I did an Alexander McQueen shoot where they put me in a red leather corset dress; I was obsessed with it. But my favorite outfit ever is jeans, a tank top, and sneakers. I feel the most confident in that.
Devyn Garcia – Cuban America Model.
I bet Devyn Garcia rocks jeans and a tank top. Some people look best in a relaxed look, like Jane Berkin and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Both women helped to elevate casual clothing from sloppy to elegant. (But also I think Berkin and Onassis knew when to go casual and when not to.)
The trick is to add the right accessories – a cute hat, an unusual handbag, a brooch placed in an unexpected place. I like the Elsa Peretti mesh scarf necklace Garcia wears with a Hanes tank top for the May 2023 issue of Harper’s Bazaar (pictured). It’s the classic high-low pairing. So easy yet so stylish.
Some of the vintage jewelry and accessories for sale at The Shadelands Summer Market.
Reminder: The Shadelands Summer Market is coming up this Sunday, July 30, 2023, at Shadelands Museum, 10am-3pm, 2660 Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek.
I’ll be there selling vintage jewelry, clothing, handbags, hats, scarves, buttons, and lots of other great stuff. Joining me is Paula Dodd Aiello from Sew Becoming. Paula is selling various costumes, vintage clothing and accessories.
Please note – we take cash only.
The Market is in its third year and bigger than ever with over 65 vendors selling all kinds of handmade and vintage goods including jewelry, clothing, art, baked goods, and new this year woodwork and ironwork. The museum has dug deep into their archives finding lots of things to sell including antiques, collectables, and small furniture pieces.
This Vintage blouse with glass Victorian buttons paired with 1920s glass beads will be featured in my booth on Sunday, July 30th.
Let’s not forget food! Look for the oh-so-popular Cousins Maine Lobster and I’ve heard talk about a pizza vendor. There’s more to enjoy in the form of live music and the museum plans to offer tours of the Shadelands Mansion.
It’s always a festive day at the Summer Market. Don your best summer hat and come say hello. We will be in booth number 46, near the gazebo.
(When you visit, let me know that you’re a loyal ODFL reader and receive a small fashionable gift.)
Actress Alexandra Shipp plays Author Barbie in the Barbie movie.
Wearing such a rich colour is also definitely a bold way to play with the traditional codes of sexiness and girly-ness and turn them into the ultimate girl power statement.
Le Rolland is speaking about the global trend for pink in fashion. Thanks to the just released Barbie film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, we’re all thinking pink!
According to Le Rolland, in anticipation of the popularity of the film (directed by Greta Gerwig), fashion brands started showing pink in their lines earlier this year. The color, in all its many shades, has taken off, as have “girly” dresses, particularly for the movie’s premiere parties.
I’m still a little perplexed by this film. Ah, why Barbie? Why now? I suppose Gerwig might be trying to take what some would call an “anti-feminist” and “sexist” icon of the past and reinvent her as a modern power girl. Or maybe the whole thing is just meant to be fun.
I do think that in our ever darker, hotter, more threatening world, we are craving the simpler (safer?) past of our childhoods, and for most of us that included Barbie. Diving back into the plastic pink world of all the many different Barbies might be just the escape we need this summer.
Nostalgic Barbie paper doll published by Peak-Grande, 1989. My Barbie doll and Skipper, too are long gone and with them their camper, but I did hang on to Paper Barbie.
Meanwhile Mattel is hoping for a huge increase in doll sales, which have been on the decline in the last year. Interestingly, there is a category of buyers called kidults – adults who are buying childhood toys, like Barbie. With the movie coming out and Barbie plastered all over social media, for sure kidults won’t be able to resist hitting the toy stores.
What do you think, ODFL readers? Are you wearing more pink? Do you have fond memories of playing with Barbie? Will you see the Barbie movie? Share your thoughts.
Jane Birkin carrying her signature basket handbag at a film premiere in 1969.
I was surprised and saddened by the death of fashion icon Jane Birkin. She was only 76.
Known for her “effortless” style and the woman who inspired the Hermès Birkin Bag, British born Birkin was an actress, model, and singer. She lived mostly in France and made over 70 films, including the 1966 classic Blow Up.
Back in the day she was often photographed carrying a basket as a handbag, which became her signature until Hermès thought it was time she had a real handbag; in 1984 the brand designed the first It Bag called, as we all know, The Birkin Bag.
Birkin immediately personalized hers with stickers. Ha! I like that.
I also like Birkin’s basket bag. It’s unexpected, quirky, and talk about effortless.
Back in April, while strolling the Norman Second Friday Art Walk, I spotted a booth that was awash with brightly colored big and little bags crocheted into fruit shapes. What fun! How I would have gone crazy for everything in this booth when I was a kid. Standing near a little girl who was also in heaven, I was reliving my childhood (by the way, I was very into handbags and I had quite a collection already) my eyes darting from one cute thing to the next until they landed on The Strawberry Bag. I fell for it immediately and what really sold me was the contrasting black and white polka dot lining.
My mind was racing –
How would Carrie Bradshaw style this?
Elsa Schiaparelli would understand.
“You are not eight years old!”
That last party pooper thought stuck and I walked away. But as I continued my stroll, chatting with people I knew and popping into random shops, the bag stayed with me and that meant it met my purchase criteria, which is if the item is still on my mind an hour after I’ve walked away, I should buy it. Soon I was circling back to that colorful booth with wallet in hand. The Strawberry Bag handmade by local craftsperson, Danya Wilson, was mine and that evening my heart was full.
A strawberry bag and a polka dot hat are perfect summer accessories.
Just some of the vintage jewelry I’ll be selling at the Shadelands Summer Market.
The Shadelands Summer Market in Walnut Creek is happening again this year and I’ll be there selling vintage jewelry, clothing, hats, and other accessories. Save the date – Sunday, July 30th, 2023, 10am-3pm, 2660 Ygnacio Valley Road.
Joining me is Paula Dodd Aiello from Sew Becoming. Paula is selling various costumes, vintage clothing and accessories.
Please note – we take cash only.
The Market is in its third year and bigger than ever with over 65 vendors selling all kinds of handmade and vintage goods including jewelry, clothing, art, baked goods, and new this year woodwork and ironwork. The museum has dug deep into their archives finding lots of things to sell including antiques, collectables, and small furniture pieces.
Let’s not forget food! Look for the oh-so-popular Cousins Maine Lobster and I’ve heard talk about a pizza vendor. There’s more to enjoy in the form of live music and the museum plans to offer tours of the Shadelands Mansion.
It’s always a festive day at the Summer Market. Don your best summer hat and come say hello. We will be in booth number 46, near the gazebo.
(When you visit, let me know that you’re a loyal ODFL reader and receive a small fashionable gift.)
Nono and Rachel took us to the Highland Fair at Inverness. This is something like a Country Fair with exhibits of interest mostly to farmers.The main attraction was the Royal Family whom everyone wanted to see. We had two good looks at them. The Queen, as usual, was dressed in an elaborate pastel (pink) creation. Princess Margaret, very serious looking, in Hyacinth Blue (New Look) and the King, a rather tired looking grey man, in a grey coat and kilt.
Ruth – American Traveler, June 24, 1948.
This quote refers to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Margaret who were also stopping at the Highland Show while on holiday in Scotland.
I found this little tidbit in the travel journal of a young woman traveling from May 19th to September 18th, 1948. Ruth and her husband, Bill, flew to Washington DC, spent a couple of days there, then headed to NYC and boarded the Queen Mary sailing to England. They spent time in London, Scotland, Ireland (where they knew people), and Paris. (Interesting that just after WWII they didn’t travel to other European countries.)
The couple returned to the US also on the Queen Mary and then either took the train or drove across country back to San Francisco. Included in Ruth’s journal are messages written to her by people she and Bill met during their travels. What a good idea!
A page from Ruth’s journal.
My mother came across this journal at the thrift store where she volunteered. Since I’m a writer, she thought I’d like to see it. I held on to it for many years, but only recently flipped through the pages.
I keep a few different kinds of journals, including travel. I still have the one from my first trip to Europe when I was only twelve-years-old. It’s a lot of fun to see handwriting I hardly recognize as mine and to read not only what we did but also what my impressions were. I have journals for each one of my travel adventures and as time passes they come in handy for reminders of small details. Part of what I note is what clothing I’ve packed and what I wear each day.
Perhaps take a page from Ruth’s book and keep a journal of your next travel adventure.
OverDressed for Life 