Moved

This is to inform any interested parties that this blog has a new and improved home: creature of design.

Hope to see you over there.

A Givenchy Ode

Newsflash: This blogger has just acquired a Givenchy Nightingale at 50% off.

Givenchy Maxi Nightingale Tote from ssense.com

May it arrive every bit as beautiful as it looks online.

Ed. + 30 min.: And it sold out already. Good catch, girl.

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Winter Wool Throwback

It's time for me to confess a bad habit of mine: I take dozens and sometimes hundreds of photos of my outfits on an almost daily basis, but rarely get around to selecting and editing them for inclusion on this blog.

Therefore, even though it is practically summer, I am going to reach into my backlog and pull out a favorite outfit. I wore this one to work after winter break, a la behold:

Top and tights: J. Crew. Skirt and booties: Anthropologie. Necklace: Jacquie Aiche.

This outfit revolves around a subdued yet creative mix of colors and textures. The skirt is by Cartonnier, and its hybrid pencil/A-line silhouette combined with the gather makes it immensely flattering.

The tights make or break the outfit. Getting dressed in the morning, I very nearly went with safe dark brown, but at the last minute switched to a deep plum color. Absolutely the right choice.

It's an elegant yet cozy outfit to teach in. Looking at it, I almost miss winter. Ah, but summer is full of possibilities.

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Heron and Ombre

The other evening, I went on a date (Isabella's, this great tapas bar in downtown Frederick). I wanted to make an impact while remaining low-key, and this is what I came up with:

Sweater: Anthropologie. Jeans: Vintage One Revolution. Shoes: Biviel Couture. Cuff: The Textile Museum.

I also like how my hair turned out. I smoothed some Giovanni Frizz Be Gone Serum (an affordable organic brand at my co-op) on the upper half, and scrunched Jonathan Dirt Paste through the bottom half.

You can see how my dye job is totally growing out. I'm so happy ombre hair is in right now; a few more inches and it'll be perfect. Thank you, Alexa Chung.

Back to the clothes. The jeans are a brand I came across in Velvet Lounge downtown, and they're the ultimate cigarette jeans for narrow-hipped girls. The sweater is the popular asymmetrical concoction by Anthropologie that came out in like half a dozen colors (I have it in dark gray as well), and it's thin enough to wear on a cool spring evening. It covers up, but the shoulder drape makes it sexy.

The heels, I got on sale from Anthropologie. They are a beautiful butter leather, and the almond-shaped toe is precious.

The highlight, however, is the wrist cuff. I found it in the Textile Museum gift shop, and it is actually handmade from a genuine vintage Japanese kimono. The photos don't do justice to how the colors glow and shimmer. The red crest on the heron in particular explodes off the glazed surface.

The whole combination had the intended effect on my date.

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I'm an F-18 and I Will Destroy You In the Air*

For the sake of fashion, I gave myself the world's biggest blister today.

It's smack dab on the great toe joint of my left foot, a perfect hemisphere of tender skin and pressurized fluid. I keep glancing at the thing, expecting it to explode any moment. The culprit, of course, is a brand-new pair of shoes.

I got these Raeburn suede pumps by Rag & Bone at Shopbop for 70% off plus a $25 off coupon. At such a steal, I can forgive these shoes some pain. They're not even particularly uncomfortable: I simply should not power-walk five blocks to work in brand-new heels. Halfway there this morning, I found myself wishing I'd brought along some flats. I hobbled into work and cadged a band-aid from the secretaries, then spent the day bravely strutting the halls.

I tried not to grimace whenever I received a compliment. They do look good.

One reviewer on Shopbop called them the "stealth bomber" of pumps, and she has a point. That curved heel is show-stopping.

I would call this shoe a F-18, though. Sexy and streamlined, but also chunky and obnoxious. You cannot ignore these on someone's feet.

These are only my trying-on photos. This is what I wore today:

Top: Anthropologie. Pants: Alexander Wang.

Aren't these pants insane? Holy MC Hammer daddy parachute silk, Batman!

I wanna bust a move in these. But not with this blister.

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*With apologies to Charlie Sheen. Winning.

Blazer, Deconstructed

Just a quickie tonight. A downtown-casual outfit I wore a while back:

Blazer and tee: J. Crew. Jeans: Vintage One. Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell.

I coupled an oversized boyfriend blazer with destroyed moto jeans and beat-up oxfords. The whole thing works, somehow. This isn't the first time I've paired brown shoes with a black top.

This is probably the closest I've ever come to wearing a suit.

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Camo Blocking

With black tights, you have three choices: 1.) intensify them by adding blacks and/or neutrals, 2.) ignore them, or 3.) deliberately play off them with unexpected combinations. Yesterday's elegant opera house ensemble took the first path; today's post follows the third.

Dress: Anthropologie. Shoes: Coclico. Bag and tights: J. Crew.

I turned up to work in this a few weeks ago when I wanted to play with ideas of prettiness and toughness. The shirtdress is a medium-weight silk, which feminizes its military influence. I especially love the insouciant drape of the yoke across the back.

Black and olive go together well, though, so the unexpected combination I'm talking about lies in the choice of footwear.

Navy and black! One of my favorite style rules to break. These Coclico leather heels have chic cutouts and a peep-toe, and fit a glove. (Alas, they have zero support.) This iPhone shot may show the head-to-toe effect better than my webcam can capture:

A single accessory can pull together and finish an entire look, and I think that happens here with the wrist band. Handmade from reclaimed leather, it's from The Muse in downtown Frederick.

That little pop of tan is what ties the black, olive, and navy together into one understated but clever package.

Tie it off with a messy side braid, and you're good.

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In Black and Cream

The school play ate my life. Now the run is over, though, and it was a good one. My triumphant (or just meandering) return deserves a beautiful outfit.

I wore such a one yesterday to work. Most apropos, since it turned out that I had to make a last-minute announcement at the school assembly regarding who had won most outstanding actor/actress. An ensemble fit for an assistant director:

Blouse: ESPRIT. Shorts: JNBY. Shoes: Pedro Garcia.
Clutch: Alexander Wang. Tights and ring: J. Crew.

All this sophistication has a skew, however: what looks like a skirt actually is a pair of shorts.

These voluminous pleated wool shorts by JNBY caught my eye during Shopbop's recent transitional spring sale. I wasn't quite sure how they'd translate from the model photo to real life, but the result is spectacular and comfortable and utterly cool. The trick lies in the creased pleats, which stand out a mile from my sides. Paired with black tights, these "shorts" are the haute alternative to a skirt during cold months.

Throughout the day, for some reason, I kept getting a Japanese vibe off my outfit. It has something to do with the weighty folds of the shorts and the loose-hanging silk strips of the blouse. (From ESPRIT. Who would've thunk? The material is a lovely drapey sheer.) I got it. Yes, it's like a hakama. 

I took a kendo class once.

French-Japanese fusion, perhaps? What with the ruffled blouse and quilted leather clutch. I did not, of course, bring the clutch to work, as it would be a bit silly for me to carry it while teaching John Donne's "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" to a roomful of high schoolers. I'm just bringing it out for this shoot.

This Elsa quilted leather clutch by Alexander Wang came from the Outnet. It was just so beautiful and intricate that after weeks of looking and looking, I finally bit the bullet and bought the last unit I could find anywhere on the Internet.

I would say I'll never have to buy another black clutch as long as I live, but then I remember that I have somehow ended up with at least six pairs of black heels in various permutations. One of which in fact I am wearing in these photos:

These Pedro Garcia suede ankle booties stole my heart with their peep-toe cork soles. They're practical, too, as the cork platform absorbs some of the impact and takes an inch off the 4.5" heels. This pair looks great with just regular skinny jeans as well.

Now if I were wearing this outfit to, say, an opera at the Kennedy Center, I would switch these booties out for my epic Proenza Schouler corset wedges.

Tres belle.

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Winter Turquoise and Sombre Negra

The Super Bowl? Let's just blog about clothes. I pulled this outfit on last Sunday when I spent the afternoon lounging at the coffee shop.

The silk tunic, belted, is from Edun. I've been wearing more silk in winter ever since I figured out that it keeps you warm. The material drapes beautifully and has a fine matte finish, facts my poor webcam cannot do justice to.

Tunic: Edun. Jeans: AG Stevie. Boots: Belstaff. Belt: J. Crew.

I have a penchant for mixing brown boots with black clothes. I scored the last pair of these Belstaff boots from Net-a-Porter, and they were marvelous out of the box.

These are thoughtfully crafted boots. They've been given an antique and weathered patina that is darker in person than shown here. The shaft is actually made up of two flaps of leather, one folded over the other, so that the three buckles and one ankle strap are completely functional. Doing these boots up is a ritual in itself; at the end, my lower legs feel encased in the most substantial sense of the word. These are true traveler's boots, the sort you spend years tramping around in without a second thought precisely because they are so imperviously cool.

For a shot of color, I put on my turquoise ring from Sundance. The hue is so vibrant it almost looks fake. That's the best kind of turquoise. I also like the imperfect brown streak and the unexpected rectangular frame.

For a couple of hours, I sipped green tea and browsed Luckyscent on my iPhone. I could read descriptions of perfumes all day. It's my form of porn. In the end, I went with Sombre Negra by YOSH.

"The fragrance is at once omnipresent but ghostly, casting doubt and arousing intrigue. The emotional intensity of patchouli, vetiver and choya loban unearth deep mushroom notes, revealing sweet but unsentimental undertones of opoponax and tobacco. The diffused smokiness of pink and black pepper mingles with dry teak and cypress leaving an ephemeral illusion." Oh, crazy perfume text. You sound like the perfect thing to put on in the depths of winter. I can't wait to get you in the mail, then wear you with lots of black and brown.

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