Happy New Year: The Language of Clothes in Selvedge's Renaissance Issue

For my final piece of 2018, I pitched a story on the language of (in, and on) clothes.

I was interested in how clothing is written upon, or holds messages within. Can we ever receive the message that the author intended? Or, à la Roland Barthes, is it the readers who supply meaning and significance?

My texts include a linen jacket embroidered by a German woman institutionalized during the nineteenth century; the Duchess of Sussex's wedding veil; a princess's wedding gown in Phantom Thread; and a green jacket from Zara worn by the current first lady, and upon which was scrawled enigmatic graffiti.

This story appeared in Selvedge Magazine's Renaissance issue with its stunning cover. The issue has yet to cross the pond :-).

Miss C's "Moody Hues" of Missoni, Etro in Selvedge Magazine

This fall, in Selvedge Magazine's "East" issue, I published a story on the "moody hues" of Missoni and Etro. Here are the images.

Beanpunk: Sbux Reserve Roastery, Dickens, and Liberty Tweedy Cuffs

Since Levi's left the security tag on Mr. C's new selvedge jeans, we schlepped back to the Meatpacking District this morning (I certainly didn't mind).

We nipped into what looks like a tourist attraction for coffee drinkers: the new Sbux Reserve Roastery, which is a massive 3-storey coffee bar that serves boutique lattes (select your own espresso), baked goods unheard of by the drive-through gang (a peach tart called something regal in Italian, for instance), and cold-brew cocktails(!).

It's a rather precious place, with employees dressed up as Dickensian street pedlars, many of whom were hawking wares from stylish wooden peddlar carts just inside the doors. And then there's the enormous coffee roaster, glistening in copper with all sorts of pipes overhead transporting . . . beans? Kind of Willy Wonka meets Nicholas Nickelby.

Pure "beanpunk" (TM Miss C).

It had opened just the other week--December 14--and the novelty and exceptional good mood throughout felt fresh. Even I, usually loathe to photograph my meals, snapped a photo of our order, brought to us on a sturdy wooden tray.

Actually, this roastery reminded me of a restoration project I'd engaged in on our long car ride toward Christmas. The cuffs of my beloved Max Mara tweed coat were feeling a bit worn, so I made some binding from my stash of Liberty of London fabric and renewed them while Mr. C drove. The dark Liberty hues against the brown tweed summon up Dickens' London for me.

And as I wore my revitalized tweed coat in the somewhat fantastical roastery, I felt a not altogether unpleasant combination of Dickensian urchin and coffee astronaut. (Miss Coffeenaut, peut-etre?)

Gudrun Sjoden or Oleana?

While Mr. C was at Blue in Green looking for his favourite selvedge jeans, I popped into Gudrun Sjoden, the very colourful Swedish mix/match boutique.

If truth be told, I think that Gudrun's magazine ads look very tempting, with their layers and layers of printed textiles, but IRL the shapeless silhouettes cannot entice me to make a purchase.

I was struck, though, but how much a pair of pink-and-red Gudrun mittens reminded me of the exquisite Norwegian designs of Oleana. Homage or too close for comfort?

Tiger by the Toile: Dior in Soho and the Meatpacking District

We zoomed into the city this afternoon so my daughter could connect with some college pals while Mr. C and I skulked around Soho.

My eye immediately went to the vitrine of Dior Soho, with its lifesize (oversize?) tiger in pink toile and an exquisite belted coat in sepia toile.

On the way home we motored through the Meatpacking district, and after mooning over a wee French bulldog, I saw yet another Dior festooned in toile on the corner of 14th Street (this photo is from my return visit on Sunday; it's my Dovima and the Elephant).

I would love to wear this toile trench, but even moreso would love to embroider a couple of the images à la Richard Saja. I've been dusting off my needles for this Christmas gift I made (by hand--no machines) for my college-student daughter.

Then on New Year's Eve I'd truly feel like the belle of the toile.

Rock Clothes: Stripes, Sequins, Madison Cunningham, and Miss C

Every two years I pretend I am a rock star when my colleagues and I put on our biennial faculty/staff concert. I think this was my fifth time.

After the songs are set and rehearsed, my thoughts turn to stage clothes. In the past I've worn a mini dress of glittery black pailettes and a red tiered dress à la Tina Turner for twirling. But this year one of my songs was by Blondie, so I wanted something else.

In April I popped into H&M and my eye immediately went to a red and blue striped trouser suit, but I knew I'd be too hot under the lights (I plead Canadian; I need cool temps). So I passed it by, but its pleasures lingered: it had a Carnaby Street vibe that I loved.

And now I know it was the perfect performance outfit, because on Saturday I saw Madison Cummingham wear it when she opened for the Punch Brothers at the Beacon Theater in New York. Her voice was stunning, and so was her suit. Here's a clip of her wearing it for a performance with Chris Thile, host and lead singer of the Punch Bros. Thile took over Prairie Home Companion when its longtime host retired and it's now called Live from Here.

Madison is 20 years old! During the concert she sang a song she dedicated to her younger self. I dedicate all my biennial performances to my current self, because it's pretty awesome to get to perform "One Way or Another" when I have 30 years on the performer above.

So what did I end up wearing? A sequined mini skirt and pleather jacket from H&M and a reversible-rub sequined message T that said "I Love You the Most" one way and "I Love You the Least" the other.

And you, you glamourous striped suit? Now I reeeeeally want to gitcha gitcha gitcha gitcha.

Of Hydrangeas and Valentino Couture

I'm currently ensconced in a beautiful summer home (as a guest) one block from the beach.

Homemade ice cream calls my name from all the charming shops (I answer to coffee and coconut) and the most gloriously plump hydrangeas, in all shades of faded lavender, wink as I walk by.

Naturally my thoughts turned to Valentino Couture and this dress.

Great Hats Think Alike? Selvedge Magazine's June Cover and My J Peterman Hat

I  bought this hat from J Peterman way back in grad school (the early 90s). It lives mostly in its hatbox, but I took it out last spring (?) to snap a contributor's photo for Selvedge.

That issue was printed long ago, but when I saw the beautiful June 2018 cover, with the similarly shaped hats, I thought I'd run the images together.

Adele Stafford's Voices of Industry in Selvedge Magazine

For Selvedge's Cotton issue (how I love this cover) I wrote a story on Oakland, California-based weaver Adele Stafford and her farm-to-loom project Voices of Industry. There's also a book review of The Erotic Cloth, from Bloomsbury Academic (it's first in the parade of jpegs, below).

Men in Lace and Vera Wang for Selvedge Magazine

I had two stories in Selvedge in the spring Lace issue--one on the gender politics of lace for men and another on bridal designer extraordinaire Vera Wang (twas just in time for the Royal Wedding).

On Eating Out Alone, or Comments on Lena Dunham's "Table for One" Article in Vogue Magazine

I was catching up on a bit of magazine reading this evening, paging through the June Vogue and skimming Lena Dunham's essay "Table for One," partly about how she used to enjoy eating out on her own.

I've always loved going to a restaurant by myself--for elegant, four-course meals or simpler cafe fare. I did that all the time in Canada in my late teens and early twenties, and never felt anything other than my comfortable self. Waiters (always waiters) might send over a drink or a dessert, but the gesture was always gracious and never aggressive.

When I took a long weekend to the United States to look for an apartment for graduate school, I went to a somewhat uptown Thai restaurant in my soon-to-be college town. A woman at the next table told her male companion that she could never eat on her own like that. I guess she told me too.

I have never felt uncomfortable here, except on the few occasions when male diners felt like they should invite themselves over to my table. One time in Texas (I was at an academic conference) a male diner who was with his wife and a group of friends was so insistent that I join them that I ended up leaving the restaurant and canceling my order, feeling frustrated, newly vulnerable, and angry that my "No" was not accepted. (I told management on the way out; there was no way I was staying, even if they'd moved me to a table further away.)

But still, I take great pleasure in eating out on my own. In her article, Lena Dunham said that she "used to have no problem staring into the face of the hostess when [she] said, 'Just one for dinner, thank you.'"

I never say that.

When the hostess/host asks me, "Just one for dinner?" I reply, "ONE for dinner, thank you."

Pink Lemonade: James Bay, SNL, and Coach Boots

If these Coach boots could sing, they'd sound just like James Bay on SNL last night.

Colour Blocking: Stanley Hudson from Project Runway and Marine Serre

I really enjoyed the recent Project Runway All Star episode where the designers saw an exhibit of Isaac Mizrahi's work at the Jewish Museum. The exhibit is long over, but I loved seeing some of my favourite pieces, like his simple t-shirt over a ball-gown skirt and his totem pole dress.

And I also loved the winning design by Stanley Hudson--both for its silhouette and its colour combination: aqua and pink is so very striking.

So, then, when I saw the this dress by Marine Serre today, my pulse quickened. It's a "Stanley-via-Issac" look for day, perfect to wear while "blocking" anything that strikes your fancy--trolls, newly knit sweaters, shots to the hoop. (Maybe.)