Kids these days

Inspiration struck rather unexpectedly on Sunday, in the form of my ten year-old nephew Eli—a boy whose interest in clothes is negligible, but whose ensemble had a doesn’t-even-know-how-cool-it-is vibe that I found quite winning. First off, he was wearing this red, white and blue striped t-shirt, which looked like it had been plucked right off of Peter on just about any episode of The Brady Bunch. It’s like the perfect kid’s T-shirt ever, pretty much.

But possibly a touch on the butch side for me. I’d go for something like  this ribbed Isabel Marant  top, which feels quite appealingly Jan. (Two more options: This baseball-sleeve version from Edith Miller; and a somewhat dressier silk one from Equipment.)

Around his neck on a length of leather, Eli wore a shark’s tooth he’d acquired at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! gift shop.  A very appropriate accessory for sleepaway camp—where he is soon headed—but this pave version from Tom Binns feels somewhat more me-appropriate.

As for bottoms, that’s where the inspiration pretty much peters out: Eli had on those highly synthetic knee-length  shorts that basketball players wear, and I’m not sure there’s a  way to work any version of that item in here and still take myself seriously as a human being. I might instead go with a subtly contrasty pencil skirt like this one, with very small dots that will not compete so grandly with the stripes for attention. This quiet/loud approach is a nice way to introduce the whole clashy-clashy thing into your repertoire. But maybe you’re way past all that. In which case: this.

Or you might try J. Brand’s skinny cargo jeans, which sound scary but are actually quite flattering, especially if you—as I so often recommend—size up.