What I wore today: 11/10/2013 (Roaring)

Last Sunday, we had our all-store holiday meeting. The theme was The Great Gatsby, and we were encouraged to dress up as little or as much as we wanted to suit the theme.

I usually jump at the opportunity to create a costume, but my enthusiasm for putting on fishnets and a fringy dress wavers greatly when it gets cold outside. So, instead of a full-blown flapper costume, I decided to put together a fall outfit that incorporated a 1920s silhouette with the general coziness of tights and boots. I think the ties on this dress are meant to be tide tighter to create a waist, but I like wearing it baggier for more casual 1920s-esque silhouette.

Aren't these boots the greatest? Frye made a limited-edition run back in '09, and I eBay stalked them for three years to no avail. Then the same style just showed up, out of the blue, at Urban Outfitters (where I happen to get a 40% discount!) It was a great moment in the life of a shopper.

I hadn't allowed myself to buy any brown-leather knee-high boots even though my faux-leather ones were absolutely falling apart. No, I wanted the Frye ones and I was going to hold out until I found them. I was going to drop several hundred dollars on them, wear them for the rest of my life, replace their soles when needed, and never buy another pair of brown-leather knee-high boots again. That was the plan. The plan took years of discipline, but the payoff was great.

Listen to me, "years of discipline." I make shopping sound like Kill Bill.

Green tie-waiste dress - Maeve, Anthropologie (old)

Brown tights - Pure and Good, Anthropologie

Lace-up Melissa riding boots - Frye, Urban Outfitters

Burgundy wool cloche hat - Urban Outfitters (old)

Leopard brocade swing coat - Forever 21 (old) last seen here

The Liebster Award

Paulette of Rorschach, Coffee, and 1963 has nominated me for a Liebster award. Thanks, Paulette! The Liebster Award is given to up-and-coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

Apparentely, "liebster" is German and can translate to "dearest" or "beloved."

The rules of the award:
1. Link back to those who nominate you.
2. Answer the 10 questions the nominator has for you.
3. Nominate 5-11 bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Create 10 questions for your nominees.
5. Be sure to notify your nominees.

* * *

THE QUESTIONS PAULETTE ASKED ME:

1. What, or who, inspires you to blog?

My blog is 100% the product of my life, so life is my biggest inspiration. That said, my life and blog are definitely inspired and influenced by other bloggers and artists. Listing all my inspiration sources would be impossible, though, because I'm inspired by about 100 different things every day.

2. Which three songs are at the top of your playlist?

My top three most-played songs are all ones that comfort me when I've had a bad day or am really stressed out: "The Dress Looks Nice On You" by Sufjan Stevens, "Baobabs" by Regina Spektor, and "Gotta Have You" by The Weepies. I think all three of them achieved their most-played status during one particularly stressful quarter of my sophomore year of college. It's been six years since then, but nothing else can touch them in terms of play counts, possibly because nowadays I change up what I'm listening to more often and don't get so stuck on a few songs. 

3. If you could go back in time and be someone else, who would it be, and why?

I'd only do it as a temporary experiment; I definitely wouldn't want to leave my life. But the first thing that comes to mind is that I'd like to live for a week as Marie Antoinette to experience what life at Versailles was really like. Of course, that life would get really tiresome after more than a week, and I'd definitely want to skip out on the whole guillotine thing.

4. Which era of fashion do you feel most inspired by?

Definitely the 1920s, followed closely by the 1960s. They were both periods of breakout feminism and sexual revolution, which was very influential to the fashions of the time. I've written more extensively about it here.

5. What was your most awkward moment?

I honestly can't think of a great moment for this. It's not that I don't get embarrassed, but I usually don't dwell on embarrassing moments, so I end up forgetting them. 

6. What is your favorite movie, and why?

My all-time favorite movie is Amélie, because it is inspiring in every way that a movie can be inspiring. It's visually incredible, and it makes you want to be more open to serendipity and connections with the people all around you. Also, Amélie is a total fictional fashion icon. I wrote about her style here.

7. If you could have the vacation of your dreams, where would you go, and who would you take with you?

Ryan and I would vacation to Paris and it would be like a five-year long vacation. And we'd stay in an apartment, not a hotel. So, basically, we would just live in Paris for five years. 

8. What are the three beauty products you can't live without?

Moisturizer, perfume, and lip balm 

9. What is your favorite day of the week, and why? 

Saturday. I like to wake up a little later than I do on weekdays (but still pretty early) and walk down to the coffee shop. I love my neighborhood on Saturday mornings. Then, I usually either have a lazy afternoon or a productive afternoon (depending on what I'm more in need of that week) and I spend the evening socializing with family or friends over a delicious meal and a few drinks.

10. What was your favorite subject in school?

I loved school, and I had a lot of favorite subjects including fiction writing, biological anthropologie, U.S. womens history, and Shakespeare. 

MY NOMINEES:

THE QUESTIONS FOR MY NOMINEES:

1. Which super power would you choose between flying and invisibility? Why?

2. What's the most memorable outfit you've ever worn?

3. Who are your favorite fictional characters?

4. What's one food that's always best homemade and one food that's always best from the store?

5. If you could only wear one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, which would they be?

6. What is your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate?

7. What's the best theme party you've ever been to, and what theme party would you like to throw?

8. If you opened a food truck, what kind of food would you serve and what would your menu look like?

9. What's the best vacation you've even gone on?

10. What magazines would you subscribe to if money was no object?

How to Cultivate Eclectic Personal Style (a Cheat Sheet)

I was flipping through this book recently, and was struck by the way the author described "eclectic" style. She broke the book down into chapters, each featuring a different style: "Bohemian," "classic," etc. But, when she got to eclectic, she described it as being a combination of different styles.

Basically, you go through life, experimenting, changing your style every few years. Maybe you're a bit punk in high school, but by college you are more Bohemian, and after that you start to get into minimalism. Eventually, you have your own, unique, "eclectic" style comprised of all the best parts of each genre. You kept the leather jacket from your punk phase, and your favorite maxi skirt from your bohemian phase, and now you wear them both with a breton top from your minimalism phase. That's eclectic style!

Wow, I thought, that's such a good description of how personal style can evolve!

I have so many reference points for my own style, from designers to movies to characters in books! Sometimes I full-on embrace the character I'm feeling that day and dress 100% nautical or 100% grunge. But, more often than not, I combine a few seemingly contradictory references into one outfit.

Here are some of my favorite examples from past outfit posts.

Farmer meets Rockabilly

The rockabilly elements of this outfit (leather, nipped-in waist, saddle oxfords) are grounded by the country sensibility of a gingham button-down.

Heidi meets Western

The heidi braids are a nice contrast to the denim-on-denim look of this "Texas tuxedo."

Punk meets Romantic

This is a combination I wear a lot. I love to tone down a tiered dress with a leather jacket or dress up a band tee with a floral skirt. As opposites, these two styles work together in perfect, balanced harmony.

Military meets Garden Party

A casual, olive-green jacket makes a silky floral dress more appropriate for daytime. Add tights, and you've got a way to wear a summer dress in the colder months. 

Casual meets Glamorous

Another great example of how contrasting elements can make an evening piece daytime appropriate: a white t-shirt is the perfect counterpoint to a sequin skirt. 

Sporty meets High Fashion

What can I say? Sometimes, you get the urge to wear Versace to the tennis court. Versace for H&M, but still. 

'20s meets '50s 

Era mixing is a great way to keep vintage clothing from looking like a costume. Here, a '50s cardi gives shape to a fringed flapper dress. 

Happy Halloween!

A pumpkin I spray-painted with metallic paint for a cool decoration

Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween is my second favorite holiday (and was my very favorite as a kid; not because of the candy, but because of the awesome costumes my mom helped me make . . . and because I was obsessed with the idea of witches and magic and still am a little bit).

I'm not wearing a costume today, but I gave myself Halloween nails and chalked my hair just for fun. 

Last weekend, I dressed as a flapper for a costume party. Ryan went as Aladdin and wore these really killer harem pants I made for him. (The photo just doesn't do them justice.)

Tonight, I'm going to a Samhain celebration and ancestors dinner. I'm taking a big crock pot of my French onion soup to honor my paternal grandmother who passed away a couple years ago. I feel really grateful to have this opportunity to remember her and share stories about her with friends, especially since I was unable to go to her funeral which was out of town and coincided with my semi-fianals that year.

Doing watercolor with Memé in Monet's garden in Giverny when I was 14

With Memé looking out over the walls of Langres, our ancestral home, on the same trip

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IFB asks "What's you favorite fashion decade" The '20s and the '60s! Who can decide?

I'm really excited about this week's IFB (Independent Fashion Bloggers) project, inviting us to talk about our favorite fashion decade. For me, the answer is easy. Well, it's easy if I can cheat a little and pick two: the '20s and the '60s. Strangely, I love both decades for the same reason. Allow me to explain.

Style changed drastically in both the '20s and '60s as the result of sexual revolution and a movement toward women's liberation. In both cases, hemlines rose and silhouettes became less constricting.

In the 1920s, the long-anticipated shunning of the corset was incredibly liberating for women. In practical terms, this new shape meant that women could work and play sports more easily. But, there was also a symbolic liberation. Without the hourglass shape to ooze sex appeal, hemlines were raised and legs (rather than a curvy silhouette) became the new symbol of sexiness.

Photo credit: wiki-land.wikispaces.com

Legs show a whole new kind of sex appeal, a liberated kind. You see, an hourglass is sexy because it represents fertility. A woman's bust-to-waist-to-hip ratio is actually a sign of high estrogen, which is why, evolutionarily, men find curves attractive.

So, an hourglass means a woman is sexy because she can reproduce. But legs . . . legs mean a woman is sexy because she is free. She can dance and move and run. The leg-bearing women of the 1920s were a whole new breed of woman: she was liberated, she finally had voter's rights, and, for the first time in history, she could be open about her sexuality as a means of pleasure, not just procreation.

Just look at the difference a few years made in a woman's silhouette. It's one of the most dramatic changes in fashion history, and it reflected a bigger and broader change in women's lives.

Photo credit: star-spangledheart.blogspot.com, debutanteclothing.com

Let's skip ahead to just after World War II, when fabric (once rationed) became plentiful again and Christian Dior introduced the famous "New Look" silhouette. Once again, the hourglass was the thing. Women were praised for being good stay-at-home wives and mothers, and that nipped-in waist was the perfect way to showcase their fertility.

But, in the 1960s a sexual revolution caused silhouettes to change in precisely the same way they had in the '20s, with hemlines rising and legs quite literally stepping in to replace the gap left by the hourglass silhouette. Just look at the difference between Dior's "New Look" and the mod silhouette of the next decade.

Photo credit: superaffiliatelab.com, felicitiesshowroom.blogspot.com

It should be noted that I have nothing against the hourglass shape. I actually love almost every silhouette and every decade of twentieth-century fashion. But, what I really love is that fashion never stagnates. The changes are necessary. That's the evolution in "Fashion is Evolution."

Still, I do find myself more drawn to the flapper look and the mod look of the mid 1960s more than anything else.

In my own wardrobe, I like to mix my vintage taste with modern sensibilities to keep everything fresh. My love of the 1920s usually manifests itself in cloches, t-strap shoes, vintage swing coats, and long strands of knotted pearls.

My love of the 1960s usually manifests itself in a-line mini skirts and mini dresses worn with knee-high boots or clunky heels. In fact, a mini dress with black opaque tights and knee-high boots was my go-to uniform for a night out all through high school and college. At the time, my obsession with Edie Sedgwick was bordering on unhealthy

So, there's the story of my love for the 1920s and the 1960s, and of the remarkable similarities between the two time periods.

By the way, in case you doubt the extent of my Edie Sedgwick obsession, here's a tribute photo shoot I did one Halloween when I dressed up as her:

And the original:

Photo credit: Andy Warhol

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