Now that we’ve turned the clocks back, the sun sets around 4:30 in Seattle. From where I sit, the bottom of the sky is pink, the water and overhead sky are steel, and the hill rising up from the Alki Peninsula sparkles with lights of people living past dark. Here in Seattle, early darkness generally means chilly evenings. To …
Great Gatsby on a Budget
Another Halloween has come and gone for another year. Did you dress up? I didn’t dress up this year, but it used to be something I did every year. These days, I put that energy into creating modern styles using elements from past decades of fashion. My goal is to create real style, something I would …
Time Travel in a Plaid Skirt
It all started with this skirt…. And then there was the Fab Collab on plaid that I did with Jodie and the ladies of JTouchofStyle.com. I got plaid fever, I tell you! But seriously, the skirt spoke to me from a place I visit often when I’m looking for thrifted inspiration. You may have heard …
Fab Collab: Fab in Plaid Over Forty
The Fab Collab is back! Jodie, Nancy, and Charlotte from JTouchofStyle.com have joined me this week to feature a pattern many of us associate with fall — plaid! Pretty much all of us have some personal experience with this classic pattern, even if that experience goes back several decades. For this collaboration, the ladies and I share our stories …
Mixing Prints in a Twirly Dress
Last week I took my first foray into the art of mixing prints. It was a small start–a patterned jacket combined with a patterned scarf, inspired by a look Marlene Dietrich first wore in the 1930s. The outfit itself is not one I would normally wear, though. It’s a bit serious for my lifestyle and personality. …
Leaping into Feminine Fashion with a Rebellious Spirit
Lessons of Feminine Fashion from Truman Capote Did you ever read the book Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Maybe you saw the movie? They were two very different presentations of the world Truman Capote created, but they both had a very feminine rebel at their core in the form of Holly Golightly. As I work through this month of …
Breton Stripes Kick Off “April in Paris” Month
Nothing says Spring like a Breton top. Each year, this long-sleeved striped shirt returns to clothing stores and catalogs as faithfully as pink blossoms pop out of the tips of tree branches. The design of it is somehow linked deep down in our minds to Spring. Because it’s such an iconic piece for the season, I’ve chosen it to begin this …
Fab Collab: The Ageless Appeal of Pearls at Forty-Plus
Pearls have been harvested and treasured for centuries. Ever since that first fisherman discovered the iridescent beauty inside the shell of an oyster, each generation has found its own way of wearing pearls. This week, Jodie and her crew from JTouchofStyle.com have been kind enough to join me in a Fab Collab to demonstrate how four decades …
Girling Up La Garçonne
If last week was about embracing my masculine side with the 1920s “tomboy” trend known as La Garçonne, this week is about going girlie on the guy look. Below is a photo of a woman who would fit right in to Coco Chanel’s La Garçonne era. Isn’t she gorgeous? I thought about recreating this look for my …
Let’s Hear It For La Garçonne
Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. ~ Coco Chanel It’s hard to imagine a time when women’s apparel wasn’t inspired in some way by menswear. Trousers, blazers, the button-down collared shirt, oxford …