"You Live for Fashion!"

Current InStyle

The title comes from an episode of Sex and the City called "The Real Me" and is spoken by Charlotte York to Jen Savery, I mean, Carrie Bradshaw. 

The September issue of all fashion magazines is the largest of each calendar year. Vogue's September 2007 Issue weighed nearly 5 lbs. The current InStyle for this month is 652 pages. Fall is, as you learn flipping through pages showing how to wear cheetah print boots and burgundy skinny jeans, not for the fashion fearful.
InStyle is my favorite magazine.* Colorful, well organized, diverse pieces and smart pairings for real women, it sings a seductive siren song of all the things, literally things, missing from my closet and therefore, a higher quality of life.

But does owning -------- (insert current item of lust) actually improve my quality of life?

2007 September Issue 

The ad below unapologetically flaunts what all ads, what all secular culture tells us-- this will fill your void, this will satisfy your desires and longings and you will never be the same after.

I admit that I have fallen for this trap far, far more than I would like to admit. And if you've seen my closet you'd think I was filled up by now.  I own more shoes than anyone I know. I am talking Toto, we aren't in double digits anymore-- but than why do I keep looking at fashion magazines?

Because fashion can quickly become my idol and, thus, my sin.

Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Cheif of Vogue. Oh, you devilishly stylish
woman, you. 

When discussing my long hiatus from blogging with a friend she suggested I write more just about food and clothes, less about "your life. I mean, I really like what you wear and when you talk about food." She did not mean this to hurt my feelings or to say my life isn't important, but let's be honest-- if all I am good for is fashion and food, it isn't.

That void I mentioned earlier, the one people try to fill with a purse or a drink or a one night stand or a bit of gossip, can only be filled and satisfied by God. We are guilty of becoming "culturally Christian," meaning we choose social practices that seem Christian, but we end up becoming judgmental and  complacent. Our idea of morality is defined by comparison. Good is subjective to what it is being compared to. Francis Chan really nails this one on the head in his book Crazy Love. We accept and even embrace our sins so long as we aren't "as sinful" as someone else. Abstaining from drinking, cussing, premarital sex, murder, drugs are not what make us Christians. Only through recognizing (read: loving as He did, talking about, praising, living as an extension of Him, loving, loving, loving, loving) Christ as our savior are we actually Christians. I have let myself shop because if that's my weakness, it's really not as bad as making alcohol or sex or drugs my idol. I don't intentionally hurt anyone, so what's one more pair of shoes?

If I am not wearing my faith as prominently as the red soles of my Christian Louboutins, I am the worst kind of sinner of all. St. Augustine, who was quite the partyboy, wrote "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet." Translation in modern vernacular: Lord make me sinless in your eyes.... unless sinless means seeking your glory before my selfish desires, than in that case maybe just kind of sinless.

Those red soles are among the most brilliant marketing
 techniques in fashion history 

The Chic-Fila controversy aroused emotional reactions from all different sides. People who side with the franchise lined up to buy chicken sandwiches and those who disagreed, boycotted. (By the way, I am remaining impartial on the topic, this is to prove a much bigger point.) I saw a picture in Facebook that had a caption reading something about there have never been that many Christians lining up to volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank. My thought process here was 1) That was a rude caption, especially considering the controversy surrounds equality and rights and my faith is a reserved right 2) At the same time, that people had more to say and stand up for over a fast food restaurant than they do for their faith-- no amount of chicken sandwiches will outlaw gay marriage, nor will the plummet of chicken sandwiches sales legalize gay marriage.


When asked if I am a Christian, I am not being asked if I eat at Chic-Fila or or if I own cross jewelry or have a fish bumper sticker or if I even go to church (My list inspired by Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman).

I am being asked if I love Christ and if I live to glorify God. 

I like love hearing people say they love my outfit. It totally validates the time spent picking it out and making sure I have the right balance of color, texture and coverage. What this really means is I need to spend more time being a Christ-like example in an ever-darkening world than I do selecting my clothing ensembles. 

John 20:15 (NAS) Mary is searching for Christ Easter morning. Before she recognizes him, he asks, "Whom are you seeking?" When translated into Greek, seek is synonymous with crave. This conjures not only images of delicious cupcakes, but all the material things I have saved to my Shopbop WishList. 

So here is the challenge to myself: No shopping in September.** None. Instead, working on making God what I crave.

What do you crave? What do you fill your life with?




* I enjoy Vogue, but there are more ads than content in most issues. Ahhh, the symbolism. 
** THE  fashion month. As in, fashion's birthday...basically. 

The Heels Were Made for Teaching

Bookshelf at Shakespeare and Co. in Paris, France
One of my study abroad trips in college

“Wait, what do you mean ‘Free Read Day’? I don’t get it." This was the general response from my students when I told them to bring a book, no iPads, Kindles, eBooks, magazines or comics, to read in class last week. (Note: A student brought Captain Underpants and actually tried to make an argument as to why he could read it as a junior for Free Read Day. A book that comes with stickers is not going to fly for Free Read Day.)

This face would probably shock
my students

When they were unable to bring a book to school, I let them borrow some of mine.  
I shocked my students with the fact that the books I gave them were not 17th century poetry or written in Old English. The books I gave them were by modern and contemporary authors with some elements I know they weren’t expecting (“Uhm, this book says the word ‘beer,’ is that okay?”*) and with endings they certainly were not anticipating (“Why does he just walk away? Why did she still love him?”**). But I loved that they were holding books from my personal library, with my old notes and scribbles in the margins. I know they felt like they were looking into my diary or something, and in a way they were, by my diary as a reader not as a writer. 

Student A: “Are we going to find notes to ex- boyfriends in here?”
Me: “Would I still have the book if I wrote notes to other people in them?”
Student A: “Guess not.”
Me: “Besides, I would never let an ex-boyfriend keep my books.” Student B: “ Wait, You have ex-boyfriends?!”


This is the same reaction to my having a doctor’s appointment, as though we, teachers, do not go to doctors or get sick or leave the school campus for anything. Did I think that about my teachers? I guess to some degree I did, but when I came back to school after the doctor they were very inquisitive then as well.
Student A:“Are you sick?”
Me: “Nope.”
Student B:“Are you getting sick?”
Me: “No, just a check up.”
Student A again: “Were you faking sick?” 
Student B:"I bet you were faking."

Me: “Okay, time for a pop quiz.”

With this year winding down I keep wondering if I have made any impact on them besides my clothing-- which is still commented on daily (“I don’t think you have worn the same shoes twice,” said a male student to me. “Yes she has, she wore those before Christmas break. That is two times this school year, gosh, you idiot,” said a female student in my ‘defense.’)
But I think about my most influential teachers, the ones that made me want to be a teacher; I wonder if I have done even half of that, a third of that, for my students. I know they will not leave my class dreaming of being an English teacher. I know they will not go out and buy every Barry Hannah, Miranda July, Mary Karr book they can find.*** I know that they don’t think Shakespeare is cool or that Old English is easy. But I want so badly for them to think something, to learn something and most importantly, to feel something. That is what reading and writing does that no other subject really can, it makes you feel. I want my students to have read something, even if it was just a page and the rest was Sparknoted**** I hope they read it and had to look inward at themselves in a way they hadn’t before. We have talked about pride and greed and lust and love and death and creation and isolation and abandonment and fear-- oh goodness have we talked about fear. The most fearful thing, after all, is that someone can look at us and see us for who we truly are. Reading is that, it forces you to look inward. I want them so badly to have studied these themes and thought, I know what he/she feels, I have never killed anyone to become king, but I know how it feels to want something you can't have or I know what it feels like to be alienated, I know what it feels like to reach out and have no one reach back-- I didn't know other people ever felt that way.


I personally fear that I did nothing but show them how to write a proper thesis statement and insert page numbers on a Word doc.

A student from the other 10th grade teacher’s class said that all we do is color in my class. He said this to two of my girls who are not making very good grades and that all they have to do is stay in the lines in my coloring books and they will get an A. My teacher friend teaches the class that this conversation was taking place in. She said the girls stood up for me, but mostly for the rigor of my class.
“It is, like, hard. Like, we really have to read and learn stuff. She grades our essays hard and she makes us like, go deeper”
“Yeah, you don’t even know. It is a hard class and we are trying really hard to make good grades. It is hard.”
                         
The girls also told me about this the next day. We joked as a class about if that was actually the case, than they should all have made A’s on the test I just handed back, which they did not.


Being the young, new teacher I am an easy target. 
Being the young, new teacher means I will quip right back at you. 

My teacher friend said I should come meet this boy, the naysayer/hater, so I did.
Teacher Friend introduced us: “Boy (name omitted to protect his identity), this is Mrs. Savery. She wanted to meet you.”
I smiled big, gave a firm hand-shake and said, “Hi, Boy. I hear you really want to come to my class to color.”
He looked at me wide eyed and shocked, “Uhm, no.”
“Really? I think you should just stop by sometime. I have plenty of extra coloring books if you want a break from Mrs. Other 10th Grade Teacher’s class.”
“I like Mrs. Other 10th Grade Teacher’s class.”
“Oh, that’s great! I will let her know. But in case you need a break from all of your learning and test taking, I have all of the Crayola crayons you can imagine and we don’t even have grades. Just stick figures.”
Still shocked and stammering he said, “Oh, okay.”
“Okay, great! Well, come by sometime. It was so nice to meet you!”

My girls, who were listening from the hallway, all hugged me after like it was an episode of Saved by the Bell and I had confronted the bully. They thought it was, like, so awesome. Which it kind of was.
(Boss, if you are reading this, please don't fire me. I was standing up for my students! I was standing up for literature!)

What was even better was that the next day a few students stayed after class to tell me how much they had learned this year and what a good teacher they thought I was.
“I would take your class every year if I could. Even if there was a coloring class, I would take yours instead!”

What did we learn from this, class?
We learned that teachers talk. That you shouldn’t talk about what you don’t know.  That maybe I have done something for my students.

And don’t mess with the teacher in the red-soled shoes.







*Reading Larry Brown's Big Bad Love; which is not, in fact, about love being big or bad. Well, maybe a little bad.
** Reading "Up In Michigan" after I told them that Gertrude Stein told Hemingway it was the cruelest story she had ever read. And it is pretty cruel. So of course, they wanted to read it.
*** All amazing authors, very contemporary and not for everyone.
****Sparknoted: a verb meaning read the first and last page of a book and used Sparknotes for the rest.

What to Pack When You're Packing

My cousins have commented more on my tidbits about clothes than any of the weighty topics of my posts, so I am going to be indulgent and vain. I am going to unveil what I pack and why and maybe a few outfit tips and tricks. I am in no way an expert or even a valid opinion of fashion, so totally disregard me if you are already bored (exit all male readers, most likely).

Blazers
I wore a blazer every formal dress day in high school and complained like the rest of my uniform-clad peers, but I actually loved it. For one, I am always cold. I don’t travel without a jacket because I am certain that my natural body temperature is 4 degrees lower than that of the average human. Back to the point, when blazers became stylish again I totally attributed their popularity to my wearing them beyond prep school and into my college years.  Then the blazer boom hit and there were colors beyond belief. I am not going to go through all the colors and fabrics I have, but they all come in handy. Be it at work or over a top and jeans or a dress blazers look crisp and sophisticated year round. I love a good cardigan, but there is something a little more grown up about a blazer--plus I don’t want to fall too heavily into the teacher/cardigan look. I get that enough with my stretchy cord key ring. Wear a blazer on the plane, stick your boarding pass in the pocket, drap it over the top of your suitcase when you get hot. Pack another one in your bag of a different color or color scheme to mix it up. I am wearing an ivory colored blazer as I write this.  

Chunky necklace and white blazer

Maxi Skirts

Let me say this first, I am not very “hippie” in my style. So I avoided the maxi trend until they started popping up in gossamer looking chiffons with knife pleats.... and then Carrie Bradshaw* wore a bunch in Sex and the City 2 and I was sold. Same idea as the blazer, I am always cold so maximum coverage is optimal and they look awesome, especially with a button-down dolman sleeve top and big belt (thank you Olivia Palermo* for the idea). You can sit “criss-cross-apple-sauce” as my students say, which rocks. They are a great alternative to jeans in warmer weather and just break us from the jean rut we so easily fall into. That being said, always bring a pair of jeans when you travel (my favorite ones, $30 dark denim skinny jeans from Delia’s-- yeah, I have an eclectic closet). But the maxi skirt or dress (Splendid’s long sleeve maxi dress is like a giant nightgown made of really old, comfy tee shirts) is an awesome travel buddy. 

Maxi skirt/button blouse combo

Comfy dress

DVF Linnia Dress in cherry

Don’t get the maxi dress mentioned earlier with the “comfy dress.” The comfy dress is one able to be worn with sandals, flats, boots (in cooler weather), wedges or heels. It permeates casual cute-ness and dressy dinner with the change of a shoe. I have a pink one from Target that my friend Rachel loves to wear and actually might have stolen from me. I have a black/nude patterny one (patterny= patterned but subtly colored enough it acts as a neutral)  from Nordstrom ‘s junior department and a brighter colored one as well. Get one preferably that doesn’t need to be dry cleaned as that gets expensive and really annoying on vacation. Tide to go that puppy or steam it and you are ready to wear it again! 

Button-down Blouses
They are awesome, comfortable and chic. Get one in a thin enough fabric that you can wear it even in warmer weather and layer with a tank if it is cold.These can be found anywhere right now: Old Navy, Saks, Target, Zara***** and they make you look very put together. Make sure to be mindful of how starchy one might be when wearing with blazer on a trip as to not look too businessy, unless you are on a business trip, of course. Blouses are easy to pack so feel free to bring a bunch in all colors, patterns and fabrics. Denim is really in right now, so dig on back to 1994 and pull that shirt from the back of your closet.

Shorts, Skirts, Leggings
I like to have a pair of shorts on summer trips; usually white or denim, but a fun pattern/color if there is room. And a skirt, usually bright because it is easy to get stuck only bringing neutrals on a trip “because they go with everything,” make a bright color a neutral. Leggings are also a great idea, especially ones that can double for a work out and under a big button-down shirt (and I mean it covers your booty big). Make sure they aren’t too gym-looking, like the kind that are heathered or have racing stripes down the side or the 2-for1 piece doesn’t work as well. And be careful with denim shorts on that note, unless the Daisy Duke look is your thing. Pieces are great because you can mix them up a lot. 

I like dark denim, but lighter is a little more hip.

(Lots of) Jewelry

The easiest way to mix up an outfit is change the accessories. Jewelry is a fun, small thing to bring that can make a massive outfit change. I like to have: gold hoops, small white gold diamond huggies, pearl studs, canary quartz colored studs, big turquoise tear drop earrings, a few cocktail rings, long gold chain, colorful chunky necklace, silver and gold watch, gold bangles, another chunky necklace if you can fit it and my small gold cross and wedding ring and bands.  That comfy dress I mentioned? Totally different with gold hoops and my teeny cross, a watch and ballet flats than it is with a big ole’ chunky necklace and heels or the turquoise drop earrings and wedges. Bingo! Three different outfits. I have a great case by Jon Hart to organize and protect my stuff, but there are less expensive (and more expensive) jewelry pouches out there. And always, always, always take your jewelry in your carry on. That and a teeny bag of make up, your medicine, a tiny toothbrush and a ziplock to put liquids in.

Purse(s)
I take a massive carry on because I am a travel hoarder and have lost my luggage a lot. I rarely check my luggage, if I can help it. That being said, you do not always need a 14inX14in bag everywhere you go once you arrive at your destination. Purses are relatively flat and you can always pack it and then pack stuff like underpinnings, socks, tee shirts, PJs in it. Purses, like jewelry, help change an outfit and are a fun way to change things up. I have a neon  cross-body satchel coming in the mail I am so excited to use for summer as well as a grey top handle Tory Burch and pink quilted Kate Spade bag with a chain handle. Like I said, they pack flat and can create organization in a suitcase, too. 

My "elephant" colored purse. Yes, I might have chosen the
color because it was called "elephant."

Belts

Belts give a lovely, put together looking touch to almost any outfit. Cinch in the waist of a dress or shirt, make a bathing suit cover-up an outfit by belting it. Basically belts bring out the feminine figure the way we want and can pull an outfit together, literally and figuratively. I like my leopard print one, dark brown basic one, black chunky high waisted one and a silver skinny one. Belts are easy to pack, don’t hold back here. 

Excellent use of leopard belt

Shoes

My most beloved, most cherished, most important piece to an outfit. I pack too many shoes by Joe’s standards and too few shoes by my mother’s. I like to have the following:
      Flats: most often worn on a flight because I don’t like my toes out on airplanes. If I do wear sandals, I bring socks in my purse. Easy to pack, some can even fit in my purse themselves, so Audrey Hepburn.******* Black, nude, metallic, leopard print, neon-- ballet flats are awesome. J.Crew and Tory Burch are great about having a jillion different colors, and if you feel like maxing out your credit card and smiling at your feet while your husband yells at you, Chanel invented the ballet flat.  

      Nude wedges/heels: summer means espadrille wedges, but if there is a chance or plan to go to a nice dinner to to da club (or bar, whatever) or church, a heel is a good choice. Nude makes your gams look miles long and goes with everything. I also love bright colored shoes and will bring a fun bright color if I can, but if pressed for space, the nude wins. I put them in bags (they usually come with), put tissue in them or same stuff as purses, and pack them at the bottom since they are heavier than clothes. It sounds really Beyonce glam of me, but I rarely travel without heels as something may arise that calls for a fancier outfit. Dresses, jeans and nowadays, even shorts go way up on the outfit scale with some heels. 

Less expensive versions available with almost
any shoe designer/company

Sandals/Boots: for summer/spring and fall/winter respectively. Though sandals like rubber flip flops may be necessary in a place with an iffy bathroom. I try to wear my boots on the plane if I am bringing them as they are heaviest and take up the most space. If they must be packed, same rule as purses and heels-- stuff them with other items. Tory Burch Miller sandals are a favorite of mine, silver gladiator ones from Forever 21 are also a good touch (take note: metallics make awesome accessory neutrals).

Tory Burch Miller Sandals in gold, love.

Sunglasses: I take an aviator style and a big plastic style. Aviator ones fit better under hats but I like the Audrey Hepburn/Jackie Kennedy feel of the big plastic black ones my sister gave me.

Non-clothes:
Travel steamer: ours is from Berings, about the size of a water bottle. My friend Michael turned me onto this and it rocks for very obvious reasons.
Plastic zip lock bags, big and small: for whatever you use bags for, which is anything and everything
Tide to Go
Phone charger

Also: Jeans (as mentioned), tank tops (one light, one dark), extra undergarments, colorful scarf that covers stains or acts as a blanket on the plane, extra shirt(s) you can wear with any of the bottoms you packed, socks, and a coat if it is winter. Wear the coat on the plane as to save room in your suitcase.  Leather jackets are great too because they don’t wrinkle and look very cool with jeans or a dress. I also recommend the classic khaki trench in questionable fall or spring weather. You get to look like Ingrid Bergman* and bundle up if the temperature or rain drops.

This is a cloche hat, mentioned above.
Very F. Scott Fitzgerald and awesome.

Extras: Bright heels or wedges or leopard print ones, more jewelry, colored jeans (all over the place as of late and I am obsessed), cocktaily dress, bathing suit and color-up (but one of those dresses or shirt/dress or just shirt combo can work great) striped sweater, hat(s)-- straw fedora or cloche for the summer, wool fedora or cloche for the winter.

My orange shoes, previously posted from afar on "The Flying Corgi"

Pack liquids in a checked back in a big Ziploc as to avoid an explosion on your carefully chosen blazers, dresses and denim shorts. Hang things that need to be steamed upon arrival if possible. If the steamer is unavailable or ridiculous to you, hang items in the bathroom so the steam from the shower can soften wrinkles. Pack in outfits. Clearly this is what I do, but it makes getting ready on vacation much quicker. Hanging clothes up after you have worn them will also extend their wearability on your trip.


Wishlist
Because a girl always has her wants in mind, here are a few that my suitcase would adore to carry...




I don't own a white/cream/ivory bag. This one  has modern detailing, like the stitches, with a nod to the classic with its shape and chain strap.

Tory Burch Marion Saddle Bag. I love that it is called a saddle bag
and has the saddle stitching 

Kate Spade Orchestra Hall Necklace, Norstrom
Neutral colored chunky necklace. Would be fun with anything, really.

I love the texture of these shoes and the color is a great shade. Polly destroyed my J.Crew nude flats, which are also lovely... or they were lovely, at least.  The hat below is so feminine and nostalgic. I love the twenties and the clothes from it. Chanel started many of the trends that we see so often today and don't even realize. This hat is a perfect example of how Coco herself was tired of pinning giant, feathered hats on her head and designed the much smaller, more wearable cloche hat.

Tory Burch Prescott flats

  

Cloche hat from bluewomensclothing.com

Dreaming big....
YSL Muse 
I love this bag. It comes in every color, I personally like the chocolate brown (pictured below) or black because this is a classic you won't be trending out anytime soon. Shove an extra pair of shoes (like Prescott flats!) or an iPad or make up bag in there and hit the road, Jack. It is amazing. I shan't muse on about it much longer (pun intended), as it is far, far from a reality in my closet. Enjoy drooling as I do. 

YSL Muse

* Carrie Bradshaw, protagonist and narrator of Sex and the City and a soulmate to myself in terms of her shoes, her writerly insight and her brave fashion choices.
*Olivia Palermo's entrance in to my world started with The City, but I am not sure where she actually got her start. She seems like a total bratface