“I love that I'm associated with ties because there is something so interesting about them,” says HighSnobiety Editor-in-Chief Willa Bennett of her most beloved accessory. “They can be preppy, they can be [formal]. There's obviously the queer connotations that come with them. There's traditional suiting.” The day of our interview marked her one-month anniversary in her new role at HighSnobiety—out of those 30-some days, she donned a tie on all but three. Naturally, the soon-to-be-28-year-old was clad in a vintage Ralph Lauren cravat the morning we spoke. Bennett is not shy about her proclivity for menswear, but it’s the tie, an appendage she’s been obsessed with since middle school, that supersedes any vest, blazer, and oxford. So much so that it’s become her sartorial signature.
In a similar fashion, stylist Mecca James-Williams is drawn to a totally dissimilar piece: carpenter pants. Though these practical trousers are steeped in the connotation of workwear, she simply describes them as an elevated pair of jeans. “My [carpenter] pants, they grow with me. They change. They mold to my body, and that's what they're supposed to do as a utility pant,” James-Williams explains. On set, safety pins line their hems, while double-sided tape and a lint roller spill out of the rather sizable pockets. At night, she sheds the supplies, swaps her t-shirt for something silk, peplummed, or printed and her energy transforms.
It can be difficult to surmise one’s sense of style in a handful of words, but a single item can seemingly do so quite well. “[My tabis have] such an iconic silhouette, but take all of these different forms,” curator, critic, and author Kimberly Drew says of her favorite footwear. “I think that mirrors a lot of my personality and a lot of my work. I have really strong opinions, and—to talk about myself—a very strong set of values that take so many different shapes,” she explains, before qualifying, “without being too cheesy.”
In developing such deep connections, each wearer has found a singular fashion item with characteristics that extend beyond sartorial versatility. Their signature pieces are emblematic of their sense of style, even their sense of self—the deeply rooted bond is personal. Below Bennett, James-Williams, and Drew wax poetic about how they wear these cornerstone items and why they turn to them on repeat.
Mecca James-Williams On Carpenter Pants
Pants: Carhartt; Blazer: Vintage via The Break; Shirt: Calle de Mar; Necklace: Celine; Shoes: Vintage Gucci; Earrings: Mejuri; Shirt: Jean Paul Gaultier; Shoes: Prada; Earrings: Dior
“I have always been the jean[s] girl,” says Mecca James-Williams, of her simple yet classic approach to trousers. Though what manifested five years ago as boyfriend Levi’s now comes to life in the form of Carhartt denim carpenter pants. In essence a menswear silhouette, carpenter pants are often slightly oversized adorned with utility elements like deep pockets and hammer loops. “People will always be like, ‘What pants are you wearing? They're so funky,’ but they are just classic denim.”
James-Williams bought her first pair of carpenter pants, (Carhartt, but she has since developed a soft spot for Rudy Jude, as well), during New York’s Fall 2020 fashion week, right before the pandemic. Today, she has five or six pairs. Her burgeoning fondness for the utilitarian trouser paralleled that of the fashion world. “There is a diehard Carhartt fashion cult group that wears them, and I love seeing them around,” she says, of her sartorially kindred tribe.
“My weight can fluctuate in them, but my Carhartt [carpenter] pants grow with me. They change. They mold to my body. That's what they're supposed to do as a utility pant anyway.” That, they are. The deep pockets can house anything the stylist might need on set—lint rollers, safety pins, etc. “I'm not worried about them getting messed up, but I'm also not worried about them not looking polished enough.”
At night, James-Williams uses that ruggedness as sartorial contrast versus overt function. Yes, you can pair carpenter pants with Jean Paul Gaultier mesh. “I like to have a really everyday approach to high-end fashion,” she says of the world she’s immersed herself in. Her carpenter pants embody that mentality perfectly. “I'm not walking around in a ballgown, but I would love to have a peplum or ruffled luxurious top with jeans.”
Shop James-Williams' Signature Item:
Willa Bennett On Ties
Tie: Dries Van Noten; Suit and Shoes: Gucci; Skirt and Shirt: Tory Burch; Blazer: Vintage Calvin Klein; Vest: Ralph Lauren; Jewelry: Vintage
Despite Willa Bennett’s position as a queer woman helming a menswear magazine, the tie has little pertinence to her newly secured role. She was wearing ties as an editorial assistant at Seventeen magazine. In fact, she was wearing them as a middle schooler coming to terms with her own sexuality. A menswear-obsessed youth, Bennett would hunt for suiting in vintage stores. She continuously added ill-fitting tailored menswear separates to her collection; ties were the only thing that existed outside the challenging orbit of fit.
Her first tie-donning style icon? The punk princess herself, Avril Lavigne. “[Lavigne] would always wear these hot pink striped ties. So I had a couple of those,” Bennett explains. “One of them, I still have. It's '90s Marc Jacobs. You could literally not pay me to sell it.” Her current collection extends far beyond those initial obsessions. There’s novelty Hot Topic and Tilly’s ties. She hunts for vintage ties from the obvious classics: Dior, Burberry, Gucci, Ralph Lauren. “It's mostly about finding ones that reflect my style more than even anything else,” she says, but sometimes they come with an attached memory or story.
A good friend, Mark Anthony Green, gave her a Dries Van Noten tie, peppered with hot pink, to celebrate her new role at HighSnobiety. Naturally, she then wore it for her first day as an Editor-in-Chief. Green told Bennett he saw it and thought of her. “I love that I'm associated with ties because there is something so interesting about them. They can be preppy. There's obviously the queer connotations that come with it. There's traditional suiting.”
The latter defines her current phase of personal style as it relates to ties, but that’s always subject to change. “I have been wearing full suits every day to the office with crisp button ups, steaming them in the morning, tight ties.” But she’s also tried pairing them with basketball shorts—inspired by coworkers’ outfit experimentation in the office. Bennett is currently adding chains to the mix heaped upon her decolletage. So when she sees another tie garnishing the neck of a New Yorker, she’s less inclined to notice who the wearer is—though she can admittedly often ascertain the era and designer from which said cravat materialized. Instead, she wants to know how they wear their tie. “Someone getting off their banking job is going to present very differently in a tie then someone walking out of the Highsnobiety office,” she posits. “I love that it's the same article of clothing, but worn on two completely separate creatives comes off so differently. If anything, I am more curious about what brought that person to buy that specific tie and tie it.”
Shop Bennett’s Signature Item:
Kimberly Drew On Tabi’s
Shoes: Maison Margiela; Jumpsuit: Dickie’s; Earrings and rings: Kate Spade; Dress: Collina Strada
“They're so practical and ridiculous at the same time,” Kimberly Drew says of her expansive Tabi collection. “My mom is always like, ‘What the fuck is this shoe?’ But actually, it's really comfortable." Drew bought her first pair, or pairs rather, of the iconic Maison Margiela shoe silhouette in 2017—both silver, one a Mary Jane, the other a boot. The inclination she attributes to stylist Jess Willis, whom she first saw donning the footwear. Since then, Drew has amassed seven pairs of the shoe she would primarily describe as “ergonomic.”
Her most recent purchase is a white paper pair of boots with a corrugated cardboard heel. She snagged a baby blue pair from a friend’s closet sale. Then there’s a high-heeled pair of pumps. And lastly, ones bedazzled with silver glitter which she once wore on a red carpet. Regardless of hue or silhouette, each possesses the same recognizable hoof-like toe structure. Though when it comes to a favorite, she can’t pick. “I love all of my children equally,” she states.
Drew says it’s inevitable that someone will comment on her Tabis when she wears them. “At first, I was self conscious. Clearly this is such an iconic shoe, but there is this energy [around them], whether you're in fashion or not,” the curator muses of their mystique. “It's this classic and interesting shape that I think people are naturally drawn to.”
Most of the items Drew wears are as loud in essence as the Tabi. (“On my last trip, I packed three cheetah print dresses, and I was like, ‘Why am I like this?’”) However, she argues a Tabi’s comfort level eclipses it’s mildly perverse sex appeal. “I feel such security just knowing I have them, so it's not about how I style them,” she says. “I know that they're there if I need to pull out a shoe that's going to make me feel good.” It doesn’t hurt that they go with “literally everything.” Luckily, Margiela’s multifaceted interpretations of one singular silhouette parallel Drew’s own multiplicities. “I have really strong opinions, and—to talk about myself—a very strong set of values that take so many different shapes,” she hypothesizes. “Without being too cheesy.”
Shop Drew’s Signature Item:
Production Director: Jess Sisco/ Associate Producer: Claire Flanagan
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