Careless

A sweet disorder in the dress 
Kindles in clothes a wantonness… 

In his short poem “Delight in Disorder,* 17th century English poet Robert Herrick seems very modern in his appreciation of studied dishevelment. We imagine him enjoying a fallen strap, an unfastened button, a wandering belt. Jane’s Vanity offers a lovely mix of lacy things that might come poetically undone. 

Roman poet Ovid, way back when, found “negligent dress” quite becoming, too. Picture your Italian summer vacation enhanced by the accidental vista of Emma Harris’s Celeste Champagne Slip.

Anglo-Irish satirist (and fashion observer) Jonathan Swift noticed  “the more carelessness, the more modish.” Could he have meant jeans and a tee shirt? Possibly.  We’ll try instead the offhand allure of Vannina Vesperini’s diaphanous Vegetal Robe, worn as a duster 24/7. 

And Philip Dormer Stanfield, 17th century Earl of Chesterfield suggested that you forget about your clothes and “let all of your motions be as easy and natural as if you had no clothes on at all.” Easily accomplished in the Watchtower Chiffon Kaftan from Klements.

Herrick also wrote:, Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. As if to say, let your Jane’s Vanity garments wander as they wish!

With thanks to the clever Obsessed by Dress, a book of quotations by Tobi Tobias.