There probably isn’t a more literal interpretation of the essence behind objects of desire than Phoebe Philo. Her glitchy, bitchy, price-it-and-they-will-come return to fashion last fall (more on my panicked state during the first drop in Vogue here) left many of us contemplating our own relationships to Philo’s clothes. As she did before, from her take on Chloe to the glory #oldCeline days, this new iteration told us little about the woman behind it, purposefully, leaving us with a sense of intrigue so rare in fashion, and so strategic at the same time.
In her restraint, many of us saw the woman we want to be: the woman who says (and wears) less; who is succinct and original in her ideas and tight in their articulation; who is alluring and known but doesn’t seek our attention.
Of course, for Philophiles (step aside Swifties) and cultural watchers in general, we still raked our imaginations to find the intentions behind her silver-plated MUM necklace (sort of punk?), zippered trousers (something subversive about zipping from the back not the front, a lack of control imbued) and those beautifully tailored, and perhaps a little typical (it was hard to judge the materiality and fit, two things crucial to her old Celine days, from the online drop), blazers and trousers.
In her restraint, many of us saw the woman we want to be: the woman who says (and wears) less; who is succinct and original in her ideas and tight in their articulation; who is alluring and known but doesn’t seek our attention.
According to Lauren Sherman, who writes the excellent Puck newsletter and returned her sole purchase from the drop, the response to the collection erred on the underwhelmed side. So, this might be a contrarian opinion, but I am f***ing obsessed with my Phoebe Philo purchases.
Out of everything I bought, I ended up keeping two items: the Soft Square Toe Pump in Black (sold out quickly but is now available again) and the Club Loafer in Java Brown (still sold out).
Both are made of gorgeous leather and are insanely comfortable, especially the club loafer, which is the kind of shoe I never want to take off. They’re classic, but have enough of a twist to be interesting, a calling card for those in the know.
The first Phoebe delivery happened to be the week of my 39th birthday, in a year fraught with changing expectations - or I should say, me trying to change my expectations, to let go a bit of the milestones (another baby, a specific career trajectory, etc) that often feel like the placeholders of my life. So I was in a primed emotional state to evaluate my own visual cues, to soak in my surroundings and choices and wonder if this snapshot of my life (11 AM, a room at the Bowery Hotel, between zoom meetings, daughter at the park with the nanny) was indicative of who I thought I would be at 39.
It’s why we go to vibrant, bustling restaurants, to be immersed in the feeling, often fleeting, that we are exactly in the place we need to be, not just for steak frites, but for life. The restaurants I return to (Balthazar, Polo Bar, etc) are the ones that painstakingly create that for us. But in my opinion, almost nothing can shift our perceptions of ourselves as swiftly as fashion.
And I concurred that woman, the one I aspired to be on the eve of my 39th birthday, would decidedly have the new Phoebe Philo loafers.
I particularly like pairing the loafer with feminine items, because of its slightly witchy vibe (ugly shoe theory in practice). Philo is deliberate though in her dips into Salem: the silhouette is still slim and flattering, and the thin metal is reminiscent of a metal buckle without having to be one.
With her, it’s in the details: the elongated rounded square toe of the black pumps, the slightly inverted heel and rich, almost greenish tint of the leather of the brown heeled loafer… these are the cues that make your outfit worthy of a studied second look.
And perhaps that’s what we’re paying for. A double take. The suggestion that we’re more than we seem.
Sidenote: For what it’s worth (and I recognize I am probably the exception), after the initial site disturbances when I first tried to purchase, everything was surprisingly seamless. I received everything I ordered, and when I realized that I had, in my state of aforementioned panic, ordered more than I should have, I uploaded the images to the return site (yes, they make you upload images for approval before a return but I just took a simple iphone photo) and waited anxiously to see if I’d be stuck with a $5k gold-plated necklace. The approval came swiftly, along with a date and time DHL would come to pick up the goods. The gold-plated necklace was a bygone, and the refund landed swiftly in my bank account a few days later. Philo’s next drop is scheduled for Spring 2024.
“In her restraint, many of us saw the woman we want to be: the woman who says (and wears) less; who is succinct and original in her ideas and tight in their articulation; who is alluring and known but doesn’t seek our attention.”
—-so perfectly articulated as to why we love phoebe. Also, still waiting on (working on??lol) becoming this person 😂❤️