Resort 2014: Band of Outsiders

Resort has become expansive and, in turn, almost impossible to deal with. And yet it has also become my favorite season of all. Less saturated with trends and more independent, it is full of collections where designers take risks and experiment with colors and fabrics and shapes and prints. Of course there are some trends to be had and some themes to be spotted, but it is far more freewheeling season than the others, even when compared to its transitional counterpart, pre-Fall. This season I’ve decided to break it up by focusing on nine collections that stood out. The nine include those that set their own path and told their own stories as well as those that fit more closely into the loose narrative of the season.

Band of Outsiders has undergone almost continuous expansion since its founding, first with Boy and then with Girl. For some it was apparently becoming too confusing, so the disparate threads have been pulled back under one umbrella. While that has allowed those who couldn’t keep the brands straight some relief, it has also made more obvious the overarching narrative that connected them even before this recent consolidation.

The trends of the season will become apparent as we move forward, but in this collection the story was simply that of the Band of Outsiders girl. She has many sides, but in the end they all perfectly fit into the puzzle that is her life and her style. She likes easy, fuss free clothing. Sometimes that means the androgynous feel of a shrunken suit. Sometimes it means the airy simplicity of a maxi dress. And other times it means a chic choice that makes it seem as if she has taken to her boyfriend’s or her father’s old tuxedo jacket with a pair of scissors and a sewing machine.

With that ease comes clothes that fit, all at once, into different parts of the day, different areas of her life, and different seasons. Her wardrobe is one for every day of the year.


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