Closet Capers!

This past summer my parents suffered a flood in their apartment that completely ruined my brother's room, the hall carpets and portions of their bedroom and my sister's bedroom (formerly also mine). In the first few months of dealing with massive industrial dryers, ripped up carpeting, knocked out ceilings and walls (they also redid the bathrooms - why not when you have to bring in construction guys just for repairs?), my whole family moaned and groaned and cursed our luck. I spent an entire weekend helping them clear out all the damaged areas, including my parent's closet which desperately needed attention.

And now, thank god I did help my mom clear out all the old clothes she had accumulated over the years. She also had a number of items whose origin is still questionable; she let me keep them since her solution was to donate/throw out anything she no longer wanted.

When we pulled this dress out of the closet, my mom admitted that she wasn't completely sure if it had been her mother's or her grandmother's. All we could figure out is that it must have been a custom tailored gown since there is not a single tag on this dress - not even to tell me what the materials are. The black lace is gorgeous, huge flowers cover the entire skirt. I was a little surprised to try it on and discover that it almost fits me:

Close, but not quite. I'm usually a 4-6 size, and the bodice was slightly larger. As you can see, I had to hold the back to keep it up, and also to get the best sense of what it would look like if it fit me like a glove. The huge bow in back is horribly wrinkled from being stored for eons in the back of my mom's closet. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this. Tailor it to fit? Alter it completely? Selling seems like a waste since I have no information on it. But this other dress I definitely want to keep.

Its a grey silk slip of a dress with a silk belt to cinch it in at the waist. The lace on the shoulders is beautiful, as you can clearly see in the image above. A few of the beads are probably missing, but maybe I can find some replacements. I just need to iron all those wrinkles out. Other than the one tiny label that says its silk, again no idea where/when its from.

But there was one easily identifiable item in the "get rid off" pile; this Yves Saint Laurent plaid skirt. Its about knee-length on me (and yes those wrinkles have a date with an iron soon) and the most versatile piece I managed to walk away with. Of course, after taking a closer look at all of these I want to dive right into all of our closets during my NYC visit this weekend. No idea if I'll have time to (Dad just had knee-replacement surgery so I need to spend time with him, not clothes), but I'm definitely going to try to bring back something good.

Mad for Mad Men Dolls

The NYT has a piece detailing the new Mad Men Barbie dolls that will be released as part of their premium Barbie Fashion Model Collection - ie, the one that's for the kids within adults. Only four characters will have dolls representing them (Don Draper, Betty, Roger Sterling, and Joan Holloway) and there will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each produced. These guys will retail for $74.95, and as a big fan of the TV series I'm pretty tempted to try obtaining one for myself. Except there's one teeny tiny thing that bothers me:

photo via the NYTimes.com

Where are Joan's amazingly enviable curves?! I understand that its a Barbie doll and Barbie is, well, not precisely proportionally human, but that's one thing that I love about Joan: she's fabulous AND she's the curviest woman on the show. Those hips, and don't even talk to me about her *ahem* additional features, for which I will always be jealous since I'm one of the cursed A cup ladies trying not to look either prepubescent or like a boy. Joan's doll should be as curvy as she is! She's so freaking gorgeous its just not fair! I think that Mattel could have created a special mold for her, considering how few dolls they will release, and thus created a more accurate representation.

I will say, though, that Betty's doll (and character, for that matter) seems to embody the 1950s ideal housewife motif to a T. Her doll's appearance is so perfect its kind of mesmerizing.

Trend alert? Really?

Erin Wasson Fall '10, Balenciaga Fall '10, images via Style.com

I had to quickly comment on this recent runway phenomena: the crazy eyebrows, and all the attention people have been giving it. More importantly, the people who are touting it as new trend. Really? How many real, everyday people are actually going to go all out and either dye them crazy colors (or worse - patterns!) or pluck them into bizarre shapes. Why not just not freaking pluck them at all? I mean, that's what Topshop seems to be saying:

Topshop Unique Fall '10, images via Refinery29.com

Forgive me if I think that some things that are presented on the runways should STAY there. Designers present an alternate reality, one from their own imaginings, and they do so via a stage and a performance of their art. The runway is not the real world.

So if you feel like taking some Tim Burton-esque tweezers to your brow, go ahead. In fact, more power to you! However, I'll be at my local threading salon getting my eyebrows tamed into a simple, elegant arch. As we know, the classics never go out of style.

Story Time!

Sometimes, going shopping is merely about getting particular clothes; I need a blouse that will pair with that one skirt, I've grown out of my jeans (hopefully in a good way), hmm I can't wear these shoes anymore because there's a hole in the sole. But then there are the times when you score a particular item and you forever remember the story behind obtaining it.

This is definitely one of my favorite stories.

It was spring of my senior year at college and I came home to NYC one weekend for some reason that I can't remember now because it clearly wasn't that important. I always love walking around the city and hitting up my favorite places, and after ducking into Momofuku Milk Bar/Bakery I was heading back towards the subway when I decided, just for the hell of it, to see what the DSW at Union Square had in stock. I'm a shoe-aholic, so even just browsing is fun. And I'm of the opinion that no woman can have too many shoes.

I always start off at the 'designer section' on the back wall, and as I approached I noticed several pairs with an additional 80% off sign. No one else in the store is even near this section so I cautiously meander over, no expectations since its DSW of course. But then I notice what appears to be a red sole. Instantly alert, I make sure no one is looking as I carefully pick up the nearest pair. Do my eyes deceive me? I have to look twice to be certain but sure enough the red sole has given them away: LOUBOUTIN!

Of course, I grab my size in every single pair and start trying them on like mad. Its the first time I get to try on a pair of Louboutin pumps and I've been waiting for this moment my entire life. They had simple pumps in black kid leather, suede, and patent, brown suede, and navy and deep red suede platform pumps that made me look like a giraffe (but damn did I feel sexy in them!). I spent probably 20 minutes trying on all these shoes, admiring them (and me) in the mirror, and calculating how many I could buy without causing my mom to yell at me. At this point many other women have come over and started trying shoes on, noticing the frenzy I was in. We chatted with one another, recommending which ones looked best on each person, and finally I walked out of there with two pairs of black pumps, in patent and suede - kid leather wasn't in my size :(

Never underestimate what you can find at an NYC DSW.

I feel so hoppy today

Finally! Its beginning to become spring. Today the sun was out, high of 50 F, AND it was the weekend so we could actually enjoy the weather together. Don't ask me how I did it, but I managed to get my boyfriend to go outside with me for a few hours in the middle of the day to walk around South Street, popping into random thrift, consignment and antiques stores just to browse. Everyone in Philadelphia was outside today.

AND today was the Philly Craft Beer Fest! I bought us tickets ages ago, the moment they went on sale because lo and behold both the afternoon and evening sessions sold out pretty quickly. We're big microbrew fans, and when the opportunity to taste nearly 150 different drafts from approximately 50 different breweries arises, you can't pass it up. We attended the evening session (6-9:30pm) because, well, possibly getting drunk in the middle of the day just seems wrong. My first beer festival and after surviving it I have to say - unlikely to go again next year.

Not because its bad - oh, no, we had a lot of fun there. However, it wasn't well organized as immediately evidenced by the line to get in. Except in the beginning it was two lines. Then somehow those two converged into one, with a separate one forming next to it. The security then merged that separate line with the main one, but right at the middle, thoroughly ticking off the people who suddenly had a ton of people ahead of them in line (thankfully not us). Once inside, it was pretty crowded. WAAAAY too crowded for maximum enjoyment, really.

It was right on the edge of being impossible to move around, but we managed to try a fair portion of the breweries. Not an easy task. But the worst part was the fact that the bathrooms had plumbing issues so port-o-potties were the only option. And with that much beer, and that many people...midway through there was a crowd waiting for a bathroom with a 20 minute wait. Ugh.

However, the beer we had was fantastic! I don't remember most of it (wish I'd wrote it all down!), but Dock's Draft Hard Cider framboise was delicious. So was Voodoo Brewery's Voodoo Love Child, that draft really stood out from the rest of the ones we had. We peaced right around 8pm, bellies full of beer and pretzels, and ahead of the increasingly drunk crowd. It was a damn fine Saturday.

The 'H' is silent

Something that ticks me off is when people who claim to be either in the fashion industry or just really, really, really interested in fashion (ie, bloggers such as myself) cannot correctly pronounce major designers' names. Probably one of the first times that this started to bug me was right around the time that America's Next Top Model started up. I cannot remember the season, nor any other identifying information since it was so long ago, but I remember some challenge where the models filmed a tv short where they discussed designers, and nearly every single one of them mispronounced Hermes. I kept thinking to myself, "You want to be a major model, and you don't even know about all of these huge fashion houses?!"

Well, now that I got that little rant out of me, onto the real topic - Hermes being the connecting thread. Ah, Hermes. Several years ago, whilst helping my mom clean out a room at our country house, we stumbled upon more of my great grandmother's items, including several Hermes purses (one of which still had the ORIGINAL PRICE TAG in it). Clearly, she was obsessed with Hermes and I have no problem with since I keep stumbling upon her stuff, such as these scarves:

While packing up stuff to move to Philadelphia, I grabbed these that just so happened to be in some drawer of mine, without looking at them. I found them again in one of my drawers and decided to take a closer look at them - and boy am I glad that I did. I really had no idea that I had vintage Hermes scarves lying around in my drawer (and a Courreges scarf, too!).

It wasn't easy finding out more information on these two scarves (even more so for the Courreges; I still have no idea what date its from), but I finally found this amazing online archive of Hermes silk scarf patterns at Luxury-Scarves.

Chiens et Valets (1963) was designed by Charles-Jean Vallo.

Combats de Coqs (1954) was designed by Hugo Grygkar

Chiens et Valets is beautiful, a more traditional design for Hermes, but Combats de Coqs is just freaking gorgeous. The colors are spectacular against one another, they create a very vibrant composition - not that the composition needed more 'action':

Everyone loves having a cock fight emblazoned around their neck. Which brings up a very good question: what on earth am I going to do with these? Definitely keeping them, and I would love to wear them but I really have to figure out the best way to. My boyfriend's sister suggested framing them, which would certainly help preserve them. Someone else mentioned making pillows out of them but the thought of possibly destroying them makes me faint. But that might not be as bad a fate as ending up in one of drawers, forever...

A Marquis I'd love to call my own

Hmm, I'm on a big jewelry kick of late.

There are many reasons why I love all the various designer discount sites such as Gilt.com, Ruelala.com, etc., but the biggest reason is that every now and then I get introduced to a designer or label that I was unaware of. Billion Dollar Babes today started a sale on Marquis & Camus jewelry and I'm in love - especially with the military inspired necklaces!!

So gorgeous. If I ever inherit my grandfather's Purple Heart and Croix de Guerre medals I might actually consider transforming them into a similar design; but maybe first I should try hitting up some Philly antiques, vintage, or thrift shops to see if I can find some suitable items to work with first. Marquis & Camus also have more girly, flirty necklace designs like the ones I see all the time in Anthropologie:

Most of their current collection includes fabric florals, but I think that the one with the little pink bows is way cuter and something that, if I had all the money in the world, I would buy for my niece. She may only be 2 but she's becoming quite the little fashionista; clearly taking after her way cool aunt. Plus, she's currently going through a pink girly phase and I've gotta take advantage of it before it disappears. Anyway, back on topic:

I also discovered that they make purses and these two really stood out. The cameo style decoration on the left one is beautiful and I think only one of two that's listed on their website. Some of their bags are a little too over the top for my taste, given the style of bag they favor.

This necklace is really fun - its one of the many items in the BDB sale, but its $278 price tag (originally $795) is way more than I'm willing and able to spend on a single item. Its a different interpretation of the menswear as womenswear trend, and god knows I probably can't pull off a bowtie anyway so this would be the closest I'd ever get. The red plaid is my favorite, but they have three other colors as well.

And who doesn't love Dominos?