Lost in transition
It's that horrible time of year again known as "transition" - neither summer nor autumn, neither really hot nor briskly cool. The mere sound of the word itself conjures up depressing thoughts of childbirth, where "transition" is famously painful, and similar terms such as "the change". It also prompts images of fruitless hours spent staring into your wardrobe, hoping some magical garment will suddenly appear from its depths. This garment would be able to withstand both high temperatures (at noon, if the sun's been out for a while) and sinking ones (on the way to work, on the way home); it would work under blue skies and grey; and it would be neither too floral and spring-like, nor too black and crone-like. It would get you from the caftans of holiday until the time when the ubiquitous cable knit dresses of winter take their place.
In other words, it doesn't exist.
Still, that hasn't stopped every glossy magazine, not to mention every e-zine, building a leading story around how to handle Transition. There can be pages on the subject because there is no one perfect solution. "How do you deal with the seasonal cross-over?" asks web retailer/publisher net-a-porter. "Invest in a patterned dress. Perfect for summer, they're also a spot-on trend for fall." Meanwhile, Laura Bailey in Easy Living says: "I love wearing summery clothes in a wintery way." Layers are one of this season's pet suggestions for The Answer, especially now that designers are trying to push leggings again. (In this scenario, the floaty chiffons of spring are counterbalanced by heavy but footless tights, a look reminiscent of the Marc Jacobs-grunge moment of the early 1990s, and one to be avoided by anyone trying to look remotely professional.)
Chunky sweaters are also popular but the sweater-coat, the only possible option during the time of transition, reeks of ironic grandfatherdom, and such irony doesn't always work, or rather, go to work. None of it is very . . . serious.
Except, of course, for the one garment never suggested for Transition times but the one garment actually made for them: the suit, especially the trouser suit. It makes the transition from cold (maybe with a scarf - scarves are also good for transition) to heat (take jacket off); from work to play; from season to season. And this about-to-be season, although lots of squeaks are being made about dresses and coats, there are also plenty of suits on offer, especially coolly masculine ones, whether the boy-cut kind or the grown-up Lauren Bacall/Katharine Hepburn kind. Raf Simons at Jil Sander did elegantly shrunken versions; Gucci has cool 1970s cuts; and Hermès has gorgeous, generous tweeds. Add whatever kind of blouse you want, or even a thin knit - the suit, of course, was the original layered look.
And here's the best thing about it: it's not a transitional garment. It's just chic.
换季时穿什么？
又到了一年中被称为“过渡期”的讨厌时光：既不是夏天也不是秋天，既不炎热也不凉爽。哪怕就是听到这个词儿的发音，也会让人想起叫人沮丧的“分娩”之类的说法，而分娩期间的“过渡”造成的痛苦是人所共知的。这个词还叫人想起这样一幅幅画面：数小时直勾勾盯着衣橱，希望衣橱深处会突然冒出一件有魔力的衣裳，但总是无果而终。这件衣服能抵御高温（正午时分，如果太阳高照）和温度下降（上下班路上）；晴天阴天都管用；既不太花哨，像春天般绚烂，也不过分深黑，穿起来像个干瘪的老太婆。有了它，你可以从长袖连衣裙的假期，一直穿到无处不在的冬季针织服装取而代之为止。
换句话说，这种衣服不存在。
不过，这并不能阻止各种时尚杂志围绕怎样应对过渡期而撰写头条文章，更别提电子杂志了。这一主题的文章会连篇累牍，因为没有完美的解决办法。“你怎样处理换季衣服呢？”在线零售商和出版商net-a-porter问道。
“买一件有图案的衣服。这是夏季的完美之选，也是秋季引人注目的潮流。”劳拉?贝利(Laura Bailey)在《Easy Living》上说道：“我喜欢用冬天的方式穿夏天的衣服。”多层次的搭配是本季的热门选择，特别是在设计师眼下试图再度推广紧身裤的潮流下。（在这种情景下，春季飘逸的薄纱被厚重的无脚紧身裤中和，样式让人回想起20世纪90年代初Marc Jacobs掀起的Grunge摇滚风潮，却是任何想要看起来毫无职业味道的人都要极力避免的款式。）
短小肥大的针织衫也很流行，但作为过渡期唯一可能的选择，针织衫外套散发着讽刺的老爷爷味道。这种讽刺的风格并不总是适合所有场合，或者准确点说，不适合上班穿。它一点也不十分……庄重。
当然，一种从未有人说过适合过渡期、但实际上是为此而制作的服装――套装却是例外，特别是衣裤套装。它适合各种过渡期：从冷到热（冷时或许要加上一条围巾――围巾是过渡期的上佳选择，热时可以脱掉外套）；从工作到玩乐；从一季到下一季。而在即将到来的季节，尽管人们更愿意为裙装和外套而狂热尖叫，还是有大量套装出售的，特别是沉稳的富有男性气息的套装，不管是男孩装剪裁风格，还是成熟的劳伦?巴尔考(Lauren Bacall)和凯瑟琳?赫本(Katharine Hepburn)类型。吉尔?桑达(Jil Sander)的拉夫?西蒙斯(Raf Simons)设计了雅致的缩小版；古姿(Gucci)有出挑的70年代剪裁样式；爱马仕(Hermès)则有华丽高贵的粗花呢套装。当然，搭配你想穿的任意款式的上衣，或即便是一件薄薄的针织衫――套装还是具有原有的层次分明的观感。
而最妙的是：它不是一件过渡期的衣服。它就是时尚。
