The Cap Sleeve Is No One's Friend

An open letter to clothing manufacturers/retailers:

Oh for the love of Pete, people, enough already with the cap sleeves! If ever a style was unflattering on just about everyone over the age of eleven, this is it. Seriously, they even look dorky on the models!! (From the petulant look on the first one's face, I'd say she agrees with me.)

It's going on a few years now we've been subjected to this abomination; isn't it about time this trend was denounced by every style diva on daytime TV as a horror to avoid at all costs right up there with whiskered jeans??? Why must every bloody garment on the rack be equipped with these half-assed shoulder outcroppings that leave one no choices except to wear unadorned and look like a linebacker, or add another layer and fry when the mercury climbs??? Why do you subject us to this humiliation year after year? Why??? WHY???????

Yours truly,

Une femme

Pics from Shopbop, Banana Republic.

Junk Food Clothing

One of une femme's projects while home recuperating from hip surgery has been to "cull the herd" in my closet. Going through the rows of hangers, I've come to the conclusion that I often shop the way I used to eat. Just as I used to diet/starve myself and then binge, a lot of my clothing purchases have also been in response to a feeling of prior deprivation, and my closet gets bloated with items that have little sartorial value.

Until recent years, economic constraints limited my style to what I could find to fit me (or a close approximation thereof) either at thrift stores or on deep discount. I'd page through magazines and catalogs and daydream about being able to afford the stylish vêtements displayed on the glossy pages. It's only been in recent years that I've been able to walk into a department store and buy something off the rack, even before it goes on sale. But like someone coming off a diet and heading for the Cool Ranch Doritos instead of some handmade olives and salami, I've balked at paying the prices for any single garment that would provide the quality and style my malnourished wardrobe longs for. I'll pass up a very nice pair of wool crepe pants for $250 that will satisfy my craving for elegance, and buy three pairs of the polyester version at Chico's for $89 each. C'est fou, non? (For some reason, I'm able to overcome this hesitancy when it comes to handbags and other accessories.)

Materfamilias also touched on this earlier in the week when she posted about her influences and thought processes that have recently been holding her back from purchasing. This part especially really mirrored my own experience:

Part of the over-purchasing or purchasing errors can be blamed on the insecurities associated with the aging process. Trying to find something that works for a slightly-different body and that will look neither dowdy nor foolish, change room after change room, perky young salesgirl after perky young salesgirl, can often make a dress (or top or skirt) seem just perfect when the home mirror reveals it to be somewhat short of that. As well, the vagaries of fashion often mean that several seasons will pass with scarcely any offerings that suit so that when a season with shapes and colours I love comes along, I tend to grab and hoard in case of future droughts.

The age factor does play a part here too in contributing to that feeling of deprivation. Even going up a price point or four, what's readily available often resides on either end of the Great Menopause Divide, with not a much available stylewise between Marc Jacobs and St. John. And forget about Petites. Even when something workable from Theory or Vince comes along, it's inches too long, and often unalterable without impacting the line of the garment. (Yes, I know: Dressmaker.)

That "stocking up in case of famine" thinking is part of my M.O. as well. The fear is that I've never, ever find another jacket/t-shirt/sweater/pair of pants that fits me, so I'd better buy extras. Just like I knew that when Monday morning hit and the diet resumed, I'd never, ever have ice cream again, so best to finish off the whole half gallon on Sunday night.

Well, I've learned that's no way to eat, and though I've realized that's no way to shop, I need to start walking the walk. And get back to purging that closet.

And Yet More Arm Candy...

I stopped in to Banana Republic today to replenish my white tees, and this bag grabbed my attention from across the store. I've really been impressed with the quality of the last few season's bags from Banana Republic, and this one is no exception. The leather is super soft, the bag seems to be solidly made, and it's darn cute. After the bags I've been looking at recently, this one seems like quite the bargain at $228. (The red especially is stunning; it's more of a bright, pure, lipstick red than it appears in the picture.)

And Now the Beauties...

Since I've shown you The Beast, here are some of the handbag Beauties I saw this weekend:

Ferragamo: as far as I'm concerned, Sal has hit it out of the park with this one! It's simple, a nice size, the leather is buttery soft and the bag is light as a feather. It fits comfortably over the shoulder and also has the interior organization that une femme loves! The website shows it in black and fuschia pink, but the boutique had black, a lovely pale lilac color, and a light camel brown.
Yves Saint Laurent: The Catwalk bag wasn't on display at the boutique (probably because it isn't very showy) but the Sales Associate was nice enough to find one in the back. The Catwalk is understated, chic, and quite functional with three gusseted interior compartments. This bag is also lightweight with very soft textured leather. As with most of these website pics, the bag looks much better in person.No, I didn't purchase either one, but was sorely tempted by both! Other than the Miu Miu Coffer bag I purchased recently, my taste has been running more to the simple and classic, and I was glad to see that some designers are offering bags that aren't luggage-huge or plastered with logos or funky hardware.

Ugly as Sin

The $7K "hairball" bag in the Fendi window at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. It's also the size of a Mini-Cooper.

Nous Sommes En Vacances

Photo from here.

Mon mari is whisking me away today for a mini-vacances that involves a show, some spa time, some shopping and some good meals. (Actually, he needs the vacation more than I do, after the stress of keeping everything running smoothly at home while I was in the hospital and then recovering.) Posting will be light until early next week.

Almost Reds

"Here's your basket of kisses."

From top: Laura Mercier Lip Plumper in "Persimmon", Laura Mercier Stick Gloss in "Poppy", Trish McEvoy Plumper Gloss in "Barely Red".

Of Holy Grails and Chasing the Wild Goose

Suburban Splendor!

When une femme was a jeune fille, every now and then my parents would partake in that early 60's phenomenon known as the Cocktail Party. Dad would stock the bar, Mom would stock up on frozen hors d'oeurves that required only fiften minutes at 400 degrees to reach their peak of roof-of-mouth-burning steamy goodness. As party time approached, Mom would wiggle into her girdle, slip on a "cocktail dress", heels and some red lipstick and start pre-heating the oven, while Dad emptied ice trays into a bucket. At exactly 5:30pm, the stereo would be fired up with some Arthur Lyman, and the kids would be banished to the bedroom with a small black and white TV, after a dinner bowl of Cheerios (which today would get you accused of child abuse, but at the time we considered a real treat) from where we'd creep out into the hallway to sneak a peek at the dressed up grownups guzzling GinandTonics. As the night wore on and we grew increasingly bored and tired, and increasingly hyperactive, threats of "don't make me come in there!" echoed down the hall as we jumped up and down on the bed and launched ourselves across the room at a pile of pillows or broke each other's toys. (My mother's expression, "the more the adults drink, the sillier the kids get" held some truth.)

We did hate being shut out of the action (and attention). But seeing my parents and their friends get dressed up was as close as I got to glamour in those days, and une femme has always been a sucker for glamour. I was certain that when I was old enough, I'd put on a fancy dress, heels and red lipstick, and have my turn to sparkle.

Even now as I've passed the 50-mark, two of my markers of female adulthood have eluded me. I have yet to find the "little black dress" that every style book under the sun says I must have, and have had only fleeting success with finding a wearable red lipstick. At this point, one must question how essential these actually are, yet my quest for these two Holy Grails continues.

Yesterday I spend a couple of hours trying on some LBD's at Macy's and Nordstrom, and a more unflattering, unsophisticated lot of garments I've never seen. High-necked, boxy, babydoll (I thought that trend was supposed to be over!), cap-sleeved, smocked, tentlike...and not a waistline in the bunch! As a short, big-busted and short-waisted femme, the available selection was like a parade of DON'Ts for my figure type. At this point, it seems my only choices are to either give up on the LBD or find a dressmaker.

But I did have a smattering of luck with the lips, after trying a few brands and colors. While not a true red, Laura Mercier's Stickgloss in "Poppy" is a bit sheer and works with my coloring without looking clownish. I'd tried this before when my hair was lighter and rejected it, but with my current hair color it works. I'm still open to a true red for the cocktail parties and art gallery openings I hope to be invited to someday. Most of the time I want a subtler look but still with a bit of color and shine, and found Laura Mercier's Lip Plumper in "Persimmon" which not only feels good on (it's the peppermint) but seems to have pretty decent staying power for a gloss.

Glamour still eludes me, but at least my lips look good.

Double Your Meme, Double Your Fun!

Both Maya's Granny and La Belette Rouge tagged une femme for this meme, so I'm going to do it twice!

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more.
2. Find page 123.
3. Find the first 5 sentences and read them.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.

Rather than grab the nearest book to the computer at the moment, which was the Consumer Reports 2008 Buying Guide, I thought it might be fun to compare two books written almost 44 years apart, but covering the same topic and similar in format. The first is A Guide to Elegance: For Every Woman Who Wants to Be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. Originally published in 1964, and arranged alphabetically by topic, the book is an entertaining mishmash of quaintly anachronistic and timeless sartorial advice.

Under the topic, "Occasions," page 123:

"Black is not the ideal colour for more or less ceremonious late-day and formal evening functions; it is, in fact, prohibited by Court protocol. But nothing better has even been invented for the smart little dinner dress, without sleeves and somewhat décolleté, that is perfect to wear when the men are in dark business suits rather than black tie. A chic black dress of this type is an indispensable part of every woman's wardrobe, and it is ideal for all of those business dinners when your husband wishes to proudly introduce to his boss, colleagues, or customers, a wife whose good taste is as remarkable as her elegance."

See what I mean?

For my second selection, I chose The Meaning of Sunglasses: And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable by Hadley Freeman. Like "Elegance," the book is about style and is arranged alphabetically by topic. There the similarities end, though "Sunglasses" is clever and contemporary, also an entertaining read.

Under the topic, "Jeans: not as bulletproof as they tell you" page 123:

"And so manufacturers, understandably, decided to milk this cash cow for all it was worth, experimenting with every possible style, design and color variation they could possibly imagine in order to convince customers to buy more, more, MORE! Thus, what was once an easy basic became a fraught style statement with its own internal fashion trends.

The style that originally reeled in the masses was the bootcut hipster."

If you'd like to carry this meme forward, consider yourself tagged.

If you read only one thing today...

...head over to Maya's Granny and read her posts on the Minnesota Starvation Study here and here. Maya's Granny and I share similar experiences in this area, and the belief that diets not only don't work, but actually ultimately lead to long term weight gain in most people.


One of my favorite quotes on this topic comes from Naomi Wolf in The Beauty Myth, "Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women's history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one."

(Just a note: while I thought Ms. Wolf really hit some bullseyes ts with "Beauty Myth," I do feel she jumped the shark a bit with some of her subsequent stuff.)


Picture from: http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

Sweets For the Sweet

If I were omnipotent, I would send you all a box of Teuscher Dark Chocolate Champagne Truffles today, even though the box is not a proper Valentine red. They're good for heart (literally) and soul. Happy Valentine's Day, and remember to be your own best Valentine.

Matters of Purse

This passage sums up perfectly une femme's feelings about whether and when to pay retail:

...In truth, the only factor that should dictate your buying something is how much you adore it right then.

Take away such distractions as a magazine article telling that a bag is "essential this season," any photo you have seen of Kate Moss carrying or wearing said item, or any brain-fogging hang-overs, boredom, or breakup pain, and ask yourself, Will the pleasure of owning this outweigh the guilt of paying for it? Will you actually be excited when you wake up tomorrow and see it in your wardrobe, or will it be like the morning after a bad one-night stand without the mitigating factor of being able to get it out of your flat before breakfast? If the answers are yes, yes, no, and if you can afford it without taking food out of your childrens' mouths, losing the roof over your head, and inadvertently funding some hideous Chinese sweatshop, then, what the hell, just buy it. Life if too short to spend it in bankruptcy, yes; but it is also too short to spend the next decade regretting not having bought that Cacharel dress which would have worked for every single party you have attended since.

--Hadley Freeman, The Meaning of Sunglasses, And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable.

All of this in the way of an introduction to my new cross-body bag, which I spotted and immediately went to head-over-heels territory. It's a smaller version of the Miu Miu Coffer. I am dizzily infatuated with this bag. The size is perfect, it has outside pockets, it can be worn either on the arm or cross body, the leather is baby-bottom soft, and it's visually a knockout. And yes, it was more than I had originally intended to spend.

Coco Chanel parle de l'elegance

Those of us who have trips to Paris planned in the upcoming months, let's practice our French!

Serendipity Is...

Spotting a vintage 100% silk scarf you LOVE at first glance, verifying it's in great condition, and then realizing it's priced at $12.95!

Found in the Vintage section at American Rag Cie in Newport Beach.

Reviendrons á Paris!!!!

Dollar-Euro exchange rate be damned!!!

We bit the bullet and booked our flight for October (and already had trouble getting the dates/times we wanted using our frequent flyer miles to upgrade...according to the airline reservation guy people book up to 351 days ahead!). So we're only in Paris for five days, counting the day we arrive jet-lagged at 7am, but we'll know our way around and have already started to plan our itenerary based on what we weren't able to fit in last May. Top of the list are Musée Marmottan, Musée Picasso, Bon Marché, Jardins Luxembourg and actually climbing the stairs to the tops of Montmartre and Notre Dame now that I'll have a functioning hip to allow such.

We'll also be in NY for four days on the way back (had originally hoped for 7 in Paris, 3 in NY but had to go with available flights) so will have plenty of time to do some museum hopping there too and see a show or two.

The Gap - Wide As Ever

The Gap may be revamping, but (no surprise here) they're still not courting une femme's clothing dollar.









Sadly, these getups are often what pass for "business casual" nowadays.

More Messenger Madness

Another designer that has good selection of styles that can be worn cross-body is Miu Miu. These are quite pricey, but have a bit more style. Not sure if they're on the heavier side, though.
Or this one!

And, the Coffer. (a.k.a. the Shar pei bag)

Damn, where's that money tree when I need it???? Think I may just have to stick to my one messenger bag and use my Le Pliage nylon bag the rest of the time...

It's All Black and White

I've apparently been living in a cave, as I've only now discovered White House/Black Market.

This jacket is trés chic! This afternoon I purchased the last one in the store...the sales associate said they'd just received them in stock three days ago. It's swing-style (back has an inverted pleat) with lantern sleeves, and it's machine washable!

I'm going to go back and try on this dress:

And this sweater:My MIL picked up a cute white handbag on sale for $49.99.

And while I was paying for the jacket, this little trinket caught my eye and also went home with me.

As with many e-commerce websites, the pictures really don't do the merchandise justice. If you have a store near you, go check them out!

Sanity Making a Comeback on the Runways?

Looking through the Fall 08 RTW shows in New York, one can't help but notice some encouraging trends: styles that can be worn by those of us who are older than MTV, tights, flowing (not clinging) fabrics, and rich (not garish) colors. Here are some more of une femme's picks:

DKNY:

Tracy Reese:
Tuleh:

Charles Nolan:
(I'm absolutely drooling over the colors above and below!)



Lela Rose:

Yes, there was also some of the usual frippery and nonsense, (what's with the Alpenhats, Carolina???) but overall some intruiging trends.

All photos Style.com.

Don't Shoot the Messenger

Photo: http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Learning/britonsatwar/

According to my physical therapist, I'm suffering from that common 21st Century women's ailment, baggus too heavius. It's been recommended that when I'm toting my usual load, that I use a cross-body bag to help distribute the weight and keep my posture straight.

Of all my stylish bags, I only have one that can be worn cross-body, a Balenciaga flat messenger I purchased last year in Paris.
While it's a great bag for more casual days, I feel the need for something a notch or two up the dressiness scale that will look appropriate with business casual attire when I return to work in a few weeks.

So a' hunting I went, searching for a chic, feminine and functional cross-body bag. I tried to keep my expectations realistic, as messenger-style bags tend to be inherently more casual (and masculine) than satchels or shoulder bags.

First stop, Hayden-Harnett. I've purchased H-H bags in the past, and love their downtown styling with uptown functionality. Two bags there caught my eye, the Barnard Crossbody,

and the Sao Paulo Crossbody.
Both have nice styling and are a good medium size, but are still a bit on the too casual side.



Though I generally am adverse to spending premium dollars for nylon bags, Tod's has a reputation for excellent workmanship and durability. This Nylon Messenger might also be lighter than leather bags as well as good option for a travel bag. It's a simple design without a lot of trendy detailing to look dated in five or ten years so could potentially be a good investment, but in the final tally it's just to blah and utilitarian to win me over.
Various searches for "women's messenger bags," "messenger bags," "cross-body bags" yielded up a lot of sites featuring more briefcase/luggage-esque or college-student-appropriate cloth messenger bags. Oh, and tokidoki and Hello Kitty bags. o_O

Balenciaga still seems to be the crème de la crème when it comes to messenger style bags. This Women's Besace Messenger is tempting (the strap can be adjusted longer to wear cross-body) but it's a bit on the spendy side.

Anyone have any chic-yet-functional-and-won't-eat-too-deeply-into-the-Paris-travel-fund suggestions?

More Gay Purr-ee for a dreary Sunday

Check out some of the background art...

Ready-to-Wear I'm Ready to Wear

From NY Fashion Week, Fall 2008 collections. All photos Style.com.

Nicole Miller:
As always, I'm a sucker for a great jacket.

Elie Tahari:Classy!

Another statement coat. Clean and simple, yes. Boring, no!

This one, not so much...looks like this butterfly's not fully emerged from her coccoon...