Pix-Elated

Hi, all -- 

I retired my old J. Crew plaid pants, a holiday staple. They are a straight-verging-on-skinny and I'm not enjoying that silhouette now. (I didn't donate them, though; they are such a great pant I think there's a chance I"ll come back to them later.) 

Meanwhile, I've been wanting a velvet pant, wanting to add more red to my closet, and wanting to try the Colette wide legs for quite some time. 

Voila, the Colette in red velvet comes to the rescue, along with a plaid shirt from J. Crew to make up for the lost plaid pants, and Ecco booties as featured in Angie's Fab Finds for this week, except in the limestone. 

I love these booties. They are ingenious. They come with two sets of insoles so you can adjust the fit for different socks/ stockings. They are very stable because of the rubber sole. The leather is very soft. On my leg, there is not a lot of flower-pot effect. The toe is called "round" but I would call it a wider almond. Not truly round. Anyway, I love them so much I just ordered the black patent at the super sale price. 

Love the Colettes, too! They are fun and cozy! 

And the shirt conforms to Angie's description exactly: 

Red Tartan Christmas Fabness. The red is less bright in person, and the fabric is a spectacular crisp and sharp cotton. Gorgeous quality. Size down one size. Layers well under roomy sweatshirts and sweaters.

Please forgive the photo quality. You can have dark plus over-exposed in my study, or brighter, with kitty litter box and a dirty mirror in my laundry room! 

Hi, all! I've had a difficult autumn with health, family health, work, and other challenges, and haven't been able to post much in a while. But I did want to report on my experience with the "persona plus theme" experiment I tried in the spring. You may remember that, taking inspiration from Brooklyn and Tanya, who over the past few years have concentrated on a specific theme each season in their dressing, I decided to do the same, with the twist (which I think Tanya also employs) of thinking also in terms of my fashion persona and some current trends I want to incorporate. The "this character does that" idea. 

Mine for the spring/ summer was "Laid-back luminous garçonne does off-kilter ultility pretty."

My accident in late spring put a bit of a dent in this plan, so to speak, in the sense that I didn't really go out much or even leave the couch for a few weeks. Apart from a short trip to San Francisco in late summer, and a very casual working retreat in July, I didn't get out much. 

But I did enjoy playing with the theme and thinking in those terms did help me compose outfits that made me happy. The photos are all poor quality but maybe you can get the idea. 

A few notes: Winner workhorse items in this capsule proved to be the Zara asymmetrical skirt, the Scotch & Soda denim jacket, the Dries van Noten thrifted plaid pants, the Sandwich spotted/ striped modal top (alas -- it is toast!! -- ripped beyond repair after so many wears), the Cole Haan oxfords. The linen utility skirt didn't get many outings. I liked it -- just didn't wear it a lot. 

In pic 4 you see my very old J. Crew 2 piece dress. I had the hem let down as much as I possibly could because I was finding the dress as it was felt too short for my current tastes. It's still a bit shorter than I'd like, but the extra inch in length made me like it much more, and as usual it was a workhorse. 

In Finds I've included other much worn items not pictured. 

Overall, I'd say this was a valuable experiment and I would like to try it again. I wore skirts/ dresses at more opportunities, remixed older items with new in different ways, made a few new brand discoveries, and had fun composing outfits. 

It seems the classic dressers amongst us have the most trouble distinguishing what I'll call "deep classic" from what might be called "on trend version of classic" or "classic with a twist." So I'm going to try this with my own closet. Anyone want to join? The first set of Finds will be the ones in my wardrobe I identify as true classics. By virtue of cut and colour. 

The second set will be "on trend classics" or "classics with a twist." 

This will not include my purely on trend or avant garde or otherwise "different" items. 

My first set: 

1. Cole Haan oxfords. These are a "maybe" because in a knit fabric, and white. But the shape is classic. 

2. J. Crew straight pants. 

3. Club Monaco merino mock-neck

4. Talbot's white bermudas. 

5. Boden white tee. 

6. BR slim straight wool pants. (Maybe with a twist, since ankle length.) 

7. Armour Luxe Breton tee

8. Bernardo midi coat, princess lines. 

9. J. Crew navy merino sweater. 

10. J. Crew red merino sweater. 

11. J. Crew plaid scarf. 

12. Armour Luxe Mariner tee

13. Lord & Taylor charcoal t-neck

14. Boden navy t-neck

15. BR silk/ cashmere crew neck

16. J. Crew denim western shirt

17. Aquatalia riding boot

18. London Fog black trench (why couldn't it be navy??? waaaaaaa)

19. Le Pliage tote

20. Salt cashmere toque

21. J. Crew cabled cashmere crewneck sweater, navy. 

22. Navy moto jacket (navy may make it less classic, but cut is classic)

STYLE OBSERVATIONS:  very little footwear, very few bottoms here. Mostly tops, and most of those tops are knitwear for winter/ cooler temps. Some outerwear, but not a lot. 

This confirms what Angie has told me about my style—that I'm "trendy on the bottom." Also what I knew -- that my footwear tends to be on trend (to a degree at least). Also, my jackets and outerwear tend to be "with a twist." Not truly trendy but also not purely classic.