Category: Style

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My Big Green Resolution

closet_photoAt the start of 2010, I made a resolution that felt big for me. It started with my desire to make a stronger commitment to green living—making more choices that were better for the environment. But I am a collector. I have a lot of stuff. And I really like my stuff. I have a closet filled with clothing and accessories I love (yes, love) and my house is full of treasured possessions. Still, I felt the need to simplify. I felt overwhelmed by the drive to acquire. Stuff! More stuff! So I decided to give up shopping for new stuff for the year.

I would refrain from buying new things I wanted. For things I needed, such as food and toilet paper and soap, I would stick to my resolve of buying the eco-friendly choices. New jeans, a new handbag, or new silverware? No. For any non-necessities, I would buy only pre-owned items—after carefully considering whether the purchase was necessary. I would shop at thrift stores, consignment and vintage shops, yard sales, on eBay and Etsy. I would be spending money on items already produced and in circulation (and withdrawing my consumer support for new products), which would help to reduce my carbon footprint.

I expected this to be a challenge and ended up being surprised with how easy it was. (And fun—thrift shopping is like treasure-hunting.) I thought I would write about my temptations and possible slips, but exceptions I made were few and far between (new underwear, practical running shoes…) and felt permissible. Then there was the upside: saving money. When the year ended, I decided to keep going and it’s become my new normal. Just like that. And while I’m shy about suggesting how others should live their lives, I like to share my example and offer it as a challenge to anyone who might like to try. For today or a week or a month or a year….

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Hankie Friendship Bracelets

Are you ever too old for friendship bracelets? I say no. These upcycled bracelets are made from an old handkerchief; I simply braided strips of the fabric and secured the end with a few stitches. I like the slight messiness of the stray threads and ties. I also like making something new from an item that was collecting dust in a drawer or closet. I used a lavender and floral-printed hankie for this trio—for me and two friends going to see a Prince concert. (Accessorizing in purple seems necessary for the Artist Once Again Known As Prince.)

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Family Style Flashback: Mom’s Polka Dots

I love this photo of my mother (holding me), looking stylish in a polka-dotted bikini and with her hair up. I asked her to tell me about what she was wearing in the photo and she replied: “The handbag wasn’t mine (looks like it belonged to the woman on the blanket). It was a headband in my hair (marble brown and heavy duty plastic) and the clip matched the headband. The bathing suit was a Catalina (got it in A&S and loved it).” She thinks we were either at Cape Cod or Gilgo Beach.

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Vintage Find: Polka-Dotted Skirt

I found this cute black-and-white, polka-dotted silk Ungaro skirt on the bargain rack at a vintage shop in my neighborhood, Venice Vintage Paradise. I was wearing jeans and the shop owner taught me a new trick to find out if a skirt might fit. She told me to check to see if I could wrap the skirt’s waistband around my neck—if I could, the skirt would fit. She was right.

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Better Than Before: Upcycled Bracelets

My favorite DIY projects are ones that involve taking something you have and making it better—more functional or simply more fun and stylish—using materials I already have. Before I added some embellishments to these two bracelets, they didn’t come out of my jewelry box very often. The one with the subway tokens now has the addition of glass beads from a broken chandelier I found years ago at a yard sale, along with some freshwater pearls from a broken bracelet. The silver Tiffany ID bracelet now has tulle ties from a leftover roll of tulle I got when I made a hair accessory for a family wedding.

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Adventures in Thrifting: Strange Animals

Encountered on a thrift shopping mission for my Etsy shop: animal tops that puzzled me. First I spotted a sweater that looks like maybe a cobra is jumping over a tiger (or are they both jumping over a rope?)… or maybe they’re getting it on? Then, the T-shirt with a giraffe and dinosaur sharing a red and white striped scarf. Hmmmmm.

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Sipping in Style: Vintage Glasses

I like to drink wine (or juice or water) in vintage glasses. I share this fondness for vintage glassware with friends—Annie owns the blue and gold ones, Kristine the etched, dotted ones. The daisy one is mine (I’m crazy for daisies).

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Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Opening day for baseball means summer’s right around the corner. I grew up a Yankees fan and still love ‘em (still have all my old baseball cards, too). But now I’m also a Dodgers fan. (What can I say? I love LA and am happy to call it home—but when you grow up in New York, well, you learn to make your own rules. Besides, the Dodgers started out as a NY team.) I don’t know any woman who likes to wear a big boxy T-shirt (except maybe for working out or sleeping) and I’ve found that the sports shirts I upcycle are among my best-sellers. The remade Yankees shirt pictured was already sold, but the Dodgers one is available from my Etsy shop, along with one-of-a-kind shirts for the Angels and Mets. (Other team shirts coming soon.)

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Juror Style: To Serve, To Party

One of the things I miss about living in New York is riding the subway and walking on the sidewalks with strangers. People-watching is a pastime that never gets old for me. It’s simply not as easy to have that everyday exposure to the masses in LA, but walking on the Venice boardwalk and shopping in thrift stores provides a similar opportunity for observation of so many different types of people in one place. Add to that: jury duty.

I spent the first hour in the juror waiting room yesterday looking around, pretending to read my book while discretely spying on the strangers around me—checking out what they brought with them, what they were doing to pass the time, and what they were wearing. I liked how the woman who gave us instructions wore a body-hugging leopard dress that matched her tough demeanor. When she was giving us instructions and a juror picked up a cell phone call, Ms. Leopard announced that she was going to pause until there was no interference in the room and then she glared at the juror, waiting for her to finish. Oh yeah, she had attitude.

Most people were dressed business casual, which is what Ms. Leopard told us was expected of jurors selected to serve on cases. I saw one man and one woman dressed in buttoned-up suits (she worked on her laptop all morning, he napped). A woman with a cute bob wore plaid Converse Chuck Taylors with her skinny jeans and pullover sweater, and a woman sitting a seat away from me had pointy black high-heeled boots and big Carmela Soprano hair I was tempted to reach out and touch. Then there was the guy I recognized as a soap actor who wore denim on denim (button-down shirt and jeans) and almost as much hair product as Mrs. Soprano.

All day, I was on the lookout to see if there were any covetable articles of clothing or accessories, but I only spotted a cute pair of black ballet flats with bows and a Marc Jacobs bag I’d consider for myself. And maybe a tuxedo T-shirt; my favorite look was from the guy on the security line in jeans, sneakers, and a black and white tuxedo-print tee. I could tell from his age that he wasn’t around for the shirt’s trendy heyday in the ’80s. But if he’d been in the same room with me, I might have asked him if he remembered the hilarious line from the John C. Reilly character in “Talladega Nights” about Jesus in the tuxedo T-shirt (clip here). Now I’m keen on the shirt and will keep an eye out for one when I’m on my next thrift store mission in search of shirts to upcycle.

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Liz

Obits are pointing out that Elizabeth Taylor’s attributes included her beauty (I can think of no one who looked more stunning on screen in a slip!), talent, and passion. How amazing that her later years were spent helping to raise more than $100 million to fight AIDS.

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Crocodile Love: Making it Work

Photo: Courtesy of Lacoste/Catherine Malandrino

Photos of Catherine Malandrino’s collection for Lacoste were released today (on sale next month) and I’m looking to it for inspiration on how I can up-style the Lacoste polo shirt already hanging in my closet. It’s been worn only a handful of times and I want to love it; the fit is great, the crocodile is adorable, it’s can’t-go-wrong-black, but it’s so…. preppy. I like preppy on other people, but it doesn’t feel quite right on me. So up-styling here for me means de-prepping. Because I always try to shop my closet before acquiring anything else, accessorizing with jewelry is my best and easiest option. I’m most likely to wear the shirt with denim cut-offs or jeans and black Chuck Taylors or strappy sandals, but I might try to pair the shirt with a long maxi skirt and Obi belt. Shown with DIY bleached Levi’s, two vintage black beaded necklaces with a clear one made from a yard sale chandelier’s crystal beads; also shown, a black beaded necklace layered with a vintage cameo on a leather cord and an upcycled vintage rosary bead necklace (I replaced the cross with a mermaid charm)… Music in my head: Elton John’s “Crocodile Love.”