I picked up the new issue of Elle magazine the other day. I don't buy Elle very often anymore. Ever since Nina Garcia, the Doyenne of the Project Runway judges panel left as editor-in-chief, the magazine has floundered in my eyes, a mess of advertising pages and no direction. But I was swayed by the lovely picture of Jennifer Anniston on the cover, and the tease that I would learn "Who her real friends are". Why I am secretly fascinated by this information is a whole different issue, but I also realized that there was a "must-haves for fall" section in there too. Since I knew I was going to write about Glenda Bailey's Top Fall Picks today (editor of Bazaar), I decided I would peruse the Elle list and compare.
First of all, the Elle list has 25 items. This is a turn-off for me immediately, because who on earth is going to buy 25 "must haves" for fall...especially right now? So right away, I'm skeptical. The first few picks are fairly benign...camel coat, robe-tie coat, toggle-coat (come on, how many coats are "musts"?). Next I start to lose interest because they are suggesting capes and mini-dresses...with a grecian look thrown in...oh, and not to mention a one-shoulder look. But the final clencher is #15...leather shorts. Now here's the thing...if I can't imagine anyone I know wearing an item...I have to believe that it is a no-no. Even my most fashionable friends are not going to be sporting leather shorts this fall....needless to say, I gave up on the list and went on to read about who Jen's friends were...
On to Glenda's Top 10 Picks.....
1) Pop of Color.......This one is easy. She showed a Marc Jacobs purse in bright aqua as an example, but I have a great magenta clutch that I bought on sale from J Crew last year that works...and I did see some cute lavender patent clutches on the 75% clearance aisle at Target...
2) Plush Texture...she shows a velvet dress as an example...again, I am good to go since I bought an olive velvet jacket (on the sale table) from the J Crew outlet on vacation in Connecticut last year...but again, a velvet scarf or clutch would accomplish this one.
3) Simple Geometry..she shows a very architecturally-cut dress for this one. I love these kinds of things. One of my all-time favorite dresses that I ever owned was a Norma Kamali column dress with shoulder pads...it was cut very close to the body and structurally beautiful. It was in a very bright floral pattern, which wasn't my favorite..but I bought it for $60 in my 20's (which was a steal at the time) and I wore it for 15 years.
4)Flat Boots. These are a staple for me. I live in boots in the winter...heels and flats. My favorites are a pair of flat brown leather ones from...where else? J Crew...but I also have a pair of 10 year old Armani's in lavender suede..they are lovely...I found them on the clearance table at TJ Maxx...the color and fragile suede keep me from wearing them a lot, but they are pretty.
5) Over-the-Knee boots. Ok..I have always wanted a pair of these. I find them fascinating...and she showed some Laboutins that absolutely made me drool. But I think I have missed the boat on those age-wise. And I just cannot picture a place that I would wear them. Church? NO. PTA? No. Dinner at Applebees? No....Ballgame? No......Ok, that answers it for me...but I am urging all of my young fashionistas to bite the bullet and go for it....I can definitely picture the Niece in them....
6) Classic white blouse. I collect these. She showed an Yves Saint Laurent that cost over a $1000...which is RIDICULOUS...however, it was just lovely, and I will look for a knock-off...
7)Dazzle Jewelry. She showed Vera Wang crystal earrings. This is an easy fix...you could find costume jewelry for $10 (www.thelittlejewelrybox.blogspot.com)
8)Military Jacket. I love these too. I remember one year I bought a black one with big gold buttons and my brothers called me Michael Jackson. But seriously, they are classic and you can wear them with anything if you don't go too crazy with the buttons.
9) Pencil skirt w/high slit......Ok, I own more pencil skirts than anything else in my wardrobe...but the high slit never worked for me. I am just too self-conscious. I remember once when I was working I had on a black pencil with a fairly high slit and I couldn't move comfortably or for that matter, move at all....I just think these are silly because you spend all of your time trying not to let anything inappropriate show...
10) Animal Print Scarf. ...I actually think this is a great piece to have. A friend of mine brought me one back from New York a couple of years ago (The back-story is that she was in a boutique and saw Sarah Jessica Parker buy the same scarf...so she got one for me!) and I have worn it to death. I wear a lot of black, brown and beige...and the animal print can sometimes liven it up a bit. I also think that animal print shoes (I bought the patent from J Crew) can also be really cute...you just cannot over do it.
So that's it for the list. A lot of these items can already be found in your closet...so this is the kind of list I like, because many of us will be shopping in our closet this year. But if you do want to buy one, I would say that all of them except for the over-the-heel boots can be picked up for very little money.
As a side-note from yesterday's blog...the Brother-in-Law, who is already very cool in my eyes, commented that LVMH, the fashion group I raved about yesterday, is one of his biggest clients...how cool is that? Of course, for 5 minutes I was picturing myself living in Paris and working at Hermes....and then the Little One yelled for me to read to her, The Boy said he needed homework help, and The Husband said the sock drawer was low...so I was brought back to my reality...
So until tomorrow, when I will go shopping in my closet and be happy that many fall 's Top 10 picks can already be found in there...
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