Lending List and Leather-ish Vest

I'm happy to see that some of you want to read this great book and are happy to pass it on. This shouldn't be too complicated a process. I'll send this book on to the first person on the list (that would be Val Sparkle.) When she's done with it, she can just get in contact with the next person on the list for her mailing address (that would be Alice) and send it off to her. Alice can do the same with Becky and so on.

That way all private addresses stay private. I'll lose track of the list eventually, so please let me know if you want to read the book and I'll try to find it for you. The only thing I ask is that if you borrow it, please send it on as long as there are people who want to read it. (It's a paperback that we're handing off, so who knows how long it will stay in one piece? Just tape it back together and send it on!)

So, in the order they were received, here are the first borrowers:

The Thoughtful Dresser Lending List

1. Val Sparkle of  Late Blooming Sparkle  

2. Alice of  Happiness At Midlife  

3. Becky of  Pink Cheetah Vintage 

4. Pao of  Project Minima 

5. Dawn of  Alter Ego Fashionista 

6. Suzanne of  Suzanne Carillo Style Files 

Let me know how you liked it. I just love an interactive project!

And for those of you who just stopped by to see what is up this week from my teeny-tiny-little-mind , here's me in a faux leather vest, a georgette-ish tunic shirt, jeans and my very-old-but-still-good suede boots.

  

Huh.

Drop a line, please, and tell me what's going on with you!

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Today, I'm hanging out with our favorite Winter Blooming Patti at Visible Monday

and at "Pretty in Plaid" Seeker's Tres Chic Style Bits

Join us for all the linky fun!

Icebound with "The Thoughtful Dresser"

I swore I was going to make this week's post a positive one as my most recent bloggy offerings have been devoted to whining and navel gazing about hair issues.  You've all been patient and very kind and deserve better.

Then a record breaking ice storm hit us here in MidNowhere, knocking out power to thousands here in our part of the world, and we were part of the mess.  Couldn't get out to the restaurant, but then no one else could either.  We woke up Friday morning to no heat or light, and ... AAAACCCKK! ... 
no Internet (!!!)  No matter where you are, these big and inconvenient-but-survivable weather interruptions to our fairly easy lives are a massive pain in the ass.  But unlike the quick devastation of our frequent tornadoes, we saw this mess coming, and were able to prepare at least a little.  We've been pretty lucky so far, as our power was restored late Saturday evening. Wine was opened in celebration and layers shed as the heat came back on.  As of Sunday afternoon there were still 10,000 out of power on the third day in, and as of Monday, there had been over 60,000 in Arkansas affected, and I'm pretty sure they're not done counting.

Peter Benenson, the founder of Amnesty International famously advised the world that we'd all "better light a candle than curse the darkness."   He was referencing other circumstances; a world much more horrific than ours, but the advice is well taken and practical.  At our house, there certainly was some cursing, but candles were lit and we got by.

The Positive Part ...

Even without Internet access,  I had some hours of completely absorbing entertainment  because the friendship and generosity of two bloggers who live approximately 4,404 miles away from me.

Some weeks ago, the fabulous Curtise of her lovely blog, The Secondhand Years , sent me a much appreciated care-package that included a book she though I would enjoy: Linda Grant's The Thoughtful Dresser.  She was so right!   Curtise had been given it by the equally fabulous Vix, who brings us her luxuriant and lively blog,  The Vintage Vixen . Not sure where she got it, but my thanks go out to both of these generous women for passing this book around and sharing the wisdom!  

Because I knew instantly that I would love it, I had been saving it for a time when I needed some serious fun. No time like a power outage to guiltlessly indulge in some serious goofing-off, so I grabbed the book, wrapped up in a big blanket (closely accompanied by the shorter haired dogs and cats)  and camped near a big window.  I read into the night with the help of my "Itty Bitty Book Light" until I'd finished it.  I closed it reluctantly about midnight, and I'm sorry it's done.  As soon as I'm in funds again, I'll be haunting Amazon, looking for more of her books.  Thank you so much again, Curtise ... bet you didn't know you were doing such a grand and comforting thing when you posted this book off to me!

Ms. Grant is one of those women that you just know you'd love to death if you knew her in real life.  She's only a year younger than I am, and although she grew up in England, lots of her experiences are like mine and will be appreciated by our whole generation. Younger readers will get it, too, because we all wear clothes, and the love of them is pan-generational.  She takes on the subject that so many of us dabble around the edges of; why we care about what we wear. Then, she treats our favorite guilty pleasure with a refreshing respect that is completely without apology. 
She often elevates the discussion to the near-poetic.  As in a lot of wonderful nonfiction, the bibliography alone is a tiny treasure, a road sign pointing to other sources of reading pleasure!

The fundamental act of dressing is her subject, too.  Not a how-to or book of style suggestions, The Thoughtful Dresser is a sometimes funny and occasionally heartbreaking group of connected essays and stories about what has often been regarded as a purely a feminine pastime and our weakness .  She reminds us that our love of the pleasures of dressing is, besides being one of our most effective tool of seduction, an effective and time-honored tool used to gain and maintain sovereignty over our own lives.  She writes with the incisive insight of personal experience and passion about our lust for handbags and shoes, and why they are aspirational objects of desire and pleasure instead of just functional items that keep our feet dry and our stuff organized.

What style or fashion blogger doesn't want to know more about the pleasures we take in our dressing rituals and why they are so important in our lives?  Because I interrupted Dan's own reading so often during that snowy day, insistent that he hear a particular bon mot or concept I thought his sociological heart might like, even he wants to read The Thoughtful Dresser now.  It's that good, 'cause he's a picky and serious reader.

A Possible Bloggy-Friend Project:

Because this book seems destined to be passed on, if anyone wants it I'll be happy to send it on.   What I'd like to do is keep it going.  What if we all swear a pinky-oath to send it on and keep it moving?

Let me know via Comments if you're interested, please.  

Thoughtfully dressed to go into the Big City, pre-storm, to stock up on some 

provisions for the correctly predicted nasty weather ...

This is an old, very warm faux fur-lined (and washable!) coat by Tribal that I wore with my also growing-elderly Ralph Lauren lug-soled boots and my Phillip Lim for Target shirt.

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Linking up with the always interesting Seeker at her linky, 

Tres Chic Style Bits! Come join us

and see what's going on over there!

HAIR ( not the musical ...)

I had no idea that a simple haircut would be such a big emotional deal to me.

I've recently written about being a bit down in the dumps about my appearance, and a few weeks earlier, I wrote about burning big chunks of my hair off in an accident with a candle, and consequently getting it cut into a chin-length bob. It took me until the day before Thanksgiving last week to put the two events together.

Duh. I just had to finally admit that I hated having to cut my hair when I wasn't ready to do it, and hated how the resulting style looked on me.

I look like a garden gnome in all my pictures since "The Bob."

I've had hairstyle-fails before, but they didn't send me into a funk.

Next, I indulged in a good, thoroughly cathartic fit of weeping. Then I went to my old salon in the Big City, clutching a photo of a style I liked better and begged a stylist to fit me in without an appointment. She cut another 1.5 inches off, add some texture-y layers and show me how to flip them around a bit to break up what looks like an old fashioned "page-boy" to me. I am still learning some new hair styling skills, it's still bob-ish (in fact, another version) but not as rigid looking and I am happier.

But the big surprise in all this is how much I didn't like my original cut, and how low I felt about it. It was a good, competent haircut, but really not how I want to look. Lots of the women whose looks I admire most wear bobbed locks with panache, great flair and look completely beautiful in this very popular style. I envy all of you. I've appreciated and tried to internalize all the compliments and support I've gotten from so many of my bloggy friends in the comments section. But on me, I think it looks uptight (wow... how long has it been since you heard anyone use that word?) and more than a little constipated and stuffy. And I think I look just a little mean. I take notions about things, like leopard print and denim jackets and camouflage prints. Apparently, that applies to some hairstyles as well.

I'm still not happy about my hair, and I don't want to grow it long again, but I see a spark of potential. And I'm feeling better now that I've given up trying to force myself into liking it. Perhaps it's just me in my maturity, but life is seeming way too short to spend any more time at all trying to accept a haircut I don't like.

So I won't.

Here I am, still stuck in dressed-down, post-holiday, errand running mode, with the new cut. It was so cold out that Dan was shaky and the picture wasn't very sharp. I adjusted the color ... blouse is close, as are the oxblood jacket and cordovan booties. My hair came out much brighter than it really is, though, but you get an idea of the cut.

I was wearing lipstick that was almost burgundy ... go figure.

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I'll be showing up "late but present" at the always sweet-and-kind-looking Patti's Visible Monday 

and the ever inquisitive Seeker's linky party, 

Tres Chic Style Bits ! Join us!

I'm Grateful For ...

For those of you outside the US, this Thursday we'll be celebrating our Thanksgiving. Here, the day is marked by excess: we Americans almost always set out to deliberately over-indulge in our favorite seasonal foods and beverages with family. We may not like our relatives, or particularly care for turkey, but celebrate together we do. The feast itself is usually scheduled for early afternoon. That's to allow for the traditional nap that follows and/or our other national tradition-obsession; hours and hours and hours of college or pro football. And that is usually accompanied by grazing on leftovers, and extra servings of dessert.

But at its best and in its deeper meaning, it's a national day of gratitude. We're supposed to spend at least a portion of the day counting our personal and collective blessings. I am first grateful for my Darling Dan and the rest of our very small and peculiar family. That absolutely includes all our four- legged and furry or big, hairy, hoofed "children" as well as our wild and domestic winged babies. I celebrate the health of all the above, and the health and happiness of our immediate and extended two-legged family and friends.

It's just the two of us here, so I'm grateful that Dan doesn't want the whole traditional demonstration of excess for dinner on the big day. We just make lots of only our very favorites dishes and enjoy them with a good bottle (or two) of better wine than we usually drink, and a bottle of cheap champagne to finish the evening. (We find the bubbles nice on a full tummy.) I'm also grateful that he doesn't watch football ... and that brings me to another thing I'm especially grateful for.   Satellite television

allows us to save marathons of favorite series we've missed on the DVR, or movies.

I have a whole list of important and serious things to be grateful for but, as you see, I'm also grateful for many of the less high-minded elements and fun parts of my life. And since this is (ostensibly) a style blog, I have some gratitude to express about the style and sartorial life as well.

To start, I'm grateful that Dan and I just dress up our best jammies or jammie-equivalents on Turkey Day, and call it good. It's all about the food anyway at our house. I might or might not wear mascara, but will absolutely brush my hair. I'll lounge and help cook in cozy black leggings and a new, black and pink lace print sweatshirt in ... ahem ... "French terry" that sports a different, silkier front panel.

Speaking of Target* ... I'm grateful that we finally got one in our Big City. I have fun at our Target. And because of their designer collaborations, it's one of the few places where I can have at least some of the same kind of fun as women in more urban areas have.

Another Target thing I am grateful for this year is Sonia Kashuck's new line of fragrances with companion creams and other body-care yummies. There are four different scents in the line but I'm enchanted with her Pink Innocencia. I'm a little bit of a fragrance snob. I have standards -- they're low, but I do have them -- and I generally try to step it up a bit from Big Box perfumes with celebrity names. However, Kashuck has some serious design and quality chops, and this tuberose, magnolia and amber fragrance is right up my alley.

 It comes on pretty intensely right out of the bottle, but settles down quickly and just glows softly all afternoon. Great for layering too, with hand and body creams, all inexpensively available. Lovely for everyday, especially when I'm here all by myself all day with the dogs, cats and horses. They don't care much if I smell good, but I do.

As much as I love Target, I won't be anywhere near it on Black Friday. Which starts as early as Thursday evening, right after dinners. It has become the most insane shopping day here in the US, and I'm grateful that I'm avoiding this part of the holiday madness. I like a good sale as much as the next woman, but I'm too little and too old to compete with younger, or larger, or more determined (or sometimes just meaner) women for deep sale prices and parking spaces.

I'm grateful that this was the year that I managed to get all my favorite magazines, including the fashion glossies, in digital subscriptions on my Kindle Fire. I love it. I can now carry ALL of them around with me along with my book collection, sketch pad, music, web browser and a movie or two if I wish.

And I'm grateful for happy style accidents that sometimes happen. While wandering around JCP (yes, again ....) I found a brown and black striped boat-neck sweater that I just love. On sale. And I'm grateful how well it goes with a brown and black stripped skirt that I've had for a long time. It has looked okay with other tops, but I think it's now part of an "outfit" with the two happy pieces together.

And I'm grateful that our recent warm day has turned to much cooler weather, so I could bring out the tights and boots and leather and enjoy wearing it

Finally, I return to my list of important blessings. If you're reading this, I'm thankful for you! And if you leave a reply, I'm extra thankful. And if you are one of the great but unsung style-bloggers from all around the world that I count among my bloggy-friends, bloggers who inspire me daily, weekly and always, and who share with me your pretty clothes, interesting lives and smart opinions .... I'm grateful for every one of your posts this past year. You help bring the world to my door, you challenge my preconceptions, make me think, let me learn, and keep me from being as isolated as I might otherwise be. I'm thankful for all of that and every one of you.

So, where ever you are, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

*This is not a sponsored post by Target. Or JCP. Or anyone. I'm just a fan.

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This is me, linking up with 

the adorable and always charming Seeker at

Tres Chic Style Bits  on Mondays. 

 Do drop by, and definitely feel free to show this new Linky Party some love and Link Up!

Winter Heat Wave!

Yesterday, the local temperature was 81ºF (about 27 ºC ) and the low was supposed to be about 38 ºF  (  just over 3 ºC )! 

Not sure about the low because I wasn't awake to verify it in the wee hours of this morning. It had been down in the 50s for the daylight hours last week, but it's still warm and into the mid-60s today.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but WTF? I'm completely discombobulated with this weather. Will someone please remind Mother Nature that it's freaking November?

Cancel that ... no doubt I'll have cause to regret my complaints come January or February. But for now, it's difficult to plan how to dress ahead of time. The post outfits I had planned for today were way too cozy and bundled up to wear comfortably, so I opted to punt.

I decided to do more digging in my closet for items I love but don't wear often, and was rewarded with a happy surprise or two that look winter-ish but are cool enough to be comfy in this strange spring-like weather.

This little skirt has been in my closet forever and survived several purges because I just couldn't give up on it. I've just never found any items that worked well with it. 

It's very pretty but it's always seemed an odd length that suddenly  seems much more workable with the current revival of the midi skirt.  Midis are problematic for me, but I just love the length of this sweet little skirt. The silvery embroidered and scalloped hem is enough excuse to keep it!

This top was a surprise for me because I found it very recently on the sale rack at Target after they gave up on the recent Phillip Lim collaboration. I think the original $39.99 price tag understandably seemed high to many of our local Target shoppers. I was tickled to find it on sale, though, and I like the fit a lot. Its jeweled collar has seemed a little wintery until now, and will look great under a blazer or moto later on, but I thought it gave the little skirt a nice excuse to dress up and go out. I didn't actually wear the skirt on our trip to the Big City yesterday, but I'll wear it to work soon. The restaurant is always warm enough to go sleeveless!

The top did get to go to town, 'cause I pared it with coated skinnies, best booties and a little tougher silver watch and chain-link bracelet than I'd usually choose for it. That worked pretty well I thought, and I had fun wearing it.

But I'm especially happy that this nice little skirt has finally found her match! 

 Awwwww.

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Excellent!  It's Visible Monday again, and I'm linking up

with Doing-Great-Things Patti at her place!  
Also, I'll be hanging out "somewhere in the Atlantic" with the very chic and sleek Seeker at her NEW link-up party,

Tres Chic Style Bits #4 !