The last few weeks in downtown Seattle have been unseasonably sunny, but they’ve also been unseasonably cold! Personally, I love it. I don’t have to worry about the rain and it gives me an excuse to layer. Yesterday I introduced you to this Lysle Style dress from Sassafras by pairing it with knee-high boots and …
You all know my love for history. I write about it in almost every post, whether it’s my personal history or some era in fashion. But you must also know that I would never want to go back in time. “The good old days” really weren’t that good for most people, especially women, people of color, the …
Happy New Year! A new year has arrived. It’s a perfect time to take stock of the past and put together a plan for the future. Since this is a fashion blog, I’m using this occasion to take stock of my closet. I got the idea from a fellow over-40 blogger, Julia from When the Girls Rule. She asked readers …
It’s that time again when the ladies from JTouchofStyle join me in a Fab Collab. Over the coming week we’ll be celebrating Christmas together by sharing holiday memories and clothing we wore for the occasion. My story kickstarts the celebration, but I hope you’ll come back to see Jodie’s, Nancy’s, and Charlotte’s stories too. As many of you …
The year Kurt Cobain died I quit my job in advertising and became a nanny. His death had nothing to do with my leaving advertising for nannying. They just happened to occur in the same year. It may come as no surprise to regular readers, but the King of Grunge didn’t impact my life much back then. It feels …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The starlets of the 1930s loved their jewelry. Pictured above, 1930s actress Myrna Loy appears to be dressed casually but her bracelets are the stuff of red carpets today. When it came to jewels and accessories, the rich and famous in the 1930s believed in the old adage that “more is more.” Even as the rest of the world struggled …
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. …