Slip-not

Dress: Fletcher by Lyell, Urban Outfitters
Flats: Target
Music: Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin- Jane B.

Oh ho ho ha!...eh. I'm already embarassed of my nu-metal pun two seconds after I wrote it. Probably a result of turning my brains to mush by flipping through Revolver while demolishing a massive apple fritter yesterday morning (so many vices in this sentence). Anyway, back on track...I bought this "dress" last week after patiently waiting for it to go on clearance. It is in reality not so much a dress as a very lovely slip. That I nevertheless wore like a dress. Thanks to Osama Bin Laden in his weather machine(a phrase Andy holds so dear), I was able to wear this sans cardigan or tights. At the end of October. A bit frightening, but that's Memphis for you. I really feel that pale people (and extremely dark people) are the only ones who can do justice to eggplant shades, but perhaps this is just my pale person pride (PPP). Which surely means that I need much more of it in my wardrobe...

I was really pleasantly surprised at the details in this dress. It's from the Fletcher by Lyell capsule collection at Urban Outfitters, which I've long admired from afar but have not had the opportunity to buy anything from yet(and now it's almost all gone). The white panels at the top have some sweet embroidery on them (gratitituous boob shot to show said detail not included), and the back dips into a nice V. I am a great fan of exposing the back, which I think has been too long neglected as an erogenous/aesthetic zone (though this did backfire once when an uninvited creep slipped his hand into a backless shirt I had on at a show). I'm not sure what is up with this one photo...the settings, the oddly haughty expression, the eyebrowless-ness (I SWEAR I HAVE THEM). However, I will forge on.
P.S.- As a follow-up to my last post, I bought a feather hairpiece last night that I'm really excited about. Never underestimate the power of a beautiful period film!

Inspiration: The Wings of the Dove

Instead of sifting through oodles of street-style photos or images on Lookbook until my eyebrows raise so high they're hidden beneath my hair(since when did taking a photograph of yourself spreadeagle in a lace bodysuit count as possessing personal style?), let's talk about something much more inspirational, like this film. The Wings of the Dove, based on the Henry James novel, is a gorgeous movie. True, you can always count on an adaptation of a HJ work for visual appeal, but I found my jaw hitting the floor during some of these scenes. So much fur! Venice! The beautiful Poiret-like dresses of the early 20th century! So many diaphanous fabrics! Linus Roache(he counts as sexy scenery, right?)! The headgear is magnificent(see below), replete with jewels and feathers and all manner of lovely things. And I'm dying to find a way to make my hair do that poofy, sensuous, pulled-up-but-just-barely-so thing that all the ladies were so good at back then. Don't be surprised if you find me swanning around Easy Way in a long velvet dress and some feathers in my hair.

And no, I am not one of those people who blindly loves any attractive period piece. This movie is more than eye candy, however, and I may not be doing it justice here. It's a devastating look at greed and jealousy and the mistakes women make when they are in love. But lord, it's pretty.

A Little Leopard Problem

Cardigan: Forever 21
Tank: Proenza Schouler for Target
Shorts: American Apparel
Wedges: Target
Music: The Walkmen- French Vacation

Ha! Check out this joker! Please bear with me as I attempt to sort out the proper face to make and head-tilt ratio when using a tripod. I'm so mechanically inept that I'm pretty surprised I was able to get this photo taken at all.
But onto the clothes! I've found myself wearing these shorts almost every weekend, not least because they most definitely do not fall into the work-appropriate category of my wardrobe(which is a whole other story). They possess 3 qualities that I love: they're black, they're high-waisted, and they're way short. I recently read a "fashion Q & A" in Bazaar in which some poor indecisive soul asked when was the appropriate age to shelve the short shorts. The "advice" said upon graduation from college. Well, I graduated in December and I intend to keep things short until my legs give out on me or they effectively blind someone with their whiteness. My opinion on fashion Q & A's is that if you have to ask, you'll probably never know. Perhaps I should ask them what they think about wearing leopard every damn day. I've begun to view it as a neutral. Not so long ago, I told myself I would delegate it to mere accessories. After my leopard flats from Target (R.I.P.) literally fell apart, I decided to amp it. First came this cardigan. Then the oft-photographed dress by Rodarte for Target. Then, most recently, a so-bad-it's-good massive furry coat from F21 (when Memphis dips below 80 degrees I'm so ready to bust it out). Andy recently told me he is not a fan of leopard, which has sadly not dimmed my enthusiasm for it the way it should. Hopefully you won't find me next in a full-on Iggy Pop-esque horrid/amazing leopard bodysuit, but at the rate I'm going, you never know...
Edit: I forgot about Iggy's famed leather jacket with the cheetah on the back. Oh boyo