Daily outfit - a thousand words is worth a picture

Until I can get snapping, I'm going to post descriptions of outfits - this will act as a memory aid for me - I have favorite pieces, but I rarely wear the exact combination twice, the exception being when I hit on a stellar outfit to take on a trip, and then tend to use it for trips to different places in the same time/weather period. Hopefully, I will be able to re-create these outfits for the camera, editing a thousand words down to one picture. I will also occasionally post reviews of items mentioned, if they are available for purchase (not a one-off or vintage bit), or of places where purchase was made, so you can unearth similar second-hand or bargain finds! Thursday, November 29, 2007 I had book club this evening, hosted at my house (we read The Attack by Yasmina Khadra). It's really an excuse for four women who used to work together to stay in touch, and I like to wear an occasion-appropriate outfit (not fancy, just not ho-hum). This time, I wore an outfit that I'd worn and loved while visiting my dad's over Thanksgiving weekend, which was in turn inspired by an outfit, with striped tights peeking out between a dress and high boots, that a friend had worn to the office. It reminded me that I too, had striped tights hanging out in my over-flowing hosiery drawer. I wasn't a socks and tights lover - like Huck Finn, I was the first to cast them off in summer and the last to put them back on in the fall (though his might have been shoes, too, of which I most definitely am a lover) - until I discovered http://www.sockdreams.com/, more on which, I'm sure, later. Anyway, the outfit:

• Ivory Victorian-nightdress-ish dress from Libertine for Target
• Camel-colored, wool, buttonless, collared cardigan, knit by one grandmother for the other in the 70's
• Brown/tan/ivory/olive/pine green striped tights from Target, fall 06
• Russet boots with purple-buttoned ankle on a modified Louis heel from John Fluevog (they are Rubinis from the Operetta family, current season i.e. still on their website)
• Long green/black knit tube necklace with aventurine balls spaced throughout, by a RISD artist, purchased by my husband Steve at Stel's on Newbury St. in Boston last summer
• Flexible faux tortoise wrap around head band from Ann Taylor Loft, this fall
• Bracelet of enameled copper panels, made by my great aunt Selma (more on whom later) in the late 50's at an artists' colony in upstate NY

Friday, November 30, 2007

I honestly can't remember. See why I need this?

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Day: for doing errands, puttering about the house, and meeting my lovely friend Barbara so she could give me and Steve pressure point massages as part of her massage school practicum. Imagine, she was thanking us for helping her out! As soon as she has her license I'll post her info so anyone reading from the Denver area can feel as good as we did!

• Chocolate brown slim (but ever so slightly boot cut - hey, it still looks good) cotton pants by Susanna Monaco from Bluefly, fall 05
• Lime green, brown, and turquoise argyle socks from a shop on Newbury in Boston, ages ago
• Orange suede, rubber-soled ballet flats from Australian sneaker company Royal Elastics, ordered this fall from their website (no shops in Denver or Boulder carry the brand in a size 5 US, which, bless them, Royal Elastics makes)
• Dark turquoise, v-neck, dolman-sleeved medium weight knit sweater, the real GlamaRuth' from the early 80's

Evening: for dinner with Steve at a new-ish Boulder restaurant, Alba, opened by the good folks who used to run Blue Moon Grill. Boulder has an exploding food scene, I'll post restaurant reviews as well, soon , soon...

• Same sweater, as above, tucked into a 60's Irish wool tweed skirt form Lord and Taylor, purchased at one of Denver's best vintage spots, Regal Vintage - used to be Rare Bird Vintage Clothing, but has the same sweet owner, James Eliott, fair prices, and chock-a-block selection, at 1215 E. 13th Ave. And I can't believe I just revealed a favorite source! Ah well, they deserve your business. The skirt is tweed woven in a basket weave pattern, mainly burnt orange with flecks of blue, cream, brown, and fir green, full a-line with an ingenious wide box pleat at center front that conceals a kangaroo pocket or the same orange rayon lining the skirt.
• Cinched with a 40's Coro belt of dark green leather with a wide gold metal buckle that mimics a corset front
• Shiny forest green dance tights from American Apparel
• Russet Fluevog Rubini boots
• Acid green resin and gold metal ring from Forever 21
• Large wood domed button clip on earrings, my mom's from the 80's

Also, the food in Boulder does not actually explode, although I'm sure it would make a scene if it did.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Day: for brunch with friends. When Steve and I moved back to Boulder (he's a native, I'm an east coast city girl who came skeptically and fell in love), one of our friends organized a brunch celebration, as so many of their crowd from high school have in recent years moved back from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and other scattered locales to settle in the place where they misspent their youth. We decided to meet on the first Sunday of each month, and we've kept it up for over two years. Realizing that the breakfast offerings of the area are ripe for chronicling, we are belatedly starting a blog, the Boulder Breakfast Club, to post reviews.

• Royal blue EG Smith tights from http://www.sockdreams.com/
• Black stretch cotton pencil skirt from American Apparel
• Plum stretch cotton camisole from American Apparel
• Indigo tri-blend raglan long sleeve top from American Apparel - newish item in the shop, new color - and I love it
• Blue-and-white ceramic piece pendant on oxidised silver chain necklace I made in college
• Cobalt blue, carved celluloid rose dangle earrings from the 20's, given to me by a vintage dealer in Philly whom I knew in high school
• Shiny black leather high heeled oxfords from the 80's, on EBay (do you have any idea how hard it is to find modern high heels in a size 4 1/2 or 5?)

I know, this outfit is almost entirely American Apparel, and yes, Dov Charney is completely skeevy, but, damn it, they make such comfy stuff in such great colors for a reasonable price yet ethically produced! And styled properly, you can be above drinking age and still wear it. Just maybe not the shiny lame hotpants, at least not to my office.

Evening: for my sister-in-law's annual holiday tea party, at which she provides (homemade) a full English spread; tea sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and all, using the Savoy's cookbook, but for much less than the Savoy's current price of 80 pounds (that would be about $165) for tea. Tea!

• Cobalt blue, silk velvet, bias cut 30's dinner dress. Tea length, capped sleeves and scoop neck (sleeves bound in and inset v at neck of gold metal and blue cloth), probably homemade. I found it a couple of months ago at the Buffalo Exchange that lurks dangerously near my office, in pristine condition, perfectly fitted, and $23! It has become one of my go-to going out dresses for the season.
• Blue tights, necklace, and earrings, as above (or would have been, if one of the earrings hadn't fallen off at my house and not been noticed until I got to the party - luckily I had a pair of silver and gold Italian wire-work earrings made for the tourist trade, my grandmother GlamaRuth's from the 50's, stashed in my purse from earlier in the week).
• Russet Fluevog Rubini boot
• And the finishing touch - a dark red velvet sash with multi-colored embroidery, bought in the main market of Budapest when my family went to visit our great grandfather's old home several years ago, tied below the bust.

Monday, December 3, 2007

• Grey, bishop-sleeved turtleneck, from Erin Fetherston for Target
• Black knit jumper with pink, brown and grey petal motif, from Alice Temperley for Target
• Shiny grey tights, from Simply Vera at Kohl's
• Fluevog Rubini boots

I do like to pick up the occasional bit at the knock-off shops (we all need candy as well as filling, satisfying greens and whole grains, you know), but I think Target, especially in the GO collections, is more original - or at least the designers are knocking off themselves. There has been some tat in each offering, but the judicious shopper can almost always find some nice pieces of good design at a reasonable price - especially if you don't style it as in the promo shots!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

• Grass green cable knit cardigan by Pendelton, the real GlamaRuth's from the 40's or 50's
• Lilac cotton, asymmetric t-shirt tunic from Complex Geometries, a small Canadian designer I found through http://www.starsandinfintidarkeness.com/, one of my favorite sites for DIY, small, and unusual designer wares.
• Dark navy skinny twill pants from Erin Fetherston for Target - in my opinion one of the most versatile and wearable-in-real-life pieces in that collection, as well as being the perfect length if you're short (I always have to hem or fold in my skinnies - not these!)
• Dark purple, navy and grey striped socks, I think they're by Ozone, from a now out of business shoe store in Boulder (they never had 5's anyway)
• Caramel colored, sling back, high heeled, elf-toed clogs from Clark's - a new love, as they recently opened in Boulder, make funky yet comfortable shoes, and carry almost everything in a 5! Luckily most are under $100, or I'd really be in trouble.