Getting and Spending: Cathy Horyn finds her style
During the holiday break, I finally got to an article published on New York Magazine's The Cut, in which the respected former New York Times fashion editor Cathy Horyn discusses finding her personal style at age 67.
Spoiler alert: At the end of thinking and listening to herself, she ordered a bespoke black trouser suit. (Ah, I thought approvingly, she didn't go to a designer, she went to a tailor.)
It's a good read; she takes us through her career: front-row seats to all the shows, friendships with legends like Bill Blass and André Leon Talley. But at the end, she's no different from any of us, wondering who the heck we are at the end of many decades of flirtations, fetishes, false starts. She decided to cleanse her palate fashion-wise in concert with a major move.
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| Photo: The Gentlewoman on Instagram |
She bought a farm in Indiana, threw herself into renovations, grew flowers. She had changed, and her clothes needed to reflect her, not the other way around.
The moment of truth arrived when she happened to watch the '70s British costume drama "The Duchess of Duke Street", in which she saw, amid its Edwardian tailoring, the perfect suit. She writes: "Anything involving aesthetics— a work of art, the look of a room — needs an image to sharpen your eye and move you forward."
The result: a bespoke suit from former Savile Row tailor, Ralph Fitzgerald, now in New York. It is, she says, lighter and softer than luxury ready-to-wear. (The price was $US 6, 000. For comparison, a ready-to-wear Tom Ford blazer on Netaporter is $US 4, 650.)
She has favourites of twenty years that stayed in her closet, but this is the reference point. In her photo the suit looks luxurious, slouchy and supple— and, I'm betting, feels even better.
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| Photo: Mark Seliger for New York Magazine |
Eleven years ago, she was photographed for Interview magazine in another black trouser suit, so I think she had an inkling earlier:
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| Photo: Patrick Demarchelier for Interview Magazine |
Horyn did not make her age a consideration. She believes if you're aware of what enlivens you, the age thing takes care of itself. She is not in favour of buying trends look to younger. She quotes an Italian designer friend who says, "There's something rebellious about tradition."
"...and the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
Cathy Horyn's version: "A t 67, there is nowhere else for me to go but in reverse, to memory and tradition."
Comments
From what she wrote, I felt that Horyn's loss of some weight between her initial fitting and final receipt of the suit was a significant factor in how she felt about the whole thing - a boost to confidence, no matter how it comes about, can transform our self-image at any age. The suit sounds fabulous, though!
I suspect that, for most of us, we circle back to the clothing style we felt most comfortable with from the beginning, albeit with the benefit of our style sense having been planed and then polished by life and experience. There are also some limits that start to make themselves felt as we age. For me, that was the end of my life-long love of full-length, swishy coats.
I loved them all - highwayman, military, ankle-length old-school Burberry, and they loved me back. But then I realised a few years ago, when buying a new camel coat, that this was no longer right for me. Too dramatic, but also - crucially - the style had become a trip hazard for someone of 60+ who spends a great deal of time going up and down steps and escalators and jumping on and off buses. I'd had a couple of near misses, and realised that I might not be quite so lucky the next time. So I went calf-length, but I still yearn for longer...
Indoor wear--2 pairs leggings, 2 wool knit dresses, heavy cardigan sweater.
Outerwear--same plus a down coat! That's also what I wore in Montreal and Japan last January. My heavy cardigans are at least 40 years old--one Norwegian, 1 Icelandic, and one Scottish cashmere. I love good wool! e