FIELD NOTES
Welcome to field notes, this iteration includes what T-Pain and Abraham Lincoln have in common.
Hello! I recently took a job as the Associate Fashion Director at WSJ. Magazine, and my free time has dwindled. I want to be more consistent about publishing here, which means embracing more stream-of-consciousness posts, even as I continue to write the occasional deep dive.
So, welcome to Field Notes. This series will begin with fashion, but it will expand to include whatever else is occupying my mind. Each entry will highlight at least three things I am observing in the field.
ONE IS COVER IT ALL
A classic workwear staple, the coverall regained momentum on the Spring 2026 runways. In womenswear, The Row presented an oversized jumpsuit with a plunging neckline and long sleeves. It’s as easily worn with a T-shirt layered underneath, a sweater tied at the waist, and the legs tucked into chunky, calf-height work boots as it is styled on its own with a pair of heels.
That said, my attention has shifted to how menswear designers are styling the piece. At Calvin Klein, the idea moved into blue-collar-meets-white-collar territory with a monochrome boilersuit finished with a matching tie. Ralph Lauren’s men’s Fall 2026 runway, which debuted this month, paired a ski-suit-meets-flight-suit silhouette with tuxedo shirting and a belt. At Lemaire, it was layered over a turtleneck and button-down, with the coverall worn on top.
These styling cues feel just as relevant for women as they do for men. Great versions are easy to find vintage or at Bass Pro Shops. My husband recently bought a camo iteration for skiing, après, and even the office. Here are a few others I have my eye on.
TWO IS THE TOP HAT
Never fear, there will be an entire deep dive on the top hat in weeks to come. It is one of my favorite accessories. Abraham Lincoln and T-Pain remain two of its most iconic champions, which says everything about its range.
I love hats. In many ways, they feel like one of fashion’s last frontiers. Entire categories remain underexplored, written off because of a lingering cringe factor. Let’s take the flat cap as a case study. A silhouette I wrote about for Vogue in 2023 after it appeared on the Bevza runway, and has since been legitimized on other runways, most notably at Khaite FW25, then Jacquemus SS2026, and more recently at Ralph Lauren Men’s FW2026 last week. Yes, one could argue the downtown boys of New York have turned it into a JFK Jr. cosplay meme, but that ultimately only helps clear the way for flat caps to be taken seriously, rather than suggesting a wearer might break into a song from Newsies.
Here is to hoping the top hat follows a similar trajectory and steps outside of steampunk or Halloween costume misnomer. These are serious hats. They are presidential. They are the things of music moguls.
The flat cap’s return, in my view, had something to do with a desire to masquerade a slower, more luxurious life, one spent on an estate you own, with time to spare and no computer in sight. I think the top hat has different cultural codes that signal luxury in 2026, too.
I very nearly wore a top hat to my wedding, influenced as much by the bridal gown model played by Vendela Kirsebom in 1998 Parent Trap as by T-Pain’s early-2000s tiger print or brocade iterations in differing heights, many of which can be seen in his incredible “Can’t Believe It” video featuring Wayne. A few wonderful hat makers who specialize in top hats either didn’t have the right fabric or weren’t able to make the hat in time for the wedding. That said, I recently purchased a sequined vintage YSL top hat–bucket hat hybrid, and I will say YSL has some of the best vintage hats that are both objectively ridiculous and completely fantastic. A leopard bowling hat! A yeti-fur conductors hat!
I want everyone to wear insane hats. Though I love the boring bucket hat beanie that is quite popular this winter (myself included), I think hats are meant to solve bad hair days and make simple outfits memorable. A few I love include this insane furry number from the ‘60s that looks like something Fergie might wear, this incredible and far more wearable orange and blue double bucket hat that I almost bought and still might, and this leopard bowlers hat.
THREE THE BOUTONNIÈRE IS BACK
Think boutonnières and think, inevitably, of the prom-night nightmares of the past. Still, there is a real opportunity for menswear, and particularly for jewelry designers, to reclaim them. The oversized floral brooch appliqués that have become common in womenswear feel like a natural crossover. Why should men not pin a real flower to a sweater or a lapel? Simone Rocha and Gucci are two who made a convincing case for a boutonnière on the Spring 2026 runways, while Ralph Lauren’s Men’s collection revisited the idea more literally, using a peacoat button hole for one look and a pin that perfectly held a stem in another, and feels like an opportunity ripe to be totally rethought.
I want to see men explore florals on their lapels. Maybe a Dahlia or something. A lot of the men’s runways have soft floral motifs for fall, as seen at Dries and Kartik Research. Suiting is not going anywhere, and while it rarely feels tired, a boutonnière offers a subtle way to refresh it.
