My 2013 Celebrity Icon List

The end of the year is a time for list-making: the best of, worst of, most interesting, biggest blunders, etc., etc.  In that spirit I’ve made a list of my top three celebrity style icons.  I won’t say they’re the most stylish women I know, because I think real style begins at home, and we learn it from people we truly admire, like our family members, friends, and peers.  Famous ladies have an unfair advantage---they have personal stylists, makeup artists and hairdressers on call around the clock, plus they have access to ultra-expensive designer clothes, many of which are given or loaned to them simply for the prestige it brings to a brand when it is worn on a famous figure.  Still, celebrities give us ideas and help set trends. So for what it’s worth, here are three women I’ve really enjoyed watching in 2013.

Cate Blanchett

Honestly, sometimes I have trouble remembering that she’s human and not the mystical elf she plays in the Lord of the Rings movies!  Here’s a lady who knows how to translate paleness into modern beauty, while still preserving a kind of historical loveliness.  She takes chances---I don’t always like everything she wears---but she’s always interesting to look at.  If I see her on the cover of a magazine, I'll be sure to pick it up and look at her pictures.  She recently pulled off a cape, and that’s not easy.  She looks great in queenly attire, but she can also thrill in simple black dresses.  She could be one of us…if we were elves or ruling an empire!









The Duchess of Cambridge

Kate Middleton never makes a mistake!  With every ensemble she hits one out of the park.  (Sorry, I don't know what the appropriate cricket metaphor would be!)  She can dress softly or structured and look gorgeous either way.  She can wear jeans and a sweater in the morning, then don a glittering evening dress at night, and somehow make both looks seem perfectly natural.  Style-wise, I think she is a great role model for the young women that I teach, because she proves that being tasteful is beautiful.  My ladies could learn from her that wearing a hemline at the knee is not a signal that you have enrolled at Bob Jones University.  Looking young and fresh and polished doesn't mean chasing the latest trend or showing excess skin; the Duchess of Cambridge takes 'lady-like' and makes it work for today's 20 to 30-something woman.


The Duchess faced a real challenge this year; not only was she expecting, but she struggled at first with a very public bout of extreme morning sickness.  I can't speak from experience, but from what I gather, being pregnant and ill doesn't generally lend itself to fashion triumphs.  Luckily for the Duchess, she had great medical care (something I wish all women, everywhere, had) and she rallied so that she returned showing mothers-to-be how a baby bump could be stylishly managed.  No hideous 'baby on board' t-shirts for her!  Even more impressive was her choice to don a simple blue polka dot dress dress for her first appearance with her new son, as she and Prince William took the baby home from the hospital.  A lot of gals would have buried their bodies beneath tents of fabric or a concealing coat.  She was unafraid to show the contour of a perfectly healthy figure after such a big event.


Prince William may be the heir to his grandmother's and (eventually) father's throne, but the Duchess of Cambridge has definitely inherited Princess Diana's status as the queen of fashion.



Michelle Obama

First ladies are almost always fashion icons.  Fifty years beyond Camelot, my mother still holds Jackie Kennedy sacred.  It's perhaps unfair to expect so much from someone who isn't elected to be our head fashionista, and who very well might prefer to be doing something other than being judged on her attire every time she goes out to walk the dog.






Still, Mrs. Obama pulls it off with aplomb and humor.  She's more than a First Lady, she's a Mom-In-Chief, urging us to eat right and get our exercise.  Like many middle-aged mothers, she doesn't have an absolutely perfect figure, but what she does have is a keen sense of what she looks good in---plus a willingness to poke fun at her own 'mom-ness.'  If you don't believe me, check out her now famous "Evolution of Mom Dancing" with Jimmy Fallon.  I wonder if, back in the White house, Malia and Sasha were covering their eyes and whining "stop it, you're emmmmmbbbbarrrasssing us!"



Mrs. Obama has also been a blessing to many young American fashion designers.  She can pull off couture, but she never forgets that simple, fresh looks---looks that average women who shop at Target and Talbots can achieve---are the best.  There's often a 1950s vibe about her clothes, with lots of structure up top, fitted waists, and big skirts.  Her 2013 holiday dress at first glance might have come from the era of Mad Men, but look closely and you see the very modern twist that grounds it in this century.









And, call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure that this emerald green Marchesa evening gown, which the First Lady wore to this year's Kennedy Centers Honors, may get a spot of its own, in one of those 'Top Dresses of History' lists.


So who made your 2013 list?  And who do you think we'll be discussing this time in 2014?

Pajamas in Public? Better Sleep On It.

Several years ago, while I was in Florida for the summer, I came down with a terrible case of stomach flu.  The resulting dehydration caused a hospital stay.  I was released early in the morning, still so groggy and weak I couldn't struggle into street clothes.  Because of a scheduling conflict, one of our neighbors met us a few streets down from the hospital and I transferred from my mother's car to her car for the ride home.  I remember being mortified at the idea of having to stagger the few feet from vehicle to another.  What if someone saw me in public in my PJs?  How embarrassing!

If the recent trends in Spartanburg are any indication, I shouldn’t have worried.  Rather, I should have been proud, and maybe gone out for coffee or a round of shopping before heading back to bed!

I’m beginning to wonder if there is any separation of public and private spaces, if the line between the boudoir and the boardroom or the barroom is either non-existent or blurred beyond comprehension.  Everywhere I’ve been over the past few days I’ve encountered people wearing their sleeping clothes.  I’ve seen scores of children in cartoon-decorated flannels and more than one man in camouflage pajama pants with bedroom slippers instead of hunting boots.  But by far the greatest offenders (or pioneers, depending on one’s point of view, I suppose) have been young women, who are especially notable for prancing around in bright, spongy lounge-wear bottoms beneath their oversized sweatshirts.

The idea of sleepwear as daywear is not new.  I’ve seen the concept in fashion magazines aplenty.  However, something seems lost in translation here in Hub City.  The outfits depicted in the pages of magazines are more ‘sleepwear inspired’ (i.e. loose silky pants or blouses cut in the familiar pajama shape, soft suits that borrow their lines, texture, and prints from pajamas, or lacy camisoles that look like they were cut from bridal nightgowns).  They're not actual sleepwear!  Let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t want the world to see what we really sleep in, because it’s too skimpy, too sexy, or just too ragged, tattered, torn, faded, and ripped for public consumption.  Many of us ‘retire’ favorite old t-shirts or battered sweatpants to the bedroom.  Why in heaven’s name would we bring them out again and inflict them on the unsuspecting world at large?

I imagine most of the PJ-clad folks I’ve spotted would have an excuse—“Oh, I’m just running to the store for milk and bread” or “It’s easier to take the kids out in their jammies than fuss with them over getting dressed.”  To all of this I call foul.  Nobody expects hurried shoppers to be catwalk ready or grouchy youngsters to appear on red carpets.  But society doesn’t allow us to walk around naked either, which for some people would be the ultimate in comfort and practicality.  Standards of dress (which are so very minimal in our society) help keep us civilized, and certain activities in a civilized society are better performed in privacy and safety.  Cartoon-covered pajamas invoke comfort but also vulnerability; lacey gowns suggest sexual intimacy---neither of these is appropriate for the aisles of Wal-Mart or the tables of Cracker Barrel.

For those who might be confused, here’s a simple rule to follow: any clothes you regularly sleep in, do not wear in public. (And if you are under the age of one, you get a pass on this.)  Still puzzled as to whether you are wearing sleeping clothes or ‘waking’ clothes?  Ask the following questions:

Did you wear this while grabbing the paper off the doorstep and before having your morning shower?

Is this outfit just your underpants?

Did you wear this ensemble while being operated on?

Does this item have any of the following printed on it—‘Nitey-Night,’ ‘I’m a Nite Owl,’ ‘Sweet Dreams,’ or ‘Catching Some Zzzzs.’?

Did you buy this attire in the sleepwear department of your favorite store?

Does this suit have built-in footies?

If any of these (or several) are true, you really might want to do the outside world a favor and go back inside and put some real clothes on!

Sherlock Holmes, Fashionista?

Sherlock Holmes was a brilliant detective, a champion of justice, and a master of disguise.  But a fashionista?  I think one might make a good ‘case’ that Mr. Holmes was far more clothing conscious than one might initially imagine.

Holmes makes deductions from attire in virtually every adventure in the canon.  Holmes’ sharp eyes constantly pick out inky shirt cuffs, stained trouser knees, and wrinkles in sleeves.  He uses these seeming trivial details as a key to unlocking secrets about his clients and his adversaries.  But there’s one particular moment in ‘The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle’ that leads me to deduce that Holmes may have cared much more about personal fashion than he was willing to confess, even to Dr. Watson.

If you’ve never read ‘The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,’ you should.  (Actually, you should read all four of the original novels and all fifty-six of the short stories.  Everyone needs Sherlock Holmes in his life!) But here’s a teaser for it: it is two days after Christmas and Dr. Watson (who no longer resides at 221 B Baker Street) stops by for a holiday visit.  Sherlock Holmes is busily examining a battered felt hat, and explains to Watson that the hat belongs to a man who ran away after he was involved in a late-night altercation on Christmas Eve.  An official who witnessed the fray brought the hat to Holmes and took the other trophy of the melee (a Christmas goose) home for himself.  Watson opines that there is very little Holmes can earn about the unknown man just from his hat.  Holmes proceeds to demonstrate, in a tour de force of deduction, that he has indeed learned a great deal of things about the mystery man from his hat.  His sequence of observations and deductions are among the most famous in the canon, fiercely debated and discussed by Sherlockian scholars.

In one line, Holmes seems to reveal that he is thinking more like a fashionista than a detective.  He tells Watson that the man was once prosperous, but over the last three years the man has fallen upon hard times.  Watson is unconvinced.  Holmes explains:

"This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world."

Ahem---Mr. Holmes, you clearly recognize your hats and your fashion, but just how well do you understand guys?  Everyone knows that when a man decides that an item of attire is his favorite, he will not give it up!  Unlike many women, who will toss aside even beloved garments when the hot wind of fashion blows, a man will wear his favorite cap until it rots off his head.  Hasn’t every woman at some point had to make a man’s hat, shirt, or pair of shoes mysteriously vanish, because style (and perhaps hygiene) dictates the offensive article must go?

Oh course, Holmes proves to be correct in all of his deductions, and soon a merry game is afoot.  But that line about the hat has always made me wonder if Holmes was a bit of a clothes horse.  For further evidence in my case, here’s how Watson describes Holmes, after finding him ‘camping out’ in The Hound of the Baskervilles:

“In his tweed suit and cloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had contrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one of his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen as perfect as if he were in Baker Street.”

Being a connoisseur of clothing had an extra advantage for Holmes, in that it provided him a vast wardrobe to draw upon when he needed to assume a disguise.  Among his many impersonations were an Italian priest, a plumber, a bookseller, a sailor, and even (gasp!) an American.  But the one I’ve always been the most curious about is the one that’s mentioned in a quick aside in ‘The Mazarin Stone.’  Holmes’ servant boy tells Watson that Holmes has been busy on a case:

“He’s following someone. Yesterday he was out as a workman looking for a job. To-day he was an old woman. Fairly took me in, he did, and I ought to know his ways by now.” Billy pointed with a grin to a very baggy parasol which leaned against the sofa. “That’s part of the old woman’s outfit,” he said.

Holmes later crows to Watson about his success in following the villain:

“I’ve been at his very elbow all the morning. You’ve seen me as an old lady, Watson. I was never more convincing. He actually picked up my parasol for me once.”

Could Holmes have been such a great actor without a thorough knowledge of costume?  Did he ‘get in touch’ with his a feminine side when it came to appreciating style?  And did Holmes grasp something that so many people (especially those who callously dismiss an interest in clothing as foolish) completely fail to understand: that what we wear, just as what we think and say and do, is part of the great adventure of being human?

To that I would say--it’s elementary, of course!

Designing Mrs. Travers

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday.  Our festivities included our annual holiday afternoon at the movies.  We took in Saving Mr. Banks and really liked it.  I’m sure it will be nominated for many awards in the coming season of motion picture accolades.

A quick synopsis: the year is 1961 and P. L. Travers (portrayed by Emma Thompson), the author of the Mary Poppins stories, is summoned to Hollywood.  Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) is eager to fulfill a promise he made to his daughters to bring Mary Poppins to the screen.  Travers is having none of it however; she believes Disney is a huckster of cartoonish garbage, a patronizing monster who will destroy her beloved creation.  The film follows their battles of wits and wills, as flashbacks to Travers’ early life in Australia reveal why she is so determined to fight for the integrity of her imaginary nanny.

One of the things I most appreciated in Saving Mr. Banks was the use of clothing as a way of capturing Travers’ persona and defining her in relation to other characters.  She’s a prickly lady, extremely protective of her work and so uncompromising in manners and propriety that she seems almost inhuman.  As we come to know her, and learn her back story, we see that her quirks are really the contours of a defensive shell built out of childhood traumas.  This is a movie where the audience knows the ultimate ending; really, who hasn't seen Disney's Mary Poppins about a thousand times?  The real suspense, and the beauty of the movie, is the journey of the central character and the things we learn as we travel with her.

Emma Thompson is a brilliant actress who could have brought Travelers to life and taken her from an unlikeable curmudgeon to a sympathetic heroine even if clad in a paper bag, but she's ably assisted by costume designer Daniel Orlandi, who sends messages in her attire.  As Travers, Thompson wears beautifully cut and fitted but extremely formal wool suits in dark colors.  Even her jewelry is dull and sad.  She dons gloves and coats, which she certainly doesn’t need in sunny Los Angeles. Travers sticks out like a sore thumb in California, where the Bevelry Hills Hotel seems to be crawling with starlettes in fancy cocktail numbers and even Disney’s secretaries blossom like animated flowers in bright blue and yellow dresses with happy bows.  Travers’ wardrobe emphasizes her difference, as a prim English lady (who dismisses Los Angeles as smelling like chlorine and sweat) and as a very wounded individual who wears both her pride and her fashion like armor.  One of her distinctive bracelets gives the impression of a gauntlet---or is it a shackle?

As the story moves along, some very subtle changes occur in Travers’ clothing.  It’s not a spectacular adjustment, but slowly her personal style begins to hint at comfort (with Disney and with herself) and a growing confidence between Travers and the Californians who find her both fascinating and infuriating.  Even her feet tell part of the story, from hiding in merciless pumps to being flung up on a desk with merry abandonment. Near the end, there’s a transformation in Travers' style that made me think of another Disney heroine entirely: not Mary Poppins, but Cinderella.

I’d definitely recommend Saving Mr. Banks for anyone looking for a film that weaves storytelling magic.  It isn’t completely a comedy---be warned, there are some very sad moments---but it has heart and soul, and I think it’s a fine example of how a costume designer doesn’t have to be working on a historical epic or a futuristic drama to use clothing as way of bringing a great character to life.

The Family Christmas Picture

With Christmas Day only hours away, I thought I’d talk about the idea of the family Christmas portrait.  You know, the one that mom or grandmom always wants to make while the entire clan is gathered for the celebration and everyone is so full of turkey they might drift off while Junior sets up the tripod.  A great picture can serve as next year’s glowing Christmas card.  It might also become a priceless memento, especially when circumstances lead to someone being missing from the assembly in the future.  In other words, it’s a picture worth taking and taking well.

To address the issue of what colors to wear, I first consulted with Mona Kelley, of Knot Just Weddings in Valdosta, Georgia.  A good friend and former band mate, Mona did my wedding pictures.  Her advice---go with holiday colors, but keep it simple.  You don’t want your attire to be too ‘busy’---complicated patterns, masses of floral prints, or eye-catching zigzags make for pictures where all the attention goes to a place that it’s not wanted.  Clothes should be festive and beautiful, but not overdone or too flashy.  Mona approves of  red for ladies, black for men, and kids with a mix of the two, with gold sprinkled through for accent.  Sounds traditional, but why not?  If there’s ever a moment for honoring tradition, it’s Christmas.

What about the background?  Christmas pictures at home are very hard to make, since most of us don’t live in houses with the versatile lighting of a photographer’s studio.  My husband (who’s not a professional photographer, but does spend a lot of time behind the lens) reminded me that even if one keeps the clothes relaxed, the background might still be ‘busy’ and distracting.  So take a few minutes to simplify the setting or choose a spot without a lot of competition.  Just don’t stand everyone up against a blank wall, unless your gang is the type to need a family mug shot.  If the weather co-operates (as it often does for those of us blessed to live in the South), an outdoor portrait might be easier to capture.  Whether you get that creepy blow-up snowman—the one that’s been freaking out your mailman---into the picture is up to you!

 

But what if you’re not traditional---or if you’ve got the family that just won’t cooperate with your plans?  Then maybe it’s time to think about the kind of family you are. Perhaps you’re the sort of crazy kinfolk who arrange presents without any nametags and then hoot and holler when Johnny unwraps Granny’s panties.  (Seriously, I know a family that does this!  I wish I were related to them, it sounds like fun to me.)  Or maybe you’re the type who spends the entire holiday in the kitchen, each person ‘improving’ the recipe as they pass by. (I know these folks too.)  Why not stage the picture to reflect the memories you enjoy making?  If everyone is wearing shredded wrapping paper and bows in their hair, or covered in baking flour in the kitchen (with someone guzzling the cooking wine in the background), just think of the number of likes it could get on Facebook.  (But please, still take at least one traditional picture.  It doesn’t hurt, at Christmas, to make mama happy!)

And last but not least---whatever you wear, however you stage it, there is one absolute rule that you must obey.  You must smile.  Look happy, even if you’re thinking about your January credit card bill.  Nothing spoils a family picture faster than one curmudgeon in the lineup, that individual who looks like Santa left coal in her stocking.  This is a directive that teen-agers and in-laws should pay special attention to.  Ultimately, the most fashionable look in the world, at Christmas time or any time, is happiness, and all the best memories come with smiles.

The Guide To Last Minute Fashionista Gifts: So Simple Any Man Can Understand

Hey, you!  Dude!  Looking for a last minute gift for a fashionista in your life?  First of all---shame on you!  Why didn’t you get started back in November?  Oh, yes, I know, work is so engrossing and if you’d abandoned your online game in mid-quest, Hermador the Vindictive would have lost all his magical spell-points to the fuzzy elves in the Forest of Murkaway.  Well, it’s time to make amends.  The Faculty Fashionista is here to help!  I won’t recommend specific products (since nobody’s paying me to plug them!) but I do hope I can give you some reasonable ideas.  And yes, I’m talking to you, Bucko, cause women generally have more sense than to let things wait until T minus 48 hours and counting.

First of all, spend just a few moments in your lady’s bathroom.  Go on, it won’t hurt you!  Look closely.  What do you see?  Does she use a lot of beauty products?  Is her bathtub lined with scented soaps and candles?  Do some of her things look worn out and sad?  Now take a quick glance in her closet.  Are her possessions well organized or dumped on the floor?  Do you notice particular kinds of accessories, like big bracelets or scarves?  Ok, now, quick---get out of there before she catches you!

As you cruise to the mall, accept one thing right now…you could have done better.  But you also could do a lot worse.  If you’re thinking, “I could just run to Wal-Mart and get her an iron,” stop it!  And if you are seriously considering purchasing one of those animated singing fishes to stick on a wall, please keep driving until you reach another state because she is better off without you.

So you’ve arrived at your destination.  Here are some suggestions, based on what I hope you observed amid her lair.

Luxury hair styling equipment.  Ladies go through hairbrushes and combs all the time, but if you can find a set that is really beautiful, maybe fixed in silver or with a mother-of-pearl handle, it could become an heirloom.  Boar hair bristles are more expensive, but they also do a better job and are gentler on hair than the nylon bristles in the brush she’s probably using right now.  If she sets her hair on hot rollers or a curling iron, that’s also a possibility, because those things do wear out over time, and even if she’d prefer to stick with what she’s using now I can guarantee you that it will wear out and quit on the morning that she has a big presentation at work and needs to look spectacular.  Who’s the hero then---it’s you, Christmas chump, it’s you!

A classy compact.  Yes, it’s a bit of an old school gift, but if she wears lipstick she has to check it, and I bet you’re tired of her always pulling down the visor in the front seat of the car to use that lighted mirror.  Here’s where knowing something about her is helpful, because if she’s the playful type you can score with the rhinestone-studded, blinged-out one, or if she’s more demure, you can win points by choosing a classic style in silver or gold.  Bonus points if you can get it engraved.

Perfume.  Always a safe choice, if you know what brand she favors.  Did you write down the name?  Can you at least remember what the bottle looks like?  Odds are that if she likes a pricier brand (and you know these because they sell them in the middle of department stores and you always sneeze when you walked through their midst), then she probably has a bottle of cologne but hasn’t sprung for the hand cream, body wash, or powder, which seem like indulgences.  One word of warning though---if you can’t be sure of which kind she likes, take a pass.  From her point of view, there’s nothing worse than a basket filled with perfume that she thinks smells like bug spray.

Beautiful travel totes.  Just because you throw your things in a plastic bag doesn’t mean she will.  There are specialized carrying cases for makeup and jewelry; they end up in different places in stores so you will have to swallow your pride and ask where you can find them.  These bags have linings and compartments that keep powders and paints from spilling all over each other in transit and prevent necklaces from getting tangled.  Travel cases are almost always are distinguished by their fabric, which is covered with florals and French phrases, or with poodles and the Eiffel Tower; this is because all women fantasize about being French women.

A jewelry box.  If you noticed that her bangles and beads are dumped out across her closet floor, it might be time to invest in a jewelry box.  Please don’t go get something from the children’s department with Cinderella on it, and don’t fall for those $10 holiday specials at the discount store that won’t even hold her watch and two pairs of earrings.  Find a box that has at least two or three layers and multiple sections for different types of baubles.  The wood should gleam, and if you go for metal, be sure it looks like a treasure chest (which it is!).  And remember that this is another item that can be personalized with an engraved plate inside, thus turning a last-minute gift into something that she might treasure forever.

Gift Certificates.  OK, sit down for a minute, because we need to talk.  There is nothing more debatable than the merits of gift cards.  Some people love them and a lot of people hate them.  You need to think if your lady has ever expressed an opinion on the matter.  The down side of a gift card is that it doesn’t demonstrate a whole lot of thought on the giver’s part and it can’t be put to use on Christmas Day (nor can it be returned for a refund).  But on the positive side, if it’s for a place or a product that she really likes, and that you feel incompetent to pursue for her, it might be just the ticket out of the Yuletide doghouse.  So you’re on your own here.  Might I suggest, though, if you go the gift card route, that you at least consider something a bit more unique and super pampering, like the gift of a day at a spa.  Even better, make it an upcoming adventure you can share, like a morning of horseback riding, a romantic evening at a fancy hotel, or tickets to a play.  Whatever you do, don’t give her a Christmas gift card to somewhere she goes all the time, like Target or the grocery store.  Nothing screams ‘I couldn’t be bothered to think about you’ any louder than that.

I’ve approached this topic with humor, but to conclude I want to say one very serious thing.  Before you wrap whatever gift you’ve chosen for the lady in your life, take a moment to think about what she means to you.  And then say it.  Write it down and stick it in with that gift.  She may forget (and hopefully forgive) that uninspired package of bath salts or that gift subscription to a magazine she already receives, as long as there’s a message that is honest and heartfelt inside the package.  Christmas really shouldn’t be about products but about the way we feel.  Tell her how much you love her, how beautiful she is, how you couldn’t imagine your life without her.

That’s what every woman with a man in her life really wants for Christmas.

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The Critical Eye: On Leggings

When I began this blog I made a promise to myself---I would never write anything mean-spirited or cruel.  I would not mock any individual’s fashion faux pas.  I’m no Joan Rivers, and I despise how some people set themselves up as the fashion police for their peers.  Being informed, in a hushed and disapproving tone, that one’s clothing choices are somehow inappropriate can be emotionally crippling.  I sometimes wonder if this type of critique is a method that women use to keep other women, especially younger women,  ‘in their place’ in professional settings.  I have no intention of doing this on my blog.  Nor will I take apart certain celebrities despite the way they seem to court derision.  Maybe it’s their job to provoke controversy, but I won’t give them the space or the attention on these pages.

However, I wouldn’t be much of a writer or observer if I sacrificed my right to be critical.  Part of what makes fashion so much fun is the discerning eye.  People-watching is a great pastime.  Subjecting every ensemble to an analysis can be a mental game; a ‘fashion thinker’ is never bored. 

But fashion is also very personal.  What I perceive as a bad choice (and it’s always the choice, not the person wearing the choice, that draws the criticism) may be seen as edgy, stylish, or beautiful to someone else.  I worry that as I grow older I grow more conservative---and I surely don’t want to be a frump.  So feel free, in the comments section, to chime in with ‘you’re crazy!’  While clothes are intimate to the wearer, they are also public to their viewers.  So fashion should be a discussion, not just a meditation.

Today’s critical eye is directed at something I’ve been seeing---and cringing at---ever since the air grew chillier.  Take a deep breath and say it with me, if you agree, that leggings are not pants!

It’s not that I disapprove of leggings.  Worn correctly, I think leggings are versatile, trendy, and youthful.  I love the bright colors and patterns that fill the store windows.  I often find myself wishing I was about thirty years younger and had the body to pull them off.  So why do I argue that they aren’t they pants?  For a very simple reason---to have them fit snuggly, to avoid unsightly wrinkles and sags, the wearer needs them to fit like a second skin.  While this is fine for a pair of shapely legs, revealing the ‘second skin’ over one’s derriere is questionable.  Put plainly, I see far too many behinds where nothing is left to the imagination, despite the covering of stretchy fabric. 

For some reason that I cannot fathom, this look has become very popular in Spartanburg.  Everywhere I go, I see women of all ages and body types prancing around in lower body coverings that might as well be grafted onto their skins.  Unsupported, that’s a lot of wiggling and jiggling going on. Even women who are in superb shape look as if they applied a quick layer of black paint and raced outside with nothing more than a tee shirt above to hint that they’re really not as naked as they seem.

 

I’m not such a prude that I disapprove of sexy clothes.  And maybe a pair of skin-light leggings with a midriff baring blouse would be a big hit in a nightclub, where the wearer wants to be provocative.  But that look doesn’t work so well in the aisles of Wal-Mart, especially on ladies who haven’t been to nightclubs since the babies came along.

Leggings can be terrific on younger women.  The trick to wearing them well, I think, it to have something less fitted up top.  Work with layers, and make sure that one layer covers the bottom.  A tunic style blouse or long, loose sweater can conjure an 80s vibe that is still hip today.  Boots seem a necessity---after all, leggings are cool-weather clothes, so why not pair them with footwear that draws the visual attention to the length of leg?  (Though there is certainly room for debate here---I know many fashionable ladies who pair leggings with high heels or cute flats and get away with it!) Worn with some degree of concealment, leggings should follow the same general rule of fashionable sexiness---leaving something to be imagined is better that allowing everything to be viewed.

Perhaps I’m too old-fashioned.  And yes, I understand that leggings are comfortable and something you can just throw on and run to the store with.  I’ll concede that we don’t have to think ‘fashion’ every time we leave our homes.  I’m certainly not against being relaxed; perhaps I just have a different standard of tastefulness, and think that things that might be great in a club, in a gym, or in the bedroom belong in those areas exclusively, no matter how ‘comfortable’ they are in other areas as well.

Maybe we can agree on one thing—if you follow Revels’ Rule of Leggings, you might be deemed too cautious, but at least you’ll never be a victim of the bad choice that I spotted in the mall yesterday.  A young woman, with rather sizeable lower regions, was sporting leggings that were so thin they also revealed her bright red panties with huge white polka dots.  Her non-pants let everyone walking behind her see that she was wearing Minnie Mouse drawers!

And that’s just a look that doesn’t flatter anybody over the age of six.

Scarves: A Love/Hate Affair

A scarf can be a year-round versatile accessory.  With so much variation for a single item---silk or cotton or wool, long or short, tasseled or plain, brightly colored, printed, or striped---it can turn the simplest outfit into an ensemble that proclaims personality.  If fashion is based on fantasy, on tales that we tell with our bodies, then a good scarf is a twist in the plot. 

A scarf can allow a woman to project many different personas.  She can be the movie star travelling down a California highway in a convertible, with a perfect strand of designer silk keeping her hair in place.  She can be a perky woodland adventurer, wrapped up and ready to romp through the snow.  She can be a romantic peasant, her paisley scarf draped lightly around her shoulders as she makes her way through fields of flowers.  She can be a pilgrim in India, a sojourner on a desert caravan, or even a photojournalist on safari.  Best of all, she can be all these things in her mind while going to work or school.

Perhaps the best use of a scarf is to permit a woman a touch of color in an otherwise dull business wardrobe.  While a profession might demand a tepid uniform of uninspired jackets, skirts, and slacks, most women in law, business, and academic administration can get away with that touch of color at the throat.  A really interesting scarf might only cost a few dollars (the one I’ve received the most compliments on was $12 at Target), and can take the place of far more expensive jewelry.  It’s a very subtle way to ‘get with the corporate program’ while still subverting it with personal identity.

Scarves can also be very practical.  As we age and grow less fond of our necks, scarves can be secret weapons of misdirection.  I never travel on a plane without a big scarf, to serve as an emergency shawl or even a head wrap. (Yes, that's me in the picture, looking silly and squinting in the sun!  I haven't been to many exotic destinations, but I sure was glad I had a scarf on that trip to Prague.  It saved my life, especially when the climate was not quite what the guidebook claimed....) These decorated bands of fabric make terrific mementos of places; the women I know who do a lot of foreign travel tend to come home with collections of exotic scarves. A great scarf comes with a story attached, whether it’s the story of its origin or the story it allows its wearer to craft in her head.

But there are things I hate about scarves.  Any reader who shares my wool allergy perhaps knows the sadness of admiring something so beautiful that would turn one’s skin into a rash-blemished wonderland in zero point five seconds.  And I’m beginning to believe my neck must be an odd size, because when I wrap the scarf three times it’s too short and twice is too long.  (I’m sure my mother would say I never outgrew my childhood clumsiness---I suspect it has something to do with how I just don’t understand geometry!)  And I will admit that women with either short hair or very long hair have an advantage over those of us with just-below-the-shoulder hair.  My hair always gets tangled and rumpled with a scarf, no matter how careful I am in arranging fabric.

But the worst scarf offense is wearing a sad one.  By that I mean a scarf that has been worn so many times it is ragged, dirty, or just so limp it looks a little like a noose tied around one’s neck.  The same scarf, worn over and over, tied exactly the same way, doesn’t have a fantasy attached.  It just wants to go home and rest for a season.

Working at Wofford is a constant delight in scarf watching.  A number of fellow female faculty members sport this look with terrific flair, especially in the winter.  And our young ladies are quite the fashion plates when it comes to neckwear.  A gentleman in a scarf is a rare sight, though in the last week of classes one of my young men came in with a white and black-checkered wrap around his neck.  I immediately wondered if he was an Indiana Jones-in-training.  He stood out among his peers as he broke the ‘uniform’ of jeans, t-shirts, and sweats and gave the impression of world travel and sophistication.  I don’t know if that was what he intended---he may just have been cold, as it was rather chilly!---but it worked to make him memorable.

One last thought---those little tags that come in scarves?  Read them.  I wish I had noticed this week that the great red scarf I used to make my black and white striped dress feel a bit more ‘French’ was dry clean only.  Oops.  Let’s hope really twisted, wrinkled, and frayed scarves come back into style!

Clothes For Christmas? Mistakes We All Make!

“When you stop believing in Santa, you get underwear for Christmas.”

This witticism has a great deal of truth in it!  Once we pass the age of toys, it’s very likely that Santa (or mom, dad, grandma, etc.) will leave gifts of clothing under the tree.  But should we give clothing for Christmas---especially clothes beyond the ‘basics’ like underwear and socks, items that would qualify as fashion?

 

Let me be clear---in theory, any and every gift would be a perfect one, highly appreciated and the generator of bountiful thanks.  Or we would hold that the best gifts are those that don’t come from a store; the gifts of love, joy, and fellowship are far better and more memorable than anything from Belks, Target, or even Prada.

But we don’t live in a perfect world, and a majority of us include, in our celebration of the season, the purchase of gifts, including clothing.  So let’s be practical about how we go about choosing our gifts of fashion. 

On the positive side, clothes make great presents.  Dad’s camouflage jacket, Junior’s sweatshirt with the logo of his favorite team, Sissy’s sassy mini-skirt: what a grand haul, with ‘just what I wanted’ all the way around.  There’s a powerful psychological benefit to gifting clothes, especially to family members.  Knowing that someone you love has something you chose on his/her body---especially if it’s something to keep him/her warm and cozy in the cold winter months---brings a special sense of satisfaction.

But gifting clothes, especially fashionable ones, can also go terribly wrong. In my view, three very basic mistakes often occur in buying Christmas attire for friends and family.  All three errors could be avoided, but to do so requires a great deal of shopping discipline and openness between gift giver and gift recipient.  Here are my thoughts on how to cut these holiday disasters off at the Black Friday pass.

The first and perhaps most common error arises from not knowing a person’s size.  Pity the poor husband who gives his beautiful size 10 wife a size 4 dress.  “Oh, you think I should lose weight, don’t you!”  Pity even more the neighbor who gives his lovely size 8 spouse a size 14 dress.  “You’re saying I’m FAT!!!!”  Let’s hope these gents can move into a doghouse together and cuddle up to keep warm on Christmas night.  Sadly, even knowing a size often isn’t enough.  Any woman can tell you that a size 6 in one brand may range from a size 4-8 in another.  Vanity sizing is everywhere, making the shopper’s job more difficult by the year.

A second problem is when the shopper buys a present based on what he or she thinks the recipient should have, rather than what the recipient would want.  If we’re spending the money, we feel we have the right to impose our own tastes and values on the gift.  While that may be technically correct, it also violates the key quality of a good present---that it should be something that would make the recipient happy.  Grandmother disapproves of her granddaughter’s taste in skimpy blouses, so she gives her a thick, bulky, and completely sexless turtleneck sweater; grown daughter dislikes her mother’s Lee brand ‘mom jeans’ and buys her a pair of 7 For All Mankind.  While well intentioned, these gifts will probably never be worn, and the recipients will spend the rest of Christmas day thinking the givers are either clueless or mean.

The final mistake is perhaps the most difficult to correct.  When we buy things for others---even for others who are not our age or gender---we still look at these items with our own eyes.  We apply our personal senses of color, style, and texture.  The sweater that feels soft to me may be scratchy to you.  The color I adore may be the one you find repulsive.  What I perceive as cool and super trendy may simply be ridiculous in your opinion. In essence, even the most careful shopper is buying for herself.  This mistake happens all the time, even when we’re buying for the people we know the best.  It’s an error that arises from simply being human!

The worst Christmas gift I ever received came from a relative.  I was twenty years old, about to start student teaching at FSU, and my kinswoman meant well (I presume) but made all three of the shopping mistakes in the grandest way imaginable.  She announced that I needed a more ‘professional’ look and presented me with a two-piece wool suit in a shade of putrid purple.  It would have been perfect for an old maid librarian in a 1940s movie.  The suit was also three sizes too large for me, the size she said she ‘assumed I was’---this at a time in my life when I was extremely sensitive about my weight.  I know that over the years she probably gave me many gifts that I enjoyed, but unfortunately this is the one I remember.

Overall, the biggest problem with giving clothes for Christmas is that fashion is very personal, and most people over the age of six have a sense of fashion, even if they won’t admit it.  They have preferences and peeves about color, style, and brands, some of which seem completely unreasonable to the ‘sensible’ shopper who is a family member or close friend.  What we wear is an expression of ourselves, and a gift that violates that expression makes us wonder if the giver somehow doesn’t understand or appreciate us at heart.

 

Does that mean we should simply hand out gift cards for the holidays?  Of course not! We will continue to give shirts and sweaters and skirts because clothing is a shared experience of life.  Plus, it’s practical, especially after the kids are too old for Barbie dolls and radio controlled helicopters.  There’s no way to avoid all mistakes; even my mom and I, who are very close and have extremely similar tastes, often find ourselves making that return trip to the store on December 26---it’s become almost a joke with us.  That is the best message I can give: view all Christmas gifts as tokens of goodwill and have a joyful, thankful attitude, both as a giver and a receiver of sometimes wildly inappropriate fashion.

Oh, and always keep the receipt!

You? Fashionable? Pluuuuzzzeeee!

Welcome to my little experiment for Interim 2014.  This is both a way for me to express myself and to organize thoughts about my interim project.

So I'll begin by admitting that I have no right to keep a fashion blog.  I'm not hip or cool, I don't live in a big city where I can watch the streets for the latest trend, and I'm about as anti-'edgy' as a person can get.  But I do love clothes, and I especially love the history of clothing and fashion.  I suppose the history part comes from my day job and the clothing part comes from being the daughter of a seamstress.  I'm fascinated by the process.  It's fun to see something go from idea to cloth and notions, through pattern, cutting, fitting, and finally the triumphal wearing.  I'm very enthralled by all of this despite my complete lack of any skill in drawing, design, or sewing---though I do a mean embroidery stitch or two!

What I'll be writing about, primarily, is the idea of clothing as a means of personal expression.  As I once read, "the only way not to speak with your clothes is to go naked---and then you're still saying something!"  Even folks who claim to put no thought into what they wear are still making statements.  They may be saying things like "blue is my favorite color" (ever known someone whose entire wardrobe is in the same hue?) or "I hate my arms so I always cover them" (I bet you know someone who wears sleeves even when its 110 degrees outside!).  These are statements, expressions with the color and cut and texture on our bodies.  Speaking with fashion is, for the most part, so soft and unobtrusive that we never notice it in others or in ourselves.  And, fortunately, for the most part we never have to worry about it.

But sometimes we get in trouble.  Sometimes we say things we don't mean.  Clothing can be an expression of contempt, even when no such attitude is intended by the wearer.  And yet such language changes, is malleable with time and place.  Just as we no longer wear frock coats and bustles, the 'rules' for what we should wear, and when and where we wear it, are in greater flux than ever before.  Some might even question if rules exist.

It's that space where rules and expression meet that fascinates me, as a historian, an observer of people, and a wearer of clothes.