Menswear lessons: Dressing the Woman

As I continue to reflect on the convergence of sustainability, finance, style, menswear and womenswear, I am increasingly led to the works of writers and commentators on classic menswear. There are fabulous blogs covering the tradition, relevance and sustainability of a classic approach to men’s style – just to name a few, Permanent Style @permanentstylelondon

Walk like a woman

I’ve been watching trailers for Gentleman Jack, a new BBC/HBO series about an 18th century woman who was a landowner, a lesbian and lived her life more or less like a man.  In one of the interviews with the actor, Suranne Jones, who plays the title character Anne Lister, she talks about the fast, aggressive,

The sustainability of menswear

I recognize this post won’t appeal to many readers and so if waste reduction, sustainability, and climate change don’t preoccupy your thoughts every day, then stop reading. For those of you who consider your daily actions through the lens of living a life with sustainability at its core, then read on. Often when we think about

Working from home

No longer the privilege of writers and artists – even corporate folks like me are working from home in increasing numbers and hallelujah for that! On a day like today with 15 cm of snow on the ground and counting, and a steady -7c what a pleasure it is to open my office mere steps

The Great Classic: The dressing gown

Also known as the housecoat, the dressing gown is the elegant solution to ‘what to wear around the house first thing in the morning or for post-dinner lounging’ yet has all but disappeared. Sweat pants, yoga pants or whatever other stretchy things you’ve got lying around have become the defacto lounge wear, and I do

The Lost Art of Dress

This is a great read!  I stumbled upon it in the library and quickly discovered the deep history behind womenswear, how women were effectively coached to understand how to dress in a way that regardless of body type, budget, lifestyle or occupation they could always dress well, even stylishly by following a few simple guidelines

Great Woman Weekend – September 29

Space efficient, quick to build, expandable pre-fab house – solution to urban housing crisis is available now.  I would live in one of these in a nanosecond. Well, this is awesome – Lacoste SS19 focuses on style not gender.  Why are men’s workout clothes often so much looser than women’s?  And why are women’s workout

The Great Woman Weekend – June 2

I almost think this is a good idea. Yes, why is underwear so gender divided? A wonderful tribute to Michael Jackson from Justin Timberlake.  You can’t not dance!  (via Swissmiss) This is my new favourite website. Women’s workwear from the 1870s.  I would like to know her story. The productivity hack. Have a wonderful weekend!

Women of action

Nothing says action like sitting down!  That said, at least she is dressed for action.  I have recently found myself scrolling (for hours) through Pinterest captivated by fashion illustrations from the first half of the 20th century, and largely focused on the menswear illustrator Laurence Fellows.  I have @GreyFox to thank for the introduction – as

Clothes without gender

“When I started designing, I wanted to make men’s clothes for women. But there were no buyers. Now there are. I always wonder who decided that there should be a difference in the clothes of men and women. Perhaps men have decided this.” Yohji Yamamoto professing his preference for gender-neutral dress way back in 1983 to