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.

Jungle Boogie

Blouse - Roberto Cavalli

Trousers - Banana Republic

Necklace - H&M

Belt - Eugenia Kim

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Lights, Camera, Costumes!

Readers of Cuffington are quite familiar with the fact that I have a heavy crush on costume design for film and stage. Watching films for the way the characters are clothed as well as what happens to them as the story unfolds is always at least half the fun. Pair that deep love with my study of film and costume design in college and I become one of those people who admittedly sometimes will watch a film for the costuming alone. Not only is it a feast for the eyes, but observing the choices the designer made in dressing characters to further the story (and their own backstory) is especially intriguing.

While my friend Annie and I love a good documentary about the fashion industry, films that follow a fictional narrative but are superbly costumed are one of our great joys as well. Annie recently hatched a fantastic plan to start a night in which films famous for their costuming are screened here in San Francisco for all to enjoy. We teamed up with the lovely ladies from Alice & Isa and are proud to present to you Style Cinema.

While films like My Fair Lady and Bonnie and Clyde are obvious superstars in terms of costuming achievements, we aim for movies a little more off the map. Perhaps it was a film that wasn't widely seen, or a film from decades past that serves as the perfect style touchstone for the moment in which it was made. Enjoying such films at our lovely venue, Velo Rogue, can open up a whole new world of appreciation and possbility.

We are very excited to announce that the first film to screen at Style Cinema will be Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Come join us on Thursday, October 22, at Velo Rogue (798 Arguello, corner of Arguello and McAllister). The projector will roll at 6:30pm, so stop in, have a drink or a tasty snack, and allow your love of style and cinema to mingle together.

Click here and here to get a taste of Academy Award-winning designer Milena Canonero's frocks and other sartorial trappings, including shoes especially designed for the film by Mr. Manolo Blahnik.

J'Adore '64

A charming turn of events brought me to 1964! at Edinburgh Castle in the Tenderloin last night. I met up with JT Paradox of The SF Style to procure a bottle of Chambord that I had won via a contest on his street style blog.

I have actually been a fan of that website for months, as my first encounter with this sartorial epicurean was earlier this year at a different 60s-themed dance night across town when he took my picture and handed me his business card. He is the Scott Schuman of these mod happenings, snapping well-coiffed ladies and gents in their smooth getups. Soon though it was time for me to motor back to my neighborhood, so after a quick photoshoot in front of the club, the evening at 1964! was over.

So then this afternoon, not even twenty four hours later, imagine my surprise when I ran into him again downtown when I was running an errand. This time, Dyanna, his partner in crime, was there too, standing behind a pair of exquisite vintage sunglasses, scouting folks to pluck from the street and capture with a click of the shutter. Sometimes when a couple does a blog together it can get a little ooey gooey but I love how these two keep it all business and stay on the topic at hand : Fashion with a capital F.

The Black Album

Dress - Lewis Cho

Stockings - Hue

Necklace - H&M

Boots - Prada

Don't Step on My No-Suede-Rules

Although I've been out from beneath the rainy gray clouds that almost constantly hover above the Pacific Northwest for over two years, I am just now starting to embrace suede. Back in my Portland days, suede was one of those materials that I could just never get behind, mostly because I was terrified of what would happen to it when it got wet. So for years, I just avoided it altogether, and immediately hit the off button if I happened upon anything (especially footwear) that was made of suede.

A couple of weeks ago, the self-imposed no suede streak was broken. I got my first pair of suede shoes since my brown granny boots in the early nineties. They're black and have no heel but are nonetheless a major departure for me. One may call that a baby step, but when I saw these triple decker suede platforms from Mr. Louboutin, something inside me twisted and tilted and leapt toward the sun.
Everything I like in a shoe is here: tone-on-tone colors, a round closed toe, a heel, and a little dash of gold. And since my No Suede Rule no longer applies, I no longer shy away. Anything is possible.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Yesterday I popped into The Brooklyn Circus on Fillmore Street. It's been at it's current location for over a year now and despite that fact, it's one of those places I've probably passed by hundreds of times but never actually paid a visit. I should have done so a long time ago. What a nice group of guys.

As soon as I stepped inside, I felt like I understood. The shop is tiny, but all their garments and notions are presented so well. To describe the style of Brooklyn Circus is to cull inspiration from a variety of sources.

It's a style that is preppy, polished, yet totally approachable and fun. Mixing modern streetwear with items with a 1950s boarding school aesthetic? Check. Impeccable pocket squares, belts, and incidentals? Check. Forget what's-his-name and his bottom rung attempt with statement neckwear, these dudes are the real deal. (It also made me want to jump on my project of finally getting a letterman's sweater made out of my old letters from high school glory days).

At the moment Brooklyn Circus is just for the gents, but it's not like us ladies haven't been working menswear into our wardrobes our whole lives anyway. Besides, a women's capsule collection is currently in the works. Stop by Brooklyn Circus and show those guys some love.

On this crisp fall day I was moved to wear something inspired from Brooklyn Circus. Comfortable, colorful, polished, and fun.

Sweater - Trovata

Shirt - H&M

Necktie - Dennis Uniform Company

Jeans - Acne

Shoes - Stuart Weitzman

photos via Brooklyn Circus

Natural's Not In It

Cardigan - James Perse

Shirt - Majestic Paris

Leggings - Kova & T

Necklace - Fenton

Shoes - Lanvin

Two Faces, One Dress

I'm pretty Jekyll & Hyde when it comes to defining my own personal aesthetic and style. Or maybe it's more like Robert Mitchum's knuckle tattoos in Night of the Hunter, two opposite halves attached to the same whole. On one side is Joan Jett rocker glam, and on the other is a country club pearl clutcher who lunches with her ladies.

This dress from Joseph Altuzarra (and all of his S/S 2009 collection for that matter) encompasses both of these dueling aesthetics and strikes a perfect balance between those two worlds of style that I straddle. It is at the same time elegantly draped and asymmetrically body-hugging, demurely long sleeved and covering any hints of decolletage in the front but turn around for unexpected cut-outs around the shoulders.
Altuzarra cut his teeth at Proenza Schouler and Givenchy and although he has put out just two collections under his name he is showing amazing promise. Although I adore the lavender this dress also comes in dark gray. Altuzarra is difficult to come by in America but it is available for purchase at Colette in Paris.
Vogue correspondent Lauren Santo Domingo is one of my muses for style notes when it comes to the preppier world that I mentioned above. She really rocks the Altuzarra very well, especially with a neutral colored shoe. By adding different accessories and swapping out the shoes, a punkier, more glam look can be easily achieved. It's a canvas on which I could construct either of my two most heavily-favored styles.

Images via style.com

Fare Thee Well, Irving Penn

WWD has written a lovely obit for Mr. Penn, who passed away yesterday at the age of 92.

Here is his wife Lisa wearing Balenciaga in 1950.

Above, Trentini. Below, Gemma.

What a long and wonderful career he had. Rest peacefully.

Photos via Conde Nast Archives

Miss Sixty

Drop that Pop Tart and bow down!
The pea to my carrot, Sigourney Weaver, turns sixty years old today. Fifty is nifty but sixty is sessy. Trust this.

I haven't talked about Sigourney in a while (for past adorations click here and here and here) but that doesn't mean she wasn't always on my mind. Willie Nelson wrote that song about me and Sigourney. True story!

Happy birthday, Sigourney Weaver. Way to hold it down for the six feet tall, immensely talented and intelligent ravishing beauties of the world. We're a dying breed, and you are our queen. (And I need to come back to earth for even putting myself in the same category. Meeting only the height requirement does not a peer of Sigourney make! Don't I wish.)

Meh.

Thus describes my attitude and my outfit on this foggy gray middle of the weekday.

Blouse - vintage

Trousers - H&M

Necklace - thrifted

Shoes - Lanvin

Brooching the Subject

A few days ago I passed by a Club Monaco window and saw a necklace on a mannequin that was so striking that it made me change my direction and walk into the store. Once inside I soon observed that this elaborate necklace made of black ribbon, crystals and a large clump of pearls in fact did not exist. Whoever had styled that mannequin in the window had simply taken two separate necklaces and hooked them together with a brooch.

Vowing that I could easily replicate such a thing at home with stuff I already owned, I took a look in my accessory drawer to see what I had on hand. Compared to most people I know I really don't own a lot of jewelry so it was going to be interesting to see what turned up.

I took my extra-long strand of pearls and clipped a vintage brooch around it. One of the strands I wound around the pin of the brooch twice before locking it into place, so the brooch wouldn't just slide away.

It stayed together just fine all day long. Although the brooch is made of metal, it is not very heavy, which was helpful in that there was no awkward sliding around or need for re-adjusting.

It's so satisfying to cobble something new together from things you already have. My friend Rachel is pretty successful at that, when it comes to both accessories and home decor.

Alexander McQueen's Alien Resurrection

It's not often that I post photos from runway shows because everyone else and their granny already does it, and they do it better too. But once in a while, I feel the need to spread the love when I am struck by powerful images. Images like these, which come from the intergalactic planet known as the Alexander McQueen for Spring 2010.

photos via Jezebel