WINOOSKI – While New York, Paris, and Milan have traditionally been the trendsetting centers of the fashion world, this fall the top designers and models are looking to the small state of Vermont for their creative inspirations. The latest craze to sweep the runway is a stylish combination of shorts on the bottom with parkas, sweatshirts, or other heavier jackets up top. New collections arriving this autumn from designers such as Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Vera Wang, and Tom Ford will feature the new iconic look, with outfits priced from the affordable low $500s, all the way to the slightly pricier $23,000 Gucci shorts-parka sequined onesie.
“I am just completely in love with the look,” said fashion designer Stella McCartney, who went into fashion originally to support her aging father who refuses to give up his dream of being a musician. “It says, at the same time, both ‘I refuse to let go of summer,’ and ‘Winter is coming.’ And that, to me, strikes just the right note of both wistful longing and grounded strength. I know some people have called the look the mullet of fashion, but I hope we can reclaim that term as something positive. That’s why I am so excited to announce my new line, which will be called Fashion Mullet. I can’t wait for you all to see it!”
McCartney says she continues to draw inspiration from Vermont designers like Andrea Miksic, Debbie Wells, Lucy Ferrada, and many more. She plans to continue taking cues from the green mountain state, and is planning a visit to Burlington this winter to conduct a major study of flannel and plaid.
I bet you got all those photos from the Pacific Northwest. That has been standard attire back there for decades. Really. It just got overshadowed by the tech nerds from outside and their faux 50s look, but it is still there once you get outside of places like Seattle and Portland (which are more like eastern cities now). This is one reason I felt right at home in Vermont. It has a lot in common with the old PacNW, before the transition. Be careful. Don’t let the urban fashionistas coopt Vermont too.
No way they can coopt the look. It has been trademarked in South Canada. The rest of the world can go whistle Dixie; South Canada is fashionista ground zero.