classic never goes out of style

I remember when I was about 13 years old and I read my very first copy of Vogue. It was the mid 1980s. Ralph Lauren was king and I thought that having a polo pony on my oxford shirt was the height of fashion. Vogue taught me otherwise. I quickly became enamoured of a very prestigious and respected fashion label. Chanel. From that point on almost every essay or presentation I had to write for my high school French classes were about Chanel. To this day I can give you a thumbnail biography of her at a moment's notice. I won't opine here about the contributions she made to fashion and feminism. My earliest images of elegance were found in the pages of Vogue (and the vintage issues in my local library) and in all the reading I did about this fascinating woman. From the earliest Chanel collections there is one image which, to me, has always epitomized the elegant and successful woman. The polished, classic suit, bag and a fabulous pair of spectator pumps.

Imagine what your life must be like to be so put-together? You'd be organized, know how to blow dry your hair without creating a frizzy mess three times the diameter of your head. Your nail polish would never chip. Your purse would always match your shoes and belt. You'd never wake up in the morning to realize that you'll be re-wearing yesterday's socks because you haven't done the laundry.

My style has changed little over the years. I live in jeans, white t-shirts and the occasional oxford shirt (nary a polo pony in sight). When it's time to get dressed up I am invariably in all black. While a Chanel suit is a beautiful dream, sometimes it doesn't take the dream to give you that same feeling.

For those times when you want to feel spectacular nothing beats the feeling of looking down and seeing a pair of black and white spectator pumps. Not only will you put a smile on your own face, but your confidence and sophistication will inevitably effect all those around you.

Literature

When one isn't blessed with a large trust fund, overpaid job or lottery winnings it can be difficult to satisfy shoe and handbag urges. I have found that one thing that will keep me going until I have saved enough money for what I really want (at the moment it is the black and white Ferragamo wedges). Books will help to fill the void. The irony is, if I could get my book habit under control, my shoe closet would be much fuller.

After last night's purchase of Blahnik by Boman (believe the hype, it truly is "Shoe Porn"), I decided to take stock of other fashion related books in my library.

Another recent purchase is Chanel by Howard Koda. It is the companion book to the recent exhibit of Chanel design at the The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I can sit and just flip through the book. I really enjoy the juxtaposition between Coco Chanel's designs and Karl Lagerfield's. Often though the Lagerfield is newer, Coco's designs seem more modern.

I also recommend Fashion in Costume by Joan Nunn which provides a sweeping look at design and construction. Shoes, Fashion and Fantasy by Colin McDowell is a footwear specific history of design and style. A Guide to Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux is an "A to Z" of what constitutes Elegance in every aspect of your life, especially your wardrobe. Where else would you learn that aligator and exotic skins are for casual and sporting wear and never to be seen after 5 pm? Carried Away, All About Bags edited by Farid Chenoune is the companion book for a museum exhibit of modern and historical handbags. Unfortunately the exhibit, "Le cas du sac" at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile Union centrale des arts décoratifs, closed just three short months before my visit last spring.

Obviously I am not reading these books all at once but when I get a craving that can't be satisfied, they are there for me and keep me going until the credit card balance allows for my next purchase.

Conception

Super Bowl Slim and Indamanda were sitting and chatting one day over Martinis about SBS's handbag addiction and I's similar problem with shoes... "How to satisfy our cravings without ending up in the poorhouse?" they lamented.
"Perhaps if we only look at and talk about the wonderful pretty things?" was suggested by I.
"It could be like a support group" replied SBS.
"If only to get each other's opinion on new purchases" laughed I.

And thus, So Much Pretty was born.