it is done

As I have mentioned a couple of times on the kerfluffle I paid off my Student Loans at the beginning of August and decided to give myself a little present in celebration. And boy did I. It took 2 months worth of student loan payments and some scrimping but Saturday I went to my favourite store.

It really is the nicest place. You are surrounded by beautiful things and the salespeople are very nice (especially when you're buying something).

Holly Golightly had Tiffany's. I have Chanel.

(it's difficult to get a good picture, but trust me, in my humble opinion, it's the perfect bag)

the long lost gladiator sandal post...

I have been meaning to post about my quest for a pair of gladiator sandals for a long time. However, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. The seed was sown when I saw these at Chanel




Though beautiful and dramatic they are not something I could ever wear as a) I am not 6 feet tall b) I rarely wear skirts and c) I cannot wear a shoe with a strap between the toes.



Then I discovered these:



And while more subtle but just as dramatic (and lacking the dreaded toe thong), it's a lot of money to spend on silver shoes that are quite trendy and not suitable for day wear.




I have tried on a number of less expensive versions of the various incarnations of the gladiator but this late in the season they are all either brown, which I do not enjoy, and/or have rivets and other such details that make them too casual/flower child/hippie for my purposes. The shoes I finally decided upon (as they were the last ones in my size and desparation is a great motivator) are more casual than I was hoping for but still indulge my desire to have ankle ties and flats and, in my opinion, look relatively chic with a pair of neutral capris or long shorts.




*update* I think I have been cured of my need for a gladiator sandal. While normally, I enjoy most things Marc Jacobs puts out into the world (LV monogram bags being the exception, but that's another post). He has managed to turn something enjoyable into something ridiculous. There is no wit, no sass, no point in this, the JELLY gladiator.

How much is too much?

I came to the realization the other day that I might be becoming a little too luxury obsessed when I actually began to think that it was perfectly all right to spend the equivalent of about one month's salary on a hand bag. Now this is not just any handbag, but a Chanel, quilted lambskin flap bag from the Spring-Summer 2006 Collection. Obviously there was some re-thinking of this proposed purchase once I left the store. Fortunately it was not something I could buy on the spur of the moment, but wouldn't it be delightful?

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.