Archive for December, 2013
A quick word
I do hope you’re all off enjoying your holidays by now, and are doing whatever it is that makes you happiest with the people you love most. I’ll be ducking out to take a little break now, so see you back here January 2. Thanks for another very gratifying year here at Girls of a Certain Age. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: you are the liveliest, cleverest, and all-around best group of readers a girl could hope for, and truly my inspiration. Don’t you dare go and change.
Sunday, de-shlumpified
Yesterday the weather was just surpassingly weird—unseasonably warm and balmy, with mean dark skies that threatened rain but never delivered, and it threw me for a real sartorial loop. Weekend casual isn’t a look I excel at on even the best of days, and my ensemble—Current Elliott boyfriend jeans, Acne platform boots, a big drapey black Maria Cornejo sweater, and Barbour jacket, nice pieces all—wound up looking less cooly slouchy, which was my goal, and more straight-up shlumpy. It was too much slouch by a factor of about three, which is almost always the problem when one of my outfits goes wrong. You might think I’d learn by now from my mistakes and adjust accordingly, but in this respect I am just like a dog who keeps running into the electric fence. On the other end of the style spectrum, Tribeca Mom, who I was meeting for brunch with her brood, had gotten it exactly right. It all started, as so many Tribeca Mom outfits do, with a striped tee.
Tribeca Mom’s trademark style shortcut: a a big old honking necklace to throw her often very classic ensembles just a tiny bit off balance.
And for her moment of delicate: sweet diamond studs.
TM was wearing her favorite cropped J Brand trousers (I was serious when told you it was warm, guys). They’re the result of an exhaustive search on her part for the perfect pair of black pants, and I have to say I think she nailed it.
On her feet, Tribeca Mom had on boots from Dieppa Restrepo—she likes how low they dip. I like how crazy versatile they are.
And finally, for that rain that never came: a classic windbreaker from K Way, light enough to stash in your bag.
Monday trifecta: Lips
The better with which to give you a big fat happy holidays kiss. This tee feels very 80s and Barbara Kruger to me.
If you’re going to wear a pair of lips around your neck, it’s best to err on the side of the diminutive. And this necklace—with its appealing spray of diamonds—is appropriately wee.
What I find so appealing about this pitcher is how the lips just totally look like they belong there.
Monday links
- The Andy Warhol Christmas archives. (Mental Floss)
- Really, why does this surprise anyone? (Time)
- As part of a larger amnesty bill, and of course because all eyes will be on Russia on account of the winter Olympics, the two remaining imprisoned members of Pussy Riot have been freed. (CNN)
- The worst publicist of all time and the tweet that went intercontinental. (NY Times)
- The Michelangelo of nipple tattoos for reconstructed breasts is a guy named Vinny in Baltimore. (BBC News)
Cheap and chic of the week: shopping the sales
The focus today is on wardrobe classics, because suddenly I’m feeling like I don’t have enough of them and, as the old saying goes, news is what happens to editors. Let’s start out with this wool and cashmere blend coat from J. Crew, which if you’re at all interested in you should not delay in purchasing, because the Crew is currently doing that thing where they take 40% off everything that’s already on sale.
These I already own, and they are the perfect slouchy skinny boyfriend jeans if you really want the emphasis to be on slouchy.
OK, these are still on the steep side, but take a moment to marvel at how exactly right they are and ask yourself if you can really afford to live without them.
I’m not big on referring to any one article of clothing as an absolute must-have, but I know that getting dressed in the winter would be a lot more of a chore without the always-handy style-in-one-step crutch that is my black cashmere V-neck.
You know how some pieces just look like they’d immediately be welcomed into the groove of your wardrobe and worn constantly? That’s how I feel about this top, which I’ve had my eye on all season. It has the clean lines of a basic white button-down, but is so much more feminine, and just seems like it would be crazy versatile.
It’s the little things
Just because we all use our phones as alarm clocks these days doesn’t mean our nightstands don’t deserve better. I like this retro-ish design—and the one with the black face in particular—because it reminds me of this rather more pricey classic.