Year: 2008

Yesterday I received an email from Sophie’s sister, otherwise known as Sister. She informed me that she was in Paris and asked if I might need some insight for Fashion Friday.

Naturally, I seized the opportunity to live vicariously through her fashion experiences since I haven’t been to Paris in like…well, never. I’ve been way to busy going on field trips to the local pumpkin patch, although I do try to eat French fries at least a few times a week because I believe it is important to embrace other cultures.

Anyway, here is the report from Sister.

Live from Paris: No joke – black is the color in all the windows; solid black, black with gray, black with purple, black & white, black & cream, black, gray & purple plaid. Animal prints: black/white cheetah(!) with purple design – black/white animal prints paired with black/gray. When gray is showcased, it is with black, lavender, or purple. There are lots of purple/grape/wine colored scarves…with black or gray outfits. I’ve also seen purple/grape jackets.

The only colors I’ve noticed in windows have been used as an accent – there’s a wonderful rusty orange (not tu longhorn) {Note from me: Do you see why I love Sister? She knows me. She really knows me.} that has a hint of melon in it, that’s been in a few displays. Hermes has a FABULOUS window with a “parakeet/asparagus” (France has robbed me of my adjectives) green that made me stop in my tracks. They had it with the rusty melon orange, & I’ve yet to see anybody wearing those colors.

Another shop in Marais today had a gorgeous green paired with, you guessed it, black. Good looking combo, though. Parisian women really have a sense of style – rarely do you see one without a wrap and/or scarf of some sort. There are NO bare legs here. All legs have either dark hose, opaque tights, leggings, or patterned hose/tights with their boots or shoes. The only toes I have seen have been mine own, especially on the day of my arrival, when I was the only person in all 20+ arrondisements of Paris with open-toed shoes on their feet. I was, however, wearing a black ensemble with both a scarf & a wrap, so I wasn’t a total fashion faux pas.

Oh Sister. I do love you and your on the street fashion report from Paris. Muchas gracias or whatever it is they say in France.

Now for a few quick questions.

1. Lori asks: “Where can I find LONG tee shirts. I know Old Navy has long tank tops and they are divine. I need some long, long-sleeved tees to go under sweaters and such this winter. Any thoughts?”

Today is your lucky day!

Old Navy has these long-sleeve crewneck tees in longer lengths in a bunch of different colors. Best of all, if you buy two or more they’re only $10.00 each.

And my personal favorite is the Timeless Tee from Banana Republic. They are a little pricier, but they last forever and don’t shrink or fade. Plus, they are unbelievably soft.

2. Musings of a Housewife asks: “What the heck does ‘dressy casual’ mean?”

I’ll tell you what it means. It means that people like to send out invitations with arbitrary dress codes, such as “dressy casual”, “cowboy formal”, or “breakdance chic”. And then you spend a sweet forever trying to figure out what on earth “breakdance chic” means and you finally end up wearing some parachute pants and Vans, only to realize that everyone else knew to bring their own piece of cardboard to help them perform their breakdance moves.

But it’s the world we live in, so I will share some examples of what I believe to be “dressy casual”.

You could go with something like a sweater dress with tights and boots or maybe a velvet blazer with a great pair of jeans and heels. Another good choice would be a silk blouse and nice pair of pants.

The key is to make sure you have on a dressy shoe and a dressy top or jacket. If you have those key pieces, then you can pair them with a skirt, pants, or some good jeans. And by good jeans I mean that they need to be a darker wash in a stylish fit.

No faded mom jeans allowed in the dressy casual world.

Or in the breakdance chic world.

And definitely not on the streets of Paris.

One last personal note, I want to wish my daddy a happy birthday. Everything I know about style I learned from him. It is a rare man that can wear the same rust-colored velour jogging suit for the better part of two decades and keep it looking fresh. Dad, you are a fashion maven. I love you.

Y’all have a great Friday!

So let’s talk about how strongly everyone feels about velour. I had no idea I was courting such controversy by mentioning the full velour jogging suit.

First, I will confess that I still have both the velour pants and the jacket in my possession. I don’t know that I will ever wear them at the same time, but if I do I will keep in mind that many of you would tell me I look like either a cheap tramp or an octogenarian.

Secondly, I do tend to agree that the velour works better as separates. Although one of the girls on “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team” (which really deserves a whole post to itself) had on a bright yellow one and I thought she looked darling.

Third, I don’t really have a third thing. Oh, except to tell you that I’ve also ordered some velour pants in hot pink. But did not order the matching jacket. I have my limits.

The good news is that every time I wear my velour pants, I will think of “Nacho Libre” and say, “When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It’s for fun.”

Now for the questions.

1. TNS asks: “The question I want to ask is if you can wear black and brown together? Sometimes I pair it together and wonder if it’s a big mistake.”

A few weeks ago I stated that wearing brown and black together was a mistake and then I asked the stylist/color wheel expert while I was in Nashville and she told me that they can, in fact, be worn together.

The key is to keep it simple and make sure it all blends together. Don’t just throw on a pair of brown shoes with some black pants. Think along the lines of a nice black sweater with some chocolate brown pants and some black boots. Maybe throw in a leopard print belt for fun.

2. Nicole and Barbara both asked a similar question: “I’ve noticed that scarves seem to be really popular this year. I’m sure you’re not ready to wrap a scarf around your neck in Texas yet, but can you give me some suggestions for putting this look together?”

I am a huge fan of the scarf. The right scarf can pull a totally plain outfit together and make it fab. Plus, they are very versatile.

True story. I wore a hot pink scarf when I went to Deeper Still Las Vegas and then wore it on the plane on the way home. The plane got cold and I totally used my scarf as a blanket. It was brilliant and didn’t instill any kind of germophobia like when I consider using a blanket provided by the airline.

Here are a few cute scarves and some examples of how to wear them.

The best part is you can just throw on jeans, a long sleeve tee and wrap a scarf around your neck and you have yourself an outfit.

It’s almost as easy as a velour jogging suit.

3. Laurie and Rena both asked the same question: “Is there any type of shoe that is comfortable AND stylish for fall and winter?”

Oh yes, there is such thing as a comfortable shoe.

The sad reality is you won’t find it at Target. Or Payless.

The good news is I don’t think you have to pay a fortune to get it.

I just bought these the other day and they are very comfortable, yet totally affordable. They are basically the replacement for my black Reef flip-flops that I wore all summer long.

If you’re looking for some cute sneakers, you may want to try these. I tried them on the other day and they are so comfortable, plus they come in a lot of fun colors. I’m also a big fan of Converse, although they aren’t quite as comfortable.

But the real problem is that sometimes a girl needs something a little dressier which usually means something with a heel.

(Just for the record, when I just typed “heel” the first time, I typed “hell” instead. Coincidence? I think not.)

Heels are a little trickier. Part of the problem is that once your foot gets used to being in flat shoes all the time, it gets angry when forced into a shoe with a heel. It starts a revolt that begins in your toes and ends in your arch. Feet have to be heel-trained.

Back in my days as a pharmaceutical rep, I could walk a million miles in the highest heels you’ve ever seen while carrying a fifty pound bag filled with drugs. When I re-read that sentence I realize it sounds like I was working in some other sort of profession. Anyway, the point is it takes some dedication to wear heels on a regular basis.

However, here are a few pairs of boots and shoes that will hopefully prove to be fairly comfortable.

If not, you can always just carry these in your purse just in case.

4. Ashleigh asks: “What’s up with formal fashion these days? I don’t exactly want to look like I’m going to the prom, but I also don’t want to look like I’m 45 when… I’m not. Any ideas?”

Sadly, I don’t know what’s up with formal fashion these days, but I can assure you it doesn’t involve a velour jogging suit.

The last formal event I attended was close to a decade ago because P and I are very fancy people. But since I like to play pretend, I’ll show you what I might wear if I had an occasion more formal than say next month’s PTO meeting.

I love this. Or something simple like this could be beautiful with the right accessories. Or this is great because it is versatile.

And if this counts as formal fashion, then I would have to have it. I only wish it came in black or some gorgeous red color.

Really you can’t go wrong. Just find something that makes you feel beautiful and you will be.

Have fun. And maybe email me to let me know what people do at formal events.

And I’ll email you back and tell you what people do at crawfish boils.

That’s it for this week.

Y’all have a great Friday.