Things I Saw Today

I went down to Northport Harbor on a beautiful September afternoon to admire the sky, the boats and the scene.  It was lovely.  I also spotted an amazing old tree.

Do you ever go to the waterfront?

 

 

 

 

The Garment District

Whenever I'm in New York, I like to walk through the Garment District.  There are dozens of shops with interesting window displays.  Their offerings, however, are not for sale to ordinary people like us; the stores are wholesale shops and sell only to retailers, a point made by many signs. 

The clothes are so pretty that I want to open my own boutique just so I can buy them.  Would you shop at "Ally's Place"?  How 'bout if I gave you a discount?

 

 

 

The Orange Train

I love orange.  It's a beautiful color.  I was thrilled to see it become fashionable.  I don't know how long the trend will last, so I'm jumping on The Orange Train at every station now.

Here's a new top I bought and like.  I pulled out an old orange skirt to match it.  With my (new) scarf and tights, I'm adding an unusual color that I believe works -- light purple.  You wouldn't expect orange and purple to go together but they both have red (a primary color) as their base, so they kinda do.  What do you think?

Photos below; opinions invited.

While I have your ear, let me mention that I just discovered three things.  My real closet is full of male clothing.  My fun female "closet" isn't real -- out of necessity, I store my female clothes in plastic storage bins.  I'm not crazy about this because it obscures them from view and I don't always know what I have.  Yesterday I tried to improve the situation by pulling everything out, cataloging it in my mind and then re-arranging it according to type (e.g., tops, skirts, dresses, fantasywear, eccentric items).  Hopefully that will enable me to put together better outfits.

My first discovery is that organization is important.  A structured closet helps us know what we have and find things to go with other things.

My second discovery is that I have a lot of clothes.  The volume surprises me.  I buy almost everything from thrift-stores or at deep discount so I haven't spent much money but the number of items is piling up.  For the next few months, I'm going to stop buying new clothes and just use what I have.  I could create a large number of permutations that will be interesting without having to add anything new.

My last discovery is that my method of storing clothes wrinkles them.  Up to now, I haven't gone to the trouble of ironing clothes for photoshoots -- but that carelessness makes me sad.  I feel wearing wrinkled clothes disrespects you and is inexcusably lazy.  From now on, I vow to iron my clothes whenever they need it (which will be almost always).  I want my dressing up to have integrity and if that requires a little more effort, I need to perform it.  This is important to me.

I faced this situation when I pulled out the orange skirt shown below.  It was badly wrinkled.  I spent the time and effort necessary to fix that and now I feel proud to wear it.

Do you always iron your clothes?  Or don't you mind wearing wrinkled ones?  Does your storage method wrinkle them?

 

 

Blogger Meetup With Megan

One of my favorite bloggers, Megan of TfDiaries, is in town for Fashion Week.  She offered me the chance to meet her today and I leapt at the opportunity.  I'm glad I did -- we had a delightful time.

Megan lives in Florida and her blog is one of the best around.  She has a sophisticated sense of style and regularly posts interesting outfits.  Megan has connections to the fashion industry and hopes to design clothes in the future.  Her knowledge of fashion is deep.

We met at an outdoor fashion show sponsored by Old Navy which showcased their colored skinny jeans.  Megan was one of the runway models.  The picture on the right is Megan walking the runway.  There's another picture of her below, along with some of the other non-professional models at the show.  The event took place in Bryant Park and was fun to watch.

Afterward, we enjoyed a sumptious meal at one of my favorite restaurants in Manhattan (Seven).  During dinner, Megan told me about her wonderful husband and their two young boys.  She described her hopes and dreams for a career in fashion and the exciting time she had this week.  Megan was charming and her company was endlessly entertaining.

We had a wonderful blogger meetup.  I think I've made a new friend!

 

 

 

 

A Day With A Friend

I'm close friends with Xenia, a young woman whom I met a decade ago.  Xenia immigrated to this country from Russia with her mother and sister.  I first met Xenia while she was playing in a rock band with her then-boyfriend/now-husband Mark.  I started hanging out with Xenia and Mark and enjoyed their company.  At the time, they were in their mid-twenties and their youthful vigor and ambition appealed to me.

Xenia later started a blog (using the name, Doe Deere) and it was a huge success.  Xenia had thousands of followers and became "Internet famous."  When we went out to dinner, girls frequently recognized her, came up and asked for an autograph.  Xenia's exceptional beauty and dramatic fashion sense make her instantly recognizable.

Xenia and Mark started a cosmetic company (Lime Crime) which has become a success selling millions of dollars of fun beauty products. 

A year ago, Xenia and Mark moved from New York to Los Angeles where their business is headquartered.  I miss them.  Xenia came back this week to visit and I took the day off work (which is very rare for me).  We had a great time.  We caught up on everything and had fun.

Xenia is currently sporting a new hair color -- lilac.  It's beautiful and she likes it.  She says she plans to keep it until she's an old lady.

We hung out in Red Hook which is a gritty neighborhood in Brooklyn.  It's full of factories, yet on the water with beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty.  The residents of Red Hook don't want the area to become gentrified like most of Brooklyn, so I saw signs that said, "Welcome to Red Hook.  Now Git!"

What drew us to this unusual area was a bakery that's reported to make the best Key Lime Pie in America.  The reports are true -- their pie is extraordinary.  They use all natural ingredients and juice their own limes.  I had a four-inch mini-pie dipped in dark chocolate.  Mmm!!

Here are some pictures from our day.

 

 

Nylons

I've loved stockings and pantyhose my whole life.  I think it's because when I was a toddler, crawling on the floor, I saw my mother's legs and associated hosiery with female-ness.  That association has always been deep in my psyche.

Nylons were common on women when I was growing up.  In the workplace, they were often required.  For reasons I never understood, bare legs were considered indecent and covering them with ultra-thin, transparent stockings was thought to add modesty.  Why is that?

I just read a cool two-part article on nylons at Smithsonian.com.  I learned that nylons were invented in 1935.  They were immediately and hugely popular, so much so that there were actual riots when shoppers struggled to buy the limited pairs available.

During World War II, the material used to make them was diverted to the war effort and there was a corresponding shortage of stockings.  Being resourceful, women turned to pseudo-nylons and had stockings painted onto their legs.  Don't believe me?  Check out these historical photos.  Interesting, isn't it?

 

 

 

Mr. Spider

The other day when I spotted several spiderwebs in my backyard, I looked for but didn't see any spiders.  I figured they must be down at the local bar, chugging beers and making fun of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire.

Tonight, I was startled to come face-to-face with Mr. Spider.  He was outdoors, in his element, so I let him be.  I was surprised at his large size -- he was as big as a silver-dollar.  I have no clue what type of spider he is.  Or if he's dating Emma Stone.