Item Of Interest: Getting Back To Business
In this fortnightly column, we take a keen interest in things, celebrating the moods and whims that fuel desire. In this edition: a back-to-business look that exudes wisdom, worldliness, mystery and power.
Numerous thoughts this week, spurred quite naturally by the fact that a new year is (already?!) upon us. I've been thinking about all the big fashion moments this year (helpfully rounded up here). It's been a year of dopamine dressing, trying to put the fun back into what we put on. Fashion to dance in, even! It's been a year of reliable, future-proof choices – classics both "new" and enduring.
It all got me going about what ought to come next. Spring/Summer 2022 seems to be a season marked by optimism and liberation – which offers great vibes and plenty of options. But I want a little more direction. A plausible answer came to me earlier this week from two things. One: I was suddenly overcome with the desire to put on makeup and proper clothes. Two: I was thinking about the recent death of Joan Didion, who was an inspiration and North Star of journalistic and stylistic prose to countless writers.
Joan Didion as campaign model for Celine Spring/Summer 2015, lensed by Juergen Teller.
These two thoughts are incongruent, but they sort of joined when I got to wondering what Joan Didion might've worn while writing/working. We know for a fact that Didion worked at Vogue when she was younger, and learned the economy of language from writing fashion captions (ironically frivolous, but she's got the range I suppose!). There's also her infamous packing list from her 1979 essay collection The White Album. The wearables she included are as follows: "2 skirts; 2 jerseys or leotards; 1 pullover sweater; 2 pair shoes; stockings; bra; nightgown, robe, slippers".
Feasible then, that she might have lounged and drafted in a nightgown or a robe. But the discipline and rigour of her writing suggest to me the opposite: the skirts, jerseys, sweaters and shoes seem likelier. This was, after all, a writer who at age 15 typed out sentences from Hemingway to understand how his prose worked.
READ MORE: 11 Chic Shirt Dresses To Take You From Day To Night
There is something quite alluring about being at work. And I don't mean in the humdrum labour sense. I mean being productive, doing something, making things happen, getting things moving, and so on. I find people who are good at what they do endlessly fascinating – seriously, find a specialist and ask them questions! – and they have a kind of style that arises from substance.
Two other things happened that helped solidify my thoughts. First: I encountered some insipid marketing copy online about faux-rugged streetwear that said "workwear has never looked this good". Yuck! Phoney, and not in a good way. Two: I went into the Prada boutique at Ion Orchard. (Highly recommended when desire flags a little and you need an aesthetic pick-me-up!) In there, I saw THIS BEAUTY.
When I tell you I was floored, stunned, gobsmacked! Miraculously, the oracles at Prada had discerned and put describable form to my yearning. Like a beam of light cutting through shadowy clouds, I now had the words for it: I simply want to get back to business. The bag becomes a starting point for this idea. Briefcase-like, at home on the elbow of a powerful woman in business (or law? Not to get too corporate here) who needs a handsome tote that conveys her seriousness. Importantly: seriously chic, NOT stuffy.
Of course, I got sidetracked after the revelation at Prada and saw this adorably flippant dog figurine from Faure Le Page. Hard luxury brands make some of the darnedest and cutest novelty creations... a bicycle from Hermes, for example. But that is a topic for another day.
Hey, duality!
Like the topic of this week's edition, we ought to nod coolly and passingly at the digression and get BACK TO BUSINESS. There is an archetype of the capable-powerful-person-at-work, but you don't have to go all in and make it a total look. I certainly will not. What I do believe in, however, is the talismanic power of one or two carefully-chosen accessories (items of interest, if you will) to help these thoughts take off in reality.
The Amazona, when it was first launched in the 1970s, was meant as a work bag. This year, it got a refresh courtesy of Jonathan Anderson, with updated proportions and details. Key among these changes are apparently that the modern versions are sized to hold tech gadgets like tablets. Which is vitally of the moment, given that iPads with keyboard attachments are now feasible laptop replacements.
Part of the productive, busy person's get-up ought to include handsome shoes. Tod's, as a specialty maker of shoes, is a clear go-to. These loafers, in a shiny brown leather and with a lugged sole with a modest heel are handsome to the letter.
These loafers are perhaps the best shoes that Prada has come up with the past year. They've been the rare runaway hit that despite being popular, manages to not lose any cachet whatsoever. The women's comes in a slimmer shape than the men's version, which very subtly (but importantly!) softens the masculine look. I also love the little details that separate it from its men's counterpart: a gold print on the sole for the women's, and silver on the men's.
A brilliant detail from Maria Grazia Chiuri's Cruise collection for Dior is this architectural heel inspired by the sculptures of Constantin Brancusi. They also appear on sportier pumps, but for getting to work this lambskin style exudes tremendous artistic flair and – thanks to its supple lambskin construction – comfort.
Where the Dior pumps suggest subtle, artistic power, these Gucci slingbacks toss any notions of being genteel aside. They're a power trip/throwback to the 1990s, and effectively combine a very sexy silhouette with refined details like glossy croc-embossed leather.
A genius idea from a dear friend: "a singlet from The Row for when I'm rushing a deadline". The Row is all about luxury, but at its core the brand's ethos springs from the simple quest to make the perfect white T-shirt. A Platonic ideal of basics, in a way. This tank is a top tier example of comfort and good design meeting to confront down to the wire moments of productivity.
The rock 'n' roll energy of Balenciaga's City bag was rehabilitated under Demna to create the more stately-shaped Neo Classic. It's now got more structure, and uses leathers with a more polished (rather than papery or distressed) finish. While we think of work bags as non-negotiably black, this gorgeous muted brown shade gives the bag a real elegant character.
Jil Sander is the stalwart brand for intelligent, intimidating women who are inspiringly good at what they do. It is a brand that encourages discipline and finely-honed taste. It is also a brand that hit the nail on the head when naming this tote the File – alluding with great allure to important documents to be held and ferried. It's a slim bag, with three compartments lined in soft nappa leather.
Now, this is THE epitome of big bag girl boss energy, coming in at 35cm tall and 47cm wide – that's nearly half a metre! Bottega Veneta has honed in on more fashionable, trendy bag designs but this cabat tote style still has the sweet, whispering charm of a luxury creation intended for serious people. Also, big bags just naturally suggest that you have lots of things going on and no time at all to suffer fools.
At first glance, it is clearly woven leather from Bottega Veneta. But a more careful look will reveal that it's actually an upsized, diagonal interpretation of the weave (called intreccio, by the way, to differentiate from the classic intrecciato) rendered in calfskin and lambskin in a modern finish that's just the right degree of shiny.
I've learned that the easiest method of deception if you want to look immediately put together and ready for business is a killer jacket. Celine's tailoring is top notch, and Hedi Slimane cuts his jackets with a truly insouciant anonymity. They're really only recognisable to folks with a serious eye for cut and silhouette – which in this case is boxy in vibe, but just ever so slightly fitted to really flatter the body. The sport jacket details, like the patch pockets and golden medallion buttons, help tilt this jacket out of corporate power suit territory and into a more casual, contemporary one.
Manolo Blahnik is known, deservedly, for his beautiful high heels. But! The flats are tremendous. Case in point: these bicoloured lace up brogues in deep black and creamy ivory. They are beautiful because, although classically handsome in style, they're clearly made on a more feminine last which has the profile and leg-elongating effect of his heels.
I also love the Peretti name of this design. The brand doesn't state it outright, but I like to think they're a nod to the inimitably chic Elsa Peretti. It's a gateway to imagining yourself in the shoes of the legendary designer, sipping a martini out of a glass shaped like art, sketching biomorphic jewellery – a fun, fizzy fantasy to elevate the likelier reality that you are staring at a screen for work.