Redemption Coat

Following on the heels of yesterday's shamepost, I bring you this item of clothing that I am truly excited about owning.

All 4 of those cuff buttons are functional. It's slightly longer in the back, but is all around dress length.

It's from Club Monaco (where I discovered student ID gets you 20% off everything). I felt it was an item I should acquire for several very good reasons that I'll spare you. This was a shopping moment unlike the one described in yesterday's post. Most of the time, it is my hope that now, at age 26, I'm developing enough sense to know that I will wear something like this coat for years because it suits my adult body and my ideas about dressing it. (Other times, I don't rely on logic.)

A perfect day for going headless.

Even though I'm pretty into the idea of it ever becoming summer again, a few more weeks of chilly gray weather don't bother me so much since I can wear this coat a little bit before fall.

I also found a new way to tie up this Fifth Ave. Shoe Repair dress to make it into a shirt.

It's weirdly exhilarating  to buy yourself a nice new thing. Especially when you are completing major life tasks and need a reward. I don't endorse the concept of "retail therapy." I do, however, believe in self-present-giving. The difference is that in the former, one spends hundreds at Urban Outiftters in a depressive attempt at self-satisfaction. In the latter, one selects a singular special thing and imagines that it's a gift or reward for exhausting your talents in a way that is not in itself rewarding enough... A difference that is not black and white, but shades of neurotic gray.

Weird Shit I Own: Stretch Nylon Sherbert Space Dye Double Zip Cardi

Here's a lil secondhand number I saw on the rack and just couldn't pass up. It's my stretchy double zip sherbert colored space dye cardigan, and it's actually a rayon/nylon blend. Cool! Right?



When some people talk about an "impulse buy" they are referring to a luxurious and chic item bought on a whim. For me, it's something like this. Something that I think is post-trend, even as I tell myself it's Balenciaga-esque. 

At the time of purchase, it was deep into winter. Everything was gray and dead. Ice was everywhere. Blistering cold winds and snow were a constant. I went shopping alone. These colors seemed so bright, so happy. I reached out and touched the stretchy and smooth fabric. Holding it in my hand I thought, this is it, this is my direction. Was I delirious or genius? I still can't tell. What I am telling you is that I now own this, and I'm not (entirely) ashamed of that fact. 

You heard about these sandals before. 

I haven't worn it out yet, but maybe I will... If only I could just layer it right! Jk. Honestly, I like this simple lil outfit! It is so wrong. I can't think of any reason it's valid. But I like it. I like wearing this sporty spice fabric. It feels like a lightweight wetsuit or something. I'm a sucker for the colors and the techno knit. Something about the dark seams works? I also find the double zip hilarious and awesome.

...in case you need to open it from the bottom...

These are drop crotch pants I was forced to hem this short because the calf part was impossibly tight (probably why they were on the $5 rack at H&M...). I tried them on. They fit at the store. But when you sit, your pant should be able to ascend the leg without ripping. Now they are drop crotch capris, which is almost as sexy as the top.

The only thing I can think of that I don't like about this sweater is the way the zipper folds into fat ripples when I sit. Oh, and that society will shun me for wearing it.

(I'll be back ASAP to try to salvage what little credibility I maybe once held in this illusionistic space.)

Psychic Brightness

One Floor Up More Highly by Katharina Grosse

at MASS MoCA thru 10.31.2011

I wish I could take a nice long east coast trip and visit this installation. I'm very much drawn to its painted soil landscape with stark white wire-cut styrofoam. I'm also really into Grosse's statement on her work. So smart, so applicable to a lot more than painting...

I don’t think that a painting is a coherent, closed system that only takes place within its borders. And rather than choosing between painting being a window and painting being flat, I view everything as a window: You’re a window, the window is a window, the car is a window. For me, everything is an illusionistic surface, and painting is a mode of thought––a way to link these illusionistic elements together. That linking process constantly changes. I don’t create a set of rules through which the thinking has to happen. Neither a predetermined outcome nor the rules to realize it exist.

- Katharina Grosse via Artforum

Spring At Last

I admit that I remain annoyingly bad at photography and also my feet look like fetuses. But fo real, if you can't get behind me on these shoes, well, I guess I don't really care at all because I LOVE THEM. We can totally still be friends, even if you give them a funny look. They're just shoes, they won't even know.

THE HEELS: so blocky!

THE STRAPS: are velcro!

THE SOLE: rubbery with a sliver of platform.

THE TOE: boxy n' angular.

Now I'll stop yelling at you about things you can also see for yourself.

The straps are, surprisingly, real leather. Just that 90's plastic looking kind that isn't quite patent (imo) but reflects light nonetheless.

 

 Vintage 9 West comes through for me again. This is my new summer footwear that you can expect to see paired with all future outfits.

:)

To sleeve or not to sleeve?

One year ago I posted about the incredible fall 2010 Dries Van Noten collection. I included this image:

Last fall, I looked for a cheap but nice trench at thrift stores, planning to hack off the sleeves as seen above, right. I never found the ideal candidate. Turns out many trench coats do not have a straight vertical shoulder/armhole seam. Then winter happened and I stopped caring. But it's spring now. And I still have the look on my mind. 

Finally coming out of a long winter is a time to reevaluate the closets. And in the coat closet I realized I've had the perfect trench for altering since 2009. It just didn't occur to me. I showed it to you once, but honestly, I never wore it out.

Until last night. I wore it out, and I suddenly wasn't so sure about the sleeve removal plans. It would be super easy to just cut them off, because they are attached farther back at that seam a few inches closer into my body than the outer shoulder. That little bit between the thin seam and the shoulder's edge is a finished overhang, and the sleeve could easily be taken off with no rough edge showing and no need to even hem it.

As much as I think the sleeveless trench is super cool looking, I've always had a serious aversion to vests and feel like this could be a problem. Without the sleeves I think I would also need to shorten the length. I don't know if I can go for it! Should I? Should I even be wearing this coat? I felt pretty good walking around with it blowing in the wind and whatnot (and feeling like some sort of weirdo on a Saturday night in this while randomly amongst the downtown clubbing crowd in their hoof shoes and glitterfaces). But what about these sleeves, for real? It's that end-of-winter/early-spring "who am I?" moment. You know what I'm talking about.

 
Please ignore my left hand. This was the best I could do w/ limited lighting and time. ^^

Also, yes. I wore the same tights twice in one week. With: white cotton tank dress, sheer American Vintage collared dress, Cheap Monday cropped sweater.

Coat dilemma aside, one thing I'm certain about in my life are these sandals. No one likes them; that much is clear to me. I showed you how they give me an awesomely fat calf both here, last summer, and again here, the summer before that one. They're definitely coming back for a third spring of slimy greens. I hope you're as excited about that as I am.