The Well Dressed Wife

image via The Tailor's Art

and the patient husband who pays the bills.
Anne Fogarty's 1959 'How To' has been reissued - and just in time for New Year's Resolutions.

Get it here:
Wife Dressing: The Fine Art of Being a Well-Dressed Wife

Anonymously follow me on bloglovin.

Functional Warm and Classic

Wigwam Worsted Wool Watch Cap $8.99 here

The watch cap - so named for sailors standing watch.

Quote of the Week - Marcel Proust

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

The Driving Shoe

With their soft leather uppers and studded soles dare I say driving shoes are both, fashionable and functionable. Why the the studded leather soles? They allow you to catch the edges of the pedals easily without slippage.

Shown:
Ralph Lauren/Tod's
Prada/Cole Haan
Gucci/Salvatore Ferragamo

Pretend you're not on transit

A rare late Autumn night of no rain and little traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge. Bad first 30 seconds of music courtesy of Sirius satellite radio.

Happy Birthday

Boris Karloff

One on, One off - My Dress of Choice

I'm addicted to these 'one ons' as of late.
Why?

1. There's no messing around with zips, buttons or other fasteners
   
2. they're great all season
3. I can dress them up or down
   
4. they're easy to accessorize
   
5. they're easy to care for - cold wash, hang to dry
   
6. they don't wrinkle ridiculously when I'm sitting in meetings all day
   
7. they layer easily
8. and I don't need to wear Spanx
   

Isabel Marant, The Row, Acne and Filippa K do some great ones.

Dress shown is James Perse

Men's Fashion Inspiration

Hong Kong '62 vs Filippa K '10

Mantis religiosa Runway Collection SS 2011

via

Quote of the Week - Madeleine Vionnet

When a woman smiles, her dress should also smile.

Google Ventures into Fashion and Boutiques.com

As you know November 17th was the launch of Google's venture into the world of fashion. A very smart venture - think it'll turn over more revenue than Ad Sense ;-)

I've set up my page so let's 'follow' each other.

My feedback so far:

1. I don't like the terms 'Love' and 'Hate' to choose my preferences, or the word 'Silhouette' to describe style/design.
2. I'd like to be able to rearrange the 'cover' photos on my home page by dragging and dropping.
3. I don't like that I can't control comments.
4. I don't like being slotted into a defined 'style'. Users should be able to create their own - that's why mine is empty.
5. Why no menswear?
6. Jewelry please
7. I can only email or share on Twitter. Does this forecast the same thing to you as it does to me?

If you're a merchant - Google wants you, and so do I so I can have more variety on my page!
Merchant Help Center - List Your Products on Boutiques.com

Vintage Emanuel Ungaro

1980

Tip of the Week - How to Leave a Party

Being an introvert, I used to be a pro at this - now I save myself the hassle and just don't go - it's so much easier. The technique outlined below should be saved for larger parties or those with extremely inebriated guests.

1. Party is set to start at 9:00. Arrive at 9:30
2. Spot your hosts and give the 'nod and smile'.
3. Chat with one, then the other. No longer than ten minutes in total.
4. Accept a drink - if offered, but leave it untouched. Beware of 'liquid courage'.
5. Work the edges of the room giving the 'nod and smile' to those you recognize. Remember, you're there to be seen not heard.
6. Keep your back to the wall so people can recognize you. You never know, you may need an alibi one day.
7. Within another ten minutes you should be out the door as quickly, but less painfully, as you entered.
8. Total commitment 20-30 minutes max.

Tip - think of yourself as the second hand on a clock skimming the edges until you're back where you started.

Channeling Camel Hair Coats

Stacy Reynaud

I was downloading some photos from last weekend, and - trust me - the above shot was totally unplanned. James Dean came to mind when I was looking for photos of Marilyn Monroe in her camel hair coat - I remembered he had one too. Voila. He's a lot cooler than me.

Quote of the Week - Winston Churchill

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

Q&A

Thank you Prêt à Porter P for giving me, Stacy Reynaud, the 'I Love Your Blog Award'. What an honour!

The rules of the prize are:
- Do an entry with the prize.
- Answer the questions.
- Give the prize to 10 blogs.

1. Why did you create the blog?I had made the decision to 'burn out rather than fade away' when I shipped off the last order of my clothing brand. After a year of terrible lows I found a day job that was, let's just say, not my cup of tea. I left that job after a night of ciders and listening to Taylor James sing the blues at the Comox bar. The next day I put on my faux fur, biker boots and leather leggings and got back to what I love - fashion and writing.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?I follow mainly independent fashion blogs but my cat Flo follows animal blogs.

3. Favorite makeup brand?I really only wear mascara and under eye concealer. My usual Maybelline brand was discontinued so now I'm on to my second tube of YSL Noir Radical. I'm a long time user of YSL Touche éclat
4. Favorite clothing brand?I've just started adding brands to my wardrobe within the last six months. I've always worn classic vintage pieces of no particular brand. I seem to be picking up a lot of IsabeleMarant, Filippa K and Acne lately. I look for quality, classic pieces.

5. Your indispensable makeup product:Wedderspoon Manuka Kiss lip balm, spf 30 - whatever is the most natural and on sale, Touche Eclat 2, Avalon Organics moisturizer (although I think I'm due for a change - my skin is too used to it now).
6. Your favorite color:Black
7. Your perfume:Essential oil mash up of patchouli and ylang ylang. I love the earthy, blackberry, tobacco, leathery scents Tom Ford has been rolling out but get bad headaches from processed scents. There's a scent on the sea walk by my place I'd love to capture - it's peppery, oceany and earthy. My husband, a horticulturist, says it's Russian Sage, wet earth, Red Cedar and the final remnants of the season's California Lilac.
8. Your favorite film:The Haunting, 1963
9. What country would you like to visit and why?Turkey - kilms, jewelry, cuisine and sun/heat. The Czech Republic and Slovakia - male bone structure. Norway - the 'old country' - to get in touch with my roots - and Scandinavian design.

10. Make the last question and answer yourself:
If you could be reincarnated what would you be?
A bird - so I could live amongst the trees, hardly eat and finally be able to sing like Edith Piaf instead of Courtney Love.
-----
I'm supposed to pass it on to 10 others. Yeah, so... I will pass it on to:
Beauty 101, Harbourmaster, It's My Darlin', Violet Boutique

Tip of the Week - Great Hair

Dull, chlorinated - or even worse for us blonds - green blue hair from old copper pipes? An aspirin hair treatment will get that chlorine out.

1. make a paste by crushing eight to ten aspirin tablets with filtered water.
   
2. massage the solution into your hair - the ends in particular.
3. leave on for ten minutes.
4. rinse.
5. shampoo as usual.
6. deep condition to help restore the moisture.
   

Dior: I Could Write a Book about Black

stacy reynaud

it's my favourite color

shoes - vintage Charles Patou snake skin
tights - gift from Mom
sterling bracelet - gift from Dawn
rhinestone bracelet - vintage
top - Stephan Schneider
cat hair - Flo and Tilley

Quote of the Week - A Sign in a Park in NYC

Let no one say, and say it to your shame, that all was beauty here, until you came.
Fort Tryon Park, NYC (spotted in Cat People 1942)

eyebrow pencil

Why will you not fear me human? from stacy reynaud on Vimeo.

I could not resist this guy's eyebrow.

The Problem with Men's Dress Pants

Something had really been bothering me about men's dress pants lately. I couldn't figure it out until we went to our biweekly after work hang out and people watched. It's the pockets. The pockets on some flat front pants are cut on an angle. If the pants don't fit properly they bulge out at the crotch and the pockets puff out - moving the eye horizontally across the midsection - and not in a good way.

Solution - look for pants that have pockets that are cut vertically.

A Hole Lot of Men's Sweaters

Johnny Rotten

Pringle of Scotland Cashmere Ladder Hole online

Diet Butcher

MIHARAYASUHIRO - Destroy @ Luisaviaroma

Horace @ Oak

Edun @ Oak

How to Shop for Vintage Clothing Pick the Best Vintage Coat

A good coat will have a layer of chamois leather sewn in the lining from the shoulders to the waist. This thin piece of hide adds a little protection from the bite of the cold winter wind. They may not even make them like this anymore. The coat in the photo is a late 60s mohair and alpaca.

BTW I picked up a vintage 100% camel hair coat last weekend - pics after I get it cleaned.

The BC Binning House - Pacific Northwest Modern - West Vancouver

For more of my images please view my BC Binning set on Flickr.

This past summer I had the pleasure of touring an iconic example of early West Coast Modern architecture - the West Vancouver home of artist Bertram Charles Binning - otherwise known as the B.C. Binning Home.

The home, designed in 1941, is a perfect size at just over 1400 s.f.

Binning's wife, Jesse, continued to live in the home until her death in 2007 at the age of 101. The home is currently owned by the nonprofit organization The Land Conservancy - whom could really use your help maintaining it.

For a story in the Vancouver Sun from 2007 see here.