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April 14, 2023
I'm almost hesitant to go here, but here goes....I'm not really a fan of watching really wealthy people display their privileged at such levels that it's disgusting, but this Gwyneth Paltrow thing, is getting so absurd that every word, no matter how mundane has taken on a new flavor of humor.
Amid all this, there is something that's marvelous that's happening. And something I really love. It's the fashion. Albeit, there's the occasional $60,000 bauble here and there, which BTW can be faked easily, so to copy those Princess Kate, shop-to-wear sites, this is going to take all that in and show you how you too can have this new look too.
Actually it's not a bad look, although it's totally shrouded in snobbish wealth, I'm so old, that I remember when dressing like this was chic because you actually did NOT want to over dress someone else. You purposely dressed nicely, and well-groomed, but not over-dressed or that "dressed to kill" look which would intimidate the bravest of fashion victims! The reason was that if you were a showy dresser, that meant that you really didn't
have that much money and you were trying to show off what you didn't have. The truly wealthy, weren't show offs. Folks knew they had money and they didn't have to prove it.
But this sort of look isn't intimidating at all. The two on the left were part of the "old guard" when I was first aware of the "ladies who lunch" made up of New York City's social divas - the one in the background is C. Z. Guest, and the foreground I've forgotten, but was a major old-school, social doyenne in NY Society. The photo on the right is Lee Radziwill (Jackie K's sister) and Truman Capote, who was a major figure on the NY Society
scene, until he wrote In Cold Blood, and unfortunately became so emotionally involved in the perpetrators of the crime that he really never recovered.
The point is that these people never would or did dress to kill. It was beyond thinking about much less doing. And after a decade of opulence....
And then 30 years of this stuff...
Both of which were extremes in fashion, we now show up with this...
...look not only refreshing but positive revolutionary. Albeit the boots are a little much. I would rather see things in proportion to her outfit than this clunky heavy look on her feet.
 
Even the high stepper, Amal Clooney, knows to wear boots in proportion, but I can forgive Gwyneth this one failing, because the rest of her looks are stellar.
So what makes this "quiet luxury" or "stealth wealth" look so great. It's the underlying fact that the garment is well made. Now if you think these people who are wearing this stuff know the difference, you're wrong. They don't know a thing. What they do know is that the garment cost a pretty penny and that's all they care about. For them that connotes quality and that's all they know.
As a matter of fact the whole idea of quality is 100% of what drives this fashion look. This borders on the absurd if you think about it, cause the old society doyennes of the 60s and 70s, knew exactly what quality clothing was and could take their hugely expensive couture garments and show you were the quality was in the garment. These young quality fanciers of today, haven't the slightest notion of what makes the quality in their garment. They can't tell you the
difference between a flat felled seam and a Hong Kong seam, and they really don't care.
For those in-the-know, who really are familiar with the make-up of clothing, what do you look for in this new style?
The big message is timeless. Those boots aren't timeless, but that's okay - I'm forgiving her this one lapse. But look at the rest of this outfit. I've lightened it up a bit so you can see the parts: classic white shirt, classic cardigan, classic long skirt (although it looks like it has some sashes or ties or something with it under the sweater. What's more, this whole outfit, except the shirt is knit.
 For one thing, notice that top - it doesn't look all that fancy, and yet a knock off sells for $780. Now you are beginning to understand how stealth wealth works. It's really expensive. And
yet you could make this out of a wonderful fabric for at tops $100 - probably less. At it's defense it is 100% cashmere, but still, that's a hefty expense.
The inclusion of knit fabrics is probably the most striking difference between the old timeless look of the 50s and 60s and this new timeless look. Knits today can be absolutely gorgeous. Where do you find them? Mostly domestic. Domestic mills are few, however they are absolutely turning out the most decadently gorgeous fabrics - almost couture quality. Robert Kaufman fabrics are a great source, but also Marcy Tilton, Gorgeous Fabrics, and Emma One Sock all
deal in quality fabrics and most of these sources are edited beautifully, so you know you're getting a quality fabric.
This may look a little like an extension of the "Claire gives you permission to spend more on your fabric!" email I sent in the past, and although I was talking about some pretty expensive fabrics in that post, these are less expensive. But they are pricey. They are in the higher category of pricing, but when you put your hands on the fabric and realize what you have, you won't be sorry.
The next challenge is you will want to save it for something special. Well, if you do have something special coming up that's okay. But here's the thing. We are on a trend where better fabric is being sold now as opposed to the 2000s and 2010s when it was all about price. This is partly due to more people like Ms. Gwyneth showing off what she wears on a day-to-day basis (or at least for court), where what the wealthy wear is really different than what is
available to the regular consumer.
This is where sewing comes in. With that higher quality fabric, choosing timeless design, you can have that quiet quality, stealth wealth look with out the price. Now we're getting back to comparing sewing with the price of what it's really worth (that stealth wealth fashion), and not comparing it to slave-labor supported cheaper-than-cheap clothing that is not classic, does not last, and certainly isn't quality.
There is one problem that does arise from not knowing what excellently constructed clothing is or looks like. It's the Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome. Where a new operator (not dresser, not stylist, not fashion expert) comes into town claiming that she alone has the hottest new look that will totally blow people away. This operator tells everyone who will listen that she's new the new wardrobe and clothing of all the stylish wealthy people around, and
well, if you don't buy from her, well, you're simply hopelessly out-moded! So before you even think about going there, you had better get your garments quick from this new stylists, otherwise, you'll be out of style and on a waiting list. Sound familiar! In the 70s and 80s we used to call them fashion victims.
And although this looked rather foolish today, back then it was the cat's meow.
A more contemporary fashion victim look could be something like this. Yet a gregarious, dramatic look can also be timeless as exampled by these two - one is dramatically a fashion victim.....
and the other is no less dramatic than the left, but completely timeless (from Zac Posen in the 2014 Met Gala - almost 10 years old). This will go down as one of his most important creations.
And you've heard this before, so I'll make it quick: this expensive fabric, assembled with you fabulous techniques is not only wearable for more than the cheap stuff, it actually is timeless in endurance as well as style. Throw in a knit fabric, as you grow in and out (don't we all), the knit can adjust accordingly and make it so that you really do wear it for five, ten and yes fifteen years. This sort of quality clothing is really the least expensive clothing
you can have, and a huge reason why the really wealthy class wore it. Not only was it classic and not showy, it was also enduring. Because what a lot of people don't realize is that even though the wealthy do have a lot of money, most of the time it's in a trust fund and they are allowed to pull out so much during a period of time, and that's it. So they too are on a budget.
This email was based on a post on Instagram from BOF, which I usually don't quote here cause most of their articles are behind a pay wall and I don't like quoting something that you can't see without paying for a year's subscription. But in this case it's viewable here. But this also brings up some other wonderful tags and ideas for classic stealth wealth looks that are work
exploring on Instagram. One is the tag: #stealthwealth, #quietluxury, and then there's this one that lives, or rather buys, by what I preach...quality really is cheaper than cheap clothing. BTW, you can set up to follow those
hashtags for a while to see what comes up in your Instagram feed - if you don't like it, you can unfollow.
For me this has opened up a whole new branch of fashion that I can actually grab onto and work with. I can't wait to make my next white blouse or striped blouse and taking my knit core pattern and working on a cardigan look for that classic look. More on that next week!!!
The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid you in fit and flattery of your shape, size and style. Check it out.
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