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Venturing Out

This past weekend G and I went out to a symphony concert. We had a lovely time and we are both eager to go again. I am looking into getting a subscription for next year, and we are also buying tickets for a chamber concert this coming weekend.

The main work was Gustav Holst's The Planets, and quite frankly I was surprised to find G eager to attend. In the past he looked down at the work as a form of "classical for the masses". In this case I think that hearing something too often does the original work no favors as one becomes inured to its joys. G however has lost most of his previous associations of things including his memories of bad performances of popular symphonic works performed by second-rate orchestras. For this I am happy, as the concert was truly lovely and the piece was well played.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra could not compete with the New York Philharmonic on a good day, but I might argue that I've heard some sub-standard Philharmonic performances and Knoxville's Orchestra could at least hold its own. But it has been a few years since we have heard the New York Philharmonic and our only basis of comparison would be the American Symphony Orchestra and I would say the Knoxville performance was far more enjoyable than any symphonic performance we have heard at Bard, either of the ASO or the Bard Symphony Orchestra. The music was, in fact, far better than we expected, considerably better than The American Symphony Orchestra which tends to be muddy and to overplay the accoustics in the theater, which does not help.

Also performed was a piece by Aaron Jay Kernis, Musical Celestis for String Orchestra which was quite lovely, and a Concerto in B Minor for Viola and Orchestra purported to be by Handel, but actually composed by a French violist named Henri Casadesus. Neither of us recalled having heard this piece before and it was quite beautiful and well played by violist Mary Persin, whom we have heard play many times in the Biava Quartet, but never as a soloist.

On a completely more shallow note, I was happy to see that people actually dressed for the concert, something that did not necessarily happen up at my country abode. In fact I fell squarely on the underdressed side in a simple gray skirt, gray sweater, tights and black flats. This had been deliberate after we attended a choral concerts where I had been dismayed to be conspicuously overdressed for the occasion while most of the audience seemed to be wearing jeans or chinos and fleece jackets. Really I find it much easier to dress "up" than "down". Even after years of semi- then full retirement I still find casual to be be difficult. I am happy to know that there will be events where I can occasionally pull out a nice dress, perhaps even lace, and dress up occasionally.

March 27, 2012
Finding a Thread of Consistency in Everyday Style

It struck me, as I was whiling away a little time with virtual shopping and clipping last week, that there should be some kind of connection between the things I dream of making and wearing and the things I actually wear. In short, my virtual wardrobe might fit occasions I don't attend in my actual life, but it should look like it actually belongs to me, or, conversely, my daily wardrobe should in some way look like it belongs to a woman who could wear the items I clip.

It also struck me that this has not particularly always been the case, although I think I have managed it more consistently since I have moved to Knoxville. I am however still finding my way, sorting through the things I brought with me, thinking about what I want to wear now, and yes, just throwing on clothes and trying to get out the door.

Sometimes I think it works, othertimes it doesn't. Here I am in the dressing room at Belk (about to try on an Eileen Fisher blouse) feeling casually pulled together, stylish, and confident. This outfit "fits" as did the rolled up jeans with the checked shirt and the white/black suede cap-toed flats,I showed you a couple of weeks ago. That woman would also be comfortable in the clothes I clipped in my inspiration files.

However, at other times I pull together an outfit but somehow the pieces don't mesh nicely with some invisible but still ever-present sense of self. For example, last week, the tee, skirt, clunky sandal combination did not work for me in that although I loved all the pieces individually, I somehow felt "outside of myself" when I was wearing them. When I look at my inspiration pages, I see no connection to that woman in the blue skirt. My dream self would not wear that outfit, although she would definitely wear the skirt and tee with other pieces.

So this whole wardrobe idea encompasses more than just clothes I love. The clothes have to play well together, in a way that reflects something true and constant about me. I can work with that.

I like long tunics and tops. Here is a top and chinos which I think work well together. I felt pretty good about this combination, although when I look at the photo I am not sure about the ankle length pants and the heel on the espadrilles, but that is a truly minor issue.

Next I tried wearing this more fitted and tailored blouse out over the same chinos, and I didn't like it at all. The whole look just felt and appeared sloppy to me, although part of the blame may be a combination of loose shirt-tails and flat espadrilles, which upped the sloppiness factor considerably to my eye.

I did however like the shirt when I tucked it in and wore a belt, even with the same espadrilles. And why not? When did I stop tucking things in? Oh, I know the answer to that and let's not go there; it is a part of the past. Besides, having finally found a pair of chinos that I like and that fit at my actual waist, why not take advantage of that fact and wear a belt?

In case you hadn't noticed from the blurry side view, and there is no reason you might, one week after beginning yoga and some mindful changes to my gait and walking habits, I am already feeling less back pain and standing up much straighter. I have to thank you all for your suggestions, and especially Duchesse, for her thoughtful advice which helped me find a good instructor whom I look forward to working with.

This post is a part of Visible Monday. Pop on over and see what else is going on.

Now for the gritty details:

picture 1: Green blouse by Lafayette 148 (purchased in February) worn with DKNY Soho jeans (2011) and Heavy Machine Sandals (2010)

Picture 2: White stretch cotton tunic blouse by Eileen Fisher (purchased that day at Belk) with Lafayette 148 (2012) and J Crew Espadrilles (2010)

Picture 3: More Lafayette 148 in the white blouse and the same chinos from picture 2. The green belt is from Banana Republic (2007 or 2008) and the espadrilles are by Diane von Furstenburg (2011).

March 26, 2012
Inspiration Week 2012.12

I started this post on Wednesday. Guess that says something about how this week has gone. Looking at clothes again is a good start towards eventually unpacking my fabric and setting up my sewing room, although a great many of the things I clipped are things I would never dream of trying to knock off, just things I think are beautiful and would wear in my imaginary life, unemcumbered as it is by the realities of economics, lifestyle, and my own physical presence.

Some of the things that caught my eye were just simple things. Dress with a lovely shape which shine when well fitted and made with quality fabrics.

Sometimes it was the fabric itself, combined with a simple elegant shape, that caught my eye. These aren't specifically ideas to copy, just things I love although they may serve as reminders and inspirations. The toile de jouy dress has a lace back, which would not be my choice, as I would actually prefer a more conservative version, with the lovely fabric front and back.

I love the way different laces were combined in these two dresses.

Rather than the fabric, it is the construction details that make these dresses stand out.

Did you would think I would save only practical pieces? Not on your life. Both of these coats are gorgeous and I would so love to wear both of them, in another world and another life of course. They are completely unreachable. But it costs nothing to save a picture, and dream, and be reminded occasionally of what I think is truly beautiful.

1. Valentino silk and cotton dress, here.

2. Yves Saint Laurent dress here.

3. Clements Ribeiro toile de jouy dress here.

4. Giambattista Valli dress here.

5. Bottega Veneta lace dress here.

6. Akris lace dress, saksfifthavenue.com (link no longer available).

7. Balenciaga dress here.

8. Comme des Garcons dress here.

9. Prada embroidered coat, from Prada Ad campaign, here.

10. Dries Van Noten coat here.

March 24, 2012
Reading Update

I mentioned last week that I had read Paul Fussell's Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, which I finished a few weeks ago. It is a book that manages to insult almost everyone in a rather snide and wickedly funny manner. It is also probably a fairly accurate description of class in America as it still stood in 1980. I'm not saying that class has changed in the intervening years, just that its expression is somewhat different now than it was then. I am sure Fussell would attribute some of this to proletariat creep in a population with much greater multicultural diversity, as well as the widening influence of what Fussell calls "category x". I remain convinced that class I still with us, although like everything else, it has evolved and perhaps become more convoluted. Even class X is suspect in my mind, not that I don’t believe it is there, but because I believe it is very difficult to completely escape the influence of class and it seems to me that much of category x is not so much outside of class as a special subset of the highly educated classes with its own sets of bias and anxieties.

Still, dated as I believe the book is, it is informative and useful in ferreting out one's own history and biases, some of which may be so well ingrained and a part of our very natures that we never really thought about their cultural repercussions. Reading the book also made me address some of my own issues, biases, and reservations about the move from our sequestered house overlooking the Hudson River to our planned community in Knoxville.

On a whim, I followed Fussell with John T. Molloy's Why Men Marry Some Women and Not Others, not because I am looking for a husband or even am all that interested in the subject, but because of a recommendation. It is an engrossingly quick read but also a good solid piece of social science research. I ended up being fascinated by the research and by the stats. Highly recommended.

Lastly, I just finished Dan Wells' Partials although I am afraid I was somewhat underwhelmed. Basically, my reservations revolve around the characters, even the main characters, who seem superficial and oddly character-less. The adults are extremely narrowly rendered, and they seem like shells of ideas. Perhaps this is intended, but I would hope that the few adults who survived the loss of everything they new would be more than husks of what I can only assume to be their former selves. But even though the younger characters were more fully realized than the adults, even they seemed more like shells, especially the protagonist, Kira. By the end of the book I was willing to conceded that this may have been planned, and that this incomplete development of Kira as a person may play into the development of the story and tie into future volumes, which, in turn, may make them more interesting. Still it is a long slog, getting through one volume in the hopes of a greater payout in the next volume. I am not yet sure if I am interested enough to read the next volume when it is released

March 23, 2012
Reflect, Reflecting, Reflection

Yesterday I actually managed to cross more items off my list than I added, enough that the list seemed visibly shorter. Today not so much, although I did managed to cross off three items while I adding only two

One of those items was finally getting a mirror, which is now leaning against a wall in the guest bedroom, still in its box, although fully functional. Here I am checking it out immediately after bringing the mirror into the house wearing items that have become basics in my wardrobe since moving to Knoxville. Although I had a couple of these pieces before moving, I probably wouldn't have worn them together before, I don't know why. Perhaps I just fret less now.

Elieen Fisher tee (2012)

J Crew Skirt (2011)

Michel Kors platform sandals (2011)

I am not convinced that having the mirror will change much in terms of how I am dressing. I feel like I have explored style and expectation and now I just want to get dressed. Sometimes I'll get it "right" sometimes I won't, although the mirror will help me discern when things are way off, not that anyone else would be as critical as I myself tend to be.

Having a mirror will certainly make it easier to take a full length photo, even with stacks of paintings still stacked up against the wall in the background. I still think I find the camera more telling. Something about the flattening and two-dimensionality of the photographic image, even a photo of me looking in a mirror, seems to impose a layer of separation between me and the image of me. In the mirror I am far too prone to see my expectations of myself. It will be useful however, when I start looking at the various items in my closet that I am not yet wearing, trying to weed out the keepers and the losers.

March 20, 2012
Singles Scene

One plus One does may equal Two, but does not necessarily make a pair.

To Wit:

One Sock. Started in January. Abandoned in February. Restarted in March (last weekend) and finished.

Another Sock. Started in February and finished in early March.

When I went to Texas last month I intended to take my knitting with me. The blue sock, which is the first half of a pair for G, was just at the point where it was getting fun again, where I was about to start turningthe heel. I didn't realize that I had left it home until I was already at the airport. No problem, I thought, I can not knit for 4 days.

Wrong. Saturday, when we were at mom's old house, which happens to be fairly near The Woolie Ewe, I convinced her that I needed yarn. I managed to restrain myself and only buy one skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock and a set of size 1 double-points. Enough to have something should the urge to knit strike. It did, briefly, although I only knitted about 2 inches during that trip.

When I got home I was too intrigued by the Noro colors to go back to the blue sock so I continued knitting my own sock. I am still not getting as much knitting time in the evenings as I did in the hotel, or even back in Hyde Park, but I do manage to get an hour several evenings a week, and sometimes even two. I discovered the series Lie to Me on Netflix and I've been watching it when the opportunity arises, and knitting as I watch. When I finished the Noro sock, I immediately went back and finished G's first sock. I finished season 1 of the series, and the second sock, last night. There was just enough time left in the final episode to cast on another sock, and I opted for my pair, using the Noro yarn. We are set to continue, the sock and I, later tonight.

March 17, 2012
Down and Up and Down and Up and Down and Up Again

This is the first day since I've been in the new house that I have accomplished absolutely nothing. Not.A.Single.Thing. Frankly, I am not expecting a big turnaround in productivity now either, although I am going to get this post written. I'm not expecting much.

I had big plans this morning, and then things just went a little haywire. And then we took a walk, G, his aide and I to the end of the street, and I continued on to make a loop about half-way out of my neighborhood and back, about 1 mile total. Not a level mile mind you, it is all up and down my neighborhood, from the top of my hill to the next and so forth. Most of my neighbors tell me they won't do it. They drive two miles to a nice level walking trail. But I did it for the first time this morning. And I just did it again this afternoon.

I feel good but tired. And old. I've been feeling old a lot lately and today in particular. It probably has a lot to do with a month of persistent back pain and the things you don't see in the dead frontal views I am likely to post on this blog when I post photos. The fact is that I pretty much always stand tilted forward now, and have for a few years probably, but it didn't used to be the case. And this affects so many things both physical and mental. It causes stresses on muscles and joints, my knees and my hips, and yes is the primary cause of my back pain. It also strains my view of myself because there are days when not only am I in physical pain, but I also feel old and deformed. It is not pretty. And it is these days that I need to pay even more attention to getting my hair right, to finding an outfit that I feel attractive in, regardless of whether it truly improves anything or not, when I need to spend time fretting over the things I can control in life, like eating well and yes, trying to get some exercise as soon as I can manage it. But those two walks may have taken everything out of me today, that and the thought that G has been particularly restless and I am not looking forward to an easy weekend.

I have no regrets about the surgery I had at 15. My scoliosis was bad, and there was no question that I needed surgery. My results were good, and frankly I've had fewer probelms than most. I am grateful for what modern medicine has done for me. But it is time to push forward. I probably can't make myself stand up straight again, as that seems to be beyond my immediate control and apparently a known problem caused by the particular type of surgery I had. But perhaps I can buy some time. Perhaps I can get stronger and control my pain.

Look. I did accomplish something. I walked. I cooked. I made phone calls, unresolved phone calls, but phone calls nonetheless. I looked up a bunch of articles on medical journals and through the Scoliosis Research Foundation. That did not make me happy. So now it is time to just rest and read. I think I will curl up on the sofa and read the new issue of The Gentlewoman which just arrived today.

Maybe later I'll iron or knit. Perhaps I'll hook up the grill, which also just arrived. And I just remembered what I planned on writing about today. Now that I think about it the day looks brighter already.

March 16, 2012
Inspiration Wednesday 2012.11

I've mentioned before that I used to keep inspiration notebooks filled with clippings of things that caught my eye. I still have those notebooks, and I have at least two boxes of clippings that never made it into any notebooks. Not surprisingly I am still inspired by many things that cross my path, but the keeping of clippings is more complicated now as see more and more things in email and on the web, but still also clip pages from magazines. I'm not quite sure how I am going to organize them all yet, but I have started compiling again. Do you have any ideas?

Anyway, I've started looking again, and many things captured my imagination in the last week. Some of them are things I might buy, most are things I think are lovely but would never buy, but may or may not eventually influence something I make. Some are just the starting point of an idea….. (in no particular order)

I scanned in this photo from Harper's Bazaar. I have no idea which month, I have a stack of them to get through. Blouse by 3.1 Phillip Lim. Saved because it is simple but I like the proportions and the layering of colors. This would not be such a difficult thing to make and this kind of layered look is good on me.

From the same few pages of the same issue of Bazaar I clipped several other dresses, all of which offer loads of ideas for sewing mostly classic and basic dresses with a little something extra.

In this photo I was primarily interested in the dress on the left, by Carolina Herrera, which appealed to me due to its classic shape, sophisticated color, and yes the textural interest of the band at the hip. Such a simple thing. Once I clipped the picture however I realized theat the Reed Krakoff dress was also interesting, although a bit more complicated of a cut. It is a wonderful example of a way to combine a print with color blocking in a way that both tones down the print and brightens up the simple dress. I would never buy either of these because the colors are wrong for me, but that is the nice thing about inspiration shopping. it's all about the dream and the imagining of the thing.

One more dress, this one by Gucci. Again we have the color blocking, this time with some lovely trim and a touch of metallic. The beauty of this dress is its apparent simplicity which is actually dependent on fit, quality construction and materials, restraint and a good eye. A great starting off point if one has the inclination and sewing skills, or a good seamstress. Quality will show here.

This feather print dress by Tucker was featured in a mailing from Bergdorf Goodman. I see it more as a tunic than a dress. I was not familiar with the brand and know nothing of the actual quality but they have some cute blouses that are actually meant to be blouses, as well as this tunic-dress.

Another tunic, this one by Cushnie et Ochs, clipped back in January and recently rediscovered as I was sifting through the photos ensconced on my laptop. I actually like the structure of this more than the Tucker dress, which I would never wear with the self-tie. But worn loosely the Tucker is more casual, more summery, and probably more suited to my current lifestyle.

This Choloe blouse was clipped for the eyelet detail inserted in the sleeves. Such a simple thing and yet I need to be reminded sometimes.

Speaking of blouses. This Andrew GN blouse from the fall 2012 collection is just stunning. The blouse is silk georgette. This is another great inspiration piece as far as I am concerned, although if you have the the inclination and the scratch it is available for pre-order from Moda Operandi in sizes up to a FR 50. I don't need formal or dressy clothes and if I were to indulge it would have to be something I made, being far more willing to spend my hours in hand work on something I love than in spending my cash. The skirt is cute too, described as a rayon & poly jersey, and I think a nice stable knit with some structure and drape would be lovely. I may even have a Marfy pattern in my stash that can be adapted to this style should I be so inclined.

Jonathan Saunders showed some lovely things in his fall collections, including this embroidered blouse, which I think has great potential although it is a bit boxy for me. I imagine delicate hand embroidery rather than machine embroidery and a more graceful shape. In the end my imagined blouse would be nothing like the original. But I love things with beautiful, feminine, embroidery that are cute or costumy. I'd like to save this should I ever pull out my embroidery needles again.

The same green fabric as the skirt was used in this beautiful dress. There are several princess cut dresses with full or pleated skirts and I think they are all lovely . Most are more appropriate for daywear, including a stunning red and black ombre wool dress, but this low cut version, which is more of an evening look, is the one that most caught my eye.

And while I am on the subject of evening wear. If I went out in the evening I would absolutely want to be wearing this dress by Carolina Herrera. Alas my gala evenings are a thing of the past. No inspiration here. I would not presume to even try and knock-off this dress, just let my inner diva strut around in it in my dreams.

Another dress, this one a variation on a classic theme, by Andrew GN. The dress is a knit, probably with structure. What appeals is the deep V between the breasts, so much more striking and seductive than the usual lace shoulders over a demure silhouette one usually sees. And the lace itself is stunning. If you are going out why not go all out?

Stunning fall skirt by Nina Ricci. Great idea for use of a pretty Riri zipper. I like the way the skirt is shown with the slightly boxy sweater and the matching blouse, a combination I would have put over tailored pants, but it gives the skirt an edge and makes it more wearable. I need to remember to be more bold in mixing pieces.

I clipped this Chloe add because I love the idea of the light floaty volume of these dresses. I think the style of the yellow may be more wearable, but it may be just my imagining, because when I look at the unstyled photos of models in online catalogs wearing these clothes they just look boxy and less inspiring. These dresses did remind me however of this Bottega Veneta dress that I clipped from Net a Porter back in January.

This could probably be lovely or completely unwearable depending on the fit. With its combination of knit and fabric sections I was thinking I could make a version of this that lived up to my imaginations. The more I think about it, those long narrow vertical strips look terribly boring and I might be pulling my hair out long before I'm finished. I will think about it a little longer. Surprisingly, I just checked Net a Porter and the dress is still available. Perhaps it is not as lovely as I imagine it to be, but then I'm not always a good judge of what will sell and what won't.

dress photo scanned from Bazaar magazine

dress photo scanned from Bazaar magazine

Gucci dress Harper's Bazaar magazine

Tucker blouse via bergdorfgoodman

Cushnie et Ochs via kirnazabete

Andrew Gn via Style.com

Jonathan Saunders via Style.com

Jonathan Saunders via Style.com

Carolina Herrera via Style.com

Andrew Gn via Style.com

Nina Ricci via the Emperor's Old Clothes

Chloe ad scanned from Harper's Bazaar

Bottega Veneta dress via Netaporter

March 14, 2012
A-Number-One, Yankee-Doodle-Ipsy-Pipsy

That was G's comment about dinner the other night. He amended it later to say that I should forgive him if tears ran down his cheeks but he was just enjoying his meal so much that he couldn't help himself. Pretty good, huh?

And what feast elicited such joyous rapture? It was hardly haute cuisine, but even I have to admit it was good, and by that I really mean GOOD.

I have been itching to make cheese enchiladas. Perhaps it was my trip home to visit my mom, where I do believe she mentioned her famous cheese enchiladas more than once. Perhaps it was also some little bit of cussedness that came out when I was reading Paul Fussel's Class: A Guide Through the American Status System because Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas, made with a combination of cheddar and processed cheese food (Velveeta), would definitely be non-u.

So I did make enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, but not classic Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas. Instead, I'll call them three-cheese enchiladas. In the decades since I have left Texas I have changed, and my tastes have changed, so my enchiladas, like me, were a hybrid

To begin with I didn't make traditional chile gravy. Traditional gravy is made with oil, chile powder, broth, and flour. I actually didn't know that at first. I always made my chile gravy with cornstarch, which I believe is the way I learned to make it, but perhaps it is not, perhaps that was just something I devised on my own those early years in New York when I was trying to recreate the tastes of home. Anyway, it came as quite a shock to me, years later, to learn that most Tex-Mex chile gravy was made with flour, because I never supposed it to be so, and I just assumed it was gluten-free. Truthfully however, I stopped making that kind of chile gravy long before I learned about my own gluten intolerance. By then I had read Diana Kennedy, and Rick Bayless, and started collecting Mexican cookbooks. By then I made my own chili powder, and made my chile gravy using dried chile pods in whatever blend suited my fancy, although always with a base of the Tex-Mex favorite, the ancho chile. Not surprisingly, my chile sauce started out with dried peppers, ancho and pasilla, which I toasted and pureed and cooked with broth to make a rich, slightly more complex red sauce with a nod to both the Texas tradition and its Mexican origins.

Now my memories of cheese enchiladas revolve mostly around the cheese. Perhaps these are the memories of a child, and as a child I was most fascinated by the cheese, but even so I recognize that it was the gravy and the tortilla that elevated the dish beyond just tortillas and melted cheese. Later on, as an adult I learned to love simple stacked enchiladas which were all about the combination of the tortilla and the sauce, with just a little cheese to accent the richness of the dish.

My enchiladas were a combination of these traditions. There was lots of cheese, three kinds of cheese: Velveeta, a youngish cheddar that melts well, and a fabulous Queso Anejo that I found in a local Mexcian market with its sharp salty funky goats milk flavor, pretty much combined in equal measure. But the enchiladas weren't all about the cheese. I combined the cheese with minced scallions, a couple of bunches worth, because the onions this time of year are a little tired. The tortillas absorbed the sauce, and I was generous with the sauce, so that the resulting enchiladas were a rich combination of corn, chile and cheese and scallion, with just a touch of crema that I added because the sauce came out a little spicier than I thought G would tolerate. Peppers, like people, can surprise you. You can't judge how sweet or piquant they may be just on outside appearances and have to wait until they reveal themselves.

So we had enchiladas. We still have enchiladas. A tray of enchiladas will make more than one meal for 2 people. And even though I was tired and stressed and making enchiladas takes time, I enjoyed the process. It was relaxing once the ingredients were lined up and I just moved my tortillas from through the various stages into the final dish. It was even more relaxing while they were in the oven and I sat down to rest with a glass of wine.

One day this week we will each have a single cheese enchilada for breakfast (how decadent) perhaps with Ox Eyes, which are eggs poached in salsa. Have you eaten ox eyes? I don't remember having them growing up, but I did have them when I was in college, during those summer days I was back in Texas between semesters. Oh my, I am getting hungry again just thinking about them.

March 13, 2012
exploring style through the camera’s eye

I rediscovered my clothes this past week.

Here are a few of the things I have worn over the past few days. Only the gray corduroy pants were in the suitcase I packed last December. If I had realized how long it would actually take me to get to my own things, I might have packed a little differently.

I have noticed a few things. First I still don't have a full length mirror in the house, for various reasons, and although I will eventually get at least one, at the moment it seems to suit me to not check how I look. When I had a mirror, I spent too much time wondering if something looked right. Now I can see enough to see if there is some gross fitting problem (head to mid thigh) and I can tell how my clothes feel on and that seems to be enough. I see my clothes. I think of how I would like to wear them and I put them on. I have started taking photos in lieu of the mirror, but often by the time I actually get around to looking at the photos I took, the day is over and it is too late to change anything. Although I am not always happy with the results, it seems that I fret less over my perceived imperfections becaues it is too late to do anything about it anyway. Besides, if my goal is to have a wardrobe of only clothes I love and which play well together without huge amounts of fretting on my part, this seems as good a technique for finding the winners as any.

The blouse and skirt were worn to two different choral concerts. When I wore the blouse out with the corded wrap belt I was overdressed, although I felt very casual. It was an evening concert and I took the small blue clutch (1998 or 1999) shown, only to learn that most of the audience wore jeans and fleece vests and carried big bulky daytime satchels. The picture in the bathroom mirror captures how I felt in the outfit (sleek and sinuous), the full-length photo how I actually looked, which is actually better than I had feared (not sinuous but not so bad either). For the second concert, when I wore the blouse simply tucked in with a belt. I was slightly underdressed for the audience but felt perfectly at home. I liked the simplicity and the structure, and the truth is that I could live in outfits like this, a simple blouse or sweater and skirt or tailored pants.

Running errands after church and before concert, I simiply switched out the blue skirt for the beige jeans and the pumps for flats. Truthfully I felt kind of dumpy, even before I looked at the photos, whereas I had felt very sleek and accomplished the day before wearing the same jeans with the checked tunic (one of my spring Lafayette 148NY purchases). I was surprised to see that the jeans and tunic looked better when I wore the jeans rolled up above my ankles rather than long, something I thought would make my short-for-my-height legs look even stumpier. The fact that the checked tunic is cut in an a-line rather than straight also probably helped, but I believeI could make the purple blouse work with different accessorries.

The gray outfit with the pinky-beige sweater is something I love even though tying the cardigan at my hips probably does nothing for my middle-aged tummy. Oh well, the fit my spirit anyway and spirit trumps tummy any day. These pieces have moved to the "keeper" end of the closet.

There are a few things still in boxes, primarily a few shoes and handbags. I don't have room for them on the very few shelves although I think I can accommodate them by moving knitted wool scarves and shawls and the heavier sweaters to another closet for the short term, until I at least make another pass at sorting what I have, need, love and want to keep. After that, I can do the necessary accounting and design a new closet system that will actually work with what we have, which in my case will probably always include too many shoes and sweaters.

If you want to see more posts from women who probably have much better control of their closets than I, head on over to Visible Monday.

March 12, 2012