ladylessons

A Musing

2012-01-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

Back in the day, dudes would teach themselves languages by double translating. The Bible from English to Latin and back to English, or Aeschylus from Greek to English and back again. (This is how Nathaniel Bowditch learned Latin to read Newton's Principia in one of my favorite childhood books.)

I wonder if I could do this with Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy. And then I could say annoying things about it like, "The prose is terrible in English, but it's so much better in the original."

Dear Anthropologie

2011-12-30T16:36:00.001-05:00

Do you offer Anthrapologies? Because in your Rockefeller store today I came across these pajama pants. These French seams--on sale for a TOTALLY reasonable $99--look like they were done by a junior high home ec student.

Party Tiiime

2011-12-30T09:48:00.001-05:00

There's an episode of "No Reservations," maybe the one where Bourdain first meets his sidekick whatshisname--the one with all the vodka?--and they're in Moscow or St. Petersburg or some other equally depressing Slavic place to eat and drink. A lot. Like they do. Oh! The guy's name is Samir. Anyway, Samir is going to show Tony a good time in this bleak house of a city and takes him to a nightclub where they meet up with this girl who supposedly is au courant with the latest of the latest nightlife scene, and she keeps saying "party tiiiiime" in this really depressing and over-enunciated way, and that's what I hear in my head when I think of a) clubbing or b) party planning, both of which stress me the hell out.

I used to love clubbing, but then I found love/grew up/got old/hangovers got worse and it mostly lost its charm. I'd rather have a nice dinner out, thanks.

Party planning, however, is one of those things I love: making food, cleaning the apartment, getting the right lighting sitch, stocking up on wine and vodka and whiskey, setting out real glassware, all that stuff is my jam. Tiny problem: people shortage. Every time I've tried having, say, a birthday party, it's been the end of the semester and people are going home or grading or writing papers or at another party or hate me, I have no idea. Look, all I want is a madhouse full of people gesticulating with their wine glasses and eating snacks and smoking out the kitchen window and having fun.

But, fearing failure, I didn't have a party this year. Or last year. Or, come to think of it, the year before. All of which is to say, I think maybe I'll have a party? In March?

Tribute Coating

2011-12-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

As we all know by now, it's not a ripoff, it's not a copy, it's a tribute if you copy someone else's design. Right? Right.

At least that's what I like to tell myself when attempting a version of a designer anything. This time, it was this Pringle of Scotland menswear coat that Helen wanted and was rather pricey. Yes, from making and fitting the pattern to binding the buttonholes (by hand) it was a little taste of hell, but I think the results are worth it. Deep slash pockets, knit ribbed wool insets on the sleeves, a tall funnel collar, and an asymmetrical lapel with a hidden placket for the buttons. (Oh, and H gave me a new camera for Chrismukah and I'm still getting used to manual focus so there might be a learning curve on photo quality over the next few posts.)

Starstruck

2011-12-20T20:25:00.000-05:00

So that amazing pair of Messeca velvet wedges from Solestruck showed up on my doorstep last week, and I can't think of a more fabulous party shoe. Helen showed infinite patience with me this weekend and followed me around while I played dress-up and tried on a few options for New Year's Eve festivities with three different hemlines--mini, knee, and maxi. First up: the maxi dress. This black and gold knit column is by Comme des Garcons. The ruching and mermaid hem let it work as a dress or, for more informality, a skirt.

Shuzzzz

2011-12-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

Eek! I'm dying of the plague right now and waiting for a Nyquil delivery but just HAD to give a shout-out to Solestruck: I'm going to be guest blogging for them starting soon! Sparkly DIY holiday stuff and major dress-up to come...

Messeca Coraline in navy velvet

Witchy Vibez

2011-12-09T16:46:00.001-05:00

This one goes out to all those fashion bloggers in New York obsessed with looking like a coven member. Okay, so it's not quite witchy vibez, since it's a grey skirt instead of a black one, but close enough, yes?

Leopard print sweater, Line Cashmere; alpaca skirt from Peru; boots, Cocolico.

Beer Can || Bacon

2011-11-13T10:10:00.001-05:00

Guyssssssssssss, be jealz because this is where I am right now. And it kind of is better in the Bahamas.

Unfortunately, American Apparel does make the best basic bikinis.

Apparently AA makes all my beachwear. Sunnies by Rayban. Pics by Helen (Pearson)!

Blouson

2011-11-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

It's probably time to invest in more sweatpants, because (forgive me) this apartment is turning into a one-lady sweatshop.

I've been making this coat for Helen, which, from pattern-drafting to fitting to actually putting the whole thing together, is taking up almost all my free ("free") time. However: I did manage to sneak an hour to make a super simple blouse. Which looks like a white half-shroud when backlit. Awesome. (The, er, shroud tutorial will be up on the Hairpin tomorrow.)

Sewing Machines 101

2011-11-02T16:42:00.001-04:00

There's a something about sewing machines that makes me unapologetically sentimental about women, generally and specifically. While the fashion industry at its highest levels is dominated by men—and, it follows, most trends in womenswear are decided by gay men, but that’s an anthropological discussion for another time and place, like the comments—the vast majority of home sewers and professional stitchers are women, and it’s the women in my life that I think about while sewing. My great-grandmother was a prolific quilter, and both of my grandmothers sewed me many, many elaborate outfits for years. Years. (Ahem.) My mother sews very well too, although my main memory is of an unfortunate pair of chambray trousers. (And of ruining her pinking shears by cutting paper with them repeatedly. Hi, mom!) All of which is to say, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by women who taught me how to cut a pattern and sew a straight seam on a variety of machines,* from old-timey manual foot-pedal affairs to my mom’s Sears-edition Singer, so that when I inherited a Necchi beast from a friend’s seamstress grandmother, I knew what to do with it. (This thing is seriously a beast. It takes on 10 oz. suede and patent leather.)

A lot of you, it seems, were not so lucky. “I have a machine but I don’t know how to use it.” “There are a lot of parts.” “WHY IS THIS SO HARD?” It’s not so hard. Let’s do this.

This is more or less how a sewing machine looks when you approach it head-on:

First things first: the balance wheel is connected to theneedle. When you need to raise it or lower it manually, you’ll use the balance wheel to do it. To operate the needle automatically,there’s usually a pedal attached.Switch the machine on and your pedal will be operative. The stitch type—a straight running stitch, an elastic stitch, an overcast stitch—is determined by a knob with numbers on it, and the numbers each correspond to a stitch, usually illustrated on the machine. The (horizontal) widthof this stitch is set by the (say it with me!) stitch width knob! If you’re just starting out, you’ll want the stitch type on the straight stitch (usually the 1 or default setting), and the width at zero—the narrowest end of the knob illustration, as show in the picture. The (vertical) lengthof your stitch is set by the stitch length wheel, which needs to be at 1, minimum, unless you’re sewing buttonholes. Which you’re not, because you’re just starting. 2 or 3 is probably a good place to start. Usually, somewhere near the length wheel, is the reverse switch or button, which lets you sew backwards. As a general rule, you need to depress these while using them, and you’ll mainly use them at the beginning and ends of seams: take a couple stitches forward and then a couple in reverse, and this fixes your thread in place, like tying a knot. Finally, your spool (upper thread) tension has its own wheel. Thethinner the fabric, the lower the tension number. I’m sewing heavy wool right now, so it’s set on 6; for thin cottons, I set it on 3, sheer silks are 1 or 2, etc.

Next, the guts! Aka the bobbin, bobbin case, and shuttle. The shuttle is, loosely speaking, the whole mechanism under the throat plate.

There’s a screw that holds the needle in place; when you put your new needle in, you want the flat side facing away from you. (Yup, your sewing machine needle has a round side and a flat side on the end. Who knew.) The foot—feeder foot, technically—is what holds down your fabric, and there’s a switch behind the arm that raises and lowers it. You want it down while you’re sewing. The feed dog is what pushes the fabric through, a little textured thing, like teeth, that raise and lower. There’ll be a switch under the throat plate that raises and lowers it: you want it up, unless you’re quilting or embroidering, which you’re not. So make sure it’s up, or your fabric won’t move. Not terrifying! You’re totally doing this. Next, the bobbin.

The bobbin holds the lower thread, just like the spool holds the upper thread. The main difference is that while you buy the spool pre-wound, your bobbin will need winding. (Yeah, you can buy pre-wound bobbins, but the thread is usually crap and won’t match the color you need exactly.) You wind it on the top of the machine. Here is a picture!

Your spool goes on the holder, with a bit of felt or wool underneath to keep it moving smoothly. (Machines come with them, but if yours is lost you can make your own. Just a little circle with a hole cut in the middle.) The thread goes through the top of the thread guide, and the end gets wrapped around the bobbin, which is on its own holder.

Push the holder in place to activate the winding mechanism—usually just a snap to the right—and push down the pedal. It’ll wind! You might need to loosen the knob on the balance wheel, you might not: play around and see what works. Keep an eye on the bobbin as it winds so that the thread goes on evenly, straight up and down on the bobbin. If it starts to make a V-shape, guide it with your nail so that the sides are parallel. Now put your wound bobbin in the case, like so:

The little screw on the case, visible in the left-hand picture, determines your lower thread tension. You want the thread to pull through the opening easily, but not loosely. Play with the screw (.) until the thread feels like it’s moving smoothly. For a more detailed look at thread tension, and troubleshooting stitches, here’s a great PDF from the University of Kentucky!

Your next step is putting the bobbin, snug in its case, into the machine. There’s a spring latch on it, which you need to hold open while you’re inserting it. The bobbin itself you want facing away from you: align the arm on the bobbin case with the notch in the machine’s case, slide it on the axle, which you can see in the pic above, and release the spring latch to lock it in place.

You’re almost done! To get the upper thread in place, put it through the thread guide as shown above. I’ve given you two views of what happens next. The right hand illustration shows it coming down from the thread guide, up against the steel plate, through the hook of the arm that raises and lowers the needle, and down through two more little thread guides and through the eye of the needle. The picture on the left shows the same thing, but from the side view. In total, the thread will go through two hooks (one on the steel plate, one on the arm) and three thread guides (the one on the top of the machine, one at the base of the steel plate, and another near the top of the needle).

The picture on the right also shows a lever my machine has—not all machines have them—that adjusts the machine to the fabric thickness (0 for sheers, 1 and 2 for most fabrics, 3 for heavy canvas, denim, wool, or leather).

Once your thread is through the eye of the needle, hold it firmly with your left hand and use your right to rotate the balance wheel to lower and raise the needle. When it comes back up, there should be a new loop of thread around the thread you’re holding—this is your lower thread! Pull it out, so that you have the ends of both your upper and lower threads free, and you’re ready to go. Videos and tutorials abound on the interwebs if you get lost or confused—and you will get lost and confused. You might even start yelling at your machine and cursing your thread choices, and yes, eventually you’ll probably burn yourself on the lightbulb or, you know, sew through your fingernail, but hey! You’ll come off as a total badass for whom a needle through a nail is no big deal. Who knows how to sew.

*And who tried to teach me how to knit, but we’re not going to talk about that.

Fall! In Brooklyn!

2011-10-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

After much begging, demanding, and whining on my part, the weather has finally decided to start cooperating with the seasons and cool off. Brooklyn, being the awesome place that it is, made the weekend perfect with a crawl--not the usual beer, taco, or meat affair, but vintage. Yup. Domino--not the mag, but a hood guide for Williamsburg and Greenpoint--organized a crawl through local vintage shops, complete with live music, free booze, and healthy discounts averaging 20-25% off. My hands-down favorite was Seven Wonders Vintage on Manhattan Ave. in Greenpoint. Overall winner for best prices, selection, nicest staff, most relaxed environment, and awesome mimosas. Here are a bunch of pictures of my hair in my face and this coat that I think needs to have shorter sleeves. (The to-do list keeps growing exponentially, as always.)

This is how it would look if I were famous and paparazzi were constantly chasing me and I never stopped and let them take pictures of my face. I'd definitely be an uncooperative celebrity.

Ugh. Aren't these stupidly cute? This is what happens in Brooklyn.

Sweaters at Seven Wonders. It's right up the street from Enid's, which means a return trip will happen ASAP.

Sweater, Ever; tank, Bobi; jeans, Earnest Sewn; booties, Cocolico; vintage bag and sunnies.

can we just take a moment to admire this?

2011-10-12T22:03:00.001-04:00

Because goddamn, de Certeau, I love you.

Investigations of ordinary reading are more common in sociology, but generally statistical in type: they are more concerned with calculating the correlations between objects read, social groups, and places frequented than with analyzing the very operation of reading, its modalities and its typology.

—Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life

Get Cold Already

2011-09-28T17:40:00.000-04:00

If I'm not in a sweater by October 1st, someone somewhere will have some 'splainin to do. (This is why my face is all, "Ew, weather, I'm tired of you. Stop making everything feel sticky and clammy.")

Dress, AOK; vintage belt; sandals, Charlie My Love.

Newsflash

2011-09-22T16:21:00.001-04:00

Some people still don't seem to get the post below, or why I've reacted at all, let alone how I did.

Eating disorders are real, people, and they are fucked up. They distort your body image so wildly that you see your thighs spread when you sit down and think they're three times the size of the person next to you, even though you're the same size. It's a constant battle to see yourself as you actually are, not as what you've convinced yourself you are. (In my case, a size 2 whale, why am I not wearing a 00, I must be huge if these XS pants are too tight to zip.) Yes, woe, poor me, shut up you silly bitch. (I know this is what some, if not a lot, of you are thinking.)

It's not about size, though, it's about physical health. Of learning to make yourself eat, of dealing with image panic not by restriction, but by pushing it down.(Or, for the bulimics among us, up.) So, ladies, it really fucks with an eating-disordered head to get to a point where you've accepted that a 27" jean is perfectly fine, and you can still be pretty even though your thighs touch when you wear a skirt, to convince yourself that this is how you look, and how you look is Not Big, only to have someone think you look plus-sized. The issue isn't "HOW DARE SHE," try though you may to laugh about that with friends. The issue is "Okay, well, then I'll stop eating."

I'm not even going to get into the question of fat and America's declining health/increasing proportions, because then I start thinking about irresponsible parenting and that makes me so angry I get vitriolic, which is unhelpful. This is about personal mental health, and showing exactly what anorexia, even comparably controlled anorexia, can do to a girl. (The comic side included, which is exactly what that exchange with D was, in case any of you really failed to get that. Like, I can't. Has capslock lost all its meaning?) For those of you going "YOU ARE SO OFFENSIVE," I'm betting I'm probably uninvited to your birthday party, too. No one's making you read this, and your absence won't be felt, nor your presence missed. Congrats, you failed to read accurately.

This is my space. My place to write what's on my mind. It's subjective, as I said before, and will stay that way.

Don't like it? Ciao.*

*That was an Eddie Izzard "ciaaaaaaaaao"

Oh, Don't Mind Me

2011-09-20T23:04:00.002-04:00

I'll just be over here, channeling the 70s as fall rolls into New York.

Dress, bag, and scarf, vintage; socks, Cynthia Rowley; boots, Barneys.

Things People Have Said About This Jumpsuit

2011-09-14T16:44:00.000-04:00

"Hey Disco Queen!" H, 7.30 this morning.
"You always look like movie star." Random dude at work
"You are actually wearing purple lurex." Girl at a Hairpin meetup
"THE LUREX PART IS NOT THE PART THAT BOTHERS ME." D (who is unfairly prejudiced against jumpsuits)

Anyway. Purple lurex jumpsuit. What's up. I have to share something with you guys, something that you've already heard me whine about if you're following me on Twitter.

Some chick on Pinterest put me on her plus-sized dresses board. (It was this outfit, for the record.) I panicked about it at D, who made reassuring noises at me and left a comment on the pin about how that's a lovely dress, but no way was it plus-sized. And then:
me: SHE ACTUALLY THINKS I LOOK PLUS-SIZEDD: WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK

me: SHE LEFT A COMMENT ABOUT HOW, UNFAIRLY, IN AMERICA 12 OR OVER IS PLUS-SIZED. I AM NOT A SIZE 12 OR OVER

D: DEAD. DEAD DEAD DEAD. I couldn't keep it back anymore and left a comment (god what is this, junior high?) saying thanks for the pin, but I was actually a 6 in that pic, and the dress has a 27" waist. Childish? Maybe. But you guys, this is not something an eating-disordered girl handles well, and I am an eating-disordered girl. I am also a size 2. TWO. Which is like a 0 at J. Crew. I am not plus sized. I am not plus sized. I keep saying it over and over to myself to keep from not eating, but seriously. WHAT THE SHIT DO I LOOK PLUS-SIZED?

Argh.

Edited to add: I don't run around judging everyone I see, and I never, ever, ever judge my friends on how they look, because how they look has nothing to do with my relationships with them. Their size doesn't even register when I see them or meet them, because that has nothing to do with aesthetics. How I look--and dress--has everything, everything to do with aesthetics, ergo yes, I care about how big I look.

Here is the rest of the follow-up.

'Round Thursday

2011-09-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

This song has been stuck in my head all morning, probably because of the rain that’s been going on since, oh, Sunday, and I didn’t have any recordings on hand that I knew wouldn’t violate copyrights, so you guys are just going to have to put up with my singing. The piano’s under the control of Jose Bevia and is amazing.

Recorded in Tallahassee, FL, in 2003. I was nineteen. (Gah.) We had one take, no rehearsal, and this is how it sounded.

I miss the studio.

(PS: Here is a clip of the incomparable Carmen McRae doing it better than I ever will.)

Read This Now

2011-09-07T08:34:00.000-04:00

Read it now if you care about getting dressed, anyway. This week's style profile in the Guardian is none other than Jil Sander. (I plan on wearing nothing but Jil Sander/Raf Simons x Jil Sander when I'm a kajillionaire.)

Very Very Low-Fat Cinnamon Rolls

2011-09-04T09:19:00.006-04:00

Happy long weekend! You should bake. These are seriously low-fat. 3.6 grams of fat per roll. A Cinnabon roll has approx. 26 grams. Do the math.

I cobbled this together from various sources, added my own twists here and there, and used applesauce liberally. If you wanna make it fat-free, you could sub in applesauce for the butter, but I wouldn't recommend it. (Guys. Seriously. 3.6 grams.)

Dough:
1/2 cup skim milk
1 egg, room temperature
3 T butter
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 packet instant yeast
1/4 t salt

Filling:
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 t honey

Icing:
1/4 cup fat free cream cheese, softened
1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

For dough: Combine milk and butter, microwaving until the butter is melted--about 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add additional 1 cup flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume. This would normally take a couple hours, but if you're in a hurry and desperate, as I usually am by the time I actually give up hunting for something and bake, you can cut the rise time to about an hour by putting some warm water into a baking pan and setting the bowl in it, kind of like an off-heat bain marie. I just leave that in the oven--turned off, obvi--and that does the trick.

Press down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to a 16×11-inch rectangle. Combine the applesauce and honey and spread over the dough, leaving a small border on one long edge. Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together and sprinkle over the applesauce mixture. Then, starting at the borderless longer side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. Using a knife with a serrated edge, cut nine rolls.

Grease a 9-inch square glass baking dish, putting the rolls in cut side-up; cover with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Use the bain marie again if you want, giving it another 30 (or 60) minutes to rise.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 390°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up. Ice them. Stuff your face.

Sale Season Continues

2011-09-02T00:51:00.000-04:00

Guys! It's Labor Day Weekend! I will have more posts with actual things to read soon! To tide you over in the meantime:

Swirl.com is having their massive Labor Day sale today starting at 11 am EST. $49 and under. I am so excited I can't even. This is where I got those ridiculous $250 sandals for $19. Favorite sale site.

Secondly, Fab.com, the super-cute indie flash sale site, is giving new members a $10 credit. I plan on using mine shortly.

Oh, and if you're in New York, see you at the Barneys Warehouse Sale! Extra discounts have kicked in and this guy will be there today. Can't wait.

Happy Friday!

DIWhyIsThisHurricaneNotHereYet

2011-08-27T16:25:00.000-04:00

In case you missed them, here are my latest Hairpin posts.

Now back to waiting for this storm.

Pin Up Your Hairdo!

2011-08-25T16:57:00.000-04:00

Or something! I'll be at the Hairpin meetup tonight at Professor Thoms' in a couple hours, you should be there too.

Closet Evacuation, part 2

2011-08-23T09:45:00.009-04:00

As before, email me (ineedamakeover@gmail.com) if you see something you want: add $5 for shipping, or pick it up in person if you're in New York! Oh, and click on the pics if you want to enlarge them. (Lemme know if you want pics of them worn/labels. Sorry about the wrinkles...they've been in suitcases.) Everything is minimally used--worn once or twice, if at all. Sigh.

~~Cotton dress, Diane Von Furstenberg; spaghetti straps, empire waist, sash that ties in front. Size 6. Retailed for $250 or so. $40.~~

Vintage suede jacket; single button in front. Size small. $35.

~~Vintage (1960s) lightweight tweed jacket by Albee; fully lined, three buttons. XS. Mint condition. $35.~~

Vintage polyester bolero. One size. $10.

Marc Jacobs (not Marc by Marc) silk blouse; fully lined, empire waist, worn once. Size 6. Retailed for $300ish? $60.

~~Skinny low-rise jeans by GoldSign. Gold on the inside! Tags still on--I think the retail price is around $150? Super super tiny: labeled 27, but fit like a 24/00. $20.~~

~~Polyester pussy-bow blouse by Menta y Chocolate; labeled a medium, fits like a small. $15.~~

Rogan black button-down with contrast check details on the cuffs and collar. Worn once. Retails for $180, I think? $30.

~~Banana Republic safari-style dress in cotton khaki. Worn twice. Size 0. $35.~~

~~Vintage lightweight brocade skirt, unlined. Approx. 27" at the waist, 40" at the hips (size 4/6). $15.~~

Full length Nicole Miller silk jersey evening gown. Tulip-shaped skirt opens in front; floor length; empire waist. Worn once for a recital. Size 8--has a very small bust. Retails at $300 or so. $60.

~~Rogan alpaca sweater dress, worn once. Exposed zipper in back (see below). Very cute, very warm, very not me. Size small. Retails for somewhere in the neighborhood of $300. $80.~~

~~Calf-length cotton velvet skirt from Talbot's. Fully lined, barely worn. Vintage 12, modern 4. $30.~~

Vintage crochet acrylic cape with pearlized buttons. One size fits most. $45.

~~New alpaca sweater by Tumi. High v-neck. Size XS. $30.~~

~~Design History cuffed roll-neck slouchy sweater in a dark purple/blue/grey/black knit. Size XS, but very slouchy--will easily fit up to a medium. Worn once. Retails for $200ish? $30.~~

Get Your Hair Cut

2011-08-22T12:48:00.001-04:00

Okay, so this is a little silly, but I get asked about my hair a lot, specifically, "Where do you go?"

Well, I go to Corvette at Graceland in Brooklyn--he's been my one and only since he was at Mudhoney. I love him, I love Graceland, I make everyone I know go there. I mean, cuts are $85-120 or so, and Corvette is a genius. Not just with straight hair, but with curls, too. This guy was named one of New York's top 5 stylists by NY Mag. He did hair for the B-52s and has been head of hair and makeup for Madonna's tours. Repeatedly. And he still charges what he always has.

Why am I telling you this? Because today, Daily Candy's running a Graceland deal: $40 for $80 worth of hair services, or $100 for $200 worth of tattoo services. Because, oh yeah, it's not just a hair salon: it's a tattoo parlor.

Seriously, go. Now.

Closet Evacuation, part 1

2011-08-17T21:38:00.004-04:00

Okay, I have three closets, and they're overflowing with clothes I don't wear often. Also I have been threatened if I don't unload crap. Things will be going up here over the next few weeks, all proper designery or vintage things, mostly sizes 4, 6, and 8. Email me (ineedamakeover@gmail.com) if you see something you want: add $5 for shipping, or pick it up in person if you're in New York! Oh, and click on the pics if you want to enlarge them.

~~Diane von Furstenburg cotton voile print dress, size 6. Will fit a 4 or small-busted 8. $50.~~

Peach silk chiffon Lewis Cho sundress, size 6; will fit a small-busted 8. $40.

Bronze bubble skirt, worn as dress; fully lined, size 6 or 8. $30.

Left, green linen bolero with gold embroidery, size 2-6. $30.

Vintage men's Hugo Boss trousers, worn rolled up. 28" waistband, 32" inseam, cuffed. $30.

This is a modified vintage dress, drawn on by yours truly. Raw hem, built-in crinoline. Size 6. $60.

Two Hugely Important Things Of Note

2011-08-17T12:34:00.000-04:00

1. Cynthia Rowley's Bleecker St. location is having its end of season/sample sale this Thursday-Sunday. Up to 80% off of spring and summer stock, and samples will be super cheap. I will be here. Thursday. Yes.

2. The Barneys Warehouse Sale is not, contrary to rumors, dead! It's happening, as ever, at 225 W. 17th St., August 25-September 5 (shorter than usual, but take what you can get).

Be there, or be shoddily dressed in poorly-designed synthetics.

Search Keywords

2011-08-15T17:44:00.000-04:00

Presented without commentary*:

"lame"
"hardcore gay"
"gibson girl hair"
"trendy guy turban"
"amateur high heel non nude model"
"charming sew atelier"

(*I am really, really having trouble holding my tongue.)

Nocation

2011-08-13T23:39:00.001-04:00

I need one of these again. That is all.

Skurts

2011-08-10T16:14:00.000-04:00

So I have a little tutorial on making these skirts up on the Hairpin now, if you wanna make them for yourself...

Skirt, DIY; top, Alice + Olivia; belt, Banana Republic; deathtraps, Opening Ceremony.

Ceci N'est Pas Coton

2011-08-09T17:04:00.005-04:00

…but it is from Comptoir des Cotonniers, which made its way to the West Village about a year ago. I finally made my way there last week, mother in tow—their schtick is, after all, clothes for mothers and daughters—and it was the mom-shopping nirvana I thought I’d never find. First, all the summer stock was 50% off, which took the prices from “mom will never get that in a billion years, it’s more expensive than Eddie Bauer, which she’s only ever willing to get on sale anyway,” to “oh, well, 50% off, that’s a bargain!” doable. So that was awesome. Secondly, the salesgirls were perfect: unobtrusive until you needed help, and then ready to help style with sale items, without pushing the full-price merch or being scary-aggressive. Thirdly, there really was clothing suitable for both me and my mom, in a range of sizes and styles all tied together by a muted and, for lack of a better word, French aesthetic. Scooped necks and backs, fitted blazers, trousers cut to allow for hips without being bulky in the legs or waist. Mid-heeled and flat sandals in neutral colors. Alsotheyhadsupercutethingsforlittlekidsthatmademegoawwwww. But don’t tell anyone.

I went for the full French dip today, tucking it (Ambiguous modifier what what... it being the top I got at Comptoir -Ed.) into APC shorts. (Sorry about the flash...New York is rainy rainy rainy.)

Top, Comptoir des Cotonniers; shorts, APC; slingbacks, Modern Vintage.

Come Out Tonight!

2011-08-04T00:46:00.000-04:00

No really! That wasn't code for anything. The very excellent Hi-Life Wedding are in from Australia, and I will at the Rock Shop in Park Slope tonight to hear them. Doors are at 8-- Matt LeMay, of Pitchfork/Get Him Eat Him, is opening. Come say hi!

Colormatic

2011-08-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

I just got the loveliest note from a Hairpin reader who needs some color advice:

I just bought the furniture set pictured below and I need help deciding on a wall color. Or actually, an entire color scheme. This will be in a small bedroom (8x14 or so) in a shared apartment. Right now, the walls are painted a bright, light orange color. I actually like the color, and it really makes the color of the wood pop, but I'm afraid it'll get old really fast. I'll be spending most of my time at home in the room, so perhaps something more soothing would be better? The room has two huge south-facing windows, so it gets plenty of light. Also, I'm 27, so I want the room to make me look young and cool; I have a feeling this furniture could look really dated when paired with the wrong stuff.

Ah, that warm, honeyed, mid-century glow. It's never really been my cup of tea, but, pondering colors, it suddenly became super appealing, which means I'm now going to be one of those assholes searching for "mid-century" on Craigslist. Thanks for that, Emily. Also, thanks for making me make a ColourLovers account. Here's what I'd do, if it were my room and furniture and I were 27. (I'm 28 so now obviously I'd decorate in pinks.)

RGB/Hex details right thisaway

I think either an accent wall in one of the stronger colors with one of the paler ones for the other three wall, or with stark, stark white if tonal is too much for your room. Definitely one of the greens as the accent, with the dresser in front, and then a white vase or a lamp like this one on the dresser. (If you're in Brooklyn, The Future Perfect has some amazing matte white renderings of random stuff that would pop against the darker colors, like these Wonderland candle...sticks? Or these squirrel hooks, which are awesome without being twee and bird-on-a-stick-y.)

Does that help?

xo,
L

Carryallthethings

2011-07-28T17:52:00.001-04:00

I may or may not have gotten a leeeeeettle carried away with this one, but dammit I just love big bags. PS, her name's Folderol...

Brooklyn Vice

2011-07-27T14:33:00.001-04:00

If Sonny Crockett had been a girl and a fashion blogger, he probably would have worn this. Amirite?

Blazer, Ben Sherman; tee, James Perse; silk pants, Trina Turk; peeptoes, Casadei.

Cinched

2011-07-26T15:16:00.000-04:00

First: if you're coming here from The Hairpin, welcome! This is where I blog (duh), but I also tweet here and Etsy here.

Second: I still need to do laundry. Hopefully, by the time you read this, I'll be doing laundry, because it's gotten to the point where I'm wearing American Apparel bodysuits in lieu of proper tops because they don't require separate underwear. (Unless I'm doing it wrong, which is totally possible.) (And yes, I'm the kind of asshole who owns multiple AA bodysuits.)

Bodysuit, American Apparel; deathtraps, Opening Ceremony; vintage belt; SIY/DIY skirt and pheasant headband.

Etsy Update

2011-07-26T13:00:00.001-04:00

New bag up on Etsy today--first in a series of different cuts in this leather, which is a soft soft soft and thick super-pale grey, almost white. It sort of comes off as the lightest celery imaginable. And yes, I'm going to have to keep one of these for myself.

Find her here!

Temping

2011-07-25T23:27:00.000-04:00

I saw this temporary tatt from Tattly on a four-year-old this morning on the train.

Yes, I live in Brooklyn.

And yes, I was jealous of a four-year-old.

Shirty

2011-07-19T21:17:00.000-04:00

It's downright sweltering in New York this week, my mother's visiting, I need a hair cut, there's a bunch of leather with my name on it in my studio (by which I mean my dress closet), the laundry bag is nearly full, and my fridge is empty. So of course I am browsing sales online instead of doing any of these things, or, like, dissertating, because it's hot and also the boifriend's sick, which means that my duties are being on call and making soup. Right? Right.

Here's your ladylesson for the week: sewing a small hook-and-eye on the button placket of any shirt that's tending toward gapping will make a much more permanent, do-it-and-never-think-of-it-again solution than double-sided tape or button stays. It'll save you time when you're slammed.

Ooooold shirtdress, H&M; sandals, NaNa; leather tote, yours truly, available here.

Swansong

2011-07-18T22:10:00.001-04:00

I'm in love with this portrait of Gloria Swanson taken way, way back in the day. 1919, to be precise. Love the simple headdress, the relaxed fingerwaves. Just a note to self...

Fourteenth of July

2011-07-14T16:18:00.000-04:00

For some reason whenever the Fourth rolls around, all I wanna do is put on cutoffs, a tank, sneaks, a ridiculous, themed scarf, and grill. Preferably with a bottle of beer in hand, America-style. All class, all the time, c'est moi.

If I had to, you know, go somewhere actually nice, like "the Cape" (that's what they call it, right?) or "the Vineyard" or "the Sound," this is what I'd probably end up wearing, assuming I could fight the urge to go full-on Missouri. For now, "the Roof" will have to do for summer holidays. It's terribly exclusive. And no, you're not invited.

Unintentionally crushed silk skirt, Adele Fado; silk bandeau by yours truly; peeptoes, Rosa Rosa; vintage necklace from Helen.

Wanderlust

2011-07-14T14:28:00.002-04:00

I’m yearning for a trip to Europe. Have been for ages. Until I can get back over there, Elaine Dundy’s The Dud Avocado will have to suffice. It was first published in 1958, reissued in 2007 by the New York Review of Books. It’s been in my library for a few years now, one of those clever novels that are just right when you want to read about American girls in Paris and their dating catastrophes. This passage, spoken by a know-it-all American wino, in particular rings true: except for the take-your-own-toilet-paper and kill the hotel staff bits, the Organized Sophisticate is basically how I roll. Or try to, at least…

…the tourist can be divided into two categories. The Organized—the Disorganized. Under the Organized you find two distinct types: first, the Eager-Beaver-Culture-Vulture with the list tend yards long, who just manages to get it all crossed off before she collapses of aesthetic indigestion each night and has to be carried back to her hotel; and second, the cool suave Sophisticate who comes gliding over gracefully, calmly, and indifferently. But don’t be fooled by the indifference. This babe is determined to maintain her incorruptible standards of cleanliness and efficiency if the entire staff of her hotel dies trying. She belongs to the take-your-own-toilet-paper set. Stuffs her suitcase full of nylon, Kleenex, soapflakes, and DDT bombs. Immediately learns the rules of the country. (I mean what time the shops open and close, and how much to tip the waiter.) Can pack for a week end in a small jewel case and a large handbag and still have enough room for her own soap and washrag. Finds the hairdresser who speaks English, the restaurant who knows how she likes her steak, and the first foreign word she makes absolutely sure of pronouncing correctly is the one for drugstore. After that she’s all set and the world is her ash tray. If she’s got enough money she’s got no trouble at all. On the whole, I rather like her.

Slash and Burn

2011-07-13T17:08:00.000-04:00

You guys have to pretend my feet and legs aren't in them (because someone needs a pedicure...not naming names), but these sandals were on Swirl last week in a ridiculous, $19-down-from-$250 sale, and I had to get them because 1. yellow and 2. grey. Also they're maybe the lowest heels in my closet now, which is, you know, practical and stuff. The sheath has been in my closet for well over a year: it came from Leo's Vintage in Columbia, MO, and still had the tags on, but needed laundering and one of the seams re-stitched. Too many projects mean something will get neglected sooner or later. (Sorry it was you, banana-dress.)

Silk dress, vintage; grey and yellow suede sandals, Charlie My Love.

Haute Haute Heat

2011-07-13T13:43:00.001-04:00

As Auntie Mame once put it, "Well well well well well well well, what have we here?"

Valentino was a surprise: some of the looks did it for me. Unsurprisingly, they were the ones that looked like a "What Would Raf Simons Do" primer, in spite of the hair, which I loved. Very Rossetti or Waterhouse-does-Arthurian-legend, Lady of Shalott, etc.

Giambattista Valli was touch and go, but the looks that were reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face were utterly gorgeous. Ditto the trapeze dresses, which have given me sewing ideas...

Alaia, unusually, didn't do anything for me. I adore coatdresses, but his shapes here struck me as hard to wear, given the combination of sleeve width at the upper arm and skirt length. Maybe sleeveless...

Chanel was Chanel. The suits looked downright bulky this time around, in far too thick a weave and loose a cut for a long peplum. But what do I know.

I LOVED Elie Saab. If ever a red carpet calls my name and someone else is footing the bill, oh my god. It's straight-up 1930s slink, with a shot of asymmetry here and there. And the palette was exactly what I want my 1930s boudoir to be. Because, you know, I have one.

Finally, Ann Valérie Hash, hands down my favorite.

All images from Style.com

Yes, true, the shoes were completely horrible. That the clothes look as sleek and minimal as they do in the face of all that lace and patent says something, non? Hash is, for me, the most wearable of the collections, not only because it's functional clothing that doesn't reek of costuming, but because it's almost entirely unembellished. Her whole collection was a handful of looks--a dozen or so--and that tight editing and lack of fanfare in the presentation really speak to the origins of couture, in small design houses with a few models. (Two, in this case.)

Raison d'Etre

2011-07-12T13:39:00.003-04:00

Coming back to this space after what was more or less a hiatus of a year or two, with a few exceptions, I’ve been struck by a few things. When Ladylessons started in 2006, under the name Lacquer, it was as an audition of sorts for an editorship at another site. The first twenty-four posts reflect that—bet you can’t name the site they were for—and, as school took over and became more serious, the blog stuck and became an outlet for non-academic thoughts. Reactions to runways, magazines, a handful of makeovers, a lot of DIY, a catchall for favorite clips and photos and bits of style-related prose from my “real” work. It was definitely about experimentation and style, rather than fashion. (The Castiglione quotes to the right and at the bottom of the page have been there since the start, and aren’t going anywhere. They demarcate the worlds of style and fashion, as I see them, and are my touchstones whenever a project starts feeling too intense. That Book of the Courtier was written almost five hundred years ago and is as relevant to sartorial and social questions now as it was then says something about its wisdom.)

I turn twenty-nine this year. I was twenty-three when this began, and I wore cardigans as skirts, head-to-toe vintage, had faux-hawks and dye-jobs that came and went. It was a total fucking blast. It was probably hilarious to the outside viewer, as it was to me. This was back in the days before “fashion blogger” became an occupation, before street style blogs existed. (Yes, even the Sartorialist.) Polyester was totally not the point of no concession it’s since become. No one really cares how you dress, when you’re a grad student. If you’re not wearing a cotton knit t-shirt or tank and jeans and carrying a backpack, you’re “dressed up.” (I know, guys. I know.) Moving to Philly for the PhD was the first step in my wardrobe’s taming: shitty public transport meant fewer heels and narrow skirts, more flat sandals and jeans. That was fine for a couple years, and then teaching began, which meant finding a way to look adult enough and pulled together enough to command the respect of a room full of undergraduates. Shopping got pickier, less disposable, less fanciful. Whimsy became a turn-off. I wanted quality, structure, endurance from my clothes, without letting go of creativity and visual interest. My heels went high again. (It’s amazing how authoritative an extra four inches can make you feel and look.) It was a realistic approach to both personal style and pushing the boundaries of fashion.

I am not a fashion blogger. I do not have long, precisely tousled hair. I don’t sulk at the camera from behind my vintage Chloe sunglasses, or gaze demurely in the middle of a twee, whimsical tableau of wildflowers in my poly/rayon thrifted mini-dress. My hair and face aren’t done up in the style of whatever time period matches the clothing I’m wearing. Outfits are no longer costumes, because I know who I am and don’t need to dress up as anything but myself. I don’t change for the Today posts: they’re exactly what I wear to my job in midtown, or to the farmer’s market on the weekend. The goal of Ladylessons has become, inadvertently, to show that you don’t have to be twenty and a fashion student to intentionally cultivate a look, to be interested in what goes on your back and the face you present to the world. Lessons that are, hopefully, studies in individuality. (And sentence fragments.)

With all my love to all of you,
L

Army (Green) Strong

2011-07-07T16:43:00.001-04:00

Guys. It's hot out and yogurt is the only thing that sounds appetizing. These pants are lighter than they look, which is why they made the cut today. That and they don't show my stubbly legs. I'm going to go slice some watermelon, put on shorts, and come back to ponder the couture shows. (Always a hilarious/beautiful thing. The couture, not my blogging.)

Top, Pi by Poleci; trousers, Da-Nang; sandals, Strategia.

Pleats and Thank You

2011-07-06T17:36:00.001-04:00

Pleats are one of those mysteries that I'm a little obsessed with but have never taken the time to research. Knife pleats are fairly straightforward, but what about accordion ones? How do they stay in place? Why don't they wash out when you get them wet? Tucks, fine, they're stitched in place. And some you have to iron in place. It's the ones in (I think as a rule synthetic or possibly also silk) fabrics, heat-set to the point of never washing out, that are fascinating. Fortuny pleats. I guess they're a mystery for a reason, and I'd better stick to cartridge pleats or something stitched for dressmaking experiments...

Pleated (!) sundress, Laundry by Shelli Segal; deathtraps, Opening Ceremony.

Baby You're Not Referencing Katy Perry

2011-07-04T23:56:00.004-04:00

Is this going to be the only space that didn't quote "Firework" this year? So be it. Today was busy with this:

Oh yes. I got charge of the grill. You say you want the burger recipe, such as it was? (What. Summer's not over for two months. There's plenty of grilling left to do. Some people say Late, I say Tested.) For six:

3/4 lb. ground chuck
1/2 lb. ground pork shoulder
1/4 lb. ground lamb
2 T dijon
1 T ground matzoh (Oy!)
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste--and a dash of soy if you want it.

Bang it in a bowl, mix it all up with your hands, wash em, chill them with cold water, and then use them to shape up the patties. Grill. ("Bang" is one of my culinary verbs of choice.)

Oh, did I forget to mention I'm not much of one for recipes? Well, here's another.

Shred a cabbage
Shred a large carrot
Bang in a teaspoon of yellow mustard, a tablespoon of Dijon, a tablespoon of mayo, a dash of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Then squeeze in the juice of two large limes. Not lemons. (I like my slaw light on mayo and fat, heavy on sour.) Stir, chill, scarf. Preferably with a patriotically-themed scarf wrapped around some part of you.

Tank, Elan USA; shorts, Edun; scarf, vintage Adele Simpson; vintage sunnies.

Say Yes! to Michigan

2011-07-03T23:37:00.007-04:00

And say Yes! to overspending, as I seem to do whenever I come to Detroit. It's impossible not to, and I'm for serious about that. Last time it was Pewabic mugs and vintage odds and ends from Lost and Found. This time? A Tigers tee from the first pro ballgame I've attended since 1990.

And a vintage scarf and new tank from Paris in Royal Oak, which has a great mish-mash of new and old clothing, jewelry, bags, furniture (check out the killer chaise below...would love to re-cover that in grey or burlap, with white trim), stuff like that.

And that all got topped off with a little grilling--some pre-Fourth pigging out, as one must do.

Tank, Seneca Rising; striped bra, American Apparel.

Drrrty

2011-07-03T00:56:00.001-04:00

Why hello! It's been a few days, hasn't it? There was that whole dressmaking thing, followed by a bit of a last-minute trip to Detroit for a super-American long holiday weekend. It's late, so I'll keep this to an outfit for the moment...more proper Dirty D stuff tomorrow. (And thanks to H for playing cameraman and for the cop-ducking instructions.)

Tank, Velvet; trousers, Trina Turk; sandals, dv by Dolce Vita.

Pradlitzer?

2011-06-23T15:53:00.000-04:00

So, finally, the new Prada menswear collection. Yes, it does kind of look like Lilly Pulitzer threw up on Michael Kors on a golf course. And yes, this is the kind of thing that usually makes me batshit crazy. I’m not a fan of prints held over from the late 60s and early 70s. However, and maybe this is just because of the combination of neutral skirt and red-orange lippy from Monday which I was, incidentally, wearing while clicking through Miuccia’s latest offering, I kind of dig it. Not just black or white or grey neutrals, but proper muddy browns and greens, juxtaposed against a bright, clashing-but-effective burst of neon. It’s lovely and interesting and, when limited to a little pop, is a great way of doing bright color while staying subtle and neutral—which, as you might have noticed, is kinda my thing. (Rather, my thing varies wildly between crazy, off-duty brights and boring, work-allowed neutrals.)

All images from Style.com

Honey Nut

2011-06-22T15:31:00.000-04:00

Alright bois and girls, I’m a little swamped right now with the projects: have a bag and two dresses on the table. Oh, and something about a dissertation? That’s the nice thing about living in New York—there’s a good ninety minutes on the train every day for drafting and revising and proofing. Optimize!

Dress, diy; belt, vintage; heels, Opening Ceremony.

The whole busy busy thing is why you see me here, eating and snapping at the same time. I’m nothing if not a multitasker. (And no, not kidding. That Trader Joe’s version of Honey Nut Cheerios is made of awesome and delicious.) However, I hereby swear to set a couple tasks aside tonight and make room to talk about the new Prada menswear collection, which was a bit of a braintease.

Neutrals and Brights

2011-06-20T15:57:00.002-04:00

A little color-clashing with some basic shapes for you on this busy busy busy Monday afternoon. (No, really. Busy. Gotta dash! More later!) (And by color-clashing, I mean: my lipstick's orange-red.)

Strapless onesie, American Apparel; skirt, Missoni; peeptoe pumps, Casadei.

Videobore

2011-06-19T00:43:00.002-04:00

Cathy Horyn, in one of her musings for On The Runway:

While browsing Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings site (always a great source for design), I came across her post about “Dripped,” a small animated movie by Leo Verrier about the work of Jackson Pollock. The film is charming, and I wondered why fashion houses don’t use animation on their sites to promote a product or tell a story instead of those embarrassingly bad videos that leave us stone-cold with ennui.

Amen. I am so fucking tired of boring, predictable, inconclusive and, really, pointless videos that get released with/before so many ad campaigns and lookbooks nowadays. You have a narrative? Fine. You shot it in normal color instead of a) a Hipstamatic filter or b) shitty-quality black and white? Fine. There's well-written, relevant music paired with it? Mazel tov. But please, can we be done with the poorly-angled "creative" shots, the embarrassingly awful tracks, and the awkward models who, may we remember, are usually not actors. You know, those people who are trained to tell stories with their bodies and expressions? Just because you have this friend who went to FIT/NYU/RISD who has a D-SLR/Flip/rented a rig for the occasion and is willing to like, work for free, and he like, knows someone who can create this like, totally unreal ambient music on Garageband/Audacity/Audition, also for free, or like, a pair of jeans or whatever, doesn't mean you should. It's free. You get what you pay for. You pay nothing?

Newsflash: you get nothing. Nothing worth looking at, that is.

Bill Cunningham

2011-06-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

Oh, NBD, my boifriend just made the Style section of the NY Times. Again.

I am never ever ever ever going to be on the right block at the right time, and even if I were, Bill Cunningham would probably ignore me, so it's just as well that our paths have never crossed, if only for my ego's sake.

PS, go see Bill Cunningham New York, if you can.

Woof

2011-06-16T21:37:00.001-04:00

Boswell has asked me to let you guys know that he's taken up guest blogging for Fido Dog Treats, and to share his first post for Small Hound, Big City. Attention whore.

In the Pink

2011-06-14T13:21:00.001-04:00

The lovely, lovely Bridgette of Jeffrey Campbell was an utter doll and sent over yet another surprise, this time the Brisbane Low in pink!

I seriously never thought I'd wear an ankle boot like this--my calves and thighs aren't skinny skinny like those of most girls who can pull this off--but then I saw that top in my closet and had to give it a go. Roughened up a bit with old, falling apart men's jeans from the Gap, and topped off with hot pink nail polish and purple leather earrings, now in the Etsy shop. Thank you, B!

Neon burnout tank, BDG; men's jeans, Gap; pink Brisbane Low bootie, Jeffrey Campbell; earrings, Ladylessons.

Sew It Yourself

2011-06-14T10:57:00.001-04:00

Wedding season is upon us and seeing the tweets add up as ladies with taste try to dress shop in New York on a budget reminded me of my own freaking out during that dressiest of months, December. It's hard when you're not willing to compromise on quality--I've said what I have to say about synthetics, repeatedly: bad for the environment, cheap-looking, highly flammable, and usually a contributor to the disposable fashion problem. I'm almost 30 and not about to run around in clothes meant for a college kid. Trouble is, things made out of silk/cotton/linen/wool tend to be subjected to obscene markups, given the production costs at a place like, say, J. Crew. When I have the money, yes, I'll support independent and atelier-driven designers, but until then, what's a girl to do?

If you're really lucky, like I was, your mom taught you to sew when you were a kid. And you probably drove her crazy by not seeing the point in finishing seams--not like anyone's gonna see it, jeez--or, like, using exactly the right color thread, or using pinking shears instead of scissors, or making a pattern first, or lining things, or cutting on the bias. (Ahaha my poor mom was so patient. And I didn't even mention zippers.) The first thing I made on my own, in college, was a black top inspired by Dolce and Gabbana's Spring 2002 collection, which seemed straightforward enough, and it was. Sure, I made it in poly chiffon and not silk, but hey. It was sophomore year of college. And I was a music major.

I was extra lucky to be given a sewing machine a few years ago, and sewing became something I just didn't do when visiting my parents or, and no this isn't a joke, by hand. Extra lucky because when I had a fit of not having a thing to wear (Right.) before what would inevitably be a very stylish holiday party hosted by Ty of TMI, and, worse, not being able to afford a new dress, I ran out, got some thematically-appropriate silk charmeuse in the fabric district, and knocked this out. (Granted, I didn't start until four hours before the party, had a freakout about looking like a home ec project, and maybe made my boifriend want to kill me, but whatever. It got knocked out.)

Dress and leather earring by yours truly; peeptoes, Via Spiga.

Which is all by way of saying: if I know you, and you're local, and find yourself in a clothing fix, let's go get fabric and have some fun designing and making something!

Rolling

2011-06-13T15:47:00.000-04:00

I have a tendency when summer hits to feel like I MUST take advantage of shaved legs and wear skirts, dresses, or shorts.

Overshare Interlude: smooth legs last ten hours on me, max. Fewer, to be really real about it. Yes, I’ve tried waxing. (There was even a hilarious Nads party in ninth or tenth grade, if memory serves. Somewhere there’s a pic of me in my mom’s old “Arkansas: It’s a Natural” tee, which I still have and wear, a pair of plaid boxers, braces, and a shouty face, Nads all over my legs, strips of muslin in place, ready to rip. We’d gotten extra fabric from Jo-Ann’s, because, natch, they didn’t include nearly enough strips with the product for one person’s pair of legs, let alone a bunch of teenage girls. The Nads--I don’t know what else to call it…gel?—unsurprisingly bled right through the cloth while we waited tried to pat it down. What was their motto? “1, 2, 3, rip your hair out by the roots?” The whole process was sticky and hilarious, and we did end up with smooth legs, but that was that for most of us, I believe.) Lasering totally works, but no way can I afford to laser my entire leg, let along two legs. So I exfoliate, shave, and get on with my day, trying to get dressed, knowing I’ll feel hounded by guilt if I pull jeans on over newly, temporarily stubble-free gams.

It took one dress and two skirts twenty minutes this morning to make me finally yield and pull on a pair of pants, comforting myself with the fact that at least my ankles were exposed and, it followed, not going to waste. First world problems, yo. (Also: new bag, on Etsy tonight!)

Silk blouse, Stills; trousers, Helmut Lang; peeptoe slingbacks, Adele Fado; canvas and leather bag by yours truly; vintage pencil necklace from the best boifriend ever.

Helter Swelter

2011-06-09T15:58:00.004-04:00

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I broke my foot by falling off my shoe?

That's basically the story. It was junior year of college, I was wearing these Bruno Maglis--no way they're over three inches, if that... Come on. I'm jumping in them in those pics, for chrissake--standing at my front door, unlocking it, and then my ankle just fell sideways and the top of my foot snapped. In amateur heels, if you please. Very embarrassing. My lovely roomies forebore laughing and took me to the ER. (I, for one, would have laughed at me. But I'm an asshole.)

It's a miracle that didn't happen again today in these, much more lethal shoes. These much more lethal shoes I jumped up in without realizing that my left foot was sound asleep. There was a brief collapse, some clutching of the nearest wall, and then a valiant attempt at saving face by walking on it anyway like nothing happened. No, really. I meant to do that.

Dress, H&M (no, really); deathtraps, Opening Ceremony.

Seriously, these Opening Ceremonies make walking in small spaces hard. It's fine if there's plenty of room for striding and momentum's there to help you along, but man. And they've been showing up in too many outfits lately. Time to find some neutral, not-five-inch sandals for summer.

Which reminds me! The heat index in New York today is 103. And it's still spring. We're screwed.

Step Up, Step Up

2011-06-09T10:49:00.000-04:00

Guys, just a quick note: I'm gonna be at Astoria Market at the Bohemian Hall (aka Astoria Beer Garden) this Sunday from 12-5, with bags--suede and black canvas, hardwared up--and lots of small leather goods for your perusal and, hopefully, enjoyment. Pics to follow later--quite a few messengers, some satchels, canvas and leather musette bags, and if I can get to them, iPad sleeves. Getcher father's day gifts! And beer!

xo
L

Lady Frisée

2011-06-08T16:04:00.001-04:00

You might think that the reason wind is tossing my hair and collar around is that I've started practicing for the America's Next Top Model: Average Is As Average Does auditions. You would be wrong. Wind is tossing my hair and collar around because it's 95 degrees and rising in New York today and there will be a fan blowing on me at all times today, camera or no.

Blouse, Chelsea Flower; skirt, DIY; pumps, Ash; bangles, DIY.

A woman told me that my shoes remind her of Betty Boop. Also, she couldn't tell if they were wedges or heels. It's funny, what some people notice and others don't. (Like me. I only ever thought of them as fairly straightforward heels.)

Also, if you're paying attention, you'll have noticed my hair today is neither curly nor frizzy.

Flyaways? Yes. But then, I don't flat-iron my hair. However, there's no frizzy mess that usually results when I blow my hair dry on hot and humid days. Why? Because I experimented and discovered that mixing Pureology's Texture Twist (which is the perfect stiff-but-flexible-and-also-dry-finished product when you wanna rock a faux-hawk, lemme tell ya) with a little bit of water and using that as a styling product keeps my hair from getting frizzy. Also from getting lank or stringy or limp. So color me thrilled, because this product was one of the things I missed most about having short hair. And yes, I've been known to fashion haircuts around products.

Shorty

2011-06-07T16:28:00.001-04:00

First, a little Jackson 5 for y'all, remixed by Z-Trip. Summer soundtrack's kicking in with a vengeance, and it's leading to a lot of dancing in the street.

Second, I find myself in a bit of a pickle. I'll probably find myself there for a while, because, see, APC had a sample sale a month or so ago, and I had to run and get some stuff.

There were no fitting rooms. And it was a co-ed sale.

Normally if anything trousery is happening at APC, I get whatever size fits my legs, and then take in the waist and hips dramatically. Not only do French women not get fat: they apparently also have no thighs. This isn't such a problem in the pants department...as long as I have a little fishing line and some Crisco, I'm in business (namethatmovie). Shorts are another matter entirely, especially these, which are way, way too big around the waist and too tight around the thighs. One option is, certainly, to start doing pilates again. The other option, which was today's solution of choice, is to just go with it. And it was painful, and I kept sneaking glances at my reflection in building windows as I ran errands up and down Sixth Ave., but, reader: I survived.

There's a lesson in there somewhere about vanity or something, but I have to go eat some Twizzlers now and recuperate.

Blazer, Ben Sherman; silk camisole, Mary Green; shorts, APC; flats, Roberto del Carlo; vintage sunnies.

Query

2011-06-06T15:39:00.002-04:00

You know, I always thought the pattern on this dress was clouds, with something red added for punch, but clearly that's not right. Some kind of tropical flower? Let's use it as a Rorschach test: tell me what you see. (Put it in the comments.)

Dress, Virginia Johnson; peeptoes, Modern Vintage.

But here's the actual, important issue of the day: channel flipping last night, H got stuck on Cats, the musical, which, I'll admit, I never got. Sorry, Sir Andrew, but it's just a little too weird. However, the costumes totally look like cheaped-out Thundercats! Which reminded me: can we all band together and Kickstart a live-action Thundercats movie? Not gonna lie, the new Cartoon Network version looks halfway decent...the renderings aren't too anime-ed, still pretty 80s-looking.

Nothing on the original, but, um, I'll be watching. And here, since you were good, here's your prize:

Making Up Is Hard To Do

2011-06-05T23:02:00.001-04:00

So here's a mystery that's always baffled me: the unspoken rule that makeup organizers have to be ugly and expensive. Who laid down the law on that one? Not that I didn't want a Kaboodle in junior high, but that was junior high. We all wanted Kaboodles. And then in college, the industrial-looking but cheaply-made (potentially fake) metal with black trim organizers, which were the next step up. Supposedly. None of those--or any other organizers carried by most stores--go with my decor and are suitable for display on the vanity. What does? This vintage wooden toolbox, found at a flea market in Philly for $5.

Some of you have asked before, so: want a tour? I've linked through to a few things...not all, just the ones worth getting. If you feel like splurging or are in need of inspiration.

From left to right, we have: a Sephora-brand white highlighter, Lorac On Screen Duo (swear by that set...great metallic cream shadow), Stila shadow in Kitten (another great, nude highlighter), Laura Geller baked shadows--Devils Food is particularly good--and an Estee Lauder highlighter. (I'm big into highlighting. Good on the cheekbones, too.) Stila lip stain, Du Wop Lip Venom (it's a plumper. A delicious, stingy, minty plumper.), Smashbox sheer gloss, Maybelline brow powder (comes with an excellent little angled brush, way better than a pencil), and Tarte Cheek Stain in Blissful. The liners are all Urban Decay: they go on creamy, smudge well, and set all day once they're dry. Mascaras of choice are Cover Girl Lash Blast and Lancome Definicils--and Diorshow when I have $25 to blow.

Down below, clockwise left to right, we have: Sephora-brand glitter liquid liner ($12, great pointy brush, lots of colors), Smashbox gloss--a bit sticky for my tastes, frankly--followed by Lorac Cream lipstick (this is amazing stuff. A hands-down favorite for texture), and a couple Lancome freebies and a too-thick Stila lipstick. Loose powder by Lorac, which sets things all day; Stila concealer, Clinique Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector (which, I swear, will take your pores from "big enough to store loose change"--namethatmoviereference--to invisible with one swipe. Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation is mad expensive but completely worth the investment: a drop is all you need, and a bottle will last at least nine months. NARS primer and then Cream Blush in Cactus Flower, circling back to Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage concealer: again, expensive, but tops. Clinique powder blush for oily days, and a few Mac shadows for fun. The de rigeur Shu Uemura eyelash curler finishes off any look, always.

Being a lady is hard. The daily routine is pretty simple: foundation, concealer, powder if it's hot, cream blush, mascara, brow powder, chap- or lipstick. The rest of the arsenal is in case of emergency, boredom, date night, or party. Gotta be prepared, non? Meems here thinks being a lady sounds exhausting.

Random

2011-06-03T15:41:00.004-04:00

You know that Cake song "Short Skirt/Long Jacket"? (Do yourself a favor and click through. I love that video.) It just occurred to me: isn't a long jacket just a coat? I mean, what else would it be?

I wore neither a short skirt or a long jacket today, but I do like Cake. And cake. (But not death.)

Where was I? Um. So here's some vintage Cake. (You'll have to get your own cake.)

Oh, and, er, here's what happened today in the world of clothes. This skirt joined my closet as my very first vintage purchase in 1999 Yikes. Sophomore year of high school. Thank you, Maude Vintage. You were my first and forever favorite.

Strapless onesie, American Apparel; skirt, vintage; sandals, Opening Ceremony; vintage sunnies.

Work/Play

2011-06-02T15:38:00.001-04:00

High/Low, Heel/Flat, however you wanna do it. The trousers are a leetle snug (who am I kidding. They're tight.) but the weather today was demanding yellow, but skirts and dresses felt a little too fluffy, so, er, yellow pants. (This is my thought process in the mornings. Bet you're so excited to know that, huh?) "Insouciance" was also a keyword, but, not wanting to spend the day looking bored with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth, shrugging at everything, I opted for a slouchy shoulder bag instead. One made from the remnants of my couch.

Blouse, Gap; yellow trousers, Robert Rodriguez; cutoffs, Edun; heels, Frye; sneakers, Jack Purcell by Converse; bag, DIY.

Mintal

2011-06-01T15:26:00.001-04:00

Guys. I am typing by my window and fan, in cutoffs and a tank, because it is 89 degrees in New York and, it seems, about to rain. Hopefully sooner than later because whoa it feels warm. This skirt is the closest it gets to wearing nothing and still being work appropriate: two super light layers, one cotton batiste, the other organza. Hugo Boss, I thank you, even if it is a rather hard-to-wear midi length. (And Manayunk Salvation Army, I thank you even more for pricing this at $5. Suckers.) Also handy for heat? Racerbacks. Your shoulder blades get air, and the big armholes let it circulate around your body pretty well.

Um. Also, can we talk for a moment about how my calves are freaking me out here a little? Because they are.

Silk tank, alice + olivia; silk and cotton skirt, Hugo Hugo Boss; sandals, Opening Ceremony

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

2011-05-31T15:50:00.006-04:00

It's not a romper if you don't romp. Amirite, Caroline Trentini?

Plaid linen romper, Corpus; studded pumps, Bruno Magli.

My lovely friend M, who had a baby recently, took issue with rompers in a way that I think is fairly representative of a lot of opinions of people who don't Get grown-up ladies in rompers. (Some grown-up ladies insist on calling them jumpsuits, which is fine. You say jump, I say romp. Same diff.)

M: Okay, explain romper suits to me A Lady: I LOVE ROMPERS M: I am so used to seeing them covered in mashed banana that when I see an adult wearing one, I want to pick them up and wipe them down.A Lady: I have three M: I can see it's like a dress that you can bike inI get some of the practicalityA Lady: They are so, so comfortable. M: Oh?Well fair enough, they do look comfy A Lady: I bike in dresses. This is more like a dress you can sit in... and not have to worry about flashing anyone M: HuhI can see thatIt's just...weird. A Lady: Heh M: I mean, I'm not saying I'm going to try breastfeeding anyone wearing one on the trainBut... rompers! A Lady: I think it depends on how you do it.Am I about to start prancing around in a terrycloth number?No. M: Heh.Well, quite. Silk or nice prints and heels -- probably different A Lady: But, with a pair of strappy flats, or a heelIn linen or cotton batisteAiry without being fairyCan go casual or smartAlso: one-stop dressing when you don't feel like wearing a dress M: Yes and you avoid the 'drippy' look that so much summer stuff I love can accumulate A Lady: Yup

Also, it totally clashes with the blue and black, but whatever: another bag's up on Etsy now. The brown lamb version of my big grey tote, and it's so, so soft. Can't stop petting it.

All-American

2011-05-30T20:59:00.002-04:00

Denim, white Converse*, and a beagle. What more do you need for Memorial Day weekend, other than a grill?

Denim dress, Vintage Blue; sneaks, Jack Purcell/Converse; vintage sunnies and string bag; DIY grosgrain bangles.

I'm particularly crazy about the Jack Purcell line by Converse, because, unlike Chucks, they have an insole you can wipe clean, with the bonus of arch support. If you're a girl like me, you don't like socks with your Chucks--and you also don't like the way they get filthy quickly. Problem now solved.

Oh, and I made this, too! Available on Etsy.

Bags and Stuff

2011-05-30T14:13:00.000-04:00

Oh hi. I made you guys some stuff. You can find it here: Ladylessons on Etsy. Leather bags should be up later today...

Confession

2011-05-25T15:33:00.001-04:00

Forgive me, whomever, for I have sinned. It was a while ago. In fact, it may have been last spring, when Target had that Liberty of London capsule collection in stock.

I shopped in the little girl's section.

Don't judge! The stuff for grown-ups was really, really ugly. Frumpy and covered in ruffles and synthetic and cheap. However, this was really, really cute, cotton, and fully lined. And less than $30!

Dress, Liberty of London for Target; sandals, NaNa; vintage glasses; bag...ladylessons?

In other news, a ton of leather just arrived in the mail...watch this space for bags, coming soon to an Etsy near you... What do we think of Ladylessons as a shop name?

Oh Em Goods

2011-05-24T22:50:00.000-04:00

Y'all. (I'm from Missouri. I'm allowed to say that.) Don't go thinking that this is the prosecco speaking, but a dream I didn't even know I had just came true. Home Goods has opened a Manhattan location. Fine fine fine it's on the Upper West Side, but. BUT. New Yorkers will never have to pay shipping on discount luxury bedding and kitchen wares ever again.

Also, a Target commercial just reminded me that you all (y'all) need to see this clip from Stick It, or, as I like to call it, the best cinematic experience of our generation. Happy Tuesday, and you're welcome.

Minimal

2011-05-24T16:38:00.001-04:00

It's not quite Jil Sander or even, fine, Calvin Klein minimalism, but I do love that this Daryl K dress, unforgiving though it is, requires no embellishment. Even the bracelets were, in retrospect, gilding the lily a bit. (Just a tiny bit.) This is body con done somewhat less aggressively than usual, muted by the color and the wrinkles. Less fierce, more "ugh I'm human and twill wrinkles no matter how you try to avoid it. But whatever." Love love love this dress, no matter what my face seems to be saying.

Twill panel dress, Daryl K; jacklet (shut up, it's a word if I say so. No boleros allowed here on principle.), vintage; pumps, Via Spiga.

Sale-ing

2011-05-20T10:57:00.000-04:00

Ladies! (Sorry dudes and dude-like ladies. Who probably cringe at the word "ladies.") Just a quick bug in your ear: Dolce Vita, a brand you might recall from being all over my feet all the time, is having a warehouse sale through tomorrow (Saturday) at their 156 Ludlow location. Racked says it's a shitshow already, it might be a complete waste of time, but if their sandals really are $19, it might be worth it. (They make my favorite flat sandals and Boswell's too, apparently, since he insists on eating them.)

Saucy

2011-05-19T22:35:00.002-04:00

I seem to be steadily losing earrings, one at a time, which got me to thinking about, well earrings, which took me to Aaron Saucier's lovely work. (That was for anyone who's ever accused my stream of consciousness of non-linearity. If I were actually that much of a mental grasshopper, I'd start going on about how I deglazed my porkchops tonight with red wine and let it reduce to make a pan sauce and it was so, so hard not to lick the plate. But I didn't. I stayed on topic. Take that!) These Bladerunner earrings ($60) are particularly catching my eye.

The same thing goes for this Slinky Harness necklace, which at $80 would be great with cutoffs, flats, and a silk tank for summer.

Aaron loaned me this necklace for a few minutes at his birthday party... Can't seem to find it on the site, but I think it's part of the Bladerunner series, if my eyes don't deceive me. Lighter than it looks and twice as fab.

Going On Sixteen

2011-05-19T15:42:00.002-04:00

Someone who thinks she’s witty has dubbed this the quinceanera dress. Someone had better be careful or she’s going to end up like this.

It was a rather random Detroit find, at Lost and Found vintage in Royal Oak, and quinceanera overtones or not, I love it. I mean, come on. It was $40. (Pardon the crazyface...I was in a hurry. Never blog in a hurry.)

Cotton voile dress, vintage; belt, DIY; sandals, Frye.

A Tiny Clarification

2011-05-18T20:35:00.003-04:00

I was going to answer this last week but then Blogger-hell broke loose and didn't let anyone blog for a couple days. It also went the charming extra mile and deleted a number of comments, so I'm working from memory here, but the comment was something along the lines of: "I love these shoes. Are they comfy? Do men have a say over the shoes we choose?" It was on this post.

Okay, first thing, and not to get all Second Wave feminist on you or anything, but really? REALLY? No, of course they fucking don't have a say. Unless he happens to have better taste than you, no, a man does not have a say about the shoes you choose. Nor, for that matter, does a woman. Or anyone of any other gender. I mean, for serious, why the hell would you be dressing for anyone other than yourself and what makes you happy and feel good? If I truss myself up and stilt around town in ridiculously high heels, it's because I damn well feel like looking super strong, super tall, and super fabulous.

This brings me to my second, entirely unrelated point: um, hi, I'm gay. Maybe you're new to the blog? I dunno, but I thought my dykeness was pretty abundantly clear. My love of power tools is deep and abiding. I do my own drywall, plastering, and sanding. Yes, I have long hair and wear heels. Ohmygod. How transgressive--I'm not a caricature! I don't have a particular queer stereotype for neat categorization! Why the hell would I care about whether or not my big stompy shoes make me tower over most dudes? And women, for that point?

Sorry for the outburst, but when people have their sartorial instincts hemmed in by worries about "What if s/he doesn't liiiiiiiiiike it?" I get twitchy. Now go put on some stompy shoes and tower your heart out.

Supa Dupa Fly

2011-05-18T14:31:00.000-04:00

Missy Elliott has nothing on me because, guys, this rain is seriously making me nuts. Everything feels damp, everywhere, and I don't remember agreeing to move to the Pacific Northwest, so this needs to stop. Do you see my wardrobe, giving up? Saying "Fine, just as long as you stop pretending ironing would help anything. It's not my fault your left knee has gone saggy. Yeah, you heard me. You have ninkles. (Which, while we're being honest, should be spelled kninkles.)"

My wardrobe is nothing if not brutal with the truth bombs.

Blouse, Earnest Sewn; skirt, DIY; belt, Kenneth Cole; galoshes, vintage.

Waders

2011-05-17T16:28:00.001-04:00

Is it still April? Did I miss something? Why is it still raining, constantly? My hair is being held hostage by the humidity and is apparently destined for curls through Friday, minimum. Whatever. I just caught the last fifteen minutes of Fresh Air and Terry Gross was interviewing the LA Times' Annie Jacobsen about Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, which I need, immediately. Yes, I love X-Files (note the present tense?), but no, I don't believe in aliens, but yes, I find mid-century experimentation, genetic and otherwise, absolutely mindboggling and fascinating, in a horrified, omygodIcan'tbelievetheydidthat kind of way.

Cashmere sweater, Tahari; unseasonally-colored cords, Earnest Sewn; belt, DIY; necklace and galoshes, vintage.

Beer Budget

2011-05-16T10:15:00.004-04:00

Guten morgen, boys and girls! First things first, happy 80th birthday to my grandma, Irene. This whole style thing comes from her.

Secondly: shopping! Some of you have asked for suggestions on how to, you know, get nice things on a budget. The main rule is this: browse constantly, buy infrequently. Auxiliary rule: 75% off or more rules the day, unless it’s a brand like J. Crew, in which case 50% or more will do. The biannual Barneys Warehouse Sale is a godsend, but there are only two in the US—one in New York, one in LA—so that’s not much help for anyone not in those cities. Ditto for physical sample sales—which come with the added caveat of fitting sample sizes. (Though the occasional overstock sale can be great for a range of sizes.) So for everyone else, here’s your rotation:
Daffy’s, TJ Maxx, and Filene’s Basement (and anything like that) are great resources, but you have to be judicious. Don’t grab something just because it says “European!” or “Cashmere!” on the rack signage. Go for steep discounts on brands you recognize. Daffy’s in particular is great for underthings—they tend to get all the one-offs produced as samples, in all sizes, so if you’re an odd size (30D, anyone? No? Just me?), they’re a godsend. They also have brands from overseas that can be hard to get, like Dimity So. I’ve spotten Lanvin, Costello Tagliapietra, Prada, a lot of Armani, stuff like that: the key is to go often. Find out when their restocking days are—usually Tuesdays or Wednesdays—and pop in then.

Smartbargains has a hit-and-miss designer section, but their discounts can be spectacular—and you can sort by discount percentage, which is awesome. (This is where I got that Pi by Poleci blouse. $15 down from over $100.)

Yoox’s sale section, which tends to appear seasonally, is like an online Daffy’s. Look up sizing reviews on other sites before purchasing anything: yes, the Jil Sander blazer I found for nothing (seriously, I can’t say this enough, hold out hold out hold out until the end of sale runs, when you can score things for 90% off MSRP) fit beautifully, but I couldn’t get the Goldsign skinnies over my thighs. This is a tricky thing about buying samples/prototypes and overstock: the sizing can be crazy. You cannot look at it. Often, overstock is overstock because the sizing or labeling was off on a batch of clothing and no one wanted to buy the actually-size-two-but-labeled-eight jeans. If you want to shop like this, you need to get past the labeled size.

Another great sale section: Shopbop. Again, limit yourself to the 50% or 70% sections, and know that they often have extra-20%-off specials. I’ve gotten a lot of my shoes and dresses here, for dirt cheap.

And here are all the members-only flash sale sites I browse: for most of them, I hold out for final sales. (This is especially true of Gilt, which, while offering discounts, still isn’t exactly budget-friendly.) I’ve linked to membership invites: enjoy!

RueLaLa– they have a weekly “Styleathon” on Sunday nights which can be great, and usually have a decent home goods selection
HauteLook – decentish sales, but I tend to hold out for the final sales here. They tend to be particularly good for makeup.
Swirl – DailyCandy’s sale site, which is really, really good. Really. They also occasionally have free or discounted shipping, which is usually what keeps me from purchasing on Hautelook and Ruelala.
Ideeli – again, hold out for the Red Sales, which happen on Saturdays at least once a month. I’ve seen Dolce and Gabbana skirts for $30.
Gilt Groupe – hate the spelling, love the style.
OneKingsLane – really good selection of home goods and accessories, and pet stuff. I pass on their “curated” sales because, um, $3000 for a club chair is not a bargain.

Grey Flannel Suited

2011-05-15T22:21:00.003-04:00

First, a prefatory apology for the photo glut, but I had to take advantage of having a photographer around the house. I made this for Helen, and it's held up pretty well since December, I think--and she was kind enough to snap a few pics. Grey cashmere (What? You never get carried away?) lined in waterproof canvas, with leather and nickel hardware and a monogram. (Big ones come off looking a bit Lands End, but a small one can be cute, I think.) These were my first attempts at making hardware...it's gotten easier with practice. And my fingers don't get hammered nearly as often now.

Only one more bag to blog and then I'll just open an Etsy store and shut up about them. Promise. And it's won't even be grey!

Photos by Helen Pearson, natch. Shoes by Converse; Boswell by his mom.

Baggier

2011-05-14T13:58:00.003-04:00

I finally finished this last night (it involved some hammering and a knife sharpener. Don't ask.) and popped it in the mail today, but took a couple snaps before sending it. It's winging its way to you, D... I think it compares pretty well to the original?

Bag Lady

2011-05-13T12:46:00.001-04:00

Long-time readers will know that I have a bit of a problem when it comes to keeping my hands off the sewing machine. (Projects completed in the blogging-interim: leather pants, cocktail dress, coat, a couple blouses, a silk shift.) In December, I turned my attention to accessories, making a wool and canvas computer bag for Helen (guess I should blog that, huh?), which went over pretty well. I’m finishing up a bag today for D (my fellow Trollop and blogger in her own right), which is a ripoff of a Clare Vivier number that is, in my humble but correct opinion, overpriced. (Unless I'm missing something and it was sewn by extremely expensive petits-mains out of unicorn hide.) I took a little break last night and knocked this together in just under an hour, took it to work today, and fell in love. Comfortable, big, light, easy, capable of carrying a laptop or working as an overnight bag. I love her. (Yes, she’s a girl.) I’m playing with the idea of doing some more in canvas, heavy velvet for fall, and, of course, leather, and maybe camping out at a Brooklyn market and plying my hand at retail. The amount some people charge for relatively simple things like this is obscene--$250 and up, which, and maybe I’m crazy here, is too much for a bag like this. $100 for leather? Sure. $70 for nice fabrics? Fine. And that's for a big one. I couldn't imagine asking more than $50 for a fabric one in a smaller size.

Hell, maybe I’ll make them on commission, too. You know where to email if you have a request…

Tank, Alice and Olivia; skirt, Barneys.

Stompy

2011-05-11T15:50:00.001-04:00

Wednesdays can be a bit of a slump day for yours truly, especially when there's no time to get done up in the morning. Days like these call for basics and a strong accessory--in this case, these Givenchy tribute wedges (am I allowed to say that?), which were a gift from the amazing, amazing people at Jeffrey Campbell. I love them for two reasons:

1. They're super easy to walk in, which is saying something for wedges that tall.
2. They weigh a ton, and basically function for me as a really stylish pair of Shape Ups or whatever those horrible shoes Kim Kardashian shills on TV are.

Sweater, J. Crew; sweatshirt, American Apparel; corduroys, J. Crew; wedges, Jeffrey Campbell; aviators, Nicole Miller.

More Patterns!

2011-05-10T16:01:00.005-04:00

Assuming stripes count as a pattern. I was wearing these spectacular Lanvin suede pumps to make up for the boring dress (tomorrow: pants! And maybe a vest!), but I left them at work and so had to sub in these Via Spiga dullsville ones. It's amazing the difference between a four-inch heel and a five-inch heel, when it comes to making an outfit interesting, but there you go.

Tomorrow, I'll be answering a couple questions--things like how to buy all this stuff on a budget, and how I lost the dreaded freshman 15. (Hint: the answers are related. At least in part.) (Also we're gonna gloss over the part that I didn't lose those 15 sophomore year, or any other college year. Some things take time. And, like, effort.) Feel free shoot me a question, if you have any. I'm a great problem-solver, as long as the problems aren't mine.

The necklace, which I like to think of as my little Joan Holloway tribute when I'm fannying about the office (namethatquote!) was a gift from my guy, Helen Pearson. It's going at the top of the "Best Valentine's Day Presents" list, because not only did she find a necklace like the one I was craving--she made sure it was a functional pencil, which is why I wanted one like this in the first place.

Dress, Converse by John Varvatos; boring, not-Lanvin pumps, Via Spiga.

Editing

2011-05-09T19:42:00.004-04:00

Getting dressed this morning, it occurred to me that maybe a (lady)lesson in proportion might be fun and/or useful for the curious among you.

Here's the No:

Can you spot the errors?

1. The lace-up shooties, while really really cute (Fiorentini + Baker, in case anyone was wondering), cut off a leg already shortened by both nature and a knee-length skirt. A knee-high boot might work with this for winter, but other than that you need a shoe with a low vamp to show enough of the foot to lengthen the shin.
2. The raglan top (American Apparel) is too wide and drapey for either a skirt that's not short, flouncy, and nipped at the natural waist or pants. Notice how my waist is missing?
3. Not to be all Texas or anything, but the hair's too small for a top this loose that isn't paired with skinny pants on the bottom.

This is the revision:

This last one's horribly out of focus but I like it.

Blouse, Chelsea Flower; merino cardigan, Uniqlo; ombré skirt, Banana Republic; pumps, Rosa Rosa.

Slouchy

2011-05-06T17:32:00.002-04:00

Ten degrees warmer? Time to bust out the linen and silk. And sandals. And day-old hair updo. Happy Friday, boys and girls!

Blouse, Pii by Poleci; skirt, DIY; sandals, Opening Ceremony; hoops and belt, Banana Republic.

Grandma Dotty

2011-05-05T15:50:00.003-04:00

I'm not, as a general rule, a pattern-wearer. This doesn't keep me from buying stuff with patterns, though I should know perfectly well by now that it will end up languishing in my closet, silently consigned to the de trop pile. For better or worse, my look, generally speaking, consists of neutrals--usually grey-based--and a punchy accessory, either in cut or color. (This is a far cry from my college wardrobe, as anyone who knew me then will remember: there was a lot of printy 50s stuff. A lot.)

However.

Say it's Thursday morning, I need to get dressed quickly, I can't be bothered to match a skirt and a blouse in this weather--too cool for linen, too warm for wool--I'm out of flesh-toned underwear, thereby nixing half my options, etc., etc., I tend to default to a dress. Can't be bothered to fix up the hair, makeup, or accessories front? Then, and only then, will I take refuge in a print. Like this one.

Silk dress, Bensoni; suede slingbacks, Adele Fado.

Working Woman

2011-05-04T15:30:00.002-04:00

This whole business of finding, er, business-appropriate clothing is a little fussy, for two reasons:
1. I don't like it and
2. I am not a business-appropriate person.

The balance is impossible, as I tend to end up either completely in finance drag--suit, shirt, boring heels--or completely inappropriate. (Not jeans or leggings-inappropriate, just open-toed shoes or leather pants-inappropriate.) Add rain to the mix and basically this is what happens.

Blazer, Ben Sherman; wool trousers, Helmut Lang; t-shirt, American Apparel; rain galoshes and heels, vintage; earrings, Banana Republic.

NWO

2011-05-03T23:26:00.004-04:00

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is, I'm fairly sure, my first outfit post since moving back to New York. And no, it's not a particularly good one--shoes and belt are off, hair's not done--but it's good to get back in the cycle of, you know, posting. Apparently that's what some people like to do with their blogs.

It's a bit of a change from the Philly background...less room, more white, weaker light, but a little experimenting might help. (At least I hope it will, or there won't be any outfit posts until the next apartment, whenever that will be.)

xo
L

Cotton voile dress, vintage; slip, DIY; belt, vintage; heels, Frye.

If I Had $2200

2011-04-21T20:52:00.003-04:00

That is, if I had an extra $2200 lying around, I would be buying this, immediately.

That is all.

Doing As I Say

2010-12-20T17:35:00.002-05:00

The very first class of every semester, I give my students an assignment: choose up to 20 lines of poetry or song lyrics (the distinction is questionable, but they need it), write them out by hand, and bring them to class.

Then I make them read them aloud.

The range of reactions--horror, embarrassment, shyness, pride--are always fun to see. Yes, I'll own up to being a bit of a sadist when it comes to freshmen in their first college seminar. It levels out the playing field, gives everyone a chance to get the worst of it over and done with.

That's not really why I do it, though. The value lies somewhere between the writing it out, word by word, by hand (and not to pontificate, but when you start transcribing on a screen, autopilot kicks in, and you can look back four pages later and not remember having read a word of it, which is kind of the opposite of what needs to happen when you're working with poetry), and the deciphering of someone else's words as they show up in your handwriting. That's part of what makes me love lyric: playing someone else for a moment, or seeing your own thoughts ventriloquized by another person. Being part of that transhistorical emotive collective is reassuring. It's why I do what I do.

Just a reminder to myself.

This Week Was Fucking Cold

2010-12-11T10:34:00.005-05:00

So cold, in fact, that the stark fact that I have no winter coats that are properly warm became unavoidable. Plenty of cute, unlined coats, one ratty puffer for taking Bos to the park, and, um, nothing lined and fit to wear in public. What does one do in this sort of situation when one is (anticipating being) broke and (trying to be) fiscally responsible?

One makes a coat. The fabric is from Peru, a woven alpaca snabbled for cheap at an export sale event. I'll post proper pics of the finished thing soon, as well as a more detailed how-I-did-this, but rest assured, it is, in fact, very warm.

Tardy to the Party

2010-11-25T20:28:00.009-05:00

It's been making the rounds and I'm assuming all y'all have seen it by now, but in case you've been living under a rock or a cave or in Canada or something: the Jeffrey Campbell S/S 11 lookbook is amazing. Now, some people might accuse me of being slightly biased since Helen Pearson, the photographer, may or may not be the first face I see in the morning, but I promise that my objectivity is not at all put in jeopardy by personal feelings about her general awesomeness. (After all, I was deprived of her when she and the JC team trooped out West to shoot. The temptation to resent the whole thing is strong.) By the by, though, she makes an amazing pumpkin pie. And I don't even like pumpkin pie.

The book marks a change in the editorial direction JC's taken in previous seasons--a softer, washed-out palette that reminds me of George Stevens's Giant (1956) or Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo (1959), Westerns shot in desaturated Technicolor--and all the Liberty-inspired prints didn't hurt, either. It shows Jeffrey Campbell's range of stylistic possibilities at its fullest, from the clean lines of the Pixie in nude (I'd love to wear it with a short, navy Jil Sander Pencil skirt and cream silk top) to the more outrageous tapestry Lita (perhaps with a pair of cigarette jeans and a white, oversized men's oxford).

Five Years

2010-10-30T03:09:00.001-04:00

It's been over five years since I started this nonsense. High time for a redesign...

New Post!

2010-10-23T21:55:00.003-04:00

I feel like if Blogger had an exclamation point on the New Post button I'd be considerably more inclined to hit it. Helas--c'est la vie. Will just have to make do without it. Oh bugger, hang on...of course the moment he sees me trying to write anything, Boswell demands to go out.

We are safely returned. All the block's straggly excuses for shrubs have now been marked, its occasional chicken bones picked up ("LEAVE IT, BOSWELL. LEAVE. IT. DROP. DROP. LEAVE IT."), considered, and rejected. Now he is sitting next to my sprawled form on the couch, bolt upright, looking at his reflection in the window. Ah, apparently he recognized himself. He has now put his head on his paws and is looking at me with his preoccupied beagley eyes.

(Detour: Was just reminded that dogs are man's best friend. One has to wonder about the best friend of the person who coined that. Were they, too, kept close under duress, dependent on him for food, only let out of the house at the end of a securely held leash?)

But enough of this. Here is a little Eliot for your Tuesday, as it is about to rain.

"Burnt Norton," from Four Quartets

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.

Garlic and sapphires in the mud
Clot the bedded axle-tree.
The thrilling wire in the blood
Sings below inveterate scars
Appeasing long forgotten wars.
The dance along the artery
The circulation of the lymph
Are figured in the drift of stars
Ascend to summer in the tree
We move above the moving tree
In light upon the figured leaf
And hear upon the sodden floor
Below, the boarhound and the boar
Pursue their pattern as before
But reconciled among the stars.

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
The inner freedom from the practical desire,
The release from action and suffering, release from the inner
And the outer compulsion, yet surrounded
By a grace of sense, a white light still and moving,
Erhebung without motion, concentration
Without elimination, both a new world
And the old made explicit, understood
In the completion of its partial ecstasy,
The resolution of its partial horror.
Yet the enchainment of past and future
Woven in the weakness of the changing body,
Protects mankind from heaven and damnation
Which flesh cannot endure.
Time past and time future
Allow but a little consciousness.
To be conscious is not to be in time
But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,
The moment in the arbour where the rain beat,
The moment in the draughty church at smokefall
Be remembered; involved with past and future.
Only through time time is conquered.

III

Here is a place of disaffection
Time before and time after
In a dim light: neither daylight
Investing form with lucid stillness
Turning shadow into transient beauty
Wtih slow rotation suggesting permanence
Nor darkness to purify the soul
Emptying the sensual with deprivation
Cleansing affection from the temporal.
Neither plentitude nor vacancy. Only a flicker
Over the strained time-ridden faces
Distracted from distraction by distraction
Filled with fancies and empty of meaning
Tumid apathy with no concentration
Men and bits of paper, whirled by the cold wind
That blows before and after time,
Wind in and out of unwholesome lungs
Time before and time after.
Eructation of unhealthy souls
Into the faded air, the torpid
Driven on the wind that sweeps the gloomy hills of London,
Hampstead and Clerkenwell, Campden and Putney,
Highgate, Primrose and Ludgate. Not here
Not here the darkness, in this twittering world.

Descend lower, descend only
Into the world of perpetual solitude,
World not world, but that which is not world,
Internal darkness, deprivation
And destitution of all property,
Dessication of the world of sense,
Evacuation of the world of fancy,
Inoperancy of the world of spirit;
This is the one way, and the other
Is the same, not in movement
But abstention from movememnt; while the world moves
In appetency, on its metalled ways
Of time past and time future.

Time and the bell have buried the day,
the black cloud carries the sun away.
Will the sunflower turn to us, will the clematis
Stray down, bend to us; tendril and spray
Clutch and cling?
Chill
Fingers of yew be curled
Down on us? After the kingfisher's wing
Has answered light to light, and is silent, the light is still
At the still point of the turning world.

Words move, music moves
Only in time; but that which is only living
Can only die. Words, after speech, reach
Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern,
Can words or music reach
The stillness, as a Chinese jar still
Moves perpetually in its stillness.
Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts,
Not that only, but the co-existence,
Or say that the end precedes the beginning,
And the end and the beginning were always there
Before the beginning and after the end.
And all is always now. Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Will not stay still. Shrieking voices
Scolding, mocking, or merely chattering,
Always assail them. The Word in the desert
Is most attacked by voices of temptation,
The crying shadow in the funeral dance,
The loud lament of the disconsolate chimera.

The detail of the pattern is movement,
As in the figure of the ten stairs.
Desire itself is movement
Not in itself desirable;
Love is itself unmoving,
Only the cause and end of movement,
Timeless, and undesiring
Except in the aspect of time
Caught in the form of limitation
Between un-being and being.
Sudden in a shaft of sunlight
Even while the dust moves
There rises the hidden laughter
Of children in the foliage
Quick now, here, now, always-
Ridiculous the waste sad time
Stretching before and after.

Outerwear

2010-08-10T13:35:00.004-04:00

At last month's local flea market, I stumbled on a trove of goods from the '30s. The waists on all the dresses and skirts were tiny--like, this tiny. (No, really. The skirt below? 23.5-inch waistband.) But everything was a steal and so I grabbed it, hyperventilating over this scrap of silk from Bendel's in particular.
It's 92 degrees outside and getting hotter, so a little bit of nothing is just about right for this August steamroller of a day.
The skirt is from the same woman's collection...

...as is the top.

Shoes, Clements Ribeiro; everything else, vintage.

A Story

2010-08-10T09:08:00.008-04:00

Once upon a time, when A Lady was still in college, she spent a couple semesters in Europe. At the end of her first summer there, her family came to visit. "Let's go to Paris! And Madrid! And Andalusia!" they exclaimed. And so they went and saw old friends and ate too much bread and lingered at the Rodin museum and had spectacular tapas and slept on the beach, and it was good.

Now, for a family used to international travel and a Lady used to city life, this trip was not without its hiccups; A Lady's mother, it seems, was still convinced that her daughter was 15 and unable to use a train map. One day, in a dusty old shop in le Marais, A Lady came across a little watercolor sketch that struck her fancy. She stared at it, did a round of the store, and came back to stare at it some more. It was nothing remarkable, but something about it made her look. Figuring her 30 euros were better spent on something edible or wearable, she left.

The next day, at Gare du Nord, having arrived three hours before her Eurostar was meant to return her to London, A Lady decided that, bread be damned, she wanted that little painting. And so, informing her mother of her intentions ("The train leaves at 2! Be back by 1! Don't get lost! Should I come with you?"), she sallied forth to get it.

Alas for A Lady, the shop was shuttered. A sign insisted it was open, but the door said otherwise. So, like any good Midwestern girl, she decided to wait it out. She waited until noon, then 12.30, then 12.45, regretted that her mother didn't have a mobile in Europe, and then, miraculously, the shopkeeper appeared. She got her painting, ran for the Metro, and was back with 30 minutes to spare.

Has A Lady been getting grief for this little escapade since 2004? Yes, yes she has.

It's been six years, mom. And, more to the point, it took us six years to bother looking up the signature and discovering that this little sketch was dashed off by none other than the French Neo-Impressionist Maximilien Luce. Which probably means that, you know, I should have it framed properly, since it's been floating around freely since the clip frame in which it lived was shattered by Ben the foster beagle last year. (People, mat cutting is hard if you don't have a mat cutter. Some things just aren't meant for DIY.) Consider this your Tuesday eye candy.

Bedlam

2010-07-30T20:28:00.006-04:00

Long-promised, finally provided: the bedroom, redecorated.

And Another Thing

2010-07-28T21:19:00.001-04:00

My grandma has the best maiden name ever. This is her pin from when she was a nursing student in the '40s.