Warm and Fuzzy

While in New York last December, I met this girl who was wearing an oversized, cream-colored cotton sweater, which she shed once inside a warm bar and revealed a black blazer underneath. It's important to note that this girl was was very thin, and I never would have guessed she was wearing anything under the sweater, especially something as bulky as a blazer. I thought it was a great and unexpected way to not have to deal with a big winter coat all night, but I decided then and there that the 20 pounds I had on this girl would not adapt very well to two heavy, non-form-fitting layers. Didn't your mother ever tell you cable knits were bad for your arms, along with cap sleeves and tank tops? Yes. Well. I've concluded that I can do the oversized sweater, because it is comfortable and warm but I probably won't wear it over a blazer. Obviously, the look is not about showing the shape of your body. Didn't your mother also try to tell you that boys didn't like to see everything, that a little conservative dressing added intrigue and drew them to what they knew was there but couldn't see? Yes. Well.

Below is the oversized sweater look that I've been thinking a lot about lately. Dries Van Noten RTW Fall 2009 has been in the back of my mind all year. I loved the colors--each look contrasted a subdued taupe or beige or other pastel with a bright lavender or bold teal, royal blue, mustard yellow, etc. The masculine cut of the all the trousers, jackets and blouses contrasted the feminine red/orange lips and messy, loosely pulled back hair with side swept bangs.

(via Style.com)

I also really like these oversized sweater looks from Reed Krakoff RTW Fall 2010:

(via Style.com)
The wide leg trouser is a huge step away from all the leggings we've been wearing, and not wearing if you're a shorts with tights or no-pants-at-all kind of girl. This outfit makes me want to crawl up into a ball on my couch for the weekend while winter carries on with its strength and fury. Come Monday I'd wrap a belt around my waist and I'd be ready to go.

Another luxurious sweater, this time as a dress, with a leather bomber jacket and lace-ups:

(via Style.com)

I think this look would be interesting with Vena Cava's fishnets, also it would be warmer. Powers that be, I'll take a few more weeks of winter, please, but you can keep all the snow. Thanks.

Can we talk about Vena Cava for a minute?

Great, thanks. I've felt conflicted for a long time about fishnet tights. They always seem necessary at Halloween, but then when I try to incorporate them into my day-to-day, problems arise. Namely, that I look and feel like I'm about to turn some tricks, and not in the Secret Diary of a Call Girl way. Nope, more like look down there, on the corner, in the cold, there I am shivering because all I'm wearing is a loosely woven pair of fishnet tights! This might sound a bit drastic, but I'm so excited to announce that Vena Cava RTW Fall 2010 has completely changed my perspective, and I'm feeling that fishnets are my new favorite way to politely add some melodrama and a tablespoon (or more, depending on your audience) of sexiness to an outfit. There is something very austere about fishnets, something promiscuous but also classic, timeless, and mindless--that is, of course you're wearing fishnets, what else would you wear because you've been wearing them forever and ever, etc. Bask now, in the glory that is the following excerpt from Vena Cava RTW Fall 2010:

(via Style.com)

(via Style.com)

(via Style.com)

Really, what I love most, is that I already own shoes similar to those worn in all of these looks, and that I can skip on over to Goodwill and replicate the rest for under $10. FTW.

Happy Valentine's.

Dear Mr. McQueen:

What are we supposed to do.

I'm sorry if that sounds accusatory, or if it appears to imply that your death is not about you but about me and all of the other women and men you've inspired and impassioned from the beginning of your time. I'm sorry, that's not how I meant it. It's just that I can't imagine reading about another Fashion Week without also reading your name. Fashion goes on, you do not.

Word on the street is that you took your own life, and if that's the truth I know you didn't do it on purpose. That is, I trust that in that moment, as you were deciding that you were going to do it, you really did want it all to end and you were ready enough to do it yourself. But I also trust that you would have chosen to live had living without the pain you felt been a conceivable option to you. I am so sad that it wasn't.

My love affair with your work has been short, but it was immediate and constant. Thank you for this dress, it completely changed the way I think about clothes.


(via The New York Times)

About a year ago I was in New York for the first time in about five years. J's brother had taken us to a bar in the Meat Packing District and then there was your store, lights out, and there was this dress, or one like it, I can't remember and I'm kicking myself for it, I am. My heart beat fast, my hands shook, and perhaps this is sad and telling of something not for this blog, but my heart and hands felt more for your storefront in that moment than they've ever felt for any man. Ew, that sounds like I'm one of those people who falls in love with the Eiffel Tower and tries to marry it, but I promise you it's different. Falling in love with people and falling in love with art are similar in that our bodies sometimes respond in the same way, but I have no plans to propose to this dress. I'd need it in my possession first, of course.

I hope you have found some relief, some rest and some peace. You will be missed.

XOXO

K.

I die.

I love, love, love, one-million-times love these maroon suede YSL ankle strap pumps. Karla Deras wore them so well with navy and white ankle-length trousers, and here is Caroline Issa, via All The Pretty Birds. I love the maroon/rust color against her opaque black tights. I've been trying to incorporate more maroon into my wardrobe because I think it's a great subtle pop of color against all the winter blacks. This shoe is also such a great choice because it's both dramatic and sophisticated at the same time. Caroline Issa's outfit here is otherwise very basic and classic, but her shoes add an element of surprise that both enhances and interrupts the simplicity. Sigh!