Felinity

Last week I mentioned this little cat sculpture I got at the British Museum while I was in London last month (OH! Sad!! It was last month already!!). It's really quite a tiny little thing, not even two inches tall, but it's been sitting on my desk near my computer and I've grown increasingly fond of it, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.

I try not to be a Crazy Cat Lady, but I do love cats. I have no embellished garments with cats on them, no porcelain figurines or "Hang In There, Baby" posters, I do not have a cat watch or cat earrings or a cat shower curtain. Total inventory of cat-related objects consists of one coffee cup, one calendar (soon to be outdated) and one actual cat. ONE. One cat.

But I do love cats. Some folks might say it's because I'm a Leo, and that may be true, but I just like 'em. I like their self-sufficiency and independence, I like their mystery, and I love their graceful slinkiness.

Although my girl seems to be letting down the side a bit in the gracefully slinky department, as you can witness here:

She's not fat. She's FLUFFY.

I just like their overall felinity. (I just made up that word, but I think it could really take off.)

And I'm also drawn to clothes that have felinity, and with my little sculpture keeping me company lately I've been reminded of that even more. What defines felinity in a garment? Well, the aforementioned slinkiness, which has a lot to do with fabric. Velvet, jersey, charmeuse have it. Sometimes chiffon, if it is good silk chiffon with a nice hand. Taffeta does not have it, nor does corduroy. You want some sweep or swing or drape in the garment -- babydoll minidresses don't have felinity, nor anything painted-on snug, contrary to what some folks seem to believe. Simplicity is important, too, not too much embellishment or foofaraw to detract from the lines. Here's a great example:

From Isaac Mizrahi, a guy not usually big on the felinity (not that that stops me loving his work). I've been smitten with this dress ever since I saw it and if there were any way I could squeeze my pear-shaped self into it I might even get over my allergy to gray enough to wear it. It looks like it's made of cotton or wool jersey -- effortless. And the exposed shoulders -- lots of felinity there.

Michael Kors gets felinity:

Even in pants. Pants can have felinity, depending on how they're cut. Look at those. Those are downright languid, those pants.


And this gorgeous thing

More Kors. What's not to love there? Slinky. Sparkly, but not overly so. One bare shoulder (asymmetry adds felinity). Drapey gathers & folds of fabric. Mmmmmmmm, I really love this.

Costello Tagliapietra get it in spades:

These guys are GEE-niuses with jersey.

Oh, how pretty is that? Completely covered up and utterly sexy.

Here are some other things I've noticed lately that made me purrrrrrrrrr.

From my boyfriendAlexanderMcQueen. God googly-moogly, what an amazing dress. And it comes in burgundy, as well, which is one of my favorite colors to wear. Stunning.

More from Mr. McQueen. Be still my heart. A nice long leg slit (provided the leg merits it, and the slit is not so high that you cannot sit down without much nervous rearranging of skirt) is has lots of felinity.

Delicious slinky jersey from Issa. Silk jersey is very high on the felinity scale.

Everyone can use a little felinity in her life, a little quiet sexiness to help you prowl through the chaos. It will make you more serene, more mysterious. Walk slowly & purposefully. Arch your back. Stretch.

Purrrrrrrrrr...

Photos: Style Spy, Style.com, yoox.com