FROM THE CLOSET OF JULIANN WILDING : LUNDSTROM JUMPER

People often ask me where I find my garments as though I have a specific source. My only secret is that I will look anywhere and everywhere, turning over dirt and stone to reveal that hidden gem. 

This one-piece cotton jumpsuit is a perfect example. When I travel I will stop by any thrift store I find. It is always small towns that contain the best fashion mysteries. The Canadian west coast is a gold mine of retired Europeans getting rid of their entire wardrobes. I like to go off the mainland, to the small towns of the Vancouver Isles. I spied this tiny nook called The Hospice Shoppe in an unexpected corridor in Nanaimo, and this gorgeous garment was waiting for me like a beacon. 

It has everything I love going for it: it is black yet the thin cotton is completely sheer; it is sexy and sexless; it is super strange and yet somehow, fantastic. It is also enormous, made from a huge expanse of fabric, which is finally gathered at the ankle into elasticized cuffs, with optional cotton ties at the waist and sleeves. The label reads Linda Lundstrom Canada. 

On paper, this garment breaks a lot of my rules. Elasticized cuffs? Retiree wear? Full fabric coverage for almost the entire body? Yet in shape it is also reminiscent of the Harlequin clown, that French/Italian/African character for whom I feel such an affinity.  

The price for this garment at The Hospice Shoppe was 50 cents. When I revealed it to my husband back at the cabin he was somewhat skeptical of it as a fashionable item, due to its huge size and its obvious purpose as a garment for a permanently relaxed, mature woman. However I've worn it several times over the last few months... with only a strapless bra and panties beneath... to great positive response from a range of onlookers. 

-JW