Shopping and Style

Oh my goodness. My husband always cautions me against turning into a blubbering grandmother and overwhelming you all with photos and praise of grandson Capt. Adorable, but I just can’t help it. And you know I think all of y’all’s children and grandchildren are adorable, too. I really do.  I always want to hear more about their cuteness. And I’m not posting these pics because I think my grandson is the most adorable and cute of them all. Oh, no. You know that’s not the case here, I promise. I’m just posting these pics because … well … let’s see … uh … hmm … because I want to talk about children’s clothing. Yes, yes — that’s it. I want to have a completely objective discussion about little boys’ clothes and how they wear the exact same thing that big boys and men wear but somehow it just looks so especially adorable on their little 19-month-old selves. I mean, have black sneakers, dark cuffed jeans, a white untucked oxford shirt and a knitted sweater vest and matching scarf ever looked so cute? Somehow even though a grown man could wear the exact same thing, it just wouldn’t look the same, would it? Baby Gap and Old Navy excel at this look – translating grownup style to toddler chic at affordable new-parent prices. Until I had a grandson, I always thought that little girls’ clothes were far more fun than little boys’, but now I head straight for the T-shirts and cargo pants and don’t even notice the pink lace and ruffles across the aisle. See, now we’ve had our discussion about children’s fashion and I didn’t once mention our model, Capt. Adorable. It’s just a coincidence that he’s wearing the exact same thing I wanted to talk about, really it is.

Fashion

What do Stevie Nicks, Scarlett O’Hara and Della Street have in common? Besides being awesomely fabulous females, of course. Give up? They were my fashion icons when I was growing up — well, Scarlett’s Southern Victorian diva and Della’s sexy smart secretary were, and then Stevie’s flowy boho hippie came along when I was old enough to make my own style mistakes buy my own clothes. Today, I’d like to think I’m sort of a combination of all three, with some Michelle Obama thrown in. (But maybe I’m flattering myself — that’s what I’d like to look like, at least!) I wrote more about how TV, movies and music influence what we wear in my quarterly fashion column for the TimesDaily’s Shoals Woman magazine, in Florence, Alabama, at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090624/SW/906239986/1085. On a day when two fashion inspirations have left us — Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson — I’m thinking about how much influence entertainers have over the way we want to see ourselves. And remembering one gold-star day in college when my wings turned out perfectly — my hair has never looked as good as it did that day more than 30 years ago when Farrah gazed back at me from the tiny dorm-room mirror. Sigh.

Fashion

Are you like me and find yourself turning to seasonal uniforms, fashion-wise? My cold-weather go-to outfit is a black turtleneck with boots and jeans. Boring but classic, I guess. As temperatures start rising, the turtlenecks get folded up and the boots get cleaned and stored and it’s time for capri pants. I remember 10 years ago or so when capris went mainstream again, invoking days of  Grace Kelly/Jackie Kennedy sophistication instead of the dowdy and baggy gardening attire they’d become in the past couple decades. “I could never wear these new capris,” I remember saying then. “They’re only for young girls with good legs.” Today, of course, young girls with good legs wear short shorts and us moms and grandmoms gratefully have made capris our No. 1 summer basic. I love how they’re cool and comfortable but still allow me to sit and bend and move around without fear of … well, exposure. Unlike shorts, you know. But capris are not trouble-free. The problem is finding ones that fit and flatter your legs as well as your middle. Not easy. If the leg openings work, chances are the waistband won’t. And vice versa. And if you find the perfect fit, it’ll be in lime green or electric turquoise blue or some other tropical color that in the store you can talk yourself into thinking you’ll wear all summer but really you wear them only once to the neighbor’s cookout and then never again. That’s why I felt as if I’d hit the jackpot when I recently found two perfect pairs of capris. I had been on the lookout because my only wearable pair of denim capris — hand-me-ups from one of my daughters — had moved from the “wear only at home” category to the “wear only when doing yard work” category. And you can’t get through summer in Alabama without denim capris. Luckily, I scored at Belk’s with a pair of dark denim (Ralph) Lauren Jeans Co. The rise is high enough to prevent muffin tops but low enough not to be matronly. The other pair is a lightweight denim from Gap. It’s a Limited Edition with a lower waistband and slash pockets that I’ll take out and sew shut for a smoother line. So I’m all set — except today it’s sort of cool and rainy and makes me think I need boots and turtlenecks again.

Fashion

When my two now-20-something-year-old daughters were younger, Old Navy was Clothing Central. We could find whatever we needed there for all three of us: School clothes, T-shirts and shorts for summer, jeans, jackets and even work basics for my office. Lately though, I’ve been disappointed. I don’t know if we’ve changed or Old Navy has, but I’ve walked out empty-handed most times I’ve gone in recently — if I even went in. With grandson Capt. Adorable’s arrival almost 13 months ago, however, Old Navy has regained its top spot for family fashion. I bypass everything else and head straight back to the baby-boy corner, where shirts and shorts like these are off the cute-0-meter. And cheap. In size 12-18 months, each of these pieces was about $12. I think Capt. Adorable’s going to be the best-dressed toddler at the playground. And of course, on my way out of the baby-boy section, I just happened to spy these blouses for me. Perfect! They’re lightweight and fitted just like I want button-up blouses to be and they give winter-weary closets some of that cheerful color warm-up we’re all craving right now. At $25 each, they come in literally a rainbow of shades. Hard to choose — I may have to go back for more. Check them out also at http://oldnavy.gap.com/.

A Week of Spring — Fashion

Welcome to day No. 4 of A Week of Spring. Before I became a grandma to a darling baby boy, I thought little girls’ clothes were the cutest. Not so! Little boys are right up there fashion-wise, especially when it comes to spring style. I absolutely adore these pink and green madras shorts with the pink grasshopper-print polo shirt and the blue and brown board shorts paired with the colorful T-shirts, all in size 18-24 months from Baby Gap. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough for my 1-year-old grandson, Capt. Adorable, to run around in these. He is going to rock the playground. Come back tomorrow for day no. 5 in A Week of Spring.

Michelle Obama

Oh, Michelle! Thank you for being such a class act in representing American women as you accompany your husband to London for the G20 summit meetings. You understand that in your position image is so important and you wore your favorite creative and entrepreneural American fashion designers — Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu — and fresh and springlike sparkles and mint green from classic icon J. Crew. You have been graceful and gracious, respectful and confident, strong and kind. You combine high-style with American frugality and your own sense of playfulness. You embody the best of what we want to be — what we imagine we ourselves could be … if only. You inspire and motivate. We have only one question: Can we go shopping with you?

Shoes

Oh, yes — come to mama! Never mind that a recent Facebook quiz pegged me as classic ballet-flat-wearing.  (Read “boring.”) When I saw these shoes at our local mall earlier this week, I had the classic symptoms of shoe lust: Sweaty palms, increased heart rate, rapid breathing. Or maybe that was from the burrito I’d just eaten. Doesn’t matter. I fell in love with almost every pair of these totally inappropriate and probably wildly uncomfortable shoes. And actually, I believe I had a pair exactly like the bright and shiny pink pumps about 20 years ago — didn’t we all? Sadly, common sense prevailed and I moved on empty-handed. But I can’t get those purple python platforms out of my head. And those brown strappy sandals. And the animal-print pumps. So take that, stupid classic-ballet-flats Facebook quiz.

Fashion

I usually am so happy to see the Anthropologie e-mails in my inbox. I love Anthropolgie, especially in the spring, when everything is fresh and cheerful and colorful and pretty. So all I can say today is, “Why, Anthropologie? Why? At a time when everybody’s counting pennies and sales are dropping and people want feminine and sweet and classic, why oh why are you featuring the horror of harem pants on your site?” Or am I missing something? Is this the fashion wave of the future? I know that harem pants were the darling of the spring fashion shows this past September, but I so thought we had all agreed that that was just designers having fun and we normal regular people knew better. And, besides, haven’t we done harem pants already? And weren’t they disasters every time? So why, oh why, are we trying again???

Sandals

It’s almost 70 degrees here in Alabama this afternoon. Sun shining. Blue sky. Even though it’s deceptive and temporary, you do sort of feel that spring may be coming after all. Good thing I grabbed these sandals at TJ Maxx this past week, ’cause once the weather starts to warm up the cute sandals go fast. Summer ‘08 was rough on my sandal collection — my most treasured black and my favorite brown pairs had to go. And it was time, I admit, but still sad. And scary, too, as in, “I wonder if I’ll be able to replace them?” Since I’m picky about sandals –  no flip-flopping sounds (I like only my flip-flops to flip-flop), no sounds of any kind and comfort, comfort, comfort (cuteness goes without saying) — it’s hard to find what I want. Luckily, TJ’s was there for me yet again, solving a fashion problem at a super price. Of course, sometimes shoes do turn on you and what you thought would be the perfect pair turn out not to be after all, but I have high hopes for these. We’ll see.

Fashion

Surprise! I found Michelle Obama lurking in my closet. Okay, not her, really, but this pink wool coat-and-dress I’d bought two or three four or five years ago from a clearance rack at a local department store that since has been consumed by a larger department store. I don’t remember how much it was but I do remember thinking it was a great deal for two pieces. My two practically-grown daughters, however, were horrified that I’d even brought it home. After I looked at it more critically, I saw their point that maybe perhaps it was too Queen Mum in a scented-handkerchief grandmotherly sort of way. However, after the First Lady’s gorgeously stunning lemongrass wool-lace outfit on inaugural day, I’m thinking that maybe my somewhat sparkly pink version isn’t so bad. But would people think I was copying her if I wore it as is to church this morning? Maybe I should break the pieces up, say, by hearing the coat with a soft pink turtleneck and pants. I could also put a turtleneck under the sleeveless sheath dress, or maybe a white collared blouse, and belt the dress. Hmm … some exciting potential here … like anything is possible …