Trend reports from Copenhagen
And the only item you need to make a going out outfit great
Welcome to the Sunday newsletter.
An every seven days curation of touch sight taste and sound in relation to fashion and beyond. An accountability marker to maintain the never-ending curation of style, and to stay in contact with the senses through fabulous things.
Song of the week
This spot in the letter is saved for the song that encapsulated the feelings of the week.
It’s a suggestion meant to be paired in the background on loop while you work through the letter on a computer.
This week’s song is Ready Steady Go by Harry Styles
LIGHT BITES OF THE WEEK
What makes for a great going-out outfit
I booked a new client a few weeks ago based in Copenhagen, which is always a treat. Getting to work in person is often more fun than over a screen, and if nothing else, having the chance to bitch about the weather or the ubiquitous yet unspoken dress code of Danish society is good for the soul.
One of our many topics of discussion during our first chat was how complicated getting dressed can be for the elusive, unspoken dress code that evening rendezvous often fall into. Lovingly referred to in the 2010s fashion magazine culture as “Day to night outfits”-
These ensembles fall into occasions like grabbing a casual drink or going on a walk to nowhere after a bite to eat. Maybe even sitting in your living room, knowing that it’s most definitely an occasion to get dressed for, but you’re not quite sure what’s one step above pajamas and two below a sequined top.
I recently wrestled with this myself last week when I went to my girlfriend’s friend’s casual birthday drinks at 6:30 PM.
We traveled by bike and arrived while it was still daylight. We were seated in a cozy velour booth that suggested some little heel or sheer top should be present, but were served by a waiter who genuinely didn’t care if we lived or died.
It might have been appropriate to wear a sequined mini skirt or a graphic tee — maybe both at the same time. I don’t know!
The problem with occasions like this is that they come sporadically, so every time you have the opportunity to practice, you’re most likely in a different routine, style, or maybe even body type than the last time. Similar to when we pull clothing out of boxes at the turn of a new season, when it’s been so long since you last dressed for a specific occasion, you have to reteach yourself how to do it all over again. And reteaching yourself when you have 20 minutes to get out the door? Forget it.
I decided to take a little time to be proactive on both your behalf and mine, and planned out some elusive evening outfit formulas for you to give a whirl.
As I began my outfit-building routine (instrumental jazz on the speaker in the room next door and a swift lighting and pass of Palo Santo in the closet), a clear solution revealed itself known to me:
The poncho
A poncho is “a simple, loose-fitting outer garment consisting of a single piece of fabric with a slit or hole in the center for the head.” This garment transcends cultures, countries, and dress codes; it’s nearly physically undefinable because of its asymmetrical draping, and its for this very reason—its abstractness—that I believe it to be the ultimate antidote to any unknown dress code.
I started with a sheerer version of the outer layer, with this particular fabric leaning further into the elusive nature of wherever the wearer is going. Instinctively, it felt appropriate to pair something tight to the skin underneath, that still has enough detail to really POP out from the body.
Unfortunately, this felt too boxy. The square of the buckle, the sharp angles of the pattern, and the clear rectangular shape of the pants were too much of one thing for my liking. Besides the hem of the outerwear, there isn’t any real sense of fluidity until you hit the shoes, and by then it’s already too late to perceive the outfit as anything other than what it is: square.
For a simple anecdote, I swapped the undershirt for a softer option and encouraged it to drape along my body by leaving the belt on under the tank.
The outfit was starting to move in a better, softer direction, but perhaps still too formal for some evening plans, so I decided to try to execute the theory in an even more relaxed texture: crochet.
I’ll never forget the day I pulled this little guy out of a plastic bin on the ground at a Danish flea market in the park. A swift exchange of two sweet American dollars, and he was all mine.
I love nearly every outfit this poncho is part of; however, this one felt a little like cheating. It’s an outfit I have worn many times before, and looking back now, having parsed through my specific opinions on the abstract lines of a poncho, it’s clear why I unintentionally assumed it was a safe outfit for all occasions. So to fluff it up, I played with some scarf styling.
Another massive factor at play here is heat. I’d even venture to say the main problem with outfit building for the nighttime is the fact that bars, no matter how highbrow, seem to be one of those vortex locations where your body heat starts rising the second you walk in the door and doesn’t stop until you leave. You leave, and are met with the night, which is often oodles of temperatures lower than when you walked into the establishment.
We are currently in that exquisite time of year when scarves can replace jackets and provide just enough fabric to keep you warm without having to tote around a blazer all day. So on went the scarves.
Lastly, I decided to throw in a much brighter, textured option to see if I could chill it out enough to be an appropriate player in our puzzle.
And while I do love this piece with my whole heart (it was the only time I broke my rule of buying something in front of a client while we were vintage shopping in Brooklyn), practically, it just doesn’t make sense for wherever the night may take you.
Who knows where you’ll end up, but odds are you’ll probably eat or drink, and in this scenario, anything with fringe—especially fringe you can’t wash—is probably best left on the rack instead of draped across miscellaneous dishes and martini glasses.
With that, I decided to move on to planning outfits with styles that may seem a bit more obvious. However, for the best results, I recommend pairing them like this:
Going out tops must always be paired with uniquely shaped, but barely textured bottoms
Why? Going out tops are often in this category because they have some unique texture to them. They showcase draping fabrics, beading, or design details that make them POP! Because of this, you will most likely find an outfit feels more harmonious when pairing something with a lot of visual structure on the bottom.
Mini skirts must always be paired with a jacket worn as a top
This is kind of a lie, but for the sake of continuity, I felt like I should write it that way. It’s not that I only pair mini skirts with jackets worn as tops; it’s just that I do about 99% of the time.
For me, miniskirts can sometimes feel like a high-risk item. I’m very comfortable wearing them with flip-flops, but for the evening, I will most likely want a higher shoe, like a wedge or a strappy heel. This opens a very large can of worms.
Now, with a mini skirt paired with a heel, there are only so many combinations I can make without the outfit immediately feeling overly over-the-top, and for the purpose of this experiment, that’s not where we’re trying to live right now!
Because of this, I often find that a buttoned-up jacket provides a very specific shape to an outfit. It creates something that feels fitted but never skin-tight—boxy, but with more detail because of whatever closures or buttoning it needs to be classified as a jacket. Whether I intend to or not, I often find that, with a mini skirt, a buttoned jacket is its best partner.
All the design details clients are shopping for this spring, and people are wearing in Copenhagen
It was an incredibly gloomy Saturday in Copenhagen when I dismounted my bike and approached the lawn of one of my favorite flea markets in Frederiksberg.
The usual lineup was present: Danish-made wooden chairs and a beautiful assortment of random ceramic kitchen organizational items. One of the many marvelous side effects of living in a city like Copenhagen is that, if you find the right pocket, you can stumble upon groups of people providing an absolute masterclass in getting dressed simply by walking down the street.
I’ve been noticing a pattern in which a client points out an item or style that feels a little offbeat — maybe a trending silhouette in a fresh texture or a specific colorway I’ve been seeing more and more of. From there, I’m intrigued, and I keep my eyes open. Another client or two might mention something similar over the course of a few weeks or months, and then I start noticing it on the streets here in Copenhagen. A few months later, I begin seeing it in small doses in New York.
This is a slightly awkward and fully nonsensical version of a trend report: no math or data, just a roundup of some of the most recent patterns I’ve noticed over the past eight months.
Raw silk shorts
Iridescent fabrics/Silk organza
90s minimalism or 00s maximalism, not a lot of in between
Purple everything
Clutches
My third Missoni style clutch in one single day
Believe it or not, these two photos were taken three months apart. This photo was taken at CPHFW with a Dries Van Noten clutch, the above was taken at the flea in April with a clutch sold at Boozt (Copenhagen’s online-only fast fashion hub)
Style Exercise of the Week
Everyone has an occasion they loathe getting dressed for. It could be the bar, work, after-school pick up, or the club. Style is just one of those organic things, meaning it thrives in some environments and not in others. This does not mean you have a weak spot or a secondary wardrobe to buy to fulfill this one occasion or dress code. It simply means you need a little more time to plan ahead.
Choose an occasion you feel your style struggles to translate into.
Then use this formula to build five outfits in preparation for this occasion:
An item of clothing that you feel represents your style the best. (Could be anything! Socks, a brooch, or a jacket…)
An item of clothing you feel is perfectly appropriate for the occasion, even if you don’t love it.
Three accessories or items you usually forget to think about. (This could be socks, a scarf, jewelry, a watch, or a layer underneath your clothing, like a tank top under a button down)
Once you have these outfits planned, photograph them and save them in your phone for later. In one week, return to them and see if you would change anything to make them a better representation of your style. Like any great artist, you often need space from what you create to see it clearly.
That’s everything for this week. Do your exercises, stretch those styling muscles, and don’t forget:
Style is everywhere—don’t miss it!
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