{ a lesson in dress } via dries

as far as i'm concerned, paris fashion week might as well begin & end with the dries van noten show. it's not one for grand, cerebral, theological clothes ~ just a delightful and straightforward master's lesson in the art of daily dress.

van noten is unrivaled in his control over prints and proportion. individual looks incorporate a minimum of 3 disparate patterns, but manage to remain immediately wear-ready ~ straight off the catwalk. boxy jackets are finished just at the waist, allowing room for an equally boxy bottom without losing sight of the woman's figure below:



people often ask me how i am able to look at a piece of vintage and visualize the ways it could be updated. i say: see dries! watch how one polka-dot print can be lovely as a long coat, but younger when shortened into a jaunty jacket, and fresher still when the extra yardage is refashioned as shorts or a skirt:



similarly, i am asked how i learned to mix prints. again, see dries!



this is a collection that, every season, manages to look completely relevant but never terribly trendy. the older i get, the more i realize how valuable this quality is in one's wardrobe. once we get past puberty, and our bodies have more or less settled into their adult shape, it's natural to begin thinking a bit more seriously about building a base camp of beautiful clothes that can evolve with you (and with fashion) over the years.

thankfully, van noten seems to understand that timeless mustn't ever mean tedious:



still, sometimes it's fun to flirt with a few fads. thanks to the house of chanel, shades of malachite and jade are having a major moment. ever on-point, dries delivered this trend his way: quirky, classic, and completely covetable!



i want every single piece.