Trends

Shop the post: Twice as nice



double scarf styling

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” So said English walker Alfred Wainwright. (Or Billy Connolly, or lots of Norwegians, according to who you listen to.) If you agree and you’re reading this while sheltering from New York’s brutal winter, you have my sympathy. And a novel suggestion for staying warm; doubling up on neck wear.

This is something I used to do a lot, but I kind of forgot about it over the years. Wearing two scarves gives you double insulation as you’re trapping warmth in between the layers. The wider your scarves, the better as you’re then covering your whole neck as well as your ears.

Styling-wise, it gives you all sorts of options for colour, weight and texture play. For example, twist two complementary colours* together, wear a padded nylon scarf with a similar size wool one (above by Jil Sander* and Khaite*), or for minimal bulk, go for lighter-weight knits* (more…)



Ideas to steal from menswear aw22 street style



Acielle Style Du Monde Paris AW22 street style

Wow, menswear fashion week street style has moved on from the days of Pitti peacocks strutting in suits and monk-strap shoes. This season’s street style is as out there as you like, with mega oversized proportions (skinny jeans? We don’t know her!), clashing colours, skirts aplenty (layered over trousers) and supersized footwear, whether that’s chunky technical trainers or Rick Owens’ cult platforms*. (Do not talk to me about Crocs).

I’ve picked out the more subdued examples from Acielle’s beautiful shots. Key trends: visible-from-Mars MA1s and puffers (but more glam than gorpcore), elevated utilitarian headgear (balaclavas, bucket hats, beanies in outré colours and proportions), cross-body pouches (again, in the boldest, brightest interpretations) and most unexpected – neck ties! (more…)



Girls on wheels: Kayla Buium



Kayla Buium rollerskating

It’s time to bring back the rollerskating content!

Glorious Sport magazine has this great feature on the power of rollerskating, featuring Canadian artist Kayla Buium. The Toronto-based illustrator uses rollerskating in her street art as a form of self-expression and therapy for her anxiety.

“There’s always middle-aged ladies stopping me to say their piece about how they used to roller skate and I see little kids tugging on their parent’s arms and pointing at me. That makes me feel so good. I’m in the middle of the street, wearing my roller skates, doing little tricks, jumping on and off of the kerb and people are looking at me. I’m blasting my headphones. I definitely feel like I’m in a film. It just feels super empowering.” (more…)



Gentlewoman style: Max Mara archives



Max Mara archive

I have a soft spot for Max Mara. In my first job, I had a favourite Max Mara black coat that made me feel very grown up and stealth-chic (until it was swiped off the back of a chair from Costa coffee in Broadwick Street as I sat in a meeting across the road from my office at The National Magazine Company). It was the era of understated, 90s style and a Max Mara coat conferred a certain minimalist sophistication mixed with style anonymity.

“It’s about the logic of a man’s wardrobe, but for women,” (more…)