Want to feel old? Have a baby at 40 so you can have a toddler at 42.
Want to feel ancient? Flip through the trend section of TikTok and find that all of the clothes you wore between 2008-2013 are back in style.
Girls, it hasn’t even been 20 years, you can’t raise these fashions from the ashes before the pyre has stopped smoking. Okay?
Regardless, here are the three trends that women of a certain age, particularly women who came up in D.C., should prepare to revive. If you haven’t cleaned out your closet since the Obama Administration, you’re already suited up.
I once described the Longchamp Le Pliage as basic, sturdy and unbelievably boring. I said what I said. But I know many of you were and are fans, so congratulations, you’re favorite nylon tote is back in a big way this spring. Apparently the Gen-Z littles adore this utilitarian handbag option, and prefer the tiny ones.
Alexander McQueen may no longer be amongst the living, but his skull scarf is alive with the fire of fashion. If you like rocker chic, this one is for you. I have one of these somewhere, and I’m going to need to start sorting through under-the-bed boxes to find it. Maybe with a t-shirt for Sloane’s music class; Yorick might be able to hum a few bars of Wheels on the Bus.
I may be the only Republican Hill Staffer to make it through her tenure in the marble halls without a pair of the Tory Burch Medallion flats. How did it happen? Well, I never embraced flashy logos. But I’m told by a reliable source that these are back on the feet of the It! girlies. Blair Waldorf would be so proud.
So are you happy to see these trends come back around? Or were you happy to give them up?
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Kinda fun that you have a written source to look back on how you felt about certain fashion over the years at least!
This makes we want to weep. The Tory Burch flats were unspeakably ugly the first time around and they still are.
I got a LePilage recently because it really is a great mom-bag and I never gave up my Tory Burches. So glad to see I’m back in style! (Though I’m sure I’m still wearing the wrong jeans)
So fun actually! I worked in DC for several years starting in 2009, though have since moved away. I was there for a conference a couple of months ago and was struck by how much I had been programmed to view DC work fashion as my personal blueprint for all work fashion – especially the early 2010s version. I have a Le Pliage, have a drawer full of scarves, and while I never owned the Tory Burch flats, they just go with skirt suits in my brain. Glad to be sort of back in style š
Upset to hear that the Le Pliage went out of style because I’ve been carrying mine regularly since 2013-ish. For an attorney who carts her laptop everywhere there’s no better tote. Glad to hear I’m back in style!
Le Pliage totes strike me as never being actively anti-stylish at least – like knee-high boots, they’re too practical for people to drop them entirely even when they aren’t “in”! (I say this as someone who has never owned one, so I’m not personally invested, though maybe now is the time!)
I couldnāt afford the Reva flat at the time so part of me wants to wear them this time around! The rest of me remembers that Iām 42 and need arch support.
Trend or no, I never cared for the look of the Le Pilage. I like a structured bag.
Never adopted the Tory Burches either – like you, I am not into conspicuous logos. I don’t believe in paying a company for the privilege of advertising for them! I am not a billboard.
“I am not a billboard” – I SECOND that!!
I am about your age and never got the Revas either. First because I don’t like obvious logos, and second because elastic-backed flats of any source cut up my heels like nothing else. Moleskin, bandages, gradual break-in, no.
I’ve been loyal to the expandable Le Pliage that’s been offered in the NAS every year for like a decade at this point. It is the ideal travel tote – zips, holds everything, lightweight, and the extra room perfect for the always-more-laden return trip.
Are we doing scarves again? Time to dig out the collection I never ended up donating!
I look forward to being the 45 year old with a 3 year old in tow wearing a skull scarf to the playground. No regrets.
Still have a pair of Revas! I did finally ditch my very first pair that were so beat up.
The Tory Burch Reva is the most uncomfortable shoe I ever gritted my teeth through. No arch support, the medallion that would dig into my foot, the way the back would slide down and wear unevenly. No thank you on round 2!
Those Tory flats killed my feet. Itās a no for me!
The Tory flats were/maybe still are too expensive for their quality level. If I’m paying a lot, I want a shoe to last a little longer than a few rounds on DC cobblestones.
Iāve still got my pliage tote! I am āof a certain ageā and grew my professional career in DC. I skipped the TB medallion trend the first time
This post brought a smile to my face. My pliage bag goes with me on ‘almost’ all trips since 2010.
Love this! My packrat tendencies are paying off! I just walked in my closet and found the TB flats and a Le Pliage lol. I couldn’t afford the scarf the first time around but I do kinda love it.
47 year-old with a 3.5 year-old here. Solidarity.
I will add that I was gifted the Le Pliage expandable travel bag and it’s come in quite handy.
I’m amazed no one is talking about the massive problem of Le Pliage bags – the corners would wear out so quickly! Anyone else get holes galore in the corners of them and lose pens? I had 3 of these bags, and it happened to each and every one. Just donated these to Goodwill a few weeks ago, and not looking back….
I had a Longchamp bag for just about forever, it was basic black and fit everything and went with everything. Loved it for decades.
A few years back I got the larger version as a travel tote. It fell apart after a couple of years. The layers separated and little bubbles appeared all over it. It looked like crap. Quality is not what it was, sadly.