Hello, Open Thread. Happy Global Champagne Day. In honor of the event, let’s raise a glass to Grace Wales Bonner, the Jamaican-British designer who was just named the head of men’s wear at Hermès. Her appointment brings the number of women making their debuts at big brands next year to four. Combined with this year’s three, that makes seven women who have taken over major brands during the current seismic creative director shift in which 23 labels changed hands. There’s still a ways to go, but it’s not as bad as it seemed for a while. (Last season there were 13 new designer debuts, only one of whom was a woman.) Ms. Wales Bonner is also the second designer of color named to the top of a major house, after Rachel Scott (Jamaican-American) was hired at Proenza Schouler. Progress! It can’t come too soon. As to why this all matters, I would simply say that all you have to do is look at the clothes. Imagination is fueled by experience, as is creativity, so the more experiences that go into the blender from which design emerges, the better. There is no better example of this than Ms. Wales Bonner, who draws her inspiration from the Black diaspora and the writers Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, as well as the kids she saw on the streets growing up. Another development worth toasting: Next week is the start of Tel Aviv Fashion Week, which also happens to be the first one since the start of the war in Gaza two years ago. That may seem ridiculous. After all, who’s buying clothes in the face of so much pain and destruction, both wreaked and experienced? Why should anyone even think about buying clothes? But as much as anything and no matter what your politics or feelings about the war are, fashion week represents a statement of belief in the future. Ideally, a better future. Not just because what we see now isn’t even sold for six months, but because fashion is both a highly accessible form of self-expression — sure, it helps to have a whole atelier at your disposal, but all you really need is a needle, thread and some fabric — and a way of finding grace in hard times. A way to say that we will dress up again, and go out, and be together. That’s important, whatever side you are on. And it’s why Ukraine similarly brought back fashion week in 2024 after suspending it for two years because of the war. This year Kyiv designers even used the opportunity to feature victims who had lost limbs in the war as models, honoring their sacrifice and using it to redefine beauty. Think about that. Then consider the portrayal of women in political power in “The Diplomat,” Season 3 (if you haven’t watched this one, you should); meet the mother-daughter fashion influencers; and remember the stylist whose work defined the 1990s. And have a good, safe weekend. If you haven’t already, time to start thinking about your Halloween costume.
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Your Style Questions, AnsweredEvery week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or X. Questions are edited and condensed.
A good friend loves to throw big Halloween parties every year, complete with costumes. But getting dressed up, no matter how clever the outfit, is not my thing at all. Do I have to, and is there a middle ground? — Sherron, Harrisburg, Pa.I often think there are two kinds of people when it comes to Halloween: the Klums and the non-Klums. The Klums are, of course, those who take after Heidi Klum, the former model and reality TV host whose Oct. 31 parties and personal costumes are epic. Ms. Klum famously spends a whole year preparing for her fancy dress, enlists numerous prosthetic and makeup artists, and has appeared (in no particular order) as a peacock, a giant worm and, last year, as E.T. She views getting dressed up as a joyful way to let loose, indulge your imagination and engage in a little harmless role play at the same time. And she is not alone. Lately it has begun to seem as though costume one-upsmanship has become a competitive celebrity sport. See, for example, the increasingly elaborate, and multiple, Halloween looks of the Kardashians, Beyoncé and Cardi B. The non-Klums, however, can imagine nothing worse than costuming themselves as a worm. For them, this kind of get-up is both pointless and potentially humiliating, a misplaced use of effort, time and money. (Halloween is expected to bring in a record-setting $13.1 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation, including $4.3 billion spent on costumes.) That can lead to all sorts of pointless psychoanalyzing — why are you wearing that now? — and haunt one for years. There is, in fact, a whole thread on TikTok entitled “Is Anyone Else Not Dressing Up for Halloween?” Both positions are legitimate. However, if you are invited to a costume party and you decide to go, it is really only respectful to the host to engage in some way with the dress code — and I am not talking about just sticking on some devil ears or a puppy nose. I am talking about coming up with a story about who you are supposed to be. After all, people are going to assume you are in costume whether you actually are or not, so you might as well control the narrative. (One colleague who hates Halloween discovered this the hard way. She went to a costume party not in costume but wearing her regular old trench coat and discovered that everyone thought she was being a detective.) The good news is that there are all sorts of ways to make an effort without committing to a full look, or transforming yourself into a consumer victim. My husband, for example, once went to a costume party in his normal work clothes, and when people asked who he was, he said “J.D. Salinger.” Since Salinger was a notorious recluse who refused to have his picture taken, no one knew what he looked like — so he could look like anyone. (Going as Martin Margiela, the reclusive Belgian designer who refuses to appear on camera, would work, too.) Another friend attached a bunch of crepe paper streamers to an umbrella and carried it around like a parasol. When opened, it made her look like a jellyfish. (Admittedly, this will not work indoors for the superstitious, but it works for an outdoors event.) Then there was the acquaintance who just bought a very big bag of sugar and carried it around all night and told everyone he was a sugar daddy. (That might invite some blowback.) For years I wore the same long black dress from my closet and simply added different props: a severed head (to be Judith with the head of Holofernes), a lot of cobwebs (Miss Havisham) and bloody hands (Lady Macbeth). The point is, dress can be a talking point, but on Halloween it always is. You might as well take advantage of the moment. |
