Mom's Night

Miss A's mom is in town visiting, so we had a Moms' Night dinner tonight: 4 pals, 2 moms, 1 mother-in-law, and the most ridiculously expensive appetizer Bess Bistro had to offer. (Note: always ask the price of the daily special before you order it. Because if you don't you might wind up with 2 fist-sized fried balls of risotto stuffed with goat cheese that cost $28.00. Yes. Twenty-eight dollars for cheesy rice balls. The weird thing was, they were an entrée special, although we ordered them as an appetizer. Who eats two big fat cheesy rice balls for dinner, and who wants to pay 28 bucks for that? Jeez, Miss A had pork chops that were less than that!)

But enough kvetching about the dinner -- on to the fashion.




I've had this gorgeous paisley vintage dress for a while, and it winds up tucked back in the corner & I forget about it. So I busted it out today. It's a great dress, in a really unusual fabric for the period -- a bright paisley rayon crepe. (I think it's rayon crepe, there's no fabric tag, of course.)


I think this dress is probably 50's. It's a shirtwaist with an inverted pleat in the front of the skirt, which has a fair amount of fabric in it. Based on the fullness of the skirt and the colors in the fabric, I think it's later than 40's, but I could be wrong. Whenever it's from it's pretty great -- you can just see the little blue rhinestone buttons in the photos above.

But I wasn't feeling the sweet little shirtwaist vibe completely, so I wanted to toughen it up a bit

paisley-print dress: vintage
sequined vest: Golde (via Intermix)
leather belt: Harold's
boots: Stuart Weitzman Goliath
hot pink nets: DKNY
crinoline: vintage
fragrance: Chanel Cuir de Russie

I put the crinoline on for the halibut, even though you can't see it. But it definitely led me to conclude that I should get the dress hemmed. I'm tall enough (especially in these boots!) that the length isn't tragic, but it'd be better and more versatile a few inches shorter.




I love this vest, the cut of the back and the way it hangs. It's especially good with something with a collar, because those sequins can be a wee bit scratchy around the neck.

The cuff is a plastic redwood-brown faux tortoise vintage find that I think I spent five bucks on. Redhead does love a good cuff. This one is particularly small & light and doesn't slide around on my skinny little wrist, so it's become a favorite pretty quickly.




I'm also excited about this ring, which is new-ish.



It's Kenneth Jay Lane. I love it because it's big & statement-y, but it also lays pretty flat against my finger, so I can get gloves on over it. This is important in the cold weather.

I'm saving for my trip to London & Paris this spring, so I'm all about shopping the closet. I had a little burst of shopping last month, but I'm back on the wagon again. It's good for me. And I stay focused on dinner here when I start to waver.

October 3

hat: Zara men
t-shirt: another Marshall's cheapie. It's silly, but I love it.
cotton cable v-neck: Old Navy. I need several more of these in various colors. Excellent layering piece.
wool/silk matelassé skirt: Valentino
patent boots: Stuart Weitzman
enamel flower ball necklace: Kenneth Jay Lane
blue fishnets: random

I went out looking for an above-the-knee black skirt not long ago and succeeded beyond my wildest dreams:


I found this Valentino number in the couture section of my local Neiman Marcus outlet. Staggeringly, it was marked down from $690 to $85, and was on sale for another 30% off. I discovered why when I got it into the dressing room: the zipper is broken and only goes down about two inches. I refused to be deterred and pulled the dingdong thing on over my head. no sweat. Another moment when I was grateful for my small bustline. For all those who were unwilling to think outside the fitting room box, too danged bad. Grand total on the skirt: $61.18. Shopping triumph.

It's a tiny bit big, a size 42 (Valentino sizes are extremely generous -- often I can barely squeeze into a D&G 42) and I may have it taken in a little bit when I get the zipper replaced. On the other hand, the skirt is kind of stiff and a little bit structured, not supposed to fit too closely to begin with, so I may just leave it. Short as it is, too snug wouldn't be good anyway.

Here's a close-up. I've dinked with the photo so you can see the texture in the fabric, which is why the color is weird.







Gorgeous thing. I love it very much.

I've started calling this necklace my Magic Friend-Maker. Everywhere I go when I wear it, people comment on it and compliment it. It makes people smile, which is a nice effect to have on strangers.




A birthday gift from a dear friend, one of the best presents I've gotten in quite a while.