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I still remember walking into Abercrombie & Fitch, the store drenched in Fierce cologne you could smell from the mall entrance without trying. I was probably wearing a fringe-hem denim skirt just like Ashley Graham's, in search of another one in a slightly darker wash to go with my lighter Le Tigre polo. Even then, I knew about tonal contrasting. Graham was clearly a fan of the same look. The 33-year-old supermodel, who is slowly picking up fashion gigs after spending time with husband Justin Ervin and their new son, Isaac [3], has been providing us with some damn good social media content lately.
After cracking us up by doing very mundane tasks around the house in luxury clothes and heels [4], Ashley shared two nostalgic throwbacks we can't stop staring at. "if nobody got me i know my fringe-hem denim skirt (and belt) got me," she wrote while reminiscing about her yesteryears — back when she kept this lived-in jean skirt and belt combination in heavy rotation. OMG, Ashley, of course I get you — that vibe was once mine, too.
Ashley's 'gram had me sifting through old camp albums in no time at all, trying to track down photographic evidence of my own distressed denim skirt. Facebook stalking (myself) made for a really great time somewhere in between Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday, when we can all usually use a little escape from the here and now.
Though fringed denim skirts teamed with midwidth leather belts like these may be an outfit of the past, Ashley proved it still has a place in the present. And she's not the only one thinking about the power of clothing narratives right now. With fashion's recent turn to thrifting vintage pieces [5] from the archives and the release of Netflix's new docuseries Worn Stories [6] that explores the relationships people form with clothing, there's no better time to look back on how we expressed ourselves — and continue to express ourselves — through fashion.