What Made The Cut

Statement trousers, quiet everything else, and a dress I’ve owned for nine years.

Affiliate links throughout. Taste decides what’s here, not commission.

What I Wore & Why

This week started with trousers that look louder than they are. Painter’s jeans, white denim, camo pants. They look like a lot on the hanger. Put them on and they’re a base.

So that’s what I spent the week on. Not making them louder, and not flattening them either. Somewhere in between, where they’re wearable and still worth looking at.

Then there’s the black Golden Goose HAUS dress I’ve had for years, which is none of that.

1. Painter’s jeans, the top wins

The bubble top is the biggest thing here, on purpose. It’s white, it’s huge, it takes over the whole top half, and the jeans kind of act like an afterthought. The color in the jeans just gives it a bit of freshness. Flats keep it neutral. The satin pouch pulls out some of the color.

The jeans are still doing something, but they’re not carrying the whole outfit.

Painter’s jeans via BRUT, bubble hem tops, drawstring satin pouch.

Wearing size US28 in pants, Topshop bubble top with Alaïa fishnet flats. Old American Vintage skater tee (similar here) and old mesh slippers from Mango.

2. Painter’s jeans, louder in black

This one is a lot of decisions pretending to be simple: print, buckle belt, soft bag, buckle heel, sweatshirt with volume. It should fight. It doesn’t.

I thought the black would calm the jeans down. It does the opposite. Nothing here is trying to match them, so the print comes forward in the contrast, and somehow that makes the whole thing easier to wear.

Mango sandals (long gone), BRUT jeans, Frankie Shop soft bag. Axel Arigato sweatshirt with raglan sleeves - a great alt here.

Any black tee or sweatshirt would do. Silver buckle belt by B-Low The Belt, and Karen Wazen sunglasses.

3. White jeans, pattern mixing

White jeans always trick me. In theory they’re the safe choice. On the body, especially in a long straight cut, they become a very clean statement.

Here, the pattern moves off the trousers. I used them as the plain surface for pattern mixing: soft Prince of Wales check in the vintage blazer, stripes in the straw bag, then the cow-print belt in the second version. None of it really matches. The tones are close enough that it holds.

One version stays more summer. The other gets sharper.

The shift is either the Little Liffner straw basket or Streets Ahead cow-print belt.

Vintage blazer, old Massimo Dutti jeans (this is the same cut and feel), Maryam Nassir Zadeh Olympia wedge.

4. Camo pants, treated like a neutral

Camo is technically a print, but I like it more when it’s treated almost like a neutral.

The gray keeps the whole thing in that earthy, washed-out zone instead of pushing the pants too army, too street, too obvious. With this much volume at the bottom, a heel makes the bagginess feel intentional. I do wear these with flats, but this version needed a little lift.

And the sunglasses make it slightly weird, which helps.

Stradivarius cargo pants, old Represent sweatshirt in washed-out gray - this is the closest in shade, round-toe heels from a season ago - similar vibe here or here, Zara metal mesh bag.

And a bit of luxury in the mix, Alaïa sunglasses, Isabel Marant silver cuff.

5. Black dress, nothing to style around

I’ve had this Golden Goose HAUS dress for a long time, and it’s one of those pieces I cherish more than I wear. But every time I put it on, I remember why it stayed.

It’s thick neoprene, a simple A-line that is sculptural even on the hanger. Very late summer or spring. Too covered for real heat, too exposed for real cold, and not really a layering piece, which puts it in that awkward in-between I like.

I usually wear it with The Row mesh flats, which is the version I’m sure about. The buckle sandal, I’m still deciding.

The only close alternative I found is The Row Scuba dress or Wardrobe NYC T-shirt maxi dress.

The Row mesh flats are the safe bet here. The Mango buckle sandal was a try-on.

Old Golden Goose HAUS dress, and the Karen Wazen sunglasses I wear most days. They sharpen it.

Open Tabs

Top of the affection list, and very much on the manifestation list: this Róhe pony hair coat in cheetah. The product styling is already one version of how I’d wear it, which is usually a sign. Simple base, sharp shoe, nothing fighting the coat. I’d also wear it with all white, denim, black on black, probably half my wardrobe if we’re being honest. I love the shape, the print, and the fact that it feels less trend-cheetah, more forever-cheetah. I’m very tempted.

I also pulled together a small braided belt edit. I have mine from Proenza Schouler last season and love what it does to a minimal outfit. It freshens everything up without asking for a full restyle, especially with monochrome, denim, tailoring, or anything that feels a little too clean. This one from Zara is worth a look too.

And, as mentioned on Stories, I shopped the Aaron Levine x Zara second drop. The men’s section, as we should: long-sleeve tees, a short-sleeve tee, socks, the brown braided belt, because the black has already been in rotation since spring, and a pair of jeans I still need to try for fit. This is the kind of Zara that makes sense to me: simple, useful, slightly better cut and fabric than usual, and easy to fold into what’s already there.

What made your cut this week?

Talk soon,