dress to impress

this is all the dress i want to be. the genius is in the details...there's a barely-there sheer mesh overlay across the neckline and bust that is so so cool. i just discovered the lovely sunday brunch dress shop - their collection of frocks reminds me a little of anthropologie, but more sophisticated and featuring an amazing roster of young up-and-coming designers.

keemia audrey dress, $490 at sunday brunch dress shop

sewing 123s

i've been learning the basic techniques of sewing the past two months; this is my 'tokyo tie bag' that i made during my first class with the lovely diana rupp at make workshop.

my tokyo tie bag, fabrics from the amazing b&j fabric store in the garment district

my first attempt at sewing a french seam on the inside of the bag

 

more tempting fabric swatches from the dizzying selection at Mood

a time for sequins

club monaco anita silk sequined tank/minidress, $189

exhibit A: the little gold dress (LGD).

i've been considering adding this disco-tastic LGD to my wardrobe. this is the decadent, somewhat rebellious sibling to the ubiquitous LBD. even though i've never been a sequins and glitter kind of girl, i've seen more than a few shimmery dresses over the past few seasons that have managed to combine sparkles with sophistication. however, i've always hesitated because 'sequins' just doesn't fall into my style rubric.

now, spurred on by my boredom with LBDs and restrained, conservative party-dress options, a counter-argument arose: since i won't be able to wear sequins forever, maybe now is a good time to experiment with them while i'm in my 20s...

what's your stance on sequins?

some more tempting options below...

jcrew cotton sequin slouchy tank, $85 at jcrew.com

 

jcrew silk sequin starland tank, $138 at jcrew.com

a common thread sequin tank dress, $350 at shopbop

a.p.c. new cure raw denim

after about 3 years of wearing my 7 for all mankind skinny jeans, i've finally decided that it's time to break in a new pair. after deciding against getting any pre-distressed, pre-whiskered options, i ended up going with the a.p.c. new cure raw jeans.

a few things:

• the sizing on a.p.c. raw denim definitely runs 1 size large. so get one size smaller than your usual size.
  
• even though it was super tight when i tried it on in the store, it has stretched out quite a bit already in the waist after only a week or so of wear (which is what's supposed to happen).
• i'm taking them to my tailor to get them hemmed, and once i get them back will wear these as much as possible as my 'go-to' jeans for the next half year. 
• as part of the breaking-in/wash recipe, these are slated to be washed for the first time next april with woolite black.
  

it seems that the vast majority of people buying a.p.c. raw denim are guys. the people i talked to at various boutiques seemed surprised that i was looking for a pair for myself.

i've been of the opinion for quite some time now that women get the short end of the stick when it comes to quality clothing. yes, we have so many more options, but when it comes down to it, in many stores the blazers, pants etc for men are made of a much higher quality and attention to tailoring than the comparable items offered for women. seems like this applies to denim as well, what with the premium selvedge denim available mainly for guys. why is this?

will be posting more updates on the aging of my a.p.c. new cures throughout the next few months!

a.p.c. heart pocket sweater, club monaco tank, vintage ferragamo pumps, antique gold locket necklace, a.p.c. new cure (femme) raw jeans, $155 at a.p.c.

billykirk x opening ceremony

what an adorable collaboration! billykirk is like the barbour of cool utilitarian bags and luggage.

waxed cotton and leather large duffel bag, $300 at opening ceremony

lust and found: virginia johnson camel shawl!

serendipity strikes twice...a week or so after i posted my timewarp wishlist, i accidentally stumbled upon THE brown/ecru camel shawl at online boutique frances frances! i could not believe my good luck. there are more vj shawls in her boutique from past seasons in the original midweight wool, and also some cute stuff by orla kiely, erica tanov and other young designers.

i got in touch with the lovely miriam at virginia johnson a few weeks ago about whether they'd be re-issuing the camel print, and she informed me that they still had one orange camel shawl from fall 2008 on sample sale. at $50, i couldn't resist. my virginia johnson collection is now complete!

the new vj resort collection is out now, and there are two camel shawls in the lightweight gauze wool.

jcrew cotton tee, jcrew boyfriend jeans, hope nude pumps, virginia johnson camel shawl

virginia johnson gauze wool camel print shawls in grape and brick, $195 at her online shop

culture critique

jezebel did a great post recently on this.

i've officially had it with all mainstream media's condescending overuse and abuse of 'words' like "recessionista", "maxinista", "fashionista", "frugalista" and any and all descendants of these jabberwockies.

can we purge these words and delete them once and for all from our collective memory? the English language was not meant to be defiled by such sexist misuse of suffixes...

ever since the recession, all the mainstream glossy magazines have gone from recommending $6,000 costume jewelry to pushing cheap 'balenciaga-lookalike-but-will-fall-apart-in-a-month" alternatives.

'cultural binge mentality', anyone?

just because the proverbial, privileged-yet-aspirational "fashion-conscious" woman is no longer accruing massive credit card debt at the Prada boutique and instead splurges on ten cheap frocks at H&M doesn't mean that she has switched to a more responsible method of fashion consumption. it bothers me that the mainstream media thinks women are dumb enough to buy into this shoddy line of reasoning.

as the brilliant and ever witty WendyB pointed out in 2007, shopping at H&M and Topshop in order to keep up with fashion does not save you money over time. it does not contribute to ethical consumption practices, fashion-wise or environment-wise.

why is there no well-balanced, well-thought-out medium? in this pendulum swing of binge consumption, the impact of the recession will be missed as soon as people feel comfortable enough to go crazy at "luxe" boutiques again. shouldn't it be more about taking stock of our views on shopping, our ways of consuming fashion, and how we choose what we choose to put in our closets?