Isn't it ironic?

Isn't everything?

I think so. For example, I had this idea that I would write about Christmas sweaters. I brought my camera to the mall when I was home in NC over Thanksgiving, thinking I'd get some photos of holiday knit-clad families and maybe even a few Santa hats. After all, it was just after Thanksgiving and that's usually the time you start seeing that seasonal wardrobe staple of country grandmothers and school teachers, and those people who are just very cheerful. I used to like them when I was a kid (I liked EVERYTHING about Christmas when I was a kid, I had absolutely no discrimination at all) and then I sniggered about them when I got older. But now, I find there's such a goofy obviousness about the message the wearer is sending (i.e. Yay, it's Christmas!) I consider them part of the whole holiday spirit package.

But even though the mall was pretty full, I only saw one (and actually, that was a vest - not even any sleeves!) and no Santa hats at all. I missed them, especially since all the holiday news was pretty horrible (fatal stampede at Wal-Mart, shooting at Toys R Us, not to mention the attacks in India and upheaval in Thailand). I wanted to see something silly, happy, and sweet.

So I was trying to think about how I'd write something that was still light-hearted but sort of wistful about Christmas sweaters, which isn't the angle I originally thought I'd take at all.

And then another twist to my plans... Since I couldn't find any sweaters to photograph myself, I looked for pictures online. Oh, and I found them. Lots and lots! And almost all of them were on blogs about Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties. I have never had nor been invited to an UCSP, but apparently it's a whole big thing, at least among people who take photos and write about them. How ironic!

That started me thinking about irony and clothing. Another example: I slipped while taking sailing lessons and landed on my chin, leaving me in some pain and with a strong resemblance to Jay Leno, only my big chin was lopsided and purple. I realized for the sake of my safety and looks that I needed to get some appropriate shoes. Before I found my cool orange Volvo Ocean Race Pumas, I considered getting Topsiders - but I would wear them ironically, since they're totally not my style. I'd like to say I'm kidding, but I'm not. I was seriously thinking about how to show my irony without maintaining an annoying smirk on my face. I couldn't - thank God for Puma! That reminds me of a piece of advice from a relative: you can drive the wrong way down a one way street if you put your lights on. You're still going the wrong way and it's still illegal, but at least people know that YOU KNOW you're going the wrong way. (I've chosen not to follow that advice, btw.)

I digress. But I do think that irony might be a useful money-saving tool. If you just put any ugly old thing on, but with a sheen (or slather) of irony, you can always feel that you look cool. The risk of course, is that you don't.

(Leder)hosed

I went to Oktoberfest this year and wore a Dirndl. Aside from drinking a lot of beer, eating sausage, and singing the Flieger song, nothing gets you into the spirit of things quite like it. Except maybe for wearing Lederhosen, which I didn't do, but which struck my friend Janice as a fashion inspiration that I should write about.

So I started to think a bit more about Lederhosen for women. The traditional outfit for women, the Dirndl, embodies a girl-woman sweetness with its cleavage-y little white blouse, flowery full skirt, and apron. Lederhosen have more of a tough sweetness. I'm sure my German male friends would get mad at my calling Lederhosen sweet. I know they're cut out of manly, thick, durable leather and I'm sure they're great for mountain climbing and log hauling and even have that expansion tie in back in case you drink too much beer, but they're also embroidered and the little straps are (admit it) aw shucks kind of cute. Nothing wrong with being tough and cute - nothing at all! And when women wear them, there's an androgynous edge that recalls Marlene Dietrich in a tux, or Sally Bowles (Cabaret) in a .. um.. hat.

I like this idea of a little sweetness in clothes - on its own or (as I prefer) mixed with a little toughness. Sweetness makes people smile. Actually, I think I may have subconsciously absorbed the influence without really thinking about it. I've worn a few things that my friends have said were sort of Dirndl-like and the other night, I realized that both my friend Anne and I were both wearing outfits that were versions of Lederhosen, interpreted in our own ways. Mine was literally "leather pants" (actually shorts) which I wore with boots; hers was sweeter, I think, and had the shorts/overalls idea. For now, I've only got the photo of me in my version (it's Anne's camera, so I'm hoping she'll send the photo of her as well!) I'll add it to this post as soon as she does.

Anyhow, for the sake of full disclosure, I was given a reason for why Lederhosen weren't for women. Actually two. The first, according to one of my German male friends, is that Lederhosen make women's butts look big. (Depends on the cut, I'd say, but that is a risk when leather stretches out). The second is that they're sexy on men and women shouldn't take that away from them. Well, again I'd say that depends. If the guy wearing them is sexy, then sure. But a girl in Lederhosen won't make a hot guy any less so. And if a guy wants to give the Dirndl a whirl - go to it! ..and send me a photo, please! ;)

It must be bad if I'm saying this...

I was walking on Wall Street the other day after seeing my dentist and passed by the Tiffany store, all asparkle in its glittering hard surfaces and glorious bad timing. And my first thought was: what are Tiffany and Hermes doing down on Wall Street, which despite the mythic association with high finance and money still is Siberian (or at least Alaskan) wasteland? My second thought was the memory of what one of my friends said to another. The first mentioned that the Wall Street Hermes had crocodile Birkin bags; the second, a Birkin expert, said "that's not a real one, that's what a man buys his mistress, or his wife if he's feeling guilty". I'm not really sure which Wall Street area firm's employees pay $45,000 for a wife gift out of guilt (though I guess it's cheaper than a divorce), but given the dearth of bonuses this year means it probably won't be such a merry Christmistress...

And that brought me to thinking about how the economic slowdown really affects my friends and me...(not a mistress among us, as far as I'm aware). Sure, there are stories about the slowdown of high end jewelry purchases; reduced luxury goods advertisements in Vogue, New York Times, Destinations, etc; credit squeezed oligarchs and petrogarchs; Wall Street barons, dukes, etc hocking their art collections... All of that is indicative of a radical shift but at a slightly more rarified atmosphere than where I usually breathe. After all, where I go out, restaurants are still packed and bars are still hopping. But when I think about it, those restaurants are cozy, local and relatively cheap: microbrews and gorgonzola cheeseburgers. I'm not at McDonalds yet, but it's not Porterhouse, foie gras, and Opus One. I've already made the downshift without thinking about it that much.

Bringing this back to style, these concerns give a fresh look to practicality. My friend Ellen mentioned recently that she loved her Prada backpack and Miu Miu bag and was paying a bag repairer to make them like new. Why not? They work and they look good. I've had more friends get excited about clothing swaps as well, and I've personally begun to get a bit more into vintage. Ellen and I also discussed how we had a hard time finding something new in fashion to get excited about. Well, this is the season of Prada's handmade Swiss lace (Switzerland being next to China in sourcing cheap labor - not!) and Fendi's gold infused fur (below). They're both beautiful, but somehow it all seems wrong. I've mentioned before that I think we're returning to grunge. I think the re-visiting of grunge for some of us won't be Doc Martins and flannel, but will be the bypassing of new, flashy, blatantly expensive styles (croc Birkins, gold fur, Swiss Miss handiwork) in favor of what we already have in our closets and what works for us. Yeah, ok, last season's Marni (Hache, etc) is hardly grunge, but to use what we've already got feels grounded and real. (A caveat: I say this with all intentions of trying to build my cash position rather than my closet, but I'm not promising my resolve won't go flying out the window if I see that Prada lace or the Louboutins from blog #1 marked down enough...)

Closet Bulimia

My friend Lovey sent me a list of upcoming sample sales yesterday and the rush of anxiety and greed got me thinking about why we keep buying stuff even when we can only fit clothes into our closets by buying those skinny Bed Bath & Beyond hangers and putting all our off-season things into storage.

I think there are a few elemental things at work here. Part of it is a sort of base cavemanish (womanish) greed. Why else would I hold on tightly to the dress that two other women have been circling even though it doesn't quite fit right and is really better in theory than execution? Or those amazing shoes that I can only wear if I'm not standing, walking or doing anything else that requires putting weight on my feet but that I want because they're the only pair and I got them first.

Sometimes the shopping urge comes from a slightly more evolved quest for self-improvement, even if only superficial. When I was a kid, I used to love to dress up my Barbie dolls and pretend that they were living my idealized adult fantasy life (which sadly seemed to consist of putting on outfits, taking them off, and putting on new ones). Now, I'm kind of my own Barbie but with fewer outfit changes and without Barbie's proportions, though the clothes for women over 11 inches tall is so much better, I'm ok with that. But I still have this idea that a really amazing outfit will improve my life. I do think better clothes can improve my tennis game, so why not my night out? Or really, my career?

The flip side of this hunter/gathering consumption and more-fun-than-therapy self improvement is the pang of remorse. I feel this particularly when I get my clothes back from storage when the seasons change and there's that shock of recognition and guilt confronting me: "I know what you bought last season". That jilted blouse that I picked up, but never choose to wear, or, even sadder, that top I loved but that just doesn't seem to work anymore and always loses out to the cute new ones that I have lined up. And they really are awfully cute.

So, I try to let them go. I have managed to get some things out of my closet and into a large discard pile in my living room and I've even googled consignment shops and asked a couple friends about ebay. A few pieces have moved on to my friends. And yes, to be honest, I do feel that pang of regret.. "Darn, that top is looking good on Anne." But I freed up a little space and a few of those BB&B hangers.

..which I promptly used to hang up the latest sample sale conquests.

And so the wheel turns...

Jesus Christ Pose

I had a weird experience on Thursday when I looked at the NY Times style section. It was a slightly wavy reflection of what I've been thinking recently. The featured article was on the return of the "interview suit" (I'd written my own little blurb about women's suits on Monday). Also, there was a feature on the new popularity of Jose Ignacio, Uruguay (where I went a few years ago), a review of a photography exhibit (where my friend took the photo of me in my red shoes - the subject of my first blogpost), and finally, a story on the return of grunge in men's fashion featuring a bearded model. (For those of you who haven't seen it, my Bloomberg greenbar reads "waiting for the return of grunge (and $40/bbl oil)."

I'll leave off the oil discussion since I'm just talking style on this blog (though if you want to talk about my oil forecast, IM me. Yeah, I thought so...) Acknowledging that my story telling can be a bit wordy, of all that stuff in the first paragraph, this post is really about beards.

Not living in Amish country, I hadn't seen a young guy with a beard until I went to Freeman's a few years ago. The host had one and it fit well with the decor, which was a bit of a Rorschach test. To me the faded plaster walls, old portraits, and taxidermy were all very German hunting cottage, but I've also read others describe it as American and Irish. Whichever, it's been a very influential style in the NY restaurant scene and seems to be spreading much further.

But it seems the beards have been influential too. They were enough of a trend for the NY Times to write about the issues of beards during the summer in July '06. (Crux of the article: they're hot. temperature hot.) And the partners behind Freemans launched a men's clothing store to capitalize on that look as well. (Top photo)

But what really made me think this trend had legs strong enough to jump to the mainstream was this ad for Ann Taylor. Hello beards, good bye razors! If anything is more mainstream than Ann Taylor, I'd like to know!

Flannel shirts have already re-appeared on the streets of NYC, I'm looking forward to hearing the next Sound Garden, Nirvana, or Pearl Jam, and I'm even sort of cool with Doc Martins and plaid depending on how it's done, but please no scrunchies or 90210 redux! (Btw, the fake Chanel-y jacket on the model in the front is also very '90s.)

Work it out, baby

I just came back from the gym, so had a chance to test out my hypothesis (not yet a theory) that you work out better, play sports better, etc if you have better clothes. For example, I did 12 full body push-ups (that's good for me), but I bet I'd have done 20 if I were wearing my new gym pants that sort of look like the spiderman costume when he's being tempted by the dark side of his power so is wearing black. (I did some knee ones too, I'm not a total wimp...)

Same thing with tennis, I noticed. I had these fugly, blobby white shoes that made my feet look so stupid, I cringed every time I looked down. Needless to say, I was so distracted that I didn't play very well. (Might also have been that I didn't play well because I was looking at my shoes and not the ball, I guess...) It didn't help that I just wore whatever to play, either - t shirts, those shorts with the really big pockets so you can put balls in them. I don't know what I was thinking. Weird bulges around one's hips is not a flattering look for women. Not for men either, actually. I looked a mess - and my playing wasn't any better. A couple years of lessons, new shoes and some cute tennis outfits from Adidas (including a little marked-down Stella McCartney) and I've improved a lot. In the outfit above, I bet my game would jump to another level!!!

Going corporate

I have to wear a suit tomorrow to work. Well, not really a suit, but something a bit more corporate than normal, since I have some (surprise surprise! …) corporate meetings. I don’t mind. Actually, I really like that feeling of structure: big belts, tightly nipped-in jackets, narrow pencil skirts, bustiers (though not for work), etc. Add some super high heels and I feel girded (not girdled, thankfully) for the day. A friend of mine, Jane, said that’s the German side of me coming out. Maybe. She knows a lot both about style and Germans, so she probably is right.

Anyhow, as I said, I happily dress corporate, as long as it’s MY interpretation of corporate and still feels like me. But put me in a conservative matching suit and I can’t wait to take it off – no matter how beautiful it is. It’s sort of the reverse of being possessed, I guess, but instead of being taken over from the inside and still looking like the same person, I feel like it’s my outside that’s been taken over. I’m being dramatic, but it matters. I tried on a beautiful matching suit recently and, even though it was classic, well made and fit perfectly, all I could think of was “Sarah Palin” and I couldn’t get it. That made me feel a bit sympathetic for Sarah Palin, to be honest. All those clothes that were bought for her were expensive, high-end, elegant and restrained. Not exactly reflective of her personality, and I don’t mean that as an insult. It’s what she’s said herself. No wonder she “went rogue”! And sorry, but I do have to say it's pretty obvious she didn't have much support in NY. $150k??? If she had more friends in fashion, she'd have had chic-er clothes and at well below retail!!!

The whole can of paprika

Last time, I quoted Diana Vreeland's statement that bit of bad taste is like a dash of paprika, but this, I'm afraid, is really the whole can!!!

I found this crocheted string bikini - (infant sized!) when I was shopping for my niece. Needless to say, I didn't buy it, but had to take a photo. Hopefully you can see how tiny it is relative to the hanger. I don't really want to see how this trend might develop...

The shoes that started it all…

I posted this photo on Facebook with a couple others. I wasn’t too surprised by the critical response from one friend, who seems to be the lone dissenter (to my face at least) on these shoes. But I didn’t expect so many other friends to jump into the discussion (on-line and in person).

All this debate around a photo of shoes led my friend Roman (the critic) to suggest I write a blog. And why not? What you wear is a form of expression – it won’t always be to everyone’s taste, but that’s what makes it personal and worth talking about. And if you throw in something that’s maybe pushing the boundaries (of taste, comfort, etc…), it’s amusing to see the reaction. These shoes have been a lot of fun, I admit. Sure, I can’t walk more than 10 blocks in them without the numbing help of alcohol. But they’ve gained me invitations to parties and are one of the items in my wardrobe that people request I wear. Even the photo I posted exists because a photographer friend at a party liked them too.

Anyhow, I’m not really sure how this blog is going to evolve. I have in my mind a focus on personal style rather than catwalk fashion. Living in New York means I see things in shops that get my heart racing (and tempt me to spend $900 on a pair of shoes during a recession - see photo below). But I also see people who put things together in a really new way and inspire me to go back to my own closet and mix things up a bit. Getting up at 5am for work is tough – but the right outfit can definitely put me in a good mood for the day. Well, that and a lot of coffee… Likewise, I think there’s a joy in style that will keep spirits up a bit during a pretty gloomy economy.

In any case, this debate around my shoes reminded me of Diana Vreeland’s quote: “a little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste - it's hearty, it's healthy, it's physical. No taste is what I’m against.”



So, what do you think - worth $900?