I have this vivid memory in my mind of childhood moments when the act of dress-up seemed to possess transformative, almost magical powers – an element of the “unknown” that seemed so quintessentially grown-up yet playful. Sometimes when I was left home alone to my own devices, I would put on my aunt’s highest platforms (she lived with us for a while), pull on my mom’s puffiest skirt, and as carefully as possible try to apply the reddest lipstick I could find. I would twirl around in this get-up, doing circles in our tiny apartment, until the doorbell rudely interrupted this “ritual.” At that point, the skirt, lipstick, and platforms would come off at the speed of light, and I opened the door with that innocent smile on my face that eight-year-old girls are so good at faking. Privet!
clutch
my milly dilly remix
As you might have noticed, the last three posts included the same chiffon, Milly blouse. There is actually a perfectly good explanation for this “un-fashionista-like” behaviour. These posts are part of my Milly Remix Series for the Teenvogue Wardrobe Remix contest. It asked of its participants to choose one piece of clothing they love and style it three different ways, so I chose my beloved sheer blouse. The second requirement was to give tips on how to remix an item like the one we picked and these were my tips for styling a chiffon, sheer blouse such as this one:
Miu Miu in action
I was going to wait until tomorrow to make this post but I have so many fun looks lined up that I couldn’t resits moving things along. With this outfit, I wanted to put that “scandalously short silhouette” I talk about in the last post into action. I bought this long Miu Miu top (or short dress, depending how you look at it) on ebay a few years back, and it wasn’t until I began compiling pictures for the Miu Miu inspiration post that it occurred to me that if Miuccia Prada wanted ‘short’ than ‘short’ it shall be. I decided to preserve the clean lines of the garment, without any distraction that a belt or jewelery piece would impose. I wanted to highlight the exquisite tailoring of this Miu Miu piece, so layering for me was also out of the question. Once I had a rough image in my head of what I envisioned for this look, the challenge was its materialization without giving over to practical compromise.
Alberta Ferretti at Idomeneo
A few days ago I paid another visit to the Four Seasons Centre to see Idomeneo – an opera I knew nothing about. To me, its most memorable features were the emotional intimacy and grandeur of the music (I guess they call it Mozart’s masterpiece for a reason), the mythological plot, and the powerful cast. I didn’t have time to even glance at the program because the lights were already dimming as we frantically rushed to our seats (no matter how much I try to prevent this, we tend to be “fashionably late” to these things, which is pretty “unfashionable” when it comes to theatre considering that half of the row needs to get up to let you through). Anyway, after seeing enough operas their plots become pretty predictable and you know what to expect of the endings - someone is going to die a horrible, miserable death. But apparently not in Idomeneo. It was so surprising and refreshing that every character not only survived the course of the opera but was happier by the end of it. And it was based on Greek mythology – go figure…I guess those vicious gods took it easy for once.
bow flow
The wind posed a serious challenge to my picture-taking experience today because the bow, which is arguably the focal point of this look, just wouldn’t stay in place. What you are seeing here is not exactly what I had envisioned in terms of the dress’s silhouette and composition of the pictures. I was thinking of cleaner, more defined lines which is what I saw in the mirror at home. Under the influence of the wind, the shape of this loose a-line dress and the bow became unidentifiable. Lol, surprisingly nature has no regard for my ‘artistic vision’ (note the sarcasm please). Anyway, “all is well that ends well.” Even though my plan was undermined I’m quite content with the result, especially because I got a chance to wear my new Marni tweed platforms.
