Bat For Lashes

Bat For Lashes, I like her style. There is something I can relate to going on in her music. Plus, I am always drawn to a bohemian spirit. 

Flowers, feathers.

What taste, what wild & creative

person arranged this magnificent

bouquet?

by Sarah at Saipua,

Design Sponge

What a treasure trove.

(Never written out trove before).

New & Nostalgia

My boarding school friends will attest to the glory of receiving the March J.Crew. It was the clear marker of spring. The first glimpses of summer vacation and what you'd be wearing to have fun somewhere, out of school, breathing freedom.

There is an accidental charm of a skirt worn with boots and socks that inspires a mood in me of running toward the lake ready to jump in with your clothes on. I love 1970's fashion, and this has all the whimsy of Ali McGraw in Love Story.

Not to mention! I am determined to unearth a story on Gayle Spannaus, J.Crew's magnificent stylist. When I look at this outfit I think to myself, I get it! She get's it! The past is there, yet still it feels so new.

These days.

One of my all time favorite scenes from a movie is in The Royal Tenenbaums when Richie gets off the bus and he sees Margot for the first time. The music alone is enough to break your heart. "Let me get a look at you."

The Sartorialist BOOK

My morning routine for the past three years 

has been a trifecta of tea or coffee, email, and

a visit to The Sartorialist Blog. I wanted to buy

one of Scott Shuman's prints at a gallery show in D.C. while

I was there visiting my parents. For a moment

I thought I could, and perhaps I should have, but

now there is The Book. Best summer purchase

by a long shot. It arrives at that exact wondrous

time of year, the August September, summer

to fall transition, full of nostalgia and newness,

and with the weather, the sartorial switch.

Perfect timing.

Philosophy.Fashion

I'm not alone on this one...

great SONG TITLES

*An ongoing post...

The Past and Pending (The Shins)

Fifty Fifty Clown (Cocteau Twins)

The Nearness Of You (Ella Fitzgerald)

wide-ranging curiosity.

The other day I was out to dinner with my husband when I realized that it was May 20th, and therefore a new VOGUE would be available for purchase. I have never wanted a subscription in fear of taking away the ecstatic moment of discovering a new edition. So, it is with this appreciative sentiment that I post these pictures of Sally Singer at her apartment in the Chelsea Hotel, taken by Todd Selby.

Over the years, I have noticed Singer's name in VOGUE, but I never took a serious interest in her contributions or her life story. These photos of her home make me curious. I need to know about this woman, what she's all about, who she really is. I did a little research on her life, read a few interviews. I am devoted to learning her style as an author and editor for my favorite magazine of all time.

What I learned is that Singer left high school early to attend beauty school in San Francisco. She knew how to make a few different hairstyles, but once she realized she was no good at waxing etc., she left to go to UC Berkeley, then Yale, followed by time spent as a book editor and writer, as a culture editor at British VOGUE, all before her position as a Fashion News/Features editor at American VOGUE. She grew up in Oakland, is surprised by her own career, and believes that fashion implies a lot more than clothes. There is something casual, natural, and elegant about Singer's persona. Subtle and alluring beauty, an undeniable intellect.

Not too long ago, my mother and I had a conversation about how a well-rounded education offers a diverse outlook on fashion. I have always felt that to be true. My mind races in countless directions, often from a passing glance at a garment of clothing, forming scenarios built around a specific setting, character, season, music. This imagery comes from reading, traveling,  my youth, the places I have lived...  According to Singer, "I always think people need to have a vision of fashion outside of themselves, and that should include a couple other things, too. It could be music culture. It could be anything, but it's good to bring a few things to the table before you get into the narrow world of fashion... Magazines reward wide-ranging curiosity and intelligence."

Instincts

I could not believe it when I saw this picture posted on Garance Dore's website.  An entire tribute to Isabel Marant, and specifically the pants worn by this girl. Why? I have these pants. I love them! In fact I have the entire sweat suit, complete with a 3/4 puffed-sleeve hoodie. I remember when I got it, after many days spent laboring over new Isabel shipments and lookbooks forwarded to me by my favorite boutiques. It is always so difficult to decide what to get. When it arrived I tried to "fold" the items into my wardrobe so that my husband wouldn't get suspicious. It didn't work. He took one look at me and said, "that looks expensive." He's caught on. And here, months later, months after I made the decision to get these pants, I see my instincts confirmed not only by a genius fashion blogger (illustrator, photographer), but by a lovely Isabel Marant shopgirl. There you go.

p.s I got the Isabel at Heist on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice Beach, CA. Great great place.

WILLOW Australia

Amsterdam. 2004. Fourth of July weekend.

Side note: Isn't is strange to spend the 4th in

a foreign country? Or is it strange to celebrate

when nobody else is? Either way...

I have a memory of a favorite morning.

We were staying in an angular, bizarre hotel

room with purple walls (think Prince) and I

happened to wake up early. Very early. I didn't

want to go back to sleep, so I threw on a

summer dress, my favorite green heathered

cardigan that I stole from my sister (thanks K!),

grabbed the new VOGUE and headed to the park.

It was around 5am and the entire neighborhood

was consumed by a thick mist, not a fog, a mist.

I flipflopped my way down a path, nothing but

time on my hands. I came to a tree with a trunk

like a ladder. At the top there were multiple

chair-like branches, so I decided to climb up and

have a read. It was incredible. It was me, a few

joggers, and that refreshing space of nature in

the midst of the city. It was also one of those

moments where you think, if life's lead me here,

I must be doing something right.

The reason I mention this story is because

when I look at these clothes by Willow,

it reminds me that beautiful clothes should

be worn for mornings spent in trees with

slightly dirty feet and a magazine. There

are prescribed contexts for attire, but who

wrote those rules? Fancy dress in a tree:

no better place for it. Nothing should be so

precious in life that we can't enjoy it while

we've got it.

Willow is one more reason

I am dying to get to Australia.

I want to go and think I'm

never coming back.