DIY Thursday: How to Give an Off-Trend Jacket Fresh New Style

Yesterday, this little number caught my eye in my local Oxfam. For £12/$20 it wasn't exactly a steal, but this is a fair price for an unworn, decently-made little wool jacket that could act as an instant updater for the other old standbys in my closet (plus add a layer to my always-freezing frame).

The biggest problem was its trendiness--back in 2007. The smock cut paired with oversize buttons tacked with cross-hatch stitching: pure Marc Jacobs. In the early noughties he nicked these style markers from the late-1950s (think Lucy Ricardo pregnant with Little Rickie). From his runways the look trickled down through the fashion strata, until every shop in the land featured a variation on the theme.



I'm not enough of a seamstress to change the basic silhouette (plus the volume appealled as an offsetter to skinny jeans and leggings). On the other hand, I could easily do something about those buttons. Off they came, replaced by a Deco-style pair that caught my eye in Aladdin's Cave shop of my local button lady.



Fifteen minutes of sewing time later, the jacket is no longer Marc's by way of some factory in Guangzhou, but mine. I'm having fun introducing it to various fixtures in my closet, like the polka-dot flamenco blouse, which needs toning down, and a classic denim shirt, which could use classing up.



This is a great kind of project if you can sew a button and want to stretch your wardrobe on the cheap. Remember: if a button is making you fashion history, it's the easiest part of a garment to renovate.

More Marc Jacobs: Gracefully Yours

My favorite item from the Marc Jacobs Spring 2010 collection, shown at Fashion Week in New York: this amazing, gossamer gown, as whispy as a spring breeze.

Was, by any chance, its inspiration a Grace--not Coddington--but one of three dancing a rondel in Botticelli's delightful painting of Primavera, herself the embodiment of the Spring season?



Maybe not, but it's nice to think so . . .

(Photo top: Catwalking/Getty Images, bottom, Primavera, Sandro Botticelli c. 1482, The Uffizi Gallery)

His Hoses Are Roses: Nude Leggings the Jacobs Way

From my front-row screen access to the Marc Jacobs Spring '10 collection show, I learn that fashion's erstwhile blue-haired boy has gone in for pale, loose leggings in a big way.

As Cathy Horyn of The New York Times reports, this is essentially Good For The Women (as opposed to other innovations from the fashion front, which are Horribly Bad For The Women, as Fluff Chance notes so perceptively at the Emperor's Old Clothes).

Jacobs might not agree, at least publically, but I'm convinced that the reason these leggings will be a huge trend the world over is modesty. Like the salwar element of Pakistan's national dress, the salwar kameez, they cover the legs while allowing unhindered stance and movement.

Isn't this why the garment essentially refuses to go away? We wear them for warmth, and we wear them for comfort (that lovely supporty lycra stretch against the legs) and we wear them most of all when that skin, fully exposed, would feel epidermally incorrect.

Anyway, if you don't feel like paying Jacobs-level prices for loose beige leggings, another option is to look online for silk longjohns typically used for skiing, which are much of a muchness. Keywords might include "thermal" "base layer" "tights". Do get them new, obviously. As ever, the word "nude" ignores the vast majority of women whose skintone is darker than bisque.

To wear, simply wack them on under a dress--they are near-brainless to style, which is one more significant reason to give them a try.

(photo top, Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times, photo bottom from www.salwarkameez.org.in)

Well Trompe My Oeil: Bags To Make You Look Twice

The minute I saw this season's "Shadow" Birkin from Hermès, I thought, that one makes sense. Because as surreal as its embossed horizontal locking straps may be, they seem far less fiddly than the traditional arrangement of leaving the real, "working" ones open to dangle.

This bag got me wondering. Was it the first true example of the trompe-l'oeil bag genre?

The answer: Nope, not at all. There is a longstanding tradition of design houses issuing handbags under faux pretenses.

Some nice vintage examples:

This YSL tote


A lovely Roberta di Camerino velvet number (she made these a trademark)

A more recent Marc Jacobs example of a cleverly stitched clutch.

So who knows what creativity lurks in the minds of luxe bag designers? Not only the Shadow knows.

(top photo from Harpersbazaar.com, by Toby McFarlan Pond)

Finding a Daily Uniform: Part I

I don't work in an office, and consequently am not obliged to look "professional", but am still constantly on the hunt for the perfect daily uniform. By this I mean clothes that require minimum effort to buy, wear, and maintain, but still lend a great casual look.

Here, I think Marc Jacobs, designing for Louis Vuitton, has it nailed. The proportions are perfect. He's used deluxe silks, but it would easily translate into cottons. And it readily scales up, meaning you don't have to be this thin to look this great.

The important points: The colors tone with each other, but the textures don't match, which lends subtle style. The knees are covered. The cut of the cropped pants is just loose enough to flow. The sleeves don't need to be this short: if you don't have Naomi's arms--even Naomi doesn't have these arms anymore--look for a longer, slightly more relaxed sleeve. The style can go from easy to amazing with the addition of a fantastic cuff bracelet, or gorgeous sandals.

Best of all? These cuts--classic polo shirt shape on top, cropped trous below--can be found in any decent charity shop/thrift store. You don't have to pay Vuitton prices to get a classic, easy, wearable look.

(photo Andrew Lamb, © Vogue, The Condé Nast Publications, Ltd)

Not Necessarily Fashion News

According to the style section of The New York Times: men in skirts merits a headline.

Please. Tell it to Marcus Aurelius. And the Scots Highlanders. The priests. And that guy I saw in the Centre Pompidou eight years ago, who looked so great in a calf-length black skirt and brogues.

It seems archaic that anyone living in a liberal society could get excited about whether or not fabric is partitioning the legs.

Now, if Marc Jacobs showed a truly contentious piece of clothing, like whale pants, that, my friends, would be newsworthy.