"Well-considered" in the Passage
Is she fashionaable? No. Is she modern? Only if you take a long view of about seventy-five years. But she is, according to Scott Schuman, "well-considered".
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| Photo: Scott Schuman |
Schuman explains his preferred term. referring specifically to elder women in Milan, where he now lives: "Sometimes they’re very fashionable, almost always very stylish but most often I would say they are “well considered”! For me “well considered” is so nice because its the idea that what they are wearing maybe or maybe not be “fashionable” or “stylish” but they have taken the time to consider if it’s right for them. On these women everything is considered; the hair, the shoes, the skirt, the fit, the make-up etc. Maybe the word “effortful” could work also (if it was a real word)."
"Effortful" is indeed, a real word, but the word contains a sense of difficulty, or strain—which takes us into that sad territory called "trying too hard" to achieve an idealized image that is not who they are.
I think of myself in the early '80s, at work in a skirted suit and heels, and one of those stupid silk bows that was supposed to be the equivalent of a man's tie, fitting in to the corporate code. At one point I was so miserable in this that I carried, in a gym bag, a pair of Annie Hall-type trousers, flats, and a soft crewneck so I could change after work before taking the streetcar home, because I could not bear that getup for a minute past 5:30 p.m.. When that code loosened a few years later to "business casual", in the canyons of the financial district you could hear the whoosh of a thousand pairs of pantyhose hitting the bins.
Flash forward forty years, and though I no longer need to conform to workplace standards, there are, if not codes, habits of dress to which I adhere. The Milanesa is wearing hers, which differs from mine, yet I imagine we're close to the same age.
Schuman shot another woman, much closer to my own choices:
I realized how easy it is to look at things I'd wear too, but Schuman calls each of these "well considered", meaning, each person took care to dress as she wished to present herself. By the time one is in the Passage, lets hope we have built a sense of "it's me!" when we consider something new.
Forty years ago, the "me" was a different person, because work demanded that a differently-dressed person show up. This week, on my early-morning walk, I passed a young woman in an eye-catching shorts-and-jacket outfit. I doubt she was going to a corporate workplace, but still, she was going to work.
Comments
I see women like that - they remind me of my mother whose dress sense I wanted to emulate when I got older. Unfortunately that day has never come because I live in a different time and space. It's almost impossible to dress like that unless you are of that generation because we are more used to ease and comfort. I'm sure she dresses like that at home, no comfy home pants for her.
Enjoyed this post!
thanks for the wonderful post.
I'm of not one of those "well considered" women. I remember well my childhood in the 1950th's, which were so uncomfortable in clothes and shoes. Wool was itchy and scratchy, coats so heavy and sneakers didn't exist.
I live nearby a japanese community. The women are a bit shorter than me (5.3) but they wear those wide pants with a long shirt and just look great.
Now that I think of it, in Paris, I see lots of women dressed rather like that, converging upon or emerging from Chanel shops. They are, of course, dressed in obviously branded Chanel pieces. The designer pieces--many of the women are top to toe in Chanel--give an aura of extreme chic, even to those with the helmet hair. I guess that shows how programmed I am by status labels!
Kamchick: We have the heat too. Lots of women in shorts, skirts and linen trousers.
Laura J: I'd love to see what the suited Milanesa wears in high heat, because they do have it there.
Bytowner: We'll be interested in what changes you make. For about two years I bought things for my old life, still. Forty-five years of buying for work is hard to shake.
Tom: A friend (now retired) made perfect hand-sewn copies of those Chanel suits, with the chains in the jacket hems, the exquisite tweed, the works, sold discreetly by an expensive Toronto boutique. They did not cost much less than Chanel but she would make them in larger sizes, which Chanel did not. (She says that even Chanel's couture clients could not get them made in sizes above US 10.) I've always liked the trousers, jackets/coats and blouses but the classic Chanel suit is so overexposed, I don't thrill to it.
Barbara: I love that Japanese aesthetic and I think anyone can wear it, the loose shirt over the trousers; it's a matter of finding the right proportions so there is ease but you are not swamped. A pair of twenty-something Japanese sisters live in my neighbourhood and I am always deeply appreciative of their style. It is austere, with perfect fit and gorgeous fabric.
But most of us want to look more current.
re stuffing trousers into boots, I wear ankle-height boots (like Blundstones and the lower-cut models of Icebugs) with ankle length straight-cut trousers or jeans all winter. The trousers sit just at the top of the boot. Longer trousers are ruined by salty slush. Well, so are the boots—but this IS the north. Since I live in the city and never have to climb over a snowbank, this works just fine.