A Pool Blue Skirt
Ways of Wearing with Tasnim Ahmed
I was at 100% Silk Shop a few weeks ago and spotted a simple, bright blue knee-length skirt, the colour of a swimming pool, a shimmering sea, a blue raspberry popsicle. Something refreshing to wear for summer and beyond.
I ended up ordering the skirt a few days later as I was still thinking about it. It arrived to me instantly, sent by courier alongside an emergency piece of chocolate babka that Lee (Silk’s owner and my very good friend) had brought back for me from Boulangerie Cheskie in Montreal (thrilling!). I was so excited unwrapping the skirt, which felt as crispy as the bag it was packaged in. I shared a story of it online, wearing it with a 3/4 length sleeve black shirt and black patent sandals, to which New York-based writer Tasnim Ahmed instantly replied that she too had just ordered the skirt. It pleased me to be on the same wavelength as Tasnim. I love how she styles and writes about clothing, and, as we both tend to dress based on our moods, I thought it would be fun to see how we would approach styling this vibrant piece.
The skirt is designed by Super Yaya, a brand I have long admired for their confectionary hues and feminine shapes. I don’t often buy new items but I like to support stores that make Toronto better and I just instinctively knew this skirt would work well for me (plus it has pockets, an elastic waist and can be machine washed AND dried). I asked Lee why she chose it for the store (there’s one left, btw) and she said she got it because it was so chic and she loves how designer Rym Beydoun’s simpler cuts show off the jacquard patterns in the bazin.
Over email I asked Tasnim why she had bought the skirt. She wrote back saying she had been feeling a bit bored by the way she was dressing at the beginning of spring and began looking at Miu Miu shows from the 90s for a bit of direction:
One look in particular that I kept thinking about was the bright blue skirt with a black 3/4 sleeve top Chloe Sevigny wore for the Spring/Summer 1996 show. I scoured all my usual secondhand haunts and couldn't find much from that collection, so I gave it a rest. Having spent most of my childhood and adolescence living in a very hot country, I really appreciate designers who work with cotton in intriguing ways, ways that make you doubt if it really is even cotton! That's what I respect most about Super Yaya; I have a black and pink woven skirt that has so much structure to it that it can almost stand on its own, and even though I knew it was made of cotton when I ordered it, my mind was still blown. Every now and then, I'll search for Super Yaya online for whatever I can find – there aren't nearly as many American stockists as there needs to be – and I saw that 100% Silk had the blue skirt, which reminded me of the Miu Miu one.
Here are our ways of wearing it:
K: Here is the first outfit I put on when I received The Skirt. My first impression was that it made me feel like a princess, with its subtle poof and taffeta-like appearance. I wanted to create a fantasy party look, one I might wear if I was going dancing in Rohmer’s Full Moon in Paris. I felt it called for a black bateau-neck top (another example of being on the same wavelength as Tasnim!). Mine is from agnès. b which I love for basics like this. To complete the look I chose my sexiest party shoe, patent Prada mules with a big buckle across the toes that I bought from TRR in 2021. To me this is a perfect outfit - I’ve since worn it for numerous occasions (albeit with a shoe swap for when i’m going distances; black Le Monde Beryl sneakers for a stroller walk, black ballet flats for a croissant and a spin around Holt Renfrew etc.)
T: This is hardly the most original statement, but blue has long been one of my favourite colours. The day I decided this, it was important to wash my surroundings – namely my bedroom – in shades of blue. For some time, the walls of my childhood room were painted smoggy-blue, and my parents and I soaked sponges in white paint and pressed them against the walls to form clouds. My curtains were blue, the rug, the bedspread.
So it should come as no surprise that when I first saw images of Miu Miu’s Spring 1996, the first time Miuccia Prada used a particular shade of chlorinated swimming pool blue that would pop up in her later collections, I was hooked. In that show, Chloë Sevigny has on a strikingly simple look: black bateau neck top worn with a rigid swimming pool blue skirt, possibly made of leather or a scuba-like fabric. It was the first thing I thought of when I came across this skirt. Caught without a bateau neck top of my own, my one black t-shirt will have to do. The sandals are from Prada’s Ugly Chic collection (1996 was a great year!), and the bracelet is from a jewelry shop in Paris my husband and I were taking shelter in during a downpour. To drive home the aquatic theme, a silver shell clutch from JW Anderson that does not fit my phone, meaning: perfection.
K: Here's a look for the pool, the beach or a Mediterranean vacation. I bought this playful men's Jacquemus shirt in the spring of 2020 and only wore it a handful of times (mostly with bike shorts). Decorated with a plate of olives, an eggplant and an Amalfi lemon it is too fun to look at to consider parting with, so I recently moved it to my husband's closet as a suggestion for his summer look. After seeing it on him on a recent trip to the beach I borrowed it back to wear with the skirt overtop a navy Speedo one piece with white piping.
T: I like to think of this outfit as Holiday at Home. She should be taking a pasta break post swimming in a secluded Mediterranean pool, but instead she’s cursing herself for choosing to walk home from her dentist appointment during a New York City heatwave.
To create this delusion, I’m wearing a roomy Prada shirt I bought secondhand that puts me in a good mood over a white tank top. The bracelets were bought during a trip to Venice, and the earrings from a flea market in Formentera, and just looking at them makes me feel grateful for having been able to see these places (and in hopes of being transported, at least mentally!). The rich chocolate FANE bag has become something on an appendage you’ll seldom find me without.
T: A continuation of the Holiday at Home theme: I have a few extroverted Pucci pieces, mostly coverups from when the brand collaborated with Formit-Rogers, a now-defunct American lingerie company, in the 1960’s and 70’s. The Pucci is usually reserved for traveling, when I’m in full peacock mode. An exception to the rule is this Jetsons-esque top.
Many years ago, I’d fallen in love with a Comme des Garçons wallet that had an iridescent mermaid sheen to it, and I couldn’t entertain affording it at the time. More years passed and I was at a touristy shop in Venice and spotted this wallet/clutch (it fits my phone) that looked so similar to my CdG missed connection. I wondered if it looked a bit much altogether, but that’s when you know it’s just right.
K: I call this look Apricot Ice :) When I was considering buying the skirt I was envisioning wearing it with rotating snap cardigans, especially my black one. However, since it's summer I went for a more unexpected combination pairing it with apricot. Navy Manolo Blahnik pumps and a navy Souleiado Pierre Deux handbag complete the look. I would wear this to lunch or to eat apricots on ice ;)
T: I know we’re nowhere near jacket-weather presently, but I can’t wait to wear the skirt with this raincoat the instant the temperature simmers down. The raincoat is from Miu Miu’s Spring 2017 collection, where Mrs. P’s take on swimming pool blue popped up in the form of a gorgeous patent leather jacket and faux-swim cap. The show had a retro-aquatic theme; the beautiful tiling the models walked on looked as though it belonged in a swimming pool.
K: I love the effect of colours underneath this organza Max Mara trench, like catching a glimpse of flowers through a frosted window. I am wearing deep purple bateau neck tank (also agnès b.), a green gingham head scarf and navy ballet slippers from The Row.
T: For Skirt’s first outing, she accompanied me on the Sunday morning trip to the grocery store. Some might think it’s all a bit nuts for 9 o’clock in the morning, but clothes ought to serve us in our day-to-day, and if we don’t wear them now, when will we ever?
After I’d put everything together, I realized I looked a bit like the school librarian who has begrudgingly accepted the role of substitute gym teacher, and it delighted me. I bought the navy Hermès polo second-hand for a bargain, and the Miu Miu sandals for a small fortune, and which are extremely comfortable for running errands in.
K: Part of my daily life now is going to the splash pad and following it up with an ice cream cone. As such, I've been wearing this skirt like a pair of soccer shorts. I love how it looks with different shades of blue so I wore it with my men's striped shirt from O'Connells in Buffalo, bought last summer for maternity wear. It now looks great cinched with a fanny pack and a pair of black Havaianas.
Some pool blue references:
Thank you for reading <3
What a perfect slice a summer! Love the thought process behind both your looks as well as the mini catalogue of blue inspiration at the end (also very partial to a swimming pool kiss!!) 🌀🌀🌀
I 💙 Tasnim