What's Your Staple Collection?

Have you ever had a collection that just spoke to your personal style or has seemingly almost wholly altered your style there after? It’s amazing what references we hold and allow to influence our sense of style. I personally have one collection which really serves as a reference for my current style.

So what’s your staple collection? My staple collection would be Burberry’s Spring 2009. I know, I know…it’s not the most exclusive brand and certainly not the most ornate and deeply exciting (in its newer collections). However, Burberry and Prada were two houses that sobered my eyes to the fashion scene. I had always known brands from Rodeo Drive…and Caesar’s…and Harrod’s, as my mom was a shopper. She always shopped for my dad and me. I had a shallow understanding of fashion and had never before developed my own style stemming from a catalogue, let alone a runway.

Either way, I found my way out a cave and to the world of fashion as I was prepping for a trip to France. You see, I was told France was a stylish place and I would already be judged as an American. So, if I wanted to enjoy myself I had to learn a few French phrases beside, “voulez vous coucher avec moi.” So, I finally started paying attention when my mom and I went into a boutique or department store. I quickly realized the significance of fashion week, and the celebrity behind the fashion world. Long story short, I discovered Burberry’s campaign ads at the time. They featured this cool dude, named George Craig, who later was featured on their musically infused “Art of the Trench” campaign in the Fall that year, and Alex Pettyfer, a teen movie star at the time. 

The Spring collection blew my mind, because I had always believed the world of fashion was so strict and “done-up”. That year the collection was smoothly rugged and infused with nature. I loved everything about it, being that I loved safari and wanted to be the male Jane Goodall during those days. What I loved most were the relaxed silhouettes, and the elongated and slimming shirts. It’s lightweight look was enticing to the free-spirited feel I looked for among people who always dressed preppy or dripping in diamonds just to go to the grocer (if that wasn't the assistant or chief’s job)! Nonetheless, I started to surround myself with the subdued palette, including of bold colors or metallics in my layers when needed.

Yet it was not just the clothes that sealed my love for Burberry at the time, but their addition of Emma Watson in their ad campaigns the next few seasons. I could not get enough of Burberry, to the point that’s all I wanted my mom to buy me. Don’t worry before I made any tragic over branding mistakes, I didn’t care for the Nova Check pattern. Rather I just wanted anything with the label, and so I started to recognize the difference between the runway collections and department store merchandise. I soon developed the simple taste for the Brit collection, then the London collection, and then the granddaddy Prorsum. 

(This collection is one reason I love dusters and long proportions.)

While I am inspired by more exciting things when I dress up these days, the 2009 spring collection is my daily inspiration for everyday wear. I’m a lot more relax in my style after developing a taste for minimalist aesthetic based on unique quality, longevity and wear ability. Being that I spend most time on a college campus, I put a good effort in my clothing decisions when I go out for dinners and events. But even going out for a dinner or ceremony, I’ll loosen my Band of Outsiders tie from around my hybrid Alexander Wang button down as it drapes over my rag and bone denim, which is wrinkled at my leg due to my trusty 7 for all mankind leather boots. It’s just enough and not too much, and mostly because I’m not wearing anything from my favorite all black section of my wardrobe. But that’s a whole separate story!