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04 September 2007

Thom Browne at Brooks Brothers Reviewed

thom brooks black fleece

Recently Brooks Brother released its first Black Fleece collection , a collection designed to attract a younger, hipper clientele. Black Fleece will apparently be designed by guest designers much like Target's GO collection (but with prices literally 1000 times higher). The first guest designer is Thom Browne. Thom Browne has been hailed by some as the "savior of the suit." This menswear designer is famous for his geek chic, highly tailored suits with a short pant and a tight fit. What I love about Thom Browne is his attention to detail. I have a little bit of a theatrical sense of style, so I love the retro matchy-matchy design sensibility. I'm not sure I am ever going to have the body to wear his clothes, but at least I can still admire them. While there are pieces in both the women's and men's lines that I think are a little too over the top even for me, there is quite a bit there that I simply adore.

Oh the evening clothes! If only they were cut for someone other than Audrey Hepburn! If only I was rich enough to spend $14,000 on a single outfit! I love the gloves (at $3000 with sterling silver buttons)! I love the matching wraps, subtly lined in fur! *swoon* The evening dresses are so simple to the point of being almost ugly, but I am inexplicably drawn to them. It must be the accessories. For the more adventuresome, there are tuxes tailored to a woman's body. I can't imagine who would actually wear one, but I would love to see someone try. Perhaps some artist might wear one to her gallery opening? Perhaps some impossibly confident woman would wear one to her own wedding?

Now to the suits. From the online catalog, then men's wear suits are immensely wearable. The pants are much less short than I had imagined they would be. Browne appears to have reserved the true high waters for the women to wear with their high heeled oxfords. I'm ambivalent. I want to be fashion forward. I want to like them. But, as a 5'11 woman who has been forced for years to constantly quest for pants that are not high waters, it is a hard look to get into. As for the oxfords, Faking Good Breeding listed them as one of her top 5 looks to avoid this fall, I disagreed. While I am not sure I can get into the pants suits, the skirted suits are fabulous, especially the one I pictured above with the prim little 1950s-esqe white gloves!

Overall, I would have to say that I quite like Thom Browne's collection for Brooks Brothers. If tomorrow I was suddenly hired at by Goldman Sach's I would go out and purchase one of the skirted suits for my first day of work. And, if tomorrow I was suddenly invited to attend the Academy Awards you better believe I would be wearing those fantastic white gloves on the red carpet. Sadly, in real life I will probably not be able to afford anything from this collection, which starts at $400 for the little white gloves and tops out at $10,000 for a fur cape. But, that didn't stop me from popping into Brooks Brothers to see these fabulous clothes in person. Sadly, they will not be arriving in my neck of the woods for another couple of weeks. I will keep you posted.
Images from Brooks Brothers

2 comments:

perfect bound said...

I agree with you about the evening dresses being too simple they seem a bit off. I'm also getting caught up in the footwear. not my style. but beautiful none the less.

Chic and Charming said...

I used to have high heeled oxfords back in the 90s, I would wear them with knee socks and a cord jumper. I was SO preppy (I am still pretty preppy). I have no idea how I would wear them now. I just know that most styles make me feet look small, so I like trying them on, but cannot bring myself to spend the money. So ultimately I have the same problem as you...just not my style...