Woman in a white sleeveless sculpted vest top with cut-outs and black wide-leg trousers in a pale concrete plaza

Dark tailoring · Spring · Summer · Autumn

White sculpted cut-out vest top and black wide-leg trousers

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White. I will not be eating. A white wool crepe vest, padded at the shoulder, with slits across the front and at the waist and a split hem. Black wide-leg trousers to the floor, heel hidden. White is a commitment. I last until the first drink. Blazer on for the meeting, then dinner.

A white sleeveless tailored vest with padded shoulders, a folded collar, slits at the chest and waist and a split hem, over black wide-leg trousers.

The top is a sleeveless vest in white wool crepe, tailored to the body and finished with shoulders that stand out square. One side of the collar folds down; the other is cut into a diagonal slit across the chest, echoed by two curved cut-outs at the waist. The hem splits at the front into two points that fall over the trousers. Those are black, high-waisted and wide, with a sharp crease, long enough to hide the black pointed heel underneath.

Black and white in hard light is the simplest thing to get right and the easiest to get wrong; this version keeps the white tight and the black loose. Spring to early autumn, for offices with air conditioning, dinners where the room is the point, and the odd event where a dress would be too much of an answer. A black blazer over the top keeps the cut-outs for later.

Sleeveless tailoring: the shoulders are the accessory.

the pieces

  • White wool crepe sleeveless vest top with cut-outsvest · wool · white
  • Black high-waisted wide-leg trouserswide leg trousers · wool · black
  • Black pointed heelsheels · leather · black

similar pieces

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styling notes

  • Worn as a single layer; the cut-outs are the point
  • Trousers to the floor, the heel stays hidden
  • A black blazer on top for the meeting, none at dinner

palette

Black#121212 White#F2F0EA Bone#DAD5CC

details

Dark tailoringSpringSummerAutumnDinnerEventOfficeMinimalSharpLeatherWoolWide-leg trousersVestHeelsStreetAsymmetricCut-outFitted

wearabilitycloser to street

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