Weekend Edition #34: Fall Fashion Report from Amsterdam

Where the clothes and vibes were both gezellig

Hi!

I am once again writing to you from an airplane over the Atlantic Ocean. I am flying back from another global sketch review in Amsterdam, with teams from across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Amsterdam dawn to dusk

It was dark, with sunrises after 8 AM and sunsets before 5 PM. It rained. It hailed. It even snowed. But in typical Dutch fashion, no one was bothered. People cycled to work, bundled in layers. Everyone was dressed for warmth but still looked so cool. The mood, weather, and clothes perfectly reflected the Dutch concept of “gezellig,” which more or less means “cozy.”

A room, restaurant, or café can be gezellig (meaning 'cozy' or 'inviting'). A person can be gezellig (meaning 'inviting' or 'pleasant' or 'funny', 'convivial' or 'sociable'). A party can be gezellig (meaning 'relaxed atmosphere with nice people and cozy surroundings').

My week of work looks, starting with the plane (I always bring a black sweatshirt in my tote bag, and a beanie or baseball cap depending on the season), moving to barrel jeans for a day of meetings after the red-eye, followed by khakis, denim on denim (which took me from day to a Thanksgiving work party at night), to my return plane outfit home (just swapped the sweater for the trusty black sweatshirt at the airport)

We spent the week trying to predict what our customers will want to wear a year from now. We looked at inspiration images, sketches, and samples for Winter 2025, November December, January.

We debated prints (no one ever agrees on those, “prints are personal” is a common retort when a disagreement arises, aka “put a pin in it, you’re getting this giant multi-color floral whether you like it or not”).

We felt a lot of fabrics (the perception of quality in materials differs vastly between the U.S. and the rest of the world. Americans are pretty content with whatever, as long as it’s soft, comfortable, and affordable. Customers in Europe and Asia expect a lot more from their clothes: sustainability, natural fibers, fine yarns, and structure).

We compared definitions of feminity. Our U.S. customers like cute, playful details like frills, florals, sequins, and studs. A wink and a nod, if you will. Fun graphics like this or this or this. Comfort and function are important, as is washability. Our partners from Hong Kong, who represent the Asia-Pacific countries, tend to align with us, while our Western European and Scandinavian partners, well, don’t. Their sense of playfulness and joy comes through proportions, pattern mixing, and accessories.

We spent many many many minutes arguing about outerwear and when it should arrive in stores. Our changing weather patterns make this harder than ever to determine. 70 degrees in the Northeast through November compresses the selling season into a nanosecond (speaking of, prepare for some good deals over the next few weeks on winter coats. Lots of inventory to move).

And that doesn’t even take into account Florida. Miami and Orlando are BIG markets for brands, especially during this time period. And chunky grey wool sweaters are the last thing they want. The Spanish, Italians, and customers across the Middle East feel similarly.

Meanwhile, spring won’t start until May for the Nordic countries. They love a chunky grey wool sweater.

It’s complex, and in an increasingly global world, a reminder that the details of our lives are still quite distinct. Blame it on my jetlag if I’m being Captain Obvious, but for me, it always puts me in my place in a good way.

There’s a big wide world out there, where each person is the main character of their own story.

And you know what? The main characters I just spent four days with looked good.

NOT the women I work with, but definitely the style

Their outfits gave me ideas for how I want to dress, as I flew forwards and backwards through two Thursday afternoons, from the dreams of Winter 2025 to the world of Winter 2024.

We’re about to enter a major SALE period. You may have heard? I tend to do my personal shopping off-season. Eventually the right weather arrives. I stock up on a lot of must-haves during good sales, but I also splash out on the splashy item. There is fun to be had (and, shhhh, it’s even more fun at better prices). Especially if you want your clothes to speak a little louder these days, like I do.

So, thanks to a somewhat broken fashion system, you can buy “end of season” on sale right now, for the start of the actual season.

Here’s a brief, non-exhaustive list of what the women I worked with wore, and what I, and perhaps you, might want to add to cart over the next few days. Not everything is on sale, but if I had to guess, most will be soon.

LOOK BOOK

• Everyone wore solid color cozy sweaters, with either a high crew neckline or shallow vee. Mostly from COS. Try this or this or this. (Narrow, deeper vees are also coming back, with a varsity bent, worn alone or over a crew neck tee, like this.)

• I spotted this Prada piece (yowzer!) on our new chief merchant. She sits at the top of our organization, and that piece is a pinnacle Fashion with a capital F style if I’ve ever seen one. The jacket that launched a thousand more. And in burgundy, or as Prada says bordeaux, to boot. I have trouble finding the right temperature for a barn jacket, but a waxed one like this, or a chamois-lined one like this has longer legs. Especially over one of those cozy sweaters.

• Lots of long, cuffed denim and baggy dad jeans (clearly they’re not as worried about draggy pants on city streets as I am, but I am impressed that they somehow don’t get caught in the bicycle spokes!)

• Almond toe and pointy toe boots peeked out from those long pants like these and these.

• But I also saw not one, not two, but three different Margiela Tabi shoes in one meeting. A loafer, a boot, and a sneaker. If that’s too much of a Vibram FiveFingers vibe for you, maybe consider these or these or these. Slightly less hoof-y. A soft square toe. Very cool. Wear any of these with a straight jean like this or a midi skirt like this.

• Guys, Capri pants are back. Of course

  Leandra Medine Cohen
  has been all over this trend for months, she might have the most forward style on the internet. But in faster fashion than I expected (not the Forever21 kind), I’m seeing it in real life, too. Maybe not such a surprise given that fashion tends to be like physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.¹ We are firmly in an era of Big Pants. So the fact that the slimmest of slim pants is coming back shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Our head of women’s paired the pant with these ballet shoes, and an oversized blazer. Which was also the look our design team sketched for next year. So maybe give it some time. But, if you’re ready, try these.

• You know what I’m not seeing? An It bag. What I am seeing? Canvas totes. Everywhere. And these make perfect gifts! Try personalizing this one or, if you’re in NYC make your way to the Land’s End pop-up in Soho, where you can personalize totes in person (thanks

  Sarah Shapiro
  for the hot tip!). I love striped anything so am also partial to this one, which would be ideal for someone you know is going on a fabulous New Year’s holiday. (I just bought this one in Army Green for my work trip. but I also love the red. It fits my laptop to a tee, and I love the internal side pockets to hold my water and phone.)

EXTRA THOUGHTS

I think we’ve hit peak gift guide. I’m not currently planning to do one (although I might)! FYI, because Thanksgiving is so late this year, there are fewer days between next week and Christmas/Hanukkah. Maybe this weekend is a good time to hit the buy button! So, if you’re in the mood, here’s a quick guide to my favorite Gift Guides this year, so far:

• Sarah Shapiro
  for Gen Alpha gifts

• Not a traditional gift guide per se, but

  Jennifer Cook
  has the best recs, and all of these merch suggestions are supremely giftable.

• Virginia Chamlee
  has the most delightful and personal taste on Substack, and I love her range of recommendations in her gift guide. It just might be the only one you need.

• Caroline Chambers
  wins the award for most comprehensive gift guides. Check them all out here!

WHAT I BOUGHT

• Um, guys, GAP looks good right now? Last weekend, I had to take my youngest for his flu shot. My flight was in a few hours, and my suitcase was crying out fora cozy sweater with a chunky neck. Our appointment was right next to GAP, and the looks in their windows pulled me in. I got this and this. The sweater shape is right and the yarns are soft (although I personally think “cashsoft” is a bit of marketing manipulation. The sweater is cotton and nylon), but beware shedding. Quality is ok, not amazing.

• I also got these from GAP too(!!) because I landed on the Home Cooking look from this post as my Thanksgiving Outfit after I saw this on sale on Net. I don’t usually buy a new outfit for Thanksgiving, but we all deserve a pick-me-up this month.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday next week, and I’ll be back the week after. (Which will be December! Where does the time go? Do you ever wonder what would happen if we all just kept flying westward? No? Just me? Ok, I think the champers and altitude are going to my head. Talk soon!)

x Lindsay

1. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/lesson-4/newton-s-third-law

P.S. Putting aside the price of eggs. Maybe this is also the Occham’s Razor explanation for what is currently happening in our political environment.