Hero Piece: The White Skirt
Talking about the work-horse of my wardrobe and all the ways I'm inspired by it this spring, from Marie Antoinette to Prada F/W '23
I spend much of my day talking about styling and clothing items that will serve a new and exciting purpose in your wardrobe. When talking about this, I often refer to certain clothing items as “Hero Pieces.” These are the hardest working items in your wardrobe, the ones you keep coming back to season after season and have put some serious miles into. Since they are the key players in our wardrobes, I wanted to start a little sub-series of newsletters about the hero pieces I have identified in my wardrobe. This week I bring you: The White Skirt. An item of clothing I come back to season after season, and one that helps outfits feel more “me.”
Since we are heading into a more transitional season, I have started leaning more on my hero pieces, specifically the white skirt, to help bridge my winter and spring style. For me, I tend to dress a little more tailored and menswear-inspired in the winter, but heading into spring I get an air of romanticism and femininity! I’m deeply inspired by the scenes from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, where Marie resides in her country side estate and decides to live in airy white dresses and frolic about in her garden and leave much of the material world behind (see, total romanticism!). I also think a lot about the Prada F/W ‘23 show (maybe this is my Roman Empire?) and all of the white skirts Miuccia showed. So you could say the white skirt keeps me inspired when getting dressed and helps me bridge my winter and spring worlds together!
I’ve now invested in a few different iterations of the white skirt- and I’m not being delusional when I say that they’re all very different, I swear! Plus I know this is something I love and wear a lot.
In this instance, the white (well more eggshell) skirt breaks up an otherwise very wintery all black look. I wore this tunic with a black slip and black tights this winter, but the skirt with a lace trim breathes new air into the look! Plus I love the contrast of the very feminine, almost vintage looking, skirt with the structured black tunic with its hook & eye closures- ideal juxtaposition.
Also see here for less formal outfit with the same skirt:
(Disclaimer: I had ankle surgery and have only been able to wear real shoes on my right foot, so apologies ahead of time for my awkward left foot!)
This is a nice outfit sandwich of Masculine(thick stripe tee) + Feminine (silk lace skirt) + Masculine (cordovan penny loafers) - an outfit recipe I look forward to wearing much of this spring!
I styled another version of that same look here, but with a fuller skirt… (and a little midriff!!)
Also, the white skirt is such a fantastic blank canvas (quite literally) for adding a little bit of color to an outfit…
(A good time to reference our conversation about color from a couple of weeks ago )
Outside of color, the white skirt is also my favorite base to wear with a chunky sweater or cardigan with time of year. Like with the brown sweater above, I think the lightness of the linen maxi skirt tones down the winter-ness of the big brown turtleneck. As far as shoes go for this time of year, cowboy boots have been the great mediator when mixing these types of pieces together. Yeehaw
I’d also like to mention the humble penny loafer for helping to “ground” some of the lighter springier looks with its classic sensibilities!
And in the same vain, but with more “girlish sensibilities”..
The above is a little inspired by the aforementioned Prada F/W ‘23 runway looks, A gray sweater with a little skirt and little shoes. While that look is a nod towards girlhood, the below look (inspired by the same runway), is a shift towards womanhood.
Did you ever think, when you were a little girl, that you would grow up and immediately start wearing pencil skirts and sweater sets? This may be a little generational, but being a small child in the late 90’s and early 00’s gave me the impression that when I grew up and worked I would wear exactly that. I always loved watching my mom wear her heels and skirts and little knit tops for her job. I thought it was so pretty and womanly and I aspired to grow up to have that polished feminine style that, to me, she embodied. So now as a 29 year old, I have my version of the pencil skirt (in white of course) and knit top look that I aspired to as a young girl.
And to continue with the pencil skirt looks..
A version for summer:
In finale of our conversation about the white skirt, I give the “bed sheet” style white skirt ( I believe I read that term in a newsletter by Harling Ross?!).. in sum its big a billowy and light cotton poplin! This is a skirt I got last July and spent the rest of the summer building 100 outfits from. I don’t have a hundred pictures, but here are two outfit ideas I love with it!
Okay I just have to show you guys.. I had my shirt monogrammed last fall and I’m obsessed with the little detail <3
AND
So now you guys so how much I lean on the white skirts in my wardrobe and honestly I recommend snagging a good for your own wardrobe this season. It can bring a lot to the table for your outfit, and it also can bring just the right amount of “blank canvas” as well. This concludes the first edition of the “Hero Piece” series, I hope it has inspired you!!
cheers,
Taylor