Just wanted to stop in and apologize for being so absent. The month at work has not been going so well, and it's taking all I have at the moment. Never fear, when things calm down I'll be back with more.
I can't say I understand the nuances of seasonal trends--all I've gathered so far is that over-the-knee boots and red lipstick are supposed to be tres "in" this fall. So I have no idea where menswear-inspired pieces fall in the spectrum of "trendy - dowdy," but something tells me it's the sort of thing that never goes out of style. And so friends, I give you: waistcoats for women.
Now, I am not talking mere vests, that foul Americanization of the word. Though people might assume that vests and waistcoats are interchangeable, I beg to differ. While a vest, to me, is any old thing with no sleeves worn over something else, waistcoats involve some must-haves:
- Tailoring: Lapels, darts, seams, interfacing. This means that a waistcoat must never be made of any shapeless sweater-like knit material!
- Buttons or some other closure of some kind. Again, it is not something you can just pull over your head like any common vest. It requires patience! Class! Preferably of the double-breasted sort!
- Some interesting detail: Okay, this is just my personal opinion, but it's one thing to wear something that looks like it belongs as part of a three-piece suit. It's another thing to wear a stand-alone waistcoat that makes a statement all on its own!
Vests/waistcoats were the kind of accessory that never crossed my mind as a legitimate investment, when I was growing up. If you had given me a vest in high school I would hardly have known what to do with it. It just seemed so extraneous, so unnecessary! But now they're growing on me for that very reason. So what if they don't keep you warm, or hold something up, or cover up something that needs to be covered? It sort of hit me the other day when I was at my friend's wedding and saw a (very cute) female server with a a simple, well-tailored black waistcoat over her white uniform, and thought, "I should totally rock that look!"
I think we're on to something here.
List of items above: 1. Heimstone Gilet for acrimony. 2-3. Boy by Band of Outsiders. 4. Candy and Caviar for 80spurple.com. 5. Citizens of Elysium on etsy.com. 6. 17th-century woman's waistcoat. 7. Erik Hart for revolveclothing.com. 8. 17th-century floral embroidered waistcoat. 9-10. Forever 21. 11. Generra at bluefly.com. 12. Heimstone Gilet, in black. 13. MBH Saddlery show halter waistcoat. 14. Paper Denim Cloth. 15. Play the Odds. 16. Yellow quilted Provencal waistcoat. 17. Roberto Rodriguez at bluefly.com. 18-19. Silence and Noise for urbanoutfitters.com. 20. Vintage textile waistcoat. 21. Alice + Olivia.
I am probably closest to getting the ones pictured below, 'Shani' lace-up wedge booties by Bronx. In brown. Because they are some of the most awesome shoes I've seen all season. The ones available are a bit large for me (size 7) but I think I'm willing to take the risk since...I can always return it I guess.
Other contenders:
- Nine West 'Demode' in dark green (teal): love the cutouts.
- Steve Madden 'Qualiti': so funky and seventies. Love the wavy detail on the wedge.
- Pink Studio 'Marimba': sweet sandals. Nothing too earth-shattering but still super cute.
- Pink Studio 'Bradshaw': it was the shape of the heel that did it for me. That, and it looks really comfortable, and comes in teal!
- Michael Antonio 'McKay' boot: I'd be caving into this fall's trend of over-the-knee boot. Hella cheap!
Yes, I think I am going through another teal phase. Last time, it resulted in a jewel-like formal top and a sleeveless, seventies-tastic romper (I promise I'll wear it and post pictures). This time, it's shoes.
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It happens every so often: I'm inexplicably drawn to the Fluevog store window or the website, and dream of strutting down the street somehow wearing several pairs at once. Fall tends to bring it on, as I look forward to showing my boots some love after a summer of skimmers and strappy things. I blame my old friend Christina from prep school for first infecting me; she'd pull me with her into the store in Boston whenever we were in town.
My top drool-inducing favorite of late is the Xie Xie (which means "thank you" in Mandarin Chinese; Fluevog likes to use variations of the word for some of his designs). Sleek and just enough under the radar to wear anyplace, but unmistakably Fluevog in design and quality. They're beautiful and even practical, but not so delicate as to shun wear and tear. Xie xie in advance to the kind benefactor who would like to gift me these boots...*bow* |
So I've decided to add a new tag to our Wearability posts. Normally this is not cause for a major announcement, but in this case I thought it was sort of funny/interesting and might need a bit of explanation. "Sexy-ugly" is a term first coined by the movie Kissing Jessica Stein, about this insufferably neurotic bi-curious girl. The term is used to describe people, as Urban Dictionary notes: "Someone who is not conventionally good-looking (or any kind of good-looking in some cases), but possesses an appealing personality, style, or talent, and is thus considered attractive."
Classically "sexy-ugly" celebrities: Mick Jagger. Harvey Keitel. Danny Trejo. Steve Tyler. Amy Winehouse. In fact, a LOT of musicians.
I'm going to argue that this term can absolutely apply to fashion, too. I would define it as something off-beat, with oddball proportions, strange materials, and other elements that defy the usual laws of symmetry and beauty. But, when worn by just the right person, in just the right way, can convey immense appeal, great style, and general sexiness.
I created the tag because I realize a LOT of the things we blog about here are sexy-ugly! And I'm not about to stop now! Here's to many moons of future sexy-ugly blog posts. Check out the ones from our archive here.
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From Kissing Jessica Stein:
Jessica: He just wasn't funny, you know? That's always been my problem, I think. Not smart or not funny. Or not smart AND not funny. Or funny, but in a totally unappealing way like funny stupid or funny dopey, rather than funny witty, or funny ironic or funny goofy. Or, you think they're smart- and then you realize that they're not- and that's funny. But funny tragic. And then, if you're lucky enough to find someone who's the right kind of smart and the right kind of funny, usually they're just... kinda...
Helen: Ugly?
Jessica: Ugly, exactly. Oh my god, is that awful?
Helen: No, not at all. Ugly doesn't do it for you. That's okay. See me, I'm kinda into ugly... But only if it's sexy ugly.
Jessica: Sexy-ugly? Define.
Helen: Okay, well, um...I was gonna say Mick Jagger. He's the big one. Oh, Lyle Lovett, um, James Woods, Harvey Keitel. Harvey Keitel. He's very sexy-ugly.
Cost aside (these babies are $550 - $650 even after the 50% gilt.com discount), which one would you choose? In my humble opinion they are all too perfect for words. Alexander the Great strikes again.
It's been in my head for a while to keep an eye out for the ultimate floppy sun hat. And considering sun hats, it only makes sense to go to people who come from one of the sunniest places in the States: The San Diego Hat Company.
I'd heard about this company before, and was reminded again when I saw some of their high-quality pieces at a boutique on NW 23rd street in Portland recently. Someday, this hat will be mine.
This sent in from a friend via the NYTimes: Harvard University has entered a 10-year licensing agreement with Wearwolf to produce a line of "preppy clothing" to hit department stores by February of next year.
I'm not sure how I feel about this quite yet. Part of me is revolted by the idea that Harvard (and other Ivy-league schools) necessarily be associated with privilege, wealth, and social status. People might watch Gossip Girl and think that everyone who goes to such schools are similarly well-to-do and out-of-touch with reality. Sure, there is a pretty large contingent of legacy brats, elite from around the world (Manhattan, Hong Kong etc.), and otherwise snobbish young Turks at Harvard. But I, along with most of my friends, came from backgrounds firmly rooted in the middle and working classes, and we sure as hell didn't wear blazers with the Harvard insignia stitched in crimson thread on the lapels.
In fact, when I went to school there, it was downright shameful to tout the fact of your school. No one wore Harvard-branded clothing (unlike certain West Coast contemporaries) around campus or anywhere else because we're deathly afraid of dropping the H-bomb. From what I observed when I went back to visit is that this has changed in the last 5 years, but I should hope the majority of students there are still down-to-earth.
Anyway, the other part of me kind of loves this stuff in the teaser photos. That blazer, crimson thread and all, is pretty sweet. And I like that there isn't some tacky Harvard logos emblazoned on them. And, if nothing else, you could just wear it in a spirit of irony. What I really want to know is, are they going to release a line of clothing for the ladies?
From the NY Times slideshow: "John Longbrake, a university spokesman, disputed the idea that a preppy, Harvard-branded clothing line would dimish the university's efforts to appeal to students of diverse backgrounds." Learn more at the Harvard Yard Collection website.
And this is what a more realistic Harvard student wears:
Otherwise known as Patricia, a designer/artist of incredible pedigree, who operates out of the NYC area. I've been following ArtLab's work on etsy for a very long time now, and have always found her designs fascinating, haunting, like a creature from a Tim Burton film, except perhaps less stylized and more faded.
I first mentioned one of ArtLab's pieces, "Disjointed Series No. 6," in an old Wearability Challenge post for Jen McCabe.
Honestly, I think conceptually many of her items skate the edge of wearability, as most of them are probably just a tad too unnerving to go out and about without feeling a little self-conscious about it. But in a way the pieces are intensely wearable, made of luxurious, comfortable fabrics that move easily with the body, and assembled in rather modest, if totally unconventional, ways. And few can find fault with the neutral color palette that makes all her clothing look as if it had sprung up from the earth.
I especially love ArtLab's way of naming her pieces. So poetic and dream-like:
- Andromache's Deconstruction
- Athena's Head Covering
- I heard you call my name, in a dream
- Blues before sunrise
- Revolutionary Girl
- Obliquely crossing
Everyone - meet Ben. He's a 20-something software engineer whose uniform generally consists of a punny humor tee and the same trusty pair of jeans that he's been buying from the same store for the last 15 years.
A few months ago, Ben's girlfriend asked me to go clothes shopping with him. I didn't think much of it at first, but when she brought it up again I knew that she was serious. I'd never gone shopping solely to help someone else clothe themselves, so I wasn't sure exactly what I'd be doing. But I thought, what the heck, it sounded like fun! We hit up Nordstrom Rack on Saturday afternoon. Ben told me he wanted to upgrade his look, and on his list were shirts (casual, going out and formal/dressy), plus a good pair of jeans. Yup. This was definitely going to be fun.We took over a dressing room while I kept pulling things off the racks and made him try them on. The jeans were surprisingly easy to find - Rock and Republic had a great pair of straight jeans that fit Ben like a glove. The shirts took more time, but we eventually found a sweet spot. Ben likes interesting patterns, and having an assortment of t-shirts has made him open to colors. The key with the shirts: not giving up after the initial fit didn't work. We made friends with the in-house tailor and had him pin the shirts a bit. We looked at shirts with darts and shirts that took the seam in altogether and...voila! Shirts that fit color, pattern, and cut criteria, all in one!
My personal favorite out of the shirts Ben bought that day is the bright green-and-black checkered short sleeve shirt from Ben Sherman. He's even got a skinny black tie to go with it, and black Jack Purcell Converse kicks to boot. * Sniff * I think I may shed a sartorial tear or two. And high-five this guy who's embracing his look instead saying that shopping is "girly" or "too much work" or whatever. So to Ben (and guys like Ben), way to go! And if and of you readers ever want to go out shopping - just say the word and Wearability will be there!Here's more detail on the pics above:
- 'Before' pic: Ben in his t-shirt and jeans look. He was once told he looked like the turtle on the shirt, and that's why he's sad.
- Green-and-black checkered short sleeve shirt - Ben Sherman. Dark blue straight fit jeans - Rock and Republic.
- Rust shirt with blue floral - Hugo Boss Orange Label.
- Grey textured long sleeve shirt with white cuffs and collar - Ben Sherman.
- Shirt in lavendar/grey plaid - Boss by Hugo Boss.