Three ways to wear white volume on the bottom, and a love letter to my favorite Bay Area boutique.
There’s an IG post that caught my eye. An outfit of the day in white barrel jeans — I’m a sucker for white anything in a look. I wanted to re-create it, but I don’t have white barrel jeans.
Yet.
But I do have my white parachute pants from Haus 072C, which I bought two years ago at Harajuku Boutique — easily my favorite store in the Bay Area, and the place I send anyone who’s hit a wall of Zara/H&M fatigue. (You know that fatigue.) Don’t get me wrong — the title of this blog is LuxeMix, and Zara and H&M make up the bulk of my closet. But I have a weak spot for the brands Connie carries at Harajuku: lesser-known Korean labels, Asian-leaning silhouettes, pieces you won’t see on six other moms at school pickup. If you’re in the Bay and you want to level up your closet without becoming somebody’s personal-shopper project, check it out.
Fair warning on price: pieces here run $300 to $1,000. This is not the impulse-buy store — it’s where I budget once or twice a season for the one piece I’ll actually reach for for years. The cost-per-wear math works because you wear them. And because you won’t see them on five other women at school pickup.
So I figured: if barrel jeans were the assignment, parachute pants could submit the homework. Same brief — volume, drape, a little drama on the bottom half. Let something white and clean carry the outfit.
Here are the three looks I built.
Look 1: Middle School Band Concert
An old Cinq à Sept “More Amour” tee I put back into rotation this spring, the wide-leg parachute pants, brown thong sandals, and an iced coffee that’s a staple accessory for my afternoons. This is what I wore to my middle-schoolers’ final band concert. The tee does all the talking — French, navy, loose, slightly ritzy. And the pants make me feel more polished than jeans or any other bottom normally does with a graphic tee.
Look 2: Lunch and Lattes
With a quick swap of top, shoes, and bag, this look transforms me from mom-on-the-go to meet-you-at-Stanford-Shopping-Center for a lunch or a latte. A soft putty tank, a simple sable brown leather belt, a structured taupe handbag, mesh ballet flats. This is what I’d put on if I wanted to look like I actually tried to get dressed for you.
I tend to like thinner belts when the pants are doing the volume — too thick a belt and the silhouette starts fighting itself. The mesh flats keep things light and airy. They have a little bit of summer in them and a little bit of “I’m going somewhere later.”
Look 3: I Swung By The Office
Now that my husband has moved out but some of his clothes are still here, I admit I “borrow” his shirts when I’m craving a looser fit on top. (He was obviously slender enough for me to pull this off.) This blue linen button-down, the parachute pants, a woven brown crossbody, tan sandals — it keeps me feeling proper when the chaos of my new life starts creeping in.
The woven bag is what keeps the look from going too crisp. Without it, you tip straight into office-core. With it, it’s “I made an effort because I wanted to.”
I wore Look 1 last week to my girls’ band concert. I felt a little less self-conscious about going alone — though the part about going alone isn’t new. Showing up as single me still feels fresh. But the point is: my clothes and my style have always been my protective armor, so I took the time that day to make sure I loved what I was wearing.
Then my girls walked out and performed, and they were so good. Middle school concerts are usually rough on the ears — but these kids, Bay Area super-human-raised and trained, sounded like an actual orchestra.
xo, Jenni