Something's Afoot

And, for once, I didn't buy it...

During Spring Shoe theme week, a while back, I alluded to a fun shopping moment I had with my friend Jennifer. She is a most delicate creature - petite with fine bones and tiny little feet. You might imagine that such podalic refinedness would be desirable. However, you wouldn't be the gal who searches high and low for walkable, wearable, office appropriate and or other shoe styles that come in your size.

Take it from her - and I've shoe shopped many times with J over the years - it is no fun having feet that are smaller than a 6. Especially since a size 6 today is more like a size 7 was 10 - 15 years ago. You know, it's vanity sizing?!

Cut to two, post-lunch window shoppers who drop into 9West, just to look at a red gladiator one ordered in on a whim the week before. While said gladiatress was admiring a sandal she was destined to purchase, Jennifer spied - of all great things - 9West Kids. This was comprised of about 6 pairs of shoes in "child sizing", the largest of which was considerably bigger than a women's 5 and a half. Guess who walked out with two adorable styles (btw, not childlike enough for actual children, IMO): one plum mary jane and one black patent wedge sandle with a peekaboo toe.

The moral of the story? If you are a delicate flower, get thee to a 9West and see if you get lucky.

Love This

I found this pic on Face Hunter, posted in February. It simply delights me that people walk around London in the middle of the winter like this! Talk about suffering for your art...

I like the idea of mixing the shorts with the tights and a prim top. And don't you love this woman's hair?

All is One

I find myself in an unusual scenario, reminiscent of Ms. Clothes Horse's, as I am writing this in the middle of the night...

Now, usually, you have to pry me off the bed with a spatula by 10:3o p.m., so exhausted am I by the numerous daily responsibilities of the modern, adult existence. Which, let me tell you, is a blessing because, by nature, I'm a person who tends to live hard: My motto is some self-serving conflation of "if you want something done right you have to do it yourself" and "anything worth doing is worth doing well" with a healthy pinch of the critical and an incessant drive to "realize my vision". Enthusiasm ain't just a word for me. It's a driving force.

A couple of days ago I read a fantastic post by IHeartFashion at Je Ne Sais Quoi which really resonated on a few levels. On the one hand it spoke of conceptual moderation (and it's delish flipside immoderation) and of the veritable toothpaste squeeze of subverting one desire for another. On the other hand it spoke of diet and nutrition (and specifically Gary Taubes' nutitional science tome Good Calories, Bad Calories), a book whose philosophy is deeply resonant with one I have developed over the past two years. That book is hardcore and it could change your feelings about everything you eat from now on. Of course, so could food poisoning or visiting a cattle farm, so let me at least try to quell the preach in my tone.

I have a vision of my friends' eyes glazing over just about now (you know who you are!). Recall: My enthusiasm is relentless. Poor peeps have spent so much time listening to my feelings about health I can imagine it gives them a headache :-) Because this blog has been, heretofore, a forum about fashion and style, I haven't really broached the topic as yet. But I'm beginning to see interesting ways to integrate it into the larger style theme. So, you may be in for a series on nutrition and lifestyle and its impact on one, stylistically. Thanks, Enc, for getting this mental ball rolling.

However, for now, let's focus on (im)moderation, shall we? IHeart, in her post, spoke eloquently about her own propensity to do more / be more and about the nature of drive as an overriding force. To precis: She's spent the last while trying to give up consumerism, prescription narcotics and old-school dietary habits at the same time. And what she's observed is how appetite adapts itself to whatever it must in order to survive. As if to say "I am the one thing you will not control". Like the dear, crazy friend you've had for years, the one who calls you from a payphone at that club intermittently - at 2:30 in the morning - because she's so crushed by her latest circumstance. So beautiful and unstable.

My appetite and I have been locked in textbook codependence, it would seem, my whole life long. It stokes me, it taunts me, it propels me (for my own good or to my detriment). It possesses me at times to the extent that I am in its thrall. Perhaps you can relate?

So, what (you may be wondering at this point) does this have to do with wrapping up disposable fashion week? Well... Stop lavishing desire on cheesecake or weed or atavan or sex or workaholism or stealth-parenting and you may just find yourself shopping a whole lot. And, if volume business is your thing (but you're not a socialite), the high street may be seeing much of your disposable income - emphasis on disposable. Which brings us back to that whole issue of ethical spending...

Now you know, I generally find the bargains in other locales (namely upscale sale bins and vintage stores) but sometimes a girl gets sucked in by the lure.

As I try to bring more balance into my life, I am occasionally reminded of my own propensity to thwart it. So how do we pass on the cake and eat too? I'm still working on it (thankfully). When I have some more ideas, natch you'll be the first know...

Disposable Clothing: More Evidence

OK, a propos of being creative - which is to say, mixing the cheapy purchases with the finer ones - here are the F21 high-waisted jeans styled two different ways:

Jeans: Forever 21, Shoes: n.d.c., Shrug: ?

Jeans: Forever 21, Shoes: n.d.c., Sweater: Banana Republic

I realize it's a challenging, which is to say exaggerated, look. This is why I'm wearing the jeans with heels and a bit of attitude. It's also why I bought this look via the high-street. I do think that inexpensive denim can be a super buy because it generally doesn't show its relative shabbiness.

Disposable Clothing: The Evidence

The next couple of pictoral posts are all about the crazy looks I'd never try at a higher pricepoint.

So, call me shameless, here are the F21 short shorts (and the knit vest):

Shorts and Vest: Forever 21, Shoes: n.d.c. from Winners, Necklace: From Spain, courtesy of Sandra

Yes, I am actually as pale as the pictures makes me seem.

No, I never get appreciably darker, thank you sunblock .

So, do tell, are you the short shorts type?

Disposable Clothing: The Preamble

My experience at F21 was delicious/concerning in the way that most scandalous things are: I was high on the moment with a niggling sense of doubt about consequence.

Let me start by cataloguing the purchases:

• A butter yellow, thin, deep-V cardi with pleated shoulders. Proviso: It's thin - not for the gauge of the wool but for the cheapness of its construction. Nonetheless, for the season it will last, that won't be particularly observable.


• A slate-grey shell with interesting knit detail at the shoulder / on the back. Also thin. Proviso, above, applies. A really smart, shrunken knit vest in black. This one, while cheap, has staying power.


• A rip-off version of the short shorts we've seen everywhere this season.
  
• True, super high-waisted skinny jeans - Given my age and stage, these are stylistically analogous to drag-racing while completely smashed on cocaine. I sense rehab is in my future :-)

Note that pictures will appear over the next few posts.

The damage for these 5 rather substantive garments was a shocking $110.00 - and yes, that includes tax. Herein lies the skeeviness. I'd like to tell you that I'm the kind of consumer who always saves to purchase only the designs of designers who charge a lot of money, not simply for their creativity, but for their ethical manufacturing practices. In truth, I do care, and because I'm usually getting really expensive, diffusion and designer things for less (based on my ability to bargain shop), I imagine that the retailer is taking the hit. (Note: This is something - based on the overwhelming success of those companies - I'm prepared to live with.)

However, when one purchases half a new wardrobe for 90 bucks plus tax, one cannot deny on whose back the profit is being made.

Look, I'm very much in favour of the democratization of fashion - on the creation of popular-trend garments which are affordable at most price-points. But seriously, I'm disturbed by the sheer disposability of it all. I mean, F21 makes Zara look like YSL. It makes me wonder: Where does it end?

Having said all this, I was kookily thrilled at the thought of getting some crazy-ass denim I might only have the nerve to wear 3 times for $34.00. And I know I'll wear the black knit vest into the ground, making it the best 12 bucks I'm likely to spend this year. And, for sooth, the stuff fit rather stylishly, which is to say not cheaply.

Here's my take: Over the years, I've bought 2 things at H&M, 3 things at Zara and had this little spree at F21. I'm not principaled enough to return the loot, but I'm not proud. Can't say I'll never visit these places again - can't say, either, that the places I frequent don't harm vulnerable workers the world over. But I won't be going back soon. At least that's what I tell myself.

Never Trust Anyone Over 30

You know those drop the ball moments:

...When your manager asks you a question and you totally can't think of the answer.

...When the adorable campus co-ed, or bond trader, or guy with the really architectural look and buff arms tries to pick you up at the Starbucks and, instead of using some cute, quippy comeback (advising that you are so flattered but so not on the market), you stammer like an idiot about how long you've been waiting for your short, skim, extrahot cappucino.

...When you start having a meaningful (read: intellectual) conversation about a very relevant film, book, article and you realize, half way through, that you weren't paying attention and you've lost your train of thought and you can't even remember the characters' names so you end up saying things like "the guy in the linen blazer with the bad glasses was such a self-loathing, um, prick..."

You know, the moments that make you feel vaguely out of touch?

Well, peeps, I had just such a moment last week when, on reading a post from fellow Canadian blogger, Jen (at Mahalo Fashion), I discovered that Forever21 has its flagship Canadian store at Yonge and Dundas (where that crappy Gap used to be) and it's been there since June 07 and I'd never heard a thing about it. Which is why, whenever American bloggers speak about it, I have been a jealous, covetous wannabe. And did I mention it's a 10 minute walk from my office?

Yes, I've actually zoomed by it dozens of times since it opened and never wondered about it, or looked up at the sign, or stared intently at the window design.

In my defense - I was out of town when it opened and the place has little curb appeal. I mean, what kind of marketing machine are you running when a shopping addict who lives in the hood doesn't have the slightest idea you've moved into the area? I searched the web for press releases or articles on the opening - there was some buzz, but obviously not anything that was sustained until early July (when I returned). Indeed, it was packed on a Tuesday at lunchhour so, it doesn't appear they're hurting for business...

I did some recon (i.e. spent some bucks and bought some loot) and formed some opinions about this kind of shopping experience. Pics and thoughts to follow in my "Disposable Shopping" theme week.

And lest you think the theme is at odds with yesterday's post about being more French - which is to say more moderate and less wasteful - you'd be right. Except I did this research before I decided to take my brief sabbatical from the world of consumerism. And, in fact, it has provided me with core motivation to do so. If only to refocus my creativity. So this week will be about doing the shopping and appreciating it and then deciding that (sometimes) enough is enough. And before you know it, something tells me, a new "pro-purchase" theme week will be at hand.