Woman in a cobalt taffeta puff-sleeve wrap top and a black leather wrap skirt with silver buckles by a neon-lit window

Straps and belts · Spring · Autumn

Cobalt puff-sleeve taffeta top and a leather wrap skirt

Enormous pleated taffeta sleeves in cobalt over a black leather wrap skirt with two silver buckles. The volume is up top; the hardware is below.

The top is cobalt taffeta with a wrap front that crosses low into a V and a pair of puff sleeves big enough to have their own weather, gathered at the elbow and pleated at the shoulder so they hold their shape. The skirt is black leather, a wrap that fastens at the hip with two small roller buckles on a leather tab, a flap pocket on the front panel and an asymmetric hem that drops longer at the back.

It is a night look built on proportion: the sleeves take all the width, so the skirt stays close and the shoes stay thin. A pointed black boot or a stiletto sandal; nothing on the neck, because the V is the neckline. Cocktail hour, a late dinner, anywhere with a neon window to stand in front of. Autumn first, spring second.

The sleeves do not fit through most doors. Most doors are not worth it.