Rain

I've become taken with the idea of rain hats. It came about a few weeks ago as I was dashing out the door when it was drizzling out, thinking how nice it would be to have a cute little bucket hat to cover my head. This idle thought reached a fever pitch the other day when I was caught in a heavier rain whilst walking around outside for a good 20 minutes. By the time I got indoors, my hair was a frizzball.


At first, I thought a little Coach hat might do the trick. Yes, it's logo-ish, but when the weather is adverse, I think people forgive questionable fashion.


But if I wanted to really take advantage of that fashion rule, this Noreaster hat makes the absurdity of 30 days of rain (like last year) a little more fun.


I briefly considered a 3.1 Phillip Lim rain slicker as a high-fashion alternative. But I think it's a little too much and I would get tired of it by day 27.

So I ended up with a Land's End kid's hat in yellow, not blue as pictured here. I think it's functional, cute, and cheap. Can't beat that. (Psst. I might still get the Noreaster hat. It's just too fun.)

Likes and dislikes

Finding your personal style is such a vague, amorphous, fluctuating enterprise, but it begins simply enough with just figuring out what you like and dislike. I try to keep tabs on my likes and dislikes every few months so that I can adjust my shopping accordingly.

Likes:
necklaces, scarves, neckties
layered tops
subdued colors (but trying to push at this a little bit)
bare legs
quirky but comfy shoes
cardigans

Dislikes:
changing earrings
dangling earrings
textured shirts
button downs
flip flops

What I think I like but don’t:
dresses
complicated outfits
handbags
tee shirts
corduroys
flats
knee socks
spaghetti strap tank tops

What I think I don’t like but do:
cowl neck sweaters
high heels
jewelry, as long as they’re semi-permanent

What I think I might like and will try out this season:
brooches
rain hats
oversized sweaters

Spending calculus

More on pants, outerwear, accessories like shoes and handbags
Less on tops, tees, dresses, prints

because

It's harder to make well-fitting pants than it is to make tops and dress.
Prints look dated quickly.
Cheap leather shows in quality and comfort.

Style folder

I organized my digital style inspiration folder today. By the end of all the pointing, clicking, and moving, my fingers were sore.


But now I have an organized file of the images that move me in some way. I have them organized in several subfolders labelled thusly:

Hair
Editorials/Models/Runway
Muses & demi-muses
Beautiful things
Candid photography from various blogs
The Fashion Spot


These are a few random images from each of the subfolders.

Fall wardrobe needs

The clothes that get the most use in my closet are the ones that I bought after having identified a gap in my wardrobe. That is, when I would get dressed in the mornings, I would be thinking to myself how nice it would be to have "X" to pull together my outfit. I think for this winter, these are the "X" factors.

I really need another pair of winter shoes. I wear the same old tired Doc Marten sneakers day in and day out. That's because they're comfortable and keep my feet warm and dry, but surely there must be others that might fit the bill? I have beenthinking about ankle boots or simply another pair of oxfords. I really like the versatility of the Clarks desert boots, but they don't import the women's version to the States.

I also would like to get one or two thick, cuddly sweaters. I'd like them to be oversized and slouchy, perhaps even falling off one shoulder. I'd like to also find a vest cardigan and a cardigan in neutral colors that I can layer.





Besides that, I think I need at least two more tops that I can wear to work. Cotton will ensure that they get worn. While I love the idea of silk (it seems like the most romantic of fabrics), I never actually wear silk tops. Too fussy for me in real life. This tie-neck swing top from Phillip Lim is just the kind of beautiful, simple top that I actually would wear and love wearing.



My layering tees from J. Crew get constant rotation, so I plan to get a few more to replace the ones that have gotten stained and holey.

And I would love to get a leather jacket. But I don't know if I'll find the perfect one, and I'm only willing to drop the dough on a perfect one.

The operative word this winter is WARM!

Waiting for the mid-season sale

The Fall/Winter collection at A.P.C. this year looks fairly redundant. Partly, it's their schtick to offer basic, well-made pieces, but this year looks so much like last year, you have to wonder why you even need anything new. Conclusion: I don't. Except for these three things that I'll wait for the sales to acquire.



The cable knit hat, except in grey, on the girl at the far left. I like the idea of skull caps, but they look funny on my skull. I think this version looks more wearable, warm, and effortless.

And the reptile-print wedges on the girl second to left. Reptile prints go with everything. Perfect.



The black smocked dress, which I adored the minute I saw it. I love the severity of it, for those days when you want to skulk around in the rain. Reminds me of Jane Eyre.

Vintage, you are no friend of mine

I preferred the days when vintage was simply "thrift" or "secondhand" clothes. When my sisters would cry "ewwwwww!" at the thought of wearing somebody's castoffs. When I could riffle through the racks on a Saturday afternoon with only a few Mexicans (it was Texas, ya'll) and frazzled moms as company.

Because this meant that you could find things for cheap. Nowadays, you have every impoverished trendwhore and hipster wannabee in the shops with you, beating you to the good stuff. Damn them.

And you find that the belt you bought for $3 at Goodwill is being sold online for $75 because it's been labelled "vintage."

Wishlist

Rebecca Minkoff date clutch
I want a large, daytime clutch that I can tuck under my arm when I go on my errands. I like the idea of a beautiful, simple piece of leatherwork as a handbag. Will wait until it goes on sale somewhere.

A.P.C. black smocked dress, Fall/Winter collection
The collection this Fall season is rather watered-down and disappointing. Too much like past seasons in some ways (the things that I don’t need), and too little like them in others (in the things I do, like crepe-soled boots or a fantastic winter coat). Of all the things, though, I am enamored with this little black number, with its moody inkblot color and monastic lines. Will wait for the Winter clearance sale in mid-December. Still a lot of winter remaining then!

I’ve changed my budget to reflect a birds-eye view of my sartorial acquisitions. So now my budget spans several months (two seasons in Seattle: rainy, and summer) instead of one month, and that allows me to buy more strategically. Perhaps I’ll spend more than one month’s budget on one item, but I’ll get less items overall, and I’ll be sure that it’s something that can work for me the entire season at least.

The contraction of my budget has forced me to dive deeper into my existing wardrobe. I come across items that I don’t really love anymore, and I find that the next time I go shopping, I have a better idea of what will hold up in my affections. But I’m also moving through my wardrobe more as well, and I wear things that I had tired of. I do like the idea of wearing my clothes until they grow tatters.

Evolution

I've become a major online (window) shopping addict. It hasn't always been this way. I was an 80s mall rat like the rest of my generation, cruising the air-conditioned stores with my high school friends. But as I see it, several key events came together to turn me away from the stores and on to the little square screen. Catalogs were the first step.

In graduate school, catalogs were the only passive entertainment available to me. And between reading two books and grading 50 papers every week, I needed some passive entertainment. Television was not around, my internet was rudimentary (dial-up for God's sake!), and even my movies were foreign and required me to read.

I particularly loved the Oilily catalogs. They seemed magical to me, with little rosy-cheeked Dutch tots in a perfect world of colorful textiles and old-fashioned playthings.

What I like

It's good to take an inventory now and then of what you like and don't like, what works for you and doesn't. Now that my budget has changed, my purchases have slowed down A LOT, and I find myself picking things much more carefully. While the price tag of individual items hasn't gone down by much, the number of things has.

What works for me:
Marc by Marc Jacobs shoes -- I have a pair of glittery platform sandals from last summer that I still love. It feels like the arrival of spring when I pull them out from their box.

A.P.C. -- I like the simple, quiet, and versatile aesthetic that permeates the collection. And I can use this brand to expand my wardrobe with foundational pieces, especially since most of their items go on 50% sale about midway through the season. (But you have to act quickly. The summer sale occurred about a month ago, and the choicest items sold out within hours online, but I did snag a few new items.)

necklaces -- Of all the accessories that I own, I switch out necklaces the most often.

What doesn't work for me:
Earrings, bracelets -- I wear the same Tiffany diamond posts and jade bracelet every day.

handbags -- Nothing ever really grabs me and holds on. Yes, I get feverish crushes now and again, but they all end up fizzling out almost immediately upon procurement.

dresses -- I think they're the prettiest little things, but I never wear them. I think they feel heavy on me, and drag me down.

And here's a new test of what I know I won't end up liking...If I find that I have to persuade myself into an acquisition, especially if I picture myself in some sort of glamorous setting, then it's a no.

I'll add more observations as they come to me.

The mailman

...has started saying, "I'll see you tomorrow!" when he hands me yet another package.

Oh the shame.

Oxford shoes

I wear oxford shoes all the time in the winter and often at all other times because 1) I like comfortable shoes 2) I don't hem my pants. Flats look terrible when your frayed hems are dragging along the ground.

But I get tired of them sometimes. So masculine, so clunky. Sometimes I want an in-between alternative.

Like these, which I hope will work. They are modeled after 1920s tennis shoes. Cute, huh?

Summer girls

They reappear this time of year like little woodland nymphs reemerging after a long winter season.

This picture of Brigitte Bardot summarizes to me what they try to capture when they put on their pretty things: ephemeral beauty. That dangerous nymphette charm that Nabokov wrote about.

But why try to capture something that is ephemeral? It's a losing proposition, after all.

I might quote a friend and say, it's because of the whiteness of the whale. The railing against certainty and death--the certainty of death, yes, but also just certainty itself.

Perhaps both men and women hunt for an elusive thing. Though these things might seem so different--to kill one thing, to hold another--the reasons are one and the same. And both, fairly impossible.

Cupid

Kind of like the grey kitten that I wished for as a child and expected just to appear one day at the end of the sidewalk, I had some idea that somebody would wander on to the Saks Web site, find this necklace, and realize that it was just right for me.

But I ordered it myself yesterday on sale. Almost as good.

Good things come to those that wait

What is it about fashion that encourages obsession? A few months ago, perhaps back in early fall, I fell in love with a handbag. I've fallen in love with handbags before, but not to this degree. I saw the bag, I loved it from afar, I collected images off of purse forums, and I waited. During a first markdown online, someone had beat me to it and I lost my chance on getting this handbag on a deal.

Through some fortuitous Internet sleuthing, I found out who had bought the handbag. She was a member of an Internet forum I visit sometimes. She planned to return the handbag. From the online reps, I found out how long it took for a returned item to be reposted. I bookmarked the product page and waited. I checked daily for months. But alas, the bag never reappeared.

Many months later, the only change I ever saw on the product page was a second markdown. It was moot, though, since there was no item to buy. I came close to deleting that bookmark, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had grown to enjoy checking up on my bag, like a little Internet pet. I suppose it's just one of the strange attachments that the Internet breeds.

So anyway. I idly opened all my bookmarks a few days ago, and lo and behold, the item had reappeared under the summer clearance! I hopped on that junebug!

So it's on its way to me now, at last.

Actually, I fully expect NOT to love the bag once it arrives, but what is it that they say? It's the journey, not the thing in itself. In this case, it was the waiting and the pining that was the most excruciatingly, exquisitely enjoyable.

What to pack for hot weather

1 sheer long sleeve shirt in white, for layering
2 casual skirts
1 dress (at most)
1 pair sandals
1 pair flip flops
1 pair dressier shoes
1 pair jeans for airport
3 pairs shorts
2 loose tanks
3 tee shirts
1 dressier blouse
1 floppy, collapsible sunhat

and, for comfort...
tin of black, green, and chamomile tea
journal
pens

buy books and magazines on the road

Plane outfit

overalls
white tee
grey cardigan
oxfords

Now I'm in a clime 30 degrees hotter. So, still the white tee but with shorty shorts and sandals.

When she saw the Birkenstocks, my sister was like, "you still wear those things?"

I said, "yes, they're my thing."

Hausfrau shoes

Ironically, my orthopaedic shoes from Germany are giving me blisters. Or actually, two raw, exposed circles with a flap of skin hanging off.

I am wearing them for the first time today since buying them last year just before winter (sale. 'Nuff said). I love them. They're bright red with a tiny cork wedge.

I like the idea of being in the shoes of a German housewife. I picture her, sturdy and stout, standing in the frameway of a door, wearing a housedress with a calico print and holding a wooden spoon. So far removed from the actual use of these shoes in my life, as they take me through broken-up sidewalks, past graffiti-covered walls, and to my school with the high security alert set for tomorrow.

Fashion gives me license to dream.

Givenchy Nightingale

It's the bag of my dreams. Quite literally. I dreamed last night that I was shopping at a discount luxury store of some sort (Off Fifth? Last Call?), when I came across it. It was on sale at about 75% retail, but in a shocking pink color. In my dream, I tried it on but decided against it because of the color.

Here's the color that I love, the blue patent.

On the TFS thread, a member described it as a handbag having "moxi" because of the long, thick strap with a zipper running along its length. Apparently, it resembles a bondage mask. Sometimes it's even called the "bondage bag" instead of its actual name, the Nightingale.

This bag sings to me.

Silver cart

When I first came to Seattle, I worked at a pushcart in a downtownish market, selling silver jewelry. There were three main girls who rotated shifts at the cart: me, a punkish blonde, and a ditzy brunette. The other two girls were about 19, and I was many years removed from 19. Still, they were nice enough colleagues to pass the time with--gossipy and vaguely sweet in that 19-year old way.

I saw the formerly punkish blonde last night at the mall. She works for the same people, but now she's stationed at a cart located in a suburban mall, the market having been remodelled into a grocery store. Last I heard, the owners had made her an assistant manager. I doubt she finished the pastry cooking school (pastry, because she was vegetarian) she had enrolled in just before I quit. These days, instead of wearing all black clothing and heavy eyeliner, she sports a poodle perm and cotton dresses from Macy's.

Eyelet

I don't even like eyelet, but I find myself the owner of two expensive eyelet blouses. This situation goes against everything that I stand for in shopping.

1. I spent a lot of money on summer clothing. (Typically, summer clothes are bright, trendy, disposable, and cheap.)
2. I acquired something that I don't love.

Perhaps it dates back to an image imprinted into memory from my college days. I remember standing at the bus stop next to a girl in a thin, almost sheer blouse. The sunlight shone on her, and she seemed so girlish in an unassuming, fragile way, there in her summery cotton frock. I've always loved that image.

Scooter jacket

Now, this one is perfect, except that it's for men. Even the smallest size will likely be too big for me.

But I love the tight, tough fit.

That's how I want to seem on my motoscooter. Tough.

Grrrr.

Scooter vocabulary

I got a scooter last weekend, and so now I'm looking for gear to go with it.

In the world of motorcycling and its various iterations, moto-specific clothing is called "gear," not clothing. And when you add things on to your bike, it's "modifications," not accessories.

Men.

Tops

I don't have a lot of tops in my closet. Rather, I have mostly jeans and skirts and other bottoms. It stems from a pattern of buying acquired in my teenage years.

It used to be that I got depressed about my looks every time I looked in the upward vicinity of my body, and so when I tried on tops, I usually just gave up and put the item back on the rack. And it had always been so difficult in finding proper jeans that fit when I was younger, that I'm still conditioned to purchase pants whenever I find something "close enough."

So now I have to make a conscious effort to balance out my acquisitions. More tops than bottoms. It's slow going, but currrently I'm enamored with the idea of pussy bow tops like this one. I like the irony, the slight tinge of 1950s working girl. And I think it's cute.

Consuming fashion

I went into the Gap looking for high fashion. Three hot young designers were commissioned to create riffs on the iconic white shirt, and I was in pursuit of Rodarte's petal blossom tank and trapeze top. The SA whom I called urged me to "come in as soon as possible" because he couldn't guarantee how long they would last.

So I took the bus into downtown today. Found them, tried them on, and put them back on the rack. Then I wandered down to Anthropologie and didn't even try on a single thing (excepting shoes. of course, shoes...).

An odd moment for me. While everything looked nice, nothing grabbed me in the had-to-have-it kind of way. Nothing sparkled. Nothing caught my fancy.

I think it's the fact that I haven't been browsing lately. Perhaps the whole "consuming fashion" business relies on induced desires bred by imagery and aspiration. It's a partly hypnotic state, because otherwise, it seems completely foolish to spend a few hundred dollars on a few squares of fabric.

Texas

I look forward to summer immoderately. Not because of where I am now, in the eternal grey blanket of the Northwest, but because of where I have been, the land of sun and ten-gallon hats.

So despite all cues missing, I am stocking up for warm days and light breezes. I seek out dresses with flippy hems, sleeveless tanks, and flat sandals.

It's the only bit of summer I can have so far.

I dreamed of two

Tsunami
To see a tsunami in your dream, represents that you are being overwhelmed by some repressed feelings or unconscious material that is rising up to the surface. You are experiencing some unhappiness and emotional instability in some waking situation.

From the Daddy Likey blog

How to Wear a Scarf Without Looking Like an English Teacher

I know an English teacher who favors scarves. She often looks like that representative picture on the posting.

Now that I'm poor

I shop by eBay. Where you can find a cornucopia of random, off-season NWT items to your heart's content.

I'm super cheap and I want a mondo-bargain, so I have missed many good things. I don't mind so much because I hate the idea of not being able to return. And as anyone knows, a good shopper is a good returner.

Moving

The clothes were one of the first things to be unpacked, but the last things to be accessible.

Need

. almost to the knee black skirt in semi a-line
. white and black v neck tees in 3/4 sleeve
. black pants

eBay

A parade of items lost lately:






















And one item won:

Mulberry Bayswater

I love this handbag more and more, as it breaks in and grows smooshier. It's like a teddy bear for grown-up girls. I can sit it on my lap and hug it.

I love it despite the fact that it is causing me great physical pain to carry on my shoulder.

Yoox

A few items.

. The men's style oxfords I've been looking for. I hope the bi-color leather will be whimsical, rather than clownish.










. A thin wool sweater in black. I tried this item on months ago, but passed at that price. Now that the price is a third what it was then, I'll try agan.









. A wool v-neck sweater vest in cream. I find myself layering with vests this winter just to keep warm.

Vroom

If cars are indeed extensions of the body, my body has recently gotten lighter, faster, and cleaner. Gone are the bags of clothes meant to be taken to Goodwill, but instead left inside the leaky trunk to moulder and mildew. Gone too are the broken-down radiator, can of paint (though the ring of rust stayed), Tupperware with half-eaten potato chips rattling inside, assortment of forks and spoons, cassette tapes, and gallon jugs of water. I vacuumed the inside clean of spilled dirt, shredded leaves, and sand, so now every seat can be occupied. As a sign of better days to come, I have a pocket trashcan designed for cars on the passenger side, and a new visor organizer to cover up the gaping hole in my old visor, where the mirror used to be. Into the visor I've tucked a spare pair of sunglasses, three CDs, a stick of honey lipbalm, and an emergency granola bar.

Boutique

Went into one the other day, dragged in by the gal friend. I only meant to window shop, but then she wanted to look inside, and then I spied the sale rack.

I walked away with a Three Dots grecian-inspired jersey dress with vertical pleats. It's maroon colored and drapey. I got it in the large size so that it would be loose and slouchey, as opposed to the small size that I tried on, which was more summer date-type dress.

I realized that Anthropologie is modelled to be like a boutique, in the quaint details and boudoir setting. Recently, the store has widened their aisles to let the SUV strollers through. Drat! Like the store needed more bored housewives flipping through the racks.

I avoided going in last night because I am horrified that the SAs recognize me. *hangs head in shame* I realized that the major major problem with shopping in these mall stores is that you always see yourself coming and going.

So I might be visiting the small boutiques more often, especially as I think I'm succeeding in the buying-less-but-better endeavor.

Proenza Schouler payoff

I came home after school yesterday, logged into The Fashion Spot, and found out that a hidden link existed whereby the holy grail of the Go International Collection, the iconic silk bustiers, was available for sale.

I was on it like duck on a junebug.

In short order, I had dispatched an order for both the Grape and the Boy Blue bustiers in sizes XS and S, and for kicks, I had also added a few other items that I don't intend to keep.

And it's a good thing I did. Within a few hours, word had spread on the Internet, and all the small sizes were sold out. Amazing, considering that these items had never even officially appeared on the Target website.

I am a master hunter and gatherer. Huzzah!

Prouenza Schouler for Target

After much delay, the collection was finally put out on the racks. I called this morning just to make sure (I’d already made two fruitless trips), and by the time I arrived around 12, a few sizes had already sold out in the most popular styles.

A different Target customer was hovering around the area. Silent, serious-eyed, and aloof. Generally older, and better dressed. There was one very pretty woman wearing an expensive silk dress and high heels. She had gorgeous curly salon hair. Never seen the likes of her in Target before.

Better start saving up my pennies

3.1 Philip Lim

He's only been out a few seasons on his own (he'd been the designer for Development heretofore), but he's already garnered a reputation for cool, clean, downtown-y looks with a well-made approach.

I'm loving these looks from his F/W 07 collection.

The cropped motorcycle jacket. Retains some of the toughness of a black leather jacket, but with the refinement of a lady's cropped topper.

Or maybe this patent leather number instead.









Simple but rendered in luxe leather. I like the short length of the wide shoulder strap, which is a bit more modern. Although I've seen a couple of iterations of this bulging crescent shape, I like this one best for its unpretentiousness.



The skirt. Structured, but short and sweet.

Less

I have been shopping less lately, I think. Or at least more judiciously. I have a much higher standard of what to keep. Sometimes it pains me to do so, but I'll send half-loved items back with the thought that when I do actually find something I really like, I can get it no matter the guilt or cost. So of the items I listed in the previous post, I only kept the Velvet dress, which had been something I'd been eyeing since it was full price.

The list of things I'm looking for:
. black pants. unlined, cotton. slim fit. nice material but casual enough for everyday.
. small cute handbag. casual, but with good leathers.
. cotton tops for work. with sleeves.

No more

In order for the new quality over quantity equation to work, I actually have to reduce the number of things I buy. I've already upped the quality (and the price). That part is easy.

I turned away so many cute things this weekend. Didn't even try them on. But my willpower fell when I stepped foot into Anthropologie, specifically when I ventured near the sale rack. I had already decided not to get any more Anthropologie brands (the in-store brands that is their bread and butter), but only actual designer brands that get marked down cheap there. Last night, though, I came across a lot of bargains that I usually don't find.

. Joe's jeans ... marked down to $20 from 158
. wool maxi skirt ... marked down to $30 from 218
. Venera Arapu wool vest ... $30 from around 158
. Velvet jersey dress ... on sale (that's all you need to know)

With savings like that, it was practically free.

However. I have a shameful confession to make. The salesgirl recognized me from my place of work because "I always see you wearing Anthropologie clothes." Arghhh! I vowed then and there to start frequenting thrift stores again. That's the problem with chain stores. They're like one night stands.* Cute and cheap, but everyone is wearing them.

* not first-hand knowledge

Gryson

I finally caved and ordered one the other week. This was the handbag that I've been coveting for about 6 months, and I was getting worried that the stock would run out entirely.

Yes, the leather is love. But being a first run, there are some quality issues with it--the leather binding around the handle had become undone, and there were faint smears of glue on the handles themselves.

In addition, the double straps were awkward, and they got in the way when you tried to get in and out of the bag. The zipper didn't work well, either.

Like all things, a handbag should be functional, not just pretty.

Camo

So of the latest wave of online purchases, I'm only keeping a few things:
. Mulberry Bayswater handbag in chocolate. It's a classic bag that I can use for work.
. A.P.C. inverted pleat chino miniskirt
. A.P.C. sheer merino wool sweater

I've really fallen in love with A.P.C. stuff. It's a cultish French label that's known for its under the radar logo, high quality materials, and cool simple designs. It was the pleated top that I got last year that started me in my "investigation" into better quality clothes.

I like to think of it as an investigation, or research, because this past year wasn't just about getting cute things. I think I was also looking into the accoutrements of adulthood, these indicators of your status, experience, and place. Along the way, I made some mistakes in the things I've acquired, but as a whole, I'm satisfied that I've learned a little bit more about how one assembles a visual self to present to the world.

I've long thought of clothing as camouflage. And before I could figure out what to put on, I had to discover the place I was a part of.

Compliments

Perhaps I'm too testy about it. But when women compliment me on my clothing or appearance these days, my hackles go up. My guy friends say that I am overly suspicious, but they haven't been a women for all these many years, and they don't know how competitive women can be with each other.

Maybe if someone well-dressed said something nice to me, with a smile, I would be able to accept the compliment.

But when I hear someone preface their compliment with, "I thought I had good fashion until..." or "you can wear anything and make it look good...", then I think. Oh oh. Insecurity alert.

Or maybe it's just me. Having been not complimented for so many years--geez, so many years--it seems odd and disengenuous to hear it these days.

Refurbishment

color palette:
creams, whites, browns, yellows, and bright blue. a shot of red in small accessories.

to fill out my wardrobe:
long necklace
ankle boots (prob vintage, for the look and price that I want)
structured, well-made short skirts
new handbag. something smaller and v. cute.
unstructured bras

Lucky

When the magazine first came out, they tried to entice me to get a subscription by asking whether "I felt lucky." Uhm, no.

So I didn't get an issue, at least not immediately.

At the time, I was in my late twenties, entering the workforce, and absolutely clueless about how to dress myself. I had never paid attention to these things when most girls did, in middle and high school and college, and I felt far behind the bell curve.

During a phone conversation with an old friend, she advised that I solve my clothing confusion by taking out a subscription to the magazine. So I did.

And X years later, I still have a subscription. I still like flipping through the magazine to get ideas and to see what's out there. One difference now though is that I can actually afford these items. In fact, I've recognized some of my recent acquisitions in some of their spreads.

When a girl's thoughts turn to spring...

After a week of being snowed in, it's finally starting to thaw. The snow is running in streams down the gutters, the moss is peeking out from under rocks, and the temperature is slowly rising.

Spring and summer has always been so much more fun for me to dress for than winter. I drown under my soggy woolens.

But I'm super excited about getting to wear, perhaps soon:
* my red orthopedic sandals from Germany
* my bright blue high-waisted shorts with the u-pockets
* a short cotton gauze dress with yellow butterflies on it
* a brown jersey swing tank with an adjustable string tie
* my collection of slip dresses and mini skirts
* the knee-high boots sans tights

Thrifting again

It's been awhile. Recently, I've been researching higher-end goods and shopping at nicer stores, at least nicer for me. After which, thrift stores started to not look so good. The smell, the film of dirt over everything, the time investment without payoff--they didn't seem worth it. And I got rid of so many things that I had acquired at a thrift store only a short time before. I was determined to break that cycle.

But I've gone back for several reasons. I've decided I need to slow down on the spending (as soon as winter sales stop tempting me, damnit!). I think a few original, quirky pieces will really perk up all these higher-quality items I've been getting. I've noticed that my favorite wardrobe items are all thrift store finds.

Anthropologie cruelty

I hadn't visited in quite a long time, but I stopped by the other day to browse. It was mid-week, and the SAs were putting up new displays. Part of the display, interspersed among the ferns and mushroom prints, were small fishbowls with one or two goldfish in each one.

Maybe I've read too many fishkeeping books (and I've read a lot), but I was rather shocked. Those fishbowls are too small for even one small-sized fish, let alone two mid-size ones with rocks and decor.

Badly played.

Update on Boxing Day sales

I kept the J. Crew cords and oversized link bracelet. Everything else went back.

Kaboodle

A way to bookmark the items that you come across and like. I have two subsections in my page, Shopping and Wishlist. Wishlist are things that I think are pretty but have no intention of ever getting. Shopping includes items that I mostly covet from afar, but may someday get. Some items in my Kaboodle:

Silly plastic shoes in my favorite bright French blue color. I love the d'orsay style (cut out sides).

Ever since the glitter shoes, I have gotten more and more ridiculous with my shoe selections.


Chloe shoes. So high, such a mix of toughness and prettiness. And so overpriced. Even with $500 knocked off the price.








I like the backward slouch of this beanie hat. Stalking the sales...










The color of this silk top is so deep deep blue. The pussy bow makes it louche and cool.









A fairly ordinary bag in this picture, but I've been interested in this label for about a year now. At half price, I'll risk paying return shipping just to check it out.

Friendship

I am wearing pajama bottoms that I bought maybe 8 years ago when visiting in the wintertime a friend who lived in Massachusetts. Coming from Texas, I was woefully unprepared for a drafty turn-of-the-century New England house in the winter, with its temperamental and inadequate pipes.

So when I was wandering around the kind of downtown people call "quaint," I popped into the Gap to find a pair of warmish pj's. The only ones on sale were a salmon-colored set, with cropped pants edged in lace. I got them, and wore them, and was almost warm (but the cold came not from an external source).

I've kept them all these years but had lost track of them under a pile of concert tees and ragged skirts in the Boy's dresser (I appropriated a couple of his drawers). I rediscovered them yesterday after he finally cleared out the space in front of the dresser so that I could actually pull out the drawers.

It feels really good to wear these old, worn-in pj's. I don't have a lot of outside clothes that are that old. I guess something about pj's don't garner your attention, so that the years pass by without you really noticing how the holes have developed, the threads unraveled, or the elastic stretched.

And then, 8 years later, they reappear almost like an old friend.

I've since lost that connection to the friend I visited in MA. In fact, he doesn't even live in the state anymore. He has moved south, to where it's warmer and you probably don't need pj's.

First day

Today was a day of first impressions, and as such I had to make a good one. I put on the clothes of the ruling class, like a good little girl, although I neglected to tuck in. Ha ha ha! My one act of rebellion (besides the striped Doc Marten sneaks). The man does not own me yet!

So it's into the tricky part of dressing, where I have to carefully examine outfits for their appropriateness. I always thought it was so sad to see the women in an office dressed as if they were trolling for dates at work. What a whiff of desperation, never a pleasant odor.

So I try to avoid the office skank style. The tight polyester black pants. (Always black. Have you noticed that? to visually reduce the size of the caboose. Only the interns wear tight grey flannels.) The wrap top that highlights the boobage. The high heels.

For me, though, I have a different list of contraband separates, mostly because my work environment isn't really an office setting. So no:
* Paige or Earl jeans
* short skirts
* boots with bare legs