One brand. Head to toe. It's a thing.

And maybe it's not a problem. It's a solution.

Wearing one brand, head to toe, has long been considered the definition of “Fashion Victim.” Right in line with logo overdose. (And often hand in hand, see, e.g. my girl Dorit of RHOBH.) I’ve already shared that I think being all “anti-logo!” is just obnoxious and one more way to judge others.

And yet, and yet.

I’m also the same gal who was recently saying how, seeing multiple women head to toe in current season Tibi (myself included) made me feel as if we were all churned out in a factory.

What gives?

A hypothesis

One idea that I’ve been toying with and mentioned on IG, is this: A short cut to a great outfit is wearing all one brand from different eras. And yes, you can see some of us Tibi fans in this, often mixing the past few years together (and I like that), but for me the most interesting deployment involves designer-driven fashion brands with serious longevity, and using pieces that are pretty old in the mix.

Why does it work?

I am learning. But what makes an outfit good is the feeling of unexpectedness, right? Working with modern and vintage brings inherent unexpectedness. Also, these brands are often led by a changing array of real artists with different POVs (think: vintage Burberry, Christopher Bailey Burberry, Ricardo Tischi Burberry, Daniel Lee Burberry), so you get that inherent conflict built in too, plus interesting nuance and detail. And then finally, because these houses have legacy, archives, and the demands of answering to an internal structure that requires care with a broader legacy, this kind of pairing also has the built in through line that makes a harmonic outfit, even with all these cool clashes. It becomes another shortcut of sorts, just like picking all shades of a single color.

In fact, I’ve had this theory that “all one brand"/many eras” is a way to get dressed well in hurry, a kind of code. To put that to the test, I got in the closet and threw outfits together with no planning whatsoever, just literally grabbing same-brand pieces. Ready?

Putting it to the test

Chanel