Mood Indigo: Dosa, J Crew, and an 80s Flashback Photo

In the mid 1980s, when I worked for Sarah Clothes on a hiatus from university, one of my favourite items from that designer was an indigo, collarless shirt. Actually, I didn't like it when I bought it, because the indigo was a deep, midnight blue, and the shirt felt stiff.  But after months of wearing and washing, the shirt faded to a soft blue in both colour and feel. and I loved it. Eventually I wore the shirt to shreds, quite literally, and still miss its easy presence in my wardrobe.

When I saw this dress for Dosa's Spring/summer 2015 collection, I was immediately brought back to that glorious mood indigo. This dress has the simplest, most utilitarian lines, and I love it for that. I'd wear it with a patterned canvas sneaker (how I wish I had known about last spring's Liberty of London Strawberry Thief edition of Vans before they sold out in my size) and run all over town.

Perhaps indigo is the technique du saison, because J Crew is singing the blues as well, with its "faded adire" print. I like this one too, but balk at the obviously too-sheer sweater front.The beauty of indigo is that it shouldn't need a cami underneath; its glorious colors and patterns should speak for themselves.

And speaking for myself, tonight I opened my precious Crabtree and Evelyn wooden treasure chest (a display item I purchased in the 1980s and in which I store all my photos from that era) and found this mug shot of myself, taken old-school style--holding a camera backward and hoping for the best (but coming up with glare). But even with that glaring flaw, there's the indigo shirt, mid fade . . .

A Story in Selvedge and a Brown Paper Package Tied . . .

Between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve I went to the bookstore to replenish my magazine stock and was delighted to find the Nov/Dec Selvedge on the shelf, with my story on Dolce and Gabbana's Winter 2013/2014 collection inside.

My story explores how the designers incorporated religious iconography into their gorgeous collection, partly via the gold mosaic cathedral ceiling at Monreale, partly via colour and silhouette.

Wearing Vatican red

I was fortunate to interview two excellent sources: Alexander Pope from the most recent Project Runway (remember he was eliminated after making a dress with a cross on it?) and Professor Lynn S. Neal, who is currently writing about the relationship between fashion and religion.

A sneak peak; the story includes much more prose . . . and photos!

If enjoying the entirety of the magazine wasn't enough, I received a generous package today from the Selvedge team, wrapped up in brown paper and tied with tri-colour string. Here's what was inside:

Each piece was wrapped individually:

There was some Liberty of London fabric, which I plan to use as the binding of a new quilt:

A selection of ribbon, for making more ornaments (see previous post):

A beautiful hand-embroidered summer throw from Stitch by Stitch in redwork:

And two perfect bags.  The large Margo Selby is for cosmetics; the small wool Melin Tregwynt for change, or buttons, or charms, or simply for gazing upon.

Time for sleep, and gentle textile dreams.

Butternut Squash and Cranberry Dressing for The Day apres Thanksgiving

As a Canadian living in a foreign land (the large country directly south) for twenty years now, I still cling to some things I grew up with: I say "washroom," for instance; the letter "u" has popped back into my spelling; the expression "eh" may even find its way into a comment (though I NEVER uttered that verbal tic when living in the Great North; it's now entirely deliberate).

When I first moved here, I also made some sort of nod to our Canadian Thanksgiving, which takes place during the American Columbus Day holiday.  Maybe I wouldn't exactly cook a turkey, but I'd remember our Thanksgiving and raise a festive Moosehead. 

This year I don't even have time for beer, with increased demands at work and chauffeuring duties for children.  But I did have time to imagine a pretty side dish, inspired by the colours in these gorgeous photos from October's Vogue.  They're the ingredients for my butternut squash and cranberry dressing, with a dash of blueberry.

As gentle readers may note, I also grew up saying "dressing" instead of "stuffing"--and I like this distinction.  I'd rather dress a turkey, and dress one's own self, rather than stuff them both.

Back to School with Alfred H

I popped in to J Crew's end-of-summer sale last week, really too late to have much of a selection, but timely enough to scoop up a pencil skirt in "natural"--kind of an antique/winter white and a very lightweight merino pullover (silhouette below) in a prettier colour (vivid aqua, pictured further below). 

I plan to wear these with my berry pumps in the classroom, for a sorbet Hitchcock look.

Quilting by the Pool

Last night I completed a quilt top, and took a photo of it today, sunning itself by the pool. (My iPhone's smarts do not capture how vibrant the colours are; click on the image for a better idea.)

It's a log cabin variation, with two traditional cabins (in untraditional colours) in two corners and kind of a bento box, or maybe a loft log cabin elsewhere (all that space reminds me of a loft).

I made my quilt top mostly from my scrap bag--there's fabric from Amish country; lots from my beloved Liberty of London; some from 7th Avenue's Fashion District, circa 1997, when I wanted to start a neckwear line; and one piece from a generous student.

To continue my "lofty" thoughts, I'll get a proper backing fabric from Purl Soho (whose neighbors include lofts aplenty) and then quilt.

Or I may simply tie knots in the colourful fabric with embroidery floss (burying the ends, bien sur)and may embroider/quilt something on the linen-y sections.

Or who knows? I know better than to plan ahead when making something; I prefer to let the piece unfold as it likes.

Manolo, Madewell, and the Day's Eye

En route to Matilda The Musical, my daughter and I stopped in to visit the Manolo Blahnik boutique opposite MOMA's Rain Room. (The lines!)

There were no lines for Manolo's shop, though, which is a long, slender space, much like the feet he fits in his gorgeously detailed, but frustratingly narrow designs. As I looked at each desirable shoe, I felt it was made for a flower fairy, with feet like a dainty willow leaf, not a Canadian maple.

And there was much "alas-ing" and wringing of hands, because the daisy boots above would have looked smashing with my yellow eyelet Madewell shift. 

"Daisy" derives from "the day's eye," or the sun, and my Madewell is the sunniest of colors, but with a welcome hint of acid to make it less sweet. 

It is not, however, Styledwell in this stock photo, as is an ongoing problem with this brand. I don't add a belt to my dress, which gives a cleaner line (it has a defined waist), and wouldn't select this rugged leather if accessorizing.

It also struck me chez Manolo that many of his shoes seemed to have a le cirque theme--scallops, vibrant color combinations--that were perfect for a Matilda attendee, with its acrobat and escapologist characters.

While it might take some acrobatics to fit comfortably into a Manolo shoe, I can still enjoy them from the orchestra level.

Pump Up the Jam

Berry jam, to put a fine point on it.

Context: sometimes when I look in my closet, I want something classic to wear.  And then I realize that 99.9 percent of my shoes have crazy shapes: shields, straps, zippers, grosgrain ties, etc.  I have only one pair of pumps, in a tobacco brown, with a dangerously pointy toe. (Dangerous for me, because I have to lift my feet higher than usual while walking, lest I trip over my own shoe.)

Fortunately I want classic only sometimes, because it's obviously not forthcoming.

Last year, for my birthday (back in June), Mr. C bought me a pair of the Duchess of Cambridge's favourite L. K. Bennett nude platform pumps.  They were hideously uncomfortable, like jamming my foot into unyielding cardboard.  Back they went. 

That kind of jam I did not like.

The kind of jam I do savour is berry, which is also the colour of these Bettye Muller pumps.  They have a hidden platform for comfort and height and traverse the worlds of crazy shape and classic well: they're classic shape in a crazy colour.

Two Berry; the new Blueberry?

So berry is my new neutral, as I plan to wear these pumps with anything and everything this fall.

That Magical Red Dress

The "Stop Staring!" red dress by Billion Dollar Baby continues its TV dominance as Voice contestant Sasha Allen wows the crowd with her singing AND her chic.

That sounded very press-release-y, which this post is not, but something about That Red Dress makes people gush with excitement.

We first saw it when Nigella wore it in promos for her new cooking competition (looking unsettling like Liz Hurley in this magazine shot):

And more like herself here:

The dress fits women with curves, which is why I'd say it failed when New Girl Zooey Deschanel wore it:

It comes in other colors, like pink and elegant navy, but red is the showstopper:

Wild Horses and the Caves of Grand Central

Maybe Grand Central doesn't *really* look like its arches lead into caves, but a Cave is making a stunning impact on the terminal.

Nick Cave, the artist I most recently admired for his splash of turquoise (!), has fashioned a gorgeous team of thirty horses to visit and perform in Grand Central from today (March 25) through March 31.

The turquoise on Mr. Cave's shoulders thrilled me.

These dancing ponies express themselves so well:

S'trooth, Chartreuse

Well, yes I am copyediting a Shakespeare play, as if the antiquated term in the post title didn't give it away already.

But more than a means of showing off, it captures my current feelings for the colour chartreuse.  The other day I was browsing through the massive book The Editor's Eye and found a black-and-white photo of a voluminous dress (from the back) that I loved because of how the photo highlighted the drape of the fabric.

One of my long-term goals is to make dresses--not to wear, but to hang on my walls--and the dress in this photo would be a good candidate.  It reminded me of a dress from a Vogue magazine published in what I believe to be the early 90s--the photo was an intense close-up of some beautifully draped chartreuse fabric that was, if I recall, a Grecian-inspired dress.  As I didn't keep a clippings folder back in the day, the photo remains in my memory, and I mean to locate it, with a good long library visit one week.

Chartreuse is one of those colours that's difficult to wear: the shade has to be Just Right for one's skin else we look frightfully sallow.  But when it's on, it's on.  This dress by John Galliano worn by Nicole Kidman is not my favourite, but it's received lots of critical acclaim.

However, this dress by Jason Wu, worn with these ultra violet shoes, is my cup of tea.  And the dress in the 1961 Bert Stern photo, far above, just calls out for a cocktail.  A martini, perhaps?  S'trooth, not shaken?

Clutching at Liberty

Gentle readers may remember that I adore Liberty of London fabrics. I use it in quilts, bunting, accessories, and sometimes buy clothing in Liberty prints. 

I think I prefer making things out of Liberty to purchasing items fully assembled, but I have been eyeing two new J. Crew spring pieces: the clutch above and the shoes below.

The clutch print is on a myriad of J. Crew items, from trousers to a skirt to a shirt and a scarf, but I prefer the clutch for its shapelessness, if you will.  There's no darting, no seaming, no scrunching, just print. 

And this print can come across a tad too yellow in a garment, so the clutch is perfect.  It's kind of a Miss Rumphius-in-a-hothouse look.

(The bad news is that the clutch comes with a beyond hideous chain and matching fabric shoulder pad.  Tuck in the chain or remove it.)

I've known the print on these shoes for a good fifteen years, at least. 

I've used it in a quilt and still have some of my original stash tucked away.  I don't pull it out any more, because I prefer different colours now. (These colours remind me of the "old" days, when Liberty was less available in the United States and I'd have access only to pre-cut bundles.  How I looked forward to and treasured those bundles!)

But on a pump this print catches my eye again.  Anything too bright would be annoyingly playful; these pinks and blacks have a measure of sophistication.

Do gentle readers have any favourite Liberty prints, items, or garments?

To a T (T Magazine's redesign)

I love the look and the content of the new T Magazine. 

My editing class is studying typography right now, and the clean, modern "T" with an appealing depth seems much more elegant than the olde scripte T of yesterday (though I really did LOVE how various artists interpreted it in each issue).

But maybe what I like best about this new T is its colour (in this issue, anyway).  This pale pinky pewter reminds me of, say, the jacquard cushion on a lady's antique vanity chair, an old-school powder puff, perhaps.

And I like how T followed through with variations on that pink throughout the issue.  The gently powdered face above, the pink of the sash-as-scarf suits me, to a T.