It spoke to others about me, too: Meredith sent me the picture and said, "Thought you'd like this."
It's funny, when I look at it now, it doesn't inspire me nearly as much as it did. She is undoubtedly a beautiful woman, and I'd still likely wear that dress and those shoes. I love the effortlessness and the simplicity and I still wear outfits reminiscent of this (likely with a few more bracelets).
Just as I've been working this summer on creating a life I want, I've spent time thinking about creating the personal style I want. I have always been clear what I like and am very particular about clothing--fabric, silhouette, color, styling. There are some pieces that are just me and others, well, no way.
I've been particular since I was a child: my mother wanted to dress me in overralls and sweatpants and I insisted on dresses and skirts, all of which had to have pockets, and preferably were in the sophisticated colors of pink and purple.
My love of distinct style is part of my love of aesthetics and also of quality. I also credit the affinity to my close relationship with my paternal grandmother. She was an extraordinary seamstress and never left the house less than perfectly put together. She designed and sewed many of her own clothes and worked as a furrier when she first moved to New York from Vienna. I so clearly remember the smell of her vanity and the sound of her silks and furs rustling in the closet. That smell still reminds me what it's like to be a lady and the dresses she bought me on our yearly trips to Macy's remain hanging in my parents' attic--long outgrown but too precious to relinquish. My paternal aunt encouraged the tendency, too: my favorite activity when I went to visit her in Brooklyn--going to A&S (a now defunct department store where she once bought me a pink poodle skirt combination; I was maybe 10 or 12. Tragic).
In fact, pain points and aberrations aside (that blue lycra halter and pink poodle skirt combination are only a start), my person style is ever evolving as I grow and trends change. I love being a grown up now where the expectation of jeans/t-shirt casual is behind me. I love having the income (shhhh, business school loans) to invest in good pieces, especially jackets, shoes, and bags (though, come on, who can resist Forever 21 sometimes). I love having the confidence to experiment with clothing but still develop a look that is all me.
Even amidst this experimentation and development, though, I have never been able to point point or exactly define my style. I put time and effort into it and I know I dress well, or well enough (just the littlest effort gets you noticed, it seems). I am inspired by a lot of things but drawn to very particular looks (Giovanna Battaglia, Diane Kruger, Rachel Bilson, Olivia Palermo, though she also makes me want to vomit, Resese Witherspoon, sometimes) and designers (Bottega Veneta, YSL, Dries Van Noten, Prada, Helmut Lang, Costume National, Lanvin, Isabel Toledo).
So I asked Kira today, one of my most fashionable friends, what she thought, especially after rediscovering the above photo and feeling strangely disappointed. I think she nailed it: "You have a vintage vibe that is feminine but not flirty. It is that kind that has a sexy maturity to it. You are true to color and not one for the loud pattern but make a statement with unexpected shoes and accessories."
Once something is articulated, it is so much easier to start to develop around that idea.
Other inspirations: my most fashionable friends, Meredith, Jane, Kira, Liron, Magali, David R., and many people I used to work with, including both my boss and my mentor, my maternal grandmother's 1950-60s old photographs. I steal things from all of them sometimes (ideas, not articles of clothing).
I have to say, and I know this is terrible, but dress is one more reason I'm just not sure the corporate world is for me. At the museum, I came to the realization that there was simply no reason for me to buy work clothes: I could either wear party clothes or casual clothes to work. In fact, it was encouraged. Here, it's a different story. I get comments on my clothes every day (and I'm being fairly conservative, at least as much as I feel comfortable with) and they are complementary, but the essence is also--you stand out. I'm not sure that's in the job description; best to blend in.
I may be asking too much of work, of life, to want to be inspired and have creative license even in this way, but hell, it certainly makes each day more fun. Isn't it just better when you know you look good?
"You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled something has been lost." --the inimitable Martha Graham
(Lifted from Naked Cowboy Vintage)
Thanks for including me in your list of fashion inspirations. Perhaps one day you will see that wearing the same thing day after day encourages people to focus on personality rather than mere distraction. - Perry
ReplyDeleteperry makes a fine point.
ReplyDeletethanks for the shout-out, dude! i too had a paternal grandmother who never left the house without fur and heels (aaaah, the french), and who always smelled terrific and looked "done." she hung all her costume jewelry up on a mirror in her bedroom, almost like artwork. it was quite a sight.
i tend to agree with you that one's personal style is a reflection of who we are - of how we are feeling on that given day, our state of mind, our hopes and dreams. of when the last time we did the laundry was. of how fat or thin we feel. of a dream we may have had. i once had a horrible dream that someone close to me had died, and i woke up still believing it was true, so i got dressed in all black and went off to school that day. only by third period or so did i realize that people were looking at me funny, and it had only been a dream.
clothes are great. yet another reason it's great to be a lady.
and ps - kira is right, you do love accessories that "pop," esp in the shoe variety. i always remember those fire engine-red kitten-heel slingbacks from dkny, as well as the leopard-print pumps. good stuff.
ReplyDeletesee? that's your style! you have it!