With each decade that comes and goes there seems to be a small marker: at 30 trained and ran first and only marathon thinking it would change the body into some svelte thing, it did not, and now have residual wear and tear to deal with. At 40 flew into NYC for a shopping and upscale dinner date with women friends, lovely and memorable, yet not what moves me now. On the edge of 50, thinking about what makes up good grown-up style, looks that look good and fashionable, yet not necessarily fashion per se, as that is always a fast-moving target.

For weekend activities visited some old new friends. For Friday workwear and dinner out went into the closet and pulled a navy silk shirtdress, rolled the sleeves, added a light neutral belt from last spring, and wore new shoes. Saturday in the country called for denim on denim; again, sleeves rolled and a light neutral belt, with a reversible wool sweater, neutral, over the arm. Both times left the handbag at home, and simply carried the cell, a nude lipstick, and readers.

So where is this all going? Professionally I dress and style women, have done it for almost three decades if you count making matching applique outfits on the Bernina for four young daughters. Now it’s more about what we should wear for work, play, travel, and life events, grand and intimate.

Thinking now the 50-year-old closet should have a mix of old and new friends. Clothing that is comfortable, appropriate, sometimes sexy. Nothing throwaway, time and resources are way too precious for that. Taking that thought even further, thinking that a closet of any age should be based on stand alone separates that can be combined to move you through your day while looking and feeling your best.

It’s a journey for sure, and it’s not always right. For this last weekend, navy and the shirt shape and denim and a light neutral belt saw us through.

Every day dress, old new friends.

This better than average shirt did the work today: had client and colleague meetings, ran to the grocery, did a little yard work, went back to the home office, changed the sheets and even made dinner, haha. (Roast chicken, broccoli, and red quinoa).

Honestly, this is wash, dry, and wear.

This is an every day site, and we’re here to elevate the ordinary; this is one exceptional shirt.

Optic White Sueded Triacetate Pocket Shirt | Worth New York

 

 

 

Over the holiday we stuck to the palette: red | white | blue.

Potted up deep red geraniums for poolside. Used to do a mixed English garden kind of look but have now gone back to a monochromatic color and single plant choice.

White distressed denim, no rips in these yet still keeping to the trend. Kind of thinking this is the last summer I’ll wear this kind of thing, distressed jeans have run their course? Feeling the winds of a style change coming and the distressed denim needs to soon go to the daughters. DIY Geranium Essie pedicure.

Dug up a twenty-five foot trench of retired landscape hedges and put in a row of our favorite, Endless Summer Collection Blue Hydrangea.

That was it, and that was enough :). We were in the dirt all weekend long.

Tuesday and it’s almost Wednesday, always feels like double Monday after a long weekend in the country.

back at the city desk, active search in Saratoga Springs NY

Every day dress, summer red | white | blue.

 

We’ll be in the garden this weekend; thinking, honoring, thanking, remembering.

Peace to all. xo

Yet again, we’re late to the party. Made a pact to post once every week day and lo and behold, life happens. When life is happening all around you, thinking the best thing is to simply take part. So, we took part, and left the blog for a while. At the end of the busy day when it’s time for the face plant, or now because of auto correct the ‘face plate’, both the same position, there’s been a few books we’ve been reading and enjoying:

• Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers David Perlmutter, MD with Kristin Loberg, recommended in a comment by a reader, thank you, dear reader. After decades of struggling with body and eating and inevitably passing those thoughts along in the DNA, vowed I would never buy into the diet or weight loss industry with full consciousness again. Never ever, and never say ever we suppose. This book, while resisted for a while, is now on the iPad and even downloaded the accompanying cookbook. We’re all about good food, and if it’s food that protects the brain, bring it on. We get Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle site on our feed, and even today her headline, have yet to check in, reads ‘why diets fail‘. Could not agree more, even without reading. So totally anti-diet and anti quick weight-loss schemes, never ever. Grain Brain, a good and conscionable read.

• Still Alice Lisa Genova. Full on tears, in public. We’re sure Julianne Moore is perfectly captivating in the movie, just haven’t gotten there yet, so the book it is. Put this one on the iPad as well, and couldn’t put it down. Openly sobbed. Honestly, this could be any of us. Actually had to pause at the corner today and look at the street light color before crossing, why doesn’t the brain register green or red quickly? WTF, should I stay or should I go?

• the life-changing magic of tidying up the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing Marie Kondo. Alright, so this could be the manifesto: take every single garment you own and put it on the floor hold it in your hands and decide if it brings you joy, or not. Joy? Keep. Not? Discard. Wow, this could take some time, and good thing, the author gives you six months to do her work. For us that would take a lot of floor space, yikes. Wouldn’t it be life-changing to only have clothing in your possession that brings you joy? While it feels so persuasive and cleansing, actually and honestly know it would be a lot of work, so, for the time being still reading and contemplating. Good ideas, are we ready to go there? Put it all on the floor at once and decide does this piece of clothing bring me joy?

Every day dress, a few books.

Three days of pomp and circumstance and all I really wanted at the end was a good outfit.

Four daughters and three nights of weekend and commencement activities calls for dresses dresses and more dresses. So many dresses that it’s all kind of a blur.

We had cocktails and dinner at The Algonquin Club Of Boston for thirteen on Saturday, cocktails for seventy at The Liberty Hotel, outdoors at The Yard on Sunday, and then a small intimate dinner for nine at Spiga, a small farm-to table restaurant in Needham MA on Monday.

Alumni Stadium | Monday May 18th 9:45 am

We were so busy I took recycling bins from two of our hotel rooms, had fourth daughter fill them with ice, and soaked the feet for ten minutes at a time while hand tying Buffalo Love sponge candy favors for our cocktail guests.

Favorite outfit of the weekend? Blue jeans, of course :), navy cutaway, new Dolce & Gabbana walkable shoes, and an easy white blazer. A good outfit, indeed.

Families of all kinds are celebrating graduations all over. Wishing everyone a damn good outfit. 🙂

 

We’ve been offline busy with all things celebrating the commencement of second daughter from Boston College.

As a stylist, photographer, party planner, life coach, partner, parent, and with the love of my life always being a twenty-four hour ATM, makes me wonder about next life stages, always moving toward new beginnings.

Congratulations Booie, and to all graduates everywhere, may your future be wondrous and bright.

Every day dress, to commence, again.

When you engage and work with women, you learn with and from them, love them, and if you’re lucky, you even get to dress them. 🙂

This friend and client is celebrating her third child’s high school graduation this weekend, and look at that smile. Moves me to tears how happy I am for her.

She sent me this photo in a text message just minutes ago, asking if she was okay, with her shirt tucked in. Yes, Wendy, you are more than okay, you are absolutely gorgeous. 🙂

Not easy, raising kids. We’ve known each other since we both had babies, her oldest and my fourth are both now twenty-two.

Love you, Wendy. Love that smile. Enjoy every precious minute.

First, it’s really hard to beat a striped tee, leather jacket, and blue denim.

Second, we’re kind of on strike here against super skinny jeans and super high heels. Not sure what’s in the air, maybe turning fifty this July, yikes!, already there in the mind so no big deal, yet lately totally doing the shoe redo and the denim rework. Company I work for during the day job says ‘fashion is always evolving and so should we’. There we go, let’s evolve, or be on strike, or whatever.

So, with those two thoughts here we go: added that tee to the rotation yesterday in two colors, navy and white, duh, and brown and white, fresh. Leather jacket is last season and a perennial. 🙂 Denim is a constant, and now liking a more relaxed fit. Shoes? Admittedly it’s been a thing, before it was bags, have enough of those, and now want to treat the feet. Like the face, the feet show wear, and love:; they’ve walked and run miles and carried six children. One foot surgery down, and not wanting the downtime of another for I don’t know how long so shoes it is, low ones, on trend ones, ones we can walk in. On strike against good-looking cruel shoes, ha.

 

Photos taken late afternoon after the LAX pick-up, after the work day, and before dinner. That girl, youngest of six, she can have the skinnies and the highest of heels, love her to pieces.

Every day dress, on strike.

Striped Tee Leather Jacket | Worth New York

Denim | Citizens of Humanity | Emerson

Shoe | Chloe | @NET-A-PORTER

on youngest daughter

Sweater | Rebecca Taylor | @Tony Walker & Co

Denim | AG Jeans

Shoe | Christian Louboutin

 

It’s Monday, we’re in the midst of wrapping summer trunk shows and adding to our team in upstate New York, and there’s a big college graduation weekend ahead, so need to be quick even though this topic runs deep, food, or more precisely, cooking your own food.

Yesterday I did what I do almost every day, cooked for those I love. Scrambled eggs, bacon, onions and green peppers for breakfast, grilled chicken, Caesar salad, sautéed asparagus and red peppers for lunch, and believe it or not simple cheeseburgers and a green salad with house made vinaigrette for dinner. Oldest daughters were out-of-town; two sons drove to the country place for late Sunday lunch with flowers in hand. About six in the evening or so drove home city-side and cooked for mom, she’s headed towards seventy-seven, and broke bread with a glass of wine, or two.

Reading the SundayStyles section of The New York Times is always a must-do. Settled in after dinner and the article that grabbed the most was of the uber-couple getting into vegan meal deliveries, and snacks. Prepared and packaged and delivered, if I read correctly. Vegan, go for it, both older daughters did the vegetarian thing for a few years, and now our sixteen year old is pretty much meat free. We should all eat and enjoy what we’re into for sure, and not press other’s to see things our way. It’s just that my deep thoughts on this subject after decades of eating and cooking is that food should be as close to real food and as bare as possible. Bare being without boxes, and preservatives, and cellophane, and as close to wear it came. Sure, it’s challenging, and more expensive, and yes, more time-consuming.

It’s also more soulful, preparing a meal to share with those you hold close. We scrambled, diced, sliced, whisked, grilled and washed dishes all day long. Bliss.