Within the BonneGueule editorial staff, there is one thing that we all hate: a stagnant wardrobe. Because the pleasure of dressing comes from change... or rather from renewal.
This format is an opportunity for each of us to talk to you about this quest for renewal, about the pieces we looked for in 2019, whether they are now in our wardrobes or not. And talk about those who, in 2020, will probably be ours unless, by then, everything changes again in our heads.
It is the price of passion to never be calm and always see what is missing to the detriment of what has been fulfilled.
After the inauguration of this format by Jordan , it's my turn to present to you my past obsessions and future desires.
(Cover credit: SEH Kelly )
My 2019 clothing obsessions
1. Straight cut, mid-rise pants
Just like Jordan, my pants widened quite a bit in 2019, both in the thighs and in the leg opening.
First of all, it's a matter of personal preference: I like the silhouette that results from this type of volume.
It's also a story of morphology: re-watching my looks from a few years ago, I realize that I have gained weight in my thighs (which are now rather muscular) but not really in waist size.
This forces my move towards straighter cuts .
My pants are also lifted in terms of crotch height. I don't wear them very high waisted, but let's say, mid-rise: close to the navel. It's still a story of visual harmony: regardless of the legs, a low waist lengthens the bust, and I have more and more difficulty with the associated visual rendering.
I remember spending a lot of time searching for brands that offer pants cut like this. When I discovered Yoox in September 2019, my first research and first purchases on the platform concerned pants: in fact, the majority of fall/winter pants that I owned had become too tight.
I fumbled around a bit before figuring out what really suited me: I tried some really high-waisted pants, and some that were really too wide for my taste.
I sold these pants that didn't fit me and acquired new ones.
And even today, when I look at pants, I am very interested in the crotch height and the volume in the leg. Translation: “ will my thighs fit? ”
Here are some visuals to illustrate this point:
Neither too fitted nor too wide: just right. The buttocks do not float. ( Norse Projects jeans)
A volume and fork height that suit me perfectly ( Officine Générale pants, Pierre model).
So, here is a small (non-exhaustive) list of brands offering such pants that I came across during my research:
- AMI (wide cut)
- Benevento
- Claudio Mariani
- COS
- Natalino
- General Office (Pierre model)
- Quy&Co
- Scavini (S3 cut)
- Stan Ray
2. Long coats
I'm quite tall and I find that knee-length coats flatter my figure better than mid-thigh coats.
I bought an oversized, long raincoat from De Bonne Facture that I really like:
Other photos available on the brand's lookbook .
During spring and fall 2019, the vast majority of my outfits were made of it: it is well designed, light and with a lot of character thanks to its water-repellent Japanese cotton.
I also think that it is this brand in general and this product in particular that gave me a taste for this type of silhouette: long, slightly oversized coat :
I love this aesthetic rendering, this silhouette.
I loved this mac so much that at the beginning of fall, I went looking for brands offering coats with this length, paying close attention to the back length measurements, or where the product fell on the mannequin.
I talked about the brands I found in this episode of Readers' Letters .
Ultimately, I bought two long coats this winter:
- A blue Fortela double-breasted coat
- Our wool and alpaca double-breasted coat, hazelnut color :
3. Dressed, but not too much
As I don't need to be dressed very formally on a daily basis, I don't wear a suit/tie .
But, loving elegant clothes despite everything, I became very fond of the “ soft tailoring ” style: dressy but not too much. It is characterized by the wool joggers or the unstructured blazer for example.
Our Loro Piana suit with its lightweight patch-pocket jacket and drawstring pants truly captures that “dressy casual” vibe.
The outfits of Instagrammer @yongvely_87 , simple but accurate, make my heart skip a beat:
Even more than the pants I mentioned above, I currently only swear by very unstructured jackets. No lining, no interlining, no padding in the shoulders: this is my credo.
To the point where I'm considering a collection made up entirely of unstructured jackets. I have sold 3 jackets in recent months: the 3 most structured, formal ones. The 3 I have left are the lightest in terms of construction.
What thrills me now is this kind of thing:
We can make light, unstructured jackets of course, but we can also make jackets in thicker wools:
Beautiful colors, beautiful materials and volume. Good workmanship
4. Sweaters and t-shirts tucked into pants
If you look closely, you will see that within the team, we quite often wear our tops in our pants (t-shirts, shirts, sweaters), me included:
Here, tucking in the sweater ( BonneGueule ) allows you to highlight the darts at the front of the pants ( Officine Générale ).
I see a lot of brands that also do this on their shoots: Trousers are the first example that comes to mind.
This concerns some of you, which I understand, because it is not something we think of spontaneously:
The reasons are quite simple:
- This allows you to mark the waist higher , cutting the silhouette in two clearly.
- This allows you to highlight a beautiful belt assembly
When your pants have such a beautiful waistband: show it off, even with a sweater. Claudio Mariani
Currently, except for jackets, all my tops are in my pants.
It has become a style joke. I can't say exactly how it appeared.
It's probably a bit of Jordan's fault.
It's probably a bit of the fault of this Instagrammer mentioned earlier, whose silhouettes I love:
It might go a little too far sometimes, but for the moment, I like it all.
If you don't wear your pants too low on the waist, I can only encourage you to try. And if you need more inspiration before you take the plunge, here's some:
My wishes for 2020
1. Brogues (or half-breasts)
I have Velasca desert boots that I wear very often, but I am currently missing dress shoes that would go with everything, as a complement.
I'm thinking of smooth leather brogues with a rubber sole.
In dark burgundy like at Morjas , it will be very good.
Or half-chase derbies. My heart balances :
Shape and proportions exactly the way I like them. Available in suede leather or smooth leather from Velasca.
However, I have owned brogues. 3 pairs even, in recent years:
- First, Orban's brogues, resold because they were too formal for me. I need derby brogues
- Next, Velasca derby brogues, but too small for me. Resold.
- Finally, cordovan longwings. Beautiful, but too big and uncomfortable for me. Bought second-hand at a good price and also resold.
I do not give up.
"I'll get them one day. I'll get them!"
2. A fresco suit, blue or gray
As unstructured as possible, with beautiful straight cut pants with pleats.
So, it would be very adaptable : pants alone, jacket alone, complete suit.
With this in mind, with an even more casual jacket:
3. A hoodie
I never really liked it in recent years, finding it too streetwear and difficult to combine with its hood. My opinion is changing and I am more interested in the hoodie, without zip.
Here, it is probably Antoine and Giovanni from our boutique on rue Commines in Paris who are to blame, who wear it very well:
I'm starting to visualize looks in which I could wear it: under a short denim jacket or a work jacket, for example.
I see it precisely as ecru. Not gray because I already have a gray sweatshirt. Not blue because I already wear a lot of blue. So ecru, because I don't have an ecru sweater and I find it a very interesting color.
I want it exactly like that. Norse Projects , Vagn model, Oatmeal color.
4. Wear less blue
When I think of my outfits, I almost always include blue: it's a color that I like, which suits my complexion and which easily links the other basic colors of the men's wardrobe together.
On the contrary, I know that Jordan or Michel, for example, like monochromes and don't wear that much blue.
This can be seen on our shoots, for which Jordan does the styling:
“ But where is the bruise?? ” Don’t worry, I’m taking care of myself. Camel capsule shoot 2020.
Wearing less blue is a way for me to get out of my comfort zone. Replacing blue forces me to create other outfits, to make combinations that don't instinctively come to mind.
Not very complicated outfit here: we go step by step. Full BonneGueule outfit.
5. In my wildest dreams: a pair of Angler Mocs
I've been eyeing this model from the Japanese American brand for some time, which still attracts me to it. I already mentioned this pair not so long ago in the team's Christmas list .
A few models can be found for half price at Kafka Mercantile . It even had my shoe size at one point. But I managed to resist for the moment.
I know that there is a similar and less expensive model from Sebago , mounted on a clear Vibram sole:
