I Want to Dress Like Tonne Goodman

The former Vogue fashion director's memoir, "Point of View: Four Decades of Fashion" recounts her years with, as she says, "Mrs. Vreeland, Grace, Anna," as well as models, photographers, designers.

The launch reinforces Tonne Goodman's strict style uniform: white straight-leg jeans (or sometimes black), a turtleneck or other simple, solid neutral top, a classic reefer or blazer. Tonne Goodman never, ever wears a "pop of colour" garment when seated in the front row—or anywhere. The effect is calm, cool and connected.

All this costs a fortune, you would think. Yes and no. She  wears $24 glasses frames. The jeans are the pricey J Brand, but she has also worn J. Crew and spent decades in Levis 501s.

White jeans, she says, are better than blue because they dress up more suavely. She says, "You know, a white jean isn't a blue jean. It has a whole different look to it. You can put it with anything and it adapts..."

Sidebar: While looking at many Goodman-in-white-jeans photos, I found a blog by Meaghan Smith, a Melbourne stylist, called Style at Any Age, with a post about wearing white jeans in winter. This is her 75-year-old mother in white jeans. It's not necessary to be a superthin fashion editor to wear them wonderfully:

Meaghan Smith's mum, on Style At Any Age

Goodman re-ups every few months; her white is white. On top: black, white, camel. She says she keeps her clothes a very long time, sticking with classic shapes.

Scarves are quiet, like mid-blue and deep red Charvet foulard prints; bags supple and un-logoed. She claims she "does not understand" jewellery, but wears a watch and thin bracelet. Her austerity extends beyond clothes; she wears no makeup.

You can find women known for an even more limited palette of one colour: the artist Sara Berman, who in her later years wore only tones of white; the writer Deborah Eisenberg, always in black.

Goodman's austerity may also be linked to her occupation. There is also a pronounced tendency among photographers, fashion editors, designers—who who must assess thousands of images and products—to avoid colour and pattern on themselves to reduce visual distraction.

And here's an account by the journalist Katherine Jose, who adopted black-and-white; she mentions "simplicity" but also "control".

It took decades to dip my toes into this disciplined aesthetic. During my magpie teens and twenties, I wore patterns from tattersall to teacups; wild florals; more tartan than the Highland Games.

In my thirties, I added quiet suits for the office, Mom clothes for home, but kept buying things like a jacket made from antique quilts, an Afghan dress. It took a good twenty-five years of scattershot shopping before I discovered the "Simple Isn't Easy" philosophy, and still I waver.

Women like Tonne Goodman present one coherent persona. She says she spends her at-home days with her children in exactly the clothes she wears to work. Packing is a breeze, and she never has a 'what to wear' crisis. But one has to commit to the path. Some days, I would choose a case of shingles over an all-black outfit, and on others it's my favourite thing ever. When I travel, I go full Goodman.

Photo: Vogue 2007, "Fold Everything"

And where are you now? A test: Your neighbour drops over wearing a fabulously-flowered piece like Carolina Herrera's print silk organza shirt. Do you think, "Oh! Maybe I'll look for something like that!"?

Or is your response that of a Clothing Vegan: it may be delicious on her, but you are not having any, thanks very much.

  To paraphrase St. Augustine: "Lord, make me minimalist, but not yet."