Getting and Spending: Gisele's summer splurge

I went shopping with my friend Gisele, a retired executive with a terrific eye for clothes.  

When she worked for a global accounting firm, she had her business clothes made by a tailor, so that every piece fit precisely and coordinated perfectly. She told me, "He said he would never make me a skirt with pockets or pair of trousers with rear pockets because they made les fessiers look larger, and spoiled the line of a skirt."  

My response was that times have changed; now, rear pockets are rarely thought of as undesirable. Their placement does have a visual effect; see this post by The Sewcialists. The tailor may have been catering to his clientele's wish to look as thin as possible; this was the '70s, the era of Dress for Success.

I mentioned the American feminist Anna Jenness Miller (1859-1935) who fought for "dress reform", which meant women's release from heavy corseting.  

Miller chose a middle road for her case, a loosening of the stays rather than refusal. She wanted women to have suitable clothes for athletics, and to reject dresses that dragged in mud. She advocated for proper work clothes, whether for house work or an occupation:  "...each department of work will have its recognized dress, appropriate in detail, self-respecting, because the right thing for our immediate needs, and beautiful because appropriate."

She would have approved of the top on the left below, and been shocked that nearly ninety years after her death, a woman would choose an evening dress in which she could barely walk or breathe.

Left, "Piscine" smock; right, Kim Kardashian in John Galliano

Left: Gamine Workwear "Piscine" smock; now s/o but check Gamine Workwear for well-designed functional clothes. Does not come with a duckling.

Right: Kim Kardashian at the 2024 Met Gala. Does not come with an oxygen inhaler.

Gisele had decided to entirely replace her wardrobe beginning with this summer's clothes, because her daughter suggested she upgrade, saying, "Maman, it's time." She asked me to accompany her; I readily agreed. She is petite but does not seek petite departments, has a clean modern aesthetic and if ever I knew one, is an utter minimalist—but a sucker for scarves and shoes.

This is what she bought at our sole stop, Naif. (Gisele dislikes boutique-hopping and purred at everything at Naif.)

Clothing, left to right: 

Joanna linen top with an embroidered texture that does not show up here.
Millie linen dress (to wear over linen crops or jeans); pockets!

Wilo linen sweater
Domi striped linen pants

Accessory: Kapity bag by Sans Arcidet; a coup de coeur splurge. 

No brights, no prints; she likes the zen side of the linen world but adds colour via scarves. She has many to go with her finds; for those in shopping mode, here are a few I like:

Left to right:

Mangrove cotton scarf from Inoui.

Sendai cotton-linen scarf in terracotta and green from Princesse et Dragon.

Cornflower blue linen scarf from LoganZby Lismount, on Etsy.

The tally: In addition to these things, she's keeping five items she already has: two pairs of trousers, a raincoat, a cotton shirt and a kaftan bought in Mexico. She will add several new cotton tees and maybe another dress if she sees one. This will be her entire summer wardrobe. She's serious; you see daylight between her hangers.

I was impressed by her rapid, confident decisions, which is much easier in a shop that fits your taste exactly. Though my mother's voice said, "Wait for the sale!", Gisele is going to wear everything right now, unburdened by admonitions from beyond. (She has to; she's given away her old clothes.)

Waiting as my friend paid a rather hefty bill, I realized that Anna Jenness Miller's "dress reform"—the theatre of celebrity events aside—has proceeded more markedly she might have imagined. Maybe, I thought, it could be interesting to be laced into a corset simply to appreciate not having to wear one to look respectable.