Given the ubiquity of street photography, it can now be easier to trend-spot outside fashion shows than inside. Case in point: the big and bold retro skirts so many women
were wearing at the shows last month. You almost expected Carmel Snow to pull up in a Cadillac Brougham. Zanita Morgan, a model turned blogger and photographer, was a latter-day Grace Kelly in a voluminous skirt and angora sweater; Eva Chen, the Lucky editor, was uptown chic in a brocade Tibi; and Eleanor Strauss, the style director of Shopbop, wore a shorter style with a fitted crop top and leather jacket. While the days are still mild, you can pull off a hint-of-skin top under a leather jacket or peacoat.
For winter, try a relaxed-fit pullover and a waist-cinching coat that hits a few inches above the hemline of the skirt. Or for a different play on proportions, match with a slim turtleneck and short boxy jacket. On your feet: tall boots or ladylike heels. And, unless you’re perversely proud of your undergarments, beware of those subway grates.
Under It All, the Poetry of Silk
True & Co., an e-commerce site founded in 2012 to make bra shopping a less fraught experience — there’s an online fit quiz and a home try-on service — has enlisted Nikki Dekker of the cultish lingerie line the Lake & Stars to design a private label collection. Called She Walks in Beauty (+ Light), Ms. Dekker’s collection (she’s also the site’s new creative director) is appealing in the way that Lake & Stars is, with undies that can be layered and worn as outerwear. They’re done in luxe silk and a soft color palette, with patterned straps, cutouts and contrast closures, all at accessible prices of $24 to $94. This plunging bodysuit, available in black or mint with black straps, at $94, is a sexy piece to layer under a sharp jacket. At trueandco.com.
Worthy of a Song Or at Least A Bit of Boasting
In its first season, Kara, a line of smart everyday handbags, was impressively picked up by Opening Ceremony, Harvey Nichols in London and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong. Designed by Sarah Law, who worked as an accessories designer at Gap, the line, including a pebble leather backpack that keeps selling out, is easy, cool and affordable. (The name is borrowed from one of her favorite activities, karaoke.) “I don’t really buy things that are over $1,000,” Ms. Law said of her moderate pricing. “I’ve maybe done it once in my life, and it was a really big deal.” Her new resort collection has backpacks and smaller stowaway bags in speckled cream calf-hair and mesh, but we are especially fond of this dry bag, which has an adjustable strap so it can also be carried as a bucket bag.
