It’s August and that means the shops are starting to display their fall collections. The fashion industry works like this: while we’re baking in the sun, we are forced to think about coats; when we’re shivering in February, we have to contemplate bikinis.
Since it’s pointless to fight against it, let us consider what to wear next season.
For many of us, it’s the start of a new life: new school, new job. And it’s a transition from the breezy informal summer dress code to the more formal fall/winter attire.
But here in the Bay Area, what is the difference between casual and office wear? I work in the technology industry where the difference is often expressed through a simple elegant equation: casual = t-shirt + jeans + flip-flops; office = t-shirt + jeans + sneakers.
What if you’re tired of the same look and you want something very different from what everyone else is wearing, but you don’t want to be TOO dressed up?
Head to MAX&Co., a boutique in the downtown Westfield San Francisco Centre. MAX&Co. belongs to the Max Mara Group the luxurious Italian fashion house. The clothes and accessories at MAX&Co. are geared towards younger women and the prices are much more reasonable.
This season, MAX&Co. channels the rock and romantic theme: snappy dark gray coats, eggplant-colored dresses in fluid shapes, knitted bolero tops, wide mesh leather-metal belts, slouchy boots, platform shoes and flats. You can mix and match the separates with jeans, or create a more dressy look for evening, all in a style that is unmistakably Italian.
Although I love the clothes from Max Mara and Sportmax (another division of the company whose clothes are more avant-garde) and would wholeheartedly recommend them, I feel that they are often too dressy for the Bay Area and during these tough economic times, too expensive.
If you are considering a new look, MAX&Co. should be on your shopping itinerary this fall.
MAX&Co. Westfield San Francisco Centre, 865 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Esme Vos is the founder of www.shopplr.com .
