Tweeds, Beads, and Cloches

I've said before that I'm not one to obsess over the goings-on of New York Fashion Week. I keep half an eye on various blog posts and tweets about it, but that's all. That changed last week when I saw a photo from Ralph Lauren's Fall 2012 runway show. I instantly swooned, then, once I'd fully recovered, immediately had to look at the entire collection.

 

 

 The British aristocratic influence can be seen as an obvious reference to Downton Abbey (apparently the models even walked the runway to the show's theme music!). While I can easily imagine Mary Crawley in any number of these looks, I'm also reminded of some literary characters. I'm thinking about the women from Virginia Woolf's Night and Day or even the girls from I Capture the Castle (though their versions of these pieces might have some shabby frayed edges to them). Personally, I'd love to dress like this all through the autumn. While these head to toe outfits may have a bit of a costume feel, the separate pieces are quite wearable. A touch of beading, a tweed blazer, or a fair isle pattern would be just enough to make me feel like I was secretly dressing up as my favorite character while still looking classic enough for every day.

What do you think? Would you use a literary character as fashion inspiration?

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt

In case you've been wondering what a distant cousin of a graphic novel would look like, I think it just might be The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt. Calling itself a novel in pictures, it takes on the format of a scrapbook kept by a young woman during the 1920's.

Author Caroline Preston, who has a background as an archivist, creates page spreads that include a mix of photos, clippings, snippets of text, and other ephemera from the time period. I, of course, loved looking at all of the Jazz Age memorabilia.

Through these items, the story of Frankie's life emerges: her college years at Vassar, where she encounters Edna St. Vincent Millay; her post-college years living in Greenwich Village as an aspiring writer; and her foray to Paris, where she lives in an apartment above Shakespeare & Co. and edits stories by the likes of James Joyce.

The story itself isn't a must-read. It's plotted more for convenience, to hit upon the key people and places of the time period, rather than to tell a really original story. The unique presentation just about makes up for that, though. It's definitely worth flipping through the next time you're spending a few hours at the bookstore.

Friday Fancies- Downton Abbey Edition

In honor of Sunday's Season 2 finale, I thought I'd devote this week's roundup to a few things you can do to get into the Downton Abbey spirit.

(image via here)

If you want to practice one of the many fine arts of being a lady, try embroidering a Dowager Countess cross-stitch.

Check out this comparison of the Downton characters with the actors who play them. (Mrs. Hughes looks twenty years younger in real life! And you can see Mr. Carson on a bike!)

Watch the BBC's Downton parody, and then ponder why Kim Cattrall wasn't cast in the real version.

And it may be a few days late, but you can still send a belated Downton Valentine's card.

Will you be watching on Sunday? Or having a viewing party complete with tea and scones?

Vintage Touches

My mom's birthday was last week and one of the gifts I gave her was a vintage silver tray from Greenhouse Design Studio, a site that sells eco-friendly and vintage items ranging from small finds to high-end, big ticket items.

 

Not only was the tray pretty (if I do say so myself. Aren't I a good gift giver?), but they included some really nice personal touches with the package, like a tag saying where the tray was found and a handwritten note on the back of a vintage photograph thanking me for my purchase. It was enough to make me feel like I should be thanking them in return.

A few days later I even got a handwritten Valentine's card from them. As companies go, I guess this means we're best friends now?

The Moonflower Vine

I first noticed The Moonflower Vine a couple of years ago being promoted as a "rediscovered classic" on bookstore tables. The fact that it's a multi-generational family saga piqued my interest, but it was the author's interesting background that really earned it a place on my To Read list. In between being born in the Midwest and then setting up a small publishing house in New Mexico, Jetta Carleton actually lived in Hoboken and worked as an advertising copywriter during the early half of the 20th century. The Moonflower Vine was her only published novel and I was intrigued to see if the story would mirror her own interesting life.

Divided into sections, the novel is told from the points of view of each member of the Soames family--a school superintendent in rural Missouri, his feisty but uneducated wife, and their four daughters. I was disappointed to find that I just couldn't warm up to any of them, a fact that I think may have a lot to do with the structure of the story itself. Youngest daughter Mary Jo, who seems the most likable and interesting, narrates the introductory section then all but disappears as subsequent sections flash back to the years before her birth. Matthew, the hypocritically virtuous father, seems to overtake every section of the book, even those that are meant to be told from his daughters' points of view. It's true that he was a strong influence in their lives, but his perspective was emphasized to the point that, more often than not, it felt like his story, not the story of the family as a whole, which wasn't exactly what I thought I was signing up for.

I don't want to come across as too negative. The story did have its moments, including some particularly poignant passages near the end as the family's aging matriarch reflects back on her life. I just couldn't get past my apathy for the characters. It's the same problem I've had in the past with Steinbeck characters. Does this mean I'm prejudiced against rural Midwestern farmers from the 1920's? Do you have that problem with any authors?

Blind Date with a Book

Happy Valentine's Day!

I stumbled upon a fun Valentine's treat the other day when, during a weekend visit home, I went to the local library with my mom and came across this:

The display featured books covered in festive Valentine's wrappings that could be checked out sight unseen. Such a cute idea for book lovers, right? We each picked one out, with no idea what we were getting. (Okay, I may have slightly cheated and avoided one where I could just make out the words Danielle and Steele showing through some of the lighter colored paper.)

We unwrapped our picks over tea. My mom got this detective thriller and I ended up with this, which I'm assuming would be considered Christian fiction (?).

I think both of these will be returned unread, but no hard feelings. That's the risk of a blind date!

Spring Dresses

Once again, Anthropologie has me looking forward to the months ahead, when it will finally be warm enough to pull out some spring dresses. Their latest catalog was filled with pretty frocks that look modern and fresh, yet somehow just hint at a bygone era.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of these might make their way onto the sale rack before spring hits.

Friday Fancies

I'm not in any way complaining about the mild winter we've been having this year, but it has proven a challenge when getting dressed in the morning. I find myself either feeling chilly because I've dressed for the mild temperatures to come later in the day or feeling overheated during my walk to work because I've bundled up for the frosty morning air. The dusting of snow we got earlier this week reminded me of how, last winter, I based every outfit around items that would work with my wellies. I guess consistency is the one upside of endless snow.

On to my favorites from the week, including a couple of treats that would be the perfect complement to wintry weather.

(image via here)

I'll definitely be trying out this sweet twist on tea this weekend.

If that's not enough to satisfy my sweet tooth, I can spruce up a hot chocolate with some frozen whipped cream.

This grouping of framed lyrics just might be my favorite Valentine's craft that I've seen so far.

I think my To Read list may grow after I check out this book.

And would you ever wear snake motif jewelry? I would have said no, but I can picture some of these pieces as a surprising touch with a simple outfit, like a striped shirt and jeans.

What caught your eye this week?

Glaciers

I just read the loveliest debut novel, Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith. Short and with ample margins, it's really more of a novella that can be read cover to cover in one sitting, a reading experience I'd highly recommend.

Covering the span of a single day in the life of Isobel, a twenty-something librarian with a penchant for all things vintage, the story weaves scenes of her past childhood in rural Alaska and glimpses of her hopes for the future with the action of the present, in which her daily routine is punctuated by a bittersweet romantic encounter and culminates in a dreamy, melancholy party she attends with her best friend. The writing is spare, the themes wistful, the characters realistic, and the story memorable.

I originally checked this book out of the library, but just ordered myself a copy to own. That's how much I liked it.

What the Dickens!

In case the explosion of Dickens related material around the web yesterday didn't tip you off, our friend Charles turned the big 2-0-0. If you don't have time to celebrate by rereading one of his novels, you can check out some of these Dickensian items.

Google's doodle in honor of the occasion:

A couple of Penguin Classics editions to add to my Must Collect list:

And although I know that we're all trying not to think about the sad day when Downton Abbey is over for this season, there are a few new Dickens adaptations coming up on Masterpiece. Great Expectations, The Old Curiosity Shop, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood all look like they'll be worth a watch.

What's your favorite Dickens?