As it goes, you may be wondering, “what does Paul Newman have to do with ANYTHING?” The answer is….nothing.
The answer is also, “I’ve been spending copious amounts of time on menswear blogs.”
Fall is around the corner, which means that an imminent refresh is coming. IT’S COMING. Fall means a lot of things for me, mostly that I can refresh my wardrobe and start dressing relevantly to the rest of the world outside of San Francisco. I’ll use this moment to complain one last time - during Summer, San Francisco secedes from the rest of the world and decides to exist in a misty, moist (I said it) and gloomy underworld where we’re all stuck extending winter’s sweaters and boots.
Fall, however, allows us to press refresh and once again realign to everyone else posting weather pictures on instagram.
To reiterate further, fall is a big, big refresh for me. In three weeks I’ll be starting a VERY exciting new job. Dreams are coming true you guys. And really, what marks a new career adventure [IN FASHION] better than some refreshed looks. REFRESH is the key word here.
All that to say, we’re on the verge of Fall and it’s time to start perusing possible purchases, even though the Barney’s ONLINE (!!!!) Warehouse Sale hasn’t even started yet.
Moving on to newer things, let’s talk about leather pants. This is a territory I really want to explore. If done wrong, the results can be catastrophic. But if done right with lots of layers and bulk on top, a sleek leg with a boot is CHIC for Fall. Two options here: $64 at Topshop or $1,700 for The Row. Obviously I already bought The Row pair. I bought 2.
No but really, I’m ordering the Topshop ones as soon as this is posted.
There are 2 things to take away from these Madewell Fall looks:
1. There is a 97% chance I’m going to start wearing a lot of menswear. No, this isn’t weird, this is good. I want to wear bowties on days I don’t feel like wearing necklaces. And since neckwear IS MY JOB NOW…I want to practice what I preach.
2. Big Ass Coats. This is almost a continuation of the leather pant situation. I’m really into the concept of a well structured, oversized coat.
See: Proenza Schouler and Rag and Bone.
Lastly, but obviously not last, 3 outstanding looks from Banana Republic’s Fall presentation. Really, these are fab. And I’m not just saying that SINCE I’LL BE WORKING AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS SOON. Boom.
In case you didn’t know, it’s Super Bowl week ladies - that’s right. Fashion Week is upon us. And it’s pretty damn hard to work all day long when I’m trying to catch up with the shows. The picture above of Nicki Minaj, Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington at Carolina Herrera this morning represents what an anthropological wonder fashion week truly is. (For more on that see this Times article.)
Before the heavy hitters…hit in the next few days (Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc, the J Crew show), here’s a throwdown of what I’ve liked. It’s not quite a review (expect that in the next few days). Nevertheless, here’s what’s inspired me so far:
Is this our best virtual friend walking in Rebecca Minkoff today??? Yes. Yes it is the Man Repeller, walking in a show. Marking a HUGE moment that emphasizes the influence of bloggers right now.
Tracy Reese - This may be the one collection so far worth checking out the entire thing. Super impressed.
Jenny Packham - always does me right. Sweet and simple and uber feminine.
DVF:
Donna Karan: Tribal to the max. Urban Outfitters is gonna copy the shit out of this.
Carolina Herrera: I would do ungodly things for that green collar.
Zac Posen: His first show in a few seasons with inspiration driven straight out of the 1940s. Every silhouette in this collection is incredible - so feminine and glamorous. Easily my favorite so far.
Prabal Gurung:
Vena Cava:
Jason Wu:
Like I previously stated…
not much of a review. I guess I’m just feeling lazy. Well, no, if we’re being honest…nothing TERRIBLY awesome here…I’m holding my breath for my upcoming favorites and the weeks to come in Paris and such. Ah, fashion week.
I’m not referring to this video, which if you haven’t seen then you should definitely check out NOW. I’m also not referring to the one time my friends and I dressed in our guy friends’ clothes and did a photoshoot dressed as them with their bikes, iPads and guitars (although that was awesome). And just to cover all my bases since I did just move to San Francisco…no mom. I’m not turning tranny.
But what a captivating intro to the purpose of this blog! If you read my last post, you’d know how much I wanted those green pants pants, which I went out and bought yesterday. When I brought them home I was surprised how many ways I could style them, but couldn’t help coming back this spread that caught my eye back in January’s issue of GQ:
And it occurred to me - while I LOVE being a girl and would consider myself pretty damn girly in every essence of the meaning, there’s something really fantastic about men’s style that I want. I think it’s the innate simplicity of the elements and clean lines that make a man look well dressed.
After all, the concept of being “sartorial” means well tailored, which can be traced back to Savile Row in London, which is famous for it’s tailors of traditional and elegantly cut men’s suits worn by folks like Winston Churchill and Napoleon III (Fun fact: MK & A’s line name The Row comes from Savile Row. THIS IS SO EDUCATIONAL!)
Either way, I couldn’t help myself: (please let me note how much I despise taking MySpace photos of myself, but I’m trying to prove a point and I don’t have a live in boyfriend photographer like most blogs so SUCK IT UP)
Look I’m a dude! I don’t look like a man right? Girls can have fun too!
I think I’ve opened up a box of worms. All I want to do is wear colored twill pants with oxfords. To go along with this, I’ve collected some inspiration from The Sartorialist (duh).
And if you really know me well….
Too far. I’m not bold enough to actually pull this off like our friend the Man Repeller. It’s too soon in life to start dressing like our dream guy. If that were the case, I’d be in bow ties and my BFF J would be in baseball jerseys. HA. Never say never though…I’ve said THAT once or twice…
IN CONCLUSION. Loafers. Colored twill pants. Clean lines. Simple elements. Let’s go girls.
PS: IF by chance you ARE a guy, don’t forget THIS old gem.
*I do not condone any of the outfits my homegirls are wearing in the photograph below*
Ladies. Women. Sisters/Sistas.
Someone asked me what my favorite blog was. This question, to me, is like asking Jesus who his favorite disciple is. Obviously it’s not Judas, but you get the picture. I can’t choose. But I will bear my soul to you and share my source of greatest style inspiration, because sometimes I get really sick of all the pretty blogs out there where everyone takes cutesy pictures of themselves in boring and predictable outfits.
Let me clarify: man repelling is not a state of lesbian-hood or extreme feminism (of which neither party I associate myself, but more power to you if you do). Rather, man-repelling is a state of fashion. Leandra, the Man Repeller herself, defines it as the following on her blog:
MAN·RE·PELL·ER1[MAHN-REE-PELLER]
–nounoutfitting oneself in a sartorially offensive way that will result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls, shoulder pads, full length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry and clogs.
You know how sometimes you get dressed and your like, maybe trying to impress that super hot guy you consistently run into and this completely changes your outfit selection because you think that he’d probably be more attracted to you in a low cut t shirt than your faux fur vest? Man repelling philosophy tells you: WEAR THE FAUX FUR. And so do I!
Not just faux fur. Wear things that don’t match. Color block Christmas colors (shoutout to you Laura Jane). Wear things 7 layers of clothing. Wear dropped crotch pants. Wear what makes you feel like YOU because when all is said and done, if I were to dress like a Kardashian, I would feel like a Kardashian. Maybe that doesn’t translate. But if it does then I think we would really get along. When you dress, dress for yourself and flip off everyone else who says otherwise.
So here’s to all of us girls out there who are never going to dress like Megan Fox. Let’s all wear bow ties and harem pants tomorrow. And listen to this song really loudly, especially that part that says reap just what you sow. I’m pretty sure that’s biblical, which ties this post together quite nicely because Judas is never the favorite disciple BECAUSE NO ONE LIKE A BETRAYER.
xoxo
can you tell im writing on minimum amounts of sleep and lots of caffeine? i hooooooope so :)
