Fashion · The Maxi Edit
The Voluminous Maxi
Volume is a skirt, not a personality. Ground it, or it is costume.
Volume is a skirt, not a personality. Ground it, or it is costume.
A voluminous maxi fails when it is treated as romance in the abstract — tiers, a ruffle, a print, a floating hem — and nothing to hold it to the street. Fall and summer runways put the full skirt back because the waist was clean and the shoe could walk. That is the whole trick.
Alaïa gathers black poplin and it still looks like a house. Chloé gathers charmeuse. Hearst pleats a white floral and calls it the Dugald. Zimmermann prints silk. Etro slits blue ruffles. The houses do not agree on the cloth. They agree on scale.
The mistake is matching the mood of the skirt with the top. Ruffle plus ruffle, print plus print, a raffia hat because the hem is long. The skirt is the room. A white shirt. A leather sandal. A bag that does not continue the story.
Buy the black Alaïa if you want volume on a Tuesday. Buy the Dugald if the print is the reason. Then stop. A maxi you cannot sit in is not romantic. It is a fitting.
Mine is the Alaïa gathered black poplin. Volume, a white shirt, a sandal I can walk in. I do not add a second ruffle.— K.W., Editor-in-Chief
White shirt or a fine knit. Leather sandal. The skirt does the walking.
The same skirt. A fine strap. Heel if you must — one idea only.
Volume on the skirt and volume on the top. That is a costume.
A ruffle is architecture. If the top is also busy, take it off.
Black satin, tiered ruffle. Volume is the jewellery. Flat or a heel — not both ideas.
Orange silk-muslin. Colour is enough. Quiet top.
Ruffled silk. The ruffle is the architecture. Belt nothing extra.
Asymmetric cotton. One side does the work. Simple shoe.
Balmain poplin, white. Structure. Town if the top is severe.
Etro, slit, blue. The slit is the second idea — stop there.
The Neree. Poupette volume. Leather sandal so it stays clothes.
Chloé crêpe, black ruffle. Night. Walkable heel.
Gathering is the volume. A clean waist. A shoe that can walk.
Alaïa gathered black poplin. This is the volume that still looks like a house.
Chloé charmeuse, gathered. Dinner. No extra ruffle on top.
Eres Irresistible chiffon. Soft volume. Swim house doing evening.
Xu Zhi stripe, gathered. The stripe is the print. Plain bag.
Vivara muslin. Pucci. Nothing else patterned.
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One print. The skirt is the room. Bag without a pattern.
Printed cotton. Day volume. Serious sandal.
Cavalli print plus ruffle. That is already two ideas. Quiet shoe.
The Como. Zimmermann silk. Let the print walk.
GG chiffon. The monogram is loud. Everything else is not.
The Dugald. Hearst pleats, white floral. Investment volume.
Ballet Rose tulle. Embellished. Evening only.
Etro tiered cotton, cream. Day print. Leather bag.
Broderie and lace are work. White that is not bridal.
Self-Portrait lace and dots. Two textures. Black or ivory top.
The Tina. Broderie, white. Eyelet is the work. No extra lace.
The Serena. Broderie. The quieter white volume.
Rebellion lace on linen-silk. Zimmermann again — pick Como or this.
Hypnotic organza. Sheer volume. What sits underneath is the outfit.
Crochet-trim cotton. The trim is enough.
Jersey or a wash of satin. Volume that can do a Tuesday.
Max Mara jersey. Volume without costume. The Tuesday maxi.
Draped washed satin. Chloé without the ruffle. If you want less architecture.
Every piece in this edit, by the houses behind it.