With the start of slightly warmer weather and a new month, we just can't stop thinking about all those end-of-winter sales. Of course, our closets could always need more chic-and-cozy coats, stylish boots, and super soft cashmere sweaters. If you've been looking to stock up, now's the time. J.Crew is currently offering up to 69% off select End-Of-Season outerwear styles and an extra 30% off already discounted items. An R29 reader favorite, J.Crew's sales are one of the best ways to stock up on its peppy, preppy basics for way, way less.
Using the promo code SHOPSALE, you can get a steep discount on your on-sale purchase for a super limited time only. We're letting you know about this super sale now so you can catch the best drops and snatch them up before they're all gone. But because we know how hard weeding through all those sales can be, we've curated our top choices from this layering-heaven of a sale.
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Welcome to Refinery29’s So, How Is It Really? where we take a look at all of the topics that have the internet talking. In studying them up close, we answer the question of what it’s really like to try out a trend like acatsuit, a viral product, or an unexpected TikTok hack.
The catsuit is one of 2022’s style protagonists. Since last year, it rapidly went from being an ‘80s fitness staple to a fashion-forward garment, worn by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Dua Lipa and championed by designer brands like Balenciaga and Mugler.
While I’ve previously never thought I would wear a piece that would make me look like an extra in one of Jane Fonda’s workout videos, I became intrigued by the trend after seeing the Balenciaga catsuits that Kim Kardashian wore during her Saturday Night Life press tour in 2021. They looked chic and luxurious, embossed in velvet, rather than the shiny Spandex of the Flashdance era. But most of all, they looked easy to throw on and leave on the house in a, well, flash.
So, I set out to try the trend out for a week.
The first catsuit I got my hands on was a black lace number from Sarah Regensburger. I decided to test it out at New York Fashion Week this month. What better time to try a statement piece than when everyone else in New York is trying to grab the attention of street-style photographers with equally over-the-top looks? After seeing Kourtney Kardashian in a similar black lace bodysuit, I knew It was now or never. But while the eldest Kardashian sister wore hers with just a trench coat — baring her undies through the thin veil of the bodysuit’s lace — I didn’t have the courage to do the same, especially considering my roommate’s concerned face when I walked out of my room to show her the look. “Do you have to wear it?” she asked.
Instead, I figured I could wear the catsuit as a base layer under a Selkie puff-sleeve dress that I have continuously described as “my gothic cupcake look.” I accessorized the outfit with a pair of Miu Miu glitter platforms and a Saint Laurent bag. I figured the muted, all-black color scheme would distract from the catsuit’s nakedness and the extravagance of the dress.
Waiting in line for the Tia Adeola show, I received more compliments than I have for all my looks in the last two years combined and (gasp with me, please!) was actually stopped by a street style photographer. I was amazed at how confident and comfortable I felt with this catsuit, sporting its delicate texture as body adornment. But the next phase of my experiment would be a bit more complicated.
Knowing the Kardashians have been responsible for the catsuit’s recent popularity, I needed to go to the source: Kim Kardashian’s brand, Skims. I skimmed through the vast selection of catsuits and bodysuits available on the website, choosing a strapless onesie to channel the Y2K era. I felt positive about it when I first opened the bag: the fabric was comfortable and it featured some interesting corseting details on the sides. While it looked good in the mirror, wearing it out was a different story.
Walking through my Manhattan neighborhood, I could sense people staring at me. I looked at my reflection and realized that the nude hue matched my skin so well that I looked… naked underneath the white shit. To add to that, the top kept rolling down and I’d have to keep pushing it up to prevent me from actually ending up naked on the street. All in all, the look didn’t work for me. While I felt confident enough to wear a sheer catsuit during New York’s prime fashion season, wearing a naked-like jumpsuit on a normal day warranted too many looks from strangers for my taste.
I had one last frontier to conquer with a catsuit on: the gym. For this challenge, I wore a black catsuit from Bandier that featured mesh paneling on the sides. I thought that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing a catsuit on a treadmill, but I was wrong. Honestly, if I could wear this catsuit for the rest of my life to work out, I would: The fabric is so soft it feels like you’re wearing nothing. I even forgot about the sheer nakedness on the sides and the fact that it was very probable I was sporting a camel toe to the gym.
While my week in catsuits may have not been a total success, I walked away with a newfound understanding for women who prefer the bodycon onesie lifestyle. On the one hand, it’s a nightmare to sport in public spaces, where going to the bathroom means you’d have to take off all your clothes (similarly to jumpsuits and rompers) to do the deed. On the other, it’s a grab-and-go kind of garment that can be easily accessorized — from sneakers to puff-sleeve dresses — and versatile enough to persuade even the most conservative of dressers (me!) to give a trend a chance (just make sure you empty your bladder before heading out). And isn’t that what fashion is all about?
See you out there, cat people. I’ll be in my Bandier. Maybe even outside of the gym.
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For the past decade, the fashion industry has spewed a lot of talk about democratization. With the age of social media and the arrival of bloggers-turned-influencers, there was no other way for the industry to stay relevant than to open up its doors. But the geographical, cultural, and economic barriers were still there. Now, fashion is embracing a whole new world that could shake up the status quo once again — the metaverse.
“There is a huge community of people and platforms that really care about fashion [in the metaverse],” says Mishi McDuff, the founder of Blueberry, a digital wearables company that has sold over 20 million units of virtual clothing. “I just don’t see why [designers] wouldn’t want to offer these collections to everyone from anywhere in the world.”
The conversations around the metaverse and fashion are multi-layered. On one end, there is the sustainability factor: brands can reduce their waste by producing clothing digitally. (While that’s good on the surface level, it’s worth noting that digital clothing created in the form of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, can actually have a substantial carbon footprint: a single NFT carbon footprint can equal to two months of electricity usage for a single resident, for example.) Then, there’s the matter of building a bigger fanbase, one that’s pushed brands like Balenciaga and Gucci to capitalize on digitally-native communities to promote and sell their collections. As mentioned above, there is also an effort to democratize the industry even further, beyond the fashion capitals and invite-only fashion week events.
“Maybe someone isn’t able to attend New York Fashion Week, but they are able to come see the show in Second Life,” says McDuff, referring to the digital hub for virtual experiences and communities, where some fashion shows are currently being held.
For an industry that’s been slow to embrace progress — including technology; some brands are still doing show check-ins with pen and paper — it’s a big undertaking. Yet it hasn’t stopped some from trying, particularly during the showcase of fall ’22 collections happening right. To see whether the future is virtual shows, I tried to attend one during this New York Fashion Week. Spoiler: I failed.
The first show that announced a virtual experience was Jonathan Simkhai, which promised a digitalized version of its IRL collection through an invite-only virtual event. When the day came — having ignored the fine print from the invite, which instructed me to download an app on my laptop and log in 15 minutes before the show — I attempted to access The Second Life from my iPhone while in-between fashion week events. Of course, I wasn’t able to, only being able to enjoy the clothes from the photos released afterward. It seemed strange to me why a designer would stage a show that could only be accessed via computer in the middle of fashion week, when editors are running frantically around town unable to carry a laptop with them.
It turns out, virtual shows may not be for us, but rather for people who are already part of the virtual community. According to McDuff, these are avatar editors and influencers, many of whom are outside of the traditional fashion industry: “They do make-believe in Second Life all the time.”
This kind of dichotomy between reality and virtual fiction is what inspired designer Jonathan Simkhai to go to the metaverse in the first place. “I’m fascinated by the idea that one could be anyone they choose to be in this space, ultimately celebrating different backgrounds, body types, and beauty,” Simkhai wrote via email. “I don’t believe digital will surpass the physical experience, but the optionality introduces a new era for our industry.” (In addition to the Second Life-based show, Simkhai displayed his fall 2022 collection via in-person appointments in New York City during fashion week.)
From Simkhai’s perspective, the metaverse fashion scene and IRL shows should coexist seamlessly. “To me, it’s more about accessibility and community building,” he says. “Activating in the metaverse allows us to reach a customer who maybe isn’t familiar with the brand, but allows them to create a digital identity using the clothes.” So much so that when editors were invited to attend Simkhai’s virtual show, they were asked to send in photos with which the Blueberry and Second Life team would create avatars that would sit in at the virtual show wearing the brand’s clothes. “This was the opportunity to look forward and into the future, analyzing how that could dictate current experiences,” he says.
Other brands like Imitation of Christ and Maisie Wilen also capitalized on the metaverse and digital wearables this season. “This is the age of disruption and to end this endless dystopia — we have all been displaced and our communities have gotten smaller or been destroyed due to a global pandemic — we are rebuilding and reassessing,” said Imitation of Christ’s founder Tara Subkoff, who partnered with artist Adam Teninbaum to transform physical garments into digital wearables for the show, in a press release. “To be able to create a new community that can travel anywhere and is always there for people is a dream come true for me.”
The collection reflected Subkoff’s dystopian mentality: Avatars walked through fire-lit forests wearing metallic hoodies, leggings, cut-out tops, and ballgowns that looked like they were made with the last remaining foil on Earth after the great collapse. The message is not a departure from the brand’s longstanding commentary on consumerism and climate change: Last September, Subkoff presented a collection that included scribbles that read “the more you consume, the less you live” over jackets, dresses, and pants.
This movement is happening outside of New York, too: On Thursday, Plein Sport unveiled a digital collection in partnership with the digital platform and marketplace Decentraland during Milan Fashion Week.
These activations mark the beginning for fashion’s Web 3.0 migration. Following the success of Balenciaga and Gucci in showing their collections and selling digital wearables in the metaverse, Decentraland is hosting its first Metaverse Fashion Week from March 24 to 27. For McDuff, events like these are an opportunity to disrupt the fashion system — from its production cycle to accessibility — and also provide the virtual humans with well-designed clothes: “Fashion needs to be on digital platforms… the same reason we need it in real life is the same reason we need it in digital worlds.”
While I may have not been able to attend a metaverse fashion show just yet, I’m crossing my fingers for a front-row seat soon. Now I just have to figure out: What will my avatar wear?
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We’re no strangers to Uniqlo around these parts: We obsess over the designer collabs, we stock up on the brand’s wardrobe staples in every color, and for a clothier founded on releasing high-quality basics at affordable prices, we’re consistently impressed at how Uniqlo is able to not only reinvent but totally reimagine the metaphorical fashion wheel. And from the “looks” of the new spring 2022 drop from Uniqlo U, the brand’s in-house line helmed by artistic director Christophe Lemaire and his top-notch Paris design team, this “Future LifeWear Essentials” collection is leaning into a more oversized — but still simplified and tailored — aesthetic. It’s what we’re broadly calling “French-girl slouch.”
Sure, the pieces are meant to be super relaxed and loose, but if you’re thinking to yourself that these clothes still appear crisp and professional in that effortless day-to-night way, that’s exactly what Lemaire was going for. This spring collection was designed to bring a flexible airiness to the cosmopolitan woman who has places to go. In an interview posted on Uniqlo, Lemaire said, “[With] commuting, it’s interesting to see how habits have changed. And recently, in every big city, like here in Paris, we have a big transformation in the way we commute. … I myself am biking to work, because at the end of the day, it’s much easier to go from one place to the other in a quick and healthy way. The whole team had this in mind more and more. For instance, we tried to design practical bags, different coats that are not too long, had slits on the side, and had the necessity of hoods and protection pieces for unfortunate weather or chilly days.”
To that end, this SS22 Uniqlo U collection features the likes of lightweight water-repellent trench coats, essential cotton tops in Uniqlo’s trademark AIRism cotton and jersey, military-inspired jackets with rounded hems and softer edges, and voluminous sleeves on a certain rain blouson that Lemaire said was designed “for both men and women. It’s interesting to know that more and more, this unisex dimension that we always believed in is actually working.” As for the muted palette of dusty olive, ecru, dark gray, and the occasional burst of yellow or orange, every piece was color-coded to mix and match: “It’s really about subtlety and trying to find interesting neutrals that are as refined as possible,” Lemaire said.
Shop the latest women’s Uniqlo U collection below, or peruse the entire drop (which also includes men’s and children’s wear) at Uniqlo.com now.
Though you can’t tell from this image alone, these versatile tees have “an elegant sheen” to them, thanks to a “glossy ribbed cotton fabric” material. If you can’t imagine grabbing just one colorway, you also have your pick of natural, dark green, or yellow.
We see you, Uniqlo, defying the term “shacket” and going straight for “shirt coat” instead. This particular outerwear — avail in black, yellow, and green — is inspired by workwear denim jackets and it’s designed to be worn as a dress or as a top layer. And, as for the water-repellent bag, its roominess is sized for everyday wear and whatever weather is on deck.
This men’s-inspired boxy shirt has half-sleeves that flare out in that perfect dad-style way, while the French terry midi skirt decidedly skews more feminine without being overtly so.
Available in black, natural, and yellow, Uniqlo U puts its own spin on the classic cardigan sweater. This one is cropped with buttons all the way to the neck — kind of like an oxford button-up.
Raincoat season’s coming — and there are plenty of water-repellent jackets in this collection to choose from. This particular trench looks minimally designed but it’s got details to the max: Expect a hidden front placket, rubber buttons, thoughtfully-placed storm flap pockets, and (of course) a removable hood.
This unisex style was a particular highlight for Lemaire and his team to pull off, which can combat the occasional light spring shower. Some of the technical features you should know about: A mesh lining, a breathable back vent, and “a spacious hood.”
One-and-done dresses — you gotta love ’em. This belted AIRism jersey dress is supremely easy, breezy, and cross-seasonal. Be sure to also check it out in dark green, natural, and black.
Why, yes, of course there’s a blazer in the mix. The main differences that set this style apart from other blazers are the wrinkle-resistant linen-ish handfeel and a sleek cut that’s “somewhere between single-breasted and double-breasted.” (You can also find this blazer in dark and light green.)
And if you’re looking to make this into a full suit look, these gaucho pants wear like comfy joggers but have an air of sophistication about them.
Though it’s inspired by vintage military jackets, this easy layer has secret adjusters at the waist that can create a more rounded and voluminous silhouette.
AIRism is all over this collection, and this half-sleeved tee is a newer silhouette to add to your current wardrobe. And tailored pants continue to bask in this fashion moment and these bottoms, made from a linen-like canvas leans more casual than your everyday men’s-inspired pant.
This billowy, airy-light rain jacket is meant to be thrown over any outfit in case you find yourself caught in surprise rainfalls. It’s got a hideable hood, a drawstring waist, and “avoids the usual sporty look of rainwear.”
One of Uniqlo U’s all-time bestselling cotton tees — hello, 4.6 stars! — is available in nine versatile colors this season. “Sturdy, well-constructed, love the cut, not see-through in the least,” wrote one reviewer. “Sleeve length, neckline, overall length and thickness of material are all just right in my perspective — and I’m pretty picky. Excellent value.”
Finally, don’t miss out on this essential base-layer tank top, which has thinner straps and a scoop neckline. It’s offered in five colors, which means there’s tons of potential for building all kinds of outfits.
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 or click on something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
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