Petal-panel leather jacket with black wide-leg culottes

The jacket is the whole argument: cropped to the waist, elbow-length sleeves, and a shell of overlapping black leather petals that stack from the shoulder down like armour that went to art school. Underneath, a black mesh top keeps the line clean and lets the back piece read through the fabric. The trousers are high-waisted black wide-leg culottes with a pressed crease, cut to end above the ankle so the boots get the last word.

Those boots are silver metallic lace-ups on a chunky platform, the one shiny thing in an otherwise matte outfit. It works for a gallery opening, a late dinner in a warehouse district, or any night where the brick wall is the backdrop. Autumn and spring weather; the leather does the heavy lifting and the mesh keeps it from getting stuffy.

I turned around because the back is the good side. The jacket agrees.