Deliciously Chaotic Outfits You Can Only Wear Right Now
A manifesto on the brilliance and insanity of dressing in spring weather. Or a how-to for when you have conflicting commitments at a water park and a metal show
Spring dressing is about juxtaposition. The juxtaposition of what? Well, that’s up to you.
It could be a myriad of combinations: the juxtaposition of hot and cold; sunny and cloudy; damp and dry; skimpy and conservative; airy and opaque; hydrophilic and hydrophobic. Spring dressing is about the freedom of being able to get away with wearing just about anything.
The air is that idyllic temperature where throwing on a sweater renders you neither too warm nor too cold, and every piece in your closet is up for grabs. It’s that jacket-optional, toes-out-optional, scarf-optional, bra-optional, parka-optional weather that brings out our most inventive spirit in the dressing room. Everything is on the table. And only right now.
We also have days of volatile weather — the other day I found myself under rain on one side of the street, in the sun as I crossed it, and in rainfall again by the time I arrived at the other side. These days call for sartorial combinations as confusing as the forecast.
Spring dressing allows for an experimentation that gets put on the back burner during the more extreme weather conditions of summer and winter. Layering, or the lack thereof, can be for pleasure not just for function. Diametrically opposed fabrics and textures become friends and lovers in a mid-spring afternoon ensemble, and the contrast can provide a thrilling texture to an otherwise simple look.
It’s that time of year when anything goes, and it all goes together.
This letter is brought to you by my friends at Zeen, a design tool for tastemakers. I have spent more time in my life than I’d like to admit collaging on the internet (I was a Tumblr teen after all), and Zeen made the collage process for this piece one thousand times more efficient. If you were as obsessed with Polyvore as I was, try Zeen with my handy dandy referral link.
The HAIM
When you need to go straight from swimming laps to head-banging, there’s only one outfit suitable: the HAIM uniform.
Pop rock’s favorite sisterly trio has often hit the stage wearing a masterclass in odd spring dressing. Breathable thin jersey is held in place by thin spaghetti straps, contrasted by zippered and buckled leather below the waist, wide legs pooling above a chunky black boot. It’s a look that ensures no one can guess your next move.
It’s cool, it’s sexy, and it’s just kind of weird. The HAIM sisters are undercover fashion girls — as proven time and time again by their street and stage styles, but especially so in their Vogue 7 days, 7 looks video that shows off their impressively curated collections. Cool, sexy, and suitable for any number of weather mishaps, is exactly the name of the game.
Collage Created on Zeen
Other variations: The Clairo & The Lorde
If leather pants aren’t your thing but you firmly believe in the mission for two triangles of fabric to be considered a shirt, fellow pop icons Clairo and Lorde supplied us with alternatives this season.
Clairo rocked the bikini top on-stage look at the Laneway music festival in Aukland, NZ in February, and it’s hard not to be blinded by her star power in this outfit. She stripped the white button down mid-show and noted to “bring less clothes next time” in a diary snippet written for Coup de Main. Not sure how “less” it can get than a bikini top, but I’m excited to find out.
Lorde, on the other hand, took liberties with the fabric of the top, opting for a shimmery holographic oil-spill-esque swimsuit. Paired with a white button down, low-slung patinated denim, and the duct-taped boots that’ve been glued to her feet this album cycle, she emanated a freedom and a rawness that feels untouchable.
I love this iteration — camera flashes bounce off its metallic sheen, reflecting an image of the crowd’s fervor through the lens of a boob. If you were to stare at a pair of breasts in this top, your own face would be mirrored back to you, forced to face yourself in your decision to stare at all. Poetic.
Free People Feeling Flirty Slim Capri Pant in Navy Combo $98
Collage Created on Zeen
Mommy Off-Duty
Recently on a walk around my neighborhood, a woman in thong kitten heels and knee-length yoga tights stopped me in my tracks. Her sopping wet hair was dampening the shoulders of a mid-thigh structured black coat — a coat designed with weather in mind that would never allow for sopping wet hair outside — and I frantically reached for my phone to scribble down a note about this luxuriously simple outfit combo.
Two days later, I saw her again. Wearing the exact same outfit. Just 17 blocks north of where she first took my breath away. Her hair was dry this time, and she had a 3-year-old resting on her hip with no stroller in sight. Mom of the Year to do Manhattan pick-up duty in an open-toe strappy sandal.
Miu Miu Black Coat $107
Wunder Train High-Rise Crop 15" | Women's Leggings/Tights $88
Collage Created on Zeen
Tartan Trout
A duo after my own heart: vintage wool plaid skirt — evoking itchy school uniforms, chalk dust between fibers, a forced smile in a family Christmas photo — against jelly fisherman sandals — a far cry from their sea-faring predecessors, unmistakably modern in neon colorways and sticky plastic material.
In my attempt to find reference material for this combo (the real reference being that it’s a combo I’ve personally been reaching for a lot this spring), the automated Google AI result just about chastised me for suggesting it.
The points it presents are exactly why we’re talking about it — who says you can’t be formal or sophisticated while participating in water-related activities? Swimming costumes have historically been made out of wool, so joke’s on you, yet again, Google AI Overview.
Collage Created on Zeen
Miu Miu Micros
This is one of my personal favorite Miu Miu outfit formulas: a top with a built-in neck warmer and bottoms that are scarcely more than underwear. In Miuccia Prada’s world, turtlenecks and micro shorts are opposing magnets that can’t help but find their ways to each other. It’s basic fashion physics.
We’re squeezing out the last wear of turtlenecks before they get stored away for summer while simultaneously celebrating new warmth by basking our legs in the sun. We’re covering up while baring all. We’re dressing for a Sunday church service and for the MTV Beach House.
Vtg Chadwick’s Y2K Womens Medium Cotton Turtleneck Striped Pullover Sweater 90s $26
Collage Created on Zeen
The Paloma Wool Special
You can’t walk 100 feet in downtown Manhattan without spotting someone wearing a pair of Paloma Wool skirt-pants. I can understand why — first of all, their Cupro fabric is unbelievable, like your coziest sweatpants were treated to an expensive facial — but my personal interest lies in something a bit more see-through.
Paloma Wool’s recent collections have capitalized on a growing interest in sheer skirts (especially over pants), and as of time of writing, I counted 19 skirts available on their site that utilize sheer fabric.
This is my favorite kind of layering piece. A piece meant for the real layering heads. Sheer fabric may seem limiting upon first glance — by nearly all standards of what’s appropriate to wear outside your home, something sheer can’t be worn on its own. But that’s what gives you so much to work with. By definition, wearing sheer fabric necessitates that other pieces be in play.
There is hardly anything practical about sheer, so utilizing sheer pieces requires us to have a little fun. It’s about layering for the interest of the outfit rather than layering to accommodate the weather. This is the joy that winter sucks straight from my bones and spring inject rights back in — I don’t want to layer for practicality, I want to layer for FUN!
Paloma Wool CLIFF Black low waist mini skirt $150 (I tried this on in-store a while ago and can’t get it out of my head)
Collage Created on Zeen
What deliciously strange or brilliantly confusing outfit combinations do you have your mind on this spring? Let me know in a comment or reply to this email to keep the convo going <3
Find all these looks and more on Zeen or on my shelves, find me doing other things on IG, or find me via email at mackinley@yeehawt.com if you’re interested in working together. Ok love you bye!
My top shelf of tried-and-true skin favorites.
I chatted with the legend who was first in line at the Sandy Liang sample sale.
In convo with the girl behind Girls Carrying Shit about carrying outrageous things, queer identity, and leveraging a platform for good.
Ugh, I love all of these looks, especially the bra top ones…which do not suit me. But I’d do them with a sheer mesh shirt?? Mac , you give so much inspiration!💕
So good, so unhinged