Gap Chinos Review - did someone say PINK????

I needed a new pair of khakis for fall.  My previous ones, from J Crew, had bitten the dust and are now my outside painting/gardening pants (you should see the getups I get into out there!)

I did not see anything at J Crew for a reasonable price and frankly, the bennet chinos I bought last winter are not the right cut for me.  So off I headed to my new online casual spot - Gap!

And then I saw them across a crowded room.  Well - okay, technically, I was in my bedroom at home in my pyjamas, but you get the idea:

The broken in straight chinos in electric fuschia, which you can buy here.

I know - I got a pink corduroy jacket.  Do not worry, dear friends, these will never be seen together!

And electric is not the right word.  I prefer bright.  fun. 

In real life, they are not that pink and I got them on a 40% off sale so they were something like $35 CDN.

This was me on Sunday.  I am wearing a Theory tshirt which I got on sale in Spring and now realize, as I look at this picture, that it is completely unflattering!  I am also wearing a nice wool scarf and my Lulu ballets.  I had a plain jean jacket that I wore to go out downtown to hear the last of the music festival.  I got compliments, but they could have been in the "what the heck are you wearing - whoops, those are nice..." kind of compliments.  I don't care.  I like these and they are very comfortable!  I am pretty sure I will order a pair of the regular chinos next sale, now that I know my size, but I simply could not resist these.  I bought them in a size 8 but would easily have worn a 6.  I chose the 8 as I wanted total comfort!

This a.m. was no Katherine Hepburn day, it was more of a Rynetta day, which I was very content to be...

I finally wore the tippi in retro jade that I bought in Boston in July.  Nothing flashy here, but I do love that colour!  I am ready mentally now for boots and gloves!  Bring 'em on!

Have a great day!

Paging Katherine Hepburn!!!

Okay - a short post, but...

Today's outfit of the day was great, if I do say so myself...  Morse code schoolboy, Naomi top in navy polka dot, pearls, and wide leg pink tartan navy trousers, paired with Donald J. Pliner patent navy buckle kitten heels that I bought last year.  Ignore bleary eyes - Monday morning was hard today!

I just felt like a million bucks all day!

I wondered who I reminded myself of and then it hit me - I was channelling the late, great, Kate!  I LOVE Katherine Hepburn - she is one of my acting idols!

She had a unique style that had a point of view and was built around comfort and class.

I just felt so darn happy all day long!!!!

This is definitely an outfit I will wear again!

I hope your Monday was as sartorially splendid!  Do you ever find yourself unknowingly channelling your own style icons????

Have a great evening!

Loafer Around - my Sunday Ode to Loafers, including a review of the Toni Tassle Loafer

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

Thoreau

Ah - too often in my life I am an industrious and enterprising citizen - I work long hours on behalf of the people of my province and I do my best.  But Sundays - Sundays are a good time to loaf - to walk in the woods, read a good book, catch up with family, cook a nice, leisurely meal...

Thoreau's principle applies as well to fashion, if you ask me.  How many times in the week when I am wearing heels and fancy garb do I think "Oh! to be in my converse sneakers and sweat pants!"

The loafer, dear friends, is fashion's gift to us.  It is the shoe that feels like a Sunday that can be worn Monday to Friday!

I have a small loafer collection, two pairs of which were added this fall: the Aldo Leopard Print loafer and the J Crew Toni Tassle Loafer.  You have seen a bit of the leopard print loafers already this month, so I will not dwell on them, except to say that they are comfortable and I are giving me much joy!

The Cole Haan black patent penny loafers were purchased last summer in Freeport Maine at the outlet there.  They need a little spit and polish - I wore them out Friday night after work with my jeans and wandered all over downtown and in dusty/grassy tents, listening to music!  They are very comfortable!

The green velvet loafers were purchased online last December from the Cole Haan website.  I love the colour - they are really Christmas-y in many ways, but I may trot them out a few times this fall to wear with my jeans or my boulevard green minnie pants.  They are very comfortable with their quilted, padded lining and I get a lot of compliments about them!

My latest acquisition was one I hemmed and hawwed over earlier this month: the Toni Tassle Loafers in Champagne, which were recently on promo (I think they still are though they seem off the site this a.m. - they are sure to popback - everything does eventually - we will likely see Marissa in there at some point!) and with the 30% off promo on top of the site promo, the price came in at a reasonable $130 CDN.

As you know, they come in a couple of colourways, but given my fall colour stories, one of which had a lot of pinks and burgundy, the champagne version seemed best.  This is a comfortable shoe - I wore it with bare feet on Friday to work and did pretty well until late in the day (I always have to break any new shoes in hours at a time as my feet are so persnickety!).  They are all leather and so breathe very nicely!

The "champagne" colourway is not really champagne at all, unless you are thinking of a kir royale cocktail - there are definite pinky undertones in that champagne colour!  The burgundy tassle and toe are very pretty. I got a lot of compliments about these.

I paired them Friday with my superfine cotton suit in beechwood and a jackie shell in sweet pink.  It was still so hot!  I kept the jacket on for Friday night's fesitivities, pairing it with a coldplay tshirt, a big scarf, jeans and my back loafers.

A close-up shot of these on, which my husband thought was very odd...  I bought these in 6.5, which is my typical size for loafers or ballet flats, so I would say they fit TTS.  If you can catch these on an additional 20 to 30% off, I would say they are a good quality and attractive shoe that is very comfortable and thus worth the price.

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

Finally, a shot of what I wore to work on Thursday.  As I have noted, we had a bit of an Indian Summer here late last week - Thursday hit 80+/32+!

As you know, I was quite taken with this shot from the website:

Now, I am unlikely to wear a peach sweater wrapped around my waist at work (or elsewhere actually, unless I am taking a hike or walk and get warm!) so I decided to shop the closet and see if I could recreate the essence of this outfit:

I paired my lilac featherweight cashmere sweater, which is a couple of years old and still in excellent shape, with a lightweight silk blouse, the citrus No. 2 cotton pencil skirt and my greeny-blue Valentina slingbacks.  I thought of trying to recreate the shot but

a) husband would think I am crazy; and
b) my knees are not so great now and I am unsure how easily I would have gotten back up!

However, I was quite pleased with the effect and this is an outfit I will dig out again in Spring!

I hope you all have a delightful Sunday which involves much loafing around!

 

Emerson Fry Fall 2012

This fall's offerings thus far from J Crew have left me, well, underwhelmed. 

It should be noted that I am working very hard to not shop right now.  That will be hard to prove - some things I purchase in last month will be debuted soon, but I truly am being good right now and do not plan to buy a thing for several more weeks and try much harder to stick to my list!  The recent offerings from J Crew, which has truly been my go-to place for the last 5 years for clothing, has made that restraint so much easier!

I have heard many wonderful things about Emerson Fry from many of you, so when I checked my email late last night and had a lovely notice from Emerson Fry that their fall early release was now on line, I took a visit over there this morning and saw a lot to love...

I don't even know where to begin.  The styling, the items themselves, all are tastefully and interestingly presented. 

The coats:



This one is described as The Big Peacoat in Charcoal Grey and more details can be seen here.  This is perfection to me!  I was certain I was buying the Majesty peacoat in October, now I am not so sure...

And how about the Wingtip Jacket in Mineral Blue:



source: here

Or the patch pocket coat in herringbone?



source: here

How about the column skirt in gold ochre silk velvet?  this and a black tshirt could be all I need for fancy events for the rest of my life!



source:here

or the high skirt in mocha herringbone?



source: here

The Emerson Pant in Cobalt would have pride of place in my wardrobe:



see it here

Or the Sailor Pants in Kick Flare:



source: here

Or the Emerson Shirting Lilac Floral



source: here

 Or the Crewneck Sweater:



source: here

How about the top patch slingbacks in bronze and racing green?  At 4", they are way to tall for me, but those of you with high arches and better backs and posture than I might be in luck:



source: here

I would top it all off with a noir ring:



source: here

and the rose calfskin gloves:



In the blog they say this about the gloves:

The question is what won't these gloves be doing for u. Consider them at the office. Let them guide you in your paper work. Straight into the trash can? it was the gloves. They know what to do. Wear them in your correspondences. will soon find that walking down the hall to show off your gloves while you talk is more important than emails. And really it is. Emails can fucking wait. The gloves are happening now. Great gift to self. great gift to others. Romantic or otherwise. Or non romantic. if u know someone who needs to be slapped with an extremely supple gloved hand, these gloves are for you. 

Sorry for the swears (as my son would say!) but had to copy this in full as I thought it was hilarious and made me really think I NEED these gloves!  I may retire and write for the Emerson Blog, but I suspect WFF is already on staff...

I know - there is a lot here, but honestly, I was blown away by the simplicity of the pieces and the elegant way they are presented.  I do not own any Emerson Fry pieces and have no idea if I could/should be an Emerson Fry woman based on sizing, etc, but I really love this line and I think I will order something in October (perhaps the peacoat?) and give it a try!

what do you think?

have a happy and safe saturday!!!










Adventures in Paris - Shakespeare and Co.

Oh I admit it - this was a pilgrimage site for me!  I have been besotted with the idea of this place for many years, a fact that was only cemented again when I watched one of my favourite films, Before Sunset, recently.

This is "THE" english bookstore in Paris.  Its original incarnation was visited by Hemingway and Fitzgerald.  This reincarnation, created in 1951 by George Whitman, has hosted Miller, Nin, and William S. Burroughs to name but a few.

It is my idea of the perfect bookstore, despite being so well-visited.  It gives me the same feeling that I get when I visit the Strand in NYC - this is a bookstore for people who LOVE books.  We spent quite a lot of time here on a couple of occasions, as my family is comprised of people who not only like books, but we love pretty versions of books...

The store was 3 blocks from our hotel.  The first night we arrived in Paris we walked down here, en route to finding our first dinner spot.  It was quite magical for me. 

It was also quintessentially Paris for me.  On the 2nd floor there is a piano in one of the rooms, and there was a young man playing Bach.  Oh my!

As I walked up the narrow stairs, there was wallpaper depicting THE authors of the lost generation:

And the little interior courtyard was decorated with kitchsy toys:

Don't ask why these photos are sideways - despite my best efforts, they WANT to be sideways!  I believe this is the ghost of Burroughs at work... 

Out front, an artist was painting the shop:

He was an American from somewhere in NewYork and was very friendly.

What did I buy?

Well we all bought quite a bit, but my favourite was not French at all, but a Bloomsbury treasure:

The Hyde Park Gate News, the published version of the in-house newspaper created by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and their brother Thoby Stephens.  I have read excerpts of this before, but what a treat that it has been published in its entirety!

You can buy yours here.  I am just pouring through this now and it is great fun!  I am a huge Bloomsbury fanatic, so that was a real treat!

I know - Shakespeare and Co. is now a tourist destination.  I don't care.  It is a bookstore, and a good one at that, and I am totally besotted with good bookstores!!!

Have a wonderful day!

JCrew September Rollout - what I liked (!)

First - thank you all SOOOO much for your help yesterday!  You can only imagine that this is going to be the beginning of an ongoing dialogue of all of my fashion questions!!!!!!  I am an insanely curious person and never shy to admit I do not know something!!!!  I am pretty sure my stupid questions will take me to the elusive 40 followers!!! :-)

Well.....

I was surprised to see a new JC rollout today.  Don't know why, I guess I am a creature of habit and they have typically been on Thursdays and so I did not even look at the website till I saw others chiming in on my lunch break!  Actually, I am being so good - not looking at the website at all these days!  Dani's good book tells me that is a trigger point and so I am only looking when I need something!!!!  Oh, I am a work in progress, but making progress!

I would like to say that i am excited/besotted!  But I am not!  I want to see some differnent styles, not simply different prints!  I read somewhere (got to dig up that article) that this is becoming the most boring couple of decades in the history of fashion - we are all dressing the same and so tastefully!  The curse of the fashion stylists?  I miss my dad's 70s leisure suits or my husband's bolo tie from the 80s.. This topic deserves its own post and I will find the article and post on it!

But I digress...

I did visit the website tonight.

What did I like?



The collection golden paisley blouse.. Not sure this will look good on me, after the foulard print debacle.  Waiting for some reviews and a random windfall..


Convertible Clutch in neon coral.  I think this would be fun for the fall/winter...



The collection cafe capi in houndstooth - these are really expensive, but I will watch these until they and the shoes go on sale and then pounce! How awesome would these be for my christmas pants?????




Colourblock check mini.

Ah - you poor tall ladies.  At 18 1/2", if I size up and pull down, these will hit right at my knee...  This is cute and is on my sale watch!



Dream Colourblock sweater.  I KNOW - dream yarn.  but the colours are MY colours... I am going to wait for sale and then see..

What I REALLY liked was the first look on the home page that points you to the cashmere shop:



It is a bold use of colour, but so pretty!  I am tempted to try and recreate this tomorrow - I love the lilac and yellow!  And those shoes....


Everything else I liked was so outrageously expensive it is not even worth listing....

And I continued to wear blue today, though tomorrow is 30/82 and all my summer blues are packed away now...

My daughter accused me of wearing out blue's welcome, but I was unrepentent...

The blazer is one I picked up in July at Le Chateau from their fall pickings:



It is so pretty!  It is polyester, but I loved it so much that I decided I did not care.  Sometimes, one must look past one's better judgement for a beautiful thing... :-)  If you don't care, you can get yours here.

When I got home there was a JC box from the recent 30% off sale.  The wool skirt in festive blue and the toni tassle loafers in champagne.  Will take some pictures and post in next day or so!

As always, have a wonderful day and stay safe out there!

Style Questions Wednesday and Lady Wears the Blues



source:


A few weeks ago, Dani BP, our Mop Philosopher extraordinaire, wrote a beautiful post about having style sisters.  Dani - I cannot for the life of me find it on your blog or I would have linked back to it!

My late mother did not much care for clothes.  My older sister does not care for clothes either.  Thus, my sense of style has been gleaned by watching others and reading the odd book and making my own way in the world.  My information has likewise been cobbled together.

I have always wanted some sisters whom I could go to and ask some basic questions.

To that end, I have decided that from time to time, I will take a day and ask you all for some basic style information that you all seem to know, but which evades me or which I have always wondered about! 

I am hoping there is no judgement and that you will pass along your information joyfully, in the aid of helping me and any other confused souls like me!

Okay!  Today's questions:

1) Ballet flats in late fall/winter - are they okay to wear with tights?  What about in the dead of winter with jeans - do you go barefoot in your boots and then slip these on at the dinner party????????

2) how do you make those damn bra strap things in tops stay put when they aren't on the hanger????


3) How do you hang your trousers and jeans?  Or do you?



I look forward to your great advice!!!!!

And now, it is time for the blues... The Blues are a good thing and this week I am channelling the blues...

One of my guilty pleasures is Diana Ross' movies.  Give me "Lady Sings The Blues" or "Mahogany" any day and I will lap it up like a lost soul in the desert who has just found the oasis!

This week is also Fredericton's Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival (visit their website here.)  It is amazingly fun with lots of great music - the whole town comes alive with music and street performers.  In honour of the blues, thought I would dig out some blue outfits!  If only I had a feather boa like Diana!

A recent weekend outfit of the day.  Periwinkle blue Jackie twin set and navy minnies with lulu glitter ballets, all jcrew.

Today's outfit for work was also VERY blue:

Same sweater, Joe Fresh Dress, Aldo pumps, J crew pearl necklace.  Gosh - I may wear blue all week, a la my friend AJC!

and the little purse I drug with me:

Aldo - not real, but then you knew that - but cute!

And finally, the roses I got for my anniversary Friday:

Happy Humpday all!!!