I Don’t Know What’s In

Knowing what’s trending doesn’t tell me what to buy.

My pedicurist asked me what was in. Just making conversation while she did my toes. What was trending, what was the thing to buy right now.

I froze.

I could have given her a list. There’s always one online. But she was asking what to buy, and I didn’t know what she already had.

So I said, “I don’t really know.”

An excellent advertisement for my services.

I’ve been thinking about that answer.

I still look at collections. I go into shops. I can become very interested in a shoe I had no use for five minutes earlier. My appetite for clothes is intact.

But “what’s in” stopped being where I start a long time ago, and I didn’t notice until someone asked me to start there.

If I see a jacket, I’m already somewhere else with it. Which trousers would I wear it with? Do I still like it if the model’s shoes disappear? Would it sit under a coat, or only in perfect weather?

A houndstooth blazer is never quite in and never quite out. That is what makes it useful. It can go slightly wrong and still make sense.

Sometimes a trend makes me stop and look. Fine. I like looking.

The buying part happens later, when I can picture it with something I already own. I might love the jacket and still leave it there. I might buy it because it changes how I want to wear something I’ve had for years.

But I’d only ever seen her in her work clothes. I didn’t know what was in her closet.

She might already have the trousers I was about to recommend. She might have three pairs and wear none of them. At that point, I’d be more interested in why.

I left with good toes.

Greetings from Lisbon,