punchy hot pink flashes. (Honestly, I didn't love the pink when I firsts saw it but I think I’m coming around to it.)
Special mention to Tory Burch for attempting to bring back three-quarter-length trousers (or “pedal pushers”as my mother would call them). She may just make fetch happen, TBC.
And there you have it. The late runway analysis absolutely didn’t ask for.
I’ll be back after Milan and Paris with more faves. In the meantime, my Weekly Recs are in my Instagram stories this time.
Keep it coming 👏🏼