Change Agent

I looked for an image of a shed snake skin, but they were all surprisingly icky. This was intended to illustrate the feeling I've been having of wanting to remake myself in some way, shed some of the wardrobe bits that feel fussy or cheap or the wrong side of quirky. When snakes moult they emerge gleaming, bright and glossy, but it's hard work and takes some time.

This was spurred, I suspect, by my comparing myself to someone I literally have never seen, but who in my mind is is bit more effortless, a bit more elegant, a bit simpler in her personal style. Not minimal exactly, but with no sense of working at it. I am conscious of the constant trying to get it right.

I recently read a great post at Wardrobe Oxygen about the feeling that your "true" self doesn't match what is most flattering on you. The plaintive query came from someone who felt a bit punk rock but received the most compliments in more girly, vintage ensembles. She wondered how to find balance between how she felt, how she wanted to be seen, and how she was perceived. Complicated. The response from Allie was great, and the many comments showed this is a common puzzle for women.

Two days ago I wore a long, ocean blue swing tee with black linen pants and a long simple necklace. I felt so elegant, comfortable and expensive (a very nice feeling), but I know that visually, a swing silhouette is not my most flattering choice. Which is why I have no pictures to show you.

Yesterday I wore this: 

My Apt. 9 dress, a boysenberry linen jacket, a wide brown leather belt and my nude Earthies. And it's cute. The colors are nice, the fit is swell, the proportions are perfect. But it didn't speak to my fashion fantasy.

My fantasy makes me want to throw out this dress and most of the little jacket/skirt/dress/cardigan ensembles I own. Shed my current snake skin and revel in my gleaming new look. I have a few things in my closet that are perfect for that imaginary woman. But the truth is, I'm not sure that woman has enough variety in her wardrobe for me. I like almost every color in the palette, not a carefully chosen three or four. Not to mention that some of my cheapest purchases are my very favorites.

OK, you're wondering, does she have a POINT? And I guess it is that I feel a bit itchy in my fashion skin, and I wonder if larger changes should be contemplated as we enter a new season. Hmmm.  
 

Pink and Blue Redux

Here's the lovely Ann Taylor pink pencil skirt. I went to Pinterest for inspiration, and repinned a few possibilities, but went with a Boden top, which never fails. I just realized that I wore this top less than a week ago, with my other new pink skirt. Huh. The skirt is a little roomy, which is pleasant on such a hot, sticky day.

It wouldn't hurt to have something at the waist, would it? Perhaps a silver belt? It seems like the waist is a little high. Other than that, I am completely happy. Note that this is my third pink skirt. Time to stop.

Heather, I'm really going to try the one fabulous thing a month approach. I've always been a quantity over quality girl (makeup, food, clothes, jewelry), and sometimes that works fine (jewelry), and sometimes not so much. The quantity approach allows you to have multiple little rewards. But that Ralph Lauren purse was really a lesson to me. It is great and I will love it for a long time. I'm not sure that will be true of an $80 t-shirt, but it is still worth a try.

Blue Steel and Ivory

Talbot's tee and skirt, Earthies shoes.

Because this top is somewhere between blue and gray, I dub it Zoolander-ish.

More wearing of the linen; I wore this skirt eight weeks ago and at this rate may wear it only three times this summer! The horizontal raw edge detail really blends with the horizontal wrinkles, don't you think? 

Sadly, the three things I ordered from Sundance must all be returned. The skirt was too tight in the waist and really not a great length on me, the jacket was the wrong color (my oops, and the right color is sold out), and the dress looked AWFUL on me. I wanted to love it, I really did. I wanted to love something out of that box, for Heaven's sake. So back it all goes, and that's all right, because I'll have a scrap of clothing budget left for August. It was a psychic burden, I tell you.

Ben just emailed me, thrilled with his first paycheck. Remember that feeling with your first full time job, where it's sort of like jail, the day is so long? And then you get that first HUGE paycheck and it all makes sense?  

Truly Purple and Peach

This sweater always photographs as a royal blue, when it is in fact purple. REALLY purple. If you like it, buy it now, it is only $24 at Talbots online. I also own it in green. Underneath it I have this lovely new top that my sister-in-law sent me for my birthday. It's from the Lauren Conrad line at Kohl's.

I had seen someone online wearing purple over peach and it looked so sharp - I'm afraid I'm not quite capturing it here. The top is great, though, a mix of knit and chiffon "petals" with a baby cap sleeve.

White linen pants and (invisible) beige Earthies.

NEW Challenge - Pink and Pleated

Sometimes I buy things solely because they feel so good. Tiny pleats are one of those features; so swishy and body-skimming. Fancy without being formal. I tried this silky top on at the Talbot's store and nearly paid full price for it, it felt so good. But I held firm, and now it is 50% off online (in pink, black and white), and was part of the box o' pink that recently arrived at my door. I also bought a pair of ankle zip pants at Talbot's this weekend in a similar shade.

Clearly, a good "feel" doesn't always translate into a good picture. This was the best of five! It has a pretty split neckline that you can't really see in this overlit picture.

Cool enough to wear pants!

But I got lots of compliments at work, so that's all right.

NEW Challenge - Voile!

This is my yellow voile skirt from Talbot's. I love saying voile. Voooiiiiillllllle. So French.

I bought it last fall, admired it, and put it away. Because it is voooiiiiilllle, and too light for fall and winter.

Standing on tiptoes to look taller.

Floofy!

  I'm also wearing a J. Jill top from the previous century.

Notice the fairly scruffy Me Too flats for walking to work, whereupon I changed into these:

Earthies Sienna, available on eBay

These shoes are still in the audition phase, although it might be too late to return them at this point. I think I've had them nearly two months. They have a high arch, which is great for me, but it's not quite in the sweet spot, and I don't know if they will be wearable all day. (P. S. I wore these to the Relay for Life and did four laps on the track!!!)

Have you heard of "haul" videos? Where cheerful young women collect their inexpensive purchases from Forever XXI and H & M and then film themselves showing off their loot? It's not about what they spent, but about what they didn't spend. I'd never heard of such a thing, but I'm reading Overdressed, by Elizabeth Cline, and I'm learning both new things and things I already knew in my heart.

Cheap clothes are crap - this part I already knew. They don't lay well, they disintegrate quickly, they're inconsistent in color and construction. They are disposable. But they are surprisingly fashionable, as they knock off trends and runway styles at lightning speed. And - they're cheap, so you can buy the trend without sweating the cost. If a skirt is under $20 EVERY TIME, I'd be tempted too. The young women who buy these things are not stupid, and they're working for their money. When I was 20 and working at K-Mart, I shopped there.

But I was a big girl, and not much off the rack fit properly, so I started sewing my own clothes. (There is a wonderful chapter on the history and rebirth of home sewing in Overdressed.) In this way I got to know fabrics, and tailoring, and garment construction, and dye lots, and what selvedge means. When I was in my twenties, even cheap clothes were made fairly well, it was just that the fabrics weren't very nice. In my thirties I was working part-time, and had time to shop at Vogue Fabrics and spend my miniscule budget on fabric instead of finished products. I was always thinking, "I could MAKE that for ten bucks." 

These days, I aim to buy good clothes on sale. The voile skirt (sigh) is a fine example. Look at this lining and hem. The voile outerlayer has a hem that is actually a separate piece with a French seam and is closely topstitched top and bottom. Note also that it is anchored with a thread chain to the lining so it won't shift. The lining also has a fine flat hem, very even and straight. 

This is why this skirt  was originally $128, and why I waited until it was under $40 to buy it. Talbot's, like a host of other clothiers, got in righteous trouble in the 90s for making its clothes in sweatshops in Saipan, a territory of the U. S., so it could claim to be "made in the United States."  Now they're made in Indonesia or Viet Nam, though I know it is a comforting myth that the conditions in modern factories are much better.

They're still made well, though, and that's why fear clutches my heart at the thought of Talbot's going under, or sacrificing their quality. Where else would I shop?

 

A World of Meh

So, I wore this to the all-staff meeting on Wednesday. Talbot's cardigan and ruffled sleeveless knit tee and velvet pants.

And that is the last you'll see of these black flats, which I loved so much for so many years. *sniff* I had to retire their cream boot cousins last year. They were like a teddy bear whose fuzz has worn off and who has only one eye.

Kenneth Cole Reaction back when that name meant something.

And then I wore this on Thursday (those are Me Too walking flats). Kohl's Apt. 9 dress via eBay, pink linen J. Jill jacket.

It was finally warm enough to try out these new sandals at work (not on the pavement) to see if they would be comfy.

 

Earthies Sienna!

They were very stable, and they look so cute on! I only wore them for a few hours yesterday, so I'm going to give them a callback audition on the next warm work day. I'm a little concerned that the pale, leather-covered heel will ding up pretty quickly. I didn't pay much for them (6PM, my friends, the show that never ends.)

You can tell that nothing thrilled me this week. Monday night I left my phone at work, and Tuesday it was dead when I got home and I didn't want to wait around in work duds while it recharged, so no pics either night. I can't remember what I wore AT ALL, except that I wore the Born boots both days. Ha!