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Category: Shoes

Monday Miscellaney

2021 has gotten off to a rather slow start here, at least in my personal socially-distanced bubble, but there are signs everywhere of new life about to burst forward.

I decided to reopen two previous blogs, the knitting blog, PurlsAndMurmurs, which I actually revived in December and the Sewing blog, SewDistracted, which I just started up again this month. My goal is to write at least three blog posts each week, one to each of the three blogs. I think this is possible, and will be good for me (yes this decision is all about me) although there was a period last week where I questioned whether I was being too ambitious. I suppose the question of ambition really depends on my purpose and intention; branching out actually seems to help me focus more on what I need and want these blogs to be, with less angst spent on what some part of my ego thinks they should be. The fact that I need to make progress in order to record progress also serves as a strong motivation to stop equivocating and start doing something, anything.

The blog is a record, a public record yes, but the writing and recording of it has always been as much about my own personal record keeping and the format suits me. Hopefully it brings some benefit to someone else, There are links to both blogs in the side-bar on the right of this post, but I have included them above as well. I have not yet decided about posting Facebook links, but it is a possibility.

I am behind on garden planning, and behind on planting as well. I have been unwilling to dig in the cold, and the somehow the sun has always appeared on days I am heavily burdened with other obligations. It will work out, and although it has been cold and damp, it has not been so cold that the shrubs are in danger in their pots. Again, hopefully simply admitting I am behind will provide adequate motivation.

A new computer arrives this week. This is a necessity as my old one stopped working in July. I couldn’t figure it out and eventually put it aside, which may have been a good thing. I have been working exclusively on my iPad since then, but the things it does not do well are beginning to weigh heavily. I spent much of last week trying to trace out the problem on the Mac and backing up recalcitrant data. At one point it appeared I might get the old computer up and running, but that hope proved short lived. It is possible that, in my oxygen deprived mental state last July I let something in which should have been kept out. No recriminations. Focusing on the computer, and the process of saving and consolidating has overflowed into a new organizational flurry which will continue for the rest of this month and until I get everything up and resorted again.

Amidst this flurry of administrative work, cuddles on the sofa with Poncho has been a necessary part of my winter rest and recovery phase and a necessary part of my own reawakening campaign. If I can’t yet fully get out of the house, I can at least make progress on getting out of “self”. When I adopted Poncho it was all about me. I needed a puppy to cuddle. But apparently at least some deeper part of my psyche realized I needed more, and I fell for this older, ill, disabled dog. I needed to get out of my own head and start relearning how to commune with other living things, to be attuned to their needs and to refine that dance through which taking care of others is also our path to taking care of ourselves.

Poncho is daily growing calmer and more confident. He is less needy and more cuddly and playful. So am I perhaps, certainly more open and more aware. I cry more easily, but I also giggle, dance, and smile. I am more outwardly focused. Last summer and fall took a toll, But, if we allow it, after any descent into darkness (or difficulty) there is a rise into light. Oh how I love metaphor, and ritual, not in and of themselves, but because of the way they refocus our attentions out of the self, away from the way we let the stories we tell ourselves blind us, and into something new. As usual, the more open we become, the more we allow change to blossom, to allow growth, the more we are able to expand, to focus, to be more ourselves.

Until next time…

January 18, 2021
Steady as she goes

I have been occupying myself with various small tasks, most of which are routine and mundane, but somehow take twice as long as they did when I was up and about more. One of those projects has been to start slowly sorting through my closet, examining both the things I brought with me from New York but haven't worn and the things I have been wearing but which may or may not fit now: physically, mentally, emotionally, in short questioning how the things in that closet relate to the person I am now, recognizing that clothing and style is completely frivolous, and yet also completely necessary for a species that cannot exist with protective cover. It is a very slow process in the best of times, more so when one can only stand in 3 minute increments. There have admittedly been some incoming items as well, things needed to fill basic gaps, plus a few extras. The problem with being flat on your back with nothing to do is that the internet is filled with temptations, and it is hard to limit one's looking to only the necessities. Luckily I am not generally given to perusing the shopping sites, and after a short spree, that habit has been contained.

For example, I knew I needed new black sandals; my everyday pair is three years old and unfortunately shows considerable wear and abuse, and that is not even considering the fact that the sole is broken down to the point that my back hurts every time I walk in them for more than 10 feet. The intention had been to replace them last year, but the shoes I wanted, a particular style of Mephistos, were already sold out in my far too popular size by the time I started looking in June. So I started early, at least for me, considering it was still too cold to actually wear sandals in early April, and I got a pair of shoes I love and can wear comfortably.

But of course, having time and a computer in my hand, I did not resist the urge to peruse Zappos' other offerings. After-all online shopping is easier than going to a store, although also more prone to disappointment, and shoes are the easiest things to try on when you are mostly flat on your back. So I succumbed to the siren call of this particular pair of Tsubos.

They have several advantages, the first being that they are flat, and it has been so long since I've worn a pair of heels that I wonder if I will ever return to wearing them. The boxes of heels in the back of my closet will probably be the last thing I sort through as I finish this process of transitioning from my old life and rediscovering who I am now.

They are also gray, which is much more wearable than black, at least in terms of my wardrobe. The actual gray of the sandals is much as it is shown here, although the turquoise is a bit more muted and not as shiny as it appears in this photo, taken from the Zappos website. Generally, muted is good and shiny not so good when it comes to my wardrobe, although a few too bright and too shiny things have managed to slip in. I don't generally worry as long as all of the clothes in my closet play well together and nothing starts to take on the role of a diva, refusing to work with anything else.

I am also rather partial the thick white soles which gives them a bit of a sporty edge which is fashionable now, and adds a bit of visual weight, perhaps even a bit of nerdishness to them, although perhaps that is just my interpretation. In my mind at least, nerdy-sporty is something of a good thing. especially when I can feel nerdy-sporty and perhaps even fashionable, while my feet are comfortable as well. If they aren't nerdy-sporty, or even fashionable, there is no reason to tell me, fashion is all a state of mind anyway, and my mind is is made up. Anyway they go with a lot of things in my wardrobe and seem to feel just right with the things I want to wear now.

Unfortunately that nerdy-sporty magic does not work with everything. The other day I tried wearing them with a light gray pair of jeans from Chicos that I got about 4 years ago. I think they were from the Platinum Denim line. I seem to recall that although they were called a "slim jean", they were never all that slim on my legs. The fit were more like a straight-leg, perhaps on the slim side, and certainly slimmer than the current crop of slim boyfriend jeans. I thought they looked good with heels and a loose sweater or layering, and they may well have. But that is not the look I am going for right now, and even if they did look good 4 years ago, they are definitely loose in the legs in a not so flattering way now, and also too loose through the waist, although they oddly fit pretty well through the hips.

It occurs to me that I could think of myself as having slim legs. To bad they're not slim enough to fit into a lot of pairs of boots, but that is another issue. They are at least slimmer than other parts of me, and that is good. The idea of thinking of myself as slim-legged is appealing. Four years ago I probably thought of myself as "fat-assed" which is much more self-destructive frame of reference. It may in fact be true, as my mother always told me I inherited the "Fehrenbach bubble butt", but (look a double but – nerdishiness is everywhere!) true or not, I am not extremely out of proportion, and my body functions as it should, for the most part, with the exception of this current hopefully brief interlude. The truth is that with age the bubble has deflated somewhat, and I never was and never will be dainty so what is the point of putting oneself down? I come from a long line of sturdy, bubble-butted Germans, and without them I would not be who I am or where I am today. My hips and my legs have served me well in my life so far, and I see no reason to give them a hard time, hoping as I do, that they will see me through many more miles.

As for the Chicos jeans, I feel no such obligation. Their time has come. They may in fact look good with my gray ankle boots, which unfortunately have heels, so at this point even their fate remains uncertain. But even if my heel-wearing days are not at an end, it seems likely that the gray jeans are destined to become a one-outfit diva: a garment of clothing that is so demanding that nothing ever lives up to its requirements, destined only to be worn out once in a blue moon when the weather and the right conditions all align in perfect harmony. Therefore there is no room for them in my life. I do belive that, should I feel the need for gray jeans, and the thought is tempting, that there exists** in the world a pair of jeans that will both flatter and play well with the other occupants of my closet.

And this it seems is the problem with holding on to things "just in case". Just in case never seem to actually happen. This is especially true when the items in question are clothes and the just in case is loosing weight or gaining weight or whatever. Styles change, times changes, how we feel about our place in the world and how we want to dress changes, or at least it should change just as we as individuals should keep growing and changing throughout our lives.

Now, I wasn't actually intending to save those jeans for "someday". The year before I moved to Tennessee was a rough year and my weight went down and up and down again that year, just as my stress levels went up and down and up again as well. I managed to sort through furniture and books and decades of accumulated stuff in our old house. But I couldn't sort through my closet because I was tired and overwhelmed and didn't know what my new life would bring. So I just brought everything with me, hoping it would sort itself out. Then the roller-coaster started up again and I threw everything into the master bedroom closet only to end up moving to the guest room and then upstairs before I ever had time to get settled anywhere. And the closet sat, pretty much ignored, until now.

In three years a lot has changed. In three years a lot should change. We humans aren't static. I'd long ago decided that there was no point in saving things up for "special". Everyday is special. Use what you have. Love what you use. Treasure every moment. And don't let yourself get dragged down by ugly pants.

** or shall exist for if they do not exist now, I shall make them.

photos from Zappos.com

May 1, 2014
A Little Friday Shoe Shopping

Here it is Friday already. Not only that Friday is half gone. That is the problem when your days all blend together, in some ways they slip through your fingers too quickly and before you know it they are gone and you have nothing to show.

Not that having something to show for your time is probably all it is cracked up to be. I suspect it is good to slow down; it is good for me to slow down, although I can also admit that my life at the moment is a little slower than I might have liked. But perhaps it takes time for lessons to truly sink into my thick skull.

The point is I can't say I have much to report this week. I've read one book, I'm 3/4 through with Churchill, I've done a tiny bit of knitting. I look at the mail far more closely and thoroughly than I did before; when you are on muscle relaxers and neurlogic medications there are times when looking at pretty pictures is more than enough to keep you content. Of course there is always the internet as well, but that is more dangerous, internet shopping-wise anyway,

I did however need a pair of flat back shoes. I've been putting it off for months, but now seemed like as good a time as any.

What do you think? Sorry about the not so glamorous cell-phone shot.

I'm inclining toward the pointy shoes on the left. They are both pretty, they are both comfortable. But I already have Varas, he version with the small heel, so I don't particularly need the same shoe in its flat, Varina, rendition. The pointy shoes make me feel a little more sleek, a little sharper, perhaps a little wicked. That's not such a bad thing.

April 11, 2014
Blue Suede Shoes

Yesterday I awoke to an overwhelming urge to wear blue suede shoes. Luckily I knew I had a pair hiding out in the master closet and so I wore them.

They made me very happy.

Actually, it was the hot pink soles that made me happy. I couldn't help but smile. I felt like I was walking on my own magic carpet of joy.

April 2, 2013
Alas Old Shoes I Loved You Well

I was going to put up another "essentials" post this morning, showing these favorite shoes, purchased in 1985 or 1986, and worn every summer since, but alas, when I went to wear them yesterday, I discovered that they were too small. This should not come as a surprise, I have written about how my feet have grown and many pairs of beloved shoes have been sent off to find new homes, and yet it was a surprise, as these shoes somehow occupied a sphere apart from that place in my head and heart labeled shoes.

The simple truth is that they are a size 8 and I am now a 9, sometimes a 9 1/2. How they survived this long is a mystery as I haven't worn an 8 since I was in my 20's but I do believe that perhaps they did indeed still fit during those many years where I wore an 8 1/2. But not now. My feet overflow them like Cinderella's evil step-sisters' feet in the glass slippers, and I've always harbored a tiny kernel of disdain for women whose feet are obviously overflow too small shoes. I can't join their sisterhood now.

They have a few dings and dents but are otherwise in good shape. I'm am sure they will find a new home. It would certainly gladden my heart were I ever so lucky as to see them walking down the street someday gracing a new pair of feet.

May 11, 2011
New Month, New Project, New Boots

I cut the first muslin from the blue fabric yesterday, and was happy to be doing it even though I had originally thought I would be so much further along this week.

I was feeling so proud of myself, telling myself "see you did work on more than one project in one month" and then I realized that yesterday was September 1st, and it was a new month already. So far I have managed two skirts in two months. I'm going to be daring and say that this month I will make two garments. I actually want to make more than that, but as we have seen, my record in that department has not been particularly good.

In the meantime I have done some more shopping. In fact I did more boot shopping. I wanted a pair of black ankle boots with fairly high heels, higher than the heels in the black boots I wore when modeling Avril, and those are mid-calf anyway, which I manage to convince myself is not at all the same thing.

As usual, I spent a lot of time in pursuit of the perfect boot. The fact that I was shopping online was not a time saver as there were so many more choices, and most of them were not quite what I wanted. Or worse, I would see something I would like, it would not be available in my size, and I would fritter away more time searching for other vendors. Bah!

I kept falling for a lot of fairly sophisticated "city" boots. Does anyone use that terminology anymore: city or country?? Anyway there were boots that I would love if we had a different lifestyle, a lifestyle I once had an may or may not have at some other time in my life. That part is irrelevent, the "will I" or "won't I" question, because the point is that I need boots with a heel that I can wear for my life now with the clothes that I wear now.

Perspective is always good.

I ended up with these boots from Frye. They are the short version of the Harlow Campus Boot and they are just exactly what I wanted even though I didn't know it until I saw them. They also make me smile because my first pair of Frye boots ever was a Campus boot, purchased my freshman year in college. I loved those boots. They were not nearly as sleek as these, but I love the idea that there is a campus boot for every age.

September 2, 2010
Boots

If you had told me a month ago that I would be buying green boots for fall I would have laughed in your face. I wasn't looking for green boots. I've owned green shoes, but I don't think I've ever owned green boots, and frankly I never really missed them.

And yet, I ordered a pair of green boots, all the while telling myself that I really wanted black boots, that I really wanted seriously dressy boots with killer heels, and that they had to be black, and yet…….

They are perfect. They are just what I wanted, although I hadn't realized it yet.

I love the fact that they look like hiking boots, except for that heel. And the heel is definitely a killer heel, but it is not too narrow, and the platform helps with comfort a bit. It looks higher than it feels on. These are shoes I can wear for those "I need a stylish pair of heels" days. And although they are not comfortable walking boots, I have lots of comfortable, practical, walking boots. Sometimes the soul just needs a little something extra, a little attitude, a little style, a killer heel. Yes, it is true; I am rationalizing a bit here, but it doesn't really change anything.

Although they can be laced to the top, I love them like this, with the tops folded down. In this form I can even imagine wearing them with a skirt and tights. I can imagine them with a pencil skirt and a fitted cabled sweater. In fact they remind me of a cabled sweater I had for 20 years in a deep dark olive, much like this olive. Unfortunately I felted that sweater last year trying to remove some impossibly recalcitrant stain. I consoled myself by turning the felted sweater into Christmas gifts, telling myself that the sweater was worse for wear anyway. But now, looking at these boots I wish I still had it.

The boots may be telling me that I need to knit a fitted cabled sweater in deep dark olive green. It wasn't in the plans, but sometimes you see something new and suddenly realize it is just what your wardrobe has been missing. Fabulous new pieces with attitude are like that; you add them to your closet and they make themselves right at home, making friends with all your existing garments. But it is not long before they start causing trouble, inviting all their friends to come in to play. And there you are again — shopping, sewing or knitting and finding you need things you never imagined needing. It is quite possible these boots are going to be troublemakers. If so, I'm up for the challenge.

August 17, 2010
New Shoes and Empty Spaces

Not that long ago, the shoe closet was bursting at the seams. No so anymore. In fact it is looking rather bare.

I finally faced the fact that somewhere between the winter after my 50th birthday and now (1 month before my 52nd birthday) my feet have grown and are not likely to return to their former size. Oh I realized they had grown; how could I not? I had to buy bigger shoes. Whereas my feet were a solid 8 1/2 in flats for 20 some years (since shortly after my 30th birthday), they are now quite solidly a 9 1/2, which is really not at all unusual for my height.

But I kept hoping all those old favorites would somehow stretch to fit my growing feet.

Finally I gave in and eliminated anything that was not comfortable. There are still a few pairs that are probably questionable, pairs that seem comfortable in the house and pull too strongly at my heart strings to be abandoned quite yet. The entire purge was traumatic enough. Yet the proof will be in the wearing.

Of course, I can't refill the entire closet right away, and I am not even inclined to do so. In order to ease the trauma of looking at a sea of empty shelves, it has occurred to me that I could easily convert this closet to accommodate shoes and handbags, freeing up space elsewhere.

In the meantime, there have been a few shoe purchases, mostly practical and functional and one more frivolous. I'll start with the frivolous pair because you can also see them up there in the shoe closet photo. (photo from Zappos.com) I love these shoes and they are comfortable to wear all day, at least in this suburban area where transportation is primarily by automobile. Besides, I am rather partial to cone-shaped heels.

Here there are on me during the great purge. It was nice to have something new to put on the shelves as so many shoes were taking their leave.

My other recent purchases have been completely practical; replacements of missing or worn items.

My favorite converse slips. I still get a thrill when I wear these without the laces. It is juvenile I know, but they make me happy nonetheless. Something happened to my pair near the end of last summer and it was too late to get the light color in my size. Just as well, I was probably somewhere between my previous size and my new size and would have had to replace them again anyway.

And another pair of converse. Lovely worn with "nicer" pants, they also work well with rolled up jeans. Yes, it is true. After saying I didn't like rolled up jeans, or ankle length pants on me, I bought a pair of converse and changed my mind.

A woman's prerogative, right?

May 21, 2010
The shoes of summer past.

I am still thinking about sewing, and thinking about clothes for fall, although it is still warm enough that the transition is more in "feel" than in actual garments. And all this thinking about clothes and sewing has actually inspired me to get the cutting table at least partially cleared of clutter, cleared enough that I can see the surface, and cleared enough that I had enough space to block a sweater. I might even have enough space to cut a new slip/lining for that maroon skirt, which is shamefully still sitting on the cutting table waiting for me to do something about the lining. Luckily, the color is good for fall, and I have more things to wear with it that are appropriate for fall than were appropriate for this past summer.

And the clutter should be a little more confined soon. I really do need to stop that habit of punishing myself when I get behind by piling everything up on my workspace. It is as if I have some mental taskmistress that is telling me I can sew when I get all my chores done, but I never quite manage to get them done. Enough of that!

But back to my current chain of thought. I have been thinking about clothes for fall, and I have ordered a few things that aren't here yet, and I do want to sew several things, including that pleated organza coat (and everything else I have written about here).

Part of the process of thinking about sewing is thinking about what I want to sew (organza coat, wool fused-yarn coat), what I need to wear (very casual) and how to work out some equilibrium between my actual and my fantasy wardrobes.

At the end of each season I do like to look back on what I wore the previous season because it gives me a kind of idea of where my life is. That period of reflection, along with a look at my calendar and my closets helps tell me what I might need or want.

It also always intrigues me that although I love reading the fashion magazines and looking at the runway shows, there is more or less correlation of what I wear with what I see/buy/make based on a wide variety of factors. Looking at all the fabulous clothes coming down the runway now for next spring reminds me of all the things I wanted to make for this past spring. But I have never been consistent about making something and wearing it in its season. Sometimes I wear it in a timely manner; sometimes a garment has to mellow in my closet a year, or even two before it is ready to come out and play. I never intend it this way. I always think I will wear everything I sew or buy right away. But I am too much a creature of moods. So I find "what did I wear?" to be much more interesting than "what did I buy?"

So what did I wear this past summer? I'm going to look at the shoes here as we all know there was little sewing, and you will have to trust me that the clothes were completely boring, basic linen and chinos and an assortment of tees.

As I mentioned it was a casual summer and several old favorites were in constant use. The blue Aerosole wedges shown up at the top have been a favorite since I bought them (how many years ago? 3? 4?) They make me smile every time I put them on. I will be heartbroken when they finally collapse from overuse.

Other old favorites were a couple of pairs of practical "comfort"
sandals, which I hope still have a little more style than the average
merely functional shoe. But even if they don't, one always needs comfortable shoes for wearing around the house with chinos and shorts. Since I rarely got out of the house except to go to the grocery store or farmer's market these shoes got lots of use.

But it wasn't all comfort and practicality:

I surprised myself by falling in love with some sandals I bought last year but never wore. In fact at the beginning of the season I was considering whether this pair had been a mistake and was contemplating selling them. I should have known better, I make few major mistakes, at least in terms of purchased clothes, anymore. I can't imagine why I thought they were too stiff and uncomfortable last year. This year they were pretty much the sandal I wanted to wear almost every day. Of course it didn't happen, shoes need to breathe and they didn't go with everything, after all.

What didn't go with the bronze sandals more than likely did go with these sandals however and these were the second most frequently worn sandals for this past summer. Oddly enough I didn't wear them last summer either. I thought the strap was too tight across the top of my foot. Do you think 12 pounds would have made that much difference in the size of my feet? I don't think so.

Whatever the reason, they were perfect this year.

One new pair of sandals made it onto my frequent wear list:

I bought these sandals early in the season for an obscene amount of money. I am rationalizing it away by telling myself that I bought fewer things than usual this summer, and I have worn these so frequently and I love them so much I know I will wear them as long as possible, even when they are completely out of fashion. I love the style, I love the purple heel, I love the thick almost industrial buckles at the ankle — I guess I should have taken a better photograph of those. And I can wear them well into fall. No dainty summery sandals these. I feel tough and pretty and in control.

Gee, that is a lot of pressure to put on a mere shoe.

And although I had little reason or opportunity to dress up this past summer, if I did, I made sure that whatever I wore had to go with these sandals.

This was another sale pair. I do sometimes love the way everything goes on sale right in the middle of the season in which you want to wear it. I think it is stupid, but I don't mind taking advantage.

Besides, it would have been a very sad summer indeed if there was no room for frivolity.

September 9, 2008
Still working

Here I am looking tired, still setting up the new computer and running the old computer on the cutting table. It is taking longer than I had hoped, not that I should be surprised at this point in my life, although the task is not so much difficult as time consuming, especially as I want to sort through stuff as I transfer. Computers, like houses tend to fill with stuff.

The old computer keeps shutting down on me, one of the frustrating issues that prompted me to get a new computer in the first place, and that prolongs the process. Today also we have had several thunderstorms and about 3 inches of rain. It hasn’t broken the heat any but the power has flickered on and off and I have lost the internet connection a couple of times.

Linking directly to the old computer was becoming too problematic so I am transferring the data from an internet back-up but the last batch of data hasn’t arrived. I don’t remember if I actually sent it, or just got everything lined up and meant to click send but didn’t either due to an interruption or absent-mindedness. It is also possible that I accidently clicked on the restore to CD option rather than the “restore to download” option. Silly me. I also did not think to order a copy of Adobe photoshop until after I set up the computer so I am waiting for that as well, but things are progressing. Of course some data requires manual conversion from PC to Mac format as well. Actually I am enjoying this enough that I wonder why I didn’t do it sooner. Of course, for a long time Apple was pretty much a dirty word in this community which revolved around IBM.

I haven’t spent all my spare time at the computer. I did shorten three new pairs of pants for DH and it was so nice to just sit in a chair and lose myself in the rhythm of the hand stitches. Even though I might prefer to make something new for myself, I can really enjoy just sitting down and listening to a piece of music and hemming. Frankly it made me happy to see that my newly serged edges and hand hems looked much better than the original ones that came on the pants — not that it is at all important, or that anyone will ever know but me.

Since I am also interruptible when hemming, I was able to get all three pieces done, whereas I don’t think I would have had such a long stretch of time in the sewing room. Don’t think that means I am going to get better at doing the mending though: there is still a huge stack, and I would rather just make new, unless it is a favorite garment.

I’ve been thinking about clothes and summer shoes, and not just because Materfamilias happened to post about sandals today. I have been thinking about the occasional post about shoes or what I am wearing or just what I am thinking about clothes and style as that also all channels into what I sew (and knit) as well. I find that I am have been getting more and more interested in clothes again, perhaps partly because I am either more confident (ha!) or just more willing to experiment with what I like with less concern about what other people think about my choices. I have been collecting more and more inspiration photos, and in doing so, and looking at clothing websites, I am also realizing that I am just not interested in making all my own clothes. I will still shop. People do things that I would never think of, and if I can find something that I like and looks good on me and fits (a lot of ifs, I know) I have no problem buying. And of course shoes are easy, because I am not going to make them anyway.

So today, even though I was home all day, I am just the kind of person who has to feel a little pulled together and ready to answer the door when FedEx comes or I need to run out to the Post Office. But since it was a casual day, I am just wearing a white tee and periwinkle cotton knit pants.

I actually made these pants in 2005 and this is an old photo. I don’t have Photoshop up on the computer and can’t figure out how to crop out the part of the picture I don’t want, and things are too piled up to get a decent new picture, so this will just have to do. They have held up really well, look practically like new, except for perhaps a little fraying at the bottom of the hem. So I guess it does pay to buy or make clothes out of good quality fabrics. Even though these are cotton kni they don’t sag or bag and look just as nice as they did in that photo.

But of course, I had on accessories as well. The scarf is one of the first scarves I ever bought myself. I picked it up at a craft fair soon after I graduated from college. The silk is rather light and delicate and it has been hand painted, The colors seem perfect for so many summer things, and the weight is just right for the warm weather, so it remains a favorite. I actually don’t wear it all that often anymore, but when it do wear it, nothing else seems to quite work as well.

And yes there were shoes. I wore one of my current favorite pairs of casual, flat sandals. I bought these last summer from Thierry Rabotin.

I actually had qualms about white sandals. I hadn’t owned a pair for several years. But DH thought the shoes were very graceful, and they are. Since they are also very comfortable and go with so much, I am glad that he encouraged me to buy them. As you can see, they have had their share of wear.

July 10, 2008