Continuing Education

Well, I turned in my application to go back to school and study French. I am not sure how it will be taking classes with a bunch of teenagers but I think a class structure is what I need. I probably won't complete the degree but if I come out of this with semi-fluency in French it will be worth it.

Wish me luck!!!

I Love Etsy

Handmade jewelry, vintage treasures, rare books, original art and lovely evening bags all in one place.

Etsy Buy Handmade celiajuno

Simple Inspiration: Renee Zellweger

This is the second post in my Simple Inspiration series. I adore Renee. I love her classic style, it is very appealing. I have a lot of pictures of Renee saved on my computer, she is to me a true style icon. Many other people agree too as she has recently been named to Vanity Fair's Best Dressed Hall of Fame. She is one of my inspirations for many reasons. Renee's skin coloring and hair color are almost identical to mine. When she wears things I can get an idea of how they might work with my coloring. She wears a lot of jeans and black tops. She also loves Hermes and has a magnificent collection of Kelly bags, including two vintage crocodile Kellys. She wears these bags with everything from dresses to jeans and looks wonderful. She even has a canvas strap for her black croc Kelly allowing her to wear it messenger style, too cool. (I think I need a canvas strap for my Kelly.)

Renee wears her clothes, they don't wear her. Like all true icons, she knows what looks good on her and sticks to those styles.

Brooches

I love brooches and pins. I always have. When I was six I went to a yard sale with my mother and bought my first pin. It was a little black cat playing a gold saxophone, I paid ten cents. I loved that pin and wore it often. When I lost it I was very upset. I still miss it.

I think brooches are very versatile pieces of jewelry. They can really dress up a plain black cardigan and add a touch of sparkle to a simple white blouse. I sometimes use them to turn my opera length pearls into a beautiful choker necklace. The picture on the left is most of my collection and they are all very special to me. All of them belonged to my grandmother except for the pin on the far right. That one was a gift from my sister. She bought it to place on my maid of honor bouquet at her wedding.

Do you ever wear brooches?

Simple Inspiration

I thought I would introduce a new post series on my blog. I am going to call it Simple Inspiration. The idea is that I will write short posts on people who have had an impact on my style choices. My first post is about my grandmother Edna.

My grandmother and I were very close. She was more than my grandmother, she was my friend. Though she was not French, I think she had a lot of French attitudes regarding dress and appearance. Skin care was important to her and she always told me how important it was to take care of mine. She never left the house without perfectly coiffed hair, perfume, powder and lipstick. She never looked sloppy and was always dressed impeccably, even if she was only going to the grocery store. She wore a lot of scarves and brooches with her suits and cardigans. I inherited many of her vintage brooches and wear them often on my cardigan sweaters.

I know my grandmother liked to travel but she never had an opportunity to go to Europe. I wish she and I could have taken a trip to Paris, I think she would have loved it and she would have fit in perfectly.

I have added some pictures to the side of my blog of other women who have influenced my style and I will write about them later.

Who has influenced your style?

Inspiration

I have been keeping an inspiration notebook for several years now. I don't have just one notebook anymore, I have four. That's too many. If I want to move on to a more simple life, I need to declutter my inspiration. As I was flipping through the books I began to wonder why I had saved some of them. There were a lot of couture evening gowns, fancy jewelry ads, suits, etc. Things that never would be me and that I would never wear. There were also a lot of articles about opulent apartments that were jammed full of expensive art, accessories and furniture. Maybe at one time I wanted that kind of life but I know I don't anymore so I tossed them. I did find a few things that were still very relevant to my life now.

First this article from Nov. 2007 US Vogue. I love the uniform she has chosen. Jeans with navy jackets and ballet flats. I know she has on heels in the photo but you can see all the flats in the background. While I choose twin sets instead of jackets and a Kelly instead of a Birkin her style is pretty similar to mine. I am not going to kid myself and think that she doesn't have some dresses and heels for special occasions, but I think this is probably an accurate representation of her daily wardrobe and it is my inspiration in rebuilding mine.



Next is this photo from a Marie Claire article about going European. I like the feel of this photo. I could do without the heavy eye makeup and cigarette but I really love the rest of the photo. I love the simplicity of her outfit. It is elegant but a little edgy and I kind of like it.

I really like the bag. I was lacking a small going out type bag and wanted something like this. I was not willing to drop several thousand on a Chanel, however, so I looked around on Ebay and other resale sites and found this bag. It is a Rebecca Minkoff. It is similar in shape and color and has the chain strap. Unlike the Chanel bag, the chain can be removed from this one and you can use it as a clutch. The retail on this one is a fraction of the Chanel.


I also found some French Style articles and I will scan them later and post them on the French Chic group files section.

What's your inspiration?

Rebuilding

I am finished clearing out my closet and dresser. I have disposed of or given away many items of clothing, accessories, jewelry and shoes. I am down to just a few items that I either really love or are really useful to me. It has come to my attention though that I have almost nothing for fall/winter. Almost all of my cold weather clothing was either too big, too tatty or just didn't work for me anymore. After the clean out I own: a pair of black leather ankle boots, a black coat, one black skirt, one brown blazer, three cashmere scarves and a pair of black gloves. It's a start but I have a lot to replace.

It is always exciting buying new clothes and in the past I would have just gone out and bought a bunch of things all at once. I would then experience a lot of regrets later. This time I am going to be smart about it. I have decided not to rush things but rather wait until I find pieces that are a good value and that will be truly functional and fit my life style. Keeping my uniform in mind, and taking advantage of the tax free weekend here in Alabama, I purchased a few pieces already.

1. I ordered a new pair of jeans from Talbots. I like Talbots, they fit me well and provide quality basics.

2. I also ordered these quilted ballet flats from Talbots. They remind me of Chanel flats but without the Chanel price. I am to hard on shoes to spend a lot of money on them.

3. I really wanted a trench coat. I think they are so chic and would work with my style. Ideally I would love to have a Burberry but that would use up too much of my clothing budget. I found this one at Old Navy. It is very reasonably priced and will do until I can save for a better one.

4. I ordered 2 cashmere twin sets (one black and one gray) and a black turtleneck sweater from Lands End.

I need a few more items: black pants, another pair of jeans, a gray skirt, another pair of flats, a hat, a couple of blouses, and some tees for layering but these items can wait until later. I am going to be very French and take it slow.

Have you ever tossed everything and started over?