Adjustable Clothing for all of Your Seasons

Musings on the new year and the importance of embracing our fluctuating bodies

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule… the winter time is, for many people all over the world, a time for celebration. Feasting, coming together with friends and family, enjoying the flavours of traditional foods and drinks, the music, the rituals and traditions that evoke whatever the festive period means to us; it’s joy, it’s decadence, and it’s what most of us feel we should and must and want to be doing. However, for our human bodies and their more primal state - and especially for those of us in colder countries - the winter should, in theory, be a period of rest; of retreating inwards, staying warm, conserving energy, reflecting, and incubating ideas and actions ready for when the sun and the warmth return. The lack of daylight and freezing temperatures trigger a very real biological and evolutionary response which is, rather unhelpfully, often misaligned with our modern day lives and demands. That can leave many of us feeling physically and mentally discombobulated; how can we achieve deep rest while hosting extended family for Christmas time, or nourish our bodies while sacrificing sleep for socialising?

We are encouraged to feast and indulge, then very abruptly, when the calendar ticks over from 31st December to 1st January, we are bombarded with advertising promoting diet culture and workout gear, and encouraged to set resolutions to become a ‘better’ version of ourselves- more productive, more active, more ‘on it’. But the season remains the same, as does our biological clock, as do the hours of daylight and night time, as do the low temperatures. They cannot be made bigger, or smaller, or longer, or shorter. Those things - those real things - are not influenced by capitalism, or algorithms, or resolutions. 

Get the look; Reverie gown paired with Moon Veil cape

The pressure of having to override biological, primal needs and comfort for modern day productivity and beauty standards is something that many of us are all too familiar with. Take, for example, menstrual cycles; many people feel exhausted before and during the first days of their monthly cycle or suffer with significant pain and other physical symptoms. Very few, however, are able or accustomed to planning their work and social diary around these symptoms.

What if we rested and nested on those days where we need it most, and did all our creating and adventuring and harder work before and during ovulation when many feel the most sparky?

What if we allowed ourselves to withdraw without apology whenever needed, to eat those extra calories when our bodies tell us to without a second thought, or to start work a little later to allow ourselves some extra sleep?

How much happier, and more productive, would we be if we worked with our bodies and the earth's natural rhythms rather than against them? 

We are encouraged to adopt a one size fits all attitude, to treat ourselves as one fully formed, static body through all seasons of life, and quite frankly; it doesn’t work for us. 

Get the look: Sadie Halter Bra

At Barocco, we are constantly thinking about how this translates to the clothing we create; how we can make our little clothing microcosm the best, most inclusive, happiest and healthiest place it can be. All bodies change, in varying degrees, almost constantly - weekly, monthly, yearly. They grow, they shift, they fluctuate, and - just like our planet does - they go through cycles.

From one day to the next our stomachs and busts can be bigger or smaller. Clothes can feel tighter, or less supportive.

What if you could not just wear but feel comfortable, in the same item of clothing through all your seasons, and all the different versions of you? 

We can’t dismantle capitalism or take down the diet industry, but we can make clothes that make you feel like the very best version of yourself, no matter the season that you’re in.

We took that dream and made it come true, by ensuring every item we make is adjustable with a careful and inclusive design, manufacturing and sizing system. Every piece is handmade, one of a kind and totally unique. Take our cholis, for example. They’re designed with adaptability and flexibility in mind, with each unique piece being adjustable by 4 inches by means of poppers or lacing. This is especially important around the bust, because not only do bust sizes change, so too does the occasion; sometimes you may wish for your bust only to be cradled by the choli, and for other occasions you may wish to achieve a more dramatic and defined look by wearing it a little tighter.

Get the look: Esmeralda Gown

You may wish to wear it directly on your skin or over layers such as a bodice top or bra, requiring some flexibility. We stay away from standard label sizing as not every body fits into the mass marketed size categories, and we list exact measurements against every single item in our catalogue.

You can read more about the design and sizing of our cholis right here- it’s an important read!

Every one of our pieces is designed with the same considerations in mind. Our Halter Bras are crafted from richly coloured sari silk and designed around adjustability and beautiful support; the adjustable cross-back straps ensure a custom fit with every wear, whether on stage or just living your daily enchanted life. Our best selling Vagabond skirts have elasticated waistbands and silk pull ties to keep them secured exactly how and where you want them.

Get the look: Choli top, Belladonna wrap skirt

Our Short Ruffle skirts are created with decorative poppers as part of their design, which makes them extremely adaptable in terms of their sizing. They can be worn higher or lower on the hips, on a fluctuating and changing body, by themselves or over leggings or another skirt. With ten whole inches of adaptability in the waistband of the skirt, and each one of a kind piece having the precise measurements listed against it on our website, you can buy safe in the knowledge that you’ll achieve the perfect fit no matter how you want to feel or when you want to wear it.

Each of our items is totally individual; made from antique sari silk, designed as a bespoke unique piece.

That’s why we name each of our garments; to send them out into the world as their own entity, with their own unique identity, as individual and adaptable as the beautiful bodies who wear them all over the world.

We love seeing the same piece being worn in a multitude of ways, adjusted, layered, adorned; adapting with you through all your seasons, just as nature intended. 

Share your looks with us; tag @barocco_tribal so we can bask in your beauty!