Marc Jacobs is always one step ahead. Case in point, his Instagram caption from 11th March: ‘Today’s forecast: Sunny with a chance of mass hysteria’. Accurate, I’m sure you’ll agree.
But beyond acting as the style world’s sage, Jacobs has also acquired the title as fashion’s Mood Booster in Chief. Posting to his 1.4 million followers on Instagram, the designer serves up look after happy look. A Prada comic strip coat, a Celine by Hedi Slimane T-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘My Own Worst Enemy’, dandyish scarves and barrettes all feature in his selfies. His string of Mikimoto pearls, nail varnish and platform Rick Owens boots (so high they’d make Lady Gaga weep) are a permanent fixture; face masks have made a recent guest cameo. This is the ultimate #WFH #goals. I defy you to look at him and not smile.
Like fashion’s other feelgood favourites – HRH queen Celine Dion (who Marc posted a picture of himself with, alongside his husband Char DeFrancesco earlier this month) ,Tracee Ellis Ross, Harry Styles who won the Brit Awards in a yellow Marc Jacobs suit – Jacobs might be serious about style but that doesn’t mean he takes himself too seriously. He turns the myth that fashion is an unwelcoming space on its head. Here is a man who is at the top of the fashion eco-system and through his intimate, playful posts he is saying ‘you can sit with us. Pull up a pew!’ No austere curation of the terrifyingly esoteric type here; no strictly-adhered to posting schedule (or so it seems). Jacobs wants to celebrate the joy of fashion and make you smile. He is, in his own hashtag parlance, on a mission to #spreadlovenotgerms.
Suppose you think it’s trivial, or even disrespectful, to care about clothes right now? Perhaps you feel guilty for even being interested? Maybe you think we have more important things to be thinking about than shoes and parks and sparkly trinkets? Well, of course there are ‘more important’ things to be thinking about right now – there always are – but that doesn’t mean that there’s no space to enjoy life’s frivolities and a bit of levity, too. Jacobs has spoken with brutal honesty about his struggles with addiction in the past and I know from my own battles that this means his life has not always been served sunny side up. In unsettling and devastating times, we need to seek our salves, balms and tonics wherever we can. A spoonful of sugar might help the medicine go down, but glitter and ruffles, glamrock boots and pearls can help, too.
Consider this: how we approach the world starts from how we feel in ourselves. If you can make yourself smile right now – whether that’s by putting on a fabulous frock, taking the time to cook a proper dinner, catching up on RuPaul’s Drag Race, doing yoga in your living room, whatever! – then you’re already half-way there. They say ‘dress for the job you want’, but since so many of us don’t have workplaces to go to in the traditional sense, perhaps we should a replace ‘job’ with ‘mood’. Optimistic fashion isn’t disrespectful, it’s a beautiful gesture of hope; making an effort is a touching gesture of self-care.
And if you find you’d rather stick to the tracksuit at the moment, that’s fine too (we don’t all have Jacobs’ chutzpah – or wardrobe). I just urge everyone to embrace his favourite hashtag IRL: #gratefulnothateful. This is the time, more than ever, to be more Marc – what exactly that looks like, is down to you.