"I will get knickers and a tweed cap and, never having touched a golf club in my life, I will take mushrooms and do a full eighteen holes. As long as is televised." - Peter Buck
There's a photograph of my mother in the "good" family photo album (i.e. the one that only contains black and white images of my mother and grandmother and is inspiring from a style point of view...as opposed to the later albums featuring 70's and 80's clothing which should, quite frankly, be given a decent burial) which I've always wanted to pay homage to...mainly because of the coat she's wearing.
| In the late 50's/early 60's when the image was taken it would have been referred to as sheepskin...in these more p.c. and less literal days we're calling it shearling...either way it summed up a sort of chic practicality which was very alluring. Modern versions that I've come across have always been clunkier and less refined than their older counterparts...at least, they were, up until the point I saw this little number from Spanish designer Masscob. I hate the idea of pairing it with a pussy cat bow (as it is in the image to the right)...but with a black dress or plaid shirt I think it would just about reach perfection. |  |
| "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: / The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, / And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men." - the Bible I mentioned previously that my beloved Wondergoop (aka a leave-in conditioner that made my hair look less like pale straw and more like purposefully tousled hair) had been withdrawn from production. Thanks, as Blanche DuBois might have said, to "the kindness of strangers" I have several partially used bottles in my possession but I knew that however sparingly I used them I was going to run out relatively soon so I wanted to start an immediate search for a replacement product (working under the assumption that it would take forever). Imagine my surprise when I found a successful stand-in straight out of the box...and from the drugstore (and therefore about a third of the price of Wondergoop)...courtesy of Aveeno. |  |
| Having never actually seen an episode of the show I can't say exactly why but...I feel very Pee-wee's Playhouse today. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I can't quite decide... Plaid shirt - Karen Walker, cardigan - J Crew, pants - Prada, Mary Janes - Gentle Souls, neckpiece - made by me |  |
"Two frogs fell into a bowl of cream. One didn't panic, he relaxed and drowned. The other kicked and struggled so much that the cream turned to butter and he walked out." - unknown
I think that I must have been a drum majorette in a former life...I say a f.l. because it requires a level of musicality and athleticism that I certainly don't possess in this one...and it's the only way I can explain my obsession with frogging...the latest example of which is this pair of brooches from Tatty Devine...which would allow me to "frog" literally every item of clothing in my closet.
If it's wrong to get this excited about mirrored gold acrylic then I am the wrongest person living in wrongville on the planet wrong...
"Lacking ladylike poison, Lizzie (Borden) did what every over-civilized, understated Wasp is entirely capable of doing once we finally admit we're mad as hell and aren't going to take it any more: She went from Anglo to Saxon in a trice" - Florence King
| Prada's Spring/Summer '10 collection didn't thrill me...frequent readers will know that I'm a shorts hater and the combination of nappiesque and Bermuda versions was too much for me...the hair and make-up, on the other hand, had the disheveled yet ladylike air that I find completely irresistible. I see ludicrous amounts of backcombing and a can of hairspray in my near future... |  |
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...another one opens. At least that's what they say...and who am I to argue...as my winter wishlist tally sheet is now minus on the boot side...and plus on the tweed coat. Or...to mix yet another metaphor...what I've lost on my corset-booted swings I have gained on my tweedy little Acne roundabouts.
Checking every box on my checklist...
What with one thing and another...mainly my little Swiss adventure...by the time I got round to calling Oak about the LD Tuttle boots they were sold out. As the only other store that I could find who's selling that particular style is doing so for $150 more...Sak's, I'm looking and you and your illogical and extremely irritating habit of over-pricing...made all the more blatant and incomprehensible by the fact that in this virtual world it's so easy to comparison check and see how marked up everything is...I think this is one of those cases of, on good days, regarding this as something that was just not meant to be...and, on bad days, cursing myself for my prevarication.
And the boot hunt continues...
From a purely "what would make my life easier?" standpoint there are several kitchen related items that I could really use. Topping the list are...
Considering how lucky I've been with sale purchases recently I suppose it was inevitable that I'd run into the evil combination of something that I know I'd get a lot of wear out of...vastly reduced...and sold out in my size. If it was clothing, I'd risk it...but you can't argue with shoes that are too small...okay, you can argue...but then you're known as "the gimpy one with the funny walk".
If you happen to have small feet...and are looking for something in a snake-printed leather, cuban-heeled, cowboy-style, ankle boot...you may want to cast a glance at these beauties from British label You Must Create.
| Or is it? I'm trying to decide if blogging has made me unutterably jaded...or if, to date, the Spring/Summer '10 collections have really been (in the majority of cases) as yawn inducing as I currently imagine. Discounting Karen Walker...whose collection I could take a good stab at recreating thanks to the morass of striped tees and black blazers currently infesting my closet...the only sight that made me yearn for spring were Charles Anastase's hoop skirts... Even worse, my built-in attraction to the dark side is causing me to panic at the thought of the pastel tsunami that is destined to wash over us all come the spring... |  |
D'ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay?
D'ye ken John Peel at the break o' day?
D'ye ken John Peel when he's far, far a-way.
With his hounds and his horn in the morning?
Chorus
For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed,
And the cry of his hounds which he oftime led,
Peel's "View, Halloo!" could awaken the dead,
Or the fox from his lair in the morning.
D’ye ken that bitch whose tongue was death?
D’ye ken her sons of peerless faith?
D’ye ken that fox, with his last breath
Curs’d them all as he died in the morning?
For the sound of his horn, etc.
Yes I ken John Peel and Ruby too
Ranter and Royal and Bellman as true,
From the drag to the chase, from the chase to the view
From a view to the death in the morning
For the sound of his horn, etc.
And I’ve followed John Peel both often and far,
O’er the rasper fence and the gate and the bar,
From low Denton Holme up to Scratchmere Scar,
Where we view for the brush in the morning
For the sound of his horn, etc.
Then here's to John Peel with my heart and soul
Come fill – fill to him another strong bowl,
And we'll follow John Peel through fair and through foul
While we’re waked by his horn in the morning.
For the sound of his horn, etc.
- 18th century Cumbrian hunting song
I've been saying it for a while now...and, to be fair, it's been too blisteringly warm up till this point to do anything about it...but I really need to wear some of the vast array of scarves hiding in my closet (and resolve not to buy any new ones until I've done so). Rather embarrassingly I'd actually...hmmm, this really is embarrassing...I'd actually forgotten that this particular scarf was even in my collection.
Even worse...this was one of the scarves that my mother wore during her hunting period (for anyone who is against humans on horseback chivvying foxes across the countryside I should say that hunting in the north of England is done on foot...across hill and field...and if you can keep up with the fox in those circumstances it should surely be considered as a slightly mitigating factor)...and which should be worn for nostalgia reasons alone...let alone the devilish little smile on the hound's face.
There are two kinds of "fashion math". The first is the good kind...where "cost per wear" equates to 10 cents an outing...or the coupon Gods align with the sale Gods to create something that is both just what you were looking for and about 80% off the regular price.
Then...there's the bad kind...where you desperately want, say, a couple of the over-sized tote bags created to celebrate 25 years of London Fashion Week (Preen's blue flowers and Charles Anastase's swan to be precise)...until you realize that the cost of shipping is exactly the same as the cost of the bags...
My list of "Sunday morning virtual newspapers/magazines to browse through while armed with a cup of coffee and a slice of cherry jam laden toast" has increased by one...which means the situation is getting dire...a few more entries and I'm still going to be loafing around reading by the time lunch rolls around.
However, having picked up an issue of the French version of Grazia on my travels, I couldn't resist taking a peek at their website...and now I'm hooked...a spattering of "fashion candy"...outfits, shopping, and the ilk...and one of the creepiest fashion week streetstyle pictures I've come across in many a day...displaying, quite clearly, that for every tasteful piece of leopard print standing around looking chic its shiny, over-the-top, nemesis is lurking in the shadows waiting to bludgeon it senseless...
"Poor Englishwomen! When it comes to their clothes-well, the French reaction is a shrug, the Italian reaction a spreading of the hands and a lifting of the eyes and the American reaction simply one of amused contempt." - James Laver
"By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter." - Confucius
I've mentioned my nostalgia-laden love of Joseph numerous times before...so I'm not going to cover old ground. Instead I'm going to say "hurrah!" that they have finally launched a website...though there's no fully-blown "hip, hip, hooray!" as you can't actually buy anything there...
What it does contain are small blog-gy posts (for Joseph nerds like myself)...information on which stores carry which labels...and pictures of their own Fall/Winter collection (which appears to have been plucked...lock, stock, and leopard-trimmed barrel...from Carine Roitfeld's closet). Still, as Charles Caleb Colton said, imitation is "the sincerest form of flattery"...and, quite frankly, left to my own devices (and given a briefcase stuffed with money) I'd buy most of the pieces...so I'm not going to whine about any lack of originality. Instead I'm going to grumble about not being near enough to a Joseph store to actually do any damage...
...except that I didn't...I bought candy...this t-shirt...and a satisfyingly kitsch "I lost my heart in Switzerland" patch.
As Fall is just around the corner I'm convincing myself that it's cool enough to wear a jacket...in this case, a cotton tuxedo (of the style worn by French waiters in black and white movies) from Margiela's MM6 line. I've also convinced myself to drag my python and silk Lanvin bag out of the closet...up until this point I've been so transfixed by its beauty (and accompanying delicacy) that I've been too nervous to use it...the time has come to cross my fingers and hope for the best...
"Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo style of architecture." - Ernest Hemingway
Just back from Geneva...laden with crippling jet-lag...yet another striped t-shirt (this time long-sleeved and tissue-thin from Zara)...a few cheesy souvenirs....and a reaffirmed belief that Balenciaga make the most utilitarian designer bags around...my Day managed five days of toting a laptop, other electronic paraphernalia, and all the other junk I had to lug around with nary a whimper (it even managed to endure the bottle of water which emptied itself inside when I stowed it under the plane seat in front of mine).
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