The March WithPockets Edit
The latest wrap on clothes and beauty for professional career women...
Firstly, a big warm welcome to all the new WithPockets followers. It’s so lovely to see so many familiar faces - and some new ones! I thought I’d start you off with a wrap of new and office-worthy fashions in the shops right now.
What I won’t be writing about is the continuing trend for clothes in dirt, khaki, and various shades of brown (you’ll notice I avoided the obvious descriptor). In the words of SNL, “all the colours of the bummer rainbow”.
Chief among this trend is the ubiquitous brown suit, which just makes me think of Fisk (great show, sad suit). The complementary colour to brown is apparently “light butter yellow”, which reminds me of the ‘well hydrated’ colour on the Wee Spectrum Chart in the doctor’s surgery. I can only assume this wartime colour palette is a sartorial reflection of the general state of world politics, in which case, roll on The New Look. Luckily, hope is on the horizon if the Carla Zampatti preview I saw on Friday is anything to go by…
The other trend still everywhere is barrel leg trousers. Unfortunately, these make me look like I’m an extra in Cirque du Soleil. I suspect whoever came up with this trend is the same merciless wench who developed the “cut out at the midriff” trend from two years ago. This too shall pass.
As ever, I’m interested in what looks good, what’s wearable, and what won’t lose me any board members. To this end, I spotted a few new tricks and welcome returns in my travels this month: tweed, Spanish designers, and scarf shirts. More on these below… and yes, there are pockets!
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention that one of my favourite UK brands, L.K. Bennett, is having a ‘fire sale’ as they have gone into receivership (no, you’re crying…). You can get 75% off their remaining stock here. I highly recommend their kitten heels, which have been a favourite of mine for far longer than I’m going to admit here.
WithPockets x
Tweed!
This British Tweed jacket is the real deal without the horsiness. The kind of item you will hand down to at least one, probably two generations. If you’ve got a EOFY bonus coming up, earmark this jacket now. And yes, it does have pockets.
ME + EM also have incredible swing coats and suits in highlighter pen colours. If you don’t have my pasty complexion, you will absolutely pop in one of these, as ably demonstrated below (also with pockets, naturally).
A special mention for COS for having at least one pair of trousers that weren’t barrel legged. There’s something very Katherine Hepburn about these beauties. They don’t just come with pockets, look at the depth of them! These are proper pockets. You could put a whole iPhone Pro in those.
Image © COS Stores
Spanish treats
Adolfo Dominguez is a Spanish brand that I’m very much here for. They play with geometric forms and textures in eye-catching ways. If you’re reading this in Australia, you can find their products here at Love Persimmon.
Sadly, if you are reading this in Australia or NZ, not all Adolfo Dominguez products are currently available here. (If you’re reading this from Spain, they have a 70% off sale – which makes me jealous of you for two reasons…).
Love Persimmon also stocks Spanish glasses designer, Mr Boho, who do the kind of showstopping frames you won’t get in Sunglasses Hut. And they are all under $200. I am probably getting a few of these…
Enjoying this but not ready for a paid subscription?
You can just buy me a coffee…
Integrated scarves
The other welcome trend I’ve seen in a few places lately is jackets and shirts with integrated scarves (not pussy-bows, actual scarves). The shirt below from American brand Kallmeyer is one of my favourites so far… but not in this colour (it comes in black and white, not only the colours of the bummer rainbow… I promise).
Finally, this scarf shirt from Yves Saint Laurent gives off strong Villanelle (Killing Eve) vibes. Goodbye brown, confident dressing is coming back, baby!
What’s caught your eye lately? Let me know…