Getting dressed for the layover month
January is, without a doubt, my least favorite month (no offense to the January birthdays—you’re wonderful; my issue is with the month itself).
The sparkle of December has faded, and it feels as though the dopamine reserves are running on empty. The month seems to drag on endlessly—hours feel like days, and days stretch into weeks. January feels like one long layover until February, which has always felt like the true start of the year for me. Maybe it’s the brevity of February that gives it an electric charge—you have to cram it with plans and events because, before you know it, March arrives. But I digress—back to January.
As I sat with my disdain for the month, I tried to see it in a new light. It’s not exactly a transition between seasons—winter is firmly in place—but it shares a similar liminal energy to late summer or early September, when you’re dressing for that in-between period.
In August, you’re clinging to the remnants of summer while tentatively leaning into fall. In January, the focus is on staying warm, yet there’s an undercurrent of longing for the joy of December and daydreaming about brighter, warmer days ahead. And much like those transitional periods, January offers the perfect opportunity to experiment with your wardrobe and explore ideas that might feel too editorial for day-to-day life.
It’s a quiet grey area, a chance to reconnect with yourself, so why not take this time to try something new? After all, isn’t that what New Year’s resolutions are all about? They’re attempts to realign and find your center. The same can be said about how you approach getting dressed this month: an exercise in rediscovery and creativity.
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The FW men's shows are usually packed with good ideas
I’ve said it once, I’ve said it twice, and I’ll keep saying it until I’m blue in the face: the collections of today are less about introducing new silhouettes and more about offering style propositions. This feels especially true during the men’s shows. While there have been changes in menswear, it moves at a glacial pace, with true innovation often rooted in fabrications rather than form.
That’s not to say there haven’t been standout collections with covetable pieces—Lemaire, Auralee, Willy Chavarria, and Giorgio Armani come to mind. However, the reality is that many of these looks can be recreated with items already in your wardrobe or found secondhand. Jacob Gallagher captured this sentiment perfectly in his report on Armani for The New York Times. Reflecting on the Emporio Armani show, he wrote, “Half an hour later, watching the Emporio show, I began to feel as if my eBay search had sprung to life.”
Inspired by his report (and perhaps motivated by the fear others might snap up great pieces), I immediately went on the hunt for Armani or Armani-esque treasures.
On another note, the beauty of the men’s shows arriving in mid-January is the timely inspiration they offer. These collections present a delicious array of ideas that can still be worn while temperatures are freezing. One brand firmly gripping the fashion crowd is Auralee. As The Row has gained mainstream attention, Auralee seems to have slipped into the coveted “insider brand” role The Row once held.
It’s easy to see why Auralee has cultivated such a following. Similar to The Row, the brand prioritizes fabrications and strives to perfect everyday garments—what I’d call true “adult” clothes. Moreover, their styling elevates their garments, making them feel even more desirable.
In the recent collection, two things caught my attention, particularly Ryota Iwai’s masterful eye for proportions. There was a clever interplay of shrunken knits layered over classic shirting, and in one look, a thigh-skimming cardigan was styled under a cropped leather jacket.
The layering of outerwear pieces was also particularly striking—perhaps a fall/winter continuation of the "wrong jacket" theory. It completely rewired my thinking to see a puffer worn beneath another puffer with a leather collar or the unexpected brilliance of layering a leather jacket under, well, another leather jacket. Genius!
‘70s redux
I feel this one in my bones: the monopoly '90s nostalgia had on everything is finally loosening, making way for a richer mix of inspirations to seep into the cultural zeitgeist. While it’s not solely about the '70s, there’s undoubtedly a strong influence of the "Greed is good" '80s making its way back. I suspect this resurgence is partly driven by the return-to-office culture and a rising trend among young men—looksmaxxing. (It’s as if they’re all aspiring to be Patrick Bateman.)
That said, two major brands have marked a notable shift—not necessarily in how people are dressing on a macro scale, but in sparking conversations and signaling a growing fatigue with the dominant aesthetic: Chloé and Valentino. Both take distinctly different approaches to the '70s. Chloé feels rooted in the latter half of the decade, very The Eyes of Laura Mars, while Valentino feels more the early part of the decade with the sensibility of the late 70s (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.)
Together, their interpretations create an overarching “'70s-inspired” look that feels fresh and nuanced-Leandra touched on the look in her Friday newsletter as well. It’s a bit like how the '90s reinterpreted the '60s. The references are there, but the approach feels less literal, more ahistorical, and ultimately more modern.
The color palette that feels particularly fitting right now is all those rich, earthy tones.
Now onto other looks to help you get through the layover month.
I will talk to you all soon!
XX
JJ
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You're truly the master of layering and colour pairings! That Breton stripe with the blazer and blue pants made my brain light up.
nails it every time!