Just the wright shapes
Baggy, oversized, whatever it may be, for me it feels just like it should. I explain why I think I’m in the relaxed silhouette lane for the long haul.
Outfit pictured above: TORSO SMOCK by WRIGHT & DOYLE, PUCH DENIM by STUDIO NICHOLSON and PEMBREY LOAFERS by CHURCH’S
While young and adolescent, your clamour for independence sets you on a course to finding your personal style. It feels like a big thing; Euphoria paints quite the accurate picture of how you feel in your head walking down the school hallway. So each time you’re getting changed, it’s a chance to invent yourself. In your bedroom you feel like you’ve pulled together something new, yet go downstairs and you’re met with the remark ‘I used to wear something like that back in the day’. Cheers dad.
I’m not claiming to have unearthed anything new when I say that fashion is cyclical, yet when you’re in it, you feel like you’re part of a new wave with the way in which you dress; often a stark antithesis to its predecessor. For me this was the skinny jeans revolution where everything was prefixed with ultra and spray-on akin to badges of honour. The skinnier, the better mentality. While it certainly exists (some claim it’s coming back around), it’s safe to say we’ve moved beyond the need for jeans to suffocate our thighs, knees and ankles; I value good blood circulation as I near the end of my twenties.
An accumulative of factors, not least the up and down ride of following trends in my youth, has propelled me to the other side of the scale where clothes are big, clothes are wide, and well, there’s a lot of it. Runway aside, I think wide silhouettes are still in its infancy, but I feel personally there’s no turning back. While my style is quite conservative - I’m certainly not turning heads anytime soon in a navy top and trousers combination - a wider shape (top, bottom, or both) certainly adds the chance for a second glance and makes me feel comfortable with what I’m wearing, which is always the aim.
If I was to share my Instagram explore page with you, it’d probably show you that I get more inspiration from Korean and Japanese creators than I do from those closer to home. Outside of the gorpcore movement and the proliferation of the balloon pant, there are very few brands that cater to my shapeless appetite.
British brand Wright & Doyle, which calls the Dorset coastline home, is making clothes which embrace volume. Plenty of floatiness, pinning and tucking to create a shape that goes beyond what we’re used to. The wool smock (above) is a perfect example of how good this can look, where light and shadow flooding into the sleeve can add extra drama. And while you might initially feel it could drown you rather than complement, it all comes down to balance; the Studio Nicholson jeans act well as a desired suitor. The overall look? There is a put togetherness to it all (I’d like to think). It’s not quite slouchy or lacking intent, it’s not messy and unconsidered, it’s not quite MC Hammer or 1920s tailoring; it’s in its own lane of wide-utilitarian-normcore. If anything, wearing oversized requires a more methodical exercise of figuring out where everything should line up on your body.
I’ve made it sound like there’s a void of wider cut clothes, and I’m sure there’s not, but maybe we’re not all quite there yet. I’ll be having a long search to see what’s out there. When slim and skinny come to greet us again like an old friend and come back to the fore, please leave me out of it.jbicon
Could 2023 be the ultimate year of sustainability for fashion? Probably not, but there are some positive things happening if you look for them.