At the Market: Puff the Magic Jacket

A dip back into my fashion girl days.

Dec 01, 2023

Welcome to At the Market, your place to browse what’s in season in the Land of Oaks and Roses.

The beginning of my career was as fashion girl as it gets. I went from college to a desk at Prada with a lot of pride and enthusiasm. This tends to surprise people when they meet me now. I haven’t really cared about fashion in the last five years. It felt silly to invest in clothes when my body was in a constant state of pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding flux. Plus, there’s the everyday mix of snack, art project and snot that my clothes now have to endure. Whenever I go through change, I tend to purge my closet. I’ve given or thrown away a lot of the clothes I used to wear before kids. What I’m left with now is a closet with empty space, which feels somewhat sacred. Important at least. Representative of the skins I’ve shed. An invitation to somewhere new.

“You can retell your life and remember your life by the shape, the weight, the colour, the smell of the clothes in your closet. Fashion is like the weather, the ocean – it changes all the time.” Louise Bourgeois

I’m starting to feel myself care about clothes again. For starters, my daughter has developed an extreme love of getting dressed up. Her joy is contagious. It’s reminded me of the energy that comes from wearing something you love. It’s sort of incredible when you think about it for long enough. Getting dressed has started to feel like a way of honoring myself, which feels important now that my life is filled with the needs of others.

I’ve always known that this newsletter would allow me to dip back into my fashion girl days, which is really fun for me. I love what Substack is doing for fashion writers and editors. How cool is it read about clothes independent of big publishing, big advertising, and without an algorithm? Anyone who works in fashion understands how completely unique and special this is. I feel really lucky to be a part of it.

Today, I bring you a fashion question I am pondering in my own closet. What to wear when warmth is a requirement but you don’t want to feel like a walking marshmallow? I like to include a big range of price points not because I want to encourage anyone to spend a ton of money on clothes, but because I think it’s fun to be inspired by exquisite things. Beauty can give you a new idea, or tell you something about yourself even when you don’t buy the beautiful thing. Something I say to my kids a lot: “It’s always good to know what you want even when you can’t have it.” I think this is especially true for women. I’ll always include things that feel attainable too. Onto the outerwear!

Madewell, The Gianna Coat in Insuluxe Fabric, $338