If you were under the impression that a water bottle operates as a mere vessel for fluid, let us immediately dispel that notion. Yes, a water bottle does indeed hold water. But it's also a status symbol, a wellness totem, a canvas for many a national park sticker (We get it! You hike!). It's a commitment to sustainability, a promotional opportunity, and best of all, in 2021, a trending accessory.
That's right: Fall's go-to outfit garnish is none other than your trusty Camelbak. As athletic garb becomes increasingly hipper — both as an emblem of street style and a high fashion aesthetic — it makes sense that the re-usable water bottle, too, would have its moment. And unlike a micro bag or a velour headband, it offers plenty of utility in addition to its cultural appeal.
Now, as temperatures dip, and outdoorsy quarter-zips make their triumphant return to prominence, we're rounding up our favorite sartorial trends for fall — and the water bottles that serve as their essential accompaniments.
Sure, quarantine fashion was rather sweatsuit-centric, but summer 2021 served as substantial proof that formal loungewear is here to stay. So this fall, in lieu of your trusty nap dress, try out a full-on matching pajama set — then toss in Camelbak's Chute® Mag Vacuum water bottle. Made of insulated steel with a leak-proof top, the thing is plenty efficient and it'll add a pop of warm color to any white, frilly, bed-friendly 'fit.
Looking for an easy way to add some nuance to your classic Oxford shirt get-up? Try an ever-so-slight departure from your standard structured top and opt for something with more vintage charm: the Peter Pan collar. Then, balance out the delicate shape of your neckline with a heftier, industrial bottle like this 64 oz. stainless steel number in a charming, muted green that harks back to...Peter Pan himself.
In the realm of street style, we're expecting the windbreaker to eclipse the classic, sporty Calvin Klein set this fall. Unlike a pajama set, the thing lends itself well to climates of all kinds, and with a maximalist, '80s edge, it taps into a whole new arena of athletic garb. Pair your windbreaker with a matching set of shorts, then add in the navy "eddy" bottle with a two-finger carrying loop. The whole look will appear as relentlessly outdoorsy as it does feminine.
Fishing has yet to earn its title as the premiere leisure activity amongst Gen Zers — but nonetheless, the bucket hat, originally sported proudly by many a fly fisherman — is an objectively hot summer accessory. Rock a modern gingham iteration like this one along with your traffic cone orange Chute Mag Camelbak, and frolic on over to your local bait and tackle shop.
Certainly this one comes as no surprise. No matter how the moment's trending garments rotate, it would seem that your standard slip dress always holds forth. So, when you've got nothing to wear, grab your tried-and-true reformed nightgown and a white Multi-Bev bottle in an equally classic silhouette, and call it a day. Better yet, the 2-in-1 vessel serves as both a water bottle and a detachable travel cup...so it's ideal for an all-occasion, day-to-night situation.
As otherwise textiles come and go, an affection for bright colors and seasonal produce endures, so this season, snag a Camelbak in a shade of farmer's market strawberry red, don your favored berry blouse, and make the most of the dregs of this month's picnic weather.
The latest in chic "grandma-core" is undoubtably a version of outerwear that appears to have been stitched together by a kindly senior citizen. Go a little harder and take your power-clash to the next level with a carry-cap Camelbak bottle in a thoroughly unsubtle (un-matchable) shade of teal.
Skewing both "golf" and "art history professor" in aesthetic, the sweater vest is surely already planted firmly in your Instagram feed. But if you're looking to turn things up a notch on the classic piece, go full on "country club academia" with a good burgundy wine-hued insulated bottle from Camelbak.
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Discover a treasure trove of shoppable mini skirts, ahead.
Today’s trends are anything but straightforward, with belly chains, sporty gym shorts, and upside-down bikinis all making waves. Ensuring that your wardrobe is up to date can often mean searching for shoppable items in a sea of puzzling options. Where does one actually buy a belly chain? What differentiates regular gym shorts from fashionable gym shorts? Is shopping for an upside-down bikini as difficult as wearing one? Our new column Sourced answers all your market-related questions, as well as offer you an endless source of styles that will make snagging today’s top trends easy, so you can spend your precious time learning about the next wave of trends.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
A month ago, I didn’t even know what a “shacket” was — though, as it turns out, Refinery29 had diligently written about the “shirt jacket” portmanteau back in 2016. (Hi, Old Millennial here.)
This year, shackets — specifically in flannel and corduroy — have taken off in a huge way for these summer-to-fall transition weeks. Street-style celebs like Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid have also cozied up to the trend, committing to the overly baggy look by going extra wide and long in their respective shackets. Peep around at your favorite fashion retailers and chances are that you’ll find a weighty shirt-jacket hybrid on those racks, too.
Eager to find out what the deal is with this intentionally boxy and oversized outerwear (and skeptical if it could actually be flattering on), I scored my own flannel shacket from Amazon for $37. With a noteworthy hype of 4.4 out of 5 stars and 826 ratings, this Tanming shacket has become an unexpected viral hit on Amazon. What gives? I decided to try it out for myself.
How the Amazon shacket fits
Because a lot of brands on Amazon have funky sizing charts, I went with a Large on this one to be safe (my usual jacket size is medium) in Khaki, which seemed like the most neutral color option. As it turns out you should just stick to your usual size in this style. My shacket was pretty baggy on my 5’3” frame. Not a real dealbreaker, since this is meant to be baggy, but the sleeves were long. In NYC where I live, it hasn’t gotten chilly enough for thick layers yet, so while I’ve only been wearing T-shirts with the shacket, I can confidently say that the torso is roomy enough for a hoodie or sweater, no problem. In terms of oversizedness, the shacket fits similarly to a lived-in barn coat or chore jacket, but this flannel style is slouchier and less structured. I imagine it’d be a great travel jacket because it’s so easily crushable and packable, as it barely requires maintenance.
Features of the Amazon shacket
When the package arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the very soft hand feel of the outer flannel. Even after a spin in the wash and dryer, it’s still cozy to the touch. The inside, however, is totally unlined so it feels a little itchy against my skin — it’s not bad, but I wouldn’t recommend wearing this shacket solo. (Many of the reviewers have advised wearing a long-sleeve shirt if your arms are sensitive.) There are two chest pockets with button closures, two hand pockets by the waist, and metal buttons down the front (similar to the buttons you’d find on a jean jacket). To me, the pockets are essential to what makes a shacket a shacket. Without the pockets, this would just be a thick flannel shirt.
Really cute jacket! I was shocked that I loved it so much coming from Amazon honestly.
Amazon reviewer
Why you should get the Amazon shacket
So, now that I’ve worn this out in public, would I say this shacket is flattering? Not really. But, I think “shapeless” is precisely the point of the shacket — it’s got that low-fuss, carefree look that’s part of the overall Y2K trend that’s going on. If you’re wearing a baby tee with low-rise jeans, you’re gonna love this slacker-y, throw-on plaid jacket to pull the whole ensemble together. Because I am in my mid-30s and grew up on Clueless, I personally can’t stop hearing Amber saying “She could be a farmer in those clothes!” ringing in my ears whenever I put this shacket on. But, hey, the 1995 aesthetic is what’s in right now. And, people seem to love the throwback vibe because I get tons of compliments whenever I wear this shacket out. Plus, there are truly only a few lightweight jackets that are perfectly suitable for these awkward, in-between-seasons phases, and this under-$40 flannel shacket is one of them.
How to style the shacket
As of this week in NYC, the daytime hours can still get sweaty, but the evenings have started to cool off considerably. The shacket is fab for those 70-degree temperatures — I can throw this on over a T-shirt and shorts for a casual night out. Because it is meant to look slouchy, it contrasts especially well with cropped and tighter-fitting tops (or a bodycon dress) if you’re leaning towards a cuter, flirtier outfit. I’m more of a relaxed-fit gal in general, so I tend to go unabashedly baggy-on-baggy on top, but with shorts and clogs to keep me from looking lost under layers of fabric. The plaid print can be overpowering so I find myself going basic everywhere else — plain black or white T-shirt, classic blue jeans, and simple shoes. (I’ve also attached my own pins and brooches to the collar to personalize my shacket.) And, once it starts getting colder, I see myself wearing it with a turtleneck tucked into high-waisted jeans, or with a denim jumper or overalls. That’s a lot of options for a humble, $40 flannel jacket/shirt hybrid!
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
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The only wardrobe item tinier than our party dresses, short shorts, and cardigans in 2021 are our skirts, which, over the course of the pandemic, have dwindled to near-nonexistent proportions. For proof, see Bella Hadid, twirling in a pleated, low-rise mini on Instagram, and Dua Lipa donning a Thom Browne crop top and a school-dress-code-violating plaid skirt in NYC. Following more than a year in lockdown — most of which was spent indoors, swaddled in a sartorial safety blanket (read: a Pangaia sweatsuits) — fashion as a whole went under the shrink ray, resulting in a whole bunch of skirts that aren’t just not safe for work, but not safe for wind, either.
The first signs of a micro mini comeback arrived on the catwalks at Saint Laurent, Miu Miu, and Blumarine’s fall ‘21 shows last winter. There, the total absence of maxi and midi skirts sent those hemlines to the past. Reminiscent of the Y2K-era silhouettes beloved by Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Rihanna in the early ‘00s, the 2021 version of the micro mini is often low-rise, fitted, and cropped short.
So it’s no surprise that one of their original supporters was among the first to be spotted off-the-runway wearing a micro mini in 2021. In March, Rihanna was seen in a cutoff denim skirt with visible boxers, a tropical shirt, and sky-high strappy sandals for a stop at the grocery store. Photos of the singer-designer soon went viral, causing us to question our perhaps ill-advised decision to donate most of our jean skirts from the early aughts.
In July, Maryam Nassir Zadeh used her resort ‘22 collection to introduce an ultra-cropped mini skirt design akin to a tube top. Miami-based label Gimaguas ran with it, styling its now-sold-out selection of boob tubes as micro minis, and vice versa. Indie labels like 1xblue, Tank Air, Miaou, and Gauge81, most of which were designing mini skirts before they were ranked on fashion’s “hot” list, saw spikes in popularity on Instagram, showing up on A-listers like Paloma Elsesser, Emma Chamberlain, Willow Smith, and Olivia Rodrigo, resulting in frequent sell-outs and impressive waitlists.
Also in July, buy-now-pay-later platform Klarna reported a 67% increase in searches for mini skirts, compared to just a month prior in June — a number likely to grow as sold-out styles are restocked and more and more designers ditch the modest hem-lengths they frequented pre-pandemic.
At least that appeared to be the case during Fashion Month. In addition to visible underwear and low-rise jeans, micro mini skirts circa the early ‘00s were in heavy rotation during New York Fashion Week. Models at Theophilio donned minis made of striped knitwear and red leather, while at Kim Shui, the brand paired leather skirts with TikTok-approved scarf tops. Sandy Liang styled tiny cardigans with pleated mini skirts, and Saint Sintra put tin-foil-esque skirts with see-through tops and destroyed stockings. Together, their support extended the barely-there trend well into next year.
Given how long we spent in sweats during lockdown, six months (or more) spent wearing leg-baring mini skirts feels like just what our wardrobes need. Plus, it’ll give us an opportunity to finally break out all of the logo- and pattern-clad tights we bought pre-pandemic and consequently never wore. And if that’s not enough to take scissors to your skirt collection, nothing will be.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
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Model Jasmine Asia has been an avid gamer since she was a child growing up in London as the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants. Although she now gravitates toward games like Call Of Duty, Asia’s love of gaming first grew out of fashion games like Bratz’s early aughts video games: “I’d always be running faster to unlock chic outfits.” Now a professional model, Asia sees her job as related to why she’s always loved gaming: “I never want to look like myself,” said Asia. “I want to become an out-of-this-world character every time.”
According to a recent report from the consulting firm Accenture, the worldwide gaming industry is worth over $300 billion. Games aren’t just products unto themselves, but also provide real estate of which other brands can use for advertising their own non-digital wares, and sometimes even sell digital versions of their clothes. Games like Fortnite have partnered with fashion brands to bring style into their metaverse, offering players the ability to change their avatars’ outfits using high fashion items, style them any way they’d like, and even spend real money on digital clothes.
Fashion brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, The North Face, and Christian Louboutin are getting involved. Last year, Balenciaga presented its fall winter 2021 collection through “Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow,” a game that accompanied a digital runway. Set in 2031, Afterworld takes its hero through various zones — a store, a desolate street, a forest, a cave — as it journeys to its final challenge to capture a sword that would return its protagonist back to reality. Meanwhile, Gucci has partnered with cult games like Tennis Clash, The Sims, Genies, Roblox, Pokémon Go and Animal Crossing to create items available for digital avatars to wear. In 2019, the Italian brand launched its own game in partnership with Forestry Games; called “Gucci Grip,” the choose-your-own-adventure journey saw a skater advance through various settings by collecting Gucci-branded trinkets and badges. The game earned not only fans’ approval, but industry cred, with a nomination at the 2020 Awwwards, one of the premiere competitions for professional web design.
On September 20, industry heavyweight Epic Games announced it’s joining forces with Balenciaga and its creative director Demna Gvasalia to create outfits for Fortnite’s 4.8 million users. The game, which Epic describes as a “world of many experiences,” allows players to choose gaming modes that take them from fighting other players in a battle royale to saving the world and attending virtual concerts starring Ariana Grande and Travis Scott.
And just like in our physical world, style has become a major element of the metaverse. “Fashion is an important cultural element that needs to be part of Fortnite and the metaverse, just like music, sports or entertainment,” said Emily Levy, Senior Manager of Partnerships at Epic Games. “The entire player experience is centered on agency, fantasy, and self-expression while engaging with others.”
The impetus to make real life feel more science fiction is also happening on social media. On TikTok, the #chooseyourcharacter trend has generated over 1 billion views this past year, with users reinterpreting the famous Super Smash Bros sound into scenarios that make their lives look like a game. They’re also dressing for it. In each video, creators use style to present their version of characters, whether in real life, pop culture, or science fiction, building personas in universes like Gossip Girl, Disney movies, and street style aesthetics. While the challenge is not entirely linked to the gaming community, it’s a clear example of how, much like fashion, gaming is about building personas from the ground up.
Julles Hernandez, a Puerto Rico-based stylist and journalist, is hoping to be able to parlay her knowledge and affinity for gaming into a career as a stylist and consultant within gamer crowds. As a kid in Puerto Rico, Hernandez played video games like Call Of Duty and Halo along with fashion games like the MyScene dolls’ computer programs, which Hernandez said first taught her about using style as a means of self expression. But it wasn’t until she started dating her current boyfriend, also a gamer, that she entered the world of esports. Back in August, she packed her bags to attend the Call Of Duty Championship in Los Angeles to socialize with top tier gamers, and get them on board for a unique business proposal. What Hernandez wanted to do was not only to style these gamers, but to also position them as influential figures within the fashion space, much like Asia has become.
Asia has noticed her fashion and gaming worlds blending from the other direction. Asia recently signed to ANTI Models which bills itself as an agency intent on dismantling traditional beauty standards. Her agent was less interested in positioning her as a model than they were as a person well-versed in fashion and gaming. For the past few years, she’s focused on gaming crossover projects with brands such as Pat McGrath and Agent Provocateur. For the latter’s “Fearless Femininity” campaign, Asia appears playing video games while wearing the brand’s lingerie. As somebody who grew up believing that her nerdy interests would never be accepted outside the gaming landscape, the project gives her a sense of purpose that most ad campaigns don’t. “I feel like I am a character and just being connected to gaming heroines as a kid, it’s just natural for me to feel like I can portray them.”
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