#15 : Darling Adelina Suits
The last on my list is a cheat since I own the jacket above, the matching trousers, and a grey pencil skirt from the same line. Darling is one of my favorite brands for their youthful elegance, British sensibilities, and unclichéd femininity so a few years ago, when I began losing weight and felt newly confident in my body, I tried on this matching set at a swanky local boutique. I was happy to see my healthy habits paying off and this design really resonated with me. It came in three different colors I believe and there was a jacket, trouser, or skirt option in each. Looking back, I should've bought one of everything.
#14 : Eva Franco Barnaby Dress
I have a love-hate relationship with Eva Franco. On one side it's absolutely brilliant, Zooey Deschanel wears their preciously printed dresses on New Girl all the time, and the whimsical retro-ness of it all is a perfect match for my personal style. I hate it because I've found the sizing to be incredibly wonky (which stops me from confidently ordering online), I don't have enough money to buy all the ones I want so I haven't bought any yet, and it tortures me that I love them so much. My feelings are perfectly summed up by the Barnaby dress -- it's charming and retro, flatteringly waist defining, and features all my favorite colors. But I've read it ran 1-2 sizes too big and who forgot the fucking sleeves!? It's a heavier knit and came out in the autumn so why is it sleeveless?! #petpeeve
Like many of the things on this list, the Sole Society satchel was an exciting Pinterest find. I'm into doctor bags (which I think this one is...?), intricate lazer cut outs, and brown is my go-to neutral so it would look nice alongside 98% of what I already own. Alas, it's loooooong gone. Correction : It's only backordered! Hoooray!
If it had been done by anyone else or in any other colors, this sweater would've been appallingly unattractive. The deep V, the huge tropical floral, and the baggy shape could've been very "Grandpa in Florida", but it's Marc Jacobs and he's a genius so it's very, very hip instead. It's also one of those items you could throw on with anything (leggings, jeans, shorts, a mini skirt) and presto! you've got yourself an outfit.
Although the Julia handbag isn't extinct, it's definitely on the endangered species list! Last time I checked, there was one left on Amazon for $98. It's certainly not an exorbitant sum and if I hadn't just received a Kate Spade bag for Christmas, I'd consider it. But I cannot justify the cost so soon after the holidays, this one's destined for my "Pining Away For" list.
I tried these on in a massive New York store and I thought, "Wow, I should buy these. Fuck the financial ramifications!"... but I didn't buy them in the hopes that they were 1) available online and 2) would eventually be reduced in a discount code/seasonal sale situation and 3) responsibility and impulse control management took over. Joke's on me 'cause they were sold out in my size online and eventually, the entire color had vanished. Apparently, I'm not the only one who likes yellow shoes with bows (see #5).
I loved my grandmother so much and outside of her house, she kept a hummingbird feeder and was thrilled when they flew in for a snack. This sweet little cardigan reminds me of her and besides #1, it's the most nostalgic item on this list. I don't know anything about Alexander McQueen, when it came out, or how much it was, but I do know when I saw it on Pinterest, my heart cracked a little.
#8 : Gazith Darcie Pumps
I couldn't believe my eyes when I found these on a random Canadian website. Who made these?! And can I be their friend and have them make me more things?!?! My size was available online and for a reduced price and I balked because I was going through my I'm-taking-a-ridiculous-trip-so-I-shouldn't-spend-money-now phase. I never knew how wonderful it would be to see my favorite details -- a lazer cut floral pattern, buttons, chunky 60s heels, and a soft feminine color combination -- in one pair of shoes but now that I have, it's true torture.
This one still pains me! It's a fresh wound since it came out this season and wasn't as frighteningly overpriced as some of Anthro's other bourgeois shit (This isn't a judgement, I love their stuff -- look at how many items on this list are from there! but more of a honest acknowledgement). During a rare and cherished trip into New York City, I got to try this one on and benefited from the feedback of a few stylish lady friends. It was flattering, practical, would've matched the rest of my wardrobe perfectly, and featured the folkloric floral trend that I've recently become obsessed with. Easy purchasing decision, n'est pas? Except I hesitated, even with my mom's 15% membership birthday code, and sometime when I wasn't looking, this baby was reduced to $60 (ARGHHHH!!!) and sold out in my size and color.
This wouldn't have been the most flattering on my small waist/big bust body, but damn if it's not adorable as interspecies baby animal cuddling. This snuggly muffin of sweater goodness made me fall in love with pom pom knits and kickstarted a passion for three dimensional floral embroidery or bobbin-y embellishments. I see myself wearing this at my little cottage in France, overlooking a small and private lake, during a chilly spring morning while I'm drinking tea and writing poetry on a typewriter.
Once, while living in a walkable college town and without a car, I fractured a bone in my foot and wearing sandals become excruciating. I must've been lightly traumatized because since then I've subconsciously avoided them. The Swedish Hasbeen Papillions changed my bad attitude and I aggressively hunted them down online and slowly watched them sell out. Before we get the Tiny Violins of Whiny First World Despair out, I was saving up for a trip to England at the end of August. I've been feeling optimistic lately though and am crossing my fingers that Swedish Hasbeens is that kind of classic, dependable brand which would consider rereleasing these for Summer 2014.
The Camper flats were a Pinterest discovery which delighted my inner stylist soul. I hadn't heard of the brand before and I love discovering obscure footwear companies (and by obscure I mean "ones I haven't heard of"). These shoes are twee in a way I deeply appreciate, romantic as all get out, and one of the most creative pair of shoes I've seen all year. For an addict like myself, that's high praise indeed.
Like men, good sweaters are hard to find. I own a helluva lot of interesting dresses too, which I'd love to wear year round, but whenever I put a layer on top, the whole "look" is interrupted. I don't think that would happen with Monsoon's old Petra cardigan because it looks as if it meshes perfectly with the fit n' flare and wiggle dresses I prefer. It wouldn't interrupt the "waist definition" while allowing the bottom layer to peek through the v-neck and looks sturdier than your average J.Crew basic cardigan. It's not three quarter sleeved (LOVE), it's 40's inspired (double love) and holy bananas, those bell sleeves?! Commence the teeth gnashing.
Have you ever found a design that felt totally and completely you? As if whoever had created it had reached into your brain and made something wonderful from what they'd found inside? I think this recognition -- across generations and geographical regions -- is one of the essential elements of art. To see, hear, or read something someone else made and think, "Wow, they got me. They understand." is a glorious thing. Because the truth is, we're alone, apart, and in some ways, doomed to be exclusively self contained so that individuals are capable of feeling a connection through an exterior medium, without ever meeting on a physical plane, is breathtaking.
I know it sounds very self-serious and existential and it is, but when I saw this jacket, I felt that kindred spirit spark. To add to the mystery, there isn't much information on the designer or the brand it belongs to. Persephone Vintage, which sold this little masterpiece, found out it was a Parisian couture label in the 1960s and appeared in Vogue a few times. Like Emily Dickinson's unpublished volumes or Vivian Maier's secret photographs, I hope there's a Jane Lend treasure trove waiting to be discovered.
I found this coat on Anthropologie's website during one of my "dark times". I'd just left school (I didn't graduate college, but had spent four years studying very hard...more on that later.), I was unemployed, living in my (recently deceased) grandmother's house with my newly acquired boyfriend, paying rent to my mom, and living in the town I'd bitterly grown up in. I was drinking too much red wine, eating too many dark chocolate brownies, and binge watching Bones.
The Harvested Honey coat represented everything I felt I didn't have -- it was bold, happy, confident and sophisticated. It was also close to $400 and there was no way on Earth that I'd have enough funds to acquire it during that phase of my financial life. When Anthropologie dropped the price by 50%, it seemed fated, but at the reduced price, it sold out within a day. Thus, this coat became my Moby Dick and I've been obsessively hunting it ever since.
No comments:
Post a Comment