My relationship with Reformation is a lot like the one I have with leftover cake — it’s only after slicing off a continuous series of tiny slivers that I realize I’ve eaten a whole piece. I’ll open up my laptop, head to the brand’s website, and open up some tabs (just a few!), peruse but not buy. I’ll repeat this pattern day after day under the deluded assumption that I won’t end up cumulatively cutting off an entire helping in the end — that I won’t type my credit card number in and click place order — but, inevitably, just like that, suddenly the cake is gone and the dress is mine and I’m high on literal and metaphorical sugar.
Actually, that’s exactly what Reformation is for me: wardrobe dessert. Sometimes it feels like everyone on Instagram is addicted to it, myself included, which is why there’s a 99% chance that the current slice I’m eyeing — the Granada Dress in a pattern called “Supermarket Sweep” — will be consumed by hoards of others on every sunny corner of downtown New York this summer. I’ve spent the past few weeks admiring this particular dress from a distance, reconciling my desire to own it with my awareness that millions of other women are probably doing the same. I am someone who tends to prioritize individuality when it comes to style. I love wearing things that look different from what other people are wearing. But apparently not as much as I love Reformation.
That’s exactly what Reformation is for me: wardrobe dessert.
Their Summer 2019 collection is particularly mouthwatering, each piece seemingly designed by an algorithm that is one part genius fashion robot, one part Aperol Spritz that is able to pinpoint the precise fantasy I have about how I’ll spend my free time from June through August: stretched out on a picnic blanket with a paperback book and a basket of freshly-picked cherries. I don’t even own a picnic blanket. And I tend to read books on my iPad.
As I am clearly putty in the hands of Reformation’s power, I’ve been thinking about how I would style the particular pieces that are calling to me in a way that feels uniquely…well…me. In other words, I’ve been working my way through Reformation’s new stuff and playing mental dress-up to achieve the best of both worlds: the thrill of indulging the sweet craving and the satisfaction of doing so in a way that doesn’t feel cookie-cutter (pun intended).
Styling the Dress That Looks (and Tastes) Like Summer
The Granada dress! I think I would wear it with a navy and white striped T-shirt underneath, a neutral-colored tweed jacket and flip flops (yes, flip flops). If it was hot out I’d swap out the tweed jacket and swap in a mess of chunky, mixed-metal bracelets. Maybe a tie-dye T-shirt instead of stripes if I was feeling wild.
Styling the Ultimate Going-Out Top for Hot, Sticky Nights
This silky tank looks like just about the most reliably delicious going-out top since a black peplum tank circa 2014, but I wouldn’t wear it with jeans. Not even white jeans. Nope, I’d opt for linen pants — the kind a Floridian masseuse might wear on a particularly busy day. Plus either satin loafers like these or utilitarian slipper sandals (if I may call them that) like these. And a pearl necklace.
Styling the Zebra Skirt Sunny Sidewalk Dreams Were Made Of
I’m pretty sure zebra is the new tiger when it comes to airy summer skirts and of course the perfect one is languishing on Ref like a French girl ready to be painted. I refuse to wear it with anything but one of Edith’s Tonya Harding palette tees, though, along with navy espadrilles and a silk scarf in my hair.
Styling the Dress That Will Probably Go Viral, If Precedent Says Anything
As for the Wyoming dress, an alternate silhouette of what I deemed the “Influencer Top” of summer 2017? Easy: a blue-striped button-down worn over it like a summer cardigan, a chunky rainbow necklace and mule sandals the color of a matcha latte hold the oat milk.
Do you consume Reformation like cake, too? Tell me what’s making you salivate.
Feature image via Reformation.
