Friday, November 20, 2009

The Struggle to Look Effortless

It's one of life's ironies that the "thrown together" look is anything but. It's the result of research, contemplation, and unflinching critical analysis. A t-shirt and jeans may seem so easy - it's the global uniform, right? But what t-shirt? Which jeans? Getting it right takes some thought, but it makes all the difference between looking like you don't care but are so effortlessly chic you make even the basics look like a million bucks, and looking like you've just given up.

Aside from a couple Hache t-shirts I got last year, I haven't really bought new t-shirts, so when I went through what I have, I realized how much proportions have changed. My shirts all seem too fitted, too short, too high necked.. great for the boot cut jeans I used to wear, but skinny jeans call for a longer shirt with a drapier cut. The Hache ones are great - but they're white, I can't wear them ALL the time.

So, I did a surgical strike at Saks and tried on every t-shirt on the 5th ("Contemporary") floor. 3 winners: all from Alexander Wang's bridge line (T) and not on sale (naturally). But they weren't expensive to start with and now I don't have to search anymore, so a relative bargain!

Here's my outfit - with and without the jacket. (and no smile, sorry, those photos came out blurry)

That necklace, by the way, was from one of the designers at the Edge NYC designer market on Bleecker St. It's closing at the end of December and the designers told me there would be big sales, so might be worth checking out.

To see if I could recommend another t-shirt source to you all, I took a little detour today by J Crew, Banana Republic, and Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters had a tank top for $14, which could be a real steal (I didn't try it on, so can't comment on fit), and J Crew had these "Art Tees", which were kind of a very girly update to Christmas Sweaters, which I'd thought were on the endangered list. (See blog post from last year). Not extinct, just evolved, I guess. But not the attitude I was looking for. I've had luck at American Apparel, but didn't make it this time.

And here's my organized drawer. Just for fun, I'll show you my sock drawer too. Yes, it's come to this. I'm not only organizing my sock drawer, but also writing about it... :)



And on a completely different topic... separated at birth?

Monday, November 9, 2009

The fall of the Berlin Wall (and why you should wear a hat)

When it's cold outside and you are at world-changing events (such as at the Berlin Wall on Nov 9, 1989 after it was announced that East Germans could travel freely and no one knew what was going to happen, but at the Wall it was a massive happy party and you met all kinds of people), wear a good hat.

Sure you should also bring a camera and, if you're going to climb around much, avoid a pencil skirt, but a good hat is important. You'll stand out in the crowd (my friend Annie and I met loads of people because of our hats) and you will be photographed (as you can see), and your head will be warm. And wouldn't it have been tragic if I were wearing a crummy old baseball hat and bad clothes? Instead, I wore a nice coat and a hat that I'd bought from a cute little shop in Charlottenburg, Berlin, and I was quite happy. If you can count, you'll also notice that I was a very precocious 9 year old... ;)

I spent a lot of time at Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate after the November 9 announcement, and took a bunch of photos. It still is one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, seeing the symbolic removal of the wall dividing the two parts of Berlin (though the election and reunification were still a year or so away). The East German soldiers seemed intimidating at first, but they gave us pieces of the wall from their side. In case you're interested in some other photos from that period, I've attached a few more...






Thursday, November 5, 2009

Going flat out.. (Going out flat?)

Style and comfort are not always incompatible, it just requires some forethought to get them both right.. and maybe a looser definition of comfort.

One of the things that stumps me most in trying to get the style/comfort ratio right is shoes. I wear heels most of the time since I think most outfits look better with heels. And I've loosened my definition of comfort enough so I can wear them at a 12-18 hour stretch and can avoid this quandary most of the time. But, just as I shouldn't eat really spicy food at every meal, I also shouldn't always wear heels. Sometimes your body needs a break from pain. Even if it tastes good..or looks good.

I wrote a few weeks ago that I didn't like brogues. My friend Doreen asked how I could not like that classic Katherine Hepburn menswear look? Well, that's a fair question and this post comes from my thinking about it. I do like that Hepburn/Marlene Dietrich look and oxfords are so much better than so many of the other flat shoes I see women wearing (running shoes, UGG boots, crocs, slippers, yes, slippers!!..on Park Ave!!! I mean, is life that bad that you've just given up?) But anyhow, I still think that those long loose trousers look so much better with a high heel..your legs look endless. And, as any good tailor will tell you, you can't hem a pair of pants for both a flat shoe and a 4" heel. You either walk on the hem or look like you're preparing for a flood. So, do you want to tell the tailor to hem short and commit to stumpy wide legs when you can have willowy long ones? Not me.. (By the way, I do think that there is a fantastic opportunity for a new kind of adjustable cuff so you can wear the same pants with heels or flats. Does this exist? It should!!)

I do think that oxfords look cute with short skirts, maybe even with a menswear styled jacket with strong shoulders too.. Wait a minute, I have worn that exact outfit! That was one of my first work outfits I bought myself after college.. ummm.. must have been 5 years ago.. yeah, that's riiight... So here we have another instance of the "no trend left behind" trend. It must be so easy to be a trend setter. Well, folks - short-sleeved turtlenecks, A-line mini skirts, and square toed, lace-up chunky heels. Think "early Friends". Buy them now and wear them first. I don't know.. Maybe in 2 weeks, I'll have a "Eureka!" moment when I visualize that oxfords are the missing element from my wardrobe and I'll run out and buy them in some obsessive frenzy. But for the moment, I'm letting that trend pass.

But, as I said, I do feel like my body needs a break from heels now and then. Since I find ballerinas torture to walk in for more than a couple hours and I'm just not a sneaker kind of girl unless I'm doing a sport, my solution is boots. So, here are two examples below. Both totally comfortable solutions that will let me run around all day Saturday to do whatever I need to do and look presentable enough to meet for early drinks. Or even stay out all night if the momentum is there...


oh, and I'm smiling, as per reader request... :)