clap your hands say yeah

When I wrote about Peeps last year, I was also simultaneously putting in an order for that mischievous, hands-over-bosom mesh top. Designer Amelia Lindquist was prompt with correspondence and shipping, so color me tardy that it's only now I'm fulling airing and sharing good word of my purchase. (I wore it to the symphony but unintentionally hid it well, beneath a blazer.) Whether stand alone for that standout factor or as a layering piece, the top adds a perfect tongue-in-cheek cross between Comme des Garçons's creepy, creeping 3-D mitts and those elementary school tasks where we'd trace our hands on brown construction paper to make turkeys for gobble gobble day. (Thumb was the bird's noggin, and the other fingers became feathers...funny how school and life seemed so simple back then....)

Incidentally, it also turns out that this incarnation of Peeps is the same Peeps that crafted my feather fascinator from Bona Drag over a year ago. Amelia has since left the manufacturing to Bona Drag, clearly taking full-blown flight with her own store now.

Outfit: Peeps hand top, Zara fuchsia high waist skirt, Dolce Vita grey wedge sandals, Supercandy by Candace Ang silk stud necklace.

i'll weave a lei of stars for you

Please bear with as we embark on a chronologically-incorrect voyage of posts. Subjects will careen from Hawaii tales of earlier this year, to recent NYC shopping escapades, to possible recaps from last fall's Boston Fashion Week. If I can work up the endurance, we'll ping pong through the last eight months of purchases, activities and outfits until the linear perception of time has been completely obliterated on dreamecho.

First up is a partial reconstruction of what I wore in Hawaii. I did manage to take that one good outfit shot while there, but during my stay the weather was largely rainy or windy or a mingling of both, making for none to pleasant outdoor photography conditions. (Wet camera and blown over tripod do not a photo make.)

One novel nugget of note: Evidently, my blood has finally thickened to that of respectable New Englander's. While others in Hawaii were bundling up against the storm, I was waltzing around, unperturbed, in cutoffs and bare arms. This development truly tickles elder me; young, island-grown me was always the first to shiver and throw on three sweaters and tights under jeans once the temperature would drop below 75. I AM NOT KIDDING. Now, here I am in Boston, in 40-ish degrees, in these getups once again to illustrate what I was donning 5000 miles away, at 40 degrees warmer.



(1) Men's plaid purple western shirt, Heritage 1981 brown wool cardigan, vintage Levi's cutoffs, Ferragamo navy suede pumps, amethyst necklace, Gap brown leather belt. (2) F21 purple silk dress, Express black blazer, We Love Colors neon green socks, Jeffrey Campbell brown brogues, spiderweb pin.



(3) F21 silk purple dress, Express black blazer, F21 black/white tiedye leggings, Ferragamo navy suede pumps, spiderweb brooch. (4) H&M black embroidered sheer dress, Twelve by Twelve navy jellyfish jacket, AA silver leggings, Ferragamo navy suede pumps, Twelve by Twelve white ribbon necklace.



(5) Same as (4). (6) Old Navy magenta/navy striped tee, F21 purple silk dress, We Love Colors hot pink socks, Ferragamo navy suded pumps.

symphonic spree

Thanks for all the caring comments! I'm not one to make passive requests for a pity party, but I was honestly starting to think I was another fashion blog fated for a fade into the digital detritus.

A few weekends ago, Partner and I attended an evening performance at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Both of us are former band geeks – and dang proud of it! – so we jumped on the $20 tickets for people under 40 promo. (Pricing typically runs from $40 to $100+.) There are few things I enjoy more in this world than listening to a live performance while watching a conductor in complete control, the strings' bows trembling and weaving in unison, the glinting of the brass. (I get goosebumps just thinking about it!) The show climaxed with Brahms's Symphony No. 4, which did not disappoint in its violent hope and heart.



On a separate note, all the talk of shopping in one's own closet these days has me shaking my head at the mindless consumption that was going on in the first place. Appreciating what one's got and making conscious choices are values I've held dear even prior to the economic meltdown, but now seems an especially apt time to dig out this decade-old blown-up, photographic, hibiscus print dress (layered beneath a sheer tank top). This dress has given me problems since Day One – of 1999 or thereabouts. For one thing, it's longer than I prefer my dresses; for another, it has these incongruous shiny, magenta spaghetti straps of the brassiere persuasion. (Many of you will recall that these were all the rage in the mid- to late nineties.) And yet, the print is a show-stopper, and the main reason why this frock has made it through the limited wardrobe purges I've done in my life. It's only now, though, that I have an inkling of what to do with it. So that, I did.

Outfit: Ruby photographic hibiscus print dress, Peeps sheer stenciled hand top, H&M black blazer, AA black lame leggings, H&M black socks, Aldo spectators, Twelve by Twelve black rose necklace, spider web pin.