Overalls

The last time I wore overalls, I met a friend for dinner. This friend is a stylist and has seen her fair share of strange and unappealing clothes. Her reaction to my toddler-inspired outfit was, "Do you have your period? Is that why you're wearing that? Does your husband think you're cute in that? Doesn't he object?" 

Eliciting this type of reaction is part of the fun of having dinner with said friend (and intentionally wearing things I know she will think are the anti-chic). But it raised an interesting question for me that I pondered for about 2 seconds. Does my husband think I look cute? Does it matter? 

Of course, it should matter and I want him to think I am cute. But I ceased to consider what he thought of my looks around the time that I worked for a dotcom 12 years ago and went to work unwashed (like all my colleagues) wearing my then-boyfriend's giant fleece jacket and belted shorts. This was not an attempt at a borrowed-from-the-boys cute oversize look. My husband weighs approximately 100 lbs more than me - his clothes on me create a girl-drowned-in-fabric look. I went from the dotcom to Vogue and other extremes of not easily digestible clothes (like the calf-length Balenciaga swing dress and Herchcovitch blazer I wore to my husband's friend's wedding. Cue the puzzled looks). 

Why don't I think about my husband's opinion? I know he doesn't really care, but I also know that it's a non-issue. Why is that? Have we been together for so long that we don't make an effort anymore?  Or worse, don't care either way? Am I so secure in the knowledge of his love for me that I think he's blind? I know he thinks I'm pretty. It bugged me for a second or 2 but then I realized that he usually sees me at home, where I usually just wear black underwear and a camisole. I think he's okay with that.

Is Putting Clothes On the same as Getting Dressed?

I recently had a baby. Well, is 36 weeks still considered recent? Really, I have had some time to adjust. There are many things about having a baby that have affected/changed my choices in clothes:

1. My body has changed.
2. I expect to be spit up on multiple times in a day.
3. I don't want my son to be held against scratchy or hard fabric/materials.
4. I have to take my top off all the time to breast feed or pump.
5. I'm tired, so I really want to be comfortable now and as my own boss, I often indulge that impulse.

The list goes on, but those are my top considerations. But are these considerations or excuses? This past Saturday, I saw the iconic Bill Cunningham at the Union Square Farmer's Market. Each of the 5 times prior that I recall seeing him on the street, he has always pointed his camera in my general direction. Granted, I've only seen my picture in the New York Times once (many, many, many, many years ago), but if he shoots in my general direction, I can pretend to myself that he sees something of interest, if not on my person, then at least in my general direction. On Saturday, we made eye contact and then he turned away. My general direction was completely shunned.  

Below is my uninspired Saturday lewk, sharing space with my awe-inspiring little man.

Age Appropriate

I work in fashion. I live in New York City. I'm nobody's style icon, but most people who know me consider me to be fashionable. Some of those people might not actually like what I wear, but maybe because I work in fashion and have worked in fashion for many years they would accept the idea that I am well-dressed. But well-dressed can be held to so many different standards.

Something I've begun to consider (but have not acted upon) is dressing well for my age. I feel my age a lot more now as a new mom. And I think about it every now and again when I see friends and acquaintances from my old life as a magazine editor. They look much more pulled together and polished and in some ways alien. 

My current lifestyle makes heels, dry-clean only fabrics and well-thought out accessories feel indulgent and unnecessary. Anything tricky or cumbersome (and I'm not just counting molded neoprene and statement clutches, that description also includes things like simple jewelry my son will yank on and anything that requires a bra) is unwelcome. But pared down and "easy" has somehow morphed into sloppy fast fashion mixed with clothes from my own line. 

This point was driven home recently by the appearance of a new intern in my office. 16 year old Lilli from Los Angeles wore a hand embroidered, 1920's silk kimono to work with an ease and elegance that defied her age. I, on the other hand, wore on the same day a pair of $9.99 American Eagle denim cut-offs and flip flops. 

Shy and Retiring

Fashion's not really a business for the shy and retiring. If a look at the street style blogs from the past month of Fashion Weeks is any indication, fashion people love a big, bold look. And it's not just about looks (of course not), with the relentless pace of this business, the increasingly crowded market and steadily rising prices in raw goods you have to practically scream (metaphorically) to be heard by your customers and vendors. By nature, I'm not a screamer (metaphorically or otherwise) so it's fighting nature everyday to fight to be heard in this business.

So, it made me smile this morning to rediscover this birthday card my parents (really my mom) sent me last year. I'll give you 1 guess where I come by my nature...

Mo Marina

Before we move onto Spring, some more Marina!

Pre-Spring Fever

Here's a behind the scenes look at the Pre-Spring look book shoot! My brain's a little fried, so this will be mainly a pictorial post. Special thanks to Marina Munoz who pulled double duty as our stylist and model, and to Terry Gates, our photographer! See the finished results in store now and on our website. All blog photo credits: Stephanie Tranimal Kingdom.

The Glamorous Life

Monday night, I attended the Glamour Magazine Women of the Year Awards at Carnegie Hall. It was a really fun night - at times funny, heart-breaking, inspiring and very glamorous. You can read all about the amazing honorees in the December issue of Glamour (yes, that means go buy it), so I won't go into too much detail here. But the highlights for me were Gloria Steinem, Cindy Sherman and Esraa Abdel Fattah.

The night made me think back on my college days (so, so long ago) and the seeming contradiction between what I studied (Religion and Women) and what I wore (before the siren song of gravity and french fries had their way with my abs, I never met a sheer top I didn't like). Are you less serious if you are glamorous or want to feel pretty/attractive? I think sometimes women are made to feel there is a choice between the pursuit of intellect/good works and the pursuit of beauty. Was worrying about my freshman 15 unworthy of me? I thought so at the time.

One of the honorees Monday evening made light of some of the lighter topics covered by Glamour and, in my opinion, implied that despite the good works of highlighting 13 accomplished and inspiring women, Glamour panders to a lower common denominator. The joke seemed a little forced and heavy-handed.

Some of the smartest (scary smart) women I know, are the most beautiful and glamorous (and I'm not necessarily talking about inner beauty). There's nothing wrong with that.

On a lighter note, those of you who read my blog regularly (hi mom! hi Chud!) may recall that I had a fashion dilemma about how to dress for a glamorous evening when 36 weeks pregnant. This is what I wore on Monday:

Spring '11 Knot Trench - with Helmut Lang stretch cupro dress, Chanel open toe boots and Chanel evening bag.