jk, but also not really

That may not sound particularly relevant, but the shift from “have your cake and eat it” to “eat your cake and have it”actually mirrors the way we think today surprisingly well. And of course, I’m going to do everything in my power to present this centuries long change in wording as the downfall of our creative selves.

I don’t think I need to explain much more about the difference between owning something first and then enjoying it, versus consuming something first and only later asking the question of ownership.

We want to eat now.

Ownership almost sounds a little archaic. Property doesn’t seem all that important to us anymore. We could almost disguise it as humility, maybe even a touch of socialism, and tell ourselves that we only want to eat. That Paris apartment prices don’t really matter because all we want is to live in the present during an Apero.

Everything is set in motion to be relevant now. To be able to eat now.
Whether it’ll still taste good tomorrow isn’t really the question anymore.

And I sincerely hate saying, that everything worthwhile takes time. I know the media, and plenty of people, would like us to believe that everything can happen instantly. A viral hit. Post the Reel! As if it were really that simple. As if you only had to keep making things.

Have these people ever worked on the same thing for more than two days?

And this isn’t a criticism of social media. It should exist. It’s a beautiful expression of our time, a snapshot of the present and everyone’s perfectly chosen camera angle.
But almost none of this advice is built on wisdom or scientific evidence. I genuinely appreciate words of encouragement, but perhaps they mean a little more when they come from someone who has actually been courageous.

You’re already working hard. You’re already focused. You already know what you need to do to get much further, and you’re already doing everything you can to make sure that continues.

Nobody needs to teach you how to eat a damn cake.

I’m talking about personal growth, but the same applies to fashion. Even the designers with the strongest creative influence today are the result of years of concentrated work. Holding onto their own ideology. Constantly questioning their own work. And pursuing an authentic self at a time when authenticity itself almost feels inappropriate.But the current market looks like a lot of people eating cake.

And everything we are being served ends up looking exactly like that. Half-eaten.

So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth waiting for the cake, as the original proverb from Thomas Howard’s 1538 letter would suggest, my answer is yes.

Sooner or later, you’ll want to eat it anyway.

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Isn’t it wonderful to just drift through the day, dressing purely on a whim?
A summer like childhood. Free, impulsive, full of carpe diem energy, every single day.

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And yet, we know that thanks to the social fabric we live in, we love setting goals. We even go so far as to claim that anticipation is the greatest joy, who came up with that? Probably the same person who said, “the journey is the destination.” But are we ever truly on the journey, or are we just constantly longing for the destination?

To make this all sound a little less abstract, i’m talking, of course, about summer clothing. For me, everything falls into just two categories, winter or summer. There is no in-between wardrobe. It’s either cold or warm. There is no magical middle ground where I feel partially comfortable in some ambiguous temperature.

So yes, I anticipate, I enjoy the present, and I prepare for summer.

Previously, perhaps shaped by a touch of pessimism and superstition, I would’ve said: let’s just wait for summer to actually arrive. Let’s see how we feel in the heat first. But no. It’s a cycle, and I’ve learned that I can prepare.

Alright. I have four needs:

• A playful pair of shorts or swim shorts for special moments

• A good sweatshirt, long sleeves remain essential, volume is key

• A summer trouser not sheer, not overly airy. I like structure, even in summer.

• A solid tank top. I’ve been too restrained in recent years, but after those classic redneck tan lines, it’s time to let the upper arms and neck see some sun too

I’ll admit it, Chloé’s summer collection is a dream. Yes, I said it. It’s not The Row, it’s not Rohe or Christopher Esber, but the colors, the patterns, and especially the cuts (Ghesquière fans, pay attention to broad shoulders, cropped lengths, generous trousers) strike the perfect balance between nostalgic, childlike summer-holiday innocence and modern new-wave silhouettes. Very ’80s. Exactly how I like it.

And yet, I can already sense the masses approaching. I gracefully withdraw from the inevitable crowd of future Mykonos vacationers. Chloé, we could’ve had something special… but you’re simply too popular.

Let’s start euphoric and free. The Shorts.

Having already mourned my unfulfilled love affair with an eclectic floral mini skirt (see also: Ghesquière’s Balenciaga Spring 2008), I stumbled upon this little piece. A structural masterpiece. Ruffles that lift me skyward, colors that make my heart race.

Dries van Noten, once again.

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Not that anything could distract from these shorts, but I do love a contrast (shocking, I know).

Swapping wools for cottons. The Long Sleeve Sweatshirt.

I won’t even try to justify this look, it’s entirely different from the previous ones.

As a devoted wearer of wool, I can confirm, your entire bodily experience shifts depending on the fiber. Cotton might just be my favorite, the ultimate companion, the fabric that carried us through childhood and never once betrayed us, no matter how many washes. Cotton, you are steady and kind. Silk, at best, is a fleeting distraction beside you.

There are many colors, but there’s rarely a blue that leans into purple while still feeling nostalgic. And you know you’re a ’90s kid if turquoise, deep pink, and violet defined your wardrobe.

The Summer Pant.

Ok, serious question, how long have you ever searched for one very specific piece of clothing? One of my top five has to be the Rosie Assoulin rainbow board pants, Resort 2015, Look 1.
Eleven hopeless years. That should say enough to justify paying attention to a dupe.

One of the rare moments where a visit to Galeries Lafayette proved useful. I looked to my right and there they were. My board pants.

I love them. The fit is perfect, the colors arguably even better than the original, simpler, somehow. Tressé is still a somewhat mysterious brand to me, but their current summer collection (Rio-inspired) is genuinely lovely (could be more culturally inclusive though) Can you tell I’m becoming more optimistic as the temperature rises?

The Tank Top.

Once I’ve calmed down from my euphoric, sporty youth obsession, we move on to the real thing. The Tanks.

How often have we heard that fast fashion does it best? “Expertise,” they call it, so many shapes, so many cuts. And for once in my life, I almost wished they were right. But no.

I ordered this Phoebe tank top almost as a joke, just to confirm my suspicion that it was overrated. I was wrong. It’s the best tank top.

It’s wool. And yes, there are other brands, like Calvin Klein Collection (Veronica Leoni also did a great job here) that insist on incorporating this beautiful natural fiber into summer pieces. I firmly believe that’s the decisive difference. A wool tank top outperforms a cotton one.
But if that’s against your physical conditions of comfort, here is a similar look for a fraction or here.

And as someone who isn’t particularly fond of denim, I’ll only wear denim that doesn’t look like denim. I even tolerate pleats on these trousers because they sit relatively low-waisted (otherwise, please, let’s collectively stop buying pleated trousers).

I know we love to shred, but a new wardrobe is rarely necessary to step into a new phase or season. It’s really about finding those few specific pieces that allow you to make the most of what you already own, while still feeling like yourself, even as your perception of yourself continues to shift. Be your own detective and observe why you keep touching certain fabrics or silhouettes, which editorial campaigns give you the biggest rush even if you’d think it’s not your style. This all helps to find out, who you truly are, outside of the must have content we’re being force fed.

As for me, I like color now.

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xx Tuba

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Are all shoe sizes the same? Then it’s proofed the person is real, with only one pair of feet. Is the remaining wardrobe a good mix of some 00’s trash and intermediately decent current stuff? They are in their cleaning out period. Uploaded over 2 months ago? Use the power of despair and send out a lowball.
All evidence, that you’re about to make the best deal of the century.

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But in this system, time somehow turns into a status symbol too.
Being able to wait, to recognize things late, to arrive after everyone else but still be correct is the new currency. Minimalism rewards people who don’t need immediate validation, or at least don’t look like they do.

Of course, decades have passed since you’ve been into logos and iconic pieces only, you’re obviously grown up now. But your favourite designers still get copied. Think, Prada Re-Nylon, Céline Box Bag (apparently also a lot of old Céline jewellery, I checked with Matthias Schneider the overly talented jewellery designer behind the masterpieces and he sent me the original sketches – worlds apart, Vinted denies it) or the historically relevant, Margiela Tabi’s.

Even if you’re not after the Gucci horsebit leather belt, your favourite brands and pieces were most certainly still victim to being replicated.

But copying a successful item makes sense.
The buyer would be able to own a piece of relevance, be part of the fashion society and brag about being able to afford being part of it, since this is the first étape of being part of fashion. And the signs to read inclusion used to be clear, some runway pieces along with mid-to-highstreet and some hard to get handbags were clear signifiers of owning the correct identity in order to belong.
See: Saint Laurent heels, Bottega Andiamo bag, Frankie Shop coat.

But something has changed in the visual language in the last 5 years.
The codes became more modest and harder to read.
Or they act more modest.

The boho tops got exchanged for the minimalistic grey wool sweaters, the mom jeans turned into black, wide low-waist pants and the trench coat transformed into a single breasted, shoulder padded floor length coat. You successfully transformed into a modern day Amish person. (I loved this transition for a while. I cherish nothing more than a physical answer to better quality and design, but continue for the plot)

Suddenly a new world opened up, new opportunities of dressing in minimalistic, yet significant ways led to tons of recreations. Chances of looking runway without being runway were never higher. It almost felt like the often misused term of democratizing fashion finally made sense.

What’s actually different this time isn’t that things are getting copied, but what is worth copying. If a simple grey knit is fakeable, the object clearly isn’t the point anymore. It’s not about a logo, a shape, or a recognizable design. What’s being copied is the feeling of having made the right aesthetic choice.

And as every glorious messiah or politician coming to save the world changes, this time was no different. The Row came as the saviour and left with the profit.

In some way, I find the modestification of status symbols even more demonic than the Dsquared ² puffer with the raccoon collar.
Because they act like we are friends, we are understood, we are Carolyn Besette Kennedy removing the tags era. But we are not.

Of course the eye enjoys this development more than a Philipp Plein haze, but does it really mean anything else? Is the Margaux bag humble rich, but the Kelly is in your face rich?
This development didn’t occur by accident of course, it’s just a repetition in time.
Sorry, nothing’s original anymore.

Minimalism typically emerged as a new stylistic era after years of excess.

See: after 20-30’s, the 80’s or the 00’s. Everything after was always minimal, think Helmut Lang, Jil Sander, early Prada.

What all these eras have in common is that there was an economic downfall right before. Of course it’s common sense to adapt and run around with less flashy things when the world is burning. But the idea of minimalism was conceptual. Less was used to show that less was enough. It could be understood as a critique towards the wilderness of the Galliano’s, Lacroix’s and the opulence of the rising economies, because modern minimalism used restriction as a tool to express what is possible.

Today less is used to show more.

Earlier minimalism excluded through intellect, you had to know the references, the theory, the context. Today’s version excludes through none of this, but being silent. The language isn’t hard to understand, it’s just not explained.

As much as the brands pledge honesty and extensive craft, they’re also building a new language. One that is harder to read than the previous logos.

The paradox here is that absence is supposed to be perceived as honesty, but what The Row misses the most is ideological accountability. The restraint feels dishonest.

Intellectual labour suddenly turns into a language where wealth is read as taste.

This is not supposed to be read as a rejection letter to The Row, obviously the brand delivers thoughtful design. It just happens to be the exact opposite of minimalism.

And everything in our world is explained by maths in the end.
Think of that Fibonacci spiral, that always pops up when people want to proof there’s no such thing as coincidence in life.

Even if your latest purchase didn’t fit in the common equation of a rational mathematic formula, it probably was in the name of a greater good.

Your very personal style.

I know the constant access to everything imaginable in the world can be diluting it when it comes to what’s fundamentally you.
But it also just helps a lot to see what actually exists.

Wardrobes, uniforms, styles, aesthetics all require clothes to make them fully work. Even your favourite 10 piece wardrobe creator has probably secretly a good bunch of other pant and sweater silhouettes in the back of their closet.

And I don’t want to get into the direction of re-branding, a word probably invented from the same people that like to call their personality brand identity.

If you suddenly feel the urge to change your whole personal style and go in a completely new direction this is not re-branding, but style fatigue.
Which is the most human feeling in the world, that’s why having a wardrobe fuelling the different parts of your personality helps.

I keep saying the trial and error is the best way to find one’s personal style, also great to see that your pinterest moodboard actually doesn’t work on you.
There’s a reason all these tiny online vintage store owners book models to show off their vintage Prada.
It just doesn’t look good usually.
(correct me only if you’re hot enough to handle SS96)

Not that vintage is not appealing.
I personally am a poor victim to the vintage craze when it comes to certain pieces, but we should just make sure we are realistic on their impact and our personal style evolution. Clothing items that already carry heavy meaning due to their historical value can make it harder to bring out your personal perspective on a look as well.

That’s why styling is key.

And the only way to end the suffering is going through it.

Please meet your new friend, the style progression formula:

Here is the definiton of the variables:

1. S= your current style state, it’s not static

2. n= the cycle of creations, how many experiments yet

—> this means S(n+1) represents your style evolved after a reflection period

3. η= (pronounced eta) is your learning rate, how much you allow every experience to change you

Small number equals slow growth, can also mean risk aversion.
High number equals quick growth, can also mean burnout.

This variable explains why two people can have the same experiences and evolve differently.

4. Coming to the parentheses ( )

In mathematics, parentheses define an operation that must happen together.
Here they represent the direction in which style should change.
Not all experiences pull you forward, sometimes it brings you back.

5. En​ = Experimentation, showcases what you actually tried to achieve during n

This includes, new techniques, risks taken, borrowed influences or deviations of comfort.

6. - = minus sign, shows that not everything learned must be an additive
Growth involves removal as well and style forms as much by what you discard as what you adopt.

7. Coming to the bad guy Rn = stands for resistance and response

It shows what pushed back during n. This can be anything from personal dissatisfaction, emotional friction, maybe also audience response, whatever bothers you or makes you not like it.

What is important about R is, is that it tells you what doesn’t work. You can’t ignore it, but you should also not limit yourself to it.
Let’s not crash out because one look doesn’t work!

What this means in summary:

Your next version of yourself equals your current version, plus a controlled amount of what you tried, minus what resisted you.

This should help to feel better about failing by trying new things, but also justifying that new things (old or new new) are relevant to grow.

Next time anyone comes at you with do you really need this, you drop:

and stfu.

ily
xx

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last few years at least. Wearing the most worn-out cotton pieces, washed-off colours, pieces with that tiny cotton pilling that weirdly adds more of a nostalgic than messy feel to it (extra points if that’s your bedsheets as well).

But I’ve grown up. I work from home and I love my home.
Doesn’t my home deserve a tiny bit of that glam I keep secretly covered in my closet?
During those few seconds my living room gets to see me all dressed up in my favourite coat, boots, and pants, I must be barely recognisable to it.
Is this the girl that wore joggers and a vintage sweat for the last week straight?
Yes, I am.
And I am tired of it. We all deserve to feel constantly like ourselves and I’m not saying cozy-us is not us, I’m just saying cozy-us has gotten a bit too dominant in this balancing act.

I will not question anyone’s capacity to find the perfect home-fit. One more guide on that cozy jogger duo set in a cashmere/silk mix and I’ll throw up. But I do question how far we are willing to go for that fit that no one will ever see. That island home fit no one will ever know existed. A painful yet rewarding journey.

I took on the responsibility of thinking about this, my first step back into civilisation after the dawn of men (imagine the bone throw moment cutting to the orbiting spacecraft in 2001: A Space Odyssey here).

Option 1: Do what you like the most.

At first, I go with some cashmere shorts. Yes, they are capable of carrying a belt, yes, they keep you warm, and yes, they transform you from a lazy couch potato to a stylistically intricate hobbit lost in the city.
Undeniably, the Prada effect got us (you should watch my YouTube video about this!), because how else can a psychedelic flower tie-dye T-shirt used as an undershirt make sense here?
I just love a good surprise. In fact, I think the whole design and art world should solely focus on good surprises, that’s what it’s all about. I can imagine what your artisans look like, but I can’t imagine a good look!

Option 2: Be a bit delusional, yet hopeful.

Let’s calm down a little bit and have a more realistic outlook on our future ambitions.
If you’ve read my article about the relevance of raglan shirts, you might also have watched my Patreon video about HOW TO STYLE your daily looks. One thing I passionately talked about there was layering basics. This is its own art form and has pretty much turned into a trend now. But obviously, you are a professional and layer pieces yourself and don’t buy the pre styled ones, ew.
One thing I see very rarely is the monochrome interpretation of the T-shirt-over-long-arm skate-core look. I love it in white, black works well too. I’m not too sure about seeing this in colours, but you are wild, young, and free, go for it.
These Leset pieces are my current must haves. I am obsessed with T-shirts under anything, and longsleeves now as well.

And since you decided to go incredibly wild with a monochromatic shirt over shirt look, what about dropping down that sweater and turn your short situation into something with silhouette. No, it doesn’t hold long, but we are here for the moment, dream a little bit.
That turquoise colour of the sweatshirt got me, I am writing another article on that specific colour and I am once again proven right, name a happier and more beautiful colour (that one orange/red mix colour doesn't count, its my second fav).

Option 3: You really came this far huh.

One thing that saves you, when lost in the depths of winter homewear options, is that tiny detail called silhouette. In a fight between colour, texture, and silhouette, I will always be on team S. Silhouette is the greatest invention of optical illusion after the Müller-Lyer illusion. The fact that the whole world has not yet adapted to this magnificent weakness in our eyes’ skill set can work to our benefit.

Make those shoulders wider. Grow that arm perpetually voluminous and build up the perfect triangle shape for your upper body. Swimmers and Victorians would be proud of you. Your waist is gone.
And there you stand with shoulders, your posture straight, ready to knock off anyone at your next metro stop.

I am probably the only person in the world who was sad about Jack and Lazaro leaving Proenza. They built everything completely by themselves. I spoke with Julie Gilhart one day, and she told me how she remembers these two stopping by Barneys one day, not yet fully graduated, and showing her their first few pieces.
She said it was clear to her in that moment that these kids would make it.

I know we crave constant dopamine driven surprises (me) on the runways, but Proenza Schouler was one of those brands that offered a high level of consistent satisfaction, in both quality and design.
A survival brand for people who cared about textures and, especially, fits.
I think Rachel Scott starting at Proenza is one of the best pieces of news in the whole creative-directors-changing-chairs game plus Meryll Rogge at Marni, so I am not at all concerned about the future of Proenza. But the kids are now at Loewe, and as much as I liked their debut, we will need to look carefully at how the development evolves and how they grow out of the JW infused multiverse of Loewe.

Fashion will always have only one function: to serve us and make us happier.
Nobody needs fashion, but it isn’t frivolity either. We have all experienced the impact of certain clothes on ourselves at one point and should never forget that it is we who can create these moments at any time. In short, forget about your cozy sweaters for a second and come up with a better cozy idea that represents you in the best way.

xoxo

This sounds like it would need a lot of effort. A creation isn’t just sent out there, it is thoughtfully built, arranged and packed into some kind of messaging to have access to people’s minds.
But does this mean anything we create deserves to be considered a valuable creation?

Did we get out of the cosmos of creating for a purpose and reached a point where we create for the sake of creating? Who is that creation serving? Or who says it even needs to serve and have a purpose?

Obviously, some artists and philosophers discussed this already a few hundred years ago, but what about our current state of endless scrolls that makes us question even the biggest minds? That fyp cannot be the final form of our existential creation, right?

In the late 19th century, Oscar Wilde already had that with the idea that art had to justify itself. His cry for art for art’s sake was a rebellion against the idea that art should teach, moralize, or improve society. For Wilde, beauty didn’t need a purpose. The artist’s only duty was to create.
Not to instruct, not to sell, not even to be understood.

And this can be successfully applied today to anything from the 10 best coffee shops in Paris content to the great Comme des Garçons analysis videos.

L’art pour l’art.

Perfect to justify any kind of work. Wilde’s vision of art as pure expression has been democratized. This sounds good in the beginning. Everyone can create for creation’s sake. But with time, it seems to have lost its real meaning.
A few years later for example, the existentialists popped up, who saw creation as something deeper than just art. Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus believed that making art was a way to affirm existence in a weirdly unexplainable world. If life has no inherent meaning, creation becomes how we make it meaningful. Camus might say that to create is to rebel against the void. It’s our way of giving life any sort of meaning, because life has none. (this sounds overly dramatic for being a thought about the unbearable amount of poorly made online content, but we’re getting there)

Seen that way, every digital act of creation, every post, outfit, or image is an existential gesture, a scream of I exist.

But Sartre also warned that this freedom comes with anxiety. When there’s no external meaning, we’re forced to invent our own and to question it endlessly.
Maybe that’s why today digital creation feels liberating and exhausting at the same time.

The reason for name dropping some of the most known people here is that I never have experienced more content online that felt like a constant meaningless repetition or echo than today. We constantly hear these terms of Burnout Society and Transparency Society, but I think I really have reached that point online.
Scrolling makes me sick.

The philosopher Byung-Chul Han says that our culture of constant performance has turned creation into compulsion and that we no longer create from inner necessity, but from pressure, the need to stay visible, relevant and productive.

In Wilde’s times, art seemed to be a form of rebellion. Today, creation is compliance. We need to perform our identities through constant self-expression, the daily outfit post, the moodboard dump, the story update, the walking in silence teasers. Han calls this the new form of control, which is not imposed from above, but internalized by ourselves.

And what this all leads to is a paradox, because we drain ourselves by creating.

Fashion is the best example for this.
Online, it seems to be less about garments and design, but about the next marketing gig. The oversize baguette bag, the viral store opening, the fun unboxing, the harsh and mean criticism, that just hides someone’s own insecurity (not diving into the good bad criticism vs. bad bad criticism, we know the difference, but I am not accepting empty talks for any sake).

So what seems to have changed today compared to what some smart minds used to think of the art of creating is, is that we don’t create to cause something to exist anymore.

We create to keep ourselves in existence, to maintain our identity and keep ourselves in circulation. And despite all this fatigue, my sensitive stomach and the worst viral songs in the back of some carousel posts, i still feel compelled to create something.

Maybe even more because of the many sounds.

Fighting not against the void, but the opposite, the mass of hooks, sounds and screams is what we’re now facing and perhaps resisting that is what makes us true and good creators today.

Amen.

My raglan shirt is now trending.

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If you’ve read my newsletter last week, you might have been aware, I was wearing this archetype by French brand Baserange.
As I was still believing to have found the needle in the haystack, the luxury and streetwear brands were already after it, they knew skaters and 70’s kids will rise in popularity again and got ready with delivering shirts with 45 degree cuts around the shoulders.

But while a lot of us associate classical American sports like baseball with the sleeve shape, the history goes actually way back.
The raglan sleeve has its name from Lord Raglan, a British army officer, who lost his arm in the battle of Waterloo, 1815. To make his life of dressing easier, one of his tailors invented the shape with the elongated arm that goes up to the collar to accommodate his injury, rather than having just a traditional shoulder seam.

We again managed without ever asking for it to be utilitarian, it’s in our blood to be captivated by functionality in fashion.
It might be the nostalgia, the sports association or any other thought that we can easily project on ourselves by just wearing it, but I just love the simplicity.
Bi-colour, long arm, thin fabric and a fit on the slimmer side is what my dreams are made of. Especially in the summer, where the whole world is dictating you, the perfect white tank is what to go for. This is still underwear to me, find one that fits well and is not sheer, then we can talk about it.

I got this one, which is on the more transparent side (what an allure), but I also got the exact same design in a different fabric and colour way here. I even got the t-shirt version, tell me I am not dedicated.

This is not me proving how I over-shop, but after searching for years for the perfect raglan and finding something that comes very close to it, I catched them all.

I also have this Uniqlo one, which I double purchased, yes shame on me, but I was scared something could happen to it. The obsession is real. No item was ever double purchased in my wardrobe. There’s also this Arket t-shirt I didn’t manage to get in blue, but they have the rusty red version now, if you like your body out there, that’s a good fit.

Other options I find appealing and will keep on my wishlist for now is this beauty from Sacai for more of a sportive look and this Margiela one, which has the ever strong nostalgic appeal of a university Campus in the 70’s. And we despise logos, but I even love the baby blue one.

It’s a lot easier to find said shoulder type on thicker garments, but I can’t help but like this re/done gone Snoopy version, too. As a person craving the forever modern attitude of Jil Sander, I can’t help but feel nostalgic sometimes.

Now that we are on the thicker side, this High Sport sweater seems to be the epitome of perfection, but I still need to investigate the background of this brand. Did you ever hear of High Sport before? Also Literary Sport, Opera Sport, Sporty & Rich, High Sport…topic for another time.
And an in-between that might be better for the current season, this one is wool, but it has this seriousness about it that makes me laugh. You’re a raglan shirt, stop pretending.

Leaving New Yorker coolness and coming back to funkiness, this Julie Kegels one is reminding me a lot of the Margiela sweater from 2 years ago. I feel like this is too ironic for me, but I do like it.

Technically not a raglan, but we keep the imagination up, thanks to MM6’s new deisgn team we finally see a lot more improvement on their basics as well. If you liked the Marie Adam Leenaerdt cape dress (ex Balenciaga designer), then you might be into a nightly bat walk in this thing. The longer I look at it, the better it gets. There are many color ways, the white one has the lowest price.

Only for the well sighted fellows, because we do love a bit of secrecy, Kijun, with the perfect graphics if you want to go hiking and vintage inspired, but keep it new. The fact that we can’t immediately tell the Raglan here is intriguing, that’s good. And a Magliano taffeta jacket, a category the raglan is a lot more populated in, with the perfect tracksuit anatomy in disguise.

And the last one I found that’s worth considering is this one from New York based brand 6397, not sure why everything is made in china, but it does seem like an interesting brand to watch that manages to build the unfortunate bridge between comfort and cool.

More brain juice and prettier layout over here:

my website

In times where one’s value is tied to the amount of online attention they receive, the tricks to boost those tiny numbers in the bottom left corner of a reel have become endless.
In other words, the context of creating something cringe has shifted from amateur dance groups showing off their unfinished skills in a mall, to packing as many similar looking moments as possible into under a minute, until it’s eventually perceived as positive.

Until now, I was okay with the usage of the term and even bought into the psychological explanation of cringe as nothing more than internalized fear.
Hell yes, I fear breathing heavily into a camera while giving it a luscious look and unboxing yet another pair of Louboutins.
Tell me that’s not scary.

But it’s true that behaving in a way that might be seen as cringe worthy can also help unlock new talents.
My favorite example is Tim Ferriss urging you to walk into any café, look around, and then slowly sit down on the floor. Not just sit, lie down.
Can you imagine going into a random coffee shop and doing that? That’s bold.

But people calling this cringe don’t know what cringe actually means.
Lying on the floor in a trendy café might make you look 1) crazy or 2) scary.
Neither of those is what we associate with a cringe performance.

What Tim Ferriss asks you to do might make you feel embarrassed, but that’s something entirely different.
Embarrassment is the real internalized fear. It’s between you and your mind, a moment of intense self-consciousness where you want the opposite of attention.

The feeling of embarrassment that often comes along with cringe is aimed outward, it describes behaviour that feels try-hard and off-putting to others.

Another example that fans of cringe love to cite is the early unpopularity of young artists who later go on to win global awards and brand ambassadorships, supposedly proof that it’s worth it to be cringe.
But again, a talented new artist in music, design, or art has never been cringe, they were always good.
Their surroundings simply weren’t capable of recognizing their value yet. They

had to reach the right people before their true potential could shine.

Meanwhile, a re-upload of a never-ending story designed to stir rage isn’t a form of talent, it’s just a way to spark empty conversationm, which eventually can lead to monetary success.

I’m making this point because I’ve seen cringe-culture gain more and more popularity, to the point where it manipulates people into believing it’s necessary for success. It’s not.

And at the same time, you might also never go viral, but that’s ok right?

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Swimsuits as tops.

In a world that’s divided in finding the best basic white tank or the visual interpretation of their nostalgic childhood aka the going out top, the swimsuit sounds like the choice I’d like to go for.

Sportswear has been stealing everyone’s light in the last seasons anyway, hyper functionality is so luxurious, because it has a purpose, which makes one believe it’s not about fashion.

Because yes, looking like you’re not caring about fashion is probably the most fashionable statement of 2025. Utility is suddenly an aesthetic vision.

And what could show that attitude better than an entirely functional item, meant for adventurous deep seas and the scorching heat of the mediterranean.

I can’t deny it, I was on track for a while already. I have a good back up of swimsuits that had the only intention to give me a feeling of safety in the summer, far away from reversible sequins and transparent mesh.

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Once you get used to the baring intimacy between yourself and the swimsuit (there is not much space for a bra or any other fabric in between), you’ll start enjoying it.

The excessive number of colors, patterns and additional functionality will open up a new world to you, almost like you didn’t want to continue wearing that black t-shirt anymore. Swimwear is meant to be fun, it's the only time I don’t break myself for questioning if it really represents myself or is just hollow reflection of my surroundings cultural capital.

Here are show you everything i’d like to wear on the streets from now on.

This is a pretty appropriate version for the city, nobody can see or question if I am a professional swimmer heading out of the piscine or a Turkish wrestler fulfilling my dad’s dream of the boy he never had. The wet hair is part of the concept.

At the same time, there's a rumor that vacation attire is reserved only for those select vacationers who have decided to leave the city. A sign of weakness, in my opinion.

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See more dramatic poses and many more alternatives on my website, which is here

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This was meant to be live last week, so there will be another post by Sunday :)

In the meantime, let me know what your most reasonable summer dressing is, that doesn’t include a white tank top <3

I worked last week on a youtube video that carries the title hot man summer in which man means actually the totality of mankind, but men don’t know this, so that’s important for the watch time. As always all tiny little learnings, which editorial press will likely call out as a trend forecast or summer essentials list from the spring/summer 2026 menswear runways, are interchangeable and implementable for everyone.

Here are my favourites with the according options you can find on the market:

1. Pants tucked into socks

I am starting with one of my favourite and very cost-savy trends that i’ve seen watching the Stein and Kiko Kostadinov show. Stein went for the elegenat silhouette, Kiko meant it literal, in a beautiful, almost agnostic way:

The only trend that requires two items, a pant and a sock. I am a firm believer, that the mentioned pants have to be slightly on the wider side, for the sophisticated pyjama effect, which has been translated in a not careless, but careful way.

I do like these pants for that slouchy look, I also think white pants have some kind of weird magic about them, because they always look great. If you want to go all the way with a very similar model for triple the amount because you might just feel better than anyone else, here. Another version here for a very literal execution or here, because Auralee almost does the job for you with the tapered elastic bottom.

I will not sit here and find applicable sock alternatives for you, but if you would put a gun on my head and ask me, I’d go for these ones.

It’s not the snatched waist anymore, it’s the snatched ankle in 2026.

2. FLIP FLOPS

Since Scandinavia decided to take over the streetstyle world in about 2017, none of us complained, especially none of the current wearers of flip flops.

Thank you to every single island of yours that has shown us how easy it is to have fun in the summer, made by and made cool by Brazilians.

It’s not only the tortured skin between the toes or the sides that turns them into dismissed summer shoe alternatives for many, it is often also rooted in the quiet discomfort towards one’s own feet.

The runways say bring feet love back (you read that Rick interview right?) and I say that too. No shoe, yet sometimes painful, has made my life and styling decisions easier by doing the absolute minimum. I am not kidding; there was not a single show I didn’t see a flip flop at. Hermès, Giorgio, Auralee, Kiko, Dries, LV, Prada and all the others. They are everywhere and at this point you should just get ready for some healthy nail kit.

I have about 6 pairs at home, havaianas win against every single high-end brand, but if you feel like you need to have restaurant appropriate ones, you can pull out this for the contemporary you, but these for grown up you and these for old comfort you.

3. Anoraks

Years have passed, you finished school, but your stylistic dream life of wearing the finest fabrics paired with wool coats and funny loafers died, because you’re riding a bike now.

An anorak, windbreaker or whatever type there is that wraps around your torso and in many cases protects you from the sun and rain is that thin short jacket with a hood which you now should prefer as your outerwear instead.

When thinking about reaching out to new silhouettes without completely changing ones aesthetic, lightweight but voluminous pieces can be a great tool. I wouldn’t mind the Hed Mayner ones, Auralee does not disappoint as usual and Craig Green (colours!) is for the expressive ones among us.

I just bought this Uniqlo ultra lightweight something for the sake of red colour, it's amazing and a great styling trick, when you want to add layer but stay thin with your fabrics. I really like this Auralee one too, I feel like it goes with everything and adds the perfect amount of technical crunch to the look. If I could choose, this Dries is a must too. Shock everybody with your ability to wear colour next season, I know you can do it.

4. Fringes on shoes

We’ve had it before, but now we see more hybrid forms of the conventional loafer with its tiny fringed carry-on’s. Wales Bonner won this game this season, closely followed by Craig Green.

We are still not as experimental as in the latest shows, but you can experience your Minnetonka nightmare here, here in the best way possible by Mamma Miuccia and here just to irritate the opponents.

5. Cummerbunds

An inevitable force of tailoring appeal must have come over the menswear designers this season, since no accessory, but the rarely pulled out cummerbund got all the spotlight.

Julian Klausner’s first debut collection with a runway for Dries van Noten can be considered an homage to the elegant man’s small friend. And as accurate as an homage to Dries can only be, the cummerbunds and similar looking elastics on shorts were chosen in vivid jewel tones and fine satin fabrics.

Since finding your size of a cummerbund at your local store might appear more difficult than maybe a thrift store (!), you should try out the tube top trick, which fundamentally is the exact same thing, a piece of eternal fabric around your waist.

There’s nobody producing good and fun cummerbunds yet, so we gotta wait those 8 months, but in the meantime you can pretend you were on the wave already and had this one here or here.

6. Fisherman sandals

Fisherman sandals.

The best thing that happened to menswear in the last years. My favourite is unfortunately this one here, but there are tons like the Hereu classic, the last remains of Simone Belotti’s Bally or another chic version here. I prefer the ones that have a heel and not a plastic sole, I know comfort wins, I lose.

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I have more points, but this seems to be the max of the email, I fell suppressed..partII is coming

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