But I have no idea if the wardrobe works or what I’m missing.
I could start making the clothes now.
But making changes after cloth has been bought and cut gets expensive.
So we stress test.
But how?
First, I asked AI to help me run every combination:
1. bra + ao dai bottom + denim jacket
2. bra + ao ba ba bottom + denim jacket
3. bra + ao dai bottom + wool jacket
4. bra + ao ba ba bottom + wool jacket
5. cashmere + ao dai bottom
6. cashmere + ao ba ba bottom
7. ao ba ba top + ao dai bottom
8. ao ba ba top + ao ba ba bottom
9. ao dai top + ao dai bottom
10. ao dai top + ao ba ba bottom
11. cotton blouse + denim pinafore
12. linen blouse + denim pinafore
13. silk blouse + denim pinafore
14. cashmere + denim pinafore
15. ao ba ba top + denim pinafore
16. ao dai top + denim pinafore
17. cotton blouse + wool pinafore
18. linen blouse + wool pinafore
19. silk blouse + wool pinafore
20. cashmere + wool pinafore
Holy crap.
It just kept on going…
153. cotton blouse + ao dai bottom + wool jacket
154. cotton blouse + ao ba ba bottom + wool jacket
155. cotton blouse + denim pinafore + wool jacket
156. cotton blouse + wool pinafore + wool jacket
157. linen blouse + ao dai bottom + wool jacket
158. linen blouse + ao ba ba bottom + wool jacket
159. linen blouse + denim pinafore + wool jacket
160. linen blouse + wool pinafore + wool jacket
161. silk blouse + ao dai bottom + wool jacket
162. silk blouse + ao ba ba bottom + wool jacket
163. silk blouse + denim pinafore + wool jacket
164. silk blouse + wool pinafore + wool jacket
and going…
225. silk blouse + ao dai bottom + ao dai top
226. silk blouse + ao ba ba bottom + ao dai top
227. silk blouse + denim pinafore + ao dai top
228. silk blouse + wool pinafore + ao dai top
229. cashmere + ao dai bottom + ao dai top
230. cashmere + ao ba ba bottom + ao dai top
231. cashmere + denim pinafore + ao dai top
and going…
549. cotton blouse + ao dai bottom + denim jacket + snow coat
550. cotton blouse + ao ba ba bottom + denim jacket + snow coat
551. cotton blouse + denim pinafore + denim jacket + snow coat
552. cotton blouse + wool pinafore + denim jacket + snow coat
553. cotton blouse + ao dai bottom + wool jacket + snow coat
554. cotton blouse + ao ba ba bottom + wool jacket + snow coat
555. cotton blouse + denim pinafore + wool jacket + snow coat
556. cotton blouse + wool pinafore + wool jacket + snow coat
557. cotton blouse + ao dai bottom + cashmere + snow coat
558. cotton blouse + ao ba ba bottom + cashmere + snow coat
559. cotton blouse + denim pinafore + cashmere + snow coat
560. cotton blouse + wool pinafore + cashmere + snow coat
AI came up with 560 unique combinations from 17 unique pieces.
▸17 unique pieces
1.Tap Pants
2.Bra
3.Morning Blouse
4.Afternoon Blouse
5.Evening Blouse
6.Cashmere Piece
7.Wool Pinafore
8.Wool Jacket
9.Denim Pinafore
10.Wool Jacket
11.Wool Pinafore
12.Ao Ba Ba Top
13.Ao Ba Ba Bottom
14.Ao Dai Top
15.Snow Coat
16.Rain Coat
17.Heat Coat
I would take the number 560 with a grain of salt.
But even if AI got half wrong,
17 unique pieces → 280 combinations
is more versatile than the typical capsule wardrobe at
25-40 unique pieces → 100-300 combinations
BUT WHY?
Why do we have more combinations even though we have less pieces?
I have no idea.
▸I have ideas
Will update this box with findings
Same pattern, different fabrics = all of the garments are interchangeable because they are the same shapes.
Some of our pieces can be worn as a standalone top or as a topper over a blouse, doubling the number of combinations.
fig. 01 · The Cashmere Piece
fig. 02 · The Ao Ba Ba Top
fig. 03 · The Ao Dai Top
But that doesn’t tell me what I’m missing or if the wardrobe works.
What if AI came up with 560 combinations I’ll never use?
So I tested the wardrobe against 3 spectrums:
Casual → Formal
Extremely Hot → Extremely Cold
Sedentary → Activity
SPECTRUM 1: Casual → Formal
Level 1. Can’t be Bothered
fig. 04
LocationHome
EventSulking because the world has slighted me
OutfitLinen Blouse + Tap Shorts
Comments…and maybe a bra but highly unlikely. The floor of the system. Barely dressed, 100% off duty. BUT there is no bridge to take me from sulking to someone’s at the door without getting dressed. I need something to throw on without actually getting dressed.
CommentsWorkwear register. Breathable. I can bend, carry, sweat, squeeze through stalls, and come home with a bag of vegetables. Dressed for doing the thing instead of looking like I’m doing the thing.
Level 3. Smart Casual
fig. 06
LocationMilwaukee, WI
EventFriday fish fry, old fashioned ordered press
OutfitSilk blouse + denim pinafore
CommentsSupper club math. The silk says I made an effort. The denim says I am not trying to impress you. Dressed enough for the good booth, plain enough not to get side-eyed.
Level 5. Dressed up
fig. 07
LocationChelsea, NYC
EventSomeone else’s opening
OutfitSilk blouse + cashmere + Ao Dai bottom
WhyArt-world camouflage. The silk and cashmere make it luxurious but the Ao Dai bottoms make it slightly unexpected. Blending in over dressing for the event.
Level 6. My Wedding
fig. 08
OutfitAD top + AD bottom
Commentsoh… I CAN WEAR THIS TO MY WEDDING!!!
Level 7. Black Tie Event
LocationManhattan, NYC
Temperature35°F / 2°C
EventBlack-tie benefit
OutfitX
CommentsI can do formal. I can do ceremonial. I can do Vietnamese formal. I can even do something beautiful enough for somebody else’s opening. But I can’t do strict western black tie which is a very specific type of evening.
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
SPECTRUM 2: Extremely Hot → Extremely Cold
Extremely Hot 108°F / 42°C
fig. 09
LocationLas Vegas Strip
EventLate-night drinks after a show, staycation with Jon
OutfitBlouse + tap pants + Ao Ba Ba top
CommentsNear-floor layering; ABB top does double duty: open outside, closed against the artic cold AC indoors.
Hot 85°F / 29°C
fig. 10
LocationMekong Delta, Vietnam
EventVisiting the only family that makes LMA, to show them what you made with it
OutfitABB top + ABB bottom
WhyFull circle. I’m wearing the clothes in Vietnam and bringing the material back to the people who made it. To wear anything else is insulting. But if a monsoon hits, I’m so screwed.
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Las Vegas, NV
fig. 11
Temperature72°F / 22°C
EventDrive-thru at In-N-Out
Outfitcashmere + denim pinafore
CommentsNothing in this outfit can be hurt by a Double-Double. Comfort first, low consequence dressing.
Mild — 68°F / 20°C
LocationKalocsa, Hungary
EventLearning to make goulash from a Hungarian grandmother
OutfitX
WhyI’m about to cook goulash, which means oil, paprika, salt, splashes, hands in things, leaning over a pot, and wiping things with whatever is nearby. Nothing I sketched says “Go ahead. Ruin me.” Grandma is extremely disappointed.
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Gap #4Clothes for Kitchen
Cold 30°F / -1°C
fig. 12
LocationSpittelberg, Vienna
EventMeeting online besties for the first time at the Christmas market
CommentsFull four-layer wool stack. Warmth is distributed. Peelable indoors, built for real cold.
Extremely cold — 10°F / -12°C
LocationTromsø, Norway
EventAurora hunt
OutfitX
CommentsI’m going to freeze to death
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Gap #4Clothes for Kitchen
Gap #5Clothes for Bitter Cold
SPECTRUM 3: Sedentary → Activity
Sedentary
fig. 13
LocationThe Emergency Room, anywhere
EventWaiting, hour three, 4am
OutfitCashmere + ABB bottom
CommentsSoftness. Warmth. Clothes for becoming furniture but I desperately want a blanket and I have nothing that can double as a blanket. I need a blanket!
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Gap #4Clothes for Kitchen
Gap #5Clothes for Bitter Cold
Gap #6Clothes that can double as Blanket
Low Activity
LocationLiving Room, Home
Event11 Minute Repair tutorial, Hour 3
OutfitX
CommentsNothing is built to be ruined. Ironic because my life revolves around making and mess but here we are.
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Gap #4Clothes for Kitchen
Gap #5Clothes for Bitter Cold
Gap #6Clothes that can double as Blanket
Gap #7Clothes for Mess
Light Movement
fig. 14
LocationParis, France
EventThe Vietnam rooms at Musée Guimet
OutfitABB top + ABB bottom + LMA trench
CommentsWalking a museum floor, composed and unhurried. Looking at what colonial France took from Vietnam, wearing what they couldn’t.
Moderate Movement
fig. 15
LocationAnywhere with turkey legs
EventRenaissance Fair, Opening day
OutfitLinen Blouse + wool pinafore + RAIN coat
CommentsWearing the 18th century Brunswick unironically at one of the few events that would completely understand it
Active
fig. 16
LocationBuenos Aires
EventMilonga at 1am
OutfitAD top + ABB bottom
CommentsYou would think that any form of the ao dai would be super restrictive but noooo. The high armholes and the slit gave this serious dancing mobility. The ancestors knew what they were doing.
Vigorous
fig. 17
LocationOaxaca, Mexico
EventHauling a molcajete through a thunderstorm
OutfitCotton blouse + denim pinafore + RAIN coat
CommentsBuilt to survive being leaned on, sat on, rained on and potentially cursed all at once.
Maximum exertion
LocationThe Gym, anywhere
EventLifting heavy enough to make the insecurities go away
OutfitX
CommentsNothing handles sweat + full range of motion + not minding if it’s ruined.
Gap #1Clothes to Sulk
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Gap #4Clothes for Kitchen
Gap #5Clothes for Bitter Cold
Gap #6Clothes that can double as Blanket
Gap #7Clothes for Mess
Gap #8Clothes for Sweat
I HAVE NO WORK CLOTHES!
Why don’t I have work clothes?!
2 of the gaps are weather extremes beyond the thermal capacities of the materials I’m working with:
Gap #3Clothes for the Monsoon
Gap #5Clothes for Bitter Cold
1 gap is the odd one out.
Gap #2Clothes for Fancy
I solved formality in Vietnamese so Western black tie doesn’t have an answer.
And even then, white is a schoolgirl/funeral color in Vietnamese tradition.
We need options.
BUT A WHOPPING 5 out of the 8 gaps appear when Lu is off-duty and needs to either survive, be held, or destroy something without consequence:
Gap #1Sulk (private, off-Lu)
Gap #4Kitchen (destructive, oil/salt/fat)
Gap #6Blanket (pure comfort, no presentation at all)
Gap #7Mess (destructive, paint/drywall)
Gap #8Sweat (destructive, physical exertion)
The wardrobe can go to Paris.
It can go to Buenos Aires.
It can go to the Mekong Delta.
It can go from 108°F to 30°F.
It can do casual → formal.
It can dance.
It can museum.
But:
“I need to paint a wall.”
X
The wardrobe passes a ridiculous number of fashion tests and fails: sulk.
Wardrobe (noun)
a : a collection of wearing apparel (as of one person or for one activity) — “a summer wardrobe”
b : a collection of stage costumes and accessories — “working in the wardrobe department”
Merriam-Webster
Yet culturally, a wardrobe means “clothes I’m seen in”.
Not one Famous Dead Designer, Famous living designer, capsule wardrobe, style guide, or runway collection ever budgets a slot for “shirt I paint in”.
Painting Shirt isn’t glamourous, doesn’t get photographed, and doesn’t get talked about in fashion.
So now you have this weird divide in clothing: tools and fashion.
Which is arbitrary because it’s all the same thing:
Same process, slightly different materials.
A tool built for painting mess is still solving the exact same design problems as fashion built for the gallery opening because they all go on the same body.
There are only two things that matter:
What does this body have to do?
What does this garment need to survive while the body is doing whatever it has to do?
“Survive” is the only variable but structurally Painting Shirt and Chanel Suit solve the same things.
