Positively Smocking
Photography by Tina Chiou
Some say that as we get older we regress until we finally become babies again. I’m already seeing the signs! I’ve started wearing my old faithful baby clothes again - this time in adult size. It always felt like my mother was the undercover publicist for smocked dresses. Yours too? My sister Alix and I exclusively donned smocked dresses and Mary Janes for most of our youth. Turns out Imogene, my mother, was once again ahead of her time.
Photography by Shelly Langston
My sister Alix
Photography by Shelly Langston
The good news is that smocking is fashion’s detail dujour spreading it’s intricate artful hand onto swimsuits, date tops and of course dresses. Smocking, invented well before instagram, can be a subtle detail to catch in a photo; you may have missed it? If you don’t know what smocking is fear not! It is the gathering of fabric that creates mini pleats that are sewn together to create a pattern. It has a very artisanal hand done feeling to it and is a fashion *classic*. Some might refer to it as “traditional” especially in the context of children’s clothing. Yet shockingly, smocking is making it’s 2019 debut in a way that feels anything but old world. Smocking has smacked itself front and center onto summers freshest fashion deliveries. Personally, I think it’s breathed new life into the world of “summer tops”. It’s subtlety, makes it the perfect frontman on Cinderella style blouses (also appropriate for churning butter or leaping in a wheat field), puff sleeve blouses, and tube shaped tops. Think of smocking as the new pretty girl next door for summer tops. The look feels comforting and familiar and seemingly innocent with just the right touch of girly. Check out my top smock picks.
Smock On!
Xoxo
Brooke
Links to my top and jeans:
