A few weeks ago, I wrote about Alice Waters and her life’s work of teaching people about quality ingredients and honoring the makers and growers behind her beautiful food. I (very aspirationally) likened it to the way Sid and I think about what we offer. It is the same idea, although there are differences in the execution… one being that Alice’s ingredients have an expiration date, and the whole point of ours is that they do not!
This is part two of a little back-to-basics series, because lately I am feeling like I have more to say about the simpler, mainstay ingredients on our line than about the seasonal one-offs. A core, foundational part of what we do is menswear-style shirting… which is, I suppose, why I have written about them so many times. (There were at least four when I counted: 1, 2, 3, 4). These classic shirt styles are the things I absolutely wear the most... and they were the things that started the whole brand… so for me they feel both current and historic in a big way. Maybe you will allow me to do a little remind and, I guess, rewind.
Like all of us, I am inspired by newness and things that look fresh, but if I have learned anything, it is that time can change the way you look at things that have been there all along. I have gone back and reread several books this year and found them even better and more poignant with some distance. It has been an eventful few years, and I am a different person reading the same words. Even without the little earthquakes in our lives, we all get older and wiser. I wept openly as I walked through my neighborhood listening to The Goldfinch on my Airpods. It just kills me. It will always be one of my favorites. This was actually my third time picking it back up. Years ago, there was a brief period where I started reading it aloud to Sid in bed at the end of the day. I shared with a friend what we were doing, and he asked, “Is that the secret to staying married forever [since that book is so dang long]?” It’s not even 800 pages. It’s not that long. Clearly he wasn’t much of a reader. But I guess Sid wasn’t much a listener, because while we are still married, we never made it past the second chapter. But on the bright side, he has so much to look forward to when I pull it out again! All of that to say… I have been in a revisiting mode.
So menswear-style shirting has been in my library even longer than Donna Tartt’s books (The Secret History is just as magical… maybe that’s next on my reread list…) but I am always interested in a new spin on it with fresh eyes. Over the 14 years we’ve been in business, we have added to our shirt lineup, tweaked and refined. Just like books, clothes can look different with a few more years of perspective. Some of the shirts have staying power, a few needed updates. Same, but different. My very favorite is still our classic Boyfriend style. I love it in white poplin, which is 2ply/2ply and compact and so beautiful. It is crisp and cool in the way that really great bedsheets can be… if you are the kind of person who loves sleeping on percale, this might appeal to you. I don’t press mine all that often — the shirts or the sheets — but when I do take the time (maybe even adding a spritz of watered-down starch) I am thrilled. Maybe you are someone who prefers linen or sateen because they feel more casual or softer. We just came out with a shirt called the Weekender, which is garment-washed. It comes out of the drier at the factory and they shake it out, fold it up, and send it straight to us. Our head of design told me very emphatically that “no iron touches it.” Premium fabric, laid-back vibe… thus the name “Weekender.” It has been a big hit. Though both shirts are made of this wonderful cotton poplin from Italy, they feel totally different. And truthfully, the Weekender wouldn’t have been my thing a few years back… but these days, I am kind of feeling it.
More “same, but different” menswear-style shirts lately: a short-sleeved, slightly oversized riff called the Agnes. I adore this one. It is so, so tomboy. Think Rosie the Riveter in a Bengal stripe… the coolest. And then there is this bib tunic that you may not think of as menswear… but it absolutely is. Think of a man’s tuxedo shirt, down to the pique bib. This one is made of that crisp, percale-esque poplin, which is probably why I love it so much. Last up, this beautiful silk shantung shirt in a masculine shape made feminine by the fabric (and the woman wearing it!) It is a little boxier around the middle, and the elegance of the material combined the ease of the fit make it just a really great, chic runaround shirt. Silk is more rough-and-tumble than you think. (But wear it with diamonds and a long evening skirt all you want!)
If there is anything to take away from revisiting menswear-style shirting yet again… it’s that the simplicity is the point. These aren’t the first thing that catch your eye when you walk in the store, or go to the shirts page on the website, but that’s exactly why I want to call them out. These are a part of my line that I’m the most proud of and they are easily overshadowed by the flashier, newer, and even more colorful things. Four days a week, I am wearing a shirt like this, and I really think ours are the best of the best. And again, just ask Alice… it is all about simple, beautiful ingredients. Fat Trocas shell buttons... fabric from the very best Italian mills that brag about twice the warp and the weft. You feel the difference. It is nice to be reminded of our favorite things. Shirting, novels, the things worth coming back to again and again. My favorites forever.
