A not-ugly UGG

Generally, I am not a fan of UGGs (or the ubiquitous knockoffs, pseudos and wannabes). I think it is because I have big feet and the standard UGG silhouette makes all feet look bigger than they are, like you are wearing cast. Or a cement boot. Or a tree trunk. The winter version of a Croc. But the weather has been so atrocious, with more on the way, and my vanity is getting the better of me. I really, really, really want to wear some of my stylish leather boots, and Mother Nature is not cooperating. I am sick of wearing my LL Bean let’s-go-hike-the-tundra snow boots. I want to wear things like my high-heeled, cognac leather, un-insulated, you’ll-break-your-neck-on-the-ice boots. Function vs. Form. Sarah Palin vs. Sarah Jessica Parker.

I think I have found the answer in these:

 

Yes they are UGGs but they are not ugly. Note the slim vamp and wedge heel. Note how they look more like a boot and less like a Smurf’s foot. I think they may be the answer to my warmth-vs-fashion prayers, and none too soon, as I will be headed to NYC this week for biz, and there will be lots-o-snow there. Also there? A bloggy meet-up instigated by The Queen of Boho-Contempo Snarkaliciousness’ trip east for decor/fashion-related biz , as well as a few other fantabulous NYC-area design bloggers. I can’t wait to meet them IRL!

They kick ass. They take names.

Merry Christmas to me.

I picked these up while Christmas shopping this evening. I have been looking for new tall black boots and asked to see these in black. The enabler saleswoman brought these instead. “We were out of the black but I thought you might like these cognac ones.” she said. Um, she was right.

More info here. I paid nowhere near that much, thank you. Now I have to figure out what to wear them with tomorrow….

Wish I looked like this when I woke up in the morning

{Sophie Marceau on the cover of April's French Elle. I've had a wee girl-crush on her since Braveheart}

Ooh la la, ze French, zey are so much more... hmmm, how you say... evolved than the rest us. Exhibit A: The April issue of French Elle. Eight lovely female European celebrities, all sans fards ("without rouge/makeup") and, perhaps even more revealing, all sans le Photoshop.

Granted, these are all amazingly beautiful women, and they are well coiffed and lit, and the photographer was Peter Lindbergh, but still, nary an airbrush in sight and they still look fantastic. My only complaint is why are they all wearing such dowdy clothes? I'm sure they are really expensive tees and sweats, "it's cashmere, darling", etc. but sans fards doesn't have to mean sans style. What do you think?

More here.

New bird on the block No. 25

Two of my favorite things: birds and purses! Swoony swoon swoon. This would look great with the new LBD I bought for Meg & Mo's wedding. Or gray wool pants and a black sweater. Or a tan linen dress in summer. Or jeans. Etc., etc. Swoony.

Love Bird Clutch by Noah, available here.

Bath & Body Works has it in for me

Every time I find a scent I love at Bath & Body Works, they go and discontinue it. Every time. First it was Honey Almond - wonderful, not too food-y smelling. Then it was Fresh Ginger Lime, which was really refreshing in summer. Then it was Rice Flower & Shea, which was light and smelled great layered with almost any perfume, and now it's Brown Sugar & Fig.

I asked two different sales associates why they discontinued certain flavors and not others and got two different answers: 1) "They didn't sell well enough" (understandable. Hard to believe because they are delicious scents, but whatever) and 2) "We discontinue some to encourage you to buy others".

Huh?

You are discontinuing (yet again) a product that made me like you in the first place so you can force me to try something you think I should like better? I trudge all the way to the mall specifically to buy this specific product (okay, and maybe some shoes, and Sephora is just across the way, but I digress) and you think taking it away is going to make me more loyal? The basic principle of the law of supply and demand is that there is some supply to begin with.

Thank goodness for the "fond farewell" section of the BBW website, even if you have to dig on their site to get to it.

In stitches

{needle and thread, originally uploaded by Thru Jenn's Eyes.}

I am a girl who wears skirts. And dresses. Mumsie always said "Dress for the position to which you aspire," and I'm sticking with that rule, even though I am always "overdressed" compared to some of my co-workers. I like getting dressed up for work every day and I curse whoever invented "casual" dress code. I have a thing for heels and handbags. And accessories. I'm a girly girl, and not ashamed to say it.

I tore the hem of my skirt today during a run-in with an unruly file cabinet. I mended it at my desk (while wearing it) and it wasn't until I was threading the needle that I really took a good look at the sewing kit. It's a little plastic box with 7 spools of colored thread (there were 8 but I lost one). Of course the black thread is almost gone, followed closely by the navy. There's a plastic thimble, safety pins, a threader and a couple of needles. And then I realized: I have had this sewing kit in every desk I've ever sat at, at every job I've ever had, since graduating college. That's almost twenty years.

I'm sure the gals at Basket of Kisses would agree that "Joan" would be proud.

{Christina Hendricks as "Joan Holloway" in AMC's "MadMen"}

Joan Holloway dresses like the hot ticket she is, and keeps aspirin, a sweater, safety pins and a fifth of something in her desk. For emergencies.

What do you wear to work? Does anyone like getting dressed up anymore?

Sorry for the long absence. Thanksgiving melted right into a non-stop 10 days of work and travel that I only recently surfaced from. Just in time for Christmas shopping!

Va-va-voom

The lovely Christina Hendricks, who plays "Joan Holloway" on AMC's Mad Men, rocks an emerald green Tadashi Shoji jersey knit dress at the Emmys on Sunday night. Attention Posh: eat more than a grape for lunch and you, too, can look this hot.

The Original Frenemies

People, get thee to the cinema.

{The Women, 1939, directed by George Cukor,

based on the play by Claire Booth Luce}

What was so great about this movie:

The Fashion-with-a-capital-F (including a technicolor fashion show of Gowns by Adrian inserted in the middle of the film. Slightly distracting, but still stunning.)

The cattiness

The betrayals

The comebacks

The paybacks

The all-female cast (130 roles, allplayed by women. Even the animals and artwork are female)

The remake has been in the works for 10+ years, with rumors back and forth of Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts in the role of Mary Haines (played by Norma Shearer in the 30s version).

{The Women, 2008, directed by Diane English (as in Murphy Brown)}

I'm guessing the fashion will be just as fah-bulous, and they have cast a great group of actresses. You have time to rent the original before the remake opens on Sept. 12. The popcorn is on me.

You know you are old when your prom dress is "vintage"

{Vintage '80s Gunne Sax taffeta dress, photo from Midnight Glamour}

When I think "Vintage Prom Dress", I imagine a spiffy little number from the 40s, a Dior "New Look" full-skirted, wasp-waist frock from the 50s, or a something mod or Jackie-esque from the 60s. So I am a little disturbed today to learn that my prom dress is considered "vintage". I sported the lovely black & white number above to my high school prom, only 24 years ago. While everyone else was wearing pastel prairie dresses and lace, I was pushing the ol' fashion envelope. Well, as much as one could push it, back then in the 80's, when it was already pushed pretty far. We had our prom at a very grown-up catering hall. Our theme was the power ballad of the decade, "Heaven" by Bryan Adams. The DJ used a turntable, and played records (I was tempted to link that to a wikipedia entry for all you young'uns).

Midnight Glamour sold the above dress (and no I did not buy it) for $135, pretty close to what Mumsie shelled out in 1984 at the Jordan Marsh Department Store. But let me tell you, we sure got her money's worth:

1. Wore it to my Junior Prom in 1984.
2. Update (June 7) Wore it to emcee "Mr. Advocate" high school pageant*
3. Wore it to someone else's Junior Prom in 1985.
4. Had my grandmother (a seamstress) shorten it to "tea length" and wore it to some guy's college formal at SUNY Maritime in 1986.
5. Had grandma deconstruct it and sew the knee-length skirt to a drop waist black taffeta bodice with big puffy sleeves (please try to remember this was the 80s, people) and wore it to a formal at my college in 1987 with some guy from SUNY Maritime.
6. Wore it to yet some other guy's college formal at SUNY Maritime in 1987 (what can I say, I liked a man in uniform).

Stopped short of a Molly Ringwald/Pretty in Pink New Wave redesign of the dress. I think it went to Goodwill after that. Adding in the cost of the additional fabric (but not for labor -- for that was priceless) and dry cleaning, the average cost per wear was about $29. Not bad, eh?

I almost wish I still had it in its original incarnation, because I still think it is pretty cute. I have no idea where the heck I would wear it though!

*The Advocate was our HS newspaper and every year we did a "pageant" as a fundraiser. The contestants were all boys. It was a lot of fun, especially the big opening dance number. We had some good sports at our school.

Sunny new purse cures gray day. Film at 11

{Glazy Days clutch in yellow, by Kenneth Cole Reaction}

My BFF will call me crazy for buying yet another purse (hey, cut me a break, I haven't bought one in two months, and I didn't have any in yellow), but I saw this today and felt it was the perfect cure for a gray day. Plus it will fit perfectly inside the carry-on bag that I tell the TSA is my "purse" when I go to Chicago next week. You can't tell from this photo, but the leather has a nice glaze to it, hence the name Glazy Days. I feel better already.

New birds on the block Nos. 9 and 10

{Birdie Mobile by spindesigns}

Mrs. French was loving this pretty mobile today, and it just so happened I was looking for some new birdies to post. I love the simplicity of silhouettes, and this design has simultaneously captured the whimsy of a vintage design with the spareness of a modern look. Plus there is some assembly required, so you get to feel crafty, like you made it yourself (well, if you happened to have some museum mat board and a laser cutter lying around). You can pick it up at SpinDesigns' Etsy shop.

{Michelle Jank dress, photo from Courtoture.com}

All Things Bright And Beautiful is another daily haunt, and she was obviously feeling my bird vibe today, as she posted this and other dresses by Australian designer Michelle Jank. A true flight of fancy, no?