San Francisco: Bring A Sweater!

I've been doing a bit of shopping lately; it began in preparation for my trip to France, which I will actually be just returning from by the time this post goes live. At some point it got very hot in San Francisco (ok, "hot" being 85F), and I realized I was going to be traveling somewhere even hotter and didn't own even one pair of shorts that wasn't either 'working-around-the-house' or 'Burning Man.' And come to think of it, I also didn't own very many lightweight, short-sleeved tops that were suitable to wear without a cardigan or some other upper layer. After all, I live in a city where our motto could be, "San Francisco: Bring A Sweater!"

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this beachy, sun-drenched t-shirt once it starts to get cold again (which is probably 2 weeks from now), but fuck it. Layering it up with a denim jacket and scarf doesn't look so bad, now does it?

Scarf: Ralph Lauren
Shirt: Chris & Carol
Jacket: Tulle (thrifted)
Pants: Michael Kors
Shoes: Steve Madden

Light of Day

This dress hasn't seen the light of day in awhile. It's a bit difficult to style because it's really more of a tunic length, so usually when I wear it I layer a skirt underneath. These ponte knit pants are a great alternative, not to mention they're superbly comfy. I'm getting a lot of use out of them lately because they're as easy to style as jeans but have a somewhat dressier look. This was a great day-to-evening outfit; for evening I simply swapped out the denim jacket for my cropped black leather one.


Dress: All Saints
Jacket: Tulle
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Necklace: Wendy Brandes
Pants: Club Monaco
Boots: All Black

Assemble a Rainbow

Indiscriminately mixing coral, navy and red? Why the hell not? I've mixed this particular coral t-shirt with teal, bright yellow, pink, lime green -- you name it. Usually in the same outfit. Since this was a work outfit I kept it to just the three shades, but had this been a weekend look I probably would've gone with a teal scarf, and perhaps I'd even have chosen a yellow bag. There's just something about coral that makes me want to assemble a rainbow of colors and throw them into the same outfit.


Striped shirt: Target
Coral shirt: Michael Stars
Jacket: Banana Republic (via eBay)
Scarf: vintage
Jeans: Acne
Shoes: Faryl Robin
Bag: Michael Kors

Tomato Red

For awhile I considered dyeing this tunic, and I'm really glad I didn't. While it's not the most flattering shade for my skin tone, I don't think it's really as bad as I initially thought, and paired with the bright white and yellow I think the outfit worked really well. The white and yellow softened the impact of the tomato red so that I didn't end up looking washed out.

The jacket is one I recently tracked down on eBay, and I just love how great it looks with my navy blue bag. A cropped, white denim jacket had been on my thrift shopping list for awhile, but after several trips to Goodwill yielded no results, I thought to try online. This one set me back just $15 and is new as far as I can tell.

Jacket: Banana Republic
Scarf: vintage
Tunic: Manuela Roth (Argentina)
Jeans: Joe's
Shoes: BC Footwear
Bag: Michael Kors 

Gift Horse

Sal sent this Karen Kane dress along to me after deciding it didn't work for her figure. And although I'm convinced it would've looked fab on her, I'm also not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. And let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE this dress. Thick, bouncy, double-layered jersey gives this dress a heft and drape that is luxuriously comfortable and also substantial enough to stand up to the windiest Bay Area weather. I can already tell that this dress with a lightweight jacket, bare legs, and sandals is going to be a staple for summer weekends.

I wore the outfit with the jacket all day at work, but I thought I'd also show the dress by itself so you can get a look at the whole thing. Needless to say, the asymmetrical hemline is a big plus for me.

Dress: Karen Kane
Leggings: Black Market Baby on Etsy
Shoes: Bobbi Blu
Bangles: Amrita Singh
Denim jacket: Tulle (thrifted)

Knowing When to Splurge

I decided that this dress deserved some larger photos than I usually post, because it's Valentino and it's utterly, utterly gorgeous. I snagged it from Gilt for a fraction of the original cost, and even then it was still a major splurge. But my friends, it was worth every penny. It fits like a dream, it's beautifully constructed and totally flattering, and it's such a classic shape, length, and style that I'll be wearing it for years to come. And yep, I wore this sucker to work, and many, many people commented on how pretty it is. I was even told I looked "ladylike." That has GOT to be a first.

It was this dress that prompted me to make another couple of long-awaited splurges recently: the Wolford Hero tights, and a killer pair of shoes that I'll keep a secret for now. I fully intend to wear the three pieces together and create a Prabal Gurung-inspired red and black ensemble, but as I often do when I buy things to go together, I'm wearing them all separately first. It's one of my shopping quirks; I guess I just like to feel like I'm getting the maximum mileage out of my new purchases before I just roll them all together into a single outfit.

Reader Stephanie asked me to do a post about knowing when to splurge on a high end piece, so I thought I'd add some of my thoughts here, since this dress certainly qualifies as such. I should point out that my underlying assumption is that any high end item that's being considered already meets the basic criteria of being something you truly, utterly love, and that makes you feel like a million bucks. Beyond those minimal requirements, here are a few questions you might ask yourself when considering something that's on the upper end of your affordability index:

How versatile is it? Day-to-evening garments are going to give you the most bang for your buck. Something that is wearable in a daytime ensemble and would hold up for even a fancy evening affair will feel like it's worth the money.

Will you be terrified to wear it? Avoid spending a lot of money on something so delicate or stain-prone that you'll be forever fretting every time it leaves the house. Look for luxury that's combined with durability. Sure, you're not going to mow the lawn in it, but you should at least be able to hop in a cab or eat a meal without freaking out about ruining your gossamer dress.

Is this carefully considered, or an impulse? For many years now I've been searching for the perfect red dress, and about a year ago I decided I wanted that dress to be a Valentino. I've looked at many red Valentino dresses, and when I finally saw this one I knew it was perfect. High end pieces are best purchased after thorough research, not on an impulse.  

Will it work with the rest of your wardrobe? A splurge purchase can quickly snowball into the realm of unaffordable if you also have to buy several other completer pieces just to be able to wear it at all. Before you get out that credit card, make sure you're not bringing home a gorgeous item that's going to end up a closet orphan. Try to think of at least one or two ways to create a complete outfit without buying anything else.

Do you even wear this sort of thing? I happen to love dresses, so spending a lot of money on a beautiful dress makes sense for me. But don't blow your budget on a dress if you're really more of a pants wearer; likewise don't buy those towering Prada platforms if you realistically can't wear 5-inch heels without falling over. Just because it's a luxury item doesn't mean it needs to be completely impractical too.

How much staying power does it have? I would avoid buying high end pieces that are too trendy and will look dated in a year or two. I'll snag a trendy luxury item if I find it for a non-luxury price, but I would never break the bank for it. You can't predict what the next trends are going to be, but try looking backwards: could you have worn this item 20 years ago? If the answer is yes, chances are it'll still look great 20 years into the future.

You can see that with this dress I was able to make it casual enough for the workday by keeping the accessories light, going with simple sandals and bare legs, and topping it off with a denim jacket when it got chilly. For more tips on getting mileage out of your fancier items, please check out Sal's posts on repurposing a bridesmaid dress and wearing everything all the time.


Dress: Valentino, via Gilt
Jacket: Tulle
Sandals: Azura
Necklace: Ambiance, Haight Street

Upper Hand

T

This top is the third and final item from the trip to Desigual in New York, and isn't it just gorgeous? I love long tops that have interesting details, because they're such an easy way to create a simple, casual outfit with jeans. I like the length on the longer side so that I can wear the top comfortably with my low rise jeans, and the interesting details means I don't need a lot of layering or other embellishment. This top has got a great mix of bold patterns and colors, and the metallic red ink even adds some textural interest. I still can't decide if that's Jackie O's face on the back though.

Here's another look at my new Bos and Co. boots. Up until this week it rained in SF for something like 14 days without a break, so these waterproof boots have really come in handy lately. I love clothing that makes you feel like you've got the upper hand on the elements.

Top: Desigual
Scarf: Forever 21
Jeans: Deisel
Boots: Bos. and Co.

Never Say Never

Well, Wendy B always says that, "Never is the next new thing" and I'm pretty certain I've said before that I would "never" wear a maxi dress, and that they look universally terrible. And yet here I am, wearing one, and liking it a great deal. A few things finally came together and prompted me to give this look a try: I'd seen Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style and Emma at My Daily Clothes Fix look amazing in similar long striped dresses, I'd seen Sal wear long skirts to great effect last winter, and in fact when Mark and I were out in Minneapolis over the summer, Sal pointed out how big a difference there is between an unflattering mid-calf length and a true full length skirt, which further eased my doubts about wearing one.

So it was that when I saw this dress on the Forever 21 site for TEN BUCKS, the seeds of the idea had been planted and I knew I could reasonably give this sartorial experiment a whirl. For ten bucks, even if it did look terrible I could always hem it up to knee or even tunic length and it would still be worth it. The odd thing about this dress is that one of the straps is twisted; at first I looked at it and thought, "Ah, I see why it was $10 -- they sewed the straps wrong!" But when I went back and looked again at the listing, I saw that it was done that way intentionally.

To me the twist in the strap doesn't look very intentional though; it looks like a misguided afterthought. So what I ended up doing was taking a piece of black jersey and making a small, scrunched up tube of fabric that goes around the twisted part, which accentuates the difference and makes it look more finished. For this outfit I mostly wore it with the denim jacket, but next time I'll try it with the modified strap showing and you can tell me which you like better. Of course I also have 2 other options: either twist the other strap, or take the twisted one apart and sew it normally to match the other.

I thought it would feel odd and frumpy to wear a big long tube, but to be honest it didn't feel that way at all; in fact it felt sleek and elegant. I've seen lots of maxi dresses styled as summer wear, but I'm looking forward to layering this one up for some more cozy winter ensembles.

Hat: ADS Hats
Jacket: Tulle, thrifted
Dress: Forever 21
Belt: Audra Jean
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: Bata

Sandwiched

Our long weekend was wonderful, and the city was just as quiet and uncrowded as I expected it would be (of course, we stayed well away from Union Square). On Thanksgiving Mark and I met some friends for dinner at one of our favorite comfort food restaurants, Home. On Saturday we saw the fantastic Yard Dogs Road Show, which is sort of a vaudevillian revue with music, dancers, magic, and burlesque. If you're in Los Angeles, the Yard Dogs will be playing on New Year's Eve at the Edison, which I'm sure will be an incredible show.

It certainly isn't warm enough for shorts and bare arms this week, but thankfully I made the most of it when it was. Funny that I had to wait until late November to wear some of my summertime outfits, but such is the bizarro weather in San Francisco. 

With this outfit I used one of my loose, open knit vests as a shirt, securing it with a fitted waistcoat as a top layer. To my surprise, the vest stayed put all day with no readjustment necessary; I think having the tank top underneath made the difference, because the vest was then sandwiched between two non-slippery layers of fabric.


Tank: American Eagle
Knit vest: F21
Waistcoat: Promod
Shorts: White House Black Market
Shoes: MIA

Spectacle

Yesterday Mark and I walked down to the big parade and celebration for the Giants, and what an amazing spectacle that was. It's estimated to have been the largest attendance for any San Francisco event, ever. I originally intended just to go for the morning and then head off to work, but I ended up taking the whole day off because the city was so jammed up with traffic there was no way I was going to get out. It was an ideal day for such a celebration; our weather has been glorious the last several days, and yesterday it was sunny and in the low 80's.

This denim jacket was a thrift store find, and I was mighty excited to find it. A denim jacket is something I've been seeking for well over a year now, and for some reason I got it into my head that I wanted to find one second hand. It's one of those items that I just can't bring myself to pay retail price for. The jacket is by Tulle, one of my favorite brands, and has all the elements I wanted; lots of shaping, cute pocket details, dark wash, and short but not cropped length. At $7 this was a fantastic find.

The ankle boots are new, purchased a couple of weeks ago during some sale that Endless was having (damn you Endless, for tempting me with all your sales!). I purchased them along with another pair of soon-to-be-revealed boots, and since these bumped my total purchase price into a bigger discount level, I essentially got these for free. They received mixed reviews on comfort, but I took a chance because I've had good luck with the brand, and it turns out that my finicky feet really love them. The common complaint in the reviews is that they are a very high heel, but since high heels tend to be more comfortable for me than flats, these feel great. I'll be getting a lot of use out of them, I'm sure.

The outfit was inspired by Sheila's casual Friday looks, in which she usually incorporates a graphic tee with other dressier items such as skirts and heels. Underneath the graphic tee I layered a chiffon-trimmed tank to echo the color and texture of the skirt. I chose leggings that matched the boots in order to give my legs a long, interrupted line and keep the focus on the top half of the outfit.

Jacket: Tulle
Tank: Anthropologie
Graphic tee: All Saints
Skirt: Anthropologie
Leggings: Noa Noa
Boots: MIA

A Big Difference

See that teeny bit of exposed skin there above my knee? That was my attempt to make this outfit look more "summery." I figured that by wearing OTK socks and letting the tops show, it would be clear that it wasn't *quite* cold enough for tights. So there's obviously a big difference between this and the winterized version of this outfit, which would include approximately 12 more inches of knitted material.

I liked the way the OTK's were just barely exposed, and in fact from the back it looked like I just had on regular tights because the denim dress is long enough to cover the tops of the socks. This is a subtle way to wear OTK or knee high socks and not give off a schoolgirl vibe.

Orange dress: Skunkfunk
Denim dress: thrifted
Belt: Lazaro
Socks: via Sock Dreams
Boots: from Scoop in Copenhagen

F@#! It

This was sort of a, "Fuck it, it's Friday" kind of outfit, which I threw haphazardly together in the morning. But it turned out pretty well, and moreover it was comfortable enough to walk around in all day and then wear for meeting Fawn for cocktails later that evening.

I picked up the top at Savers while out in Minneapolis; both Mark and I scored some great finds at that store. Because of the strong pattern of the top, you can see the sheerness of the cardigan, which hasn't translated very well in the photos of it in other outfits. As a final touch I wore my Wendy Brandes swear rings, because what better way to say 'fuck it' than by flashing it in bright, shiny silver right across your fingers?


Top: INC (thrifted)
Cardigan: All Saints
Jeans: Joe's
Rings: Wendy Brandes
Necklaces: multi-chain necklace from H&M, pendant from a flea market in Buenos Aires
Shoes: Fly London

Sheila

Here's that All Saints Lindy cardigan again, and hopefully this time you can get an idea of its weight, particularly in the back view where you can see the outline of the tank top through the cardigan. I just love tissue-thin fabrics; though the cardigan is semi-sheer it is still remarkably warm, and the featherweight feel of it is great for summer.

This outfit is my attempt at a Sheila-inspired graphic tee ensemble, though I'm not sure I did as good a job as she does. Part of it is our different builds; Sheila is busty and can thus make t-shirts look shapely and feminine, whereas on me they just look boxy most of the time. But the asymmetry of the cardigan gave this outfit the shaping I was after, while leaving it unbuttoned at the bottom revealed at least part of the pattern on the t-shirt. I love the sweep of the back seam on the cardigan and how it accentuates my curves.

The denim skirt is one I keep trying to get rid of, but end up hanging onto because I haven't found a good replacement yet; in fact, I pulled the skirt from the donation bin the day I wore it. It's a pretty cute skirt, but I'm not quite happy with it because I don't really like how the front slit looks. Also, it feels like the slit is exposing much more than I want it to. And then, something about the way the skirt is cut makes it ride up a lot when I walk, so I'm constantly tugging at it. And the waistband pokes out in a weird way. Oh, and I don't like the length either. Good god, I HATE this fucking skirt! Back in the bin it goes.

Cardigan, tank top: All Saints
Skirt: La Redoute
Boots: All Black

The Young Ones

This turned into a jeans sort of week for me, when these black beauties arrived in the mail from Gilt. I'd been on the lookout for straight leg, black jeans for some time, and these seemed to meet all my requirements. They are a deep, luscious black and the fit is just perfect. My only concern is that once I wash them they're going to lose their inky blackness and I won't like them as much. I guess my solution is just never to wash them.

That reminds me of an old episode of The Young Ones, which I used to watch in syndication on MTV in the mid-80's; it was my favorite show. In one episode, the boys (4 students who live in a squalid North London flat and attend Scumbag College) decide it's finally time to go to the launderette, but when they get there the laundry is so filthy that the machine spits it back out again. They finally wrestle the clothes into the machine, only to discover it requires money to wash the clothes. Sitting dejectedly back home, they discuss the merits of grimy clothing:

VYVYAN: My knickers are so old, it's only the stubborn understains that are holding them together!
RICK: Yeah, right on! One thing's for sure -- when Lenin led the revolution in Russia, no way did he do it with a spotless bott!
VYVYAN: YEAH! I LOVE MY BOTTOM SPOTTY!
NEIL: Yeah...Yeah...Let's never wash our clothes again!
MIKE: What do you mean, "again"?



Ah, I loved that show. But if I never wash my new black jeans, will I end up with a spotty bott?

Shirt: thrifted
Tank: All Saints
Blazer: thrifted
Jeans: Diesel
Boots: Bronx

High Maintenance

Boy, was I out of it the day I wore this outfit. Jess called me up at work, talking about taking BART into San Francisco and something about a rental car, and I asked, "Wait... tomorrow?" to which she replied, "No, TODAY." Oops. I had completely forgotten that she was coming into town that night, but thankfully by the time she arrived I had regained most of my wits. So yeah, Jess was in town recently, for work and for our friend Tom's gig with his 80's cover band, The Ducks. You'll hear more about the gig, and see our 80's outfits, on Thursday.

For this outfit I started with a black turtleneck and skirt, over which I layered the denim dress and belt. This kept me warm, while still having the cheeky element of the short skirt peeking out underneath. I'll be honest though, this outfit was high maintenance, because the cotton skirt kept sticking to both the tights and the denim dress and getting all bunched up. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't wear such a full skirt, and I'd make sure to wear pettipants under it.

Turtleneck: H&M
Belt: Urban Outfitters
Skirt: F21
Denim dress: thrifted
Boots: All Black

Highly Functional

Today's featured outerwear is a coat you haven't seen before. It was custom made for me by designer Shawna Hoffman, who also made my fabulous convertible flight suit. This jacket also features Shawna's imaginative and highly functional approach to clothing design: the sleeves come off, and the two bottom tiers of the jacket can be removed for many different lengths and configurations. I originally saw this jacket at Ceiba Records on Haight Street, but it was in a size way too small for me. Assuming that several had been made, I asked about it over at Five and Diamond, but they told me that the one I saw was just a sample and the only one in existence, but that I could have one made to order. Months later, it was finally mine, and the fit is just perfect. There's also a leather version of this coat, but somehow I thought the dark denim was more unique. The back of the coat has corset-style laces, allowing the fit to be adjusted all over.

With this outfit I tried the long-socks-over-jeans-tucked-into-short-boots look again, this time blending the jeans, socks, and boots in a long unbroken line of indigo blue. On the top I layered a sheer floral over my All Saints mottled argyle tunic, and glammed up the whole thing with a sequined scarf. Overall the colors were dark, but the blend of patterns and texture kept the outfit rich and interesting.

Tunic: All Saints
Sheer top: Noa Noa
Belt, scarf: Urban Outfitters
Jeans: Joe's
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: Frye
Coat: Shawna Hoffman