Don't Tell The Others

I have a favorite child in the store right now. I know I’m supposed to love them all equally. But then Alexander Julian sent me a teal blue plaid coat, and my parenting went to hell.

It’s called the Trailblazer, and I put it on and immediately want an occasion to wear it. Or, more accurately, I start lowering my standards for what constitutes an occasion.

The color gets my attention first. That probably surprises no one. But loving color and knowing what to do with it are two different things. What draws me to Julian is the way his eye for color carries through the entire piece. The fabric, the construction, the finishing touches. There is so much to enjoy beyond that first impression.

There’s an artistic vision behind it that I can feel when I put it on. Someone has thought about how all these decisions will come together on an actual person. The coat has character, but there’s room for mine, too. I can wear it dressed up or with jeans and still feel completely at home in it.

Classy is the word I keep coming back to. Although classy can sound a little stiff, and there is nothing stiff about my affection for this coat. It feels current, has personality, and gives me that small, immediate pleasure of looking in the mirror and thinking, yes.

I’m interested in that reaction. I spend plenty of time talking about fabric and fit, and both matter enormously. But that feeling you get when you put something on and immediately love it is difficult to reduce to a list of features. You stand there a little longer. You look again. You start mentally pairing it with things you own.

Possibly things you now need to own. An occupational hazard.

It’s also one of the pleasures of choosing clothes for the store. I get to follow that response, then look more closely at what caused it. With Julian, the closer look rewards the initial attraction.

Of course, I’m the one buying for the store, so theoretically I like everything in here. But certain pieces remind me just how much pleasure there is in getting dressed.

The other clothes have been very mature about it.

-E