While I love all flowers equally for purposes of viewing and daydreaming about and thinking upon with a goofy, gauzy sigh, “gosh, isn’t it grand that flowers are a thing that exist?” I will admit to a fondness for a certain kind of floral in terms of my wardrobe and personal adornment. Which…I think is no secret to anyone at this stage in the game but I always feel like I have to give these things an intro, so consider yourselves introducted at this point. Gloomy, moody florals, I like ’em!
From the languorous Grecian statues to the pensive waters & harp strings & the poetry, to the strange depths and unexpected magic in these surface-level-mundane & mediocre ensembles, I really love everything about the Celine Women Winter 21 collection.
I know some of you more entrenched & knowledgeable fashionistas are probably going to give me all the reasons this collection sucks and that’s okay. I don’t know anything about anything but I do know what I like, and all the technical fashion jargon and talk of vision and expertise and execution can’t change how my heart felt when I saw that cozy turtleneck with that sequined skirt, or that cardigan and spangly dress! I love that so much. Mundane + magical. Basic + bewitching. Conventional and commonplace + charming and captivating. Why not? That’s what I see here, anyway.
I am very much a creature of habit, a quality that colors my everyday living and which also extends to my seasonal practices. Every year on the vernal equinox, I always try to wake up with the dawn, leave the windows open for the breeze, and engage in a handful of activities:
☀ Plant a seed of some sort
☀ Find some divinatory direction with a spring spread
☀ A small spring cleaning (nothing too overwhelming!) Maybe magical or mundane!
☀ Make an eggy cheesy quiche with loads of spring vegetables.
☀ Make a little How To Wear The Spring Equinox ensemble (see here and here for some past ideas)
Today I woke up late and it’s raining, so I missed the sunrise and the windows are shut against the damp breeze. It’s been a long week and I don’t want to cook or clean! I kinda just want to curl up on the sofa and read (I am finally reading The Secret History and it’s SO GOOD!)
But in the spirit of doing the one thing from my list that I have done without fail every spring equinox for the past decade, here is 2021’s How To Wear ensemble, full of blossoms, bunnies, butterflies, and budding, breezy spring magics. I don’t wear any pastels nowadays, but I always include bunches of them in these outfits. To indulge my inner child, I guess. Baby Sarah loved those tender, opalescent hues of lavender and seafoam, shell pink and powder blue!
I have been obsessed with this perfect garment, Sidney Prescott’s long, soft, loose grey sweatshirt since I first saw it in 1996. This lone piece of clothing is the all-star MVP of the Scream franchise. I rewatch these specific scenes again and again because of the eternal, elusive beauty of this sweatshirt.
There’s also something about these few moments where Sidney fresh off the schoolbus and just puttering around the house and making phone calls before watching television and taking a nap, that I find so cozy charming and perfect and wonderful. I mean, she is in the midst of processing a classmate’s gruesome murder before being re-traumatized by hearing mention of her late mother’s murder on an evening news report, so it’s not exactly an idyllic, feel-good sequence. But still…the setting, to my boring-homey-vibes-craving-heart is a true slice of mundane perfection.
I am the *most* Taurus horror-movie fan.
I just love how LONG it is. The total antithesis to all of these dumb cropped sweatshirts I’m seeing lately. So lemme get this straight…you wanna be warm and cozy but you want a chilly breeze on your torso and yes, please also let the world see your manky belly button tube-hole? WHO are these awful things even made for? No thank you!
Anyway, here are a few more screengrabs of the most perfect sweatshirt to ever exist. That’s it for today.
If you caught my dream-post the other day, then the theme of this ensemble may make some amount of sense to you. As much as such things, can, I suppose. Anyway, I don’t feel the need to explain myself–those who know, know!
And to all the nitpicky fashionistas and history-buffs who might have complaints about Edwardian authenticity or who may critique anachronistic eras intermingling, my reply is this: go be that bothersome, pedantic know-it-all somewhere else, please. It’s called dream couture honey, look it up!
In any case, I was just looking for an excuse to build an outfit around that amazing silk bat scarf. You can find the individual details below, but quite honestly, a lot of this stuff is going to be sold out or long gone, because I went waaa-aaay back in the archival hinterlands of my virtual closet for many of the elements included here. I think that’s okay, though– much like the production of PG Wodehouse’s Dracula, this accompanying costume is part of an imaginary dream world, as well.
Listen, I know I am ridiculous and paranoid and maybe-probably-definitely overly sensitive. But when someone on your Twitter feed says something unkind, and which kinda-sorta-references a thing you wrote on your blog and then shared on Twitter, well sure. I suppose it could be a coincidence. I suppose they could totally be referring to something else entirely. But you’ve followed this person for a while, supported their work even, and you know enough about them to see they are scary-smart and sharp-tongued, they don’t pull any punches with their opinion and they absolutely do not suffer fools.
And then they tweeted something vague but also strangely pointed? And maybe which had nothing to do with me, but it somehow, on some level, made me feel like the fool who was being punched? Was I? Probably not. I am too small to notice, they don’t even know me and they don’t care. But I felt their ire and annoyance anyway because even if it was directed at someone else today, if I ever fall across their radar, it could be me tomorrow.
So I suppose this could a proactive ensemble, as well. Or a protective one. It could also be a “hey you, I admire you and respect you and am totally scared shitless of you” tribute outfit. I think it might be a little of all of this. I still think you’re super cool, even if you think I am a ninny. It’s fine. You’re probably not the first. And if you don’t think of me at all, well I don’t know if that’s better or worse. But at approximately 300 words and with a whole-ass wardrobe post with each piece carefully chosen and dedicated to you, well, I obviously spent a weird and fraught bit of time thinking of you.
“Christian Dior was passionate about the divinatory arts and signs of destiny. His autobiography is punctuated with often fateful encounters with visionary personalities: “It will be extraordinary. Your house will revolutionize fashion!” he recalled of a prophecy come true.”
https://youtu.be/jYOrGvVh7mk
“Tarot cards are among the keys to accessing the magical realm, to explore the unknown while fearlessly looking deep inside oneself. Maria Grazia Chiuri immediately felt a connection with these imaginary worlds and this visual language whose symbolic lexicon is rich in complex and fascinating characters. In uncertain times marked by a palpable desire to reconnect with the world’s soul, Maria Grazia Chiuri wished to explore, through the spring-summer 2021 haute couture collection, the mysterious and pluralistic beauty of the tarot in a series of dresses featuring virtuoso constructions; manifest proof that couture remains the ultimate territory of experimentation and possibility.”
“Fascinated by Italo Calvino’s novel The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Maria Grazia Chiuri chose to design her collection using the wonderful Visconti-Sforza tarot cards for exceptional creations symbolizing the major arcana. A tale celebrating the magical beauty of the divinatory arts.”
“A clairvoyant asks to draw a card in a deck designed as a catalogue of possibilities, a cryptic dictionary of the world. The High Priestess, the Empress, Justice and the Fool, are notably sublimated through excellence of savoir-faire celebrating the art of weaving: lace is inlaid with hand-painted embellishments, golden velvet is enlivened with the signs of the zodiac and precious jacquards are sprinkled with stars, while a cape in multicolored feathers showcases 3D volumes.”
“A series of extraordinary evening gowns features abstract constructions, some with veritable bas-relief openwork bodices punctuated with illustrations by Pietro Ruffo. In this spirit, the Roman artist created a singular deck of cards in which characters disclose the graphic energy of the symbols.”
In researching something-or-other last week, I fell down an incredible occult couture rabbit hole, and I wanted to share my findings with you in case you hadn’t already seen some of these mystical catwalk marvels from designer Lenny Niemeyer. The collection is from a few years back, São Paulo Fashion Week on August 29, 2017, to be accurate. But it was totally new to my eyes, and I was pretty thrilled to have serendipitously stumbled across these wondrous pieces!
Hilma af Klint, Group X, No. 2, Altarpiece, 1915, oil and metal leaf on canvas
Untitled, 1940, Emma Kunz
The 2018 Summer collection was meant to be a “tribute to feminine strength,” according to the designer, and takes inspiration from Swedish artists Hilma Af Klint and Emma Kunz, visionary artists born in the late 19th century and pioneers of geometric abstractionism who arrived at their innovative artworks through “conscious collaboration with spirit.”
The artwork of both painters can be seen through their “remarkable elements such as lines, spheres, and triangles”, present in the collection’s tessellating geometric prints. Soft colors such as Sky Blue and Rose Morocco provide a mysterious counterpoint for the vibrant hues of Tomato Red and Lime Green. Additionally, fashion critics noted an “80’s revival” which “shows strength through low-cut swimsuits and draped garments.” Complimenting the mystical mood are accessories showcasing different stones and sacred shapes, perhaps recalling the phases or the platonic solids, providing even more esoteric personality to the season’s pieces.
I’m finding the runway fashion a little lackluster at the time being, so I thought I might round up a small collection of the “fall looks” I’ve been sharing on Instagram. You might argue that my sartorial contributions are nothing to get excited about either, but that’s just like, your opinion, man. But also you’d probably be right–they’re 95% monochromatic (or just black, if we’re telling it like it is), they are relatively shapeless and unstructured, and I am neither a model nor a photographer, so my imagery consists chiefly of one pose over and over again, reflected in a smudged mirror.
Well, so what? I’m a real person! And this is what I really wear! And I think you can get a much better sense of clothing as it really is and how it truly fits if you get a chance to see it on a random schlub, as opposed to someone who’s all made up and has great lighting and a photographer to find their best side.
Scroll on for a few of my favorite ensembles this season, and I will share with you the details on where to find everything as well. (My No Face phone case can be found at Amazon (because I know you’re going to ask!)
