It's just clothes...
Apr. 30th, 2023 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anna_winghttps://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/apr/30/eva-wiseman-why-do-we-buy-into-stealth-wealth-and-the-class-who-wear-it
https://us.loropiana.com/en/c/woman/dresses?page=0
Really, there's no need to stress so much about other people's taste in clothes.
I like Loro Piana's designs; they have a bit of a thing about exotic fabrics, which I find entertaining too I (though I did laugh many years ago when they claimed to the Financial Times to have cornered the national supply in Myanmar for lotus-fibre cloth ...) Apparently they are "Uniqlo for billionaires"; since I don't feel inclined to pay that kind of money as a usual thing, I see no problem with buying actual Uniqlo, which anyone reading this blog would probably have noticed...).
But generally, I find their clothes very nice, and not at all boring. If I were near any convenient outlet shop that sold past seasons' clothes for not less than a 70% discount, I'd absolutely go for it (genuine outlet shops are the point for me where snob value and value for money intersect and say "buy me!").
Anyway, anyone able to sew (or with access to a decent seamstress) and an internet connection (for good fabrics) can mock up a decent facsimile for a lot of things, especially for stuff that relies on pricey fabrics rather than complex cuts. Vogue Patterns are very helpful for this too. To get myself a nice, silk-lined cashmere dressing-gown for under four figures (I do visit friends in cold countries), I bought two large pashmina/silk shawls (on sale) and a printed silk sari at the local Indian we-sell-everything department store (all easily available online with a bit of searching). Then I dug out an old cotton dressing-gown of the appropriate configuration, took it to my dressmaker and had her copy it; I dithered a bit about adding the fox-fur collar that I picked up in an Australian op-shop some years ago (they're wonderful, I will post in their praise one day), but decided it against it for now. I can always add it later. Voila, affordable luxury.
https://us.loropiana.com/en/c/woman/dresses?page=0
Really, there's no need to stress so much about other people's taste in clothes.
I like Loro Piana's designs; they have a bit of a thing about exotic fabrics, which I find entertaining too I (though I did laugh many years ago when they claimed to the Financial Times to have cornered the national supply in Myanmar for lotus-fibre cloth ...) Apparently they are "Uniqlo for billionaires"; since I don't feel inclined to pay that kind of money as a usual thing, I see no problem with buying actual Uniqlo, which anyone reading this blog would probably have noticed...).
But generally, I find their clothes very nice, and not at all boring. If I were near any convenient outlet shop that sold past seasons' clothes for not less than a 70% discount, I'd absolutely go for it (genuine outlet shops are the point for me where snob value and value for money intersect and say "buy me!").
Anyway, anyone able to sew (or with access to a decent seamstress) and an internet connection (for good fabrics) can mock up a decent facsimile for a lot of things, especially for stuff that relies on pricey fabrics rather than complex cuts. Vogue Patterns are very helpful for this too. To get myself a nice, silk-lined cashmere dressing-gown for under four figures (I do visit friends in cold countries), I bought two large pashmina/silk shawls (on sale) and a printed silk sari at the local Indian we-sell-everything department store (all easily available online with a bit of searching). Then I dug out an old cotton dressing-gown of the appropriate configuration, took it to my dressmaker and had her copy it; I dithered a bit about adding the fox-fur collar that I picked up in an Australian op-shop some years ago (they're wonderful, I will post in their praise one day), but decided it against it for now. I can always add it later. Voila, affordable luxury.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-30 10:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-01 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-30 03:48 pm (UTC)Living in a cold country, I find the idea of a silk-lined dressing-gown to be totally unintuitive. Silk is cool against the skin. I shiver at the thought. But I assume this isn't a dressing-gown for wearing after the bath?
no subject
Date: 2023-05-01 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-01 03:32 pm (UTC)True. I had a set of silk long underwear- pants and long-sleeved top- designed for winter camping, I think, which kept me warm in unheated Japanese houses. I think it was the combination of silk and moist skin that threw me.