Anthropologie 20% Off Sale Weekend

What feels like once every millenium, Anthropologie offers temporary price cuts their sale items, making it feel- for one fleeting moment- as if the prices were almost within the regularly scheduled budget.

The only kicker? As subdued as their general color scheme, the date of this occurrence happens at the most trivial and unmonumental of times. The weekend of April 25th? Okay. Cool, yea. I was ready all along… *panicking.* I get whiplash when it is, and subsequently blindsided trying to figure out simultaneously what I want, if there’s room in the budget to throw down, and what exactly is happening.

This year is no exception, so I apologize for the last minute news, but instead of having to go through the entire gambit of the shop/splurge-guilt-binge-and-purge, I’ve expedited the process by bringing you a few of my favorite (and on the lower side of the price spectrum) items from the latest sale:

Anthropologie Sale Favorites by rarnall1 featuring blue sunglasses

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

But as always, the best way to go is to check out the store itself. I make my killing on the rando items that have missing buttons or slightly messed up zippers. There will be one left, it’s on triple markdown and in otherwise perfect condition. Best of luck to you on this less than normally noteable weekend!

Kimono Crazy: Did you mean Festival Fringe?

My Mimi used to tell me, “When God was giving out _________, you must have been at the water fountain.” She would fill in that blank with anything from common sense to patience (depending on the variation of my mood of the moment). Well in the past week I’ve felt this way about the “kimono” craze. It’s like I walked to the water fountain, and when I got back everyone was decked out in gag-me-“Eastern,” amorphous pieces of drapey fabric, aka glorified “ethnic” or “tribal” rugs.

Kimono?

Welp, now that it’s here I might as well all get myself an over-sized cardigan too. At least it would cover my failed attempts at tanning over Spring Break, and it comes not a moment too soon for festival season!

But now that we’re on the topic, let me just go ahead and voice the elephant in the room:  should this shameless cultural appropriation (“kimono”) be blamed on the artistic groupthink that is Coachella?

I know what you’re thinking, Rebecca, “kimono” translates literally into “thing to wear,” making it a perfectly apt word for these window treatments people are donning. And you have a point. Nevertheless, in a needless effort to curb Americans’ perceived ignorance (don’t remind me of freedom fries), I propose the term “festival fringe” to describe these flowy cardigans. Let’s be honest, its just as terrible as the word “kimono” in describing these articles. How to use it in a sentence?

Hey girl, do you have your festival fringe for Coachella?
My festival fringe is cray. I feel like Woodstock revisited.
I did NOT feel like getting dressed this morning. Thank goodness for festival fringe.

But I know, I know, many of you are unphased and would still like a good ol’ fashioned kimono, regardless of my commentary. So I’ve gathered a few recommendations.

For those days you just feel like a geisha.

or this one!

Did you mean haori when you said kimono?

And for those of you who want some jammin’ festival fringe. I got your back.

Festival Fringe by rarnall1 featuring River Island

Alternatively, maybe we could just revisit the word kaftan?

For more on English cultural appropriation and fashion, see this awesome NPR article on how we got the word pajamas (from India).

For all those of you who follow me via RSS feed, sorry for the mixup on polyvore/ wordpress publishing… I’ll get it one of these days.

The Grand Budapest: A Reaction to Normcore

Today I read a fascinating article in NY Mag (that bastion of culture) about normcore. Normcore? You know, the latest trend that has everyone dressing like 24/7 sports fanatics, ignorant tourists, and male adolescents. Throw on a white shirt, whatever jeans are most readily available, and the now-pervasive Adidas sneakers that would have made you vomit like four months ago (that you hid when you had to play indoor soccer). You know, those illustrating the informed person’s response to all the contrived wannabees out there praying they walk down the street Bill Cunningham happens to frequent, Oscar Wilde’s millennial progeny, and those people who obviously can’t have a real job because if they did they would never have enough time to weld themselves together in the morning. Normcore to high fashion: we’re not pretending that haute couture is an effortless when it’s obvious to everyone it’s not (you’re probably wearing a Prada jacket). We don’t need the attention. We also happen to love Phoebe Philo.

Normcore:

I find this all disheartening and rather ironic. Yes, normcore, you are now representing what is really “street style.” When I walk across campus this Winter, I am doing well to see someone who isn’t in knee length boots, jeans and a neutral jacket. Now, I am on a relentless search to find someone who doesn’t look like Nike’s next poster child any given Wednesday. On a similar note, I can appreciate Phoebe Philo like the rest of them and have nothing against comfortable, well-tailored clothing. But as I am constantly reminded that as a future lawyer I will need to confine myself to a neutral palate of revolving suits, I am inwardly disgusted. I also wonder in part if this Philo-esque appeal to homogeneity is a woman version of the grey flannel suit. It’s like if we contrive ourselves, or show individuality we can’t be taken seriously. I may be reading the situation wrong, but I don’t like that outcome. While I agree that clothing doesn’t make the woman (or give her power), I’d prefer AKRIS to Celine because I can have confidence to look like more than the carbon copy of the  contents in the next cubicle.

I was talking to an aspiring architect the other day and I asked him why we should care what our buildings look like. He said What we create reflects the pride we take in ourselves as people. While I may not be totally on board with that rationale for buildings, I do think that my fashion sentiments lean in that direction. The whole contrived aspect of high fashion and NY street style does sometimes give me acid reflux. In a sense, I think fashion should feel effortless, because it is. Some people will still feel contrived because our imaginations are fearsome and wonderful factories of ingenuity. So yes, for those of you with no imagination or cares, normcore is probably just your style. But for those painstakingly attempting to look normal (and at such high prices?!?), you are nothing more than a troll.

We’re not all Isabella Blow or the Marchesa, Luisa de Casati, but we love them nonetheless because they were who they were. Yes, if they dressed normal it would be a fashion statement in itself, but I think everyone would be decidedly underwhelmed, not to mention bored. If the contrived aspects of fashion are being overdone, yes, there is no reason not to retreat to a more minimalistic approach, but normcore seems less like a creation and more like a bedraggled critique.

Oh Marchesa, you kill me.

After G. K. Chesterton published Heretics, the Catholic church told him (basically): “Great. You’ve told us what’s wrong with the Catholic Church. So does everyone. It’s a lot harder to actually fix the problems.” In response, Chesterton published Orthodoxy, which laid out his solutions to the issues he originally championed. You can take that as moralistic, or just recognize that ol’ G. K. was a BAMF (for more see here). So in efforts to practice what I preach, I must admit that my latest ensemble (in preparation for The Grand Budapest Hotel) was nowhere in the vicinity of normcore. And like that noble edifice, probably far too decadent to survive in modern times.

Hat / necklace / gloves / earrings: Antiquing
Faux fur cape: Estate Sale
Lipstick: Chanel
Turtleneck: H&M
Tweed skirt: See by Chloe
Leggings (pulled down): Target
Shoes: Lanvin

 

But just in case… I’ve made a polyvore collection of the crux of what I was wearing.

Grand Budapest by rarnall1 featuring a black skirt

But I have to admit it wasn’t all my imagination. I may have channeled someone….

I’ve included a younger rendition of her costume. But then again, if you like the original, who can argue with FENDI fur?

1. On that note, I’ve been noticing a suspicious number of fur stoles on blogger’s sites this Spring. Is the pastel stole/ collar a thing?
2. Also, what are your thought on normcore? Have I really gotten the whole thing wrong? Am I just another Saoirse “hating on” Miley?

Fashion Late-ly

My loyal followers and fortuitous visitors! I have emerged from the depths, a happier Orpheus, bursting with song (and silent anxieties) since my brief (an edifice of law school’s vise and unsolicited grip round my throat), ripened, has relinquished my bonds!

Yet during this struggle, I have shown that I run the most miserable attempt of a fashion blog, seeing as I left the grid just long enough for both Fashion Week 2014 AND the Oscars to pass me by. Let’s just say I’ve been cogitating.
I mean is anyone really sure how they feel about Chanel’s grocery store?

Once I get past wanting every piece of uniquely-punned Chanel merchandise, the high culture/ low culture/ ubiquity of human experience really starts to play with me. Also, while Karl Lagerfield may think that one should wear Haute couture as if you were “going to the supermarket.” There seems to be some speculation as to whether he even knows what that is like… For more on the show see here.

Moving right along McDonalds at Moschino…

Well, I can tell you it clearly WASN’T a whopper. Jeremy Scott’s bold choices are nothing more than a clever ploy aimed at expanding his market. But you can’t go from selling to the 1% overnight. While they may not have made it quite to the billion marker yet, Business Week reports they’ve managed to borrow quite a few. 

It came as a great surprise to absolutely no one that my favorite from fashion week was none other than…

Burberry.

Come on, it featured the Bloomsbury bag. Unfortunately, the real advertisements were lost in a ill-fated file backup. Luckily, Burberry sent us one of the promos before the crash and revisions. Here’s how it was supposed to be modeled:

Pretty great, huh?

Regarding the collection, I love the mix of Monet hues with the Scottish-looking shoulder throw rugs. Tuck your blanket into your belt for a practical and fashionable snowy day. Particularly, I love the color scheme because it is so conventionally Spring, but somewhere in the midst of Labor Day I think that people forget what snow looks like.

Maybe we favor dark colors in Winter because we’re afraid we will be lost in the snow otherwise, but when I look outside across snow colored fields, the color is remarkably subdued. In the sunless places, peoples eyes are pastel blue and Burberry’s color scheme seems to recognize that. At the same time you can be the wisp of a figure trekking across the moor with your caftan, you can sit inside with it wrapped around you, watching the snow fall as you drink tea over light stories with shadowy undertones. Bravo Burberry. I think this collection really channeled that for me. While Chanel channeled its roots with requisite tweeds and pearls, Burberry’s approach was subtler. The Bloomsbury Set wrote in the time around World War I burst with all its dreary determinism, giving us if nothing else, the Trench coat. It’s nice to see Burberry hearken back with a new interpretation of the period piece.

More to come on Fashion Week, the Oscars, post offices, and more!

Paris in the Spring and Designer Sweatshirts

 

Paris in the Spring by rarnall1 featuring victorian home decor

 

I’ve. just. discovered. Heaven Polyvore. I feel like Nicola Tesla is lurking in a corner somewhere, hand outstretched, saying “Welcome to the Future, Rebecca.” Things are about to get a whole lot more sophisticated here y’all! On the downside, it may also be the most constructive procrastination I’ve encountered: fashion, scrapbooking, and unlimited supplies all in one! Just when I was getting over ebay…

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Above is my second ever collage (you might see the first one later… or I might banish it to the abyss of the internets). Now, generally I am SO cynical when it comes to buying designer sweatshirts. People argue the fabrics are so much better and they last so much longer, but I have yet to see one of the $8 Michaels craft sweatshirts eat it. In fact, sweatshirts seem to always be cropping up like ice on Indiana pavements…. I do not need to pay anything over $50 to get a sturdy sweatshirt (and that figure is allowing generously for the overpriced sports team paraphernalia).

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That is until I saw the adorable Marni Penguin Sweatshirt/ Blouse this compilation revolves around. I have long enjoyed the penguin sweater, but I thought it was a flippant kind of fancy almost like relish on a hotdog or a summer toe ring. I don’t own one of these gems, but suddenly, something very deep inside me seems to be crying out (in a still small voice) “Rebecca! What have you been working as a coat check girl for?” It’s like The Little Prince and East o’ the Sun, West o’ the Moon, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins’  artistic lovechild. I can feel le renard begging once again Apprivoisé moi! but through the ransacked voice of a surprised penguin(as long as it’s not the Happy Feet penguin it will be okay). Am I a sentimental fool? What sweatshirt (if any) would you splurge on?

 

We like the penguin sweater, and Jess does too.

It’s been a while since I’ve used this rating system, but I’m bringing it back:

 

Fashion: 5
Funky: 7
Fancy: 3

Function: 10 (who’s biased? who cares!)