I talked yesterday about collections that take time to hit you, and then there are the ones that make you emit an instant YES! as soon as they walk down the runway. Dries Van Noten Spring 2013 show was one that really resonated with my personal aesthetic. He managed to make plaid skirts look ethereal and paired them with 1940's style prints, silvered pieces, and shadowy blacks.
This vintage plaid shirt had a similar color palette to the Dries so it made the cut at the thrift store.
Some runways shows hit me instantly, while others simmer away in my subconscious slowly influencing my purchases. Stella McCartney's Pre-Fall 2013 snuck up on me, making me suddenly start lusting for coats with either a menswear cut or oversized silhouette.
I stopped at a couple of thrift stores on my way home from DC last week and managed to find two vintage coats that met my criteria. These are normally the coats I skip through on the rack, but something about streamlined designs is very appealing to me right now.
This fits like a long men's suit jacket and it's a perfect compliment to some of my more feminine outfits.
I've had an olive green coat on my wish list for a while now, so this find was a 2 for 1 deal. It also has the roomy look I was going for that I can stuff chunky sweaters under.
Whenever I'm in New York I always try to stop by John Derian, which means I spend a lot of time sighing over his collection of Hugo Guinness paintings and prints. J.Crew posted their spring lookbook this morning and I was delighted to see that the darling! sweater is actually a collaboration with Hugo, and in cashmere no less. J.Crew, $398
People always seem to associate 90's fashion with minimalism and grunge, but it also had a huge influence from hip hop coming off late 80's into the early 90's. We've already seen color blocked shirts and oversized coats hit the runways so curious to see what else gets picked up in a modernized way.
I thrifted a vintage coat that kinda makes me look like the Cowardly Lion. Oh, and hi, long time no talk.
So what's been going on?
1. Our upstairs wood floors are finally refinished (Minwax Dark Walnut) after like 15 tries and having to stay anywhere that had an empty couch or bed for the duration. Unfortunately, in the middle of all that moving around I lost my engagement ring. Sadness.
2. We painted every room upstairs Benjamin Moore Simple White. I can't tell you how much I love it compared to that horrible margarine color that it was painted. I'm not sure if every room will stay this color, but it's nice to have a clean slate to start from.
3. We caught a second opossum—this time alive— in our crawlspace after a broken grate was missed the first time. SCREAM.
4. My Macbook, which has pretty much been a piece of junk since I bought it, finally shut down completely.
I'm going to be honest, it hasn't been a fun couple of months, but onwards and upwards.
What's next?
1. Replacing the wood floor in the dining room.
2. Replacing and moving around chandeliers in living areas and foyer.
3. Painting Kitchen cabinets and walls.
4. Getting living room sofa reupholstered.
5. Finding drapes/blinds that will fit our non-standard windows.
I could go on and on, but these are the tasks at the top of the list.
Grunge-sweet dresses...
softly twisted hair and thorny necklaces...
stand up collars and thick soled shoes...
tasseled minibags and dark nails...
riffs on fair isle and gorgeous dark plaids intercepted with tender pinks and peaches.
Images: Chanel.com and Style.com
Trying on vintage Carolina Herrera red silk skirt & 1970's ribbed wool sweater at the thrift store (I bought both).
The magic mirror shot that makes you 10 inches taller and 10 pounds skinnier.
Vintage beige Sweater (thrifted)
90's Express skirt in dark green (thrifted)
Falke black wool tights
Loeffler Randall Emmy Boots in Taupe
Hermes Collier de Chien Cuff (I declared that I would wear this every day if I got it and I'm doing pretty well at holding to it)
I thought by now I would be able to share pictures of our refinished floors, and freshly painted rooms that I've started to furnish. Well, as we all know, life doesn't usually go how you plan. Long story short, the guy we hired didn't strip the painted wood floors correctly, the stain didn't absorb, and then he put the poly on while the stain was still wet.
So now we are starting over with someone else and the floors are getting redone in two weeks. Licenses have been double checked, better business bureau called, and multiple recommendations have been noted, so hoping this time everything works out.
Rather than bore you with pictures of mottled floors, I'll share a picture of a bedroom featured in Elle Decoration magazine. Pretty much defines my design aesthetic: Ornate metallic bed matched with minimalist bedding, palest pink pillow meets sooty black, all resting on rustic chevron wood floors.
Digital image created by Moodboard from Elle Decoration/Photography: Jeremy Wilson
The combination of animal motif sweater, jaunty hat, and lipstick red sunglasses is making this quirky look work for me. Mulberry Tiger sweater, $670
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