coffee shop chic

The title of this post is a bit of a nonsequitur, since I don't usually brush my hair, put on makeup, or wear things I like to work. Partially because it is hot and humid and I dislike shorts, and partially because I get coffee grounds, cranberry chutney, whipped cream and gouda on everything I wear on any given day. This leads to a general dissatisfaction with my daily appearance, and a lack of pride in grooming. I feel ok about it.

But in the interest of making this a fashion post, and perhaps in motivating myself to use some of that sense of personal style I keep hearing about, this is a list of a few essential things for working at a coffee shop and keeping your pride (ish).

1. Loose button-ups. 
2. Dark v-neck cotton Ts. Light colors show every caramel syrup spritz, and I am not a t-shirt girl but it isn't really avoidable.
3. Headbands! You have to keep your hair up anyway, and they are the one accessory that doesn't get in the way of anything. Plus I've thrifted so many funky square little scarves this way.
4. The ambiguous-pant. Jeans get hot, you have to wash them when blackberry vinaigrette gets on them every day. They are not practical. Enter: the ambiguous-pant. The legs have to be tapered enough to not be sweatpants, preferably in a bold color or funky print. I never understood this trend, one my younger sister has always widely embraced. Until now. Plus it looks so good to wear them with a loose silk button up and cropped sweater in the fall. Maybe I narrow pj bottoms to make trendy pants from. Maybe not.

1. Lil' cotton shoes.

VOILA! Coffee-shop-chic.

fashion post no. 21 (finals edition)

As per the request of my friend Emma, who sweetly told me this morning that I was rocking Finals Week Style and should write a post, here is the second (whooops) fashion post this week. Yes, being prepared for your tests and papers is the second most important thing, and sanity and peace is the first most important thing, but feeling clean, comfortable and poised is key to both. I have always felt that the most stressful days require the most careful ensembles (if you can't be together on the inside, be together on the outside). Finals week is no exception. But it is also a week where the rules may be broken a little bit, comfort should be taken into consideration, and you don't want to spend time thinking about what to wear if you can be sleeping. So this is my Finals Packing List:

1. Sweaters. A long, thick, sweater-coat thing that can be thrown over leggings and other sweaters, a short and wide cotton or cashmere thin sweater to be worn as a shirt-type, and a warm wool pullover that comes down past your hips.

2. Layers. The Coat is key, because you will throw it on to flee the door and scurry off to your test across campus, and it just started snowing here. Long, wide, big coat is best. Like a wool bathrobe but for outside. The Down Vest is my number two, because I wear it over everything with the thought (perhaps small) that the bigger my clothes look the smaller I look. Not always true, but true enough for finals week.

3. Leggings. Thick leggings, black, to be tucked into boots or worn with your little ankles showing above flats. This way, all day is also a bit like wearing pajamas.*

4. Cute shoes. I have been wearing colorful flats or loafers every day as a nod to the coming of Winter and to lend a "oh, I totally planned this ensemble" air to my not-planned-ensemble. 

fashion post no. 20

Things keeping me bright and merry:

1. My 6-pack of multi color oversized Target dot earrings.

2. My Turquoise and Red wool Navajo-pattern scarf (from my apartment's secret santa - danke schoen Molly!)

3. My electric blue blazer-cut wool coat. Best thrifting find of the winter, it was floor-length but I hand-stitched the hem to hit just above my knees and it somehow goes with everything. And it's tailored sharply, so I feel like I could be in Paris or London walking around Wheaton.

4. Those red Hunter shortie wellies I bought this summer. Apparently, these are always a good investment. I cannot wait for snow so I can start wearing my tall green wellingtons again - but it is still sunny and warmish here.

fashion post no. 19

 I have come a long way this semester in blending my penchant for crazy, dramatic style with practicality and comfort. 

Perhaps this is because I have been transitioning this year towards quality pieces and practicality, and am still learning to dress from a closet about half the size that it has been since high school. My shoes are all more clogs, birkenstocks, and sturdy boots than heels and flats, and I actually have a few pairs of jeans that I like wearing. What a revelation! For the first time in years I understand why people wear jeans. I have been admiring the style of my friend Anna, who somehow manages to layer scarves, cotton dresses or t-shirts, jeans, socks and warm sweaters and still look cute.

 So the above (plus socks) has become my favorite default uniform. I bought a few size XL gray boyfriend v-neck t shirts at Target and cannot believe I have been living my life without them. Still, I cannot escape my standard skinny-on-bottom wide-cut-on-top silhouette (which comes from me having long little legs and a short round top). I don't know if I will ever get out of it.

sort-of fashion post no. 18

I dragged my two winter suitcases out from behind the bed last night, flopped everything in a pile on my floor, and tried to sort through. The coats needed to be hung up (I filled a few pockets with lavender to freshen everything up) in our coat closet, some of the scarves needed to be given away, gloves found their buddies, and I had do decide how I could stack a pile of thick wool sweaters in my already perilous upper-shelves.

I know, I know, it is hardly even October, but I had just patted myself on the back for getting rid of some things and having such a tidy, simplified closet. Then I remembered... I have three more suitcases of winter-y things. And, eventually, it will get colder. It is always better to get things out and have them tidy and ready then wake up one morning to sleet and find yourself without a coat in the vacinity.

That's right, yes, one suitcase is still unpacked in basement storage. But still.

The thing is, I get easily overwhelmed with STUFF, and am forever trying to simplify. I'm getting better at thrifting practical, sturdy things instead of wild floor-length ballgowns. And I finally gave away a few pairs of shoes that I have been holding on to for years but never wear. And of course there is the tickling in the back of my mind that says "you are moving in December to somewhere else on campus, and then moving in May to somewhere far away. do you need all this?" And everyone has so much of it! I thought my roommate Liz, who is a lovely guru type of girl, would only own a small handful of practical, organic inter-matcheable items like some sort of closet savante. But no! She has as much stuff as I do, just a different style!

So. I have mostly unpacked to prepare for the coming chill of Autumn. Which I love. Sometimes I wish someone with really simple, great style would come and just clean out my closet when I am gone, getting read of everything they think is ridiculous or out of character with my regular style. Then I wouldn't know what I was missing!

fashion post no. 17

Leather shoulder backpacks

Pull-on riding boot trompers

Denim dresses

Army-surplus canvas anoraks

sketch of the week

This is substituting for the normal "sketch of the week" post which has been rrrrrrrrgh missing practically for months. I still have to get on over to the MacEvans dormitory and use their scanner to get sketches from my various notebooks onto my email. One of these days.

Still, this is sort of a sketch of the week, as I did sketch (sharpie) these designs for this project.

Which was . . . embroidery!!!

I thrifted a big bag of new embroidery thread for a dollar fifty the other day, along with an oval embroidery hoop (so much easier a shape to work with than the circles!). I had the intention of embroidering crazy floral knee patches on a pair of raspberry-pink jeans I have, to evoke the BEST pair of jeans I have ever owned, a wildly embroidered and bleached pair purchased at Bik-Bok in Norway when I was fifteen. The pink top picture is the flowers en-route (now completed, and worn with many compliments yesterday). And the lower picture is a Mary Oliver quote that I am embroidering on a plain pillow cover for one of our couches. I just sketched the outline of what I wanted to embroider in a sharpie just a shade darker than the color of the fabric, and went to work!

I think I am going to embroider lots of philosophy on things around the apartment now. 

"And here are the pines, that will never fail, until death, the instruction to be green." Mary Oliver

fashion post no. 17

There is a 10-40 percent chance of rain or thunderstorms every day, but it is still warm enough out that a jacket is unnecessary, big rainboots are too sticky and hot, and a blister on my heel is preventing me from wearing real shoes. 

Thank goodness for ankle boots that are water proof, and clogs that elevate me out of puddles.

Damp wooden heels,
and daisies, and umbrellas,
and still there is heat. It sinks
like stones from the sky
lit by lightning, warming the earth from above,
and below. Where is Autumn?

fashion post no. 16 (how to look good in august)

(photo via The Sartorialist)

(photo via Pinterest)

(photo via Karla's Closet

I have carefully considered this question in the past week, spent in a warm apartment and 9o degree weather with humidity, and I have come to the conclusion that it really cannot be done. C'est vraiment impossible.

You cannot look good in August heat. No matter how crisp your white shirt, how billowy your thin cotton dress, or how strappy your sandals, an air of stickiness and weariness will prevail.  I am closing my eyes against it all and waiting for September, and crispness, and cardigans.

fashion post no. 15

Things going on this summer:

Crazy, wild geometric and adventurous sunglasses. I love the thick retro-inspired ones that evoke 60's fashion shoots. 

I've also been seeing a lot of leather ankle boots with socks cuffed over them and paired with shorts. Hmmm. In London these were worn with tights in addition (everyone wore tights with shorts in London - eew). In California they are worn with tan, tan legs. 

Thinking of bringing both trends back to school with me in the fall - we shall see what happens there. I love love love these maroon suede boots and those shades pictured above.

the summer of london

 

My staples for the summer, as always, are not necessarily what I initially plan when I pack. I have worn, constantly:

My striped 3/4 length cotton t-shirts

My black high-waisted pocket skirt

My baggy light blue and cream Ralph Lauren cotton cardigan

My navy button up with pockets

I probably could have packed only these things and a pair of jeans and been fine the whole trip - but who ever knows these things in advance? Eight weeks seemed like a long time when I was fitting it all in one suitcase.

It is hot hot hot here, on the news in fact, and there are people (me) swinging on a rope swing into the flooded river Isis in the evenings. All the rain and chill of the last few weeks have disappeared in a glare of sunshine. I even took a cold bath tonight to escape the mugginess of our third-floor dorm. But, thanks to the handiness at the way things work learned from my father, mother and brother, I figured out how to jimmy my window all the way open and finally have a breeze!

the british femme

The four things every British girl (apparently) has, and other observations:

1) A Cath Kidston oilcloth purse or wallet. I was tipped off to this before I came, and lo and behold! Cath Kidston is more adorable, unique, feminine and lovely than the American Vera Bradley brand. The dots are my favorite of their prints.

2) Blazers. Men and women alike, everyone in London is wearing a blazer. Over dresses, over skirts, with flip flops or boots or loafers, with jeans and under raincoats - perhaps a remnant of the old formalities.

3) A sailor-print, lace, or animal print (by that I mean printed with actual animals, ie dogs or birds or zebras, not just the pattern of cheetah or zebra or giraffe you see most of the time) vintage-esque summer dress. Not sure how I feel about this, as they all seem to be on the awfully short side.

4) Hunter rainboots, especially in bright colors or the limited edition prints (seen above). But we knew about this already.

fashion post no. 13: paris

Trendy jeans, bright tops, bright bags, black flats . . . all with a little bit of euro-flash: funky designer sunglasses here, high-waisted shorts there, and everywhere Lacoste polos. Photographs all taken perched on a tree-buffer rail outside the St. Germain des Pres metro station.

fashion post no. 11 (the boxer)

My mother, my sister and I all really love a good crisp cotton boxer short. For over-swimwear, for pajamas, the prints are cuter than anything you see in women's PJ or short prints, and we were raised with a devotion to 100% cotton.  So I have been trying to figure out if I can make the fashion leap from pajamas to daywear, something my mother rocked with a pair of blue-and-white stripe boxers, a crisp men's button up, and penny loafers in college.

It is so hot here now that trousers aren't practical (I really don't love wearing shorts in general, see fashion post no. 9) and I am trying to figure out how to make summerwear more fun than khaki shorts and a t-shirt. Plus I only packed two dresses. Really, boxers are a far more practical option than the printed silk hotpant shorts that are all over VOGUE and pinterest.

So, adventurous me, following in my mother's footsteps, will endeavor to iron a pair of boxers tonight and wear them in humid Chicago tomorrow with loafers and a button up. Scandalous? Ridiculous? Preppy? We shall see . . . 

(Ok, so clearly it is the end of the week and my brain is woozy from Romantic and Arthurian literature and quizzes. At some point the post content quality shall be raised . . .)

mother-daughter wedding weekend

Just finished Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and I am sitting on my cozy bed in the room I am staying in, glad to have my feet off of my bike pedals and without any more reading (for tonight at least). 

Tomorrow after Shakespeare class (hence the reading) I am hauling a pile of literature and a the little red and blue leather duffel I stole from my mother on a road trip down to St. Louis for my friend Ellie's wedding. It seems as though all of my mother's good friends from Wheaton have daughters there now, many of whom I am friends with, but Ellie (daughter of mom's good friend Brookie, whom she went on Wheaton in England with in 1984) is my favorite at Wheaton.

And she is getting married! However, I haven't been to a wedding in a few years (several receptions, but no full-blown, day-of, rehearsal dinner, ceremony and cake and dancing weddings) and had a bit of a time deciding what to wear. 

I am sure I've read rules somewhere in an etiquette book (no black, no white, etc) but wedding attire protocol is tricky - how formal is formal? Evening weddings are usually the most formal (this is an evening wedding) but that can still range from cute dress and heels to black tie.

The above looks are essentially what was settled on - sleek linen shift for mom (with completely adorable satin and clear plastic kitten heel shoes - they sound strange but trust me. I'll post a picture.) And fifties-style print dress with heels for me. 

Anyway, dressing concerns aside, I have never been to St. Louis, and we are spending the whole weekend, so I am excited to poke my nose out from behind the books and explore a new city.

I'll let you know how it goes (and what everyone wore).

beautiful clothing (fashion post no. 10)

Oscar de la Renta

Isabel Marant

Tim Walker

These are a few things I love, which are beautifully designed and photographed and why I continue to just revel in lovely clothing. Don't you want to try them all on and go for a wild and colorful boating tea party, or have sandwiches and cake in the grass under large Turkish tent canopies? Colors, colors, colors and all those prints!

fashion post no. 9

1. The Linen Shirt
2. The Blazer
3. The Clog (or clog-derived) Sandal

Pair these things with cropped trousers, skinny jeans, an A-line skirt or your favorite shorts. My red leather and wood mary-jane strap clogs are currently making every outfit a winner. I'd love them whether or not they happened to be in style, but as they are right now (very much so) more power to my cute little feet!

back to the basics

I don't know why it is that I so love dresses that are essentially just short and wide rectangles of fabric, but it really is my favorite look - with tights in winter and breezy bare legs in summer. Perhaps it is because I am so short-waisted and thereby have a difficult time finding a dress that has a waist at just the right place and fit, or perhaps it is because I just don't like wearing tight things. Regardless, the thing to be wearing as a student right now, of either sex but especially for girls, is little oxford lace up shoes in just about every color and make. Sadly, I did own a pair of darling gray suede oxfords the summer after high school but had to return them do to extreme heel blisters. 

But I need to find a dependable pair of leather shoes to run around England in, and now I must decide: do I like the oxfords or loafers better? Both look cute with the sack dresses I wear almost daily . . .

stripe it all

I was reading an old Garance Doré blog post about her closet essentials, which included great tips like basic silk shirts to wear with everything (but she also loves gray jeans - something I cannot get my head around) and the mention that her closet is full of striped tops, she being French and all. I thought immediately, who would have a closet full of stripes? Then I looked in my closet.

Me. Me would have a closet full stripes. Dresses, shirts, sweaters - no striped pants because, while I think they are cool on others, I feel like a clown girl in them. The thing is, they look good, and they look good with a lot. Black and white stripes are great with any bright color, navy and white are perfect with red, brown, and honey-beige, and striped espadrilles are perfect with everything from a sundress to jeans and a blazer. To be fair, I have always loved stripes, and my mother before me - the love began with an Oilily multi-stripe cotton pullover top that I stole from her for most of high school and which is still the most perfect shirt in the world. 

In my mind my closet is navy blue, 

plain as the sidewalk. But then one day,

I slid the door open and realized

that everything I owned was really stripes - 

some so fine they looked solid - 

and now I feel summer breathing down the streets.
And the wind seems to be filling invisible sails 
and my stripes are chanting for sunshine.

the shorts question

It has happened again - warm weather is coming and coming to stay, bit by bit, and in a few weeks it will be time for me to iron my shorts left crumpled too long in storage and try to figure out how to wear them. Which, I must say, every summer seems to be more of a challenge. In High School it was possible to wear the shortest jean shorts and a little blouse every day, no problem. But I don't have tan, swimming-toned 16 year-old legs anymore, and while my legs are still my favorite feature they are just too pale to do daisy dukes.

 If you have any kind of derriere, the longer, high-waisted retro shorts are terrible because they nip in your waist and expand your behind too much. I fear a graphically printed short because I feel like they are so hard to wear without looking overly preppy or overly circular. Linen shorts bunch, wrinkle, and can't hold up under any kind of impromptu summer adventures. What do I do? What do Sloane Rangers do?

They probably just never wear shorts - only Laura Ashley summer dresses. 

My ideal pair of shorts would be navy blue, heavy cotton, with front and back pockets, higher waisted but not high waisted, and somehow tight in the waist and top but not in the leg (without having them be mini goucho pants). Is this possible? I feel like they are maybe the shorts in the top left of this collage.

Then whatever do I wear with them? Sigh. Tant pis. C'est la vie. Au revoir.