A smart vest worn with straight or wide-legged pants is a chic alternative to the traditional suit for situations that do not actually require a suit.
I think this rule holds true for an explosively whimsical vest, too.
With this post, I believe that we are coming to the end of The Directrice’s post-holiday (Christmas 2018!) Japanese avant garde binge.
This vest is Comme des Garcons by way of The RealReal.
After this, we return to the calm rationality and understatement of The Italians . . . by which I mean, Marni.
The vest did not come with pants but fortunately I have a dozen pairs of grey and black trousers to choose from in my closet.
This is a credible match.
Come closer and take note of the bows ornamenting this vest.
Ordinarily, I think bows can read girlish or saccharine, but these are slightly menacing — which is good.
Don’t they look a little like . . . weapons? Like I might be able to detach and hurl them with lethal force?*
I wore this vest to a recent partners’ meeting. In the words of Judge Elihu Smails,** I felt I owed it to them. Except that I wore this patterned blouse (a gift from my mother) instead of a plain white shirt because . . . I owed them that, too.
The Photographer labeled these photos “Waiter Tory.”
I think this vest would be a disaster in a kitchen/restaurant setting. SInks? SaUCes? OpeN FLameS? CaNdLEs? Non, non.
Important Announcement: Directrice gathering in D.C. on Saturday, May 18th. Details to follow.
Vest: Comme des Garcons from The RealReal; Pants: JCrew; Shoes: Coach; Bag: Barbara Bui
* There is such a weapon! It’s called a shuriken or throwing star.
** How many of you knew Judge Smails and this quote without looking it up? Let it never be said that high and low culture don’t meet on The Directrice.
The Directrice said to me just before she posted this, “Did you know there’s such a thing as a throwing star?” “Sure I do,” I said. “It’s called a shuriken.” She looked at me, boggled. “How do you know THAT?” I said, “It’s in Neuromancer.”
Love this so much! SF for the win!
“No,” he said, and spun, the star leaving his fingers, flash of silver, to bury itself in the face of the wall screen. The screen woke, random patterns flickering feebly from side to side, as though it were trying to rid itself of something that caused it pain.
For some people, gingham is a mystery; for others, throwing stars. (For still others like me, both are.) I bet the weaponized vest looked fierce with the magenta chainmail blouse. I hope your partners appreciate you.
Of course my mind took this to the logical conclusion: Gingham Throwing Stars, sure to be a hot item in the Neuromancer X J.Crew capsule collection.
Surely we can pitch this brilliant idea to somebody.
Awesome! (And I don’t think those bows look in the least menacing. Exuberant, yes; menacing, no.) I wish I could see it with that blouse. I hope you got a good round of applause.
With this outfit you could have been one of the assassins going after Inspector Clouseau in the Oktoberfest scene in The Pink Panther Strikes Again!
LOVE this. Might be my favorite of yours!
I can imagine that it would give you a presence in a boardroom.
Ah yes! She of the Big Bows!
The comically sinister quote: the incomparable Ted Knight, Caddyshack. (“Comically sinister” could apply to the throwing-star vest, too.)