It’s no secret that cool clothes can cost a lot of money. So if you’re into fashion, and you’re not a rapper or an heiress or a foreign exchange student, you need to be selective with what cool shit you do and do not drop a lot of money on. It’s natural, then, to gravitate towards items that you’ll get the most mileage out of – stuff that’s wearable for different occasions, and works with as many other pieces as possible. In other words, pieces which are versatile.

The thing is, oftentimes pieces manage to be versatile by virtue of being safe; the term “versatile basics” is practically a meme with how often the two words are used together. Black jeans, black derbies, white sneakers, white tees, grey trousers, navy blazers, olive bombers… you get it. While all of these pieces are certainly versatile, they are also all undeniably safe.

A picture is often painted of there being a sort of spectrum with the foregoing sort of versatile basics at one end, and outlandish statement pieces at the other. The more versatile a piece is, it would seem, the less “interesting” it can be. This presents a dilemma when buying expensive pieces – on the one hand, if you’re dropping a lot of cash, then you want to be able to wear the piece a lot, but equally, it seems silly to drop a load of cash on a piece that could be indistinguishable from something sold at Cos or Uniqlo. It’s a compromise between a piece being both interesting enough and wearable enough to justify the cost.

I think that viewpoint is flawed. While I agree that the versatile basics have their place, I do not believe that being basic is the only way to be versatile.



The way I see it, the way that basic pieces manage to be so versatile is by being noncommittal. They avoid saying much of anything as individual pieces – that way, they are less likely to contradict what another piece is saying. As a result, they’re easy to add as filler pieces to outfits, stepping into the background and letting the other pieces do the talking.

But that’s not the only way to go. Far from saying very little, some of the most versatile pieces in my wardrobe are the ones that say many things at once. I can build outfits emphasising any one aspect of the piece, which instead of fading into the background, becomes the centerpiece of the fit.

In case that’s too much abstract bullshit, I’m gonna try to make my point a little more concrete with a real-world example.

This velvet bomber jacket from Haider Ackermann is one of my coolest possessions. It’s obviously very far from being basic or understated, and yet I’ve found it to be one of the most versatile pieces in my wardrobe. To me, this jacket brings together several disparate references, and melds them together into a whole that still feels remarkably cohesive.

First off, at the most basic level, it’s a bomber jacket – a design originally worn by air force pilots. So the jacket carries a sort of military reference in its silhouette. Obviously no fool is going to mistake it for an actual military surplus bomber, but there is a nod in that direction.

One of my favourite fits with this jacket makes use of that militaristic vibe, by pairing it with a heavy wool sweater, and a pair of velvet combat boots. The result is an unmistakably militaristic silhouette, but corrupted with a heavy dose of impractical luxury:

Of course, bomber jackets in general have a cultural identity that extends far beyond being “milspo”. They are a staple piece in streetwear, as is the similar varsity/baseball design, which has its roots in athletic wear. My jacket is cut with a dropped shoulder, leaning a bit further into that relaxed sportswear vibe; the ribbing at the collar, cuffs, and hem also features a subtle striped pattern, something usually associated with baseball jackets.

So that whole streetwear/athletic angle is another side of the jacket that I sometimes choose to emphasise in fits. One of my favourite such examples is this one below. The shoes here are Chuck Taylor 70s in a black ponyhair finish, which mirrors the jacket in being a luxurious take on a streetwear staple. If the previous fit was a luxed-up milsup fit, this one is luxe streetwear:

The velvet used in the bomber’s shell is crushed, which to me gives it a bit more edge than a smoother, clean velvet. The next fit latches onto that edge, using the jacket as a statement piece to finish off a distinctly rock ‘n’ roll fit. All of the details paint a luxurious-yet-disheveled picture, which again mirrors the jacket’s own identity:

Finally, there is of course the option to just go all-in on the luxury vibe that has been an undercurrent to the previous three fits. There are really a ton of different approaches for that; this is just one recent example I liked. The trousers’ gold embroidery and the metallic finish on the shoes tie in with the lustrous texture of the jacket, creating a very “summer luxe” fit:

These examples definitely don’t display the full gamut of ways to wear this jacket (looking back, I could’ve tried to include a look without black pants…), but I hope that they might still inspire some of you to explore the different ways of wearing your own statement pieces. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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