What I'm After

I'm suggestible. This is what I've been seeing and this is what I'm now wanting:

This is Celine S/S '10. Phoebe Philo is back in the design saddle, now at Celine, and she's working some serious magic over there. So far, she's shown two full and two mid-season collections. Everything has been extremely streamlined and modern and right up my alley, although I'd love a little more color, of course. People are responding to this more favorably than I expected when I first saw it. I wasn't sure at first if the hubbub was just because everyone was happy to see Phoebe Philo working again (she took several seasons off after her massively successful stint at Chloe to do the full-time mom thing), but the clothes are getting a lot of editorial coverage, so it's not just the cult of personality, I don't think. The clothes are really, really good, and deserve the coverage.

Of course, this collection just sends me -- it's exactly what I want to be wearing now, all neat & tailored and narrow and slick. I am feeling very UNflouncy these days. The thing that's specifically speaking to me is that damned leather t-shirt. I am now officially DYING for a leather t-shirt.

Ridiculously impractical, especially since I live where I do. (It was in the low 80's here yesterday -- we'll have a little chilly here & there over the next couple of weeks, but winter is effectively over for us until... a long time from now.) But I am completely smitten with the way that looks.

Here's a long-sleeved version from The Row, F/W '10. (Great collection, by the way. Say what you will about those Olsen girls, they make pretty terrific clothes.) It's slick, but I prefer the short-sleeved version. I also much prefer that beautiful camel-colored leather to the black -- it looks richer and less predictable.


Of course, I could probably make an exception for something black from Hermés...

Oh, that makes me want to cry a little. I so adore what Gaultier does for this house -- the man is a dab hand with leather. This is F/W '10 and the whole collection is extremely delicious, check it out.

I still prefer the warmer colors, though.

This is Philip Lim S/S '10. I posted about this collection when he showed it. I'm such a huge fan of his -- his clothes are just GOOD.


Besides the leather t-shirt, I could certainly go for one of these

Celine, again. So good.

So far, lots & lots of interweb searching is turning up a whole lotta Not Much, but I'm anticipating that by fall we'll be swimming in leather t-shirts. At least I hope so. Right now, the nearest I'm hitting it is this:

Dear Shopbop... Two words: New. Models.

This actually might be more useful, given the climate here, but I'm much less in love with it. Also, I think that color is actually more of that pinky-beige than full-on caramel, which is what I'm really after. Probably I need to spend the summer steeling myself for the disappointment of not being able to find this elusive, perfect, caramel-colored leather t-shirt of my dreams. Maybe if I save up I can afford the actual Celine one. Probably not. I'm rather fond of my kidneys. And keeping a roof over my head.


The other thing I'm really feeling lately is this silhouette in pants:

These are Philip Lim, too, also from S/S '10. I posted about these before -- I am just loving that pleated, slouchy pant with the pegged bottom. I don't know why, it's very mysterious. But look how wonderful in real life:




COLOR!!! Wonderful, wonderful COLOR!!

Love the sleeveless trench. And the brogues.

This makes me positively FAINT with desire. Oooooooooohh, that's good.


So that's going to be my next mission, I think, the perfect slouchy, pegged pants.

What are you on a mission for these days?



Photos: Style.com, Street Style Aesthetic, The Sartorialist, Garance Doré

Out In the Cold

Style Spy needs a coat. Actually, it might be more accurate to say that I need a jacket, a heavy jacket, not a coat. Something that will keep me warm when it gets into the 40s and 30s, but is not too long -- most of my being outside in cold weather involves going to and from my car. I don't want something that's so long I have to wrestle with the bottom of it when I get in and out of the car. I have a great big, wonderful old vintage black leather bomber jacket with a pile collar that I bought years ago at a flea market when I lived in New York, but it's a bit of a production -- it's bulky, and the leather is rather stiff. It's a great coat for walking around in New York, but less than ideal for running to the grocery store or meeting a friend for a quick, casual drink.

But it's not easy finding a good coat around here. Given that we don't have that much cold weather, the coat selection is pretty limited and found mostly in large department stores. And what there is, is booooooring. A thousand iterations of the peacoat in some form of another, or the "ladylike" little car coat, often cutesied up with ruffles or a flouncy skirt or some such. Comme ça:

::yawn::

::yawn::

::gag::

I wound up, in a fit of desperation, ordering something very like the second one above last weekend, but I already know I'm going to send it back. First of all, it's not what I want. Second of all, I ordered it online because the Nordstrom website told me they didn't have any at the store here in Austin, but when I went down there later that weekend there was an entire rack of the things sitting there. (Which is going to be a bone I pick at Customer Service when I return it, believe you me -- that's 8 bucks of postage I'm out for no reason.) And once I saw the things close-up I realized: cheap.

And this is the final piece of the problem puzzle for me. Nothing looks as cheap, to my eye, as a cheap coat. So, while a heavy coat is something I don't actually wear very often, I don't want a throwaway garment. Sadly, the current budget doesn't really have room for an investment piece.

I hit the interwebs looking for a little inspiration. (Click on photos or hypertext for links.)

This is gorgeous.

Alas, it is on sale for $3K+. Um, nope.


I could almost be talked into something like this:

but I want a full sleeve and I'm presently ticked off at DVF for making her clothes so dingdong small.

Maybe something faux-furry and fun?

DIESEL WRETT JACKET

Eh. I'm not really a faux-furry sorta gal. I looked at a couple like this at some of my favorite vintage places and they just don't speak to me, cute as they can be on other women.

I said I didn't want something very long (I'm wanting to stay hip-length or above), but I could certainly be talked into this:

Jil Sander, from a collection that made my eyes roll up into my head, I loved it so much. And it is on sale. For $1900. ::sigh::

This is a possibility

although I'd really prefer something that's not black or gray. The thing is -- I really HATE the cold weather. I hate being cold and I hate having to bundle up, so when I do have to pull a heavy jacket out of the closet, I want to really like it and enjoy wearing it.

This would be PERFECT.

HUSSEIN CHALAYAN PADDED JACKET

That is sooooooo cool. Neat as a pin and yet super-stylish. I really, really love that. Alas, I always really, really love the expensive stuff.

I have a feeling I'm probably headed for something along these lines:

Which is fine, I guess. I just don't find it terribly exciting. I might hit an army/navy store and see if I can't come up with an actual navy peacoat. At least it'd be warm & sturdy -- those things are indestructible.


Leather is nice & warm, and I do love the oversized mouton collar and cuffs here

but I think the Perfecto jacket idea is out. The problem with the flight jacket I already have is that it's black leather and frankly not right with a lot of things. This type of jacket is certainly a classic in its own way, but there are times when I want something with less... attitude.


Almost non-existent attitude:

There's something about the neatness and clean lines of this that I find appealing, and it's from Barbour, so I know it's good quality. However, it has an inescapably mumsy, Talbots-esque air about it. I'd bore myself to death wearing this.

In my perfect dream world, Rick Owens designs coats for me.

Only he learns to work in color. But oh, this is a gorgeous thing.


I am totally not down with the puffer coat. Except.

This is adorable. This is a puffer I could live with. What fun. I would love to have this in my wardrobe, but probably it's too... too to be the mainstay of the cold-weather gear.

I don't want a long coat, but I could make an exception for this. Gucci. Lordy, that is sharp.

Once again, I heart Phillip Lim:

This is fun, a great color, and the shape would work with most of the wardrobe. Thing is, the color might be too much fun. Probably not neutral enough. Also, I really don't want anything long enough to be sat upon when I slide into the car. I get so tired of the ensuing tugging & twisting to free up my arms enough so that I can steer.

Argh. I'm such a Goldilocks. The search continues...

Hello, Sunshine!

Inspiration:

Realization:

I'm in love with marigold yellow right now. Plummie says it's the logical progression of my purple moment and she may well be right (she usually is, dangit), but I trace it to this

Jil Sander dress that came down the runway at the Fall 09 show and that I posted about in March. I adored this collection and pretty much everything in it (oh, Raf Simons, will you pleeeeeeeeease marry me?) and honestly think I could have built my rest-of-my-life wardrobe out of it. Magnificent. The shapes and colors from these clothes have been lingering & percolating in my head, and the most pressing current manifestation of that is a deep love for this color.

Following the course of this bit of fashion logic (if we can call it that), I decided that I really needed something yellow to go with this skirt



I like it with red, of course, but what don't I like with red? In Style Spy's world, red is a neutral. But as I said, the marigold yellow has me in its feathery, sunny clutches, so when I spied the top at Barney's Co-Op this weekend, I promptly popped it on.

The tank is 3.1 Philip Lim. I mentioned yesterday how I feel about this guy, and when I picked this up it only added fuel to the fire and fanned the flames of my love of Lim. (Say that out loud three times fast!) It's from the Resort 08 collection, which is on sale right now in several places. You can get the top (and other lovely Lim) at Barney's and Net-A-Porter, although it is selling out quick like a bunny. And no wonder, really. It's such a lovely piece -- when I emerged from the dressing room wearing it, it elicited a spontaneous and obviously genuine "Oh, that's so pretty!" from the SA. I thought so, too. Honestly, the color is more of a sunshine yellow than marigold yellow -- there's not as much orange in it -- but this bothered me not one iota. I'm a wee bit unsure of how this shade works on me, but I'll just need to be careful with the ol' maquillage -- make sure I have a bright lip. (Style Spy's solution to everything, apparently, is a bright lip. No doubt makeup artists the world over are laughing at me.) When I get the outfit pulled together I'll get a photo, but I promised no more look-at-me posts this week, so it'll have to wait.

The most logical choice of shoe for this ensemble is this one

Prada Ombrés -- we're still in love after all this time

but I'm also toying with the idea of these

Cole Haan calf hair -- these shoes make me wiggle when I walk. Trés Angie Dickinson in Vegas.

And really what I'm leaning toward are these

Blahnik Dodos, still beautiful

Because I like the idea of the two bright colors with the skirt. You know me -- more color!!

What do you guys think? Which shoes? And tell me what's inspiring you right now -- I really want to know!

(BTW, I highly rec clicking on those designer names above and tooling around on their sites for a bit. Much yumminess to be had. There are some handbags on the Jil Sander site that will give you a coronary, I promise. Check out 85178 from S/S 09. ::swoon:: Deja, I think this is your next bag.)


Photos: jaggedice.wordpress.com, style.com, Style Spy