When All the Best posted an entry on Hetty Rose shoes, I couldn’t point and click fast enough to get to the shoemaker’s Web site.
I adore eccentric, elegant shoes. One of my favorite pairs comes from Manuela Filipovic for Te Casan, four-inch teal leather and suede open-toe d’Orsays, with a grosgrain ribbon tie.
And as a quiltmaker (see A Strawberry Quilt; or, a Suzani for Susannah), I love the dialogue between and among patterned textiles. So Hetty Rose bespoke shoes, which use antique Japanese kimono fabric, were a delight to behold.
When I see such colors and patterns, though, I always remind myself to proceed with caution. It would be very easy for me to dress like a harlequin every day, tassels, patterns, and colors flying, because I so love a bohemian mix.
I try to remember Diana Vreeland’s words: “Elegance is refusal”—advice I’m not entirely sure she followed herself, if you’ve ever seen her famous red parlor outfitted in chintz and Chinoiserie (photo from The Thoughtful Dresser). And I’ve felt the discomfort of being over-upholstered, if you will, on occasion, when a sparer silhouette would have been in order.
So I’d order the Hetty Rose shoes, but take care to wear them with a more neutral skirt, perhaps a red cashmere t-shirt.
What are your favorite fashion eccentricities?
I adore eccentric, elegant shoes. One of my favorite pairs comes from Manuela Filipovic for Te Casan, four-inch teal leather and suede open-toe d’Orsays, with a grosgrain ribbon tie.
And as a quiltmaker (see A Strawberry Quilt; or, a Suzani for Susannah), I love the dialogue between and among patterned textiles. So Hetty Rose bespoke shoes, which use antique Japanese kimono fabric, were a delight to behold.
When I see such colors and patterns, though, I always remind myself to proceed with caution. It would be very easy for me to dress like a harlequin every day, tassels, patterns, and colors flying, because I so love a bohemian mix.
I try to remember Diana Vreeland’s words: “Elegance is refusal”—advice I’m not entirely sure she followed herself, if you’ve ever seen her famous red parlor outfitted in chintz and Chinoiserie (photo from The Thoughtful Dresser). And I’ve felt the discomfort of being over-upholstered, if you will, on occasion, when a sparer silhouette would have been in order.
So I’d order the Hetty Rose shoes, but take care to wear them with a more neutral skirt, perhaps a red cashmere t-shirt.
What are your favorite fashion eccentricities?
I love really bold scarves (mainly silk - which I wear as winter scarves under parkas and coats). I have a particular ensemble which I love, and which one of my best - and most fashionable - friends despises: modern floral pattern scarf in teal, apple green and darkish blue (oldest item in the closet, French, bought in chic boutique in Hazelton Lanes when I was 17) paired with an orange/maroon plaid straight coat. I know it sounds awful, or at least really eccentric, but I love the combo and that's what counts... (It's one of my riskier moves as I do tend to play it safe and "tasteful".) K
ReplyDeleteThose shoes are unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI think for me, there isn't any eccentricity, except perhaps that I tend to wear uniforms of the same types of items all the time, though in different color combinations.
Then again, maybe that's just OC.