Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Style Wednesday: The Blazer, how the internet haunts and taunts you, and my Baby's birthday....



There is a rumour that somewhere in Scotland today, a woman was seen wearing ballet flats and NO SOCKS! 

It was a cruel rumour, because I am in my little office, almost set to put on my fingerless gloves a la Bob Cratchit...

I am in the midst of reading To Kill A Mockingbird in preparation for Dani's book club meeting at the end of the month, and every description of the hot sweltering summer cheers me considerably, as does the three minute hot flash I have every evening around 8 o'clock.

Oh don't begrudge me sharing that little nugget; Barry is certainly well and truly over my menopause already and I am only taking my first tentative steps into that land...

I haven't read the aforementioned book for nearly 40 years and I have decided that I need to read it at least every couple of years hereafter for the rest of my life.  But I will save my thoughts for the 31st!

Since it's only March 18th, you have plenty of time to go out and buy and read this gem so you can be ready for the much-anticipated-by-me book club meeting. 




But that's not why we are here today, is it?  Think of that as a brief commercial on behalf of Dani's blog at the beginning of my post about BLAZERS, kind of like on YouTube.

I have been thinking a lot about blazers lately. 

Strange?  Perhaps....

As I have cleaned out my closet and my suits in preparation for some other life that involves writing and perhaps the odd contract or something else (tree trimmer? whistle blower? model for Madame Tussauds?) I have been thinking of what I want to wear.

And here's the thing: I don't want to wear a blazer.  At least not much.

Now lest you think this is simply a repudiation of my old, corporate life, I must raise my hand swiftly and say "guilty, but only sort of".

See I have never loved a blazer.  They are so, well, restricting...

And yet so becoming on others, and even sometimes becoming on me...

this one went to live with Martine...



This one got to stay


I blame it on Michelle Obama.

Yes THAT Michelle Obama:





For years I had laboured under the impression that even if one didn't feel comfortable in a jacket, even if same-said jacket made one feel boxy or busty or just plain uncomfortable, one must still soldier on and in the words of Barney Stinson, SUIT UP.

But no, look at her up there, looking all pretty in dresses and skirts, her upper body covered in cardigans, glorious cardigans, soft, skimming, flattering cardigans!

So when I cleaned out my closets I only kept three or four blazers.  I will likely only wear one of them this summer.  The rest of the time you will catch me in my little J Crew Featherweight cardigans or the factory Clare ones, which IMO hang together better than the Jackies...




Should I be called forward someday for my Caldecott Medal, my Nobel Peace Prize, or my Publisher's Clearinghouse Million Dollar Cheque, I will sally forth as my dear Michelle would:


Or the Duchess:



and leave the blazers to those hot little tickets Olivia and Clemence....





Sofia and I will be sitting over here in our sweaters...



How about you?  Are you a cardigan or a blazer person?  Or are you ambidextrous?

****************

On a completely different note, I am being haunted.

It started with an innocent trip to the Stuart Weitzman website where I stumbled upon the following sandals that I deemed swoon-worthy:




Called the Offset, they are the perfect minimalist shoe that can be worn casual or dressy.  I promptly pinned them, and their tan twin, to Pinterest and went about my way.

Oh, I may have added them to the shopping bag, but I did not push the trigger.  Sometimes it feels nice to have things in a shopping bag...

But Stuart is smarter than I am.  Every single site I visited all day long, every SINGLE site, had a little picture of this sandal:



Just lurking in the corner, my own peeping tom...



My own personal creeper.  Big Brother was watching me and he wanted me to be wearing these shoes while he did, which puts him squarely in the shoe fetish camp, don't you think?

Are these little wonders for me?  peut-etre...

I will mull on them for a few more days, which should be relatively easy, as I will visit someone's blog tomorrow and there they'll be...

Perhaps if I do nothing they'll simply follow me home and cost me nothing????

So: is the internet taunting you these days with anything?

*****

Finally, my baby is having his champagne birthday today (who could imagine they could both have their champagne birthdays in the same year?)

My Forrest, grandson of a Forester, turns 19, which is the legal drinking age here in New Brunswick.

He had always been a brute - he was 10 lb, 6 oz at birth - but he is a good boy and one of the two lights of my life!


he and Bud and I at the Cuban restaurant I think...

He may not bear the last name, but he is a McLeod.  You need only look at this picture of my grandfather (my dad's dad) at the same age:




His hair even goes like that when he's growing it out... which is why he shaves it...

He doesn't know he has a safe house over in Scotland, but I am sure a light will either be shining for him over at Skye or somewhere where that damn woman with no socks is...

Happy Birthday Sweetie!  Drink responsibly!  I love you!

***********

Have the happiest of Wednesdays and stay safe out there everyone!
xoxo


 

53 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to your son! My small shoulders and not so small hips look better in a blazer than I do a cardigan, but I'll usually wear a cardigan. Oddly I don't own a black blazer, but I have 4 black cardigans of various weights and styles-go figure. I adore Michelle Obama's style - she really wears clothes well being tall and in great shape.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Julie! I have wider shoulders and narrow hips - think the cardigan works best in the end, although one always needs the odd blazer I think! I especially love a knit blazer as it skims me better! I am same on black cardigans - you can always use more or a different type!

      Delete
  2. Even though my body type, busty also, might not agree, I love blazers. Any sort of military detail or tipped make it all the better. I love the way they look with skinny pants or jeans. I then add flats or tall boots depending on the temperature. It just looks so polished to me. I guess my style is not casual as my husband has that base well covered!
    Happy Birthday to your son! He indeed bears a remarkable likeness to his great grandfather and to you too! A very handsome young man! All the best to him and your family as you celebrate his day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Teacups, I saw the most amazing military style one by Smythe at the other day at a shop downtown - it was amzing! thanks for the kind wishes!

      Delete
  3. I wear blazers much more than cardigans, but neither as often as my 'collection' might indicate. Always wished I was ambidextrous ;)

    My firstborn is a Forrest, but goes by his middle name. 5 generations of them in my husband's family. Hope your son has a wonderful birthday! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay Wendy - now you and I are getting eerie!!! We always liked the name and since my dad was a Forester, it seemed apropos! His middle name is my great-grandmother's maiden name - Turner.

      Delete
  4. I'm for sure ambidextrous! I love my cardigans as much as I love my blazers and I wear them often!

    This post caught me at a great time. I do have ONE internet haunting and it began yesterday. My temptation is the Mansur Gavriel small tote. It is just so chic and classy. These bags are very affordable (relatively; less than 450 for a small tote) and it popped up last Summer. They flew off the shelves and many are still waiting on what they preordered. Anyway, these bags are just divine. They are sold out everywhere which explain why I don't have one. That's fine by me since I don't NEED another bag but I surely will make room for one. I'm going to let a few weeks pass and if this bag still haunts me, I may have to call up a store and get on their wait list. Check them out, Wendy. You will have another internet haunt. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uh oh - I am off to take a look....I never had a purse thing, but then I met that darn GetFresh and she has me loving them now...

      Delete
  5. I love blazers and enjoy finding top quality old-school J.Crew jackets on eBay. I never met a tweed jacket I didn't like. But I also wear cardis a lot . . . and if I had Michele Obama's arms I would never wear ANYTHING with sleeves!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hexicon - I was thinking of starting the weights right now...

      Delete
  6. I just looked in the closet to check - yep, jackets! Jean jackets, zip jackets, blazers, mandarin jackets - wool, linen, denim, leather. Hopeless.

    Happy birthday to your young man !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love it Fred! Know where to visit if I get myself in a pinch!

      Delete
  7. Well I am a sweater wearer with light soft jackets thrown in. I love the look of a blazer I just never seem to grab them though. For the longest time I thought it just coincidence that an item I was eyeballing followed me around the web. Now the damn thing is emailing me telling me I forgot it, it misses me, send money. Happy birthday to your son...our drinking age is a ridiculous 21.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that you thought it was a coincidence!

      I think for busty gals such as we, a knit jacket is the most flattering and that is mostly what I kept in the closet, but like you I always reach for the cardigan!

      Delete
  8. Happy birthday to your handsome young man. Like you I'm down to only 3 blazers now. I prefer cardigans except for meetings when I need to look a bit pulled together. I think there is a program from marketers that shows the item you have been browsing show up everywhere you go in the internet. I learned the hard way when I had to go to the web for a presentation and my boss said I see you have been looking at shoes earlier....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marie - I laughed out loud at that! That's something that would happen to me!

      Delete
  9. 10lb 6 - Good God Wendy! How, how, how do women do it?
    Happy Birthday to the rapscallion!

    My feet were overjoyed yesterday, I think today will be the last day of such shenanigans, storms are a brewin'.

    I know I want 'light coloured things' but I have no idea what they might be yet, apart from cheap and easy wear/wash.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know how I did it either!

      I am all about neutrals this year - ecru, black, white, navy. I think I am trying to build a very simple wardrobe and neutrals, with the very odd splash of colour, are the ticket to that!

      Delete
  10. Happy Birthday to your son Wendy! I love the name you picked for him.

    I love blazers,but i leaning toward the soft jersey ones. I wear mine all the time. Just yesterday i wore the colorblock blazer from jcrew and it feels very me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ina - I like soft jersey ones, too. I ordered the maritime blazer in navy last summer, but the construction of the one I bought was hideous! Judith and Charles have an amazing one, but it is expensive and I have no idea where I would wear it!

      Delete
  11. Happy Birthday to Forrest! Wow, the family resemblance is strong - how wonderful to see that connection to your ancestors.

    Re. blazers vs. cardigans - I like both. I agree, though, that knit blazers are great - best of both worlds, the look of structure but with comfort.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy Birthday to your son! I love when you pull out that picture of your great grandfather, the genetics can't be denied!

    I love cardigans and blazers. They both were their purpose in my wardrobe and I can't pick a favorite:)

    Have a beautiful day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A - you made me laugh! You don't have to pick a favourite for sure!

      Delete
  13. Happy Birthday to your darling boy! (Mine were only 7#, yikes). Will he have champers to celebrate?

    Now I'm ambi, but for many years I wore a blazer or other jacket every day, with a pin/brooch on the left lapel. I started wearing cardis to work after discovering blogs c.2009; now that I don't work in an office, I've expanded the cardi section and shrunk the blazer. I still like blazers over jeans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is getting the tattoo, then having a drink with his father downtown and then home for a birthday supper (just made the vegan cake!) and off for a night of debauchery no doubt! I think you and I basically wore the same uniform!

      Delete
  14. I am ambidextrous definitely. I love jackets and cardi... I agree that Michelle has given a different place to the cardi.
    Wishing a wonderful BDay to your boy, I cannot imagine the day mine will turn that age... I still have time to think about it, but that I thought about him going to secondary when he was born and yet, this will happen so soon...
    And by the way, I was not wearing socks or tights last week!
    Take Care

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steph - it goes so fast! You hang on tight to that boy!

      Delete
  15. Wow Wendy he was a whopper. I could just barely manage birthing my 8# 5oz boy. I read TKAM again a few years ago when son was assigned to do a paper on it for school. Many times I read whatever he is reading so I can look at his work and make sure he doesn't go to far off on a tangent. I always picture Gregory Peck as Atticus. Those shoes look comfy and promising. I am trying not to even open the Pandora's box of shoes this year. I am not a huge blazer wearer except to wear then as an outer layer in fall and spring. I do like the knit blazers since they are comfy and look very pulled together for running around town. Cheers and Happy Birthday to Forrest. Definitely a chip off the old block!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny - I haven't seen what survived last summer's purge of summer shoes, so haven't even considered ordering! I adored Gregory Peck. Didn't the American Film Institute vote Atticus Finch as the #1 movie hero of all time?

      Delete
  16. Happy Birthday to your darling champagne boy! We'll have a 19 year old here in a couple of weeks, so funny that we were having those kids at the same time, and in New Brunswick. Will he go out tonight? Will Barry be on standby to go collect him?
    I love my cardigan sweaters, I'm looking forward to wearing dresses all spring and summer with my Brora cropped cardigans, those are my happiest outfits. I do like a nice blazer but they are better suited to mild climates I think where they can be worn more often.
    I am currently living in my workout sweats, Scout has ripped two of my Brora sweaters this week already! New ones! Good thing she's cute and I hope the Tasmanian Devil stage will be over soon.
    Love these pictures and especially Michelle Obama's outfits, she is so stylish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh he's going out all right. No one will go get him - this is a cab night and something tells me he will be sleeping somewhere else!

      Scout ate Brora???? I hope Old! are they fixable????? There is about 3 days in May and 3 in September when you can wear them by themselves outside around here. It's either too hot or cold to do so otherwise so I have given up on that dream!

      Don't you love Mrs. O? She makes women my age look HOT!

      Delete
  17. Oh my gosh, and thanks for the shout out re the book club! March 29th!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well good thing you corrected the date!!!! Did I mention I am WRETCHED about details????

      Delete
  18. Happy Birthday to Forrest!!! My son turned 3 last December - the time really does fly by. I am also a cardigan girl - I rarely wear blazers, I just find them really restrictive, so I save them for when I have to look "corporate" or "polished". That photo from the JC catalog is one of my all-time favourites, love the colour and the model.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Louise - the days are long but the years are short! I find blazers restrictive as well, though I have hung on to a very few! she was always my favourite model, too!

      Delete
  19. I love a good cardigan but have a love of blazers too. I think because they hide some of what I don't want to share with the rest of the world! Many happy returns to your young man!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Replies
    1. thanks Ger! You should see the big tattoo - about to post it on facebook!

      Delete
  21. A blazer guy though not as often as I used to. I liked that navy outfit up top. 10lbs 6oz? Oh my and he certainly does favor your grandfather. McCleods are always very well represented at our Highland Games, Saint Andrews Days dinners strutting about in their distinctive tartan. I'll raise a glass for the birthday boy tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Happy birthday to your handsome son!
    I mostly wear sweaters, although I have a few blazers in my closet that I don't wear and which I won't part with. No logic there! I like the look of a blazer but I always feel too formal in them for where I am going.
    I hate those ads too! They're taunting me and trying to get me to shop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI Cate! I like the idea of blazers, I just never seem to wear them when I get them home!

      Delete
  23. I swing both ways... Cardie in summer, blazer in winter, but I do love a cardie with a dress or skirt, blazer with pants.
    Happy birthday to your boy - mine turned 9 on 19th! Poor thing is sick with a tummy bug today.... Hope yours isn't sick with too much booze!
    I think you should get the sandals if they are stalking you ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruth - they were on a poetry website today! It was creepy!

      I told him no alcohol poisoning. He already drinks, but only a couple of beer, so we shall see..

      Delete
  24. I try not to wear cardigans solo these days because I feel like it's quite mumsy on me at the moment. I've been wearing them *with* blazers, which is a nice layering look. Yeah, I try to go for my blazers as much as possible but since lifestyle dictates, I often end up more casual than that. Love those pics of FLOTUS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and happy birthday to your son. It's amazing how much he looks like his great grandfather!

      Delete
    2. oh you know - I struggle with the mumsy thing constantly, given me height and bustiness! that and my age has seen me headed for simplicity!

      Delete
  25. I am ambidextrous and happy birthday to Forrest!

    Also congrats on winning my giveaway. Please CYE. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Happy belated Birthday to your son!

    I'm a cardigan wearer most of the time, but once in a while a blazer gal too. I just love the look of a blazer with jeans, a tee, and loafers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi ABC - I agree! For me it's all about finding the perfect one!

      Delete

Kindness is a virtue...