What I Got.

I'm a big fan of coming up with fashion concepts for discrete periods of time. This fall, my concept was based on the meeting of Tanya Donelly circa 1993, and, uh, Twilight. I realize that Tanya Donelly has never "met" Twilight anywhere. I mean no disrespect, Throwing Muses fans.

The concept was exhausted with relative ease, I have to admit. This was owed not to my fashion prowess, but instead to the reality that the concept wasn't that much of a stretch for me. I have about a billion pairs of worn-out jeans and puffy hair that I can sometimes market as hip (à la TD), and a bad adolescent attitude (à la Twilight). A few carefully curated tops and the like help round it out. Also, the fact that I have worn too-heavy black eyeliner every day since I was about 15 helped to execute the look. The only tough part was getting used to the incorporation of matte red lipstick (Nars, Jungle Red). I had never really worn or liked lipstick before, but I got used to it. The concept was functional, and I did it, but it wasn't enough of a stretch.

I'm looking for a new concept to work with between now and spring. A wise, stylish friend suggested Russian ("think Russian traditional inspired, not modern Moscovite," she wrote, "Then you'd be in fuzzy acrylic crop sweaters that looked like cheap Taiwanese stuffed animals died to make them."). This is a great idea, and definitely one I hope I'll explore some time, but right now it seems like it would require my being in a mental space that I'm just not in. I need something that can capitalize on my current state of mind, which is a cocktail of (a) ennui, (b) sarcasm, (c) a vague sense of "too cool for school"ness, and (d) indifference.

What I can bring to the table is the following: lots of jeans, lots of black clothes, lots of eyeliner, a couple pairs of ankle boots, the largest pair of white earmuff that has ever existed (ever), and a willingness to invest in 2 or 3 pieces that can help me conquer the new concept.

So, if you've got any ideas percolating, or want to share the concept you're currently working with, let me know! None is too bold, too unthinkable for this valiant sartorial soldier.