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Menswear Fabrics: Just right for a stylish woman

Fun with men(swear)

It’s the oldest trick in the fashion book: put menswear fabrics on a woman’s body and she looks sexy, spunky, daring, confident or adorable depending on how you style them.

Shopping for menswear fabrics is easy this March

Last week we slipped in a short shopping trip for a client who needed some silk blouses for work ASAP. Our client is a no-fuss person with a busy life. She loves putting on a blouse, a classic lean trouser, a pump, and a pair of earrings and calling it a day.

Erin and I (the mother/daughter EK-BK shopping team) grabbed some silky blouses off the racks, corralled our client in the dressing room and started the on-off, on-off process of checking them out. Nearly all the blouses we picked for her were in stripes, checks or plaid–a big trend for spring.

She slipped the first one on and said, “Oh, this is perfect!” The only problem we had in the dressing room was narrowing down the selection. There were so many great ones to choose from!

She was delighted and so were we. The next morning she sent me an email and said, “How can it be so much fun to look so good? Not one item will be returned, I love it all!”

Well, we get it. Being a woman and dressing in menswear fabrics is totally fun! Ladies? Are you ready to try it?

Shopping the closet

Here in Northern California we’re in the in-between season. It’s not quite spring and it’s not quite winter. So the EK-BK team has tackled the challenge of finding just right combinations for our clients to wear over the next few weeks.

Veronica, in the image above, owns a few things in menswear fabrics. She’s so attractive and so charming. Playing with these traditional fabrics is a must!

In one combination (above), we paired her bold striped Vince sweater with a sweater vest. She’ll wear this on days when she doesn’t need to add a coat. I added the plaid scarf. She’s naturally a scarf person but I picked this one because it shares the same color palette as the sweater and the prints play so well together! She’s wearing a slim black NYDJ ponte knit pant on the bottom. And how could we resist adding that shoe? More prints, more fun.

A hankering for houndstooth

Here is an outfit that celebrates black and white. Veronica was going to meet the former television talk show host, Dick Cavett, in person. She’d also be having dinner out and hearing Cavett being interviewed on stage in San Francisco. We decided this outfit would be perfect. It’s feminine but super smart and was also styled with our weather in mind. (Of course, this would also work perfectly for San Francisco in July when it’s foggy, windy, and cold.)

She’s wearing a black sweater with leather trim. The skirt is by Carlisle and is so charming! It has lots of flounce to it. It’s pleated: The inner part of the pleat is in silk and is quite sheer while the outer part of the pleat is opaque and very textured. I love the fringed edge detail (below) of the pleats in the skirt and the scarf. We put a 3/4 length sleeved Elie Tahari topper on as her outerwear piece. The checked scarf is an old favorite from Max Mara and will give her the warmth she might need for the evening.