Look: tights in the winter, mixed patterns, AND flannel? Swoon.

Fake Christmas

Today I fake-bought this jacket for myself as a Christmas present. I was really fake-surprised by my generosity, and fake-loved it. I am planning to fake-wear it with real jeans and real high tops.

Just got this hat from the local Army/Navy surplus. It is very warm, very comfortable, very affordable ($14!), and very ridiculous.

Great outfit! (although I would've gone with chunkier shoes, but that's sort of always the case...)

(via the awesome Looks Good To Me).

Other than the cigarette, this look is flawless.

Another awesome shot from Urban Weeds: Street Style from Portland.

Great jacket, perfectly nerdy-chic bag and shoes, and hair that makes me wanna chop mine all off!

Basics

It's finally, officially winter here in the Northeast, and it's cooooold. Trying to maintain any sense of cuteness is a real challenge, since my main concern is not freezing my butt off. So creativity has largely fallen by the wayside, and coziness and habit reign. So this is what I wear, pretty much every day - it's not thrilling, but it works:

First of all, these leggings are a saving grace. I have pretty mixed feelings about American Apparel but nothing but undying love for these thick, stretchy leggings. Warm, forgiving of imperfections, and comfy as heck, I have them in navy and grey (and will probably also get black before the winter is over).

Up top, I'm a huge fan of these tunics. They are a great 3/4 sleeve length, and have pockets! My only complaint is that they are a tiny bit short and also only come in one size, which is just laaaaame. I have the purple and green and love 'em both. This tunic (in every color!) is on my wish list but damn is that expensive!.

Finally, these boots! They are the find of the year for sure. From Target, real leather, and only $50! People are always mistaking them for Frye boots, which is a-ok by me! They are also pretty comfy and have worn in well even after months of repetitive wear. I really should get another pair before they are gone for good....

Oh, and I just got this hat and love it! It's warm and cozy but also totally cute and stylish. I might even need to purchase a second one, 'cause I've got a long winter ahead....

Wrong era.

Everyone says they love 90s fashion, but I really mean it. The nubby textures, the disheveledness and imperfections, the paradoxical representation of femininity - all impressive. The 90s felt so experimental and open. I hate how stagnant style and culture feel to me right now.

I'm all about the messy hair and thick brows...

Understated fun.

Sunshine & Shadow

Love the colors, the prints, the rope necklaces, and even the socks and sandals (never thought I'd like that combo!) (Only dislike - the scarves tied around the head - silly and impractical). (via Sunshine & Shadow)

Love these!

Whimsy in the Winter!

Cold weatha'

When I walk down the street in weather like this, I look like a few things:

• A sleeping bag, owing to my insistence upon wearing this coat, except in black. Note that I am 5' tall, so the sleeping bag almost grazes the pavement. I also usually have the hood up, and with draw strings drawn (like Kenny from South Park).
  

• A 15-year-old, owing to (1), supra, and to the fact that I wear Uggs. Uggs were never okay, I realize. So I'm not trying to make an argument for their being at all acceptable for me, but they are at least seriously warm. I also know that the sole demographic of Ugg-wearers left in the world are (a) surfers (of whom there are few in Manhattan in December), (b) suburban tourists (of whom there are many in Manhattan in December, but they are mostly white, which is why I don't think I look like them), (c) 15-year-olds, (d) me. This is what mine look like.

Dag, those are ugly. They don't call them "Uggs" for nothing.

• A lunatic, owing to (1) and (2), supra, and the shiftiness with which I navigate the pulsing, bleating crowds of Manhattan. I guess the one good thing about being so short is that I can move through the pack with relative smartness of pace, throwing people off balance and allowing them to eat my proverbial dust. (NB: I am still unable to do this when in any footwear other than Uggs or Adidas Sambas.)

I guess I'm more or less okay looking like an ambulatory teenage lunatic sleeping bag, but it would also not be mistaken to interpret this post as a "cry for help" in terms of ways to step it up while still being warm in the winter. I thought about getting a shorter sleeping bag, but that sort of seemed indulgent (in these tough economic times, blah, blah). Next stop: absurd earmuffs?

DKNY Fall 2010

Loving the bold, simple colors (red, white, black, blue) and the nautical theme of the DKNY pre-fall 2010 collection. Not so much a fan of the harem pants (go away, already) or the short suits (where in God's name would you wear a short suit??) but overall a classic, wearable all-American line. I'm especially enamored of all the dresses (and the basic, practical yet sexy black sandals they are all styled with)! I will now spend all winter trying to imitate this hair so it looks perfectly casual come spring...

(1) This outfit looks to me like a girl wearing a sweet summer dress who threw on her boyfriend's letter jacket to stay warm. Nostalgic, cozy, and perfect tomboy.

(2) The perfect Little Red Dress! A warm hue, and short but balanced by the long sleeves, which look perfectly bunched up...

(3) Totally doable for work with a jacket, and easy to spice up for night with a bold necklace or earrings.

(4) Reminiscent of Guess circa early 1990's in the best way possible!

Up In The Air: The Female Professional

I saw "Up In The Air" last night - overall I thought it was a really good movie (if not terribly uplifting). One thing that interested me was the depiction of two strong women at different points in their career (both corporate): Alex (played by the luminous Vera Famigla) is a 34-year old, confident, sexy (but not overt) business woman. Natalie (played by newcomer Anna Kendrick) is 22-years-old, fresh out of Cornell and determined to make her mark in the business world.

It was great to see a movie portray two women grappling with the same issues of professional life, family, and relationships, in different stages of their lives. And I thought their wardrobes perfectly reflected their differences.

Clothes: Natalie (left) falls prey to the safety of the suit that occurs for so many young professional women - blue or white button down shirts, bland black suits (pant and skirt suits both, likely from Ann Taylor or, if she's more ambitious, Brooks Brothers) and black heels - all cotton, all (I would be willing to bet) no-iron (although you better believe she still irons).

Alex, on the other hand, still rocks the suits but wears clothes that flatter, not hide, her curves. Instead of the button down oxfords, she wears professional but soft silk shirts in tones like purple and pink. Her look is warmer and less stiff.

Natalie, while attempting to look grown up and mature with her outfits actually, like a lot of the young professional women I see, actually ends up looking younger because she looks (a) uncomfortable; (b) like she's raided someone else's closet (or, more specifically, window display); and (c) has no sign of uniqueness in her appearance. Alex's wardrobe shows that looking comfortable (as well as unafraid of your body and sexuality) can actually make you look more professional, not less (assuming, of course, you still abide by some rules - skirts to the knee, not too many buttons undone, etc).

Casual clothes: Well, we never see Natalie in casual clothes, which is probably the point. Alex, on the other hand, manages to pull off jeans and a hoody and still look like a powerful and confident 30-something, not a teeny bopper. Fitted, tailored jeans, a cashmere-looking hoody, and just the right amount of cleavage make her casual and still pulled together.

Hair: One othe first things you notice about Natalie is her extreme hairstyle. Slicked back, stick straight, and in a pony tale, her hair screams "no nonsense!" while still giving off the impression of immaturity (I have mixed feelings about ponytails in the professional setting....but that's another post).

Alex is styled with a shorter hair cut (to the chin) which is both more appropriate to her age and on-the-road lifestyle, and is also softer, less severe, and somehow also more mature (without being "old").

Coats: When bundling up for the colder locales, we again see a difference in their age and styles. Natalie (probably still recovering from those Ithaca winters) wears a bland, drab, shapeless, down jacket over her suits. Alex, on the other hand, wears a stunning red wool coat, which manages to work over suits or jeans while she's playing in the show. This sort of "classic" wardrobe piece is the elusive treasure all us modern girls are looking for - unique but not garish, appropraite for casual or work wear, and, simply, drop dead gorgeous (I can't find a good picture of it online!).

Overall: I liked that I came away from this movie wanting to be a woman (in life and in the workplace) not a girl. Natalie is a wonderful character, but you can tell she will be a lot happier when she stops trying so hard to make the perfect life, to be the perfect corporate achiever, and let's her hair down a little (in fact, in the final scenes she lets down a tendril or two). I also appreciated that the movie (semi-spoiler, I guess) didn't force a sexual relationship between her and George Clooney and let a man and a young woman (for once) have a non-sexual mentor-mentee relationship. How refreshing!

And while Alex isn't perfect in many ways (as George Clooney learns), she does give a glimmer of hope as a beacon of confident, sexual femininity even in a sterile, corporate, and male-dominated world. She shows that what is truly powerful and attractive is a comfort with yourself and your age, a knowledge about what you want from your personal and career life, and, thank god, a splash of color and silk.

I used to really hate them but I'm developing a soft spot for these wedge booties that are all over, especially in super colorful or studded variations.

(l) Jeffrey Campbell "Tick" studded peep toe wedge

Street Style

What is up with the explosion of street style blogs?


Okay, yes, I read a few of them. And, like everyone else, I started with The Sartorialist. Whatever. But that was a sort of novel blog back in a time when (a) he actually featured "street" style, ie. not just people in the fashion industry, and (b) everyone and their mother didn't have a street style blog back then. So it was something interesting. I'm not sure that Scott Schuman invented the street style blog per se. I'm just saying there was something actually fresh about it to me. Remember posts like this? Or this? So great! Now it seems like he shoots only industry people, which is totally boring and also unfair. What is the glory in being a really well-dressed heiress? (Well, to be fair, I guess not every heiress knows how to dress. Evidence.)

Anyway, style blogs. What I hate about current real street style blogs is that everyone in them seems to look the same to me. It is just a bunch of 14 year olds with too many studs on their Forever 21 sheath dresses. I'm not saying there's not something to be learned, but I can take only so much Jenny Humphrey. I thought the point of street style was to capture the diversity of looks out there, and to show the billion and one ways that people rock their various weirdo duds successfully. Not to do your best 'rexic adolescent queen bee impression.

I guess I have to get used to street style blogs as a form of entertainment, since they have apparently become a mainstay, but, ladies, please remember not to dress like any of the children in those blogs. Yes, those jeggings do make you look fat! And, no, it is not okay to wear your Doc Martens anymore.

Rodarte for Togarte

The Rodarte for Target line is on sale tomorrow.

I sort of have a love/hate relationship with these diffusion lines. At first I thought they were cool, since I could pretend to own something from Stella McCartney, or Behnaz Sarafpour, or whomever. But over time I have grown seriously bored of them. Not only are the diffusion pieces made kind of poorly, but they seem to be cut on the same mass-scale model of a woman's body that other clothes at Target or H&M are cut on. This means generally uninspired fits for the clothing. Also, the pieces can never be as edgy as any designer's normal line because they have to be sell-able pieces for Targets or H&Ms all over...which means they can be a little yawnsville. Not that I'm out there making fashion history with my avant-gardism, but there's a reason that people who blog about clothes actually elect to do this, right? So that we can egg each other on with our strange sartorialisms.

That said, I can't deny the thrill of owning a piece that one or both of the Mulleavy sisters herself designed (or at least I am led to believe that one of them designed it)! The designs are playful and dark, which is, uh, kind of my thing.

I mean, I don't want to like the rib cage dress, but I do. I justify this by imagining that this dress is a "cunning statement about the industry and its ludicrous standards" (I'm pretty sure it's not, but I'm trying to make an argument for its being okay that I like it even though I'm about 13 years too old to get it). As for the second outfit, I'd look like a tool in it (as would most - hello, poor styling), but the cardigan looks like it's nice and gauzy -- which is precisely the way I like my mustard sweaters.

Update: As of 9:30 am (eastern!) on Sunday, basically anything worth wanting from the Rodarte for Target collection was out of stock on Target's website. whoa.

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