The Space Between My Peers

Have you seen the MSN’s animated weather maps? Perhaps it will explain my recent focus on coats.

I said, concerning my coat wardrobe, that I was using a black puffy down coat, until I found an ordinary quilted down jacket in a better color. What I didn’t anticipate was a friend not having a coat at all. In obedience to Luke 3:11 I took the coat to her house today. I have others.

For spring, if it were in my color palette (NOT BLACK), I’d consider a coat like Agathe’s blue leather trench at Style Bytes. Seems perfectly functional to me!

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Continuing the “Blogiversary Celebration”, I now bring you Rule Number 2, from the December 2005 archives:

Everything you wear should make you feel like yourself, going where you are going and doing what you are doing. Nothing is more distracting than feeling inappropriately dressed. Be yourself. Then focus on reaching out and making others feel comfortable.

I suppose that could be more concisely said, but I’m not sure how. Now I’m busy thinking about belt placement. This afternoon I should be taking pictures for the fashion lab.

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L.A. Gear - Women’s Honey (Brown/Pink/Bone) Free Shipping from Shoes.Com

Yes, it’s true. Mervyns is closing stores in several states (I wrote about it last February). So Saturday, on our way home from our second family Thanksgiving gathering, we stopped to check out the sales. Romantic/Trendsetter daughter and I both found athletic shoes.

And then we noticed the pattern. Hers are grey with green, mine (pictured) are brown. Both are our eye color.

Which makes perfect sense. Athletic shoes are sporty and active, they should be an accent color. Which leads me to a question I’ve had for years:

Who looks good in white runners?

Now I think I know the answer, test this on yourself: someone whose inseam is greater than half her body’s total length. Or greater than four head-lengths.

Am I on to something?

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At Jenn’s suggestion, in honor of my blogiversary, I am going to try to do a little “mini-series” featuring some of my favorite posts. Since I started this blog November 26th, 2005, the November 2005 archive only contains four posts. I like them all. But the following is the most significant in terms of getting dressed:

Rule Number 1

Forget what the so-called fashion experts tell you, the focal point for every outfit should be your FACE (not any other body part or a piece of jewelry). It’s a matter of human dignity.

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This jacket is too romantic for me but … maybe you’d like it.

In my lifestyle segmentation pie chart, only two slices are really worth serving: leisure and casual. Living in a region with four distinct seasons requires more coats, to my practical mind, than would seem necessary. But they are.

Here’s the run-down:

• Leisure winter coat = a puffy down jacket. Currently I am using a black one, which will naturally be replaced when I happen on something in a great color (for the single dollar which I paid for this one).
• Casual winter coat: If I could only afford one coat, it would have to be a topper-length wool. Like my aubergine one I blogged back here.
• Leisure spring: uh, yeah. We’ll have to come back to this one. I do have the suede jean jacket, but that’s no good if it rains.
• Casual spring. Back here I mentioned that I consider a leather coat a great rain coat. After trying it on again, I am keeping the leather blazer. What remains to be seen is whether it will make a suitable (read: warm enough) spring coat for me.
• Leisure summer: a white jean jacket. What else? (I do have a windbreaker, in case I go to the beach with my parents.)
• Casual summer: All summer long I carry a cardigan around in my purse. Comes in handy at restaurants, the grocery store, basically anywhere air-conditioned.
• Autumn leisure: the burgundy quilted pictured here.
• Autumn casual: This black chenille bedspread looking thing is what I’ve been using. Works for me.

Now I need to go look what I have besides these. Can I justify any more? Probably.

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In the spirit of cooperative problem-solving, I invite you all to participate with me in analyzing the topic of belt placement.

• Why did it just not work when one friend took her belt off the other night and put it on another friend in the same, low-slung position?
• Does it really work to belt a cardigan or jacket?
• How about transforming a fitted sheath into an empire-waist with a ribbon belt?

You embellishment people must have many more creative ideas to add.

Here’s my invitation. I will post a Fashion Lab: Belt Placement piece this Friday, Dec 1st (sometime after I get up, PST). If you would like to play, just write a piece picturing or describing or testing something related to belt placement, and leave the link in comments on this post. I will link to you, in the spirit of a blog carnival. If you have no blog, I will publish your piece here.

BTW, my Blogiversary was November 26th.

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How about this one? Ann Taylor sz 6 soft-black wool tweed pencil skirt

19 more hours …

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Have you ever been to a leftovers party? Picture a potluck of Thanksgiving leftovers and games, with your friends, since yesterday was spent with relatives.

My outfit (that’s me on the right, but dd’s outfit is so cute I made her be in the picture too):

• Old Gap jeans. I paid $1 at the thrift store. As usual, I am wearing silk “pants” under.
• Old merino wool turtleneck, originally clearance at JCPenney.
• Gotta love the burgundy quilted jacket with corduroy trim. $10 at the “Eddie (Bauer) Outlet”. It’s too “classic” for my style, I wear it as a costume. Alot.
• My practical shoes.
• Yay! My birthday belt came today!

Something else to be thankful for: the ladies bought us Apples to Apples for Christmas (and allowed us to open it prior to this holiday weekend). Have you played it yet?

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Happy Thanksgiving! (I’m happy. I’m not cooking!)

Links for reading:

• All About Eva is blogging a novel.
• Fashion comics at What to Wear This Very Second.
• The Bargain Queen’s rules on fashion trends.

BTW, I did finally notice that it took more than three clicks to get to my Fashion Personality Quiz. I fixed it. Sorry.

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Get $5 Shipping on every gap.com purchase - starts today and lasts through Nov 27th. (If you are still thinking about the fleece blazer, does this help?)

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