Retail Recovery

find me

2008-09-20T09:57:00.004-05:00

presently i can be found at Want & Worth, a site where i debate the conflict between what i want and what things are worth, and generally explore how i will proceed with consuming fashion in a way that satisfies my needs and wants (which includes maintaining a small wardrobe).

i am also always at Up and Down Town, an illustrated on-line journal of musings and observations, featuring mostly fictional fashion, presented as individual cartoons, meant to be enjoyed as a continuous story that gets updated 5 days
a week.

Walk a mile

2008-09-10T21:27:00.002-05:00

what do you think?

if you were forced to wear an outfit that you had not liked on someone else, would you gain appreciation for it in some way, or dislike it more?

yesterday i underestimated how bad i'd feel today. next new post will be on monday.

+/-

2008-09-09T20:00:00.001-05:00

name one thing you would add or subtract here (you can't do both).

Humiliating

2008-09-08T20:08:00.004-05:00

when someone steps out in a garish outfit that is utterly bizarre and pushes the envelope, observers might wonder what possesses someone to dress in such a way. "what was s/he thinking? they have all the choices in the world, they wear that?!"

but what of the pride of clothing? the beautiful things that are out there, hanging on hangers, or lying on shelves, waiting for a day out. hoping for a fun time, nice weather, compatible friends.

if clothing had feelings, what would it not want to do?

If/then

2008-09-07T06:44:00.002-05:00

i love deadlines. i work best under pressure. and i'm always most productive in the eleventh hour. but work is work, and shopping is not.

If you shopped the way you worked, then how would that go?

Either or

2008-09-04T22:42:00.005-05:00

while interacting with a sales person (right then - no time to remedy the problem!!):

1. would you rather be wearing ill-fitting pants, or noisy shoes?

2. would you rather have bad skin or bad breath?

Size matters

2008-09-03T22:23:00.009-05:00

speaking of belts, when i was selecting mine, i felt i was dangerously close to cliché territory: my choices were skinny belt, medium belt, wide belt. yes, in every imaginable color, but since i already knew i wanted black, the choice really came down to these 3 widths. i got bored with staring at my options, realizing that i was admiring more than deciding and just instinctively grabbed one.

it's the perfect belt for me (i can say with certainty now that i've held it up to all my clothes). a teeny tiny part of me was disappointed that i went with a medium width, wondering if i had wimped out. but the medium will actually serve my style, needs and imagination the longest. the beauty of the belt lies in the material, the quality, the simplicity, and not the neutrality of the belt (and by "neutrality" here i do not mean a high probability of compatibility. i mean "middle of the road").

and while i am not someone who would ever consciously aim for middle-of-the-road (frankly, i prefer to be off on the shoulder, sartorially speaking), it raised questions for me. what would make an item be defined as a style neutral? merely not being an extreme? merely not being trendy? is "trendy" applied to anything that is painfully, nauseatingly popular? if i had found this belt a year ago or 5, or 10, it would have been perfect for me. the appeal of it is not based on ephemeral and fictional standards of rightness. i do not like "in" and "out" lists since the very existence of the list is what makes the definition (things are not "in" or "out" until they are on the list - and then their status only matters to list makers and list readers. that's my theory anyway.).

is being unpopular the only way for an item to not be trendy?

do all items have a "middle of the road" option for people to retreat to when they (pants, blazers, hemlines, etc.) are rendered in "trendy" styles?

Bring it on

2008-09-02T21:22:00.005-05:00

i had come to accept that i was not one to wear a belt. i gave up on belts. i no longer owned a belt.

yesterday i bought a belt.

would you rather (if you had a choice) make peace with items you are conflicted about by mastering them, or find a way to move on?

The best laid schemes...*

2008-09-01T20:02:00.006-05:00

a friend recently washed a new dress.
100% cotton.
she let it air dry.
now she has a new top.

when a new item disappoints, do you blame yourself, or do you blame the manufacturer/retailer/designer?

(*Gang aft agley - from "To a mouse" - r. burns)

Hit me

2008-08-31T20:54:00.004-05:00

love when i have something that i like sooo much, i want more of it, but hate that i suspect some of that is a desire for insurance, like having a spare tire. thing is, with a spare tire, you know that until we're all using hover crafts, the tire will not become obsolete. so, essentially, there is zero risk in investing in a spare tire, but a lot of gain (general peace of mind and good odds that you'll need it some time). now, with clothing, one item you buy now may not appeal to you in a year - so buying 2 in no way guarantees anything, except that you have 2. i'm a romantic. when i buy, i assume that i'm in for the long haul. experience has shown me that this just isn't the case, or experience would show me this if i chose to reflect, but i don't. and so the temptation to doubly invest when i find something i like, and buy 2, is always there (when it's an option). and it's so weird when i do lose love for something. there is a shift, ever so subtle (since i could never pinpoint when it happens) and suddenly something is not quite right with the once-beloved-jacket-top-tee-skirt-dress. this doesn't always happen. to be sure, this isn't the norm, but i don't think i could truly predict which items will and which items will not succumb...to the shift.

is there anything in your closet right now that you would be willing to bet you will love exactly as much as you do right now, next year?

Swap

2008-08-30T15:15:00.002-05:00

pick at least one item (on each) you would swap between these two outfits.

EDIT

2008-08-29T12:34:00.002-05:00

i was very tired when i quickly wrote up the last post, so i wanted to add a little clarification. the question is would you want to choose the price you would pay now, for something you will want to buy next year. it is likely, for example, that you would want to buy a pair of shoes in 2009 or 2010. would you be comfortable now agreeing to the amount you will pay for the shoes later? i suppose it's a combined issue of predicting both your value for the item, and the value of the item, in a year or two from now. let's not even say that it's a specific pair. this does not have to do with delayed gratification of seeing shoes (or a bag, or a jacket, etc.) that you want, and having to wait. this is about deciding/committing now to a price or value for stuff you will want in a year or two.

Predictability

2008-08-28T22:50:00.005-05:00

a "future," in financial terms, is a contract to buy or sell something in the future at a price you set today.

would you want to pay today, or agree upon a price today, for an item you will then have to buy next year?

One way or another

2008-08-27T21:56:00.006-05:00

advertisers, my on-again, off-again nemesis. always hunting me. the other day, on a random website (reeeaaalllly random for bergdorf's to be on) that i've never been on before ... there was a banner ad for them. not only that, but it was specifically linked to handbags. it felt like BG was not targeting the audience for this site, they were targeting me.
normally i sit on the subway and rue getting stuck in a budweiser-sponsored car. nothing to look at for 10 stops except close-ups of perspiring beer bottles.
sometimes when i flip through a magazine and see some of the ads, i wonder, "do they even know who i am?" but perhaps what i ought to reevaluate is why i chose that magazine, since the signs are telling me we're not meant to be. when the ad doesn't fit, does that mean i'm out of my element?

do most of the ads you encounter address your interests/needs?

Feel the burn

2008-08-26T22:02:00.010-05:00

some positively honest answers yesterday.
quite often i rationalize that someone who doesn't want things is quite lucky. not wanting things is very different from buying what you want. in the latter, there is still want.
people with far more money than i have do still experience want. sometimes i take comfort in this, since it's easy to think "oooooo, if i had $X, i could buy Y" and feel as though the $ solution would solve something. but in truth, there would still be want, in which case, i'm as wealthy as a rich counterpart.
but i realized the other day that i like to keep lust alive and well in my heart. i find things that are out of reach to adore and obsess over. i don't have to. i could easily aim lower and achieve contentment. but with these things, it's about enjoying the fixation. i like to marvel at beauty, admire and study a design, daydream about possession. on the occasions when i've been lucky enough to buy the things i was lusting after, i've had to replace the want of those things with a want for something else, so that i could continue to good pain of lust.
in movies, there are different stages to a kiss - i've always thought that the best most absolutely perfect moment was... well, no, there are actually 2 really great parts in my opinion - one, the pursuit of it, and two, the second right before it happens.
the items i enjoy and value the most are ones i anticipated, hoped for, coveted, and eventually got.

at what level are you most comfortable wanting?

Wisen up

2008-08-26T06:21:00.004-05:00

purely fashion-wise, which would you rather:

to be able to buy whatever you want OR not experience want?

To have and to hold

2008-08-24T22:17:00.006-05:00

despite a popular stance among some that fashion is a trivial pursuit, i understand, if not why, definitely how i love clothes. perfect clothes. they are like a language to me - for an inner dialog. when i find perfection, it fills a spot in my head. like a missing puzzle piece. it completes something in me because it embodies an idea(l) or thought. to find "words" for things that are in my head.... total satisfaction (there is only total satisfaction if i buy it, i should clarify). i feel the same way when i find wonderful, brilliant thoughts or ideas, communicated through language, but those i can own and experience merely by discovering them. i do not feel the same way about other things, like views/landscapes, or music, though i do know that these are powerful things to others.

i love everything i own and have the perfect thing to wear whenever i want to, for any and every day. but even with this level of practical contentment, i do stumble upon perfection occasionally, new perfection, and then i love it. and want it. it is not about a complete and useful wardrobe, it is about the pleasure of the perfection. unless i stop finding perfection, i will not stop my want. my want, however, no longer exists before the find. absolutely now i do not have have desire without a target first. i am not restless, maybe because i already have more than i need - but i know there is always more to want.

when do you feel greedy?

Sober up

2008-08-22T23:10:00.004-05:00

not talking about fit, fabric, or color, but rather some other deterrent, something unrelated to the item itself, something independent of the product, that squashed the urge to buy (something internal) -

when was the last time something stopped you in your tracks?

weekends are quiet. new post on monday

Storytime

2008-08-20T22:19:00.004-05:00

designers have inspiration, have muses, have themes. they have their intentions, but then they send their ideas out on to the runway, and it's your turn to interpret their work, and decide what you see.

who is she, and where is she going?

Deviate

2008-08-20T22:15:00.003-05:00

1. if you saw a runway collection exclusively featuring barefooted models, you would think ____

2. if you saw a runway collection exclusively featuring 40+year old models, you would think ____

3. if you saw a runway collection where models did their own hair and makeup, you would think ____

+/-

2008-08-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

name one thing you would add or subtract here (you can't do both).

Random route

2008-08-18T21:36:00.003-05:00

listening to a subway musician today, i wondered about her ambition and potential for success. with the right producer and promoter, would she be famous? there are a lot of successful singers with less talent who rise to the top...
i tend to prefer labels with a single designer, rather than a brand with a revolving door of nameless faces. i like a designer with a personal and consistent vision, a label that means something to him/her. something they built up from nothing.

do you think one of the world's greatest designers might be toiling away somewhere in obscurity, without enough assistance, determination or opportunities to be elevated?

do you think that in fashion, we are getting the best? most deserving of fame and accolades?

Q&A

2008-08-17T19:35:00.006-05:00

1. if you're going to bump into a much-hated enemy, which would you prefer, that you both look awful or you both look phenomenal?

2. you get up to the counter with an item you have decided to buy and discover that it costs 50% more than you thought it did (was erroneously placed on a 33%-off sale rack). do you still buy it?

3. for a job interview, would you rather mispronounce the interviewer's name, or be dressed much better than she is?

Fashion Idyll

2008-08-15T18:45:00.010-05:00

i know we wear clothing for our day, but what if you could pick a day for your clothes?

an ideal day in clothes for me would entail waking up early, but without an alarm clock. waking up because i'm done sleeping and ready to go.
get dressed right away.
have breakfast.
oh, i should add that it's cool outside, in the 60s, and very very cloudy.
go out for a slow, aimless walk, passing by stores with displays that intrigue me but do not seduce.
stop in a cafe where someone has left a fantastic magazine or paper at an empty table, and i enjoy it over lunch but leave it there when i'm done. (the genius here is that i don't have to carry it around.)
walk home slowly.
a strong rainstorm starts just after i get inside, and it lasts throughout the evening and night.
i climb into bed for a nap.
wake up.
have dinner.
take a shower.
watch the rain for a long long time.
have dessert.
go to bed.

to wear your very favorite things, what type of day would you structure?

Take a gamble

2008-08-14T08:49:00.002-05:00

when i went to college, i was assigned a roommate that freshman year. i assumed that the computer's aim was to use the answers i provided in the questionnaire i filled out, to select, out of alllllll the incoming students in my year, the perfect roommate for me. custom-fit. hand-picked. the couture of roommate-dom.

or, come to think of it, maybe it selected us for one another because we were both liars, having misrepresented ourselves by saying wildly inventive things about ourselves on that questionnaire, choosing adjectives like quiet, studious, responsible. either way, it worked out great, love her to bits, wouldn't want to live without her now.

of these two, which would you prefer:

to have a wardrobe composed of items selected totally at random for you, and refreshed every 3 months

OR

to keep your current wardrobe and live with it, unchanging, for 2 years?

Inspiration

2008-08-12T22:13:00.003-05:00

a few days ago i had a comment on my other blog from anairam about courage. courage to wear what we want to. i've thought about it some more and truthfully, i would say that i don't have courage, i have comfort... comfort in wearing whatever i want to. i always think that i look "normal" but i have good friends who assure me otherwise. i guess i always look "normal" for me...or to me. either, or both, are all i care about.

here are 2 people who were gorgeously talented. their respective beauty was both distorted for the sake of their art, and heightened by their genius.

buster keaton

lucille ball

Who is the competition

2008-08-11T23:10:00.004-05:00

when you look at a designer's most recent collection, which do you more often look at it in relation to, the same label's past work, or other designers' current collections?

$35.98

2008-08-10T23:23:00.002-05:00

in the 13th century, the famous thomas aquinas (aka saint thomas aquinas) wrote, "if a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several." but the proverb "cleanliness is next to godliness", seems to trump auinas' logic in my bathroom, since i have, at the moment, seven conditioners in rotation. i rely daily on exactly 3 separate products for my face, and three others for my shower routine, yet my "medicine" cabinet is full of far more than 6 items total. it's not a total mess, but it could use some sorting, and i know for sure that there are unused items lingering in there.

i gathered a small number of items from my closet this weekend (i do not know how i can continue to find unwanted and unused items when i swear, i don't have that much to begin with) and took them to the usual thrift store where i got $35.98 for the bundle. a fair exchange for things i had no use for, but i kind of think that by taking them out of my closet, i am losing the warning/lessons they held. they were reminders of mistakes, and keeping the reminders might have staved off a repeat of the mistakes. of course getting rid of the evidence is more appealing, so off they went.

now i really need to go through my bathroom, but without the cash incentive, i am definitely less motivated. i always hold on to travel-size products, and then never pack them when the times comes because they are too big or too small for the length of trip ahead of me, or else i'm not in the mood to use them. why keep them then? my modest collection of non-essential toiletries makes me wonder if i've been similarly lax in my closet purge?

1. would you rather keep past mistakes around if their presence guaranteed never repeating the mistake again?

2. does the state of your medicine cabinet in any way correspond to your closet?

Quick psa

2008-08-09T23:08:00.007-05:00

just a few things to catch up on, respond to some comments left, etc.
mmmmmm, if i had a choice, in response to my last post, i think i would want prices ordered high to low. i have a feeling this would lead me to choose/want something more expensive rather than have me be grateful to find something in an affordable range though. but i would rather that than walking uphill, so to speak, in the price climb and get overwhelmed with the steep prices. shouldn't matter, i suppose, if the price range is the same in either scenario, but the mind is a mysterious thing.

as for the shorter trip i took last week, definitely it turned out (ah, hindsight!) that the unpredictable weather forecast and the unknown itinerary were the factors that left me totally at a loss as to what to pack.

a few bloggers left comments last month to tag me for a pass-along q&a tag thingamegig. love! love! love to be included/asked, but not sure this blog is the right venue for my off-topic musings (ha! current post notwithstanding). perhaps a future blog...

did i forget anything?

enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Where to begin

2008-08-08T22:43:00.002-05:00

if you had a choice, would you rather a store organize its merchandise from lowest to highest price, or the other way around (highest to lowest), in terms of what order you encounter the items in the store?

Earn it

2008-08-07T22:17:00.007-05:00

i received a purse 5 years ago. last year i bought another from the same store. after 4 years, i bought with relative confidence. after one year with the new purse, there was a leeetle problem. color transfer. i brought the purse back, after a year, mind you, and they replaced it. decent service but some would say, and have said, that it shouldn't have happened in the first place. truthfully, it has given me pause. i will wait another 5(ish) years before considering another purse. this newer one will have to (re)earn my interest in the brand.

this wait and see approach, however, is not my typical m.o. it is easily enough practiced with something like a bag, which i regard as a staple, a standard, a regular, a recurring character, etc. but with other items, multiplication is the norm, and i don't wait a year to see if a pair of pants will be so indispensable as to warrant a second of the same. of course, that wouldn't be terribly practical anyway since it would be nearly (there are always exceptions) impossible to find the exact same pair of pants a year later even if i wanted to. but if i did have a pair that i loved, that brand would warrant priority investigation the following year, or whenever need arose for a replacement.

How long do you wait for a brand or store to earn your repeat business/loyalty?

Match

2008-08-06T22:27:00.005-05:00

limited to these choices, match the adjective to the articles as you'd prefer to wear them (you can use each adjective only once):

1. hair ___
2. jackets ___
3. friends ___
4. glasses ___
5. belts ___

a. affordable
b. secure
c. flattering
d. easy
e. multiple

Made to order

2008-08-05T09:00:00.003-05:00

i have this ring, i found it in a design store - i don't know what else to call it. the owners curated a wide range of objects ranging from tea pots to candelabras, and the range included vintage items and brand new pieces. everything in there oooooozed cool design. and the prices were very unpredictable. $400 for a vintage glass pitcher, $12 for a new stapler, $70 for a beautiful end table.

so my ring, it looks like a glob of vanilla. it's a big glob. i remember circling the display that held it several times, unable to walk away. it wasn't anything i had thought of getting before, just a spontaneous, "hello gorgeous" moment. these moments are always bigger than i am, and they have 3 possible outcomes. well, 2 outcomes really (either i buy it or i don't), but 3 explanations. either the item is prohibitively expensive (that stops me most of the time), it doesn't fit, or it's perfect. willpower cannot be depended on. i figured it was harmless to look at the ring because i could count on price or fit ruling it out if need be.

it fit perfectly and was reasonably priced. reasonable to someone infatuated is a highly subjective value, but fit is fact. and the fact that this glob fit my "cute, fat fingers" as my mom calls them (i will unnecessarily and vainly add that my hands don't really match my overall body, but i very much like them because they are good strong hands, and hands are for doing. but i digress), was a total surprise. vintage fingers must have been very very tiny because vintage rings certainly are. usually. this glob, the owner could tell me nothing about, other than it made the cut and was worthy of their shop. probably something from the 60s or 70s. i guess the hippies had fat hands. this glob fits all my fingers, which never ever happens, and i love that. so this singular ring feels totally made for me, even though it wasn't. it's not the same as jeans that we break in and make our own. or an item that we build a history into by attributing its patina to a series of experiences we've had while wearing it. this one was mine before i even paid the price.

do you own anything that felt meant for you?
are there details or features that clinched it for you?

per request, my ring - found it impossible to get an accurate picture though:

Odd

2008-08-03T19:57:00.006-05:00

odd that i am having as hard a time packing for a 3 day trip this week as i did for my 3 week trip last month. the restriction of limited space/needs confounds me in a different way than the need for an optimum selection of variety did.

why?

Q&A

2008-08-02T22:14:00.008-05:00

1. true or false, if someone offered you two times whatever you paid for it, you would sell them your favorite item of clothing. three times?

2. when you change out of the first outfit you put on in favor of an alternative ensemble, the number one reason that makes you want to change in the first place is ______.

3. if you have three pairs of shoes that could go with an outfit, you will most often choose the pair that is ______.

4. which would you rather, have a boutique near you closed down, or have a specific boutique open up (near you)?

ps i haven't had time to respond to comments the way i would like to, but i do read every single one and they always give me something to think about. thank you.

Visualizing

2008-07-31T23:11:00.003-05:00

i've been having memory lapses lately. very short term, along the lines of walking into the kitchen and then forgetting what i wanted from there. very annoying.

if someone removed an item of clothing from your closet, let's say not one you were going into the closet to get, would you notice?

Fine lines

2008-07-30T23:04:00.003-05:00

tan lines, underwear lines, bra straps.

i recall a fellow dancer mocking me for wearing underwear with my leotard in our ballet class. i was all of 4 i think. the underwear showed along the edges of the leg, naturally. what on earth did it matter if my underwear was visible while i danced around my bear, for cryin' out loud?!

i have to admit, i never really developed an underwear phobia, so ripe already in this other kid's mind. i never wear underwear with a waistband higher than the one on my pants or skirt, and i guess i avoid clothing so tight so as to provide a virtual x-ray of my underwear, but i don't lose sleep over the thought of revealing lines and i don't buy stringy things to wear in lieu of underwear. the worst thing that could happen, i figure, is that someone might be able to ascertain merely from looking at me that i am someone who wears underwear. i'm really okay with that type of a reputation.

a few weeks prior to the wedding i went to a short while ago, i became a bit conscious of the footwear-to-be. i was going to wear very open, strappy flats to the wedding. but i was spending my summer days often, though not exclusively, in converse high tops, and short sun dresses. you can see quite clearly i was facing a tan-line dilemma. in the end i decided, (censored)! and while in the end there was no sharp contrasting color clash on my limbs (and i was glad of it), the threat of one did cross my mind.

after clothing is carefully picked,

do you go out of your way to address the other issues?

Quack

2008-07-28T22:43:00.005-05:00

some clothes are loved and worn to bits. some clothes get under-appreciated and then are reborn as vintage, thrifted and worshipped by a new owner (who then loves and wears them to bits).

some people peak early... and then have nowhere to go but down.
but even those who peak later, like the fabled duckling, don't then remain a perfect swan forever, do they?

that's the thing about a peak...

do you believe that style can peak? has yours?

Ready-to-wear

2008-07-28T21:12:00.005-05:00

some items come fabulous. they just are independently wonderful, and easily appreciated by anyone with eyes, either due to their design, tailoring, details, whatever, or their fame (any "it" bag or any heavily promoted or editorialized item, for example). wearing these items requires nothing more of you than just showing up. in them. and then you get some of the credit for their fabulousness, which you actually deserve, to a degree, for having chosen them.

there are some items, on the other hand, that require more of a contribution from you if they are to realize their full potential. some items are simply simple, while some are actually blank slates, waiting to be filled in. (the "picture" above is blankness.)

the majority of the time, do you prefer insta-fabulous items or a blank slate that you fill in?

Name tag

2008-07-25T23:47:00.010-05:00

when we are born, sometimes even earlier, we are given our first adornment. it is immediately applied and helps define us when there are few other ways. sometimes it is meaningful, sometimes generic, but it's our first extra, our first add-on, our name.

i don't know if it's true for everyone, but i certainly questioned my name at different points in my childhood. there were various types of names that appealed at different times, to reflect different tastes, but always the same reason to contemplate different names, i think. trying to define myself, myself.

i gave up eventually, realizing that i had redefined my name. my name meant me, represented me (to friends, loved ones, enemies) precisely because i had defined who ___ was. so i no longer needed to seek a name that could capture who i was or wanted to be. i had that name already, simply by being.

but names are still fun because they are words, and words are fun.

and so much of commercial fashion is about names. you are who you wear, so many fear/believe/buy. of course in reality, no matter what, you will always be you.

if you went through a renaming phase when you were younger, what name did you desire to have?

if you had to pick a name for yourself now, to reflect your style, what name would you pick? your own or something else?

i will probably leave this post up for 2 days (with the next new post on tuesday), because i'm still mulling my answer over.
for what it's worth, mr. mcqueen was born terrence steven mcqueen.

Categorically-speaking

2008-07-25T21:47:00.005-05:00

i am not a formal person. i don't feel good "dressing up" for something. i went to a wedding last week. black-tie recommended. i had a new dress for the occasion, or rather, i used the occasion for (the excuse to buy) a new dress. since the occasion was the justification for the dress, i respectfully waited for the official day to wear it, knowing that after that use, i would appropriate it as an everyday item. i waited months.

BIG mistake.

why?
because this dress that i was (figuratively) itching to wear casually with my men's shoes, or my converse, or my perfect black flats, was foreign to me when i finally put it on for the formal evening. instead of wearing a favorite old dress, i was wearing a formal one. i hate that. by the end of the evening, i had figured out how i'd rather have worn it (different shoes, and sideways - the dress, not the shoes), but it wasn't ideal to use the wedding as a testing ground. i had been worried that wearing the dress beforehand would ruin the specialness of the dress, but by waiting, i ruined what was supposed to be the specialness of the occasion (just for me - i'm pretty sure the bride had a great time). i don't know why i thought i needed the dress to be pristine for the wedding - though i guess that attitude was what led me to purchase a new dress in the first place.

lots of editorials out there about transitioning items from day to night, and i always ignore them. i think in my case, it was a matter of making a mental adjustment rather than a sartorial one.

do you view your pieces in narrowly-defined categories (designated for certain occasions), or does anything go (anywhere, anytime)?

Jet lagged

2008-07-24T11:07:00.001-05:00

Carry on

2008-07-23T02:02:00.006-05:00

more tops, fewer bottoms
use what you have
a great haircut can compensate for a lot
shoes make a big difference
i always end up wanting an accessory
..
..
..

don't mind me, i'm just making a list of things that i am reminded of when i travel. you see, even with my wardrobe reduced to a microcosm of my daily closet options, i find that i fall into the exact same patterns that i do at home. i approach my choices the same way, have the same aggravations, etc. and usually, on the last day of a trip, i try to remember (never with an actual list - i'm not personally much of a list-maker) what i liked and disliked about my packing choices, or how they added or subtracted from my trip so that i can do a better job next time. my mental list lasts ... maybe barely through customs and then all is lost, so that i will surely be just as stumped when i face the prospect of packing my last bag as i was over 2 weeks ago. and i suspect that there are lessons here for my "real life" too.

do you learn anything about your style, strengths or weaknesses, when you travel?

Buying what they're selling

2008-07-22T00:54:00.004-05:00

entering a shop in southern california, i know to expect most sales people will make a certain amount of friendly effort to engage me. many of them are highly trained, highly ambitious or highly caffeinated would-be stars-in-the-making, so they are able to deliver their "good morning" and similar dialog in such a way that one actually believes either they are true optimists who believe this morning is good, or (this one is really crazy) they actually want me to have a good one.

on this trip, i had spent sufficient time in other non-ny-y cities prior to landing in lax so that i could successfully switch gears and enter a more social mode myself. this enabled me to respond civilly (rather than suspiciously) to the big ultra-white toothy smiles and "have a great day!" imperatives that seem to come with so many retail transactions over here. so i thought i was in l.a. mode and couldn't be caught off guard by the cultural quirks of life in the sun, but something happened today that did surprise me - i actually believed a sales person's compliment. has the daily exposure to blue skies and tight clothing corroded my eastern shell? or am i losing perspective? before you answer yes to those questions, let me say that her flattery followed her correct identification of the not-widely-known label of what i was wearing based on the fabric/pattern. this was truly a knowledgeable individual. and for what it's worth, she did not segue into a sales pitch.

how often do you accept, at face value, a compliment you receive from a sales person?

Either or

2008-07-21T01:54:00.002-05:00

you are traveling and have just enough time before a flight to pop into one store.
you can either go into an unfamiliar boutique that does not exist back home, or you can go into a branch of a store you're familiar with (and let's say you've been looking for an item they carry that they no longer had in your size or color choice at the same shop where you live).

which would you choose?

Negative impact

2008-07-18T01:46:00.008-05:00

martin margiela's second US shop is a much-needed addition to little santa monica*. the tourists focus on the T - rodeo and wilshire, but littla santa monica is good enough for martin most likely because of that absence of popularity. though i predict that more will follow his lead. i especially love the exterior of the shop - the front and side of the building are covered in silver disks that move with the wind, creating a ripple effect, but the best part (to me) is that the shop name is designed in the negative space created from omitted disks. i love the use of negative space. (growing up in l.a., i think i found my own taste in what wasn't here.)

i packed light for our 2.5 week trip, thinking of it as a vacation to certain places and a vacation from certain things. i should not have tried to leave behind as much of my clothing as i did, however. the result was the inevitable desire to increase the selection i had limited myself to (1 skirt, 2 pairs of pants, 1 dress, 2 tops, 1 jacket). the selection had yielded endless possibilities, or more than enough for the time away, anyway, but the eye gets bored after a while. so i did a little shopping. but i was more influenced by an online image, which i would have likely stumbled upon while at home, than i was by my current and temporary location...or so i think. we will see how i feel about the new acquisitions when i return home later next week.

which provides more enlightenment about your taste/style:
a trip (or exposure) to a place that reinforces your known aesthetic,
or
a trip (or exposure) to a place that challenges or even contradicts what you are comfortable with?

*aka south santa monica boulevard (in beverly hills)

Swap

2008-07-17T02:09:00.003-05:00

pick at least one item (on each) you would swap between these two outfits.

Taste test

2008-07-16T01:26:00.003-05:00

"try it, you'll like it" absolutely positively never ever ever worked on me as a child. instead of succeeding to convince me to open myself up to new experiences, the imperative had the opposite effect. determined not to trust thoroughly untrustworthy adults, if anything, it bolstered my resistance. nope, uh-uh, not buying it. or tasting it, as the case was usually over food.

now on the other end of the i-know-better-than-you dichotomy, i personally happen to favor the indifferent shrug combined with the observation "you won't know if you like it until you try it" (works every time).

can you really accurately decide whether or not you care for a particular food without trying it first?

with clothes, how close do you have to get to conclude whether or not you like it?

Match

2008-07-14T00:33:00.004-05:00

limited to these choices, match the adjective to the articles as you'd prefer to wear them (you can use each adjective only once):

1. shoes __
2. purse __
3. top __
4. bottom __
5. jewelry __

a. sexy
b. comfortable
c. expensive
d. high-end
e. durable

+/-

2008-07-13T00:37:00.001-05:00

name one thing you would add or subtract here (you can't do both).

Time capsule

2008-07-11T00:53:00.000-05:00

if you had to buy a piece of clothing today that you would have to put away and not see or use again until 10 years from now, and only then could you take it out, what would you buy?

Included

2008-07-09T23:55:00.003-05:00

1. if you were planning on attending a party filled exclusively with men,
how would it affect how you dressed?

2. if you were planning on attending a party filled exclusively with women,
how would it affect how you dressed?

Occupied

2008-07-06T23:07:00.005-05:00

1. if you were planning on attending a meeting filled exclusively with men,
how would it affect how you dressed?

2. if you were planning on attending a meeting filled exclusively with women,
how would it affect how you dressed?

Out there

2008-07-06T23:03:00.003-05:00

sometimes, some people make me acutely aware that we are evolved from apes. in that context, some of the more drastic measures people take to look particularly civilized only makes them look ... less so.

imagine there is a more evolved species out there. using our basic options as starting points (i mean don't venture too far into sci-fi territory),

what would a more evolved species wear?
what would a more evolved species not wear?

Good-bye, hello

2008-07-06T22:54:00.004-05:00

bon voyage to me - i will traveling for the next few weeks, but we're bringing the laptop and i have posts lined up and ready to go for this blog, and this one, so there should be new posts daily (or near-daily), and you might not even notice that i'm gone... unless the wireless fails. that would not be good. that would be bad.

Q&A

2008-07-05T23:09:00.004-05:00

1. which color would you pick for each if you had to dress monochromatic in order to:
- flatter (yourself)
- conform
- stand out
- intimidate
- impress
- please (yourself)

2. what is your least favorite color to wear?

3. what is your favorite color to wear?

Fair trade

2008-07-04T23:25:00.004-05:00

sometimes the pleasure gained from my various wardrobe acquisitions is a perfect anecdote to less pleasant details of life. i have the moments, of course, where i turn to shopping to release stress, or as a distraction, but independent of that, i get legitimate happiness from a few perfect items that i already own.

so imagine your favorite item, the piece that just sends you. something that can change your mood when you put it on, or even just admire it. now consider one of your daily aggravations, some stress or nuisance that ruins your mood.

if you could trade in your favorite item (clothing, accessory, jewelry) to eliminate the negative element, would you do it?

today

2008-07-04T09:17:00.001-05:00

going to work on getting caught up on pictures for Up and Down Town.

Merit-based

2008-07-02T09:10:00.003-05:00

i didn't weigh the practical advantages of the haircut i gave/got recently to sway me when the time came. now that it's done, i find myself frequently appreciating the many positives of my current style. if the new style has pros i did not previously benefit from, then the old hair cut must have had "cons."

other than using it will travel well as justification for buying a rain jacket recently, i can't think of any other examples when i used a pros/cons approach of evaluation for my clothes...

are you ever mindful of the pros and cons of your clothes?

Power to the people

2008-06-30T21:51:00.006-05:00

does a fashion tyranny exist in your reality?
do you feel pressure/influence from one?
can you identify who comprises it?

Freaky friday, on tuesday

2008-06-30T21:35:00.005-05:00

you wake up in the morning the opposite gender you usually are.
- what do you wear, from your closet, to leave the house?
- what is the first fashion thing you buy?

Ridiculous

2008-06-29T20:32:00.004-05:00

packing for a trip always exposes needs in my wardrobe. if i weren't taking the trip, would i have the need? no, not really.

do you shop during trips, or for them?

on saturday i found myself faced with an unfortunate choice during a burst of unfortunate weather when i discovered that i had accidentally (and most unfortunately) grabbed the freak umbrella before leaving the house. the freak umbrella has a shade with an awkwardly small radius, so when standing as close to center as any umbrella allows, this one fails to cover (and even then, it's barely) more than some of my head. a shoulder? forget about it. the freak umbrella also has an awkwardly small shaft, so that holding the umbrella over some of my head requires lifting my arm quite high. one is always reminded that we need to throw out the freak umbrella when it is called into emergency service, but once delivered home again the victim, just grateful to be semi-dry, inevitably returns the freak umbrella back to the umbrella collection, only to be pick it up again on another day when in a rush, in need of a light umbrella "just in case." by the way, while carrying most any other umbrella guarantees clear skies all day, the freak umbrella is a sure talisman of rain, though you don't realize it until it's too late.

anyway, i had to choose between covering my head and my (paper) shopping bags. just 2, but it was them or me. i chose them and felt distinctly silly doing it.

that was one of many moments that day when i found myself shaking my head...at myself.
the first was when i entered a store whole-heartedly intending to look for someone else, and instead found something for myself.

this seems to fall under the murphy's law of shopping - when you bring the awkward freak umbrella, it will rain; when you aren't looking for something, you find it.

so i go into a store not looking for myself, find an item not only for myself, but it's two main points of appeal were that a. it would work perfectly for a trip i'm taking next week, to a place across the country with a climate i do not live in year round, and b. the color will look great with my purse and some other things like scarves. accessories! i'm buying clothes now for my accessories (and, yes, thank you for reminding me, for places where i do not live).

so i'm walking along with the freak umbrella, holding it over something i hadn't intended to purchase for a place where i do not live (and for my accessories), protecting it (instead of myself) from the downpour, and what is it? what is sheltered under the freak umbrella?
a rain jacket.

Aggravating

2008-06-28T23:03:00.003-05:00

there is the proverbial expression that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
with me, if you lead me to water, i'm likely to drink it up, totally forgetting that i had found this other great water source a few weeks/months/years ago and had always meant to return, but now, faced with the water before me, i completely forget about the alternative water.
yes, i make the occasional list (usually jotted on the back of a receipt or other errant scrap), and i fold over page corners, tear out articles/mentions, or make the frequent mental note, which apparently gets filed under "r" for "rapidly forget."
i usually remember a place i wanted to shop in just after i've completed a different transaction that usurped all my spare money.

if i didn't remember the allegedly desirable source in the first place (in time) why do i feel undermined (by myself) in my shopping habits when i shop elsewhere? what i did buy, though an inadvertent selection, is no less valuable to me than if it were an item i had intended to buy... no?

is there a way to remember this stuff? why do i forget in the first place?

ever forget? does it bother you?

Deflated

2008-06-25T23:04:00.002-05:00

anticipation/expectation can be fun or frustrating. just like a conclusion can be delightful or disappointing. fortunately i am very pleased with my recent haircut (in spite of my mom laughing at it when she saw it tonight via skype), but it could have ended as poorly as a pair of sandals last week that arrived one day and were repacked and ready to be returned the next.
now i realize that i'm lucky on the hair front since my semi-spontaneity made me happy - that is one area where it is really hard to escape unscathed when the deed is done, if it's a bad one. for most other things that don't work out, like clothing, we can cut our losses. but dashed hopes/dreams are another matter.

when you've spent time pining for something, and it doesn't live up to your expectations, are you disappointed or relieved?
what about when a store or brand disappoints?

Contributors

2008-06-25T22:56:00.004-05:00

yesterday i realized i was wearing 3 items (that number includes shoes but excludes socks and underwear) from two sources (both happened to be online retailers). i could have easily worn 3 items from 1 source, or 3 items from 3 sources. now i'm not talking brands or labels, i'm talking about how many different locations/shops/retailers i patronized to acquire the pieces that i wore.

right now, how many sources (shops/sites) contributed to what you are wearing?

Atten-hut!

2008-06-24T23:12:00.007-05:00

left, left, left, right, left.
(let's not waste valuable time mocking the hair here - it's runway, it's dramatized fashion, move on.)
this fantastic presentation illuminates how i see fashion, the very basic 2 categories, what i see as my two choices - plain (purely to describe the expectations met by the tailoring and not implying a judgment of that approach with this term) versus warped.
are you consistently drawn to one or the other here?
and in general?

pics are of jun takahashi's 04 under cover collection

#1 fan

2008-06-23T20:32:00.005-05:00

- what is your current top style inspiration (this month, this week or this minute)?
- do you remember what your previous one was? and why you finished with it?
- do you absorb past inspirations, retaining aspects, or fully and exclusively embrace the new?

Trespassing

2008-06-22T22:03:00.005-05:00

when was the last time you were exposed (through a magazine or some other form) to the aesthetics of a dissimilar group (either a foreign language, different culture, different age group, etc.)?

Don't beat yourself up

2008-06-20T22:59:00.002-05:00

earlier this year i was really annoyed with myself for not buying an item.
last night i wasted quite a bit of time aimlessly looking at stuff to buy, that i wouldn't or didn't or couldn't buy.
utterly pointless.
so for the opposite reason, i was really annoyed with myself, again.

when was the last time you were upset with yourself over fashion?

Time and time again

2008-06-19T23:32:00.003-05:00

just touching on something i might look at more in-depth later...

do you have any interest in being timeless versus time capsule?*

*clarification, "timeless" here does not mean classic - "classic" is merely one category of style that resists the time capsule effect. there are others. this is not a question of choosing whether your style is "classic" or not. "timeless" is the question. i am interested in exploring whether your style choices are filtered through any concern to not look dated.

Inside out

2008-06-18T22:49:00.003-05:00

in response to tuesday's post, there was a comment on the heartbreakingly pretty haircut pictured, "it only works on a few." that poster's point was that this haircut+linda evangelista = a synergistic effect. "it is the charm of finding the perfect 'thing'." an excellent point. the powerful effect of the combo is precisely because of the combination here - so the implication is that i should not be coveting the hair, but instead the impact of the right hair on the right face.
so wise.
ooops, too late.
but i wasn't thinking about whether or not it would work on me as i stood, scissors poised in one hand, hunk of hair grasped firmly in the other. (i didn't think much at all, clearly.) i just wanted that dutch boy bob, and i didn't want to not do it just because it might not work on me. essentially, the inside me trumped the outside me. when i think of it this way, instead of thinking that i butchered my hair on a whim, i feel gratified that i did it for myself, my truest self, and not out of consideration for how i would appear/appeal to others.

which one takes priority in dictating your style, your inside you or your outside you?

Brace yourself

2008-06-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

before you buy it, before you try it on, just as you are approaching it, before you can even look at the price tag, do you do any internal assessment to produce a guestimate of the cost?

in what order are these factors considered (from most to least relevant) in terms of how you anticipate the ballpark for the price?

store, label, cut, fabric

Hyperbole

2008-06-16T23:44:00.006-05:00

last night a friend described this hair style on this fantastic woman as "so pretty it was heartbreaking" and i agreed quite emphatically and wished i had said it first, but i didn't want her to think i was too crazy. after she said it, i was grateful she was as crazy (almost) as i.

what fashion/style image or item has moved you to extremes?

An end in sight

2008-06-15T22:48:00.003-05:00

if there was an industry-wide boycott and absolutely no new collections could be produced, shown, or sold/promoted for one year, you would feel _______

Inspiration

2008-06-15T07:42:00.005-05:00

ribbons!!! my ideal accessory (as jewelry, a belt, on a camisole strap, around a hat...).
i received a birthday gift tied with such a beautiful ribbon. a thin satin ribbon, long enough to wear in my hair, or as a necklace, or wrapped around my wrist 5 or 6 time. the color is perfect. i wore it all day and now i keep it in a special box. i will buy a few more colors now for myself. i am going to wear ribbon every day i think.

Key component

2008-06-13T23:20:00.002-05:00

the ring went back and a dress arrived. happy happy feeling. this dress is having a peculiar effect on my accessories, essentially reviving them. it's one of those items, this dress, that makes you want to experiment with different ways to wear it, and try it with all of your shoes.

which would you rather have, a spectacular new head-to-toe outfit (that, for the sake of argument, can't interact with anything else you own, and must be worn exclusively as an outfit), or a new item that would revive your existing wardrobe?

Through the looking glass

2008-06-11T22:42:00.004-05:00

magazines are tricky. they can stimulate thoughts on colors, combinations, proportions, sending you off in 8 different directions with new ideas (hopefully your own ideas) or they can lecture to you ad nauseam about what they think you should have, and, if you're in a susceptible mood, after absorbing the not-so-subliminal shopping list of what you don't have, it might even carry over and infect how you feel about what you do have. a little exposure to newer, fresher clothes can cast a dark cloud over the tried-and-true. who's to blame for that, editor or reader?

what if a magazine featured clothes that you already have? what if you saw a beautiful layout based on clothing you've had for well over a year? would that feel tired and uninspired, or would it reinvigorate your appreciation for what you have?

how would that make you feel about your clothes?
how would that make you feel about the magazine?

Unattached

2008-06-10T23:46:00.003-05:00

so one reason my recent attempt to buy jewelry failed, it occurred to me, was that the piece lacked any personal significance to me. it wasn't from someone special (no, in this case, i don't count) and it wasn't to mark something special (an accomplishment of some sort). for me, if it's serious jewelry (costing more than $80 or $100), it has to be a token of some sort, in addition to being aesthetically pleasing of course.

this evening i had time to waste and went to the drugstore. i found the cutest lip balm there. the design on the product itself is too perfect (a no-nonsense tube construction, writing in grey, writing in pink, words in french, made in france, and a great little graphic detail of a pink spiral seemingly produced free-hand. it is apothecary-meets-cute-cute). and it was half-off. an easy split-second decision that i will not regret.

i labor over clothing purchases occasionally, if the price tag merits it, but i am able to fall for an item of clothing as quickly as i did that lip balm. what i do not ever need is any emotional justification. the love/appreciation/need for the clothes is always enough.

when shopping, do you ever need or have an emotional justification/attachment? is it a help or a hindrance?

I'm nuts

2008-06-09T20:52:00.011-05:00

yes yes, content, satisfied, a complete wardrobe, blah blah blah. so i figured, okay, great, i have everything i need (clarification - i love it all. "need" here speaks to my style needs, not my fundamental needs), so i can ... what? move on? check "clothes" off my list and find something else to do with my spare time? i honestly found myself proverbially scratching my head, unsure what to do next. i started another blog (#3) to help me focus on what i had, and i headed off towards other pursuits. i got distracted by a ring. i thought, ah, here is something...semi-sane, as it would last, always fit, gain value, etc. etc. well i went and did what i oughtn't to have done, and it was a mistake. jewelry is not, as i've stated before, my thing. and so naturally it didn't sit quite right with me. i thought this was what i was supposed to do, head out into greener pastures. but no, clothing, it seems, is the only grass i graze.
you can't blame me. a. it's my birthday month, always a heady time of year, and b. blame my sign; flip-flopping is a matter of course, and it's june, for pete's sake. that must be the equivalent of a full moon for geminis.
anyway, i'm back on track now, sort of. i am resigned to clothing. i'll never be "done" with it. but then that brings me back to blog #3. if the whole point of that blog is that enough is enough, and now i'm balking at that assertion, where does that leave me/it/us? i'm going to have to think about this some more. the fate of that blog is tbd.*

if it were possible for you to be 100% satisfied with the clothes that you had, what then?

*retail recovery and up and down town are not being reevaluated.

edit: i have since canceled blog #3

Complete package

2008-06-08T23:12:00.003-05:00

it just sort of snuck up on me. without being aware that it was happening, my wardrobe seems to have come together and...i am very content.

what percentage of your wardrobe are you satisfied with?

Inspiration

2008-06-07T22:50:00.003-05:00

edward montgomery clift (1920-1966) (also pictured with john ireland) and john wayne (born marion morrison) (1907-1979)
now that's how you wear a scarf.

apologies

2008-06-06T22:32:00.001-05:00

sorry sorry. she's back now.

For the greater good

2008-06-05T23:08:00.002-05:00

sometimes i feel bad that i rely so heavily on e-shopping. if i want cute boutiques to populate my neighborhood, shouldn't i literally support them by giving them my business? when i made a large purchase not so long ago, my taller half rationalized that i was helping the economy. what a self-less act.
i appreciate the influx of tourists dropping their savings here during our slump. if the tables were turned, would you hop across the border for a shopping excursion?

could you ever be induced to shop just to support your local economy?

+/-

2008-06-04T22:55:00.002-05:00

name one thing you would add or subtract here (you can't do both).

one year

2008-06-03T18:57:00.008-05:00

while you were cozily tucked in your bed last night, head nestled comfortably on a pillow, having, i hope, peaceful dreams, i sneakily turned one year older. bet you didn't even notice.
just like me, this blog is also a gemini.
after a year of anything, it's fair to stop and ask, how are we doing so far? so if you feel like it, please let me know.
this blog started when i ended my first blog, a project demonstrating, through daily photographs, how many unique combinations could be made with 34 pieces of clothing, a practice in less-is-plenty. by the time the blog reached more-than-enough combinations, i was sick of those 34 pieces, but not because of their limitations - it was the goal to not repeat a combination that got me down.
i did learn that a small wardrobe suits me fine, and that i am very happy to repeat pieces or combinations within a matter of days. yet i still look and lust and shop (not always with satisfying results). so i segued from exploring my wardrobe to exploring my shopping habits (motivations, inspirations, influences, inhibitions, patterns, etc. etc.) with retail recovery. i'm a word and image girl though, so all along i've toyed around with a series of side blogs that let me play with pictures, most recently with pencil and paint on Up and Down Town. that blog has been a little neglected recently due to work and possibly wacky vision - and now a touch of the flu. but i am entirely committed to maintaining it and expect to put up a new post in a day or two. i appreciate the enthusiasm some have shown for that project.
anyway, back to clothes - i'm attempting a third blog now and i can't decide if it's of any value to anyone besides myself - so if you have thoughts about it, please write them here under this post (the new blog will not have comments). a reminder (to myself) (remindingmyself.blogspot.com) is a space where i can focus on, through photographs, what i already have, and a. remember that it's probably more than i even need, and b. see if and where any real spaces might be, so that my purchases can actually fill them. so it's essentially a scrap book of what i have - an extension of the "minimal shopping for maximum satisfaction" maxim printed under the title of this blog - a philosophy in action, if you will. any value to making it a public blog? i'm not sure of that yet.

retail recovery will continue to be updated nearly every day, up and down town should get back on track with posts on most week days, and a reminder (to myself) will be updated just 2 or 3 times a week.

Doctor's orders

2008-06-02T22:57:00.004-05:00

aw drats, eye doctor said i'm far-sighted. i need reading glasses...no, wait, let me rephrase that, i need glasses for reading.* and i won't lie, i'm looking forward to finding a pair for myself (and i'm looking forward to not getting so nauseas every time i spend more than 5 minutes at the computer). people who depend on glasses always roll their 4 eyes at me when i get enthusiastic about glasses, but to me, it's a pretty ideal accessory, with a big emphasis on function, which is the only way i get past my accessory-aversion, if the doohicky can actually do something - i'm so grateful my watch tells the time. the foot doctor also happened to mention that i need to wear open-toe shoes this summer to assist with the recovery of the footsies. and that sent me off looking at new shoes, but i stopped myself. eyes trump feet, and i can work with what i've got in the footwear dept. for now.
it is interesting to me that the fact that eyewear is not mandatory for me (unless i want to read continuously without wanting to throw up, that is) makes it fun, while the requirement of it makes it a nuisance to others. and so presumably it will eventually be one for me as well... maybe.
we'll see if dependency on glasses takes the fun out of it for me, but for now, all i can see is that a prescription from the dr. says "go shopping!"

if you were medically-required to wear your favorite items (clothing, shoes, bags, accessories) that you currently enjoy, do you think it would shift your feelings from pleasure, to pain?

*disclaimer - do not be misled by this diagnosis. i am young, do you hear me, young!

Well-traveled

2008-06-01T21:11:00.005-05:00

t-shirt arrived. i think it may be the first item i've ever bought that was "made in austalia." that would mean that this t-shirt has the farthest point-of-origin (PoO) out of all of my clothes.

labels aside, my three favorite items (at the moment) were made in japan, romania and bangladesh.

what is the farthest flung PoO in your closet?

how close to home is your favorite item of clothing's PoO?

Hearts are always red

2008-05-30T23:13:00.004-05:00

(last post about colors, for a while)
- wearing all one color is fun, especially if it's something besides black, which is fine, but not quite as interesting to go monochrome with. all white, red, etc. i like.
- wearing two colors, however, feels a bit too tidy for me. it's too safe.
- yesterday, three colors (that includes my bag and shoes) was perfect .
1, 3, or a busy colorful pattern are my favorites.

how many colors are you most comfortable wearing at a time?

Necessity is the mother

2008-05-29T22:14:00.009-05:00

when shopping, do you typically find that every possible/desirable option is presented? or do you sometimes wish, if only this came in another color...

which color do you most often wish an item were available in, but it frequently is not?

what colors would you like to see offered more for:
- shoes
- dresses
- sweaters

if you could invent a new color - what would it be?

Stats and static

2008-05-28T23:02:00.003-05:00

according to the june smart money, tupperware brands "has amassed an army of 2.1 million 'consultants' who launch a party, on average, every 2.5 seconds." wow.

we're approaching the 6th month. nearly at the half-year mark. so far i've bought 5 pieces of clothing (or, on average, 1 item per month). a year or 2 ago, that amount would have been triple maybe.

people do change. the other day, not only did i, an arachnophobe, let a sizable spider live after we crossed paths in the kitchen, i also named it and narrated it's journey as it made it's way to my bathroom.

on the other hand, so far this year i've probably spent just as much money (albeit on fewer itmes) as i have in the past.

so people don't always change that much.

and when the spider decided to suddenly bypass the bathroom, what i thought was a tolerable destination, in favor of exploring around the bedroom and ultimately came over to my side of the bed, i had to squeeze my eyes shut and implore my taller half not to tell me where it went next, so that i could just pretend it didn't exist, and wouldn't be creeped out by its proximity (when i opened my eyes, it was mercifully gone).*

how many items have you bought so far (just counting clothing, not shoes or accessories)?

willing to venture a prediction on how many more purchases you will make in the second half?

also in the magazine was an interview with shopping mall mogul david simon. in this piece i learned that, in the US, there are roughly 20 square feet of retail space, per capita. that's considered a lot, by the way. in "other markets" (vague, but that's all he said), it's 2-3 square feet per capita.

(if you're in the US, and putting aside the weak dollar - we're strictly talking about options, variety, quality, etc.), for all that space, would you say that shopping in your area is 10 times better than shopping... "in other markets?" europe? asia?

for what it's worth, only 1 person listed a US city as the top pick for a dream shopping destination in a previous post.

*update - "lorna" made a shocking reappearance mid-shower, at eye-level. i knew knew knew the bathroom was her goal. knew it! (for once, not so great to be right.)

"Just when you think you're out"

2008-05-27T23:06:00.001-05:00

i had given up on t-shirts and made my peace with it. i have 3 or 4 that i wear under things, like dresses, or under sweaters in the winter, but i never just wear a tee, so i would say they are low on my list of necessities, and certainly never a staple (am i a freak?). it's a combination of never finding one that fit quite right (too tight in the body, too high of a neck, too low of a neck, too wide in the shoulders, too boxy) and...no, that's all, just not finding the right fit, that's my basic beef with the tee.

i was looking around online saturday night and saw this tee. they only had one up in white, actually, so it wasn't really this specific one. the dropped shoulders and extra seam for shape at the shoulder held my attention just long enough to get the thing stuck in my head. then sunday morning i looked again and they had added a navy and a black. i put in my order for the black.

i thought i was beyond this, but rittenhouse has pulled me back in with this possibly (it's en route) perfect tee - that and a wicked combo of boredom and busy-ness (counterintuitive, i know, but that's how i operate) that got me poking around where i oughtn't.
blame it maybe on summer plans of casual days and some travel and the unarguable ease that a tee promises (though in my history, it doesn't deliver). maybe this one won't make me feel like i ought to be washing a car. it's a balance of simplicity and definite design, which i think could describe most everything i'm drawn to. i'm imagining the black fading with each wash until it becomes my own customized shade of greyish greeny grey that black always fades out to.
am i setting myself up for disappointment?

if you have a bad history with an item of clothing, are you fated to do without, or is there always hope?

and

how can i resist getting drawn to things i've sworn off of? anyone?

+/-

2008-05-26T23:33:00.001-05:00

name one thing you would add or subtract here (you can't do both).

Simplest terms

2008-05-25T23:20:00.007-05:00

iconoclast - One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions.

icon - An important and enduring symbol; a person or thing regarded as a symbol of a belief or cultural movement.

which is more your style? (icon or iconoclast)

Free falling

2008-05-25T00:17:00.003-05:00

i have a complaint about free samples. specifically, cosmetics. i can't condition my hair with the amount in a typical tiny sample tube. i can't adequately "apply liberally" to half my hair with a sample tube (and i don't have that much hair). you can't judge a product from one application of something that promises to "show visible improvements" to teeth,skin,nails,etc. "after one-week [of use]."
sadly, free samples don't work to hook me, most of the time.
let me ask you, if you received a free sock in the mail, would you be inclined to buy the matching sock to complete the pair?

is there a way that free samples could work with fashion?

Cup of tea

2008-05-23T23:39:00.004-05:00

fashion shows, good.
inspired fashion spreads, goood.
inspiring street style, gooood.
met's costume institute ball, eh.
i'll admit it. i cannot muster much interest in the ball (or the exhibit). i didn't lose any sleep over my apathy, but i did have an "ah-HA" moment when i read my hero lynn yaeger's piece on it.

any fashion cultural events that you find lackluster?

Sex sells

2008-05-22T23:05:00.004-05:00

the other day i was going past the shop of a major american designer. i noticed wording on the windows and for some reason stepped closer to read. it was identification of a distinct antique item in the window, used as a prop for the larger fashion display. it listed the object and proprietor of it, presumably as public acknowledgment/publicity in exchange for the loan. in each window - there were half a dozen or more along the store front - this was repeated for a particular prop.

for whom was this relationship more beneficial? the fashion designer, who was able to create a particular display as well as underscore an equation between the clothes and these aspirational items, or the actual guardian of the items (i can't recall specifics but they all seemed to come from various shops/galleries), who had an opportunity to get the pieces out of storage and in front of a larger-than-usual audience.

how often are you attracted to collateral bait (in editorials, ads, windows, catalogs, etc.)?

Making the grade

2008-05-21T22:53:00.003-05:00

it's midweek, how'd you do so far?
right now, from head-to-toe, what would you give yourself? A? B?
"E" for effort at least?

Q&A

2008-05-20T21:49:00.008-05:00

1. do you think that suits suppress style, or simplify life?
2. do you think uniforms are restrictive, or equalizers?
3. the idea/reality of a casual/creative work environment - fantastic or frightening?

All together now

2008-05-18T15:14:00.006-05:00

some days we need a little more help than others. my best fashion friends are woolite dark and oxi-clean, and my washing machine. but occasions do occur where it would be wise to call in the professionals. tailor, dry cleaner, shoe repair are the basics.

do you have a trusted team?

Foreign relations

2008-05-18T14:19:00.006-05:00

1. if someone were asked to guess where you were from, based on your style,
a. where would they guess, b. would they be right?

2. if you could pick any city in the world to do a day of shopping, where would you go?

3. if you could have a fashion pen pal anywhere in the world, where would you want him/her to live?