Threadcurve

The trick wasn’t dieting. It was the line of the clothes. Some of the strongest fall looks of 1985 relied on things fashion keeps rediscovering: a long open layer, a high waist, shoes that continued the color of the leg, and enough tonal consistency that the outfit looked like one thought instead of six. They...

If what you want is a long, uninterrupted leg line, the ankle may be the most consequential four inches in the whole outfit. A hem lands an inch too low. A boot shaft catches the denim. A bright sock appears in a gap nobody planned. Suddenly the jeans you loved in the fitting room look...

A going-out top cost about twenty-eight dollars in 1999, and that number felt like a real decision. At the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, the top alone represented more than five hours of gross pay before you’d bought the pants, shoes, tiny bag or anything that eventually went inside it. And getting ready...

Sweaters and jeans should be easy. They’re two of the most democratic pieces in any wardrobe, and yet the combination can get strangely complicated on a pear-shaped frame. A hem lands at exactly the wrong spot. A beautiful oversized knit keeps going until the waist disappears. Jeans that work perfectly with a T-shirt suddenly look...

A fuller neck does not sentence anyone to a lifetime of long hair worn like camouflage. In fact, length can sometimes do exactly what you hoped it would not: collect around the shoulders, obscure the jaw and turn all that supposedly protective hair into one uninterrupted curtain. Shorter cuts change the conversation. A wave can...