Readers, this was a doozy! We have new shapes, styles, and colors to sort through and who better than Miami King and Tibi Expert Rachel Solomon to help us wade through the newness?
Jumping right in, we learn that this week’s class is dedicated entirely to tops and Thank The Lord. Tops are a big problem, aren’t they? We need something to wear with all of our pleated skirts, shorts, and jeans, and you can’t wear a graphic tee every day of your life. I mean, you can, but there’s something to be said for variety.
TS: From the jump here. I really love Keturah’s outfit - the shoes, the skirt and the white shirt and the blazer. Love, love, love. She looks like she could be running an advertising agency in Copenhagen. Amy looks more pushed, and Sarah looks casually polished in a way that seems effortless but is actually impossible to achieve in real life. Sigh.
HMS: And Keturah always has a thoughtful hair situation. Where I have 2 hair situations: 1) head full of dry shampoo 2) blow out I gave myself, forgetting the back of my head.
TS: We learn that the fall collection is built around the idea that, “You can’t go home again,” which is interesting because I am home in Florida right this very minute and it always takes me a minute to reacclimate myself in terms of both mood and style when I experience the cultural whiplash of traveling from D.C. (which frankly can be sartorially quite dull if you have to go to work on K Street every day) to good old Palm Beach County which is full of florals and linen and spandex.
Amy explains that they conceptualized the collection by looking at the pieces they loved from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s, only to realize they didn’t actually want to recreate those clothes. They wanted to recreate the feeling those clothes gave them.
Pause.
If I think about how I felt in my first pair of skinny Guess jeans (black, received as a Christmas present and you would have thought I had received a new car), my recollection is that I felt foxy and hoped that my crush, Josh W., would also think I was foxy when he saw me in them. Not dressing for the male gaze is a new concept for me. In 7th grade, Josh W. asked me to hold his cigarettes for him overnight. I was walking on cloud nine until my mom found the contraband in my JanSport backpack. I had never smoked a cigarette in my life (and why would I want to, after growing up with parents who drove around chain smoking with the windows rolled up?) When I told my mom the truth, “I’m just holding them for someone, they aren’t mine,” I can understand how lame that sounded. It’s the oldest trick in the book.
Anyway.
Don’t worry, we’ll circle back to skinny jeans later.
HMS: That time I came inside, hugged my mom, and she said “you smell like perfume, hand lotion, goldfish crackers, and a cigarette.” Also: I think all we do is go home again. Over and over. Marrying people like our dads. Buying the clothes we wore in seventh grade. Well maybe that’s right, we can TRY but we can’t actually do it. Anyway home was cold, so I went to Miami.
And look, they’re finally doing a new Charlie’s Angels reboot:
TS: 😂 😂 We now have three women who could be Barbie dolls standing next to each other wearing extremely low-cut bodysuits. Dear God. We learn that there’s a built-in bra. I think Amy just said she feels secure. Wait, I need to go back. Yes, both she and Isabella said they feel secure in spite of their differing cup sizes. If I looked like this, I would feel secure as well, just saying. It becomes clear that the bodysuits make sense in this episode because they are swapping out shirts on camera the whole time, not just showing off.
Rachel, do we need this bodysuit?
HMS: I know it has a bra. But tell me where I am going in this as a busty person? I know it holds and looks hot. Maybe on a date under a button-up? I wore bodysuits in law school when I was trying to hypnotize smart boys. Then I’d get too drunk to snap them in the bathroom.
TS: Amy demos the asymmetrical pants and explains how they can be opened up for, say, Paris fashion week but buttoned up for banking with Bill and Carol.
Poor Bill and Carol, having to be buttoned up all the time. Okay, so I love the denim version of these pants and how they open on both sides. The asymmetrical version is throwing me a little.
HMS: Is Carol the new Karen? I am very Tibi denim curious rn. Those fold ones and the slouch skinny not skinny ones.
TS: Sarah styles Isabella in these gorgeous colors. Amazing! The burgundy, olive, and green work so beautifully together - love this palette. Also, Isabella’s cute hair makes me want to get a bob immediately even though I looked like Nancy Pelosi the last time I had a bob. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
HMS: The colors are gorgeous. I want some of Sarah’s own “from home” touches on this look. I love when they do that.
TS: Amy reveals that the original design for the Keating Heel featured a bow on the front, and then she hated the bow and ripped it off. That said, she shares that the recommended way to tie the Keating straps is a bow in the front. Feminine, but not as on the nose Kate Spade feminine as a bow in the front. Check.
HMS: I ordered this and will tie the tie as directed. As long as it can get around my ankle. I have “the Beckerman ankles.” Don’t ask.
TS: THIS BLOUSE! It’s stunning. That’s the whole review. Just kidding.
I have a zillion button downs and sometimes when I’m trying to figure out what top to wear, they just seem boring or stuffy or something. This is none of those things.
HMS: I’ve always loved this shape. And I do feel a striped button-up can solve most problems.
TS: I love when Amy wears shorts. The sheer turtleneck over the bodysuit, the pointy heels, the proportions - it’s all so good. Again, we have a top that can do many jobs. Date night? Done. Board Report? Also done. Amy says she doesn’t wear a lot of turtlenecks. Me neither, Amy. I always feel like they are strangling me; is this the result of growing up in a tropical climate?
This is foreshadowing for later, when we learn that Amy really doesn’t like turtlenecks - yet they are plentiful in this fall collection.
HMS: This is maybe where I wear the bodysuit. But still date night. Not boardroom. I love a turtleneck so much. The pain-free neck lift. And a reminder of my boarding school youth. You can go home again.
TS: What in the Girl Scout sash is happening with this jacket? I need more time on this one. Also, this look feels like it’s breaking the Rule of Three.
HMS: My friend Rose has a previous iteration with sash and it looks SO COOL. Very Japanese. You have to have your coffee before you put it on.
TS: Sloan insists “They’re really not skinny.” Amy says, “They’re giving skinny.” Amy recounts her two year (!) odyssey of trying on skinny jeans, only for Traci to tell her “No. You’re so basic. Get out of my face.” I love knowing about the Amy/Traci dynamic. Tell us more ❤️
I’m with Traci. I don’t ever want to wear skinny jeans again and I don’t want my eyes to adjust. Rachel, help us. What do you think?
HMS: I am excited about these! They are not actually skinny jean skinny jeans, but they give the impression of skinniness that we want to feel right now. Feels fresh. Not the old stretch skinny jeans that you couldn’t get off without falling down on the bed.
TS: Okay, hello, this is Very Pretty. I love the buttons on the back, the sheer plaid, and I love the whole thing even more when Amy folds the collar down at 29:38.
HMS: The whole plaid situation had me at hello. Wait for itttt….
TS: Is it a scarf? A shirt? A dickey? Rachel, this feels like your department. You are the third piece expert. Talk us through it.
HMS: I have so many Third Pieces, it’s a problem. So of I ordered this. Take your boringest tee + denim, add this, and now it’s a lewk. This is why I love a Third Piece. Also, under a blazer or cardigan. And I think I could manipulate this around the waist, peeking out from under a blazer, etc.
TS: I love a white poplin blouse, but I might be too basic for this one. I genuinely can’t decide how I feel about it. Fun collar though.
HMS: It starts with not being able to button your bodysuit so you leave it hanging and now it’s cool. Then we made that a t-shirt. And the Flip Tank and now here we are. Reminds me of my fencing uniform, but cool. Very architectural. People will ask you where you got this. And it’s all you need. Outfit done.
TS: Amy comes out in the full shorts suit with the vest. Ta-da! Marvelous! She starts talking to Keturah off-screen about whether boots with the shorts will create a sandwich and Keturah suggests a sandwich protector as a protective device. What in the fresh hell? We learn that a sandwich protector just means tights. The words ham and bologna are also used in this metaphor. Speaking of boots, these are very 90’s - what do we think?
HMS: I missed Keturah in this ep, like she was off screen the whole time. Tights and boots solve a lot of problems. Like scary heels, blue legs, can’t find a razor. When in doubt, boots and tights. I am so far removed from boots and heels generally. Now the mule on the other hand …
TS: Keturah says sometimes your eye simply needs time to adjust. This seems to be a stirrup pant/jogger/athleisure/trouser hybrid. And it’s all adjustable, with a bodysuit tucked in and heels. I’m not sure this is for me.
HMS: I love this from the waist down so much. Would put a smallish cashmere sweater on top.
TS: LOVE. This seems like it could be a wardrobe hero. Wear it to work, wear it out to dinner. Goes with skirts, pants, everything. This garment officially has the longest name of any top every made in the history of fashion.
HMS: I don’t comprehend this yet. I need more time. Soon enough, they’ll make me want it even though I live in Miami.
TS: Amy explains the rationale behind embossed croc/eel instead of nappa and I am hanging onto every word. Gorgeous.
HMS: I love shoe or belt texture. Makes things more interesting. Esp if wearing lots of neutrals. I wanted like all the shoes in this collection. Damn you, Paris et Amy.
TS: Whatever we’re calling this, I really like it! Sometimes blazers can feel too structured or masculine on me and this slinky, drapey situation solves that.
HMS: I feel like this in black with matching bottom could function as a tuxedo. This is last season’s white stripey one gone slinky. I want this and resisted so far.
TS: Amy is talking about how Traci refuses to be on camera. Her proposed solution is to give Traci a mechanical hand, blur her face, change her voice. Give the fans a full episode of Amy and Traci!!!!
HMS: I get it, you want to be a designer and didn’t expect to be on our TV show. But in a way we pay even more attention to her like this — she’s like the Wiz.
Amy mentions she’ll be at The Hive. My Hive, where I try on all of my Tibi. Wait, what?
This might be a good time to mention that despite the fact that I stalk every bit of the Tibi inventory I can find in real life, I’ve never actually gone to one of the styling sessions with the Tibi team. I’m too shy and I am afraid I would be so awkward. It’s one thing to run my mouth from my couch and it’s another thing entirely to stand next to Amy Smilovic in skinny jeans.
HMS: I was just in NYC at the store with Grace. Be brave, get styled. Get those boobs in a bodysuit! Then come back here and give us all the deets.
TS: I will try to gather my courage. Meanwhile, we will be waiting on your deets from the flagship!
Thanks to Rachel for the collab and to all of you for reading! Please share your thoughts on bodysuits, skinny jeans, and all the things.
Notes:
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