Wednesday, June 30, 2010

If At First You Don't Succeed ...



Here is a confession:  Sometimes I do dress rehearsals with outfits.  Perhaps a bit over the top, but it's also fun.  And, isn't it a good idea to try on the "new" things that you bring into your wardrobe, in case you want to return them?



But I don't always do dress rehearsals.  Sometimes an outfit comes together quickly.  I like the outfit the moment I put it on and I still like it when I think about it some time later.  Other times, I put an outfit together without a dress rehearsal and while I like it when I put it on, by the next day, if not by the end of the day on which I wear the outfit, I am less pleased with the outfit.  When this occurs, I usually need to rework the outfit to something that has lasting appeal to me.  If at first I don't succeed, I will try again!






Sometimes I know what will work for me, but I either forget it or, for reasons I can't articulate, I choose to ignore what I know.  Here is an example:  I rarely (and I mean very rarely) wear belts that come with a skirt, dress, pants, etc.  Why?  Because these belts are usually fabric belts and I have yet to figure out how to make these work for me.  I prefer leather (mock or otherwise) belts.  Sometimes I decide to try the matching belts.  I have yet to be finally happy with the results.




So why am I telling these stories?  Because something that I wore today I wore before, but in a way that did not satisfy me.  I feel much better now.

dress: Anthropologie
belt: H&M, from my accessories collection
vest: Gap
sweater: Lucky Brand, from my closet
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
boots: Fluevog, from my closet
bag: H&M, from my accessories collection

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Excitement In The Air


It is amazing how little it takes to get me excited about Fall clothes and looking forward to Fall clothes.  Take Summer sales, for example.  While I like Summer sales in themselves, I also like them because they mean that the stores are clearing out their Summer inventory in preparation for the delivery of Autumn stock, which means that Autumn clothes are on their way.  The excitement just starts bubbling up inside of me.



Speaking of Summer sales, I purchased some awesome (at least in my opinion) sandals yesterday.  Although they are technically Summer sandals, when I bought them I had no intention of wearing them as Summer sandals.  I wanted to wear them as Fall shoes and I was excited about wearing them as Fall shoes.


I guess I was a little too excited about wearing my new shoes, because I couldn't wait until Fall.  As soon as I found out how chilly it was going to be today (not Fall chilly but Summer chilly), I decided that today was a great day to debut my shoes to the world.



As an aside, the skirt that I wore today was also a Summer sale find.


Jacket: JCrew, from my closet
blouse: H&M, from my closet
skirt: Zara
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
shoes: David Dixon for Town Shoes
belt: from an off-price store

Monday, June 28, 2010

Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing: Summer Edition No. 1


I don't know what was going on with me today.  Try as I might, I just couldn't quite wrap my mind around anything that I had to do today.  Peculiar as this may sound, every once in a while, I would feel as if my mind would separate from my body and I would be watching myself trying to do something, watching from right behind my right shoulder.



My experience with accomplishing tasks today sums up well my experience (for some time now) with getting dressing.  I can't seem to realize, to my satisfaction, my ideas.  After several days of this, I am starting to feel like I don't know what I am doing or where I am headed.  Isn't there a theory that there is order in chaos and chaos in order and that there is continual movement from chaos to order and back again?  Can I take some comfort in thinking that if everything feels up in the air right now, or chaotic, I have to be on the way to order?


Could I also have hit upon one advantage of having a personal stylist?  Your clothing choices aren't ruled by your emotions?  Of course, this presupposes that you are willing to give yourself over to your personal stylist.  I am not sure that this would work for me.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

A Day At Home




I ended up spending the day at home today.  My travels ordinarily take me into the area that was the scene of violence yesterday.  While I really didn't want to feel locked in my house, I also didn't want to take the chance of finding myself in a dangerous situation.  In the end, I decided to wait out the G20 in my house.

Today's "day at home" outfit is another outfit inspired by the TV series M*A*S*H.  Wearing shorts at home is not so scary.




My only time outside today (aside from sitting in my outside space at home) was when I made a quick trip to pick up some take-out from my neighbourhood "burger joint".  I briefly contemplated changing out of my shorts for the trip, but, in the end, decided that I was being silly.  Suffice it to say that I am still shy about baring my legs outside of my house.

tank: Old Navy, from my closet
shorts: Old Navy, from my closet
belt: Gap, from my accessories collection
henley shirt: Old Navy, men's, from my closet
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
boots: army surplus store, from my closet

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Yoga Girl, Again


I started out wearing, what I would call, "normal clothes".  Then, about five minutes before leaving the house, I changed out of "normal clothes" and put on some "yogini clothes".



Until recently, I used to resort to wearing "yogini clothes" nearly every weekend.  I think that wearing "yogini clothes" was something I did to try to fit into a particular culture.  At some point, I think that I realized that I didn't have to try to fit in.  I was going to be "me" in that culture.  On a lighter note, I no longer wanted to give two days over to wearing "yogini clothes" when I had so many other things to wear.




All that said, every once in a while, I want to wear "yogini clothes", because, well, because they are ubercomfortable.

jacket: Lululemon, from my closet
tank: ?, from my closet
pants: Dear Lil' Devas, from my closet
wrap skirt: Dear Lil' Devas, from my closet
sandals: Birkenstock, from my closet

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Birds

Maybe it was all those thoughts about doves yesterday that led me to wear, today, a dress made of fabric with a bird pattern on it.  From notional birds to real birds.





I bought the dress that I wore today in NYC, on my last trip to NYC.  I suppose I didn't have to buy it there; I probably could have bought it in my home city when I got home.  Here is how I came to buy it in NYC:  I happened to be in Anthropologie in NYC.  I spotted the dress and fell in love with it.  It happened to be hot during the time I was in NYC and I hadn't brought enough "hot clothes" with me.  It seemed like a great idea to buy the dress then and there, so I could wear it while I was in NYC (and have it for afterwards).  So I bought the dress.

I know that I am supposed to be working on not talking about wellies, but I have to say that the red wellies are a recent addition to my collection.  Needless to say, I love them.

dress: Anthropologie
socks: American Apparel
boots: Hunter

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Doves


A little bit of hope?  Sadly, a light has gone out, so I don't really believe that there may be hope.




What I wore today was a last minute substitution for a substitution.  What I am trying to say was that I scrapped what I had planned on wearing today and and what I had thought might work instead of what I had planned on wearing.  What I ended up wearing was literally thrown on minutes before I left the house.  When I had a moment to think about today's outfit, what came to me was: doves, peace and freedom.  A stark contrast to what is going on around me.  Preparations for the G20 and, today, an earthquake (the second one that I have experienced in my life).  Soft and hard.  Quiet and noise.

dress: ?, from my closet
sandals: Birkenstock, from my closet
scarf: JCrew

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

M*A*S*H Dressing




One of my favourite TV series on DVD is M*A*S*H.  And, as amazing as this may sound, the TV series has inspired a couple (okay, several) outfits.

dress: ?, from my closet
chinos: Old Navy, from my closet
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
boots: army surplus store, from my closet

Monday, June 21, 2010

Predictable And Sincere


Anyone who has known me for at least two years will know these things about me.  One: I am forever saying that I want to grow my hair long, but I never seem to get very far along the growing process before I say that my hair is too fine to wear long and I promptly chop it very short.  Two: I am forever saying that I am going to stop buying clothes and live with the clothes I already have in my closet.  Any such resolution lasts, at most, a week before I am wanting some article of clothing or other.




I am truly sincere though every time that I say that I want to grow my hair long or to stop buying clothes!

blouse: H&M, from my closet
skirt: H&M, from my closet
sweater: Benetton, from my closet
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
shoes: Fluevog, from my closet

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Dhoti Pants




I see now that dhoti pants are probably not the most form flattering pants, at least on me.  They are very comfortable though for hot Summer days.  I will continue to wear them.  I am not really into selecting clothes for their form flattering qualities.




When I was at university, I used to purchase and read mostly European fashion magazines, principally French and Italian ones.  I have kept some, but (oddly) not all, of the editorials that I liked from these magazines.  Today's outfit was inspired by one of these editorials (one that I didn't keep, yet still remember).  If I recall correctly, the theme of the editorial was Summer holidays.  There were two distinct styles presented in the editorial.  One involved black and white clothing worn with combat boots.  The second involved clothing in vibrant colours (like orange) worn with gold ballet slippers.  I remember looking at the editorial with a friend.  She fell for the brightly coloured clothing worn with gold ballet slippers.  I fell for the black and white clothing worn with combat boots.  Maybe I remember the editorial because of the experience of sharing it with a friend.  In any event, that editorial (even if I no longer have it) inspires a lot of my black and white outfits.

blouse: Gap, from my closet
sweater: Zara, from my closet
dhoti pants: ?, from my closet
socks: ?, from my sock drawer
boots: Army surplus store, from my closet