Okay, the leather culottes are in the closet, gray cashmere pullover is on order, we’ve seen the brightest moon in six years, and all of a sudden we’re working full days. Even with all that and back to school schedules creeping in, let’s keep this summer time thing going just a bit longer…
Stopped at the market and picked up all that was fresh. Peaches, of course, and zucchini, eggplant, and plum tomatoes. Had the fish man fillet a full halibut, no photos, we started to have too much fun in the kitchen. Cooked up some pasta too, we had a three-year old and one year old, let’s keep this going.
While fall clothes and colors are all about us I’m still about white shorts, cotton voile shirts, and black cashmere sweaters borrowed from the husband after a full day in the office.
Every day dress, let’s keep this going, Summer 2014, not over yet.
Been a little slow with the post feed, sometimes you can feel a little all alone out here. 🙂 Travel schedule’s been crazy, and working a Trunk Show downtown to boot.
So, here goes: Saturday night stood in the closet and pulled on multiple outfits, nothing seemed right. Husband promised two teenaged daughters tickets to One Republic with a friend each and we were the escorts. Final pick? A crew neck sweater from last season and white skinnies. Honestly getting a bit tired of skinny jeans, but they really always seem to work and in a hurry.
Once you get dressed and out the door it all seems easier. The gorgeous beautiful teenagers even had outfit anxiety and they had really nothing to worry about. They chose short shorts of some kind and tank tops, how hard is that when you haven’t hit twenty?
Thinking the crew neck was okay. Every guy in the band, and there were six, had on a crew neck tee. Even THEY had outfit anxiety, or so it seems. Lead singer, Ryan Tedder, expressed at the end of the show before the Louis Armstrong encore that they had toured upstate for what has seemed like forever and next time they pass through they really want some new clothes. They’re pretty much in the big time now and were headed straight to Jersey. How funny, how true. We all like new clothes.
Seems the more you go, the less you need, especially off duty. For west coast on the go trip, essentials included:
Cashmere wrap and silk scarf, blue jeans and white jeans, denim skirt, black blazer and black workout jacket, black boatneck sweater, white shorts and black exercise pants, tanks and tees, mostly on the black side, one pair of sandals, two pairs of sneakers but really only needed one, one pair of black boots. Â One bright handbag, and most important, handsome husband and two teenaged daughters.
Started in LA and drove up the coast and flew out of San Francisco. Temperatures ranged from 102 to below 60. Â Really into this carry on thing and keeping it light. Such a drag to haul so much stuff all over.
For off duty travel, cashmere, denim,white, and black. Easy.
Now it’s all on duty for Fall 14 Trunk Show. Starts tomorrow, Wednesday, and goes through next week Wednesday, August 13th.
You can do it. With the right stuff off duty travel for seven or eight days with only a carry-on is so possible.
When the mood strikes and usually among the same blood line, we here at every day dress can throw down four letter words with the best of them. You won’t see them digitally, in print, and hopefully never hear them at the dinner table.
That said, there are some four letter words we just love and use regularly: food, real and good food; and wine, usually good wine and often enough fine wine. Butter counts too as we kind of weirdly believe that butter is love.
A couple four letter words it’s taken us about 49 years to get over: diet, lose. Those have occupied way too much head space and have never gotten us to any good place. Still get sucked in, loving fashion and great clothes always makes you want to be thinner, those two words just always lead down the wrong path. While clothes invariable look better on stick thin women, it’s so much more fun to embrace lifestyle too and know that undressed women perhaps look and feel better with a few well deserved curves.
As recently as 18 months ago 35-year-old male trainer that put me through really heavy weight training workouts knew my desperation with always wanting to drop 10 pounds or so. He recommended the banana diet. Yes, 30 freaking bananas a day. Being a believer in all things  actually tried it for about an hour and a half on a cold winter day while out skiing with the family. Result? Disaster and four letter words, not the good ones like real food and good wine, but the rough ones hurled out at two teenaged daughters when getting on the chair lift on a crisp beautiful morning was more complicated than usual. Way to set a good example. Those four letter words were so not right and were set up by some unrealistic diet plan. That banana thing I think was the turning point. Never again. Took that chair lift up, skied down the mountain, and fueled the body with what it needed and one of the paradigms of every day dress: eat some protein at breakfast.
Fashion and fitness magazines always have ways for us lose, diet, or move ourselves down a couple of dress sizes and they always promise it will happen fast. Now even the really good ones like Town & Country and Harper’s Bazaar have entered the email feed with ways to lose. While obesity is a huge health problem in our country and heartbreaking to see in children, that’s an entirely different conversation than what you’ll find here. We’re talking about moving our bodies as much as we can, walking over driving, stairs over anything that requires power to get you up or down, and knowing that life is abundant and setting yourself up with wishful restrictions is not much fun.
Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food is a slim book that’s kept on the nightstand to circle back to when the pull to believe in some magical diet plan or how to lose weight fast comes calling again as it does and will. His premise is sound: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Every day dress on four letter words, yes, sometimes it’s just the best way to express yourself, and usually only among intimates. On our favorite four letter words, food and wine? Yes, and often, and probably for both like Mr. Pollan says, not too much. 🙂
Still in CA, heading back east tomorrow, Sunday, and jumping right back into helping women look and feel great with beautiful clothing. Trunk Show August 6th through August 13th.
Wishing everyone a great weekend with some good, real food. And, if you like, some good wine too.
When something works, let’s do it again. Clients sometimes say to me I’m not adding one more thing to my wardrobe that’s black. And you know what? We usually end up adding more black, or navy, or any other neutral they think they might be tired of. Updating your wardrobe with fresh pieces of what’s come and worked before can help keep the good mood and positive feeling going.
We’ve been traveling the CA coastline. Yesterday bought two things: yet another pair of white jeans and a new Canon EOS Rebel SL1 camera. The white jeans are a total wardrobe staple and will keep going into the fall. Always great to have a fresh pair and these are a slim boyfriend cut. The camera? The trusty old Rebel just decided it was time to quit. Just could not get that shutter to work consistently and after doing due diligence and even consulting the camera experts, took the plunge and bought a new one. Camera expert and I agreed that staying with what worked before, the Rebel, and simply updating, life would be easier, quicker, and better looking.
A good outfit, with many of the elements remaining the same, fresh white jeans, black sweater, silk scarf, bright bag, and walkable boots, is much like a good camera. Dependable and consistent results, until we need to do it again.
It’s summertime and the living is easy. Spontaneous invites crop up, and we all like to live and dress casual. Sometimes a collar says we’re so happy to be here and so happy for the invite.
Writing this post from central CA while the photos were taken in upstate New York. Totally camera and tech and internet challenged here so kind of have to rely on some of the old stuff. Fourth daughter says mom theres’ no way you can blog from in iPhone but now that’s the only game in town. Casual here, casual back east. Wherever you may be, sometimes a collar makes you look dressed.
Here at every day dress we’re delighted when we’re served. Steaks on the grill or peanut butter and jelly, we are happy, thank you.
Last pop-up invite wore a striped collared shirt with same day blue jeans. Other guests said ‘my, you like nice’.
Like most women towards the end of July, days can be filled with travel, family, family, and travel. Schedules are hard to nail down, and usually time is not our own, and the place you land at the end of the day is probably not either.
All great and wonderful stuff. One way to keep it feeling good is by staying true to what makes you work for yourself and others.
NYC was Wednesday and Thursday. Family wedding with kids and dates and overnight guests on Friday. First flight out to LAX Saturday morning. Hollywood CA Saturday and Sunday, oh boy. Now were in Santa Barbara and this guy just doesn’t sit still.
To keep carrying on gym workout first thing at the W hotel did the trick.
Love my man, love my family, love my life. Stay true to what makes you work for yourself and those you hold close.
Sometimes it’s that what we find challenging is that what makes us really grow. Life and work have picked up the travel calendar, six kids, almost can’t call them kids anymore, the four of them in big cities are really young adults, a husband that is restless, and growing a fashion business can kind make you be on the move.
Travel? Once you get there all is good. It’s the getting ready and getting out of dodge that’s the big work.
Woke up Tuesday morning out in the country and really didn’t want to go anywhere at all. Got the virtual office thing down but when you’re wanted at the home base for laundry and dinner detail and then the next morning in NYC for work stuff you’ve just got to move.
Put off the details by cooking sauce and meatballs the hottest day of all July. Then packed it in the car with the dogs and the gear to serve it up later. Somehow making dinner for the family makes everything else feel okay. You know that procrastination thing? Anything but the hard stuff and the hard stuff here was packing and going.
Did the dinner thing, went to bed, set the alarm, 3 am, got up and got out of dodge.
Here’s the fashion details: white denim all the way, corporate trip yes but it is July. White denim dress for travel out on Wednesday with a black jacket. White denim jeans with kind of sexy black silk blouse for dinner Wednesday night, no photo, don’t we all dress for dinner? And white denim skirt and silk blouse and cashmere wrap for office meetings the next day it’s always cold when they crank the air conditioning.
Handbag above not really relevant to this post but thinking it is really gorgeous. 🙂
Shoes were black. Black Aquazurra for travel, you can really walk anywhere in those and black low heeled boots for dinner out. Have resolved that any shoe that is worn or packed when traveling needs to be able to move in.
Eden, Buffalo, NYC. Next up, Saturday LAX.
Every day dress, travel. What we find challenging is really what makes us grow.
Friday night and we’re in the country and I’m hanging with my two youngest daughter’s, you know, group like things. 🙂
Worked all week with luscious Fall clothes and now it’s time to get away. Snapped these photos quick upon arrival before 45 minute hill walk with the dogs and here’s what I’m thinking: even though it’s so simple we are all so busy it’s sometimes so easy to let it go. Life is so much easier when you group like things.
Plants of one species like to hang together and look their best when grouped. Only took me 30 years to finally get the Portmeirion in one place all together and now it sits nicely out at the country house above the stove. Been kind of collecting that stuff since the age of nineteen, lots of breaks along the way.
Clients have told me all week that it’s tough to make sense of their wardrobe and they kind of forget sometimes what they have going on. Here’s the simple every day dress solution: group like things. That way you know if you need some new stuff to fill in the holes.
Every day dress, grouping like things, out in the country after a great long work week.
Okay, the leather culottes are in the closet, gray cashmere pullover is on order, we’ve seen the brightest moon in six years, and all of a sudden we’re working full days. Even with all that and back to school schedules creeping in, let’s keep this summer time thing going just a bit longer…
