Notes to a Mouse

Minimalism, infomercials, and my first purchase of 2012

2012-02-01T09:32:00.000-05:00

Inspired by No Signposts in the Sea's post about her 2011 clothing expenditures, I've decided that I'll document every piece of personal clothing I buy this year, not including what I purchase for others. I'm a bit uncertain about how I'll like this, actually, since like any addict I skulk around hiding certain purchases that don't really fit into the way I'd like to think that I spend or acquire clothes.

She goes on to write about consumerism, as many others have as well. I've been thinking about that when I've been thinking about the blogosphere, but especially about what Jenny of Fashion for Writers wrote in her post about authenticity and this focus on the exterior that blogs encourage (coincidentally, I just sold her the Lover blouse I bought last year on LOGE).

It's so easy to get caught up in superficiality, images, and obsessions with fashion, especially when your life isn't going the way you want. At least, I find that I begin to fixate on things when I feel unhappy and out of control with my life.

For the same reason I used to watch informercials during bouts of insomnia in my teenage years, I am drawn to the idea that an easily consumable product could remedy some hurt or ailment, some deficiency that you didn't even know you had. I know that makes me a perfect consumer of marketing messages, but I never said it was all rational.

I still get such a kick out of appliances dedicated to doing one thing perfectly, like my Zojirushi rice cooker with its "fuzzy logic programming" and dimpled rice paddle that has for years turned out perfectly cooked pots of rice.

Perhaps that's why I like the minimalist ethic, though it seems so opposed to single-use living. It has a similar idea of there being some square hole for which you have the perfectly shaped square block, and once filled, tada. It's done. Minimalism organizes the clutter of the world by manipulating the environment of one's imagination.

But to conclude with the original intention of this post: A few weeks ago, I purchased a pleated Orla Kiely skirt in dark pink. $1.50 at the thrift store. Probably not an investment purchase, but it allows me to try out a brand I've been curious about for very cheap. Even though I've been limiting my thrift acquisitions, you have to be willing to pull the trigger when it comes to thrift shopping.

What I didn't get: recent winter sales

2012-01-29T10:16:00.000-05:00

Passing up Creature of Comfort's 70% sale was tough, but I had already resolved that my Autumn/Winter expenditures were done. This winter has been mild, so I don't need any more woolens. Here's what I didn't get:

Repetto BB flats in grey suede. This was the toughest call, since it was marked down to $92, but I wasn't sure about the sizing and I already have two pairs of Repettos in my closet that I hardly wear. In the back of my mind I'd like to duplicate the elegant look of classic flats with dresses and skirts that I've seen others pull off with such aplomb, but I have shoes that will serve that purpose adequately for now. At least until I know if I'll be wearing that kind of outfit more often or not.
Wood Wood Adrian shirt in long and half sleeve. This striped shirt had been well reviewed by others, but I decided I didn't need another striped shirt. The fit seems like something you'd have to try on in person, since it looks to be cut close at the boatneck but looser in the body.
A.P.C. bucket bag. I have a weakness for bags, but when I thought about scenarios where a casual canvas bag would be appropriate, I realized I already had other bags that I'd probably reach for first.

Baby clothes

2012-01-27T08:07:00.000-05:00

We were given so many new and hand-me-down baby clothes that it felt too extravagant to purchase any more. It was literally crates of clothes, so many that some things were probably worn only once. It was exactly opposite of what I had planned to do, which was pick out a few things I loved on her, wash, and rotate. But with so many clothes, and so many other adjustments needed to bring a baby into the house, I refrained from buying M anything but a handful of clothes to get her through the cold weather.

Well, like everything dealing with parenting, I have found that in some ways I was right and in other ways I was wrong. On the one hand, it turned out to be useful to have quantity in the first few weeks because babies are so messy, and we were too overwhelmed to go down to the laundromat. In the past three months I have been outfitting her in whatever random stuff we had been given. She sort of looked like Punky Brewster some days, in ill-fitting mismatched clothes, some of which had slogans like "I love shopping with mommy." She was much pinker than I would have cared for, but still, I dressed her in these clothes because they were practical and they were gifts. It didn't make sense to run out and buy a bunch of redundant clothing.

But I have found--now that we're past the initial newborn stage--that she doesn't need that many clothes, and it's nice to buy at least a few things that I love for her. I wonder why I even denied myself this pleasure when she'll be little only once. But it all worked out because at least now I know what she needs (a few long sleeve onesies, footie sleepers, and separates; and a snug pair of pj's)

And in the end, most of her clothes will join that endless merry-go-round of used infant clothing: passed on to consignment shops or thrift stores, sold in garage sales, or given to the next pregnant lady from a friend's cousin's neighbor.

Charlotte Gainsbourg, uniform dressing, and women of a particular age

2012-01-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

Like Sofia Coppola, Charlotte Gainsbourg has an enviable, consistent style much admired on both sides of the Atlantic. Often clad in a jersey top or button down, grey skinny jeans, and cowboy boots, Charlotte favors a uniform that sounds simple on paper but is not simple to attain.

It's not so much what's there but what's not there: very few accessories, no discernible trends, nothing cute or flashy, nothing put upon, no excess (at least her casual everyday style . . . her red carpet style is quite different). For most, such a well-suited personal uniform is usually only achieved through assiduous editing performed over many years, after the experimentation of the younger years has subsided. It's a matter of knowing your own body and the proportions that work best for it, and taking away all the extras that detract. And it may as well be said--when things are this pared down, a trim body is, if not essential, at least very helpful. And fabric and fit factor heavily as well, both of which aren't cheap (but not necessarily that expensive either).

It takes discipline to stick to a uniform, and a certain wit to know its standard deviations. For Charlotte Gainsbourg, the standard deviations include such things as patch-pocket high-waisted denim, Converse sneakers, and brightly colored gingham--funny little touches that don't muddle the consistency of her style but rather make the uniform feel warm and human.

The insight into fabrics and proportion, the self-knowledge, the mostly fixed body type (no more pubescent surges), and the long-term editing that takes place all suggest that figuring out a personal uniform might be achieved later in life, perhaps in your 30s or 40s. Sure, you can have a goth look or be an Abercrombie devotee at a much earlier age, but to figure out a uniquely individual style and then distill it into a uniform takes a particular alchemy of things that tend to come with the years. There seems a quiet intelligence that comes from knowing yourself and your taste quite well and being able to appreciate what clothes can do for you, as well as what it can't.

Winter sales

2012-01-10T04:08:00.000-05:00

Up at 3:30 A.M., typing with one hand while the baby sleeps on the other arm. She was bothered by something and could not be appeased by half-awake consoling. And I have a cold and need to sip some chamomile tea with honey to soothe my throat.

I keep wanting to make a proper post, with pics and everything, but it's not happening. So I'll just say that I was relatively disciplined during the sales. I was looking to replace a few items that had gotten worn out, to round out a few favored kinds of garments, and to outfit myself properly for the winter. I set as my target A.P.C. because they're good for long-lasting basics--I have a black wool sweater from them that has served me well for 3 or 4 winters or so. And their stuff routinely goes on sale at many outlets. I had a good chance of getting what I needed, especially since I wanted to limit my browsing so as to limit temptation. Over the past few months I only picked up a few vintage plaid shirts at thrift stores, and I saved my pennies for these wardrobe-building acquisitions during the sale season.

The final count: oxford button down, burgundy wool sweater, suede wallet, and boiled wool slippers (this last from Halflinger to replaces ones that had sprung a hole in the heel). All at least 50% off, all expected to last me many, many years.

I'd feel pretty self-congratulatory but that my end-of-summer purchases I posted about months ago ended up being only half successful. I need to report on the disappointing purchases as well to give an accurate portrait of these goings-on (perhaps as a check for blog-induced spending fever?), but that's for another sleepless night.

New wallet

2011-12-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

It must have been something like six or seven years ago that I bought a Comme des Garcons ziparound wallet. It was a bright French blue with the classic clover design. I loved the functionality and heft of the wallet and thought my days of replacing wallets every year or so were over.

To my disappointment, this year the paint started flaking and chipping off. I'm guessing it's paint, since the leather is otherwise intact. I kinda expected more, though six years or so of daily usage is better than most.

When the crazily early and deep Netaporter sales came around before Christmas, I decided to replace that wallet with a suede A.P.C. wallet that had been marked down twice. I love how this one fits perfectly in my palm and has all kinds of little pockets for squirreling things away. I have found that it's better to have a wallet that's slightly big for your needs rather one that's overstuffed. Nothing elegant about overstuffed. (speaking of overstuffed, how was everyone's holidays? mine was good. )

So far it's been working out very well for me. It's even more incognito than the CDG wallet, which I've once had someone ask me about. Like the best A.P.C., this wallet is well thought out and quietly stylish.

Luggage packing

2011-12-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

I always overpack when I travel. Not that I bring suitcases of stuff (nowadays, just the carry-on), but I always end up with items that never get worn once. So this time, when I went to visit family, I brought just a couple thin, holey undershirts (I really should replace them, but they're so comfortable and still functional) both in long and short sleeve, a patterned tunic, cropped yoga pants, a vintage plaid shirt, and the outfit I was going to wear on the plane. As it turned out, I still didn't wear everything I brought, but only because I underpacked. It was so warm in Texas. I needed to bring a pair of shorts and a short-sleeve shirt that could be worn on its own. Argh!

M's stuff took up more room. She doesn't mind being too warm, but she hates being too cold. So I brought some fleece onesies and zip-ups. She as well didn't wear everything I brought, but that was because I was desperately trying to get some use out of the many temperate-weather hand-me-down clothes she was given on this trip. Back at home, these things won't be worn much, if at all.

So still trying to figure out the perfect formula for suitcase packing. Not too much, not too little.

Childish things

2011-11-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I knew that the time was nearing when certain items had to be put on the shelf, when by virtue of my age they would tip over the line from cute to undercooked. But instead of sobering up my wardrobe and becoming more strict with my purchases, I decided to just buy whatever was my heart's desire. I didn't choose for longevity--in fact, I knew much of what I was buying had a half-life of maybe a handful of years. But I wanted to wear those silly garments for while I still could.

Now, I wouldn't want to tell any woman that they can't wear something because they're too old. But for my own personal sense of things, I feel some items are the province of the young, and one thing I've learned is not to play a younger woman's game.

And suddenly, after the long haul of pregnancy, when the fact of your physicality becomes front and center and forces you out into the world of people (who, for the most part are curious and kind, though some are simply obnoxious and nosy), I find that my perspective on clothes and the body and looks has changed. I don't know if it's from becoming a mother, but I do know I have gone through the experience changed. Among other things, I no longer have any desire to put on the same clothes. Actually, I'm perfectly sick of my former style, at least on myself. I have a desire to cultivate what I keep thinking of as, somewhat oxymoronically, a hyper-quiet aesthetic. No more frills or furbelows or cutesy flourishes.

I'm always suspicious of these sorts of changes, and how deep they really go with me. But I'm thinking this isn't just a momentary aversion. Because as I was doing my usual internet hop-skipping, I ended up watching this video of Anna Karina on YouTube performing "Roller Girl." Style.com called it a "revelation." But I found it flat-out grotesque. The archly sexual cutesiness, the performing to the camera, the fact of a grown woman branding this particular form of female sexuality just kind of turned my stomach.

I half worry that this is just frumpiness creeping in in disguise, but I don't know, and I'm not sure I care if it is. Priorities change, you know? So when I cleaned out my desktop folder, these are some of the images that I discarded. The first one from Rachel Comey is nice, actually, especially the jacket, but the styling is something I wouldn't do anymore.

Odds and ends

2011-11-04T19:15:00.001-04:00

I haven't felt the desire to write a blog post in awhile. I needed some time to think about things, like my level of consumption and how it related to the purpose the blog served for me. I felt uncomfortable. Blogs are by their nature just one facet of a person, but I wasn't sure if serving up this one-sided version of me felt authentic. I liked the breezy, upbeat frivolity of keeping a fashion blog; what I didn't like was when this persona started to feel at times ill fitting.

Anyway, I haven't really come to any big conclusions or meta-analysis about my blogging. Just wanted to explain a bit and provide some awkward prelude to the following list of random thoughts.

1. I'm obsessed with the thought of warmth. I'm consumed with dread about the upcoming winter and feel the need to prepare. I think long johns will be key, since I don't want to wear the same sloppy wool sweater every day, as I did last year in a desperate but futile attempt at warmth.

2. I'm enamored with the uniform of vintage plaid button downs and old jeans. I'm slowly amassing a small collection of plaid button downs.

3. My most quintessential Seattle moment was standing in the packed basement of someone's rental as three local bands played short sets for the birthday boy, amidst a sea of beards and buffalo plaid flannel. I counted something like 7 guys outfitted thusly, just in my general vicinity. The fall weather makes me remember and miss Seattle.

4. I'm not sure when the moment turned, but at some point high-end luxury became thought of as accessible for ordinary, small-income people. Lately, I've rethought my feeling about this and have decided that I rather liked it when expensive items were thought of as inaccessible. Lusting after designer items provokes a kind of meaningless anxiety in me.

5. I've subscribed to a few "frugal living" blogs. It's a good balance to the fashion blogs I read. It keeps things in check, resets the range of normal. And the natural parenting forum I visit does the same for the purse forum and the fashion spot. On the mothering forum, I am likely to read about recipes for consuming one's own placenta (the boyfriend refused to be in charge of the placenta smoothie when I half seriously floated the idea by him) while on TPF or TFS I'll find somewhat porny reveals of some extravagant handbag purchase.

6. With that last thought, how to mention the most profound moment of my life on this, a blog meant for harboring my least profound worries? I guess I'll just say that my baby arrived a little more than a month ago. At first, it felt both unreal and ordinary at the same time. Now I'm beginning to realize just what a sea change it is, and how it has affected everything in my life. Including my thoughts on clothes, but I'll get to that maybe in a future post.

A return to thrift

2011-09-14T09:07:00.001-04:00

Except for the end-of-season A.P.C. sale scoop, I've mostly returned to thrifting as my primary mode of acquisition.

I've tried the French Method, to some success. It definitely has helped me develop a more discerning eye. However, I feel that my love of thrift shopping and vintage clothes limits me from really implementing the French method. It's true that even with thrifting, I can select items more carefully and with an eye towards wardrobe building. But otherwise, shopping from a list just doesn't work all that well when thrift shopping means everything is a jumble. You never know what exactly you'll come up with when you survey secondhand goods. While patience and moderation are virtues of the French Method that can carry over to thrifting, it's difficult to adhere to a minimalistic point of view if you like vintage. At least, it is in my experience.

Somewhat relatedly, I also don't get the same satisfaction from buying new as I do from uncovering vintage goods. I've never blogged about the things I purchased new that would be considered more covetable. I never wrote about the Rachel Comey Mars boot that I purchased last November for my birthday, or the Marc Jacobs Teri handbag that I recently pulled out from oblivion from the back of my closet, or the Miu Miu and Mulberry Bayswater that were my first forays into expensive handbags, among other things. I just never felt good about broadcasting items like that, though I do appreciate seeing them on other blogs.

My aesthetic doesn't really require any high-end items. I'm not really minimal and clean in my outfits, where texture and cut matter a lot. Rather, I like earthy, slightly outdoorsy, and for want of a better word, quirky, looks. I love vintage prints, uncomplicated tailoring, and that crisp cotton blend that you can only find in older fabrics. My heart beats faster when I chance upon a beautiful vintage piece among all the detritus of a secondhand shop.

I still plan to shop outside of thrift for the easy basics and sharp tailoring that might toughen up my wardrobe a bit. But I think there's something in the air, and spending on luxury items just doesn't seem necessary right now, not just for personal reasons, but also for financial, environmental, and ethical ones.

Passing time

2011-08-16T00:38:00.000-04:00

wild strawberries gathered earlier this summer

Last week I bought a pair of handmade feather earrings from a girl at work, the same girl I trained with and spoke about briefly a few months ago. It was her last day at work, and having completed the art sculpture she was working on all summer, she leaves tomorrow on a road trip cross country to tow it to Burning Man. I bought the earrings from her not because it's really my style, but because I wanted to keep a small memory of a brief acquaintance, and this summer with its mushroom foraging and wild fruit jams, and a short time spent in a new place before things change irreversibly in a few months.

My favorite items help me to remember. Sometimes it's to remember a time that's come and gone, or other times it's to slip into an old favorite and feel fully like myself.

On time and the diminishment of desire

2011-08-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

Finn Rocker from Anthropologie, currently an item of desire

I've come to view the blog Laws of General Economy as a kind of parade of missed hits and retrospective failures. It's been illuminating for me as I try to sift through my own discarded items. These orphaned clothes seem to me like curious artifacts of some fleeting impulse. I try to imagine why they fell short, and why at one point they seemed necessary but at another time a burden.

In a similar vein, I created a "Tracking" bookmark on my web browser, where I keep links to things that I think I want. What I've found is that after a few weeks, most of those items no longer even register with me. It's been useful for me to put these items "on hold" as I think further on them and go about my day and see if I keep circling back to them. Surprisingly, I usually don't.

I wonder if it's a little like falling in love. There is that initial rush and excitement that makes it seem like the love will last forever, but ultimately if there's no innate compatibility, you can't wait to be rid of it. Lol. Though maybe that's the source of my current sartorial and past romantic problems: I tend to hang on to things far too long.

P.S. I'm assuming that most are familiar with the TFS 4-5 Piece French Wardrobe thread. There's also now a Recovering Shopaholics thread, and over on TPF, a thread about Closet Purging. The latter two offer a few more perspectives on making a more functional and restrained wardrobe, viewpoints I'm enjoying sifting through this rainy weekend.

A sliver of ankle

2011-07-22T06:07:00.002-04:00

I've noticed the importance of having a little sliver of ankle showing between the bottom of your pants and shoes. A little styling trick I'll attempt when I'm out of shorts and back into pants. Right now I'm feeling overheated and Humpty Dumpty-esque, and no rolled cuff can make that chic.

P.S. My first Polyvore attempt!

[images: Totokaelo, La Garconne]

Style consultants

2011-07-19T18:45:00.001-04:00

Scribbling down my thoughts about potential purchases proved surprisingly useful, though I had made it so complicated by the end that I needed the clarity of a disinterested male spectator (aka my boyfriend) to sort it out.

I solicited his comments when I was recently deciding on my 4-5 pieces, post sale season. They're representative of the kind of comments he gives when asked. They usually jostle small doubts that I tend to ignore in the thrill of an acquisition, and I find them pretty helpful.

"A little drab." -- The dress was a bit Amish, it's true. I had written that I wasn't sure about the pattern.
" Doesn't look comfortable." -- My notes were that I was ambivalent about the shirt's texture and it was tighter than what I wanted. Good to be confirmed, since I was so happy about finding an item on my list I was inclined to ignore my misgivings.
"I don't know where to focus." -- This I had to pursue further. He meant that the stripes were overwhelming. Yes, I had to admit it. I am just a little mouse who likes to wear a coat of grey.
"Super cute." -- He's usually unable to refine this statement further, even with my questioning.

I think it's helpful to have an objective view outside the obsessive fashion milieu, whether it be an amused boyfriend or a page from a journal. But, according to Genevieve Antoine-Dariaux in A Guide to Elegance, you shouldn't consult your female friends as they are invested parties (read: competition . . . or perhaps fellow enablers?) and will give poor advice. I think she gives rather sage advice.

I'm a little bit embarrassed to reveal my notes, as they seem rather self-involved and shallow, but I've been thinking it would be nice to find a bit more reality in the blogging world. As anyone who has attempted it knows, looking effortless is anything but.

The List, revisited

2011-07-17T12:19:00.001-04:00

A few weeks or months ago, I posted a short list of items I was in search of. I found substitutes for most of the items, as I realized in the process of looking that what I thought I wanted needed to be realigned with what would actually work for me.

The structured jacket

I had wanted the Isabel Marant Elali jacket, but decided against it for several reasons. 1) I wanted a jacket that I could throw on over any outfit, and other bloggers reported back that the Elali required careful outfit planning. 2) I'm not sure what size I'm going to end up, and I shouldn't spend so much money for something that eventually may not fit perfectly. 3) It's just a tiny bit too formal to be worn a lot in my life.

I haven't discounted it entirely, but since at this point I'd have to search for it anyway, I may as well wait to search for it once I am certain that I'll get enough wear out of it.

Instead I'm filling this hole in my wardrobe with a lined, oversized tweed jacket I found while thrifting. It reminds me of the coats Isabel Marant put out over the past few seasons, with its dropped shoulders and slouchy fit. The sleeves can be rolled and pushed back for a more informal look. I think I'll be able to wear it on its own as a transitional jacket in the fall and as an additional layer in the winter.

The silk button down
Silk seems like such a romantic fabric to me, but I seldom wear it. Additionally, I hear that it's not the most comfortable fabric in the summer heat. I'm not that keen on filling this niche in my closet, after all, but if I come across a perfect one, I'll likely get it.

Instead I found a lovely cotton button down with a soft leaf print that will fill the same purpose in my wardrobe, but which has the potential to be worn in a wider range of situations and temperatures. It has the same quiet feel as a silk top.

The striped top
The more I've been looking, the more I think that a striped top will be simple and basic enough to be a workhorse in my wardrobe, but with a touch of understated impact to distinguish it from an ordinary tee.

Found! Kinda. It doesn't have the even stripes, and the periwinkle blue color isn't as graphic as I thought I wanted. But when I tried on a top with both these qualities, it felt too loud to me. I'll keep looking for a striped top with the same-sized stripes, but this one works pretty well, and it's more in keeping with my demure style.

The open spots in the list
On a whim, I added a cotton/cashmere cardigan to my shopping cart. When it arrived, it was so soft and complemented my other purchases so well that I decided to replace my former summer cardigan (which was already ratty and misshapen) with it.

My other spontaneous purchase is a dungaree dress. I've already spoken of my love of overalls, and this one is a slightly more feminine version of one. The length, fabric weight, and shiny silver buttons are perfect.

Seasonal Recap
I think that's it for the summer season for me. Though as the days have grown hotter and I've gotten bigger, I bought a few cheapy maternity items. I'm already looking towards Fall and Winter.

Questions for the method

2011-06-27T17:26:00.009-04:00

I'm still trying to reform my closet and consumption, though I still lack the discipline required. To that end, it's been helpful to separate in my mind the purchases that might be specialized acquisitions (a gardening hat, hiking clothes), short-term clothing (maternity wear), and long-term wardrobe additions. With the last, I find myself asking these questions to ascertain whether items might end up as investment purchases.

Will I still want to wear it in 10 years?

No one can be absolutely sure of this answer, of course, but sticking with classic styles for you will place the odds in your favor. I've had a few constants, like Birkenstocks, overalls, and long-sleeve jersey tees that I've incorporated into my style for more than a decade--replacing items as they get worn out. With these, I hardly have to ask myself to know the answer to this question. Knowing my foundational pieces, the anchor to my style, helps in knowing whether spending more on something might be worthwhile.

For me, part of the problem lies in the fact that my foundational items are not the sort that I need to spend a lot on, which may not seem like a bad thing except that it makes my whole wardrobe disposable. And these items work best for a casual life that I have half outgrown. Birkenstocks top out at around $100, and jersey tees soon get stained and worn out. Overalls look best the closer they are tied to their functional roots. So for me, the dilemma lies in knowing what could work as anchors of a more elegant and grown-up style, one that I'd like to move towards.

(Minor sidenote: A few years ago, I wasn't concerned with this question at all. My thinking was that I should indulge in the items that I wouldn't be wearing in a few years, and wear them while I still could and wanted to. Hence, I now have many impulsive purchases to be gotten rid of, but I don't exactly regret those purchases. They fulfilled the purpose I had for them at the time, and they gave me a lot of pleasure.)

Does it fit my lifestyle?

Fashion is all about aspirational thinking, which I think confuses the issue. You see pictures that provoke desire but have no correlation to your own life. It's easy to forget. And it's a fine line, when dressing is tied so closely to creating your identity, and sometimes you dress for who you'd like to be, rather than who you are at exactly that time.

I don't have fancy parties to go to, but I still thought I might get a lot of wear from the Rachel Comey Blithe tee I blogged about yesterday. I thought I might enjoy the incongruity of wearing something slightly formal as an everyday piece. But then I pictured myself in my day-to-day life and saw that a semi-sheer, oversized silk tee would inevitably tug downwards, become stained, and be relegated to a back drawer. So I packed it into a box to go back.

Is it weather appropriate for where I live, and how much out of the year will I wear it?

I'm still having to remind myself not to spend a lot of money on warm-weather clothes. Even now, out of habit, I want to buy pretty dresses and short-sleeve tops, but I know my money is better spent on cold-weather clothes that I'll be wearing most of the year. This question prompts you to think of the cost-per-wear of the item.

Do I have several like it already?

This one is a bit tricky. I think it's fine to have multiples of your foundational pieces. In fact, I'd love to have a uniform where all the pieces in my wardrobe are simply variations on a theme. But sometimes having many of the same thing means that none of them are exactly right, and it's time to stop and analyze what I'm really looking for. Too, I don't like to have items that are too similar or differ only by color because invariably there will be one version that I prefer and wear to the exclusion of the other.

There are other questions that factor into the equation--like, how much do I love it, and is it worth the price asked--but these were the four questions that kept popping up into my head as I was sifting through my choices on that sleepless night. I'll be keeping them in mind the next time I want to buy something.

Method and madness

2011-06-26T16:50:00.005-04:00

I have to admit that much of my shopping is fueled by emotion, and when I add insomnia to the mix, the result is far from a French Method, but rather more akin to madness.

So today I have confessions to make.

Confession 1:

In a fit of irrationality, I ordered the Rachel Comey Flippant dress and Blithe tee a few weeks ago. What was I thinking? The dress fit absurdly on me, and I realized how silly it was to try to predict what I might want or be able to wear a year from now. The Blithe tee was actually rather nice, but the sheer part went too low for my clumsy self. I knew before they came that they wouldn't work, but I stubbornly refused to cancel the order. I guess I wasn't yet willing to accept certain realities. Too much madness, not enough method.

Confession 2:
I once found a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo Varinas, in my size and barely worn, for a few dollars at a local thrift store and put it back. It wasn't really my style, and I was determined not to stray from my List, but now I think that a classic piece like that would have been supremely elegant. It would have added some refinement to my wardrobe. At this moment, I could have used less method and more madness.

Confession 3:
I couldn't sleep last night. It was a mistake to eat two waffles, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a slice of lasagna an hour before going to bed. So I stayed up surfing as I tried to work out the attack of indigestion. With the sales going on, I came upon a few things. Eep.

Three basics from A.P.C. and a pair of Loeffler Randall Matilde boots in cuoio. Here, I hope I have achieved a balance between method and madness. Instead of the silk button down I had earlier put on my Shopping List, I think the cotton blouses are more trans-seasonal and suitable for my life. The cardigan should come in handy as a layering piece for the winter, when I live in warm sweaters. The boots I had coveted idly for many years and should work well as a transitional shoe this fall. I'll see when they arrive in the next week or so.

[pics: la garconne, creatures of comfort, stuart & wright, bloomingdales]

Perspective

2011-06-22T08:46:00.000-04:00

After I had my closet cleanout, I had a basket of clothes to sell/donate. I also had a bunch of clothes that I still liked but didn't love. With those, I tied a little pink yarn bow to the hanger to remind myself to rethink them in a few months.

But when I went home to Houston recently, I did a lot of shopping. It was fun. I kinda enjoy visiting Texas for the guiltless and easy living. You shop as a pastime, drive a big SUV, exist in an air-conditioned bubble, and recycle nothing. It's not the sort of place I'd want to live in for long, but it's nice to visit just for the sense of abundance in the world, illusory though that may be.

So I got some things while there. Nothing worth detailing. Just a few oversize tops at the Saks and Neiman outlet stores, and some maternity pants. Where those belly bands had once depressed me, now I welcome a comfortable pair of pants that won't sag or gape. I guess it's a matter of perspective. My midwife said I was shortwaisted, and so my belly grows almost all horizontally and not vertically. In other words, I have a huge bump, to where salespersons and waiters do a double take when I tell them when I'm actually due. I wake up in the mornings and can tell that I've grown some more. So my perspective on clothes has changed, and if it requires an elastic band to make my clothes fit, then so be it.

In other news, I found a small part-time job at a local natural foods co-op, something that seems like a bit of an adventure to me. I had already decided to take a break from teaching, and I have no desire to ever work in a cube again. Truth be told, I have a sense that I've fallen quietly off the middle track of mainstream America, and I don't know that I'll ever want to hold down a steady job again, the sort where you work towards some promotion or raise. But of course, things can always change.

I'm training alongside two people at this new job, both of whom care little for camouflage of any sort. The one girl has waistlength blonde dreadlocks that she piles on top of her head for a good extra foot of height. The boy has tattoos covering every visible surface of his body, including a necklace of cryptic letters etched from his neck to across his checks and nose. That takes some real commitment. I think he, too, will not be getting a corporate job any time soon.

Figure flaws

2011-06-15T10:34:00.001-04:00

I've always had a dislike for this notion of "figure flaws" that women have to camouflage and subdue. It's a short trip to simply disliking your body for doing what it's supposed to do, and sometimes it's just simply veiled misogyny. I remember in college when I was bemoaning my no longer concave tummy, my friend--a pragmatic but mischievous girl from China named Megan--looked at me and said that that's just being a woman. And I didn't say another word about it because she was right. She was also the same girl who, when she get sweaty or disheveled, would say, "I can't be as a flower all the time."

Some guidelines for pregnancy style, as illustrated by Nicole Richie

2011-05-25T16:29:00.005-04:00

I'm not particularly into her normal everyday style, but she makes the most of her laidback California style when she's pregnant. I figure since I'll be at my biggest during the summer, she'll provide practical inspiration.

Wear what you normally wear

Of course, some styles just aren't going to work during this time (like the sweet vintage look of tops tucked into high-waisted shorts), but there's usually some facet of your normal style that could carry over. For me, the bohemian, granola look would work. I think with so many changes going on, it's important not to abandon everything familiar. I'd like to look into the mirror and still recognize myself.

Avoid the empire waist
She wears a lot of these loose Indian dresses that skim the body and accommodate a growing waistline, but aren't absurdly voluminous because of the light cotton fabric. I think these dresses are so much better than the maternity dresses I've looked at online, which seem to work only to showcase the belly. I'm not against an empire waist or two, but in general, a nipped-in empire waist silhouette tends to look slightly infantilizing and off-balance. They also remind me of my black Molly fish when she was pregnant, but that's just me.

To avoid frumpiness, I think it's best to drop the hemline while exposing the shoulders and clavicles.

Judicious exposure
I used to work at a bagel shop in the summers in Texas, and there was a girl there who just wore increasingly large tee shirts during her pregnancy. No one says that you have to be stylish when you might be feeling miserable and gravid, but she did look rather sloppy, whether or not she cared. And after some experimentation, I've decided that while looking visibly pregnant at this point might be useful in some situations, like when trying to navigate a crosswalk (my biggest pet peeve in this town is how no one slows down for pedestrians. Seattle was so much more pedestrian-friendly, even being 20 Xs larger, according to the latest census), I've never dressed much for attention and I'd rather not start now.

Of course, at some point, it can't be helped. But I find that with exposed arms, shoulders, or legs--body parts that tend to remain their normal size during pregnancy--a pregnant body can still look balanced. They provide a nice counterpoint to all that extra fabric around the middle.

Don't buy maternity clothes
I notice that if I wear designated maternity clothes, I look so much more pregnant than if I just wear my normal clothes. I also find those black elastic panels rather depressing to look at, so I avoid them if at all possible. I may have to resort to them when I'm late in the third trimester, but for now, I just size up several sizes.

Luckily, I've been able to dig around in my closet for my oversized clothing. Buying clothing targeted to a late twenties to middle-aged demographic also seems to work, since these tend to be cut generously with certain trouble spots that coincide with pregnancy (thighs, stomach) in mind. Anthropologie is a good source, as is Flax. I'm thinking Ann Taylor Loft and Chico's would be good for mall brands, but since I don't shop there normally, I haven't checked them out.

I'm against buying a whole new wardrobe for just a few months (as Thoreau says, "beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes"), but for some pieces I've found it necessary, in which case I go to the cheapest source possible. I recently bought a pair of size 8 shorts from Old Navy, which I wear with a belt instead of resorting to the black panel. For when I do need a panel, I think I might just use my short jersey miniskirt from American Apparel, folded in half, as a DIY alternative to the belly bands. Unlike the linen pieces I bought recently, I'll probably not be wearing these shorts again post-pregnancy. But who knows?

In the above pic, Nicole is wearing normal clothes from Urban Outfitters (left) and Rick Owens (right). I'm not too sure about wearing designer clothes like that unless you're a Vogue editor or minor celebrity who is willing to retire them after a few months of wear, when they get stretched out. But the RO dress does illustrate the way that bias cut fabric can work just as well as an empire waist to accommodate your shape, and with a much more chic silhouette.

Rules at a glance
Okay, so I'm really just posting this pic because I adore the dress, which looks cool, easy, and colorful, and something I'd wear regardless of my pregnant state. I've asked my friend to see if she can find one of these type dresses when she goes to India to visit family this winter. It'll be too late to be useful, but it would be nice in upcoming summers. Vintage dresses like these go for around $100 on eBay nowadays, which goes against all my thrifting ethic.

Digital Harinezumi

2011-05-22T20:39:00.030-04:00

Introducing my favorite new accessory: the digital Harinezumi, a toy camera from Japan designed to replicate the look of old photographs and Super 8 film. It's about the size of an old 110 camera, takes photos and video, and can also convert into black and white photography. I figure since I enjoy my Lomo LC-A so much, it would be nice to have another lo-fi camera that takes pics in digital format. This one is small enough to carry with me every day for incidental pictures, like the one above from an end-of-the-year graduate picnic on the lake. The top two pics are just random everyday photographs.

Not me. Part of the Japanese ad campaign, originally posted at the Four Corner Store.

I got the case for it because I plan to be wearing this camera every day and wanted some protection for it, since it's so tiny. And, to be honest, it's just plain adorable.

There's a little hedgehog stamped on the top and a tiny compartment for a spare battery. (harinezumi means hedgehog in Japanese)

It's funny, but I feel much less anxious about purchasing expensive gear than I do clothes. Not sure why that is.

A list

2011-05-20T20:48:00.004-04:00

I'm going to give list-making another go. I had been making them, but not really following them. But after yet another round of closet cleaning, I might just be ready to streamline.

So far, on my list, I have three things:
-- structured jacket, probably in black. For now I'll make do with my black blazer, but I'd really love to get the jacket like Isabel Marant's Elali jacket I've been ~~lemming~~ admiring on other bloggers.
-- silk button down, preferably in a brown or cream, but maybe in black. I'm realizing my favorite tops are button-downs with a silky hand. I don't actually have one in silk, though, so I'd like to get one.
-- stripe top? I have a lot of t-shirts, so I know I gravitate towards easy dressing. I think striped t-shirts seem a bit more polished and interesting, while still retaining a casual feel. I love my Rachel Comey striped boatneck top, but I'd like a version that was a bit looser in the body.

And there are a few spaces in there for any finds I come across in thrifiting.

This is my fall/winter list, which is really the season I need to be preparing for. I have enough summer clothes. In past few weeks, I've finished getting everything I need and want for the summer, including the linen pieces that will hopefully take me through the rest of the pregnancy, a chambray top from Lover with enough pleating to accommodate a growing belly, and a chambray skirt from See by Chloe to replace the almost perfect versions I have currently hanging in my closet. It's so hard for me to resist buying clothes for the summer, though, because warm weather and sunshine makes me happy, and it gives me pleasure to anticipate it.

Other than that, I think I'm set and anything else I acquire will be excess. Which isn't to say I will succeed in abstaining, especially when the sales come around. (Really, to do this properly, I'm thinking I need to break my habit of sales.) But I'll put up the list just so that I'll have some line I'm trying to hold.

P.S. Blogger hasn't been emailing me notification of any comments, so my apologies for not responding to some of them earlier. Of course, I read every one of them!

Nesting, of sorts

2011-05-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

I've amassed a small crate and garbage bag of things to give away or perhaps to sell. Once I started asking myself whether I really loved a piece or not and whether it made me feel good to wear it, it was easy to know what to discard.

It also helped to sort through the images I'd kept in a folder on my desktop to see what looks still inspired me. I started this folder about 7 years ago, just about the time my interest in fashion expanded. I had just started visiting the TFS forum, along with the now all-but-defunct Style Diary. A lot of the pictures brought back memories of my first exposure to accessible luxury. And of the people who posted on these websites, back in the infancy of the internet and fashion. Looking at the images of people I saw almost daily in one form or another, I missed a little the feeling of that community. It was where Susie Bubble, Rumi N., Jane A., and others got started, on the "What Are You Wearing Today" thread, before their blogs broke out in a big way. At the time, postings pics of your outfits was still considered a weird thing to do, and there was a kind of innocence in it, a simple pleasure in sharing something you were excited about.

But enough nostalgia. I've gotten into a bad habit of rambling in my posts. I guess one thing makes me think of other things. But then that's where a lot of the pleasure in clothing for me lies. Every piece of clothing jogs a memory, some more than others. If I were to return to the start of this post to try to make a coherent thought, I'm thinking that knowing what to discard means knowing just as fully what to keep. And in that regard, by looking at old inspirational photos and old photos of me, I decided to keep the more structured pieces and get rid of stuff I was just trying out but turned out not to be me at all. On some days, like this rainy Thursday, it feels good to shed some things and to realize that they never really fit.

A theory of thrift

2011-05-17T11:43:00.000-04:00

While many of my favorite items of clothing are vintage of homemade or no-name origin, my favorite designer thrift find has got to be my Barbour Beaufort jacket. I acquired it in a sleepy small-town Salvation Army down the street from my mother-in-law's house during a stopover on our big cross-country move. I've only recently had a chance to wear it, but it's been perfect for this rainy spring weather. I like the sturdy feel of the construction and the waterproof waxed cotton. So much nicer in a downpour than the Patagonia rain jacket I lived in, when I lived in Seattle.

Another recent find was a Dries Van Noten button-down, which I passed along to T. It's just a simple black button-down, but it has a beautiful drape and a wonderfully aged patina that make it special. And then a few years ago, I found the perfect white button-down made by Thomas Pink in a local Goodwill.

Since these favorite pieces are examples of menswear, my new theory of thrift is that the best designer vintage to be found in lowly secondhand shops is in the men's aisle. Men's clothing eschews trends for the most part and is made to last and be functional, which I think contributes to their lasting appeal 10 or 20 years later when they turn up in these thrift shops. Of course, it must help that they're not as nearly picked over as the women's aisles, either. And maybe men are less likely to go to the trouble of selling their discarded clothes than women.

Though I've found many designer clothes for women, none really appealed to my style. Maybe that's because women's clothing in general is less about functionality and more about decoration and trends. It's not that the vintage looks dated or bad, but that their range of appeal is so much narrower. Thus the Diane Von Furstenberg silk leopard-print skirt, the Comme des Garcons perma-crinkled shirt, and the Versace tee I discovered in my thrifting forays were all bypassed or eventually given away or sold.

Anyway, I can't really discuss designer vintage finds without mentioning the Hermes loafers I found in a Goodwill on the Microsoft side of Seattle. It was just a bit too big even with socks, and I must have gotten rid of them during a ruthless cull pre-move. Sob. That was an example of classic women's design, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

History professor Michael Prokopov offers his own theory of thrift in an NYT article about flea markets. He says, “Flea markets proliferate a volume of goods needing to be sold and people who are hungry — emotionally and aesthetically — to sort out the meaning of life. . . . For most people who go on these ritualized scavenger hunts looking for something that they may not know exists, it is a kind of pilgrims’ process through the detritus of the past.” Even the journalist quoting him had to raise an eyebrow at that academic heavy lifting, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless.

Dilemma solved!

2011-05-15T07:34:00.000-04:00

I went to the Flax sale this weekend and picked up what hopefully will be the bulk of my pregnancy clothes. I had never even heard of this clothing brand until I moved to Ithaca and started seeing it in the secondhand shops. Apparently, it got its start in a barn somewhere in upstate New York, and now is much beloved of, from what I could tell, middle-aged women of the earthy/artistic/kindergarten-teacher style, although there were a few hippies and rastafarians sprinkled in there as well. Everything is cut very generously, and that along with the signature bias-cut washable linen seems perfect for the coming months. If I get a stain on the fabric, I can boil it out!

The sale took place in the former Border's store in the mall, and everywhere there were cardboard boxes piled high with clothes. The first day it was open to the public, it was packed. It was beyond a little overwhelming, what with the tense air of people in search of a bargain and the boxes and boxes of clothes. Floor-length mirrors were set up around support columns, and women in their 40s and 50s were stripping down to their skivvies out on the sales floor to try on stuff. The sales associate told me that women fly in from around the country to attend this sale (some to stock their boutiques). I read on the internet that devotees of the brand call themselves "flaxistas."

Here's what I got:
- 3 sleeveless linen tanks. I think the sleeveless cut will also be practical in the summer, and it shows off the one part that has stayed normal sized.
- 1 midi-length linen dress with pockets.
- 1 sleeveless linen dress. Wrong size for me, but I think I'll just use my fabric glue and take in the sides.
- 1 linen scarf. Scarves obscure an outsize belly.
- 1 pair of linen cropped pants.

Okay, here's an example of what the stuff looks like. It's not really high fashion, but I've always rather liked the rumpled linen, art-teacher look. The colors are muted and really gorgeous as well.

[from Tender Treasures]

Need list

2011-05-14T09:32:00.000-04:00

I agonize over having to buy stuff I may not be wearing after a few months, especially now that I'm finally starting to pare down my shopping habits. But I'm getting to the point that I really need to find more accommodating clothes. Right now I need

a pair of shorts or capris that I can garden and hike in, and preferably also wear about town. The elastic on my poor North Face pants can't go much further.
a few new bras.

Knowing that I might not be able to or want to wear these items post-pregnancy, I'm not sure whether to go the cheap route or not. I hate to buy expendable clothing, but at the same time, I don't want to buy nicer stuff with the expectation of still being able to wear it later.

Then there's the choice about whether to go for form-fitting numbers that reveal the bump, or to wear strategic layers to obscure it. Anyone have thoughts on the matter? Is it cute, or obnoxious and tacky to show off the bump?

Everything but

2011-05-13T20:44:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to buy as few maternity-specific clothes as possible. So far, I've made do with wearing my C&C long-sleeve tees and everything I own in a size medium. I did pick up a pair of Old Navy maternity dark wash straight-leg jeans at the Salvation Army, and that has been great for whenever I need to look slightly more put-together. Otherwise, if it's got a drawstring or elastic waist, it's a friend of mine.

Favorites

2011-05-09T14:42:00.000-04:00

I pulled out my Moleskin last night and made a list. One is of what I would like to get, which is for the most part on hold until the transformation of my body works itself out. I think this enforced holding pattern is good, though, because it forces me to really consider my purchases.

The other list I wrote is of my current favorite items of clothing.

From left:
1. Rose-print sundress. Free People. I bought it years ago because I adored the print, even though the only one left was two sizes larger than my usual. Surprisingly, I prefer it for its looseness.

2. Wayfarer dress. Rachel Comey. My first tiny splurge on what would become my favorite designer. It doesn't look like much, but the little details make it special.

3. Striped t-shirt dress. APC. Again, a few sizes too big, but affording the perfect slouch. I feel completely at ease in this dress. The drape of the cotton keeps it from being too boxy.

4. Navy woven shirtdress with maroon buttons. Vintage. It's completely demure, but for that reason it works. A classic.

5. Knit cardigan. Vintage ("Handknit by Sis Lee"). The shoulders create a subtle cocooning. I didn't think I would like this as much as I do, but the color goes with a lot of my things.

6. Patterned brown button-down. Vintage. The ruffles and the shimmer of the pattern are unobtrusively feminine. I wear this with the sleeves rolled up whenever I want to be a little formal but still comfortable.

7. Flowery blue button-down. Vintage, handmade. It's slightly sheer, cool, and crisp.

8. Plaid button-down. Vintage, handmade. This seems to me like the perfect vintage plaid.

9. Striped boatneck top. Rachel Comey. Another unexpected favorite. I had added it to my order just to get free shipping. One of the few fitted things I like.

10. Chambray skirt. Vintage. I love white tees and chambray skirts in the summer.

11. Accessories. Heart tote, Anthropologie. Denim bag, Paul & Joe Sister. Polka-dot scarf, J. Crew.

Generally, I haven't posted my actual clothes before because they just don't have the snap and cool-factor that I see in so many other blogs. In fact, looking at this collection of my favorites, I can see why a student once told me that my style was "granola chic." Sigh. I'd still rather approximate the clean and sharp look that I see elsewhere, but this is my skin, I suppose, and I feel most comfortable in this style. They reflect the layers of my history. There's the thread of hippie-ness from my years in Austin, the grunge of the 90s, my love of vintage and thrift, the warm climes I'm used to, and the oversized clothes I got used to wearing when even the smallest sizes hung off me (definitely not the case anymore!).

The other thing the list made me realize was that I collect an excess of clothes when I can't get just the right thing. Shoes, skirts, and jeans make up the bulk of my wardrobe, but few of those things show up on a list of favorites. So now I can see why it's important to find the exactly perfect item. It saves you from going through endless versions in search of it.

Cheap Chic

2011-05-08T12:09:00.000-04:00

I woke up early Saturday morning to go to the book sale that the Friends of the Library puts on twice a year in Ithaca. I've gone to these warehouse-type book sales in Seattle and central PA before, and they're always fun to browse because of the interesting mix of books, some of which you rarely see. I came prepared with a thermos of hot tea and stood in line to wait my turn to enter.

Since I sold two storage crates of books before my move out here, I was loathe to accumulate a bunch more. But I was incredibly excited to find a copy of Cheap Chic, written by Caterine Milinaire and Carol Troy. I've heard about this book so many times, but it had fallen out of print since its publication in 1975.

Except for a few dated pieces of advice (like to steer clear of zippers on jeans) and the amazing difference that inflation makes (the authors balk at spending the then going-rate of $600 on an Hermes bag), much of the advice in the book is still fresh and relevant. Milinaire suggests that you begin by investing in high-quality classics to form the foundation of your wardrobe, and then look to other sources like thrift stores, workwear, and ethnic markets for color, variety, personality, and just to round out your wardrobe.

The book feels like it consolidates the advice written on current blogs that concentrate on wardrobe-building and individual style. A sample passage from the "Classics" chapter:

Sometimes Cheap Chic boils down to spending much more than you feel you can afford on the kind of classic, quality clothes we talk about in this chapter. We think it saves money in the long run. . . . There are still certain things you shouldn't fudge on no matter how cheaply you dress: the very best boots, a sturdy bag, a glorious jacket or shirt. You can't afford cheap boots that will last a year and then crack across the sole. If you had loads of money you could; but since you don't, spend your money where it shows the most.

I like how the book offers simple guidelines as well as the principles behind them. All too often, fashion becomes just a prescriptive list of do's and don'ts, as if style was just a secret code for winning acceptance rather than a form of creative self-expression. Although I suppose in some ways style could be both, it loses all fun if it's just the former.

What's really interesting to me is how stylish all the women in the pictures look, even 35 years later. Some of their outfits aren't my personal cup of tea, but they look great nevertheless.

From the "Antiques" chapter, Ewa Rudling is featured as a "ragpicker deluxe." She says, "When you are, or when you become, poor, you also become very inventive. You find yourself taking things you normally would not have looked at before." I like that the book says it's perfectly alright to be "throwing your last $150 into a tweed riding jacket and riding out poverty in style" even as it lists provides alternatives and various places to find $1 t-shirts and other basics.

From the "First Layers" chapter, Milinaire says to look for "solid colors, basic quality, simple cut and time-tested designs" to simply dressing in the morning. In the above pic, designer Ola Hudson models her uniform of painter's pants and long-sleeved cotton t-shirts, while Lauren Hutton wears a simple ensemble of jeans, man's shirt, and wool Shetland sweater.

New York photojournalist Helene Gaillet shown in variations of her layering system: t-shirt, boy's shirt, overshirt, and jeans. She also illustrates what the book advises is the most basic layer--"a lithe, supple body."

Two examples of style coming from original sources. The chapter on "Markets Around the World" is especially interesting for its breakdown of the ethnic items that distinguish various countries or regions, such as the lacemakers of Belgium and silver belts in Turkey. Milinaire advises seeking them out as an antidote to an increasingly Westernized world, worthwhile also because they are "functional, durable, cheap, and usually made of local raw materials." The first pic above illustrates the suggestion to look for a local market or bag wherever you go, completely relevant still today as straw market bags reach a small crest in trendiness. The second pic is of a traditional French jeweler's smock. Very reminiscent of Chloe, don't you think?

I haven't finished reading the entire book, but already it's a trove of smart, useful observations, delivered in a non-condescending way. I can post more from it in future posts if others would find it similarly helpful.

[cover jacket photo: amazon; first interior photo: Unruly; all other photos: Mrs. Gorman]

Things I didn't buy

2011-05-04T10:58:00.000-04:00

Taking a cue from Frockstyle, I'll post a few things that didn't make the cut, though my tax refund was burning a hole in my pocket.

Abercrombie shorts. Though I can't bring myself to enter the stores, I like the fit of their pants and shorts. And I've liked the look of a pair of short shorts with oversized tops since I saw an editorial in Vogue mixing the high and low, or maybe it's just the tacky Jessica-Simpsonesque Texan in me. But the low rise of these shorts turns out to be very practical for a baby belly. And while I can still (just barely) button into the size 0s in my closet, I thought sizing up would be better. Still, I decided not to purchase another pair because summers look like they'll be fleeting, and I wouldn't get much use out of them.

Free People Fit N Flare dress. In the reviews, customers complained about the voluminous cutaway around the ribs, so I thought this dress might be perfect for the next few months. But I really didn't like the mottled vertical stripes.

APC Tiered Floral Dress. I love me some dark floral print, but summer is just too short.

Sweet summer hair

2011-04-18T08:22:00.000-04:00

Totally in love with what Susie Bubble calls the "70s poppy/preppy" look in a scene from Anh Hung Tran's screen adaptation of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood.

This look should be easy enough to recreate eventually through several rounds at the thrift stores. The 70s might be my favorite decade in vintage.

The sweet little barrettes got me to thinking about summer hair, though. I was big into barrettes a few years ago to keep my longish bangs off my face. It's a small but effective gesture. A funny incident: the best friend of my boyfriend at the time came to visit us in Texas, along with his girl from Washington state, who had built her own yurt using scrap material and ingenuity in her mother's backyard and who now lived with the best friend in another hand-built house on land they homesteaded in Alaska. She was a sturdy girl. Anyway, I could sense that she took an instant dislike to me, even though she kept exclaiming, "you're the cutest thing ever!" I don't think that was a compliment, quite, in her book. But the funny thing was that later that day when they were driving around, she made them stop into a drugstore so she could buy some barrettes.

Barrettes, like braids, are icons of girlish innocence and fit right in with the ease of summer. You don't see them done often enough.

Laws of General Economy

2011-04-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

I found this website when I was obsessed with Rachel Comey and wanted to find as many outlets selling her clothes as possible. It's a simple blog that acts as a marketplace for people wanting to buy and sell clothes that they no longer have use for. Most of the items are from mid-range designers like Comey, Steven Alan, or No. 6, but it's fairly random. People post what they have with photos, designate a price, and randomly choose a recipient from the comments after a week or so has passed. The prices are pretty reasonable, since most people want to just pass on the items to an appreciative recipient.

Thrift

2011-04-16T10:04:00.000-04:00

As one of the few girls who had a car at the housing co-op I lived in while going to school in Austin, I was asked to ferry various housemates around once in awhile. It wasn't too bad, except for trying to find a parking space afterward. One of my memories of school is picking my way back from a far-off parking lot, clambering over grand old oak trees.

But one of these excursions entailed taking Alexa, a pixie-like girl with waist-length blonde hair, to the thrift shop down south. It was named "Family Thrift" or something like that and tucked away in the corner of some sleepy strip mall. That was when my love affair with secondhand shops started. At the time, it was still considered "dirty" to wear other people's old clothes, and the only other patrons in the shop would be embarrassed teenagers shopping with their moms (and, heartbreakingly, begging to get a pair of $3 sneakers), po' folks like myself, and drunken vagrants who had to be pried out of the dressing rooms after a certain time.

I still like to thrift, and there is one Salvation Army in this new town, and a really great charity shop at the next small town over. I've found a lot of vintage Woolrich sweaters in the men's section, and recently acquired a Dries Van Noten shirt for my boyfriend for $3. But compared to Seattle, where I had several circuits of thrift shops I could hit up, they're not enough to keep my thrifting itch at bay.

So I've been on eBay a lot lately. And while I can't justify buying something for $30 that I could find for $3, I keep looking in the hopes of finding a great bargain. Some of the things I've passed up lately:

A dress the lister's mother wore in the 60s. It sold for $230.

A linen or flax dress. Not vintage, I don't think. The brand is FLAX.

Ch-ch-changes

2011-03-31T10:10:00.000-04:00

So I'm pregnant. That radically changes my thinking about fashion and consumption like nothing else has. Some days, I couldn't care less about how I look.

I don't really want to buy things that I might outgrow in a few months and that I might not be able to fit into post-pregnancy. Ironically, although this pregnancy has disordered all my plans and complicated things quite a bit (it was both planned and unexpected), it has, on the other hand, simplified my wardrobe into about a dozen workable pieces. I now have a minimalist's wardrobe! haha.

But I am determined to buy as little maternity-specific clothes as possible. There's no point in buying things you'll only wear for a few months, in any scenario. As long as I can still pull from my old closet, I'll continue to do so. It helps me to feel more like me, too, which is important because I have no plans to morph into Mom, capital M, with all its social expectations and stereotypes. There are no mini-vans in my future (but I feel obliged to say that if a mini-van were to appear in my {non-existent} driveway, I wouldn't refuse it! a 30-year-old short-bed truck is less than the ideal baby transport).

Which isn't to say that I haven't stuck a toe into the maternity arena. I went down to the local thrift store to see what maternity clothes were to be had, and it was a quick lesson in aversion therapy. Everything was either ugly, gigantic, shapeless, frumpy, or a combination thereof. While I feel sympathetic to the women who, I imagine, were strong-armed into such garments solely by the forces of circumstance and practicality, I hope to not end up in such desperate straits. (But really, who's to say? One thing I've learned in being a full-time incubator is that there is not a lot under your control.)

Towards that end, I have isolated two women whose maternity style I admire. One is Melanie Huynh, former editor at Vogue Paris, and Nicole Richie, former best friend of Paris Hilton. I'll post a study of their styles in separate posts at some point. I don't really plan to fully emulate their style--I did not wear spiky Balenciaga heels prior to being pregnant, and I certainly won't during--but I think they both tweaked their individual style admirably to accommodate their changing body shape, in ways that would be instructive to anybody.

On Mr. Porter and wardrobe building

2011-03-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

I came across this interview with Net-a-Porter's Natalie Massenet in the Wall Street Journal in which she talks about how Net-a-Porter came into being and grew into such a powerhouse. At the end, she remarks on the difference between how men and women shop. Here's the pertinent passage:

With Mr. Porter, we are not intending to just reskin Net-a-Porter and call it a men’s site. We’ve thrown away every thing we know about shopping online and started from scratch because we’re working with a customer base that’s inherently not crazy about going into stores. We’re tailoring the navigation and the services to cater to the male psychology of shopping, which is very different from a woman’s. Men shop to build a long-term wardrobe, while women focus more on short-term, trend-driven pieces. [italics mine]

I found the italicized concept pretty intriguing, so I went over to the Mr. Porter website (the male arm of NAP) to check out how this difference might translate into a different approach to dressing and strategy for selling.

Besides such hilarious features as "How to Please Her" (so dating anxiety isn't just confined to women!), the section that really intrigued me was the "Wardrobe Manager" section. It's basically what we've been calling the French Method for dressing. There's sub-sections that keep list the essentials for a complete wardrobe, a section to keep track of desired items, a re-order section to replace old and worn-out favorites, and a section that compiles recommendations from friends and the site. What this Wardrobe Manager suggested to me was a methodical, thoughtful approach to dressing as well as a style that remains consistent over time.

I really liked the Essentials list that they generated for their customers. While I don't agree that a tux is an essential item in a wardrobe (though for their target clientele it could be; but I imagine it's really on the list to flatter the consumer), I really appreciate the thoughtfulness behind the rationale for each of these items. Example:

CASUAL SHIRTS

It's useful to have a few casual shirts; you can always spot a man who wears the same shirts at the weekend as he does to the office during the week. Fabrics should be a bit heavier and less formal, which brings oxfords and substantial linens to the fore, and allows colours to be more expressive, because strong hues look better when the cloth is thicker.

Now I know it's difficult to compile a list of essentials for women, who have so much more variety in what they can wear, but I would love to have a list that narrowed down the features of any one essential item so that shopping becomes more analytical, targeted, and likely to end in success. I know various blogs do that to some degree, and I really love to hear the thought process behind figuring out what people really need and enjoy. I myself know that I hate overly textural fabrics next to my skin, but it took so much trial and error to come to that realization.

I would almost say that this approach to dressing, as evidenced at Mr. Porter, is more analytical and less emotion-driven, but I think that's only on the surface of things. Underneath, there's still that tried-and-true advertising strategy of creating anxiety about some heretofore unperceived deficiency or flaw, and then offering the panacea. Witness the "you can always spot a man who wears the same shirts at the weekend as he does to the office during the week." i.e. don't be that one of those boorish men who doesn't know how to have fun.

Anyway . . . Another long post. I realize I do this blogging thing all wrong, with lots of texts, very few pictures, and no covet-worthy items. So I appreciate the kind words in the comments that have encouraged me to keep writing. I hate to inundate or create more noise, so it's good to know that it doesn't come across that way.

Cold

2011-02-28T13:28:00.000-05:00

I've taken a few of those online Ayurvedic questionnaires to see what body type I might fall into. I remember one question that is always asked is, Do you prefer to be too hot or too cold? I wasn't sure of my answer at first, but now I know my response is, unquestionably, too hot!

Ever since I've moved to this new locale, the weather change has provoked a series of other changes in me. I find that all I want most of all is to not be cold. I no longer dress up, but rather bundle up over and over again into my warmest clothes. Few of my sweaters meet the grade, but those that do are wool, thick, and loose. Into jeans go my frozen little legs. I'm wearing a cold-weather uniform that changes only every 3 to 4 days.

Along with the freeze in body temperature is a freeze on my bank account. I haven't bought anything in two months but a vintage dress I found at the Salvation Army and a pretty piece of lingerie. There are other reasons for that, which will be discussed in future posts, but I find that I've really changed my outlook on clothes now that I'm in "survival mode."

It's funny, though. I never would have thought that fashion, clothes, and my wardrobe could be such a clear indicator of what's going on in my life and my head. They are kind of a barometer of my life.

How many clothes does a person need?

2011-02-11T10:37:00.000-05:00

I think surprisingly little, with one caveat. I used to have very little in my wardrobe. As a high schooler, I got 1/3 of a closet rack and 1 dresser drawer to share with my sisters and keep all my things. When I got to college, all my clothes still fit into just one cardboard box. I remember getting by just fine. I just had to have enough undies and things so that I don't have to do laundry all the time, but then all was well.

But I think part of the reason that it worked then was because my life was fairly routine. School, then home. Nowadays, I need a bit more range in my closet to meet a few additional social situations, so that translates into more clothes. But not really that much more.

So that is to say, a person does not need a lot. Enough to fit her lifestyle. This is the ideal. But in practice, I deluded myself into thinking that more clothes would mean more preparedness. That's true to some extent, but at some point it just became more.

Contents of My Bag, with apologies . . .

2011-02-10T17:11:00.000-05:00

. . . to Dead Fleurette, who challenged me to do this post, oh about eons ago.

The bag I should take a picture of is my suitcase, still standing partially unpacked in my living room. It says everything about where I, and my head, has been during the past two months. From Seattle to upstate New York (a distance of about 3000 miles in a 16-foot moving van) and then from New York to Houston, Texas (an additional distance of 1600 miles in a 22-year old truck). And then back to New York.

So you can understand that the last thing on my mind would be what I was wearing. Before the move, I spent a lot of time thinking about my wardrobe and how to reduce it. The forced cull made me come to this realization: I have way more clothes than anyone possibly need or I could enjoy. In fact, most of my clothes felt like an incredible burden. They reminded me of the money I had spent, and the only slight pleasure that they currently gave. Despite the latter, I couldn't give up the clothes because of the former. It could have been an altogether frustrating experience except that I decided to close my eyes to the money that had been spent on the clothes (it was a sunk cost, after all), and simply get rid of anything that gave me no more pleasure to wear, either in terms of their beauty or their functionality.

So what came with me? My everyday dresses. Most all of my wool sweaters. My work pants. Almost all of my skirts. What got cut? Oh man. Loads. I can't even remember. Suffice to say that I made about $150 hauling my stuff to Buffalo Exchange, and I unburdened myself of a lot of my sentimental keepsakes. It was getting rid of the sentimental stuff in my life, gifts from old boyfriends and the like, that felt the best. I realized that I didn't need so much of the past to remind me of who I was. I felt like I was readying myself to make new memories, a new adventure.

Anyway, during the move, I kept my stuff in a little leather fanny pack that I slung over my shoulder. Now that I'm settled into my new digs, I have moved my stuff into this little leather clutch that I picked up from a thrift store in Seattle (I miss you, Seattle!).

To explain the contents.
- My phone. I try not to become tethered to technology, so this little number is just a pre-paid cheapie I bought at Target.
- Lip balm. Korres Lip Butter, Burt's Bees. I collect lip balm; it's one of my more blameless vices. These three somehow made it into the zippered part of the clutch, but I rarely use them.
- Commes des Garcons wallet. I bought this about 6 years ago, and it's still going strong. There's only a little rip in the leather tie around the zipper. I love it, and sometimes it's all I carry.
- My keys. The yellow rope I found on the beach in Washington, where we stopped to take in one last clam dig before moving east. Yes, I parked a 16-foot moving van on the beach. And then camped in subfreezing temperatures in a small tent with my boyfriend and three guinea pigs.
- Various gift cards, membership cards, etc, all bulldog clipped together.

Bags Packed

2010-12-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

I need to post a "What's in Your Bag?" post, but all my bags are packed. I'm moving from Seattle to New York (state, not city) and have been getting getting organized and ready for the past few weeks. Will write when things settle down.

Wardrobe revision

2010-11-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

I realize my long post about Sofia Coppola may have come off a bit obsessive or fangirly. But I was determined to crack the code. While I concede that some of her elegance may come from carriage and confidence, I felt a lot of her style might be approximated.

It's helped in my wardrobe-editing process because it's given me a touchstone, an end result to measure my progress. And I realized from studying her clothes that I don't have to get rid of every distinctive, non-neutral piece, but I should get rid of all my gimmicky clothes, the one-note pieces that can only be worn a single way.

I've tried to see if I could streamline my wardrobe from the other end--by acquiring more selectively--but I realized that my closet was too far gone. If I wanted to change my wardrobe and my entire approach to dressing, I had to clean it out. I had to cull the many lackluster pieces from my closet. So the last few weeks, that's what I've done. It was painful at first, but as I got rid of more and more, I felt a burden lifting and, as others have noted, it becomes addictive. I'm not nearly finished, but at least I've started.

Stuff that has made the edit pile & what I've learned:
- Winter scarves and hats. I realized that I have favorites that I wear again and again, and I don't need or like big accessories to change up my look. Rather, I like to wear signature accessories: my polka dot wool scarf, my tiffany diamond earrings, and my Birkenstocks.

- Different experiments with workout clothes. I have two brands that look good and hold up well: Patagonia and Lululemon. Everything else gets cut.

- Many, many clothes from a sad period in my life a few years ago, when I was married. I was beginning to experiment with how to upgrade my wardrobe, but I was also feeling angsty and unmoored. I tried to use shopping and clothes as a way to project a presence that I didn't feel.

- Lots of clothes that are visually appealing but somehow slightly wrong in cut, color, or material. Lots of clothes made with thin or itchy cheap-o fabrics. Stuff that gives no pleasure in the wearing.

- Clothes bought at the wrong price point. Items worn often should be acquired at the upper end of my price limit, and not on impulse or for a narrow range of ocassions. I'm not sure if this is pointless snobbery, though.

- Stuff appropriate to an earlier age. I find myself transitioning to more demure pieces. I could maybe still get away with them, but I feel less desire to be on display.

- Clothes that don't quite fit the way I like. I've gained 5 pounds, and I have no desire to diet back down to 95 lbs to fit into my old clothes. I also don't want to squeeze into my clothes and be reminded that I'm older and fatter. It's time to give up the ghost! No shame in growing older.

About Sofia Coppola's style

2010-11-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

I know I've written about Sofia Coppola before, but I find myself on this rainy weekend looking over my old inspirations from about 5 years ago, when I first started getting interested in high fashion. I've almost always been interested in personal expression and looking nice and appropriate, but it wasn't until about 5 years ago that I started thinking about style, chicness, and designers, and I had the means to approach them in some small way.

So when I just started trying to figure out fashion, I started by studying the people who I felt got it right, people that I might want to emulate. Sofia Coppola was one inspiration. In fact, she's probably the style muse of intellectual girls everywhere (she said something similar about her photography phase . . . that every smart girl goes through one, and takes lots of pictures of their feet). She has had a handbag named after her, signaling an ascension to the most rarefied of style icon status. She was famous for wearing flats on the red carpet and was the muse of Marc Jacobs. She started her own clothing line, Milk Fed, and moved through her own (somewhat unfortunate) grunge phase. Now she's designed her own line of handbags for Louis Vuitton, and they're everything that you might associate with her: elegance, refinement, heritage, minimalism, and immaculate style.

I think you can break down her style in a few ways. Some are obvious, and a few things are counterintuitive. Her pieces are not fussy, but are rather pared down to the essentials--exquisite cut, perfect fit, and beautiful fabrics.

Her definitive style, and what makes it work, is most obvious by comparison:

Compare her outfit to Scarlett Johansson's. They both wear sleeveless summer dresses, but Sofia's version is just a few crucial inches longer and seems much more demure. Her shoes are simple black flat sandals, as opposed to pink Converses. Her proportions are right, whereas Scarlett looks a little bit off, a little bit too much.

In the second picture, next to Kirsten Dunst, the fabric of her dress is much richer and "grown-up" than Kirsten's--a thick satin as opposed to cotton. Her jewelry is minimal, but its presence helps her seem much more polished than Kirsten. Although they both wear little makeup in that photo, Sofia looks finished, as opposed to Kirsten, who looked like she just rolled out of bed. Kirsten looks just a little bit too undone. Compared to Scarlett and Kirsten, Sofia looks just right--neither trying too hard nor trying not hard enough.

In both these pictures she's wearing black, and you might think that black is an essential part of her style. To some degree, it is, but that's not the entire story. In fact, she wears a lot of color, but usually against a background of black. Or else, when she strays from more neutral colors, she restricts her color palette to just one or two colors for the outfit. Examples:

Similarly, you might think that she's a straight minimalist, but in fact, her clothes are not always streamlined. Often, they are frilly, pleated, graphic, or feminine in some other way. She just never layers them on--it's always just a few separates that compose her outfit. But her accessories are always few, modest, and classic. Earrings, necklaces, and watches are small and subdued; shoes are always trendless and demure. You'll never see Sofia in the monster platforms so popular right now.

But she never looks overdone, even on the red carpet, and part of her secret is her hair. The fact that it's always in the same signature style--clean, neat, bobbed, and shiny--ensures that she always looks like her, never looks like she's trying too hard, and always exudes a cool downtown vibe.

To summarize this overlong post (lol), here are what I think compose the essential ingredients to Sofia Coppola's style, the "it-ness" of her It girl status:

Clothes that tend towards minimal, with quiet feminine touches
Restricted color palette in an outfit (but not in the wardrobe), with black used as an anchor
Classic black shoes, usually flat or with a small heel
Small, classic jewelry
Clean, shiny hair that's always in a signature polished bob, never coiffed
Perfectly fitting separates; never tight but sometimes loose (pants ending just at the ankle)
Very little layering
Outfits that allow ease of movement, everyday life, the weather

A swerve into Bohemia

2010-10-19T04:05:00.000-04:00

My style lately has taken a big swerve to the left, towards a kind of hippie bohemian look. I'm not altogether sure that I like this change. It's not necessarily anything to aspire to, and maybe isn't the road to sophisticated elegance. But it feels right.

I didn't think so at first, but it seems this style lends itself well to the French method of wardrobe building. It's not at all the streamlined, minimalist style typically associated with the method, but you really don't need a lot in your wardrobe to pull it off. It's perfectly fine to wear and re-wear the same old duds, which becomes a kind of signature. It's built off of distinct, individual pieces that no one else will have. I haven't completely changed my style, but everything I've gotten recently--a long skirt from India with little attached bells, a wool cardigan from Ecuador with a peaked hood--certainly has a rather bohemian feeling.

It started probably when my old college friend came to visit. I hadn't seen her in more than 10 years, and so seeing her again and catching up on old times and comparing recollections reminded me of the hippie grunge style that I used to sport in my college days. The beaded and embroidered Indian tunics she wore during her stay also reminded me of Austin. Then a small write-up in the New York Times about the Little Doe line of feathered headpieces led me to reading up about the designer, Chase Cohl, whose closet is filled with covetable dresses, all worn with a beat-up pair of cuffed vintage boots.

Chase Cohl

her closet

These influences must have been percolating in my mind when I went thrifting and came across a few outlandishly cozy sweaters: oversized, fringed, tasseled, and rather undone. They were much more "out there" than what I would normally wear, but they cost almost nothing and promised to keep me warm this coming winter, so I brought them home. To my surprise, I've worn them almost every day since then.

So whatever turn my wardrobe has taken is nothing I would have planned, though it feels very comfortable and very natural. I think maybe I should just let go of the old dream of me as a hip, coolly sophisticated girl in streamlined, urban clothes. I think I'd rather be warm.

Deletion

2010-09-01T04:24:00.000-04:00

I've always approached my wardrobe as something that I have to acquire--like, if I can find the perfect black skirt and other items on my list, I'll arrive at a fully functional closet. But I'm starting to think that another way to get at the essentials in your closet--and indeed, in your life--is by deleting the extraneous.

Last week I went on a 7-day road trip by myself (although technically, my guinea pig came along . . . that's a long story in itself) partway down the Pacific Coast Highway. I found all that solitude wonderfully rejuvenating and quieting. It made me think of the line in a T.S. Eliot poem, "Distracted from distraction by distraction" and how symptomatic of modern life all that noise is. The bursting closet, the television, the internet, they all distract us from our own inattention. I suppose one purpose I have with editing down to a minimal wardrobe is to find a way to enjoy but also contain this hobby, which easily can become both consuming and trivial.

It was great to go camping in the woods and explore the back roads and small towns with each day wide open. And strange to discover that I could take away all the things that I thought would be necessary and still be perfectly fine. I didn't need a radio (stolen a few months ago in Tacoma), a locked door, or even a companion for the trip.

But I guess I'm moving beyond the ken of this blog. Short of these existential concerns, I also realized more simply that all I needed last week was a boiled wool sweater, a long-sleeve tee shirt, and some hiking pants from The North Face. That's the beauty of traveling, I think: you take what you need with you, and you realize how very little you need.

Wardrobe for a different self

2010-08-19T13:38:00.000-04:00

I have a pair of Chie Mihara high heels that I bought from Anthropologie that I can't bear to return, even though I haven't worn them yet and don't actually see myself wearing them. It's like I'm saving them for a future self, or an alternate self that hasn't come into existence yet. And maybe never will.

I like keeping some things for that reason. I know, too much of this would result in an impractical wardrobe with little use in my real life. So I know to avoid most of the accoutrements of the A. Wang, goth-y, downtown girl look that has pervaded fashion and blogs for some time. While I think the attitude and the clothes are infinitely cool, I know that that girl is something I will never be, so I know not to try to approximate (in fashion lingo, I can't "pull it off").

But I think a little bit, just a dose, of that imaginative possibility taps into the self-inventing part of fashion that appeals to me so much. Like maybe, this silvery-pink pair of strappy high heels will call into existence the girl I'd like to be. Or a signature lipstick would help snap me into focus. Or something like that.*

* (Though again, I have to qualify that and wonder how much of it is the Machine at work. How much of this difference between real self and idealized self is the production of magazines, and models, and editors, and the whole industry saying that this is what you should be and look like, and here, let me sell you something that would help get you there.)

Three Thoughts

2010-08-15T19:51:00.000-04:00

I think it's important to know your own body if you're going to find a minimal wardrobe that fits your personal style. Those essentials lists that periodically show up--usually with a white button down and black dress at the top of the list--are as misleading and dogmatic as trend predictions are.

When I saw these pics from the Venetia Scott for Margaret Howell F/W 10 collection, I immediately admired the model's sleek equestrian beauty. I suddenly wanted some demure plaid skirts and drapey button downs for my own closet. But then I remembered that below-the-knee skirts never work on me. Or at least, they do not have the same cool, graceful effect as they do on this tall, whippet-thin, doe-eyed girl.

My third thought was that when I see someone who seems to know exactly what works on her body, temperament, and lifestyle--as this look projects--the total effect is mesmerizing.

Vintage Loves at Free People

2010-08-14T10:55:00.000-04:00

Free People has started selling vintage items on the website. It's called "Vintage Loves," and it's filled with luscious and highly covetable pieces handpicked by some mysterious vintage buyer/traveler named Ali.

There's a lot to like. There's a beautiful selection of cream-colored blouses; and holey, handknit sweaters; and paint-splattered, perfectly worn-in jeans. From delicate pintucked blouses, to 1930s dresses, to Irish lace shawls, the collection seems to hit all the high points of the things I dream about running across in my thrifting jaunts. In fact, these are the items that fill the dreams of any vintage-lover, I think.

But most of us will probably keep dreaming, because the prices are ridiculous even for Free People standards. Prices start at about $100, with most pieces averaging about $300, and some designer vintage going into the $1000s. Even at those prices, though, it seems like at least half of their vintage pieces have already sold.

I'll keep visiting the site just for inspiration before I go thrifting, whenever my optimism flags. It's nice to know that one person collected all these items from their travels and forays into antique shops. A few items have already given me ideas for search terms on eBay, and I'll need to start visiting antique shops when I go on my road trip in a few weeks.

Feedback: The Wood Wood Jumpsuit

2010-08-12T14:27:00.000-04:00

So the Wood Wood jumpsuit I posted about a few days ago is a no-go. The terry cloth fabric is simply too heavy for a jumpsuit. I feel like it drags on me, especially since I'm short without much up top.

With a belt to hold up some of the fabric and to give it shape, it's wearable, but that seems like a lot of fussing for a jumpsuit. I think jumpsuits should just be like their name: "jump" into them and then you're "well-suited."

I'm considering chopping off some length to make them into shorts (I'm already cuffing them). Not sure.

So not altogether a bust, but I find myself thinking how I could have applied that money to something I loved more.

Basic with a twist

2010-08-11T17:26:00.000-04:00

I feel I should confess that I'm not really a minimalist when it comes to my shopping habits or my wardrobe. But I always ask myself about the versatility of any piece I acquire. I've steered clear of many frilly, overly decorated pieces that way. These may call out to me when I go shopping, but ultimately I want items that I can mix and match with ease.

That said, I think it's important for me not go too basic. I don't want to simplify to the point that I'm wearing all black all the time.

I've really liked this recent purchase for that reason: the Rachel Comey Agronomist dress. It's just a simple v-neck chambray dress with a few leather details. What makes it special and interesting, though, is the shirttail hem and the peekaboo cutout in the back. Two things I never thought I'd like. But the hem and the cutout functions a bit like a mullet--demure from the front, but a bit flirty from the back. The cutout is also great ventilation in the summer.

I've worn it a few times already this summer (it was an end-of-summer sale), but I think it would work well in the winter too with some boots and thick tights.

[pics from lagarconne.com]

Modus operandi

2010-08-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

Rather than working from a list, I find the most successful purchases are made when I simply give in to some intense, inexplicable desire. That's how I find the mainstays of my wardrobe, the objects that give me joy to wear. These I'll end up wearing them again and again. It's when I try to consciously fill a hole in my wardrobe that I end up getting something that's wrong or uninspired.

So a pink terry cloth jumpsuit is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of "capsule wardrobe" or "French method" of dressing, but I circled around this item for so long and so often that I knew it might work out. It's from Wood Wood, a Danish design company that makes clothes with just the right amount of quirky.

I figure if I don't end up liking it when it arrives in the mail from Creatures of Comfort, I'll just wear it around the house. I like wearing one pieces that I just haul on and forget about. The boy hates them, though. :P

Statement of purpose

2010-08-02T15:57:00.001-04:00

I'm constantly tickering with this blog because I really don't know yet what I want out of it. Originally, it was a fashion blog, but I found myself bothered by my contribution to the endless consumption of fashion and trends. The thing is, I enjoy fashion and clothing and beauty, but the enjoyment of those things too often veers into a mindless cycle of coveting and (over)spending.

My newest idea is that I would like to be a bit more conscious about what I bring into my life, starting with fashion but also branching into my everyday experiences. I think the blog could help me do that.

I read an article recently in the NYT about women who limit their wardrobe to six items, or who vow not to spend money on new acquisitions for a year. There's definitely something in the air. And while I don't want to commit myself to anything so structured as those projects, I would like to use this blog to record my own project of self-discovery.

I'm thinking this blog could record how I relate and respond to fashion. I think about brands and trends, but more as a milieu from which to create a distillation of personal style. My intent is to move closer to the "French method" of shopping: less items, but with more purpose.* The blog will mostly track my progress with that intention. My goal is to have a streamlined wardrobe that perfectly meets my desires for self-expression. As you might imagine, then, this blog will always be a work in progress.

Somehow, I trust that simply by recording observations in my blog, I can get closer to an understanding of how I would like to express myself through my clothes and in my experiences, and how I am to be in the world.

After all, personal style is a rhetoric of its own. The clothes we wear can tell others at a glance what we do, who we are, who we align with, etc. We communicate through our clothes as we do with our words. Our clothes both reveal something about us, but they conceal things as well--literally and figuratively. And clothes contain a history of our different selves (Birkenstocks remind me of college in Austin, always), just like a diary might.

Whoo! I think I wrote most of this for myself rather than anybody else, but if anyone read this far, I congratulate you. I think this is just about how far I'll cast my net.

* Thanks to Dead Fleurette and the TFS thread for the inspiration!

And as a first marker of the old, here's my old statement of purpose for this blog:

I live in the Pacific Northwest. I'm a teacher and a hobbyist. I keep all manner of rodentia.

I think a lot about the inconstancy of memory--how the things that seem indelible eventually fade. So I have started this blog in part as an attempt to pin down some of the ephemera of my daily life.

I used to focus on fashion, but lately I find that I'm often more interested in other things.

There's a little bit of backstory in my now-defunct fashion blog, Destitute Fashion.

A Seattle cliche

2010-06-08T22:53:00.000-04:00

I hate to fall into a cliche, but yes, I have really grown to appreciate buffalo check, flannel, and all things wooly since moving to the Pacific Northwest a few years ago. And when it comes to flannel and wool, vintage Woolrich is the way to go. Scoot demonstrates the proper way to wear flannel when one is camping, above: thrifted, so it can get soiled without worry, and while grasping a local brew.

I have a soft spot for functional clothing. Nothing more satisfying than being outdoors and feeling well-equipped to weather anything. Other brands I like for this reason: The North Face and Patagonia. These are popular over here for good reason. They're streamlined to fit their purpose, they're durable, and they look good.

I found a thick wool vintage Woolrich button down at the thrift store a few days ago and wore it this past weekend when we went camping in the Wenatchee state forest. I kept warm even though we were camped by a creek, during this crazy, wintry Spring we've been having.

We had many animal visitors. Mice came and rustled through our granola bag in the evening. We took that away from them, but offered them some canned corn instead. That's probably why a whole army of mice came that evening, with a few scouting the perimeter of our tent in the middle of the night. I swear, I heard little mouse feet on the roof of the tent.

This little bird absconded with some crumbs.

Scoot started a fire for me before he left to look for mushrooms on Saturday, and I kept it going for most of the day. We took some green wood from an empty campsite a few spots over to supplement our fire. (Note: if you bank your fire with thick bark to create a kind of chimney, your wood lasts much longer and burns much hotter. We acquired this tip from Jessie, a wily old guy we met while clamming.)

We had the entire campgrounds to ourselves for most of the weekend. I guess most people stayed home in this drizzle, but I found that once we got past the pass, we were on the dry side of the mountain and the weather was fine.

A trio of German immigrants wandered through our camp midday. They had gotten separated from their mycological group, and each carried a basket in the crook of their arm. They were astonished and delighted when Scoot took them to a spot with a cache of mushrooms because most mushroom hunters are highly secretive about their treasure troves.

Morels, boletes, and other assorted mushrooms of dubious edibility.

Summer bag

2010-06-07T01:37:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for a slouchy, casual crossbody bag for awhile now. I don't carry a lot of things in my handbags--just a Moleskine, a pen, my wallet, and some lipbalm--but enough to require something more than my hands to carry them. I also like to have extra space for a sweater or for my purchases.

I've tried carrying nicer handbags, since accessories are one of the easiest ways to change up the attitude of an outfit. But they're just not really my style. I also need something that doesn't weigh too much or will slip off my shoulders, and most "it" handbags are shoulder or arm bags that weigh a ton.

I think this little number will do the job. I like the anonymity and the adorable but sturdy shape. I had ordered it off the Anthropologie website when it went on sale, and when it arrived . . . surprise, surprise, it's made by Paul & Joe Sister.

[anthropologie.com]

Cookie time

2010-06-04T01:32:00.000-04:00

I've been spending my Sundays cooking and baking for the week, and freezing some of the results. Last Sunday I made banana-nut-oatmeal muffins, which turned out okay considering that I had one less banana than necessary. It was a tiny bit dry.

Scoot loves butter cookies that I make from a simple recipe--just butter, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. I really love cookies for that reason. They seem wholesome, but they taste like decadence.

Yesterday I made a batch of spicy molasses cookies for a colleague as a mea culpa: I had agreed to substitute teach for her one day, but then forgot. Whoops! By the time I ran down to her classroom, it was empty. I told her she could disseminate the cookies as she saw fit, so her students will be enjoying them tomorrow, I think. I made this particular recipe since I think the cookies will taste fine without milk, so they're good for a classroom.

It was a Depression-era recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. The ingredients were distinctly anti-modern. Five tablespoons of shortening. I still feel a little bit guilty about that. But since I ended up with four dozen cookies, I kept a few dozen for myself. :)

Mall trip

2010-05-31T01:17:00.000-04:00

I haven't been to the mall in a while, so I had forgotten how satisfying it can be to give myself over to my 80s mall-rat roots. I sat at a water fountain to watch the people go by, threw a penny into the wishing pool, sipped a Starbucks soy green tea latte, applied some random blush at the Sephora makeup bar, and tried on sunglasses at Love Culture. Good Sunday.

Art walk outfit

2010-05-23T13:47:00.000-04:00

[lagarconne.com]

Every month, there's an art walk in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Boutiques, museums, and coffee shops throw open their doors and invite people to come in and browse the local art displayed on the walls.

That's on my list of things to do this summer. I think an outfit like this might be perfect.

Shopping tips

2010-05-06T00:16:00.000-04:00

A colleague today asked me where I got my clothes because, as she said, she knew I must have some tips since I have the same teacher budget as her but seem to have a nicer wardrobe. This is actually the second time someone has asked me for shopping tips, the other time being with a postal clerk. I told her I would write down my tips, and now I am almost too embarrassed to give them to her. I look truly obsessed.

But I'm not! Or am not now. But fashion is one of my hobbies. And for awhile there, I had money. While I no longer have money, I have retained my taste for well-made things. But I've always loved a good deal, though.

eBay – Sign up for searches for particular brands or key words, price range, sellers, etc. This is really my go-to source these days.

Etsy – DIY site good for vintage and handcrafted goods.

Thrift stores – I like Goodwills and Value Villages located in older or trendy neighborhoods. Suburbs are usually only good for mall-type clothes.

Savvycircle.com – Sign up on this site for next-day notifications when an item you like goes on sale. They only support popular shopping websites, however, like Gap.com or Shopbop.com.

Shopstyle.com – Another site where you can sign up for notifications, but this time for brands that you like.

Forum.purseblog.com/deals-and-steals – On a forum for handbag people, this section lists good deals that pop up. These people are truly obsessed and unabashedly material, but they know of good sales before anyone else.

Sign up for the mailing list of any stores you like so that you’ll get first notifications of sales.

End-of-season sales – Typically the best kind of sales, often with graduated discounts that eventually end around 70% off. I’ve never gone to Tototakaelo, but they have two stores in Seattle and run a popular e-commerce site. Other sites with good eos sales: saks.com, neimanmarcus.com

A.P.C. also has twice yearly end-of-season sales at 50% off almost everything, but you have to act within the first few hours of the email to get the good stuff. With the recession, sometimes there are free shipping or 30% sales offered in season.

Bookmark items that you really like and do an “open all tabs” once in awhile to see if they’ve gone on sale. Purse forum people will say to check daily, but I can't advocate for that kind of compulsion. ;)

Check for coupon codes on dealcoupon.com or retailmenot.com before buying online.

Gilt.com offers fabulous discounts on designer and mid-range stuff. Sales start at 9 AM. You have to be logged on and ready for battle at 9. Membership is free, but you need a referral (I can do offer you one if you want). I’ve never bought anything from them, but my colleague has, and they’ve gained a lot of press lately.

Yoox.com also carries designer goods. Their end-of-season sale is called a “sample sale” and offers items at a fraction of the original price.

If you want to brush up on your fashion knowledge, thefashionspot.com is a good forum. As might be expected, many of the members are young and vapid, but you also have a lot of industry insiders who contribute (stylists, boutique owners) or consult the threads for reference (magazine editors, models, “it” girls). Again, membership is free with referral (which I can give you).

If you buy anything online with regularity, sign up at one or more of those rebate sites like ebates.com or Mr. Rebate. You can get 3% or so of your purchase refunded by clicking through to the website from their website. It adds up.

As you can see, I really prefer internet shopping these days, but places like Nordstrom Rack are worth checking once in awhile.

Good sites for inspiration
I love street style and fashion blogs, and there’s a very active community in the blogosphere now. If you are a regular blog reader, it’s worthwhile to have some site keep track of updates for you, like Google Reader or Bloglovin’. Some of my favorites include:

thesartorialist – the original street blog
garance.fr – the sart’s less famous but more skilled girlfriend
fashiontoast – louche blogger style with a cali influence
stylerookie – eccentric style, smart girl. famous for being only 13 when she started
liebemarlenevintage – romantic, vintage style. runs a popular eBay shop
life in travel – for shameless drooling. the woman who runs it is very sweet, though
…and tons more

e-commerce sites
La Garconne – the site has exquisite taste, excellent styling and cool editorial features
Creatures of Comfort – great sales. A.P.C. eventually ends up around 60-70% off from them
Shop Bop – what a dumb name, but good sales and free shipping to and from
Revolve Clothing – good sales, free shipping, and coupon codes

Anyone have shopping tips of their own?

Summer dressing

2010-05-05T00:28:00.000-04:00

A few color combinations I want to try: eggshell blue and brown; or maybe washed chambray and brown.
Yellow + anything is good too.

Inevitably, though, summer is all about white tees and worn-in blues. Slow days and too much of everything--too much heat, too much laziness, too many bugs, too many books to read.

Dries Van Noten

2010-03-04T21:17:00.000-05:00

Two of my favorite looks from his most recent show. I love the impeccably groomed but unstyled hair. The ladylike shapes and unexpected touches of louche animal print. I like the suggestion of the art-gallery girl in the watercolor skirts and sweatshirty tops and a little bit of bohemian rebellion in the oversized cut of the pieces.

To me, it's an intriguing mix of associations.

New things

2010-02-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

I haven't been writing in the blog much lately because I wanted to wait until I had something worthwhile to say about fashion. Trouble is, I haven't really been thinking about it that much. Certainly not in the way that helps keep a fashion blog going: sifting through the collections, trying out the current trends, and showing off cute outfits and new purchases.

Rather, I've tried to curtail my expenditures, winnow them down to an essential addition to my collection, my wardrobe and overstuffed closet. That means that in the past month I've purchased a velvet bow tie and some yoga clothes. Not exactly exciting stuff.

But what I have been doing is this:

Clam digging in Ocean Shores, WA.

And I'm hoping that that might be worthwhile to document.

In future posts, this blog is likely to become more random, but perhaps more relevant. At least to me. And I think what drew me to fashion--beauty, identity, and being in the world--will translate in the other things I do in my real life, as they show up here.

Elegance is refusal

2009-12-28T12:49:00.000-05:00

I think there are some things that older women are able to pull off better than young girls. Things like high heels, makeup, and structured clothes, a woman of a certain age can carry off more gracefully than her younger counterparts. Anything to do with a heightened artifice, really, looks better once a woman has been in her own skin for awhile.

Lately I have felt the urge to refocus my own personal style, to refine it by stripping away youthful furbelows and paring it down to achieve some kind of womanly elegance. As Coco Chanel said, "elegance is refusal."

Sofia Coppola captures that sense of elegant, unpretentious, self-aware style that I think an older woman can really own. She has a kind of gamine style, but without the tweeness.

Her Essentials:
- an array of little black dresses
- striped tops
- black ballet flats
- exquisite handbags and shoes
- a subdued color palette, with occasional small prints
- everything well-fitted but not tight
- unconventional erogenous zones, like the back or collar bone, but not décolleté
- shiny, washed, and simple hair

Personal style and work

2009-11-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

My mind is turning towards building a more complete and easy work wardrobe. Most days, it takes 1 1/2 outfit attempts before I'm satisfied. By 1/2, I mean that I undo half my outfit before leaving in the mornings. But I think the problem is that I've started with my own personal style as a base, and halfway incorporated more polished, work-appropriate looks. I think I'll find it easier if I start with the corporate standard (blazers, wool pants, button-downs, etc.) and then tweak it to reflect my own style.

I'll start that project later. For now, I've been purging my closet slowly of things that don't feel like me. I also made a circuit of returns this weekend at J. Crew and Anthropologie.

I actually haven't been buying too many things lately. Not been in the shopping mood. The holiday season makes me dread shopping, actually, with the crowds and the traffic

Granny shoes

2009-11-09T23:26:00.000-05:00

I like granny shoes. What can I say. I like the orthopedic wedges, the go-with-everything tan color, the nerdy-cute look. So when I saw these for sale on Etsy, I sprung, even though I hate to buy things that I think I could find myself in the thrift store. The problem is, I never do.

I picture these with my blue corduroys, hems dragging in the interminable Seattle rain.

Yoga pants

2009-11-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

I got into yoga about a year ago. My doctor recommended it as a way to control my back pain. I had heard of its amazing effects for years, so that was the push I needed to sign up.

Well, it is amazing. Some Saturday mornings, when I'm flying over the hill on my scooter after a session, I am flooded with a sense of well-being and inner peace. Even just getting in the quiet space of the yoga studio--with its polished wood floors and potted plants that reach the ceiling--begins to quiet me down in the middle of a hectic work week.

At first, I just wore my climbing clothes to yoga, but that felt a great deal too skimpy. Street clothes flopped around, especially during downward dog or any semi-inverted pose. So I went shopping for proper attire and tried on various yoga pants from Patagonia, Target, and a no-name from TJ Maxx. Although I like the Patagonia Serenity pants, it's a little too hot for the summer. The Target one soon sprouted a run. The no-name from TJ Maxx was fantastic at first, but it eventually began to disintegrate in not-so-attractive ways after a few sessions. So I finally justified spending the money to get a pair of Lululemon Groove crops, and it has been worth every penny.

The best costume for the day

2009-11-08T03:56:00.000-05:00

As I was watching Grey Gardens for the umpteenth time yesterday, my boyfriend asked me what I liked so much about it. I couldn't answer at the time, and I still find it hard to respond. It's a film about a mother and daughter with high-society connections who have gradually descended into squalor. They are related by blood to Jackie O., yet live in a mansion eaten through by raccoons and cats and piled high with tin cans and newspaper. The movie is fascinating on many levels, not least of which is the mystery of their past and the relationship between Big Edie and Little Edie.

I am also fascinated by the meticulous way that Little Edie puts together her outfits from random things laying about. She is famous for the way she fashioned headscarves out of skirts and kitchen towels and any other oddity hanging around, and then casually fastened them closed with a priceless heirloom brooch. Her outfits might be comprised of a skirt worn upside down or a pair of pants worn over a skirt underneath a pair of stockings, but to her they were the absolutely right "costume for the day."

Of course, the clothes are fascinating, but the women beneath them, so much more so. The rituals of their songs and dances bind them together and give shape to their daily lives. There is something really touching in the way they carry on their lives, despite the ruin all around them.

[pics from Patrishka's Open Mouth and amazon]

Street style

2009-11-04T02:37:00.000-05:00

I was walking by the (locally) famous Jimi Hendrix statue in Seattle today when a woman stopped me to ask if she could take my picture for her street style blog. I declined, citing "camera shy" issues, but I was flattered, and she was very gracious. She gave me her card so I could check out her blog. Here's her website: It's My Darlin. Cute little morsel of local streetstyle, fashion and food.

I walked home glancing at my reflection in shop windows, trying to figure out why she stopped me. Although it's not the first time I've been stopped for a street style picture, it still amazes me. You have to understand, I was clueless about clothes for most of my life. It was only in my 20's that I decided that I needed to overhaul my style, which heretofore had comprised of overalls and t-shirts. When I asked my best friend for advice, she directed me to Lucky magazine, the "magazine about shopping." One subscription and a Lucky book later, I felt like I had a better idea of how to put myself together.

Since then, I think I've branched out and discovered my own personal style, which, ironically enough, takes me halfway back to my overall days. So on the day that the photographer stopped me, I was wearing a fuzzy wool hat, plaid jacket, grey skirt with a bowtie, and granny shoes. It's like how I might have dressed before the whole fashion thing happened, but with a better sense of why.

Destitute

2009-10-29T23:26:00.000-04:00

Just looking through the archives of my old blog, wondering if I should just continue on that site rather than start a new blog. Don't know. A lot of it embarrasses me now. I was so immersed in consumption, like it's easy to do in fashion. But some things I like a lot. Like these posts I wrote during my busiest blogging year. Some of them I like just because they jostle memories that I had forgotten.

Shoe History
Overheard at Loehmann's
Aspiration
Floppy Revisited
Random Shopping Thoughts
Back to School
Rhetorical Effects

There's maybe just one good post from the first year of blogging.

His thermal.

What I find is that I like most the posts that are just little nubbins of thought. No pictures, just an idea. I'm pretty bored by the acquisition posts. I'm chagrined to see how much thought went into getting things, and how fleeting the pleasure was that they gave.

Here's more from 2007.

Likes and dislikes
Style folder
Evolution
What I like
Summer girls
Better start saving up my pennies

October rain

2009-10-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

Winter has arrived in Seattle. It's not a time of the year, but a feeling.

The darkness is getting longer, the days damper, the skies lower, and the mood greyer. Walking home today, I saw a lot of students unprepared for the rain. Few of us had thought to wear the rain jackets that eventually become de rigueur this time of year. Some students, mostly the ones newly arrived from other countries, struggled with umbrellas in the wind. Most of us just huddled down into ourselves like ducklings.

Mina Perhonen

2009-10-12T16:10:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about vintage prints lately, maybe because my boyfriend's mother--who deals in secondhand goods--sent me a package a few weeks ago containing a collection of vintage items she had set aside for me. Inside the box were a few lovely blouses and a dress, all made out of faded cotton prints.

They made me think of Mina Perhonen, a fashion line created by a Japanese designer named Akira Minagawa. It might be as well known for its hand-drawn textiles as for its finished products. The brand cites as inspiration the designer's travels in Northern European countries, especially Finland. In fact, in Finnish mina means "I" and perhonen means "butterfly."

My favorite ones have a untutored, naive quality. They seem like they were drawn by a young child, with a child's sense of wonder and love of repetition.

There's more on the website, which has a textile index sorted by name.

Anthropologie styling

2009-10-10T14:36:00.000-04:00

I may as well make a confession now, and that's that I adore Anthropologie. Even though it's overpriced and oftentimes over-frilly, I am nevertheless drawn to the feminine, vintage-inspired clothes and the quirky decor that's a mix of French countryside and old-fashioned apothecary. The clothes are comfortable even though they're always a little bit dressy.

So there is a collection of cold-weather looks currently on the website that's given me some ideas about styling my accessories this winter. On the first image, the cloche is pushed forward to cover the forehead and eyes. It's a cute silhouette reminiscent of the Morton salt girl.

In the second look, the stylists threaded the scarf around the collar of the coat instead of tying it around the neck. That seems like an easy way to add a bit of dash to the usual coat and scarf combo.

More ideas at the website.

Akihiro Furuta

2009-10-09T16:06:00.000-04:00

When I stumbled across this photographer's family portraits, I was immediately taken with the whimsy and good humor evident in the photos. I couldn't help but laugh when I scrolled down and saw these photos of a man and his wife, child, and dog in these highly orchestrated, somewhat absurd scenes that are, it seems, without a shred of irony. The family rotates through interchangeable props like toggle coats and birthday-candle eyeglasses, and even the dog participates in the dress-up.

I especially like the wife's style in the portrait series. She has this winning blend of quirky, demure, and vintage. Her style is cute without being cutesy.

Some accessories make their appearance again and again, like a straw hat that's a cross between a scarecrow and the Great Depression.

There's more on his website, Life is Beautiful, which is written in Japanese. But that's okay, because it's mostly photos anyway.

[photos: Life is Beautiful]