rennes

Isabel Marant can be hit or miss a lot of the time. Some pieces I instantly and absolutely love - others I'm kind of 'meh' about, and then some others I'm kind of like 'huh?' about. BUT this dress at Heist is amazing. Called Marion, it's all silk and looks perfect for spring, or a garden party.  I find that IM pieces are often stronger in person and pictures don't usually do them justice.  Online I might feel ambivalent about a piece, but then I see it in person and see the details and then I appreciate it more.  I haven't seen another line that works the same way - perhaps it's things like the print or embroidery that are just tricky to photograph.  Then, sometimes I see things like those inside-out sweaters with yarn hanging off them and I feel I've missed something completely!

After hemming and hawing for some time about that black dress from Samuji, I decided to go for it.  I sold a lot of things that I wasn't wearing anymore and exchanged it for one piece I knew I would wear all the time.  It was worth it and I wear this dress at least twice a week.  I couldn't tell you enough good things about it - the fabric is a really soft wool (not itchy at all) and lined in a cotton/silk.  It has a very sturdy construction and I can tell it's going to last forever.  The shoes followed shortly after (size up in these, they run small!) and then I recently picked up an alpaca jacket when they started their sale.  I think it's safe to say that after this I'm hooked and not many other lines can compare in terms of fabric quality and construction.  They seem to be a  more sophisticated and higher-quality A.P.C.  The shop staff are also very nice and friendly!

I mainly mention all of this because I've had a lot of "misses" this year and it seems harder and harder to find a consistently well made line, and I know I've read on a few blogs that other people have been running into some of the same issues - problem with fit and quality.  This dress is sadly not on their site anymore, but they still have the jacket left in a few sizes.  I've only seen two retailers that carry them in the US - one shop in LA called the Foundry and I ran into a few things by chance at Jumelle in Brooklyn (they had the black dress when I was there around X-mas).  So if it seems like it might be your cup of tea, I'd say give them a go!

I'll be doing a few wish lists over the next couple days!  Here's the first one, a few things I've been coveting over the past few weeks:

1. Acne button up shirt
2. Brook & Lynn Scallop Barette
3. Maison Martin Margiela Gloves (from La Garconne, no longer available, might be available on the MMM e-shop?)
4. Sylvain le Hen hair pin
5. White Duck Umbrella (Sorry I forget where I found this, it was hard to track down a white one!)
6. Iro Lexie Pullover

A few things to make the cold weather more bearable - a perfect chambray shirt and a diptyque candle. I'm a bit picky about scents, but you can't really go wrong with diptyque. I'm so glad I decided to get one of these little guys, worth every penny - I had trouble deciding between cypres and figuier, but cypres was definitely the right choice.

Alas, we can now end our quest for the perfect black shoes. Sometimes I start to enjoy the way objects are presented more than the objects themselves. It's as if I find myself wanting the picture, or the experience shown in the picture, more than whatever it is in the picture. [Granted this is a very minimalist example. In fact, I was just informed that these shoes are lumpy and not nearly as cool as I think they are, thanks J!]

You just need those little details to draw you in - a few empty eyelets, one bare ankle, wool socks and the right perspective. I think perhaps, it's almost like reading a good book and pretending you are the main character.

I can't believe it but I started thinking about fall today. I don't want summer to end, but fall is always a season I look forward to. I love the higher cut of the Repetto Manon ( Bonus : If you can guess the lame reason I like the name Manon I'll send you a free pouch! I'm serious. Only applies to the first person who get's it.) Anyways, I'm a big fan of all things Repetto. I swear by my black BB flats, but lately I find myself a bit more drawn to this style.

Update: Thank you everyone for your comments, they were fun to read! I just wanted to add that when I wrote this I was in a silly mood, so it's a stupid reason and I didn't really expect anyone to guess because it's pretty lame. Anyways, I did know about the movie (which I actually haven't seen, but have seen it in the library and read the back cover - and Abby, so cool it was filmed near r.l.c!!) and I didn't know about the opera and had to look that up. It's so fun all the things you find out about with just a name!

But thank you Tessa for the being the first to guess! Please email me so I can send you a pouch as I don't have your email address.

Manon is the name of a Pulp song - yes, lame, I told you. To be unfortunately honest, probably my least favorite. But, why I find it funny is because Jarvis says it was a knock off of a Serge Gainsborg song, also with the same name. I've always thought knocks offs are endearing when they are done because you love something so much.

I love this Rachel Comey swimsuit. The print is perfect. It also comes in black and maroon, but I love the white. I can't stop thinking about the ocean! It's probably because it's so hot out these past few weeks. We might go to a beach this weekend, but in the meantime I've been enjoying watching this movie on repeat. It might currently be my favorite movie.

I've been thinking on and off about these two dresses from Loup Charmant - aren't they pretty? I just wish I had a nice event to wear them too! They are very nice in white, but would also be perfect in black. I suppose there's so much grey gloomy weather right now that I can't help but think about light and airy summer clothes!

Lots of inspiration, as always, over at the VDC blog. I love these simple pieces from Album di Famiglia. I already have a few similar pieces myself (I'm always drawn to the same things over and over again, thus repeat tends to happen. I'm a little obsessed with the Saroual / dropped crotch pants style.) I wish more places carried Album di Famiglia, I think it's really great line, one you could easily live in day in and out. I'm also very drawn to these Roberta Settels sandals, though in all likelihood, these ones would be a better fit for me.

I don't have any sunglasses. Which is kind of odd considering I get my eyes dilated at least once a month. The thing I'm trying to figure out right now is do I need prescription sunglasses, or do I cave in and get non-prescription. I wore contacts all the time up until three years ago and I now I just wear glasses. I kind of want to wear contacts again, but am not sure. I really like these Illesteva ones, they look like something from the City of Lost Children.

I had a bit of a scare this past Thursday that I'm still a bit shaken by. I was at home working as usual, and all the sudden I couldn't see out of about half of my left eye - just a lot of flashing and blindness. It was really scary. Right away I thought it was my eye disease (as these are symptoms very common with it) but it had never come on so quickly and so big. Jesse rushed home from work and we drove over the hospital. The flashing lasted about an hour but then subsided and my vision came back gradually. It turns out it was a migraine, something so common, but nothing I've ever had before. I'm so thankful this was the case, but it left us all stressed and on edge.

That said, it's hard not to be constantly nervous that something is really going to go wrong, which in all likely hood it will as some point - I'm not being pessimistic, just realistic, but that doesn't mean I'm not optimistic that it won't. It is one of the hardest things for me to talk about because I don't know how to talk about it. It's hard to explain why I go to the doctor often (at lease one day a month) for this. Most people in there 20s don't see this many doctors or have these kinds of health issues. I don't know how many times I have to explain to friends and family that it doesn't go away or get better - it just has times where it's stable or not active. I had started the post about the sunglasses yesterday, but anything related to glasses and eyes and everything just makes me start thinking, and I can't avoid talking about it. I am lucky - I have a really good support base - Jesse and my parents have been very amazing about the whole thing, and I have quite a few close friends who understand and are very loving. That doesn't mean that it's not hard.

I haven't posted about fashion in a while because I've become more nervous about coming across as materialistic/obsessed with clothes, additionally I haven't wanted to encourage lots of buying for other people or myself - isn't that lame? But it's true. I finally just decided to let it go and just talk about whatever I feel like at the time. So today, clothes! Tomorrow, maybe more muffins - later - who knows! Why over analyze it?

+ Current Elliot Stiletto Jeans in Lake with Pin dot print. This is actually the one piece I've bought from this spring. I first saw them when Erica posted them a little back, and wasn't able to get them off my mind! I had tried on other C/E's stilletto's before and though the denim quality wasn't that great, but these are really nice. I have actually been able to get about 8 wears out of them before feeling like they've stretched out so much that they need to go through the wash. Size down a few sizes, they run big!

+ I really want to be able to get around to making myself one of these shirts, or maybe a few in different colors. I just made one last week and it always surprises me how long it takes to make a shirt. It takes a really long time. Maybe I'm just slow or something. Anyway, I hope I have some time to do so.

+ Dieppa Restrepo Breezy Cali's in Pulp. Last year I made the mistake of not returning the Chalo Pulp shoes I had ordered - they never fit me right because one of my ankle bones apparently extends further down than the other, so the rise was too high for me. (Luckily they found a good home!) I wish I had waited for these one though! (Which may or may not have been ordered...)

+ Erin Considine Lunate Necklace. I love the muted tones of this piece, the braided details, and the shape of the brass. I was so excited to see Erin's studio a few weeks ago with Caitlin.

+ A Viking Wedding Band. I have no idea how I came across this. I really love the redish gold patina.

+Yue Backpack. What can I say? This is an awesome backpack.

+ And to top it all off, lots of mint pouches! I have one of the teeny tiny ones and use it as my wallet. I kind of want to make a really big one though.

(This was also an excuse for me to learn how to use the Magic wand tool on Photoshop. I know, I know, way late in the game to that.)

These two pieces from Pip-Squeak Chapeau are the only things that I haven't been able to shake from my head this winter. I think the dress may have even appeared in my dream last night - that's when I know I'm obsessed with something. (This has always been true with me).

As you might have noticed I've not been keeping up on here as much as usual! In truth I've been running around doing so many things I've barely spent time on the computer. In fact I really should be sewing right now but wanted to stop in and say hi. One exciting thing that's happened is I now have some pouches for sale at Aviary in Jamaica Plain, which is literally around the corner from my house. It's a cute gallery, you should stop in and check it out sometime! I also just sent more totes to Steven Alan in Brooklyn and the one in Venice, CA. Now I just have to catch up on orders from over the holidays...

I love these calendars over at Anaise. It reminds me of my Sunken Treasure one that I have framed in our living room. It makes me think I have a thing for calendars with moon phases on them.

On a random note, have you guys seen the movie Hugo? I just saw it last week and I'm in love. Everything from the setting, the adorable actor who plays Hugo, the Jules Verne references, and the Melies films - it was just perfect. I can't wait to see it again.

On the way back from the North Shore the other night we stopped at a mall. I haven't been to a mall in so long! It was kind of overwhelming! We parked outside of a Sears, and then as I was walking through I saw the Land's End Canvas line. The jacket above was my favorite - actually just what I've been looking for in terms of an in between seasons piece that I can layer sweaters under. I said I'd think about it, and then I came home and saw it was half off online, and then found an additional 25% off coupon with free shipping. It's funny these days how all my shopping is done online because I know somewhere out there there's a discount code or coupon. I kind of feel bad for stores because of this, but when it comes to saving more than half of the retail cost of the item, it's kind of worth it. I think I'd feel bad using the same mentality for small shops though.

And now for something completely different : shoes. Besides that coat (which I've decided not to get, I'm going to try to make a new coat instead) the only thing I've been thinking about purchase wise are these shoes from Beatrice Valenzuela. This blue is amazing. I know they wouldn't be practical for the New England winter, but they do have a rubber sole unlike most of my other shoes. They're also a little on sale now at Creatures of Comfort but they blue pair they've photographed looks a bit more on the purple side, but maybe it's just my monitor. Decisions, decisions.

Coats. I know, I'm going to talk about coats - again, but at least it's been a year. So, major bummer. When the cold front moved in over the past few days I found out something that I had been dreading, because I knew it would be true. The APC coat is tight. I can wear it without a sweater underneath okay, but with a sweater? Forget it. Like almost ALL the woven items I own, nothing fits me right now. The days of extra smalls and smalls are long gone, I have graduated to a medium. I hope that in time, my body will go back to normal post-medications; but, that seems unlikely for right now, and since I don't want to sit and pout about the way things are, I might as well take everything in stride.

Case in point : the Isabel Marant Xabi Coat. (Above images from Worthwhile). I tried it on over the weekend and I like the idea of it, but the person who I love to drag in stores informed me it was too slouchy and shapeless. I usually listen to him, but in this case I'm not sure. Right now all I want are slouchy clothes. I love the look of these coats on everyone else, but I'm thinking maybe I'm too short to pull it off. The fabric seems like it's well made (mostly wool and alpaca with only a teeny bit of poly, which is better than the duffle coat) and it seems like it would be warm with plenty of room for layering. For now I'm holding back, and keeping up with the "not buying unnecessary clothing" (something I instituted for myself at the end of the summer - so far so good!). Still, it would be good to have a better coat option for the winter.

How beautiful is this dress from Ilana's new collection? The color is perfect and is such a great transition piece from summer to fall, and then into winter! I have one of Ilana's shorter Eibel dresses and I love the fit - so it's a sure bet that the long length would be pretty sweet too. On top of that, the whole collection is well photographed and put together so nicely!

Too many things to count on the ever expanding wish list - like the ever expanding universe. (Watched a good Nova on that the other day! I love Nova!) Today it was sixty degrees and therefore I was convinced it was time to wear shorts. I think I'm ready for summer, but whether it's ready still seems up in the air.

+A.L.C. Striped rugby sweater from Net-a-Porter. Ran into this at Barney's a few weeks ago and loved it. Way too expensive, but loved it. Very much like the Isabel Marant one.

+Wendy Nichols bag from Anaise - is it weird I still want other people's bags when I can make them? I think not, that leather uh-mazing!

+A Detacher clutch from 11th Moon - the color is killing me!

+ You know these red shoes well already I'm sure.

+ I'm not much of a jewelry or ring person but this Conroy and Wilcox one has always seemed perfect. I always told myself that if I was to wear a ring everyday it would be from some ancient dig site, and well, this kind of looks like that!