Hi People!!!!!
Welcome back to the newsletter! It has truly been a wild two weeks since we last saw each other. During the first week of my absence I had a extremely busy work week and then a job I applied for requested a rather lengthy project as the next step of the application. As you’ll see below, the newsletter I had planned for that week was not exactly schedule-friendly, but I resolved to finish it for the following week. BUT THEN! The absolutely wild weather in Dallas extended my trip in NYC a few days longer than I expected, AND THENNNNNNNN that job application requested an interview along with another labor intensive presentation. I really missed chatting with all of you these last two weeks, but I got the job!! So I hope you can forgive me. Anyhoo, this week’s newsletter is a breakdown of my favorite trends for spring/summer 2021. I spent a lot of hours with my eyeballs glued to Vogue Runway slideshows, so I reallyyyyy hope you like it.
Spring trends
The wonderful thing about fashion nowadays is that there are a million different places to find inspiration. Where the trend cycle used to be more of a trickle down model with the big designer names setting the tone for the season and everyone else hopping on board to copy them, it’s become more of a web in recent decades. Designer shows, magazine editorials, street style, and more all influence each other for a diverse mixture of styles that all contributes to the look of an era. Social media is, of course, an excellent place to look for outfits and trends you might like, but because each individual’s algorithm is carefully tailored to show them exactly what they want to see, you will likely be served a completely different set of trends than I would. This is perfectly alright with me because I firmly believe that personal style reigns supreme in terms of the fulfillment I seek through clothes and fashion, but for the purposes of trying to identify overarching trends, it makes things a little tricky. This is why the fashion week shows, in all their art and glory, are a monolith worth examining each season, which is what I’ve decided to do here.
Maybe it’s just easier to make generalizations about the style of an era once some time has passed, but it seems to me that designers have embraced personal style more and more in recent years too, each collection evolving and expanding their own unique aesthetic rather than pushing a singular look. This makes it difficult to pinpoint “the” silhouette or color or print of the season, though many publications will still sell you the idea that such a singular idea of style exists. I do believe, however, that there is a broader set of trends that underlies the best collections of the season, a shared energy pulsing through the shows that felt modern and true to our times. These are probably much less specific than your usual list of trends, but I will show you why that’s a good thing.
The macro trends
Proportion play
Among the shows that felt the most fresh and modern, experimenting with exaggerated proportions was probably the most common thread. The really successful looks were the ones that balanced an oversized piece with more streamlined or skimpy elements. Amy Smilovic always prescribes “Big, Slim, Skin” as a rule of thumb for oversized styles, but that rule was on full display way beyond the Tibi show. Valentino balanced oversized button downs with long bare legs, and Dries Van Noten paired an oversized short with a bulkier top half instead of baggy trousers to let the legs provide some levity. You can imagine how the Dior look pictured above would feel frumpy with an ankle boot instead of a sandal that showed a little skin or without the slimming belt. Similarly, Louis Vuitton used a thick belt to define the waist in an otherwise baggy ensemble. Previously, an outfit made of all tight silhouettes was a rebellion against modesty, and a totally oversized look a protest against objectification of the female form. It seems now the modern statement is of a more balanced whisper—an embrace of both the femininity and masculinity at play within us all.
Girlish details
On any given “10 Spring Trends You Need To Try” article, you will probably find at least one of the following: ruffles, bows, pearls, feathers, lace, the list goes on. And all of these things are true, there were quite a lot of ruffles, bows, pearls, feathers, and lace on the runways. But by focusing on any one of them, you miss the bigger picture painted by all of them together. These girly details signify the embrace of a femininity separate from sexuality. Unlike feminine styles of the past that showed off the ideal female form with low necklines and nipped waists, designers used embellishments and extras to exude femininity without reducing a woman to the shape of her body. Mixing these sweet details with menswear silhouettes and tomboyish layers bring balance to these outfits and further embrace the more modern and fluid ideas of what it means to be feminine or masculine and both.
Subtle sexuality
Designers also leaned into more subtle and surprising elements of sex appeal. Unlike the barely there dresses of the ‘90s or the ultra-low jeans of the early 2000s, these outfits demonstrate a more nuanced version of what sexy even means, showing skin with unique cut-outs, sheer materials, and balanced bra tops. Rather than walking the line between risqué and modest, the best spring shows showed off skin in a way that was more subtle and creative than provocative. As with the proportion play, it has become more of a statement to simply choose exactly how and when to show skin than to completely cover up or, alternatively, bare a shocking amount. Choosing creative cut out placements or pairing a skimpier top with wide leg trousers topples the idea that women dress for men and confounds the male gaze. It allows for an embrace of all parts of your body, not just the hyper-sexualized ones. I believe this range of choice and desire for balance is a result of growing acceptance of women and all of their identities which were so frequently limited by sexuality in the past.
Comfort is king
It seems that designers finally understand that we want to wear their clothes in real life. Shocking! While ready-to-wear shows are always more wearable than their couture counterparts, they’ve still served more as a source of inspiration to be distilled into apparel suitable to the everyday routines of the masses rather than translated literally. The biggest sign of this shift is the growing number of brands styling their shows solely with flat shoes, already championing a vision of style more achievable for your daily commute. On top of that, more and more designers from Celine to Valentino to Paco Rabanne showed very laidback denim styles. Others created breezy maxi dresses, slouchy jackets, and athleisure-inspired looks, all of which proves the core thesis of my life that style is truly for everyone and every occasion.
All of these overarching trends have been building for years, and whether the changing times or changing styles came first is a question of the chicken or the egg, each element deeply interwoven in how society sees us and how we see ourselves. You might think none of this is that deep, and maybe you’re right, but I do think noticing which elements of style align with the current climate is how you keep your style rooted in the present. No matter which individual items you put on or how you describe your look, if you’re thinking about the bigger themes, the elegant balances at play in the art of style, you will feel modern and fashionable every time.
The personal trends
Now here is where I will go into the fun stuff, the smaller trends that publications pick up on and try to pretend are a universal arbiter of style. What those articles don’t acknowledge is that we are naturally biased to notice the things we like and want to be true and to ignore the things we do not. These are the more specific trends that jumped out at me from the collections I viewed. It’s quite possible you could have looked at the same collections and pulled out a completely different set of trends, and that, my friends, is the beauty of personal style.
My favorites for this week include bubble hem skirts, made modern by longer lengths and more exaggerated proportions, caftans with a sporty twist, crochet mixed with other patterns, and dizzying prints in a range of colors. If you look at these photos and think, “Ugh I do not like any of these baby trends Maddy picked out, what the hell is she thinking?!” That’s wonderful! That means you have a unique perspective! Take a look at the shows for yourself, at the patterns that emerge among your favorite fashionistas to pick and choose which elements are right for you. I personally believe that as long as you style them according to the macro trends I outlined above, you can’t go wrong.
Questions of the week
“I am curious about where you work and how you landed your job. I want to work in fashion journalism but I have my degree in something else and now I feel stuck plz helppp”
I’m not so sure I’m the right person to ask for career advice (ask my mom about my many mental breakdowns over the topic and you’ll know why), but I do have a couple things I can share! My current position is the Social Media and Marketing Manager at ModeSens, which is basically a startup that created a search engine for shopping. This job sounded like an absolute dream to me when I applied. I would get to write and post about fashion all day, duh. I studied advertising in college, not a fashion-related degree, so this felt like a really good blend of what I learned in school and the industry I wanted to work in. I won’t get into specifics, but this was not exactly the reality. So first and foremost, don’t get too hung up on the “dream job” because it might not turn out how you expect anyway.
But as I mentioned in the beginning of the newsletter, I just got a new job! In two weeks I will start as the Content Manger for the U Up podcast at Betches Media where I’ll be focused on creating content and building community. And this too is a dream job in a way. I am huge fan of the podcast and Betches in general, so I almost feel like I’m going to work for my favorite celebrities. My only piece of advice about how to get a job comes from this experience: don’t just tell them what you can do, show them. If you’re familiar with the podcast, you know they play “Red Flag or Deal Breaker” on each episode, so I made a “Red Flag or Deal Maker” video about myself to highlight why I would be great for the job. I attached the video to my application along with my resume and cover letter to show them my social media skills along with my knowledge and understanding of their brand. And I guess it worked because here I am! I think this strategy could work especially well for you if you don’t have fashion journalism experience on your resume. Attach a sample of your writing (preferably tailored to the company you’re applying to), include a mock up layout, or provide some other creative project that can show off the talents not demonstrated by your resume. I personally hate writing cover letters because they always feel fake and forced, but giving the company a tangible example of what you can do gets their attention, shows how badly you want the position, and backs up the claims made in the rest of your application.
Finally, I would also advise you to look for experiences that maybe aren’t strictly fashion related, but that would provide translatable experience and skills. It was a little hard for me to decide to move away from a job technically in the fashion industry (my dream!) and into a media role with no fashion focus. However, I know that the experience of building a brand and a community will be equally applicable and needed in the fashion industry if I want to advance in that field. Plus, I still have all of you as my fashion outlet!!!!!!!!!!!!
My question for you
Do you track fashion trends? If you do, which ones are you excited to try for spring? Are there any that you want to wear but you’re not sure how? (I can help!!!!!!)
Recs of the week
If you happen to be in NYC, try the quiche Lorraine from Jadis. I never thought I would feel so strongly about a quiche.
Read Luster by Raven Leilani - This book was funny and dark with the most addictive prose I’ve ever read.
Subscribe to Alison Roman’s newsletter. I have yet to actually attempt any of the recipes she’s sent because I refuse to cook anything that takes longer than fifteen minutes or requires me to dirty more than two dishes, but they all look delicious.
Watch Insecure on HBO. I am deeply ashamed that I watched Emily In Paris before this glorious production.
That’s everything I have for this week! Thank you again for your patience with this one, I will try not to leave you hanging like this again!!!! Please feel free to chat with me via email or comment or DM, hearing from one of you always makes my day. Ok love you byeeeeeeeee!
Cheers,
Maddy
Thanks for the summary! I love that “ comfort is king!” Of course. And the more subtle form of sultry is definitely more inspiring to me! Congratulations on the new job!!! 😘😘