32 Flavors of Bags - Calvin Klein Ribbon Satchel

A few months ago I saw a gorgeous woman walking down the street carrying a beautiful cream colored bag. This sighting triggered the "great cream bag hunt of 2009/2010"). As you know, I had had high hopes for the Rebecca Minkoff Stone/Jade steady but it didn't work out. Like wise an Oyster colored "tharpe" bag from Hayden Harnett. The latest contender (and possible winner) is this bag from Calvin Klein. I don't care for the rough texture of the leather (or the plain lining) but I like the retroish styling, stitching, size and silver hardware. It is, as they say, a contender.

Wear it May 26, 2010

It is a million degrees out and the air conditioning in my office has been broken since Monday. Good thing I found this lovely gauze shirt in my closet this morning. I'm wearing it open over a lime green tank (unfortunately the outfit took a turn for the worse when I decided to wear olive cargo pants but hey most people only see me from the waist up*).

This shirt holds the distinction of being the ONLY item of clothing in the past five years that my husband has mentioned liking. I should probably wear it more often.


* because I am seated at my desk all day not because I am legless or anything.

The most practical shoes in the world

Well not really but these shoes are a lifesaver on days when I let my color blind inner child dress me in the morning.

I Love Target

How great is this quilt? When I tire of it I think I'll make a long skirt from it - just like my mom wore in the '70s.

Wear it May 20, 2010

One of these days I should learn how to check the weather before I get dressed in the morning. I was clearly not thinking it would be a hot sunny day when I pulled out this sweater this morning. I have inexplicably paired it with may favorite dark green cargos and this pink! scarf. Add my white patent Chuck Taylors, and a bra full of chocolate sprinkles (long story), and you get the world's most random outfit.

Wear It May 19, 2010

It may not look like much hanging on my office door, but this black cardigan is the black cardigan to end all black cardigans. It can take on any other sweater in my closet and beat it to threads with one sleeve tied behind its back. Even my gorgeous cashmere hoodies cower when faced with the awesome power of this sweater. Sadly the season for wool cardigans is drawing to a close but come fall I will reunite with her and we will conquer the universe. You have been warned.

Remove the cash, carry the cash

New wallet today. I picked up this pretty Coach wallet at the outlets last year. I found the combination of kelly green patent with a sky blue interior impossible to resist (I tried, really I did). So far I'm quite pleased with it. There is plenty of room for things and the zip closure is very helpful. My previous wallet (Hayden Harnett Emile indexer wallet) was a more practical size but harder to keep organized.

Before and After bathroom edition

Today's project, to reorganize my bathroom drawer. The key was using shoe boxes as dividers and putting like things with like. Kinda of obvious but it took me two years to figure it out. Now that I know where things are I can start weeding out the 157902 lipsticks I never wear and settle on maybe one or two lotions and not 37.

Before:

and After:

32 Flavors of Shoes Campers Peep Toe Flats

Back from vacation. Wore my Campers peep toe flats all week. Can you believe I got these as an accident (I ordered another pair and they sent these instead)?

Wear it May 11, 2011

In consideration of my co-workers I went back to my usual uniform of suit plus t-shirt today. I also put on this great Lucite necklace. I am a bit obsessed with Lucite and glass beads but they are not that easy to find. This necklace was an Ebay score and I'm quite pleased.

matilda v. the shirt part two (matilda scares innocent co-workers).

Long story short, in an attempt to correct my shirt problem I got stuck - resulting in the shirt being caught around my head and shoulders leaving my flabby scar filled torso exposed for the world (or more correctly the co-workers who walked in on my wardrobe correction attempt) to see. How do apologize to someone for exposing them to something like that? Cookies? Balloons? a card?

matilda versus the shirt (spoiler the shirt wins)

It is almost 5pm here in Gotham. I have been at work since 7am. I have spent most of the day in court - a large public forum. Until about 14 minutes ago, I had been congratulating myself on having put on a proper blouse to wear with my suit. Faithful readers know that in lieu of a retirement plan I have invested heavily in t-shirts and wear them with everything, including suits. But not today. Today I pulled out a proper blouse. I don't know the origin of the blouse but I assume it is mine since it was in my closet. It is black, short sleeved, with ruffles on the placket. It is made of a sheer man-made material which is why the designers had the good sense to include a black cami to be worn under the shirt.

So I've been high on the feeling that comes when you are appropriately dressed for an occasion. So high that I assumed the copious amounts of male attention I have received today has been because of my brilliant legal mind and my brilliant legal arguments. So high that I did not notice until just now that I failed to put on the blouse properly and the black cami has not been where it should be. Instead, I have been walking around with one boob exposed! In the interests of full disclosure the boob is encased in a crappy white bra that was never meant to been seen by anyone - much less the 50 or so people I stood before in court today.

Vacation tomorrow night. Can not come soon enough.

32 Flavors of Shoes: Black Patent Converse All Stars

Although I am not a teen-age boy or an emo hipster or a time lord, I have an affinity for Converse All Stars. In fact I have five pairs (black patent; white patent, natural, black, and olive). Today I'm sporting the black patent - photographed with the toy camera feature on my cell phone because, well, fun!

Wear it, May 6, 2010

I got these shoes over two years ago and wear them all.the.time. They are super comfortable and, despite being orange!, are quite versatile. A keeper for sure.











I'm wearing them with jeans and a tunic/blouse top about which I am undecided. On the one hand it is different than most of my shirts in that it is not a t-shirt. I also like the fun pattern on the sleeve. On the other hand I don't think it is all that flattering and because it is so distinctive, I cannot wear it as often (when I'm not in court my office dress code is pretty relaxed and no one cares about clothing but I'm still self conscious about wearing the same thing over and over).

Have you seen me?

It's time for me to bite the bullet and get a real grown up briefcase for work. Specifically it needs to have wheels; be able to carry legal size files (i.e. must be 17.5" or wider); and be less than $150. I'm not too particular about color or material (I'd actually prefer fabric or metal to leather). Ideally it will be sturdy enough to be dragged along sidewalks so I can walk to the courthouse on days when I have a lot of files.

This is a fairly typical version of the bag I'm thinking of but I'm sure, with the help of my friends, I can do better. Any suggestions?

32 Flavors of Bags - Laura Merkin Paige Glitter Satchel

This is my first Laura Merkin bag. I fell in love with the shape - it has a Grace Kelly vibe which is made modern by the the shiny leather. The bag is a tad on the small side but part of my "stufffast" is to reduce the number of things I carry with me. When I worked in Manhattan I used to carry everything with me because I was away from home for 12+ hours a day but now that I am not commuting I should be able to pare down a bit.

I was nervous about the shine factor at first but it is really growing on me. It reminds me of Hayden Harnett's Zeus leathers. What do you think?

Also look how I've photographed her - giving you a glimpse at the other side of my office!