Footwear eccentricity and my dream wardrobe. And bags!

Ah, that time of year again. Time to dream of and surf for new fall clothes! A few posts ago I said this:

Every year I swear I'm going to buy an all new wardrobe consisting entirely of solid-color clothes (no prints!) in neutral shades: black, navy, brown, ivory, cream, white, grey...you get the idea. It's never happened, but one of these years I just may do it.

While shoe-surfing the other day, it came to me. How fabulous would it be to wear nothing but leopard or other animal-print shoes? Yes, I'm completely serious. Think of it: A gorgeous wardrobe of neutrals worn with animal shoes in every style imaginable. This would be the prime year for such an eccentricity, too, because apparently animal prints are tres hot this fall.

If I were, say, JK Rowling (more money than the Queen and more fashionably flexible), that would be my signature look. Neutral color palletes and leopard shoes. You'd need a few shots of color of course, because who can resist all those deep, beautiful jewel tones that usher in fall? And think how a beautiful bag would pop against such a background...

Speaking of beautiful bags, here are three in one of my favorite color combinations, black and chocolate brown...

waaaaaay luxe - Louis Vuitton Delft Exotic in the new-for-fall monogram Mirage line, $8,250 (info - though not the picture! - snagged from The Purse Blog):

less luxe, but still gorgeous - Coach Chelsea Leather tote, $428.00, [11 1/4 (L) x 11 3/4 (H) x 5 (W)]:

waaaaaay not luxe, but still interesting - Gap Patent-trimmed leather tote $128.00 (14"x16"x4"):


I'm sure it's safe to say that I'll only be admiring the Vuitton Mirage from afar. The Coach, however, is singing a very sweet "Come buy me!" song that's hard to ignore. Even the Gap bag, in all its thrifty least-luxeness, would be a welcome addition to my bag wardrobe.

I've been looking at coats too (squee!) , and unlike last year, I've found quite a few that I'd actually spend money on. The first of many coat posts will soon follow. Stay tuned...

Today's bag: camel Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

Maternal influences can sneak up on you...

I lost my mother five years ago, and even now when I find something fabulous, I have the briefest flash of, "Wow, Mom would love that!" before I remember. I inherited my intense love of accessories from Mom, and believe me, if she were still around, she would probably have asked to borrow quite a few items that I've acquired since she's been gone.

When it comes to accessories, I'm like a bizarre, negative mirror-image of my mother.

I'm all about bags, she was manic about shoes. She loved pumps, and very nearly always wore heels. I'm crazy for flats!

I have more pairs of earrings than I can even begin to estimate, and she had one pair of nice gold hoops that she wore daily. Mom slept in her hoops, while I strip off all jewelry the minute I come in the door, wedding ring included. She had an intense love of perfume, and I can barely stand scented anti-perspirant.

Like Carolina Herrera, Mom never met a white blouse or shirt that she didn't like. I haven't cleaned out her closet yet but when I do, I'm going to count just how many white shirts she had in her collection. I found this fixation amusing until I realized, sometime during my junior year of college, that I owned about six white turtlenecks. I'd apparently absorbed the Wisdom of White by osmosis! I currently own at least ten to fifteen white knit tops in various sleeve and neckline configurations. Even now, typing about them, I'm itching to buy something new. Hmmm...

Happy Mother's Day to everyone, including those mothers like me, whose children have four feet and fur. :-)

Today's bag: You have to ask? My lovely new blue Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

Come to me, my beauty...

Oh, my goodness. Oh, sweet heaven. My newest Pierotucci arrived today and it's breathtaking. There's a depth to the color that I can't even describe; it's absolutely incredible! I took a few pictures earlier; sadly, they're incredibly crappy. Here's the best of the lot:

Needless to say, this picture in no way, shape or form conveys the gorgeousness of the color! I'm going to try again tomorrow in natural light (outside), and we'll see what happens. Also, the cool tones of the silver hardware complement the blue perfectly. So beautiful.

This Hermes twilly comes close to the depth of color in my Piero, though my bag is more on the blue end of the scale than the twilly. I am officially the world's worst photographer, but that's okay, because I have the best bags evah.

And by the way, is that scarf gorgeous, or what? I received a teeny, tiny unexpected little bonus-lette at work a week or so ago, and the twilly would make a nice little gift to myself. I'm mad about the aqua, but the black version would probably be a more practical choice, since it would work with more of my wardrobe. But I really love the aqua. But I should get the black one, right? But the aqua has green in it...

See the glasses on my bag? They're also new! They're Isaac Mizrahi, purchased at Target for 17.99 (link courtesy of Amazon.com):

Unless I simulatenously (or subsequently) win the lottery and lose my mind, I will never spend more than 25.00 for sunglasses -- I've lost or broken way too many pairs to justify spending more than that. There is one exception: RayBan Wayfarers, because I'm a retro traditionalist at heart.

Yessssssssssss, I'm thinking the aqua twilly. Perhaps. Stay tuned.

Today's bag: Michael Kors signature jaquard bag.

Color, take four.

If inspired-design bags make you weep, flee now and don't say I didn't warn you.

The following is my Philosphy on Blue. Because I'm apparently the laziest blogger ever, I'm going to copy the text from a mail message I sent to a purse-loving friend:

I'm really funny about blue. I'm not partial to thin, cold blues, but I love anything with depth. I love navy. I'm partial to blues with just a hint of green, or the kind of blue with a soft, creamy base (like robin's egg or Tiffany blue), and I love turquoise. This is why I have a hard time trying to find blue accessories that I really like, especially bags, because the shade has to be just right, and there are *tons* of shades that are just so, so wrong...at least to my eye. :-)

So...I've seen tons of blue bags, and I've even been tempted by a few, but I just couldn't find the one that truly spoke to me. Eventually I fell in love with the oh so lovely color known as 'blue jeans' and I was hooked. Pierotucci had my money quicker than you can say, "Gimme that bag!"

I ordered soft leather, 35cm, silver hardware. The silver should be lovely against the blue! I'm very excited.

This will be my fourth bag, and this one wasn't even on my wish list. It should be a gorgeous warm weather bag, and the blue will provide a bright pop of color against darker clothes this winter. Again, I'm ridiculously excited.

I've been planning lots of monotone outfits in neutral colors so that the bag will shine: khaki, black, brown, grey, white. This will be the first outfit: a crisp white shirt worn open with a white tank beneath and my black slinky side-slit skirt. Finishing touches include a trio of turquoise bangles on my wrist and a pair of silver hoops in my ears. Yes, I shall be fabulous.

Today's bag: camel Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

Color, take three.

Today's color is...grey!

I wore a highly unsuccessful outfit yesterday: heather grey sweatshirty material skirt, white mock turtleneck top, dark grey collared wool cardigan. OY VEY.

Overall, I think the proportions were wrong. The cardigan was a bit short for the length of the skirt, the top was the same length as the cardigan. All in all, a fashion mistake I won't make again! I'm thinking of adding the skirt to the "weekend only" pile; that's the second time I've worn it lately and realized that it's really not flattering -- at least not for work. For knocking around running errands, it'll be fine.

About the only thing the outfit had going for it was...

Yesterday's bag: Dooney & Bourke Medium Nubuck tote, in a darkish slate grey. It photographs a bit lighter than the real color.

I wore grey again today, an outfit that I always think looks good: dove grey knit dress, slinky chocolate cardigan, sheer black hose and black flats with a black/white dotted bow at the toe. It might sound weird, but grey and chocolate is a really nice combination. The dark brown is softer than black, and with the rest of the black and grey going on, it adds a subtle touch of color. I recommend that you try it sometime, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Speaking of shoes, I finally got around to buying the ones I mentioned in this post, the Target buckle-toed flats. Not quite half price but almost, and they still had the brown ones that I wanted! I had to go to two stores to get them, but it was definitely worth it. They're darling on, and the color is genius. They're a very, very dark brown, like bittersweet chocolate, like, chocolate black. I love them so much I'm tempted to get them in black as well, but I don't know if I need yet another pair of black shoes. Still, I love them madly.

Color, take two.

An addendum to my last entry: While cleaning out my mess of a mailbox, I found a copy of a 2004 email message to a friend - two years later, I'm thinking the same things! One positive though, is that I've calmed down on prints, and I'm buying solid things that will work with the prints I do buy.

July 02, 2004:

You know what I've always wanted to do? Every fall I want to give all of my clothes to Goodwill and start over with all new sophisticated stuff. But I go through my closet and think, "Eh, I might wear that one of these days!" Well, that's over. If I haven't worn it in six years, I think it's time to finally give it up.

I used to be a very bad shopper. I'd buy all of these gorgeous pieces that didn't work with anything else. Florals and plaids and things I couldn't mix and match. What kind of crack was I on? I've gotten better, still.

I want to start over with basics, everything (mostly) in solid colors. Black, grey, brown, camel, khaki, navy, cream, white. Red. Pumpkin, moss, mustard...all the deep, gorgeous fall shades. But everything should work together. I'm tired of having a closet stuffed with things that don't work together, and other things I haven't worn in ages and probably will never wear again.

I love twin sets. I'd love to have a whole rainbow of twinsets in fall shades.

Goodwill's doing a pickup in my neighborhood on Tuesday, and I think I'm going to do a radical overhaul on my closet this weekend. It's time to say bye-bye to a ton of stuff!!!

Today's bag: I'm on vacation! The Pierotucci is still loaded up, but I don't think I'm going anywhere today.

Color.

Every year I swear I'm going to buy an all new wardrobe consisting entirely of solid-color clothes (no prints!) in neutral shades: black, navy, brown, ivory, cream, white, grey...you get the idea. It's never happened, but one of these years I just may do it.

I bought a couple of t-shirts yesterday, v-necked, long-sleeved, with lace at the wrists and neck. Without realizing it, my t-shirt purchase fell right in line with my dream wardrobe of neutrals: one is cream and the other in a very pretty grey. I was quite pleased! Now if I can just keep it up.

Speaking of color and beautiful neutrals, I must mention my favorite Kate Spade campaign, and one of my favorite ad campaigns for anything ever: the Lawrence family visiting daughter Tennessee (from 2002).
Everything is absolutely perfect: simple but posh, upscale and classic. Look at the red bag and gloves with that camel coat. Check out the black and white bag with the red coat (cape?)! The black sleeves showing from under the cape with a touch of gold at her wrists. The black hat. It just makes my style-loving heart a-flutter! I want to find the stylist for this shoot and kiss him or her silly.
Look at Mom in that tapestry coat. Could she possibly be more fabulous? And I love, love, love that bag. Sadly, at the time I really didn't have the money for it; now that I have the money, the style is long gone. Oh Kate Spade, you make me cry with sadness and weep with pleasure.

Today's bag: Pierotucci Birkin-style bag.