Wear this and shine

The fit-enhancing powers of SILK

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— Erin & Jonah

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‘Corde Nation: I don’t know how to square this. On the one hand, I (Erin) do not see myself as a flashy dresser — quite the contrary. To the degree that I do dabble in the “eye-popping arts” now and then, my preferred vectors for giving an outfit a jolt tend to be color and pattern. And yet I’ve been on a big ~shiny~ kick these days… At times I go so far as to fantasize about sinking up to my chin in a pool of sumptuous moonbeamy fabric like as if I was a lady in an oil portrait at the d*mn Frick…?

That’s probably not in the cards, but the basic point stands: I’m feeling silky nylons, silky satins and — you guessed it — silky silk itself. This isn’t coming entirely out of nowhere. Last summer I saluted crisp, shimmery trench coats so lightweight the merest whisper of wind could hold them aloft. Last fall I explored the pleasures of wearing glossy “nighttime-coded” jawns during the day. And just last month I wrote about the new silk button-up from a young Spanish unisex shirt-wizard that I love wearing more than any other shirt these days.

And here’s the thing — I’m not alone. Silk is EVERYWHERE I turn! You see it on the far horizon in a bunch of fall collections, and you see it right here right now in the spring collections from Auralee, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Martine Rose, Man-tle, Our Legacy, Lemaire, Cawley, The Row and on and on: Not just big houses but small designers we love at BBSP, too, who specialize in the kinds of jawns people actually wear.

Why is silk having a moment? I think a big part of the answer is that silk feels fun & novel after several seasons of muted clothes cut from fabrics that absorb light rather than BOUNCE it outwards. Silk is giving “Live a Little!” And it doesn’t hurt that it’s a centuries-spanning wonder material, either. It’s a natural fiber that can keep you warm or cool; that drapes languidly or stands up PERTLY with structure; that expresses color exquisitely; that you can dress up or down with surprising ease. This sh*t has range.

For a while, fussy “deb ball”-type negative associations prevented me from appreciating that range, and with it, silk’s general dopeness. In today’s ‘Corde I’m making up for lost time with a flotilla of beautiful and — I can’t stress this enough — WEARABLE new silky jawns that hit a variety of notes.

We’re talking:

• Beaucoup sporty separates

• Sick suits and button-ups in relatively subdued finishes for the Spyfellas & BBSP Hot Lady Army alike

• Garments that make sense in all manner of non-fancy situations (including a few slappers that read as silky with 0 actual silk involved).

Not to mention:

• Extremely smart styling tips from an expert guest on how to “wear shine” and not have “shine wear you”

• And more silk recon, including into the question of what is silk actually??

Let’s get to it —

“Full Frick Mode” Fantasies notwithstanding, the silky pieces I’m eyeing pull from two rich tributaries — ‘80s glam-maximalism and ‘90s techno-sport…