Every week before Style Class, Keturah and I have a back and forth - to nail down the content. The convo is here - warts and all. The good rough draft.
Amy: I have the theme for Style Class worked out in my head! I’ve just wrapped up a long weekend with 8 women that are all at the very top of their game professionally - the C-suites at Fortune 100&500 companies - and the discussions have my head spinning. Conversations went from tokenization and crypto currency to how to dress “professionally” in the summer - and what “professional” even means any more. I want to use this week's style class to finish this convo….it’s a good one. Not only is there so much to consider in the summer time - but Stella brought in questions about how you tackle it from a trend perspective - and how she is to view it coming from a young professionals p.o.v. Lots to discuss here…….
The problems to solve:
Summer brings to mind Tibi ring 4 colors - but for many, showing up in country club or berry picking colors is a big character shift. How to maintain your Fall/Winter/Spring persona in Summer?
Layering is associated with looking chic - but in the summer, that’s often not practical. How do you get depth without relying on “the 3rd piece?”
Heat is real. Do we care? Or suffer through it?
Keturah: Oh, this is going to be interesting. I love a good multi-generational talk. Especially through the lens of creative pragmatism. Elaine [Tibi President] mentioned how all of the women on the trip, while wildly accomplished professionally, still had personal style as one of their key areas of desire (that’s counterintuitive for many). It’s important to them that their style reflect their intellect, ambition and creativity. And that’s similar to a younger person who is starting out in their 20s/30s. How could you NOT be energized by such amazing women?! I’m curious how far the pendulum has swung for these powerhouses in terms of what “professional” looks like for them now versus what it has looked like at other stages of their careers.
Amy: Well, interestingly enough, I was 22 when I started at Ogilvy Advertising and then at Amex starting at age 25 - I had to think a lot about what I was wearing, the impression I was making - and back then you had stricter rules to navigate. And even with rules that were clear what could fly or not (no leggings at Amex), beyond that there were subtle things that made you look and feel a little more “junior” than you wanted to. I was flat ass broke at Ogilvy - scouring outlet stores for suits and paying rent was barely manageable. I once had a Creative Director comment that shoes “gave away the person” - and then he cited me as an example. I was wearing black cheap loafers from PAYLESS - back then, there wasn’t a way to fake cheap. But all I could take away from that comment was that “shoes could tell you how much money one had or did not.” Don’t worry - I’m not scarred by it - the guy was an asshole. But it makes me think often about how to build confidence in one’s style so that when comments do come at you (they will - it is inevitable) you can better discern when to let it roll off - or when to listen (some times, people are right).
Keturah: Totally. Touching on Stella’s trends comment, I understand this having worked in various careers prior to design that resulted in a super bifurcated wardrobe as a young adult. It’s hard to navigate a closet full of popular items with your peer group and great for weekends vs. what is pragmatic and professional to wear to work. In many ways, straddling this fence is more restrictive and less sustainable to maintain, because there’s no way a young professional can get the cost per wear down on a wardrobe that includes a black suit, crop top, sheer items, sensible “pants” and prairie dresses. Like, I’d have to be doing accounting at a nightclub for that closet to be efficient.
Amy: Haha. Yes to that point, when the “c-suiters” and I talked about what flies at an office, the convo sometimes went to “is it because it’s women?”. To answer that, I like to flip a statement to see if it’s true - and that’s where you get more visibility about what is right or wrong. Like is full sheerness or a crop top right. Pictures speak louder than words.
Keturah: Yikes. I don’t want any part of what these guys are selling. This image is laughable, but really does make me think - what is true for the goose is also good for the gander or whatever the saying - you know what I mean. When my husband starts a new job or goes for an interview, I always ask him - “what did the women have on?” I can always gauge the pulse and culture of a workplace by how women dress themselves. Did they have on stiff suits and heels, did they have on jeans with a button down, or did they have on flats and their version of business casual? For color, he works in finance, so I could tell just how conservative the environment would be based on the women because it always seems we are judged harsher. Most times women had on a simple shift dress and flats, and I assume it was because dresses are easy to wear and also pragmatic for the busy professional - get to the office, looked polished, feel comfortable. Full stop.
Amy: Ok - think about that statement. You just said “the women are judged harsher.” But…..you said first that you could determine the vibe of an office by the way THE WOMEN are dressed - not the men. I think you said that because - on a scale of 1-10 in “creativity” - 10 being the most creative - if an office is a “1-7” let’s say, I bet every man in that office dresses exactly the same. Suit or khakis, button down, and a blazer. However, I bet the women in the most strict offices “1-3” dress like the men, but I AM SURE that the women in offices any more creative then a 4+ get much more range - a Miami Vice inspired suit…sure. Bold earrings? Duh. A colorful printed blouse? Yep. But a man would be skewered in these ensemble. I’d argue that in the end, men may be the ones dressed more harsher. I really don’t think every guy on my train to work truly truly loves their fit - there seems to be a lot of pressure there.
Keturah: damn. Ok that’s for thought and another full on convo.
Amy: yes, yes - ok task at hand - what to wear in the summer and look professional. When we are presenting - I want to focus on key notions:
Tibi ring 1&2 colors (the neutrals) in fabrications that are lighter in weight are the foundations for the summer work wardrobe.
Mixing ranges of color and texture can give depth without all the layers.
Hair and makeup can serious up an outfit that may read more weekend.
Should we start with dresses?
Keturah: Dresses in summer are easy to wear - yes. But a little more difficult to navigate. I think it could be interesting to show which dresses work straight up, which work layered, and which just flat out don’t work.
Like, nothing above works for the office. The Boucle Knit Sculpted Dress can fool you a bit, but that slit says no. Anything empire waisted has me on vacation; and hard no on embroidery items.
Amy: Yep on that assessment. Now for dresses that can work - depending on the right shoe and the right styling. My 25 year old self could have worn the Compact Stretch Cashmere Mini Dress to Amex in the summer with loafers and a blazer on a Friday. The Slip Dress requires deft layering, but absolutely can work. I’d put it over a teeshirt and add a light blazer. And then the Recycled Sporty Nylon Cheetah Dress if I have a light sweater and belt I think I could make it work - none of these are headed to Goldman Sachs Mon-Thursday wear but this flies at a large range of places.
These two are really easy to work with. I think the T-Shirt Sleeveless Dress is quite obvious in that it is a summer weight but the color and the design is quite polished. A closed toe shoe like the Malcolm shoe makes both these infinitely more office vibed. What’s probably a surprise is how versatile the Drapey Suiting Jumpsuit is. My younger self would have bought a vintage mens jacket (this one is 80s Men’s JCrew) to toss over my shoulders in an airconditioned office.
This shoe is also the SAVIOR for summer time:
The Victor Embossed Snake Slingback would probably be the shoe I wear the most - you have the chill and the openness but decidedly workey - but then jeans and a big sweater and socks in the winter it’s perfection.
Keturah: So let’s talk suiting. We are far removed from an all black or navy world for suiting. I guess this is true for some. How would you navigate suiting in the Summer?
Amy: SUCKS we are out of the Drapey Suiting - I think that’s why it went so quickly is it was EXACTLY what was needed. The weight, serious but not too….it’s perfect.
My game changer was this Silk Nylon Straight Trouser: the pant is literal perfection…I also have the jacket and the trouser skirt here. I wear it at any speaking event now - here at SCAD and with Fana when we did that event in D.C:
But here’s the thing, I think that the STUPID good item that is ridiculous on everyone is the Italian Sporty Nylon Sunray Pleated Pull On Skirt - I mean, gold medal to Traci on these…
Keturah: Ok. I gotta enter the chat here. Skirts in general and our skirts specifically are THE MOST AMAZING thing to wear in all faucets of life. Like how is it, that I can wear the same pleated skirt with sneakers, heels, a blazer AND the Batik Camp Skirt. Gold effing metal for sure.
To be honest, all of our skirts pull me in the direction of PDW, but the Italian Sporty Nylon Sunray Pleated Pull On Skirt has the sensibility of a pull on and the refinement that is very hard to balance with pleated skirts. I get the same vibe with the Oliver Cotton Stretch Tricotine Pintucked Skirt. Effortless, cooling and modern. Neither of these make you look like a librarian grandma or Velma from Scooby Doo.
Amy: yes - and all these are those Tibi ring 2 colors - even the ring 3 “no-color name-colors” - that’s what’s key. A bright pink skirt doesn’t land the same. And don’t forget the tropical wool trouser skirt - this thing is 12 months for sure - and as someone who worked in Hong Kong for 4 years, I can attest to this. And the cotton shirt has stretch - I don’t do a lot of fitted tops but I’m in love here. I’m wearing it to work and will keep it on for live. Skirt here and Top here. This bag is Bottega - I paid a lot to look Iike I’m carrying a paper bag. To note, I was super purposeful with the white Watch - it gives a good nod to summer. What a white shoe does, only on your wrist.
Live is done - this clip is particularly good about depth! You can find the full live here On Youtube
This gave a lot to think about for sure! I don't need to be thinking about office wear right now because luckily I'm a student which provides a lot more freedom. But when I enter the classroom in the future (as a teacher, not a student) I'm definitely investing in both the Oliver skirt and the wool trouser skirt Amy is wearing at the end. So chic, so cool and still appropriate!
I love the idea of the silk/nylon maxi skirt for summer in the office - sadly it looks like I wasn't fast enough to grab one before they sold out!