SALE ITEMS: NOT JUST WHAT BUT WHY

I’m sharing my thinking, here. So you can think. Ok?

What I would buy on sale, and most importantly, WHY?? This isn’t a list of things I think you should buy, rather it’s examples of ways you can think about what to buy. Thinking is good, it helps us understand our motivations and it minimizes missteps.

To be as helpful as possible, I’m going to put myself into the minds of the different people that dm me. While without fail, many of us share a similar mindset here, creative yet highly pragmatic, and there’s a thru-line in how they describe themselves: chill, modern and classic (tho the emphasis on each adjective may vary, depending), our needs may be wildly different depending on where we are in life. Some of you are just venturing in to your careers, some are phasing out. Many are juggling lots of demands, and even if the dollars are plenty, there’s still a desire to be thoughtful, smart. Some are building up their wardrobe, and it’s not because they’re finally earning income for the first time or exiting a career with a stash of it, but simply because they’ve just now figured out who they are. And once that happens, you want the outside to match the inside, as fast and as thoughtful as possible. If you’re older, you recognize those past knee jerk reactions to sale or shopping in general have led to a pile up in the closet; if you’re younger, you’re adding up all the small purchases you’ve made, especially the regretful fast fashion, and wondering how.in.the.very.fuck did the tab get so high?

So, I’ll help you here. Two PROFILES we’ll focus on for this stack:

PROFILE 1: You’re EXITING your career years, you’re crazy active and you can’t believe that it took so long to figure out your style. I mean, really. Ok, it is what it is, but now you know. And that’s good.

PROFILE 2: You’re ENTERING your career years. Maybe a first job or two is under your belt. You’re close to understanding your style and you want the investments you make to last a long time and do what they’re supposed to do: make you feel a shit ton of confidence, the type that comes when you’re smart. I don’t mean smart looking, I mean that you think about your choices and understand what’s underlies them.

THE ITEM: The Adler Blazer.

THE WHY:

EXITERS: Yes, you’ve got lots of blazers from your previous life, but that was before you understood that you’re much more effortless than those perky, princess seamed numbers you own would suggest. You’ve kept them around, you’ve been so sure that “blazers are a thing and you’ll wear them again one day.” But the reality is that you won’t, because they’re stuffy and uptight and far too classic. And you’re not. So don’t think of this as a blazer, but rather it is the topper you wear with jeans and a tee, it’s what you polish up a sweatpant with at the aiport and it drapes over your shoulders for an evening out in the summer. It functions like a sports jacket, something that navy blazer with gold buttons in your old closet will never do. And you’ve always loved blazers, now you get to wear them your way. Fuck, you wish you’d known this earlier.

ENTERERS: You need that blazer that works in any professional setting, but no, no, you don’t want to look literally like everyone else. Since creativity is the NUMBER ONE prized attribute at companies, a LinkedIn survey confirms this, you want to lean in here. Heavy handed styling can make you “look creative” but when it’s fully embedded in one item, it becomes part of you rather than piled on you. Like this blazer, chill but is still incredibly put together, one that has even a detail in the back that is modern but really in a “if you get it you get it sort of way.” No question, this is the one. Plus the material is a year round weight and bonus is you also wear with jeans and over a chic slip dress. Smart, no?

THE ITEM: DBL FACED CASHMERE KNIT

EXITERS: So much travel is on the docket, dinners out, and so is hanging around the house putting pen to paper, writing the book you always wanted to come together. All of it calls for refinement, you certainly haven’t “checked out” afterall. Just because something is insanely comfey doesn’t mean it gets sloppy, this one with a high neck and quite literally the softest creature ever is perfect. From sitting by fireplaces to your book launch, this one is perfect.

ENTERERS: One day, you’ve thought, you’ll make the plunge for a super rich cashmere sweater that you’ll have forever. Anything that has too many details is off putting, you want to be able to make it evolve over the years, or be able to manipulate it with each outfit you wear. Maybe pushing up the sleeves, layering it with a white tank that pops out or twisting up the bottom and wearing it a bit cropped. You know for certain you’ll never wake up thinking “what the fuck did was I thinking,” this one’s a keeper forever.

THE ITEM: PINTSTRIPE KNIT DBL WAISTBAND PANT

EXITERS: This one touches on what’s now your former life, but hardly has you walking the corporate halls with files in hand. It hints to that but it oddly feels like pajamas on, and it’s so fucking interesting. There’s many ways you’ll wear it dress, but with a big grey sweatshirt and trainers it’s also taking you all the way from San Francisco to Paris. TSA holds you up, but only to ask you how in the hell that waistband is constructed.

ENTERERS: The dream pant. With a belt on the bottom waistband and a shirt, it looks like a “normal” pant, that first time meeting with the lawyers has you fitting in but standing out, if mostly in your mind, which is where it counts. Worn with a big sweater, it has all the super ease of a full pant that’s absurdly comfortable. And weekends call for a tank top or cropped tee, super eased, modern, and a bit classic. Which it should be when you’re making this type of investment. It if had been bright red, you would have siloed that to a one and done purchase, and definitely at a much lower price point. But this one, even as directional as it is, is meant to be forever.

As I was writing, and likely as you were reading, two themes were coming up:

EXITERS, you know how I talk about a bifurcated closet? It’s also important not to have a bifurcated life. What you exited, that career world, holds a big place with you, it’s the combination of all the years that made you what you are. You can no longer visualize days spent in a formal pant suit, but you’re also not floating around life now in a chic silk caftan or taupe colored drawstring trousers and creamy colored knits. That’s just not your vibe, it never was, why would it be now? Different circumstances but you’re the same person. Now that you’ve figured out that balance of creativity and pragmatism, and expressing it in items that are chill but still modern and a bit classic, doing it with pieces that connect the past with the present feel exactly, perfectly, you.

ENTERERS, everyone’s told you to invest in classics, the “basics”. They even coined a term “quiet luxury” for you to feel like it’s super of the moment. But you got burned. You bought the slim sensible blazer, that pleated pant, and then you felt so.damn.basic. You didn’t realize that what you should be looking for are pieces that are absolutely pragmatic but still highly creative. This is your sweet spot that makes you feel whole and yourself.

So go forth, think, reflect. You’ve got time, get this right. Ok?