Dualité

Perusing Net-a-porter is now a hobby of mine. Eventhough I can’t afford any of the pieces I like, it would be fun to imagine a virtual closet of it. That said, these are simply musings of this closet. After all, everyone has a personal understanding of the choices they make, I simply would like to establish my point of view for you to see.

Prices are of no importance here since this closet is only theoretical. This project also helps my understanding of a need of style consistency in a wardrobe anyway and perhaps help make better choices out of this experiment. This page will be updated monthly as the site has new arrivals every week.

I’ve sifted through the virtual racks of Net-a-porter and gathered some looks I think would do well for me and my body type. I am at the very bottom of the size chart, a size 0, 5’1, size 35 (shoes), in other words, as petite a petite can get!

All images belong to Net-a-porter.com.

The following works quite well for young 20-somethings (which is me right now), but what would they look like when I’m past 40? Since I can’t picture myself at 40 and have no idea what I’ll look like, I’ve pictured my mother in my head instead as she probably has the body type I’ll inherit later on anyway. These outfits will look great while I’m young, but probably not when I’m older.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Why these won’t work later:

- Asymetric lines of the middle three dresses (3, 4, 5) don’t work with short, older asian women. They’ll have more womanly curves, especially around the hips, so the dresses will make them look bulgy in odd places.

- Personally, bright colors like the Matthew Williamson (1) coat would look great on young people, but if I imagined my mother in it, she’d look frumpy and old, not a look I would go for.

- Strapless (6, 7) can definitely work for older asian women, but the slightly wider bottom skirt of the dress will draw too much attention to the legs, especially above the knee, which I find to look girlish.

- If you still decide to keep them, sell them later as “vintage” pieces.

Survivors

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Why these will work:

- My favorite line is the hourglass figure (3, 4, 6) with tapering bottoms like pencil skirts. I think no matter what year it is, if you can achieve the classic hourglass figure, you’ll never go out of style. It’s also versatile for office and party wear.

- The Stella McCartney dress (2) is a good example of an asymetrical dress working on an older asian woman, bringing the focus to her face rather than her body. The free flowing material will hide any pooch and the bottom skirt isn’t so wide that it would bring attention to her legs.

- I find showing off your shoulders is incredibly sexy, especially in the Halston dress (5).

- For bright colors (1), I think one solid bright color would work wonders over time. The Bottega Veneta electric blue dress (7) is my personal favorite. It’s very feminine and my mother would look great in it

Timeless Accessories

Consistency is perhaps the word I would think about the most when shopping nowadays. The basics with a twist will always remain classics, and there are no better words than to show how that works with the following.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Although there are only a few examples here (since Net-a-porter doesn’t carry Chanel, Hermes, or LV), these are classic examples of using one reoccuring element and create thousands of new possibilities.

- Christian Louboutin: who wouldn’t recognize those iconic red soles? Louboutin has created a wide variety of his Prive peeptoe design (1), which is now etched in stone as a classic. Basic black patent pumps (2) will always be the icing on the cake of an outfit.

- Bottega Veneta: this italian house didn’t create weaving, nor did it create the pattern, yet the iconic knot clutch (3) has come in various shades, and the weaved pattern is found on nearly every Bottega Veneta handbag (4, 5). Again, one element, hundreds of ways to use it.

- Hermès: the Birkin bag has remained unchanged since their introduction in the 1980s. The unwillingness to change the structure or fabrication has pushed the house to further think about how they could make the same model look new? It’s what every brand should ask themselves.

- Louis Vuitton: the LV monogram in the gold and chocolate brown pattern has remained unchanged since 1896 and it’s still selling like hotcakes in Asia. Simply adding a pair of cherries to the design had been cataclysmic to the fashion scene and propelled Murakami Takashi into pop art stardom.