Proportions are paramount
and how I detox my wardrobe so I can usher in the new
Proportions are something I’m always thinking about in the salon: where the length of a haircut hits your face or body and how that flatters each client when you really take the time to look properly. It’s certainly something I impress on the GN team when I’m training them up.
But I’ve also been thinking about this in the context of my wardrobe and on the back of an early hit of spring sunshine, Craft week dinners and a new salon opening on the horizon, I wanted to invest in some statement pieces and decided to see what was in the shops. I was after some sartorial swagger, exactly the sort to put a spring in your step, much the same feeling when you have a new haircut.
In recent years, I’ve opted for baggier, looser fit clothing. I think I try to dress younger, although hopefully not in a way that is at all deemed tragic. I’m tall and I can definitely pull off this extra volume. Also, traditional, tweedy silhouettes have started to look a bit ‘old man’ on me in my mid Forties. I was curious to see how opting for wider trouser silhouettes might freshen up what I already own. It’s a little bit street, and if I’m really honest, I also fancied some ‘hanging off me’ vibes. But I also wanted to challenge myself and see if I could be pushed out of my comfort zone.
I have recently undergone a good clear out, a wardrobe detox with the excellent Hannah Ashwell-Dickinson who has been very helpful in de-cluttering my home. The process made me ditch a lot of clothes that I wasn’t wearing and has changed my life immeasurably. For a start, I can see the clothes that I own and consequently the ‘gaps’. The mornings are not spent dithering ,being time-wasty, feeling I have nothing to wear. There’s arguably a lot less but it’s an edited, pretty slick selection of things that I love.
Everything I owned was subjected to the following questioning: Did it fit properly and did I feel good wearing it? The overlying stipulation was that I had to really love each piece that stayed, there really needed to be that visceral connection, and it had to give me the same ‘lift’ of a good hair day.
I was pretty brutal. Clothes which hadn’t been worn for a couple of years no matter how expensive, or designer-y were donated to the local Buddhist centre where I like to meditate. Actually, if I hadn’t worn something that season, it was probably time to get rid of that too, unless it was a wedding suit or similar, and I hadn’t attended a wedding in that time frame.
I headed to the shops in the vicinity of the Wells Street salon with my friend, Carolyn, a former fashion editor and also a fan of the lean wardrobe (a convert after she bought two identical tops because she too couldn’t see anything in her wardrobe, and nope they weren’t basics from Uniqlo… she can laugh about it now)
First up was a trip to Dover Street Market, followed by Alex Eagle and Aimé Leon Dore where I love to pick up hoodies and t-shirts.
It was Liberty which came up trumps though. I tried on several pairs of very wide leg shorts and trousers. These had a sort of culotte shape to them, ie slim on the waist and then wider as they fell down the leg, tapering in at the bottom slightly. They slouched well on the hip and looked good teamed with a slim-ish sweater and boxy t-shirt or otherwise very oversize sweater or bomber jacket.
What I thought interesting was that you could go double-baggy (ie baggy on the top as well as bottom) and they still worked, which for me felt very much new ‘proportion territory’. It somehow looked more modern. In GN parlance, it’s what I’m now referring to as ‘molume’ or, modern volume. The length on the shorts was good too – somewhere below the knee and the ankle so they feel generous lengthwise.
We found really great styles from Lemaire, You Must Create, Commes des Garcons, Seventh and Crawley. As staples go, this style could be smartened up with a summer leather sandal or equally worn with a pair of trainers. They are a good injection to what I have already in my wardrobe, making everything else look more current.
I asked Carolyn for her thoughts on proportions and de-toxing. She has learned to really look closely at the items she likes to wear. As in, what is it about that item that suits your body. It’s not always obvious at first so really take the time to look at that neckline, where the sleeve hits your wrist, a bare clavicle, how much ankle etc. You will soon see patterns emerging.
At 5ft, she prefers to wear slim on top and baggy on the bottom (or vice versa) and an outfit which creates a waist as she has a boyish, petite figure. That said, she’s up for trying the double bag with a pair of wide leg jeans and a & daughter sweater.
She too agrees that the dispassionate overhaul means you can see similarities in the pieces that suit you, whether that’s a particular cut or colour. Or that you have 40 tops and yet only 2 pairs of trousers.
What have I learned? That in our consumer crazed society we often choose quantity over quality. I actually now realise the reluctance to wardrobe detox is the fear that you will have nothing to wear when actually the opposite couldn’t ring truer.
What are you waiting for? Look on this as the moment you started dressing better and stepping out of that comfort zone.
Love this piece. But I disagree. I am recalling for so many things I haven’t worn for a few years and so pleased I did t get rid of them