Fashion in the Time of Covid

At this time of the year I like to look at the fashions for the coming season and so I am doing it now, especially curious how designers make their creations relevant for the time of Covid, when many people spend days at home in their pajamas. Other increasingly common clothing items have been running shoes, training pants, hoodies, fleece jackets and puffers. Even the usually elegant French women seem to have let themselves go a little bit under the circumstances. Designers must be perfectly aware of the mood because they seem to be offering more elaborate variations of the clothes people are already wearing.

Paris street fashion, 2021

Passing by a few clothing stores in Washington's trendy Georgetown on a Sunday in December, my friend and I came across a small boutique with a display of long evening dresses in its windows. We looked at each other with the question in our eyes: is there any place where you can wear something like this, even on a New Year's Eve? The shop looked like a relic from a bygone era. And maybe it was not even open. It was hard to tell on that Sunday.

Boutique Lovely, Georgetown, Washington DC

The Washington area clothing stores have not quite adjusted to the Covid era. The racks are still full of dresses, high-heeled shoes and fancy jewelry as well as formal suits and ties for men. There are also tons of sports and casual items, of course, but no more than before the pandemic.  Some stores have closed permanently - Camper Shoes among them - and some still have their fronts boarded up since the BLM and election riots. But inside the stores, nothing has changed.

Designers, on the other hand, exhibit more awareness of the world around them than most US clothing merchants.  The new apparel focuses on the comfortable to the degree of frumpy and ill-fitted. Wardrobe basics include oversized "boyfriend" shirts, thick sweaters, big jackets, baggy pants and huge overcoats, intended to accommodate all the bulky items underneath when you run out to grab a bottle of milk from the corner store. In a pinch, women can borrow men's clothes for any occasion. 

Balenciaga, Spring 2021  

                                             

I have been a great fan of Scandinavian fashions for years. But the Nordic favorite this year - a sleeveless sweater I have always hated - takes it down a notch or two on my top list.  The reincarnation of my grandmother's knitwear looks to be crocheted from the yarn leftover from a cottage blanket she made all those winters ago.  When I was the age of the model in the photo below, you would not see me dead in the concoction she is showing off. But knitting has seen revival during Covid and designers are letting you know they approve.

Copenhagen, 2021

Now the shoes: they must be super comfy, with solid wide bottoms and tight ankles to ensure that you don't wobble during the five-mile daily exercise walks, or cause even a hint of a blister.

Platform boots, 2021

Spring Fashion 2021

While the winter apparel leans toward comfy and cosy, designers show optimism that the pandemic might subside by the summer and turn to light, airy and cheerful items. We see a plethora of fluffy concoctions for women and colorful creations for men.

 Summer fashion, 2021

Men's fashion, spring 2021

Much to look forward to, even though we are not quite sure if there will be occasion to show off our new wardrobe. Will anyone still have desire to dress up if you cannot join a crowd that might admire your latest look?

Let's see: D.C. restaurants are currently able to serve indoors at 25% capacity. Valentine's Day is coming up, and though large gatherings are discouraged, couples are acceptable. With love and engagements in the air, people will surely want to don something other than training pants. I'll go check the evening spots this weekend and make that five-mile walk on the asphalt. I may wear comfortable shoes, but I promise to put on a skirt. Even if it snows!

Happy New Year, Where Is Spring?

Once the winter holidays are over, there comes a period of hibernation enforced by the gripping cold, seasonal illnesses, short daytime hours and a general sense of vacuum during a long wait for spring. To make the longing worse, magazines and clothes stores display spring and summer fashion collections as early as New Year's Day. If you start shopping for warmer weather now, you'll get bored with what you've bought even before the right season begins and then you'll want something new and different yet again.

While I was nursing a bad cold these past few weeks I went through a plethora of fashion magazines and Internet sites as my brain did not work well enough for serious literature. There have been some interesting discoveries.

A score of young fashion designers have cropped up that have made their names through Instagram and/or word-of-mouth. If their names are hardly known to most of us, someone must be paying attention because their prices are not low. Take for example Australian designer Karla Spetic whose name betrays her Slavic descent. Her simple white shirt dress costs more than $400.

Karla Spetic

 H & M

Several versions of the oversized white shirt or tunic are available at H & M for as low as $29.95.
http://www.hm.com/us/product/58239?article=58239-B
http://www.hm.com/us/product/88137?article=88137-A&cm_vc=PRA1#

Similarly, the dress by Bianca Spender (above left), which can be yours for a mere $315 at half-price sale  (the original was $680), is available in various forms and patterns from H & M (above right) for a fraction of that price.  And you can get it in different colors and patterns:


http://www.hm.com/us/product/88063?article=88063-B&piaDept=Subdepartment_ladies&piaType=Large_picture

An earlier H & M version of the dress

One of my most interesting discoveries this winter is Italian shoe designer Chiara Ferragni. She is barely in her 20s and already in high demand by big fashion houses.  Apparently thanks to Instagram. Wow! I guess soon they will start making millions while still in their cradle.

Chiara's shoes with whimsical designs such as an open eye one one shoe and a winking one on the other, cost about $300 a pair and you cannot quite find an H & M alternative for them yet.



But many places, including H & M and Steve Madden, have a wide variety of sneakers and loafers almost identical to Chiara's at prices 5 to 10 times lower than hers.

Another interesting site I discovered this winter is the Nordic Style Magazine:   
http://www.nordicstylemag.com/2014/09/trend-report-ss15-women/

Not that you could wear many of these creations to office in the conservative Washington, but it's worth taking a look for inspiration.

The images that really make one long for spring are haute couture designers' creations such as those by Roksanda Ilincic  (below left) and my favorite of all, Dries van Noten (below right)

Who can wait for spring?  That's why bears and other intelligent animals hibernate.