The Black Pants Procession

Sweater - H&M

Scarf - Missoni

Trousers - Banana Republic

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

The Politics of Dressing

I saw this girl walking down the street and was like, wait, what? What year is this?

Wrong pope, my friend! I'm sure she's aware, but John Paul II has been, you know, dead for over four years. Perhaps this lady (whose anti-papal garments read: "Only sheep need a leader - Don't trust the heardsman") is 1) enjoying this throw-back to the old days, 2) can't be bothered with finding a Pope Benedict patch to sew onto her denim jacket, or 3) would totally kick me in the face if she saw my skinny ass mincing down the street again. Or all three!

I just find it curious that some people choose to wear clothing as a form of protest that depicts a specific powerful person when said person is actually no longer in power, or in some cases, no longer living. In the 1980s, punk culture often used images of John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, and Ronald Reagan in various art forms to illustrate dissatisfaction and distaste with the state of the world. Makes sense to me, seeing as they were the people who were actually running things at the time. I'm not trying to dismiss that girl's sartorial choices, but to still be railing against a person who is no longer breathing is like treading water in an empty swimming pool.

I can understand someone donning a garment of someone dead who they always thought fondly of. That makes sense. It's like wearing the t-shirt of a band that broke up years ago. Sure they're not around anymore, but you still love them and they still matter to you. But to perform the inverse and display a person whose politics represent everything you're against, and said person no longer walks the earth, makes not a lick of sense to me. Even if it's the good old days you're longing for, by the 'good old days' do you mean when oppression was closing in on you from all directions? That's not something I'd like to re-live. Which is why I don't wear a shirt with a picture of Jessie on it (Jessie was this totally mean girl from seventh grade, who called me a 'retard' for using colored pencils to illustrate a map of Europe).

This weekend Ted went to a show with some old friends of his. They saw a punk band whose glory days maxed out in the late 1980s, but who still tour and play occasionally. Ted had not seen them in years. And when they were up on stage, who was this band screaming vitriol about not within the lyrics of their 25-year-old songs, but between songs during their improvised patter with their audience? No one in our current administration. No one on Fox News. Not even George W. Bush. It was Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan, who has been dead for five years, and out of the Oval Office for no less than twenty. Ronald Reagan was really chapping their hide that night, and they needed to let the world know.

Perhaps this band is still stuck in the time warp of political ideas that made them famous. Or perhaps this band was giving the audience what they thought was expected of them, and in order to sell the tickets and put the gas in their van, they had to play the role that people came to see. I think the latter is much worse.

But back to literally wearing your no longer relevant 1980s-era politics on your sleeve (or the back of your jean jacket). Ted brought up another great point: maybe it's more of a symbol. If you think something is unjust, how better to broadcast your idea than a symbol that has high visibility and that can be instantly recognized by the general populace. Maybe it's the ideas that the person represented rather than the individual themselves, and the political groundwork they laid out that will live far longer than they ever will. I say that it always helps to have at least one foot in the present day, if nothing else but so your voice and ideas can have relevance once it hits the street.

Regina. You're Wearing Sweatpants. It's Monday.

When I wear pink I can't help but think of Mean Girls. Can I get an amen?

Blouse - Sonia by Sonia Rykiel

Skirt - Yves Saint Laurent

Shoes - Jimmy Choo

"Where's Your Swagger?"

I am really enjoying this video on style.com, a special interview about personal style with Beth Ditto.

Here are the highlights for me:

I love her telephone dress, and when she speaks of swagger.

Her accent is so charming, especially when she says "The Smiths."

It's interesting to see how her more dramatic eye makeup effects are achieved, whether she's doing it herself or a makeup artist is working their magic.

What stuck out the most for me was when she talked about how in present day, she does the things - sartorially speaking - that she was always told not to do when she was younger. Like busting through all the notions of things not to do if you're heavy: wearing horizontal stripes, or bright, loud colors. This doesn't have the same connotations, but as an example, when I was younger my mom always told me that I couldn't mix prints. Like if my top had print on it, the bottom had to be a solid color, and vice versa. My mom's advice came from a good place, but it's a whole other kettle of fish when someone says that you "can't" wear something because of your body type. Especially when you're a kid, it must be so hurtful. I come from a place of privilege in that no one snarked at my body when I was a young kid, or told me I "couldn't" wear something based on the shape of my body. I was lucky that language was not part of my world.

Beth also talked about not wearing bright colors and not standing out as a kid too, as if it is a fat person's expectation in life to just step backward and blend in to the background. It reminded me of a conversation I had this weekend. On Saturday I was talking with my friend Victoria, a queer fat femme like Beth. Victoria recently made the decision to pursue her dream of being a hair and makeup artist, and will begin training for it in January. We're the same age, and she admitted that a small part of what took her a while to actually make the decision was that growing up in her small hometown, she observed that the beauty industry was for the beautiful. And since within the world she lived in fat did not equate with beautiful, she got it in her head that it was not a world she was meant to inhabit. It's amazing that ideas we are directly or indirectly exposed to when we are young can affect our perceptions as adults, and how it can still take work to push through them when we are older.

Ladies, loving yourself for who you are and pursuing your dream is a radical act. Hold on to your swagger and never lose it.

Taste the Rainbow

Sweater - Sonia by Sonia Rykiel

Jeans - Acne

Socks - Happy Socks

Shoes - Stuart Weitzman

Pinky Ring

Sweater- Theory

Blouse - vintage Escada

Trousers - Banana Republic

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Halloween + Dia de los Muertos

This time of year is one I absolutely revel in. And not just because of the abundance of nutritious food on every kitchen counter top.

For Halloween, me, Ted and about thirty other people hopped on a karaoke party bus covered in furry walls and disco balls that shuttled us around to various parties.

A karaoke party bus is every bit as grody and glamourous as you are probably imagining it to be.
This weekend, I had a big realization when it comes to Halloween costumes. I'm not saying this is the 'right' way to do things, it's just my personal preference. Consistently, my favorite moments in costuming are when folks dress up as actual, specific people that already inhabit our world, or did at one point in time.

Even if said 'person' is Beeker.

Or Freddie Mercury.

Or John and Yoko.

Little Edie!

Lady Gagas were running into each other all night long. Am I right?

Ted as Buster Bluth.

For some people, it's not enough to be a specific person. You have to be a zombie version of said person. Like this guy.

This lady displayed awesome Edward Scissorhands realness.

Quite a few Catrina/skeleton ladies in floor length dresses and full makeup as well.

Which is a fantastic segue into the Dia de los Muertos parade that took place Monday night in San Francisco. What a feast for the eyes, and also quite poignant at times as well.

I was of the opinion that using a flash would totally ruin the ambiance of the photos during the procession down 24th Street, so most of the photos I took with my weak sauce Canon Sure Shot have an insane blur to them. Say what you will, I could not bring myself to stray from my artistic principles.

Skeleton band.

Next year I'm going to do full-on makeup and dress, too.

My Favorite Time of Year

The stuff I wore to work today was unbelievably boring, but thankfully my ensemble for the Dia de los Muertos procession tonight had a bit more personality.

Here's a close up on the bus ride home.
(I swear, this is my favorite time of year. Halloween and Dia de los Muertos within days of each other. Pictures of both will be up soon.)

Blouse - vintage

Vest - vintage

Trousers - Banana republic

Brooch - vintage

Belt - Salvatore Ferragamo

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Stuart Weitzman

Will This Outfit Get Me Arrested?

Recall if you will my friend Alex, who was detained at the airport by the TSA a few months back for wearing this. A belt buckle that is absolutely fake, but nonetheless, got him in a bit of trouble. I'm packing for a trip that requires air travel and I really really want to wear a few new things, but my better judgement is telling me to leave them at home.

We are living in interesting times. I absolutely believe in safety, and not messing with people's sense of calm and confidence (especially when traveling, which can be quite stressful) and I really don't want to push my luck and find myself in a situation where someone in uniform, someone who is just doing their job, tells me I can get on the plane but these shoes can't, because they might be used as a weapon. Or worse, five words I've never heard in my life and certainly don't want to: Young lady, you're under arrest.

The other day I was walking by myself, wearing the shoes (Louboutin) and barb wire double ring (from Burberry) shown above. And I thought to myself, if someone comes up and tries to attack me, and if I punch them in the face at the right angle, I could really do some damage and allow myself a small window of time in which to escape. I kept walking, and as I put one foot in front of the other I opened and closed my hand, studying my fist and how I should angle it in order to deliver maximum impact. I'm about as violent as an Amish bunny rabbit, but this is the reality of how my mind works sometimes when I'm by myself. I'm sure similar thoughts travel through the minds of lots of women who traverse the urban landscape alone.

Back to adventures yet untaken. When it comes to possibly parting with pieces of my wardrobe in the name of airport security, this is a risk I do not feel like taking. And I take what happened to Alex as a cautionary tale. Despite the fact that his adornment was just that - a decoration and not real - it did not seem to matter to the airport police. Who's to say the same thing wouldn't happen to me? Looks like it's boring black flats and naked fingers this time around.

They Can't All Be Winners

I can't really say that I'm thrilled with this outfit today. But life goes on.

Sweater - H&M

Blouse - thrifted

Tie - vintage

Trousers - Banana Republic

Shoes - Salvatore Ferragamo

I'm Growing It Out

I adore Freja Beha Erichsen. I say that a lot. I'm also in the process of growing out my hair. I say this a lot, too. My hair takes forever to grow but patience is a virtue one must possess when this is the path you have charted for yourself. Speaking of which...

Wow, Freja's hair is really getting long. I will miss her shorter crop but I wish her all the best in the growing-out phase. Not the most fun of times, in my experience. Of course, wearing a killer jacket, an Alexander Wang bag, an MJ skin cancer shirt (is that Lily Donaldson?) and channeling Nancy McKeon with the hair isn't necessarily the worst thing a girl could do.

image via Jak & Jil

Michael, Get Your Gun

Long time readers of Cuffington know quite well that I'll stop the world and melt with you, just as long as 'you' happen to be a piece of jewelry that is 1) tap dancing on just this side of tacky, and 2) is made of gold. Gold is the metal that I swoon for above all others, whether it's a watch, a detail on a bag, or a bulbous button on an overcoat. Naturally, when Michael Kors' oversized chain link necklaces popped up earlier this year, I was all about the gold one. But then.

Maybe it's something in the way that gunmetal just works so well with this particular necklace. The straight up silver one is lovely, but gunmetal just feels so right. I'm not forsaking gold just yet, but this is an instance where if given the chance, I'd choose the gunmetal over the gold. Maybe it's when you know you love something so well that you can then feel comfortable to branch away from it when the right opportunity comes along. Progress, right?

Any Given Sunday

Amy and I had a lot of fun yesterday. She's helping me with a big project. Here's a little snippet of what we did.

Later on, I got inspired and made some slight changes...

Ah, much better.

And a whiff of Diana Vreeland as well.

Eeet's My Moood

Today's look was inspired by Stefano Pilati's appearance in The September Issue. Have you seen that movie yet? I have. Thrice. I love it.

Shirt - Magnificent Paris

Bandana - vintage

Belt - Levi's

Belt buckle - vintage

Jeans - Habitual

Shoes - Lanvin

Let's Do the Time Warp Again

In this month's issue of W, 15-year-old "Rebecca," a student at an unnamed Upper East Side private academy, answers questions about what all the girls are wearing to school these days. She is quick to snuff out any real-life comparisons of her life to the characters on Gossip Girl, which to me was the clear impetus of this interview being conducted in the first place.

Anyway! Even though when I was a 15-year-old freshman in high school it was 1995, I saw some striking similarities between Rebecca's observations of her classmates' current sartorial choices and what my 15-year-old self would have said. Reading a magazine article where a teenager extols the virtues of Doc Martens and flannel in 2009 doesn't make me feel any younger, so I started re-reading the interview through the eyes of my 15-year-old self. After all, I went to a private, preparatory high school, too. It was by no means on the Nightingale or Spence spectrum but nonetheless it was small, private, and had been all-girls for one hundred years (really!) before finally going co-ed a few years before my class arrived on the scene.

So here is the interview below, with modern day 15-year-old Rebecca's answers followed by what 15-year-old Catie would have said. (By the way, 15-year-old Catie was pretty much the furthest thing from a fashion expert that you could possibly imagine. The photos below should be proof enough.)

W: What are you seeing this year that’s new?
15-year-old Rebecca: Doc Martens are huge right now. You see them in every color—yellow, pink, black—some have a British flag on them. Jackets with big shoulder pads are also really big, and headbands with huge bows. My mom hates mine. It’s got the most obnoxiously big bow you’ve ever seen in your life. I’d also put furry vests, suede fringed jackets and navy and white striped t-shirts on the list. Oh yeah, and off the shoulder sweatshirts—it’s an 80s aerobic instructor look.

15-year-old Catie: Oh brother. If anything remotely resembling the 80s comes your way, start running in the other direction. True, Doc Martens are amazing (although my parents won't buy me any because they think they're ugly) and now they are even more covetable because they have branched out from just boots to oxfords and mary janes, too. And since we're talking shoes, get some Jack Purcells in either blue, white, or black. Back off from Converse, it's kind of over-played, and Airwalk too - those are for skaters.

W: Anything else that’s unusual?

15-year-old Rebecca: Yes, pill box hats with a piece of tulle. It looks really over the top. People wear them to school with Doc Martens and schoolboy blazers, or with MC Hammer pants that pouf out.

15-year-old Catie: Keep a scrunchie on your wrist. Wear it like a bracelet and don't ask questions. Also, have you seen Clueless? Those thigh highs are amazing but pretty much everyone is too afraid to wear them. Plus I think they might be against our dress code.

W: Where do you get the pillbox hats? Who has pillbox hats anymore?
15-year-old Rebecca: Most get them from their mothers or grandmothers, but you can also get them at a few stores in Soho such as the Hat Shop.

15-year-old Catie: Wait, pillbox hats? Isn't that what Jackie Kennedy wore? We're learning about all those people in American History. But hey, since we're on the topic of gossip, may I suggest showing up to class wearing things that give people clues to how cool your life is outside of school. Did you go skiing this past weekend? Keep your zipper tags attached to your jacket, and don't take your jacket off for three days. If you went to a concert, wear the t-shirt to school the next day and fall asleep at your desk during fourth period. After spring break, come back with a tan or even a burn to show everyone that you went to Mexico or Hawaii or some place tropical. Wear a puka shell necklace, too. The white shells stand out against your tan and make you look even tanner! That said, puka shells may or may not be code for 'Dude, I totally smoke weed.' Woven hemp necklaces, on the other hand, send a much stronger message that yes, you totally smoke weed. And if there's a big glass bead with a giant mushroom frozen inside dangling from the middle of your hemp necklace, you're totally a poseur and don't smoke weed at all.

W: What do your friends carry their stuff to school in?
15-year-old Rebecca: Either Longchamp Tote bags or backpacks. Most have American Apparel backpacks—either the black glittery one or the neon orange one.

15-year-old Catie: Solid-colored Jansport backpacks are the gold standard, but something big and complicated from The North Face that would never see the inside of a campground in its lifetime is the most desirable. The more random clips and buckles that hang off of it, the better. Adorn your backpack with a few tastefully placed patches and ironic one-inch buttons, or your favorite hair ribbon. But most of all, always wear your backpack on both shoulders.
W: How big a fashion influence is Gossip Girl?
15-year-old Rebecca: None of these ideas come from Gossip Girl, considering that most girls who live and go to high school on the Upper East Side do not watch Gossip Girl because they think it's pretentious and exaggerated. The pillbox hat idea predates Gossip Girl. They have been popular since before the show came out.

15-year-old Catie: Okay, can we lay off the pillbox hats for a second? Here, have an Altoid - I keep a tin of them in my Jansport backpack. And since we're on the subject of influential TV shows, I should probably mention that pretty much anything Monica or Rachel wear on Friends is worth noting. Phoebe, not so much. Also if you can get your hair to look like Rachel's you are on another level altogether. This is something few can achieve, so keep your hair on the longer side with either no bangs or bangs curled straight across to perfection. I myself will strive for the shoulder-length Angela Chase-style bob for years to come.
W: Is preppy style still going strong?
15-year-old Rebecca: Well Topsiders are big, but now they’re purple with plaid, or yellow or pink patent leather. You also see girls wearing button-down boys shirts, really baggy ones that are belted, with leggings and Keds. Usually red Keds, sometimes white. Plaid flannel shirts are also popular, but in really ridiculous patterns like checked turquoise and purple or pink and black.

15-year-old Catie: Most people at my school live and die in preppy style. You kind of either totally do it or you totally don't. Flip through the newest J. Crew catalogue or A&F Quarterly when you should be taking notes on the Kennedys during history class.

W: What isn’t considered cool anymore?
15-year-old Rebecca: Uggs. You wear them only if it’s really freezing outside or if you’re going to Starbucks. But if you show up to school wearing jeans, a t-shirt and Uggs, that’s considered a big no-no.

15-year-old Catie: Stuff that makes you look like a kid. Leave that shit from the Disney Store at home. Sure, they make adult sizes but that doesn't mean you should wear it. And stay away from sweatshirts with puffy paint flowers or Garfield on them. If your sweatshirt says anything at all, it should be something along the lines of 'Nautica' or 'Eddie Bauer' or the name of some top-tier private university that you really hope you get accepted to.

W: What about jeans? How specific do you have to be?
15-year-old Rebecca: Everybody used to wear normal blue jeans, but now, unless your jeans are very cool—either very bell bottomy jeans or super, super tight skinny jeans—they’re considered sweat pants. That’s what people call them. You just look way too comfortable and it looks sloppy.

15-year-old Catie: Something stonewashed, mid-rise, and slightly baggy from the Gap or Levi's is the way to go. Ask yourself if this is something Jerry Seinfeld would wear. If the answer is yes, it's a green light, my friend. Accessorize with either an extra-long brown leather woven belt or a cutesy ribbon one from Abercrombie.

W: What about makeup?
15-year-old Rebecca: Bright blue eyeliner, navy nail polish and red lipstick are big. Also two-toned lips: pink on the top and really dark red on the bottom. It sounds ridiculous, but it looks pretty cool, actually.

15-year-old Catie: Get yourself a Clinique powder compact if you want to be taken seriously. It's not so much that you're constantly touching up your face, but the very act of whipping out that highly-recognizable mint green compact shows your peers that you mean business. On the other end of the spectrum, Hard Candy nail polish is the biggest thing ever. Anything other than pink, red, or "normal" colors is a go. I usually just wear clear on my hands but I have a deep purple on my toes. One last thing on nails: don't grow them super long. I know this girl whose nails are so long that she can't press the buttons on her graphing calculator. She has to hold a pencil and press the buttons with the eraser. Um, embarrassing!

Plaid About You

Shirts - vintage/thrifted

Jeans (or jeggings, as Winona calls them) - Rag & Bone

Necklace - Marc by Marc Jacobs

Ring - Burberry

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Honk, Honk!

How would you like to take a ride in this taxi?

Image via Bauer-Griffin

All Business

Blouse - vintage

Skirt - Banana Republic

Shoes - Manolo Blahnik

Butter Me Up

On second thought, maybe I should dress up as Simon Doonan for Halloween, just so I can have a chance at laying a big sloppy smooch on his husband, an unsuspecting Jonathan Adler! I thought Adler's adorable whale butter dish was the cutest thing on earth, but the man has stepped beyond the maritime menagerie and upped his game with this:

My favorite arbiter of cheeky home style has bested himself yet again with this all-white spectator butter dish. The only problem is that I haven't consumed butter in stick form in about four hundred years. It's been ages since I became a convert to the church of a certain hippy butter that only comes in tub form. So then the question presents itself: what else could one store in this container? Used popsicle sticks? Tubes of mascara? Writing instruments? It could work, and either way would defintely be a lot less greasy.

Kiss Me Deadly

Blouse - vintage

Trousers - Marc Jacobs

Belt - Salvatore Ferragamo

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Sexy Mess

Well hello there, boils and ghouls! We are creepy-crawling up on the spooky scary time of year known as All Hallow's Eve! So put some Mummies (or Murder City Devils) records on the hi-fi and peel some grapes to scare the neighborhood kids with.

As you're probably aware, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and deciding on my costume is always a special process. Recent choices from years past include The Log Lady from Twin Peaks as well as the Crypt Keeper himself, Karl Lagerfeld. Often, I dress as a specific person, but this year I decided to go a slightly more generic route. A few months back at The Moms' house I came across some pieces from my old Girl Scout uniform. Embarrassingly enough, all the above-the-waist stuff still fit (chalk it up to a dearth of boobage - I'm still waiting for my moment to blossom!) but I am throwing that embarrassment aside for the chance to parade myself around in public in such a get-up.

I suppose I could have gone the lazy route and ordered a Girl Scout costume off the internet instead of cobbling one together out of pieces from my past. But all the costumes (and there are dozens) available for sale have names like "Cookie Girl" and "Troop Tease." You'll never guess what they look like!

Every year conversations come around about how tired and unimaginative it is to dress as a 'sexy' version of something for Halloween. We have sexy cops and nurses, and slutty mermaids, too. While I think it's a major yawn fest, who am I to judge others in their costume choices? It's one thing to put a slutty spin on grown-up archetypes, or fictional creatures that don't even exist. But sexualizing a girl scout - a person who is by definition a minor (they kick you out on your 18th birthday) is all sorts of gross to me. Considering who actually creates these made-to-order slutty Girl Scout costumes and what exactly their motive could be gives me the icks. So I came up with an antedote to this mini-skirt-and-merit-badges mess.

Real talk. This right here is the antithesis of the sexy Girl Scout. She's what happens when Dawn Weiner learns how to tie lanyards from her book of maritime knots. She's a nerdy Girl Scout from the 80s, and she's coming to a Halloween party near you. So buy her a bag of candy corn (no brown ones!) while you're at it.