Bear With Me

Here's that new bag again, which has seen a lot of use this summer. I like how it gives a little bit of structure and polish to this otherwise casual outfit.

You may have noticed that my posting of late has been both sporadic and infrequent. At this point I'm not sure in which direction I want to take the blog, or if I want to continue at all. With everything going on in my life right now, I just don't seem to find the time for blogging as often, and when I do I feel I've simply run out of things to say about daily outfits. I do have an epic post coming up which I've been mulling over since I got back from my last trip, and after that I may stop altogether or possibly spin off in a different direction. Bear with me while I try to sort out my next move.

Jacket: Tulle
Top: Anthropologie
Scarf: thrifted
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Shoes: Gabor
Bag: Elaine Turner





And on a completely different note: for my fellow gardeners out there who remember my living wall post from last year, you might be curious to see how it's doing. Below are photos of the wall last September, about 3 months after I built it, and a couple weeks ago in all its tangled, overgrown glory:

Then:

Now:

The felt substrate is now almost completely concealed behind the tangle of plants. Over the past several months there have been a few substitutions when particular plants weren't able to cope with the deep shade, but over time I think I've fine-tuned the species that really thrive in this spot, and they all seem to be pretty happy. Even my gardener is impressed.

Travels

My my; it's been quite awhile, hasn't it? I thought I'd be able to get around to scheduling a few posts before I left on my most recent travels, but I just didn't find the time. I had another work trip that took me to France and Scotland, and this time I added on some vacation time and visited Istanbul at the beginning of the trip (Mark even joined me for this part), and Iceland at the end. That was quite a range of climates to pack for, let me tell you! I was gone for a total of 3 weeks and got back less than a week ago. I'll share some pictures when I've got more time (and motivation).

In case you're wondering, the current troubles in Istanbul began about a day and a half after we left, so we weren't caught up in it. My thoughts are with the people who are struggling against their increasingly oppressive government, and I hope they stay strong and stand up for their right to free speech. Turkey is a very special place and I'd love to return and see more of it. I hope the people prevail and keep the government's powers in check.

Right, the outfit. This one is from early May I'm afraid, that's how far behind I've gotten with my posting. Without further ado I'll share the details.

Top: Eileen Fisher
Necklace: Leslie Danzis
Bag: Kate Spade
Cuff: a gift from my sis
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Shoes: Gabor

Just for Fun

We had a few gloriously warm weeks here in SF, so I hastily trotted out all my most springy garments and made good use of the opportunity to wear as many of my sandals as I could before the fog rolled in again. This outfit was for a day of working at home and going to a midday appointment.

I loved all the comments on my Trends That Need to Die post, and for the most part I agree with all your choices. One of the trends mentioned was ankle pants, which obviously I have no problem with myself. I do in fact realize that they aren't particularly flattering and that men seem to universally find them to be one of the least attractive things that women wear (my husband included).

I actually derive a lot of satisfaction from sometimes wearing things that I know men find unappealing, because what I wear isn't meant to be about what men think. Cropped pants have an irreverent, playful vibe, and they remind me of some of the late 50's and 60's styles that I love. They bring to mind big floppy hats, drippy ice cream cones, and a boardwalk along the beach. Fashion doesn't always need to be about figure flattery; sometimes just being fun is enough.

Top: Bella Lux
Pants: Gap
Sandals: Gabor

Impeccable Planning

When I was in Paris recently I made a special trip up to Monmartre to go back to Metal Pointu's, the jewelry shop I fell in love with during my last trip. My purpose was to get one of the chunky, statement necklaces that I had seen the last time I was there. This one is just perfect, having enough thickness and heft to feel and look substantial, but not so much as to overwhelm my slender neck and narrow shoulders. While I was there I also picked up another ring to go with the one I already had. I really love how the two pieces complement one another.

A couple of days later during the trip, I was wearing my new necklace with one of the dresses I had packed. My friend/coworker who I was traveling with remarked at how perfectly the necklace went with my dress. I said, "Well of course they go together, I packed this dress knowing I would be going to that shop to buy a necklace to go with it!" He thought that was going just a bit too far for fashion, but I thought it was simply impeccable planning.

Vest: Cotelac
Top: Max Studio
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Sandals: Michael Kors
Jewelry: Metal Pointu's

Chance Comments

It got so warm a couple of weeks ago in SF that I got spring fever and wore cropped pants and sandals -- which was awesome in the early part of the day, but freezing and miserable by the time I left work. However, it was totally worth it to have my toes out there in the breeze for one glorious morning. And hey, it was still only February at that point, and not many people in the Northern hemisphere can boast of being able to wear sandals in February. I still love you SF, even though your late February evening almost gave my toes frostbite.

You may have already seen on Sal's blog that she and Husband Mike were out here visiting for several days, during which time we pretty much packed in as many events and sights as we could possibly pack in. After they arrived in town we had lunch at the always awesome Brenda's, hit 2 great local shops, Wonderland and Jeremy's, and finished with an evening at NightLife. And that was just the first day. More on their visit to come.

Have you noticed I'm growing my hair out lately? For now it's just the bangs, but who knows where it might go from here. In the last few months I've gotten used to seeing my face with my forehead exposed, and I'm finally to the point where it looks natural to me, and possibly better. I always fancied my face as being long, and thus the forehead was something to be covered, but looking at it now I think my face is in fact quite oval. It's interesting to make this observation for the first time at age 42, especially since my belief in the notion of needing bangs dates back to a thoughtless comment from a relative when I was about 8 years old. It occurs to me how ridiculous it was to have held onto that belief for so long simply because 34 years ago someone told me I had a long face.

How have chance comments from others shaped your self image? Have you overcome those impressions or do you still hang onto them?

Shirt: Michael Stars
Vest: Cot�lac
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Sandals: Michael Kors
Bag: Foley + Corinna

Calm

Whew. You would not believe the swirl of activity, the disasters narrowly averted, and the incredible marathon of manual labor that the last week has been. Last Friday we closed the sale on our house and promptly left town for a wedding at the mysterious and sublimely beautiful Bohemian Grove (the wedding was fabulous, by the way, and I made the hats for the entire wedding party -- in all the spare time I've had lately). We came home early Sunday morning and set to work painting, cleaning, and assembling furniture in the new place, not quitting until late into the evening. For the next 3 days, Mark would spend all day working on the place, and as soon as I got home from work I'd change into my grubby clothes and we'd continue working until close to midnight.

All this effort was because we had already booked our first renter for Thursday, so we had a definite deadline for completing all the work. It was an immense effort but we pulled it off, and despite a couple of near misses with our furniture deliveries, everything worked out in the end and the place looks great.

Last night we finally allowed ourselves to relax a little, cracking open the bottle of champagne that our realtor had given us at closing (which I'm finishing now by way of a mimosa -- ok, my third mimosa). In the meantime the new job has been great so far, and I'm starting to settle in and get a feel for my new responsibilities. I'm looking forward to next week, when I won't be burning the candle at both ends.

Oh, and it's Fleet Week here in San Francisco, which is one of my favorite times of the year. On Thursday my new coworkers and I watched the arrival of the Blue Angels from our office building which sits perched above downtown on the 16th floor, a perfect vantage point that looks out over Telegraph Hill and the bay. This weekend Mark and I will be able to watch them from the window of our living room, or while enjoying the pretty fall weather out on the front deck.

Things are calm again. I'm taking a deep breath and spending a moment enjoying the city again. I spent the morning cuddling the dogs, and now I'm drinking mimosas. Life is good.

Jacket: La Redoute
Top: Ann Taylor
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Necklace: Rhapsodia
Earrings: Leslie Danzis
Shoes: Bettye Muller
Bag: Foley + Corinna

Arachnophobia

Thanks so much for all your words of encouragement and understanding. Taking a few days' break was exactly what I needed, and blogging will probably continue to be less frequent for awhile until things settle down. I haven't been photographing my outfits every day, mainly because many outfits lately have either been repeats or just truly aren't that exciting. It's been nice freeing myself from what was beginning to feel like an obligation; setting up the camera and taking photos takes time in the morning, and lately I haven't had much of an urge to deal with it, especially for outfits that I wasn't too excited about.

It doesn't help that we're having an absurdly cold summer, which is ironic when nearly everyone else in the northern hemisphere is melting in the heat. Cold, foggy mornings aren't very inspiring for summertime style; sandals are left languishing in the closet, and jackets and boots are getting way more rotation than they ought to be. And because I work in shitty South San Francisco, I miss the few hours of sun and low wind that we get in the city after the fog burns off in the afternoon and before it rolls in again in the evening. On my work campus a freezing, awful wind just blasts through all day long, making it miserable to go outside even when it looks sunny and beautiful.

There's one upside to a cold summer, though. At this time of year we typically start to see big, creepy spiders in areas that have a lot of landscaping. And because the area around our house has a lot of plants and trees, we tend to see many of those big garden spiders, some of which will occasionally make it into the house and terrify both me and the equally arachnophobic Mark. Not this summer though; I've only seen a few spiders this year and the ones I've seen have been pretty small. So Mark is getting off easy this year, because at one point I put my foot down and declared that as the man of the house, it is his responsibility to put the spiders outside, like it or not. Was that a strike against feminism? Well, I don't care; what's important is that the spiders go back in the garden where they belong.

Shirt: Target
Scarf: Banan Republic
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Shoes: Born

Getting Matchy

This vest is the one I was trying on when Katy Sagal told me how great it looked on me. I think she was right; it fits me like a glove and is perfect for my style. It doesn't get a ton of use, but I always really enjoy wearing it. Pairing it with these cropped pants and espadrilles turned out to be a perfect combination. Another Sheriff of Matchy-Matchytown-approved ensemble. What is it about these shoes that makes me get all matchy?


Vest: Steam Trunk
Top: Anthropologie
Pants: Cynthia Steffe
Shoes: DSW brand
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis

Stumped!

It finally got warm enough to wear this little minidress without something over it... well, at least it did in San Francisco. By the time I arrived at work in South San Francisco however, I discovered this was really the wrong outfit for the windy, foggy day. What I wouldn't give to work in the same city I live in; it would make getting dressed so much simpler.

Today I'm calling on you to help me answer a fashion question, because frankly I'm a bit stumped. The question comes from a reader who quit her corporate job and donated all her summer office clothes to charity, only to later find herself back in an office environment, 2 months pregnant, with summer rapidly approaching. She now needs advice on building a new summer wardrobe for someone who:

- works in a fairly relaxed office environment
- has a budget of about $500 - $800
- needs a little extra room to grow

This question stumps me for several reasons, the foremost being that I've never been pregnant and therefore haven't a clue when it comes to what one might wear over a growing baby bump. But also, the mild climate in San Francisco means that my summer wardrobe doesn't need to vary that drastically from my winter one (as evidenced by the failure of this overly-summery outfit). What I've come up with so far is:

- Check out E.'s pregnancy posts on Academichic; that lady had amazing style throughout her entire term, and she employed a lot of great basics that shouldn't break anyone's budget.

- Look for stretchy jersey items that are not specifically maternity clothes; that way they can be worn during the pregnancy but also afterwards as well.

- Definitely try shopping in thrift stores, since most maternity clothes should be very lightly worn. That said, most clothes I've seen that are specifically designed for maternity wear are profoundly ugly, so even at thrift stores I think I'd branch out and shop in all the sections.

- Um, that's it. Like I said, I'm stumped. Stumped, I tell you!

OK readers, it's your turn. I feel certain you'll be able to put this lovely lady on the right path to affordable, summery clothes that will grow with her and be office-friendly. She also mentioned that she's about my size, so she wouldn't require any specialized sizing other than accommodating the baby. Let's hear it!

Today's outfit:
Dress: thrifted
Scarf: shop in San Luis Obispo
Pants: La Redoute
Shoes: gift from Jess

Matrix + G.I. Joe

The last time I wore these cropped pants with this top, fellow blogger Bekster stopped by with this suggestion:

"While I absolutely LOVE the tie and the jacket (they make the outfit), I'd be curious to see the rest of the outfit with some sort of military jacket (and maybe military/beret-like hat)... kind of Matrix meets G.I. Joe."

I decided to give it a try, so I pulled out the only military jacket I own, swapped the dressy black boots for these more rugged-looking dark brown ones, and added the beret. I have no idea if this outfit bears any resemblance to The Matrix, since I've never seen the movie (I know, I know, but that much Keanu Reeves is simply more than I can bear.). As for G.I. Joe, I seem to remember him wearing a lot more khaki. But hey, I did my best, and I liked the way the outfit turned out.

The button-down shirt is actually a size too small, so layering over it is a must. Since the sleeves are a little too short, I usually cuff them, and the jacket worked beautifully to keep the sleeves and cuffs in place. I like how the inside of the cuffs are a cute floral pattern, which is an unexpected detail on an otherwise basic striped shirt.

After test-wearing Mark's first prototypes of the Lucille underbust belt in both black and brown, I finally got one of my very own. I liked how the open jacket revealed just a little bit of the hardware-adorned sides of the belt when I walked or put my hand on my hip. The belt is made of soft, flexible leather and is remarkably comfortable to wear all day. It gave some contrast to the dark top half of the outfit and added a utilitarian look. I could almost imagine that it's a holster and that I had a tiny, pearl-handled pistol under there (I didn't, but wouldn't it have made a great accessory?).

Beret: ADS
Jacket: F21, modified by me
Button-down shirt: Old Navy
Top: Max Studio
Belt: Audra Jean
Cropped Pants: Noa Noa
Boots: Bata