So I think that the reason why I spent the last part of 2011 pretty bored with fashion and too bored to blog much about it was that it was cold and I just don’t like cold weather clothes as much as warm weather ones. Because now that the spring collections are out I want to blog more and am somewhat excited about taking pictures again, or will be once I can ditch the black tights (ugh) and sweaters.
Mostly I want it to be sunny out, and warm. And I want to wear pale colors and light dresses like the ones in Frances Baker’s new collection. Frances Baker is a label run by the blogger Josie, who I got the chance to meet a few years ago when she stopped for a day in Atlanta. She was super, super nice, and I remember that she wore a great vintage dress and Swedish Hasbeens, and that she had that sort of Australian summer style that is pretty much my favorite. So I’m excited that she’s designing, and her new collection is my favorite of hers yet, with its simple and light dresses and separates. I love the shorts and blouses, but my favorite has to be that dip-dyed dress . . . so good!
Credits: Photos: Hannah Kelly . . . . Model: Louisa Kitchin . . . . . Hair and Makeup: Sarah Townsend . . . . Clothes and styling: Josie Ryder.
Can I just go ahead and scrap all my pretend travel outfits from yesterday and substitute these ones instead? Steven Alan is good at designing good, practical clothes, and his new collection is filled with things that would be just perfect for wearing on trips around the south. It also has plenty of things I want to wear in general this summer: sundresses that aren’t obscenely short, pale colors, and sensible sandals.
1. Madewell Stucco Songbird Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Apolis Richmond Market Bag . . . . . . . . . . 3. Isabel Marant Merry Sandals.
It’s not raining today (knock on wood), but for the last week or so it’s been gloomy and dark and depressing here in Atlanta. Not all that cold—around 60 degrees, which isn’t bad for January, I know—-but so rainy that I don’t really want to even leave the house unless I have to. But the sun’s out today, and it’s making me excited about going on trips again once the weather gets nice. I really do want to try to go on more day trips and weekend trips this year, and I’ve already got some destinations on my list . . .
Richmond, Virginia: Have I mentioned this one before in a pretend travels post? Probably. I’ve been to Richmond once before, but I only passed on through and didn’t get to see any of the places I’d like to have seen. Which is pretty much anything Civil War-related: Arlington House, Hollywood Cemetery, Museum of the Confederacy . . . .
1. Steven Alan Roll Neck Sweater . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Girl by Band of Outsiders Gathered Skirt . . . . . . 3. Madewell Llama love Necklace . . . . . . . 4. Madewell Two Tone Flatstack Platforms.
Jonesborough, Tennessee: This is one my mom told me about. Jonesborough is supposedly the oldest town in Tennessee, with plenty of well-preserved buildings and a park that just might be haunted by the ghost of Andrew Jackson. It’s up in the mountains, not too far from Asheville, so it might be a good chance to take another weekend in the mountains. It will be warm there eventually, and I won’t get sick.
1. Shakuhachi Bustier Bikini . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Ship of Fools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Jeffrey Campbell Azores Sandals.
Tybee Island, Georgia: I’m not really a beach person (I get bored), but right now the idea of being lazy with a book by the ocean sounds pretty good. I’ll bring along Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter (who is my favorite writer at the moment), and if hours of beach-lazing gets boring I can wander into Savannah.
1. Whit Yoke Dress . . .. . . . . . 2. J. Crew Farmer’s Market Bag . . . . . . . . . 3. Madewell Suede Sidewalk Skimmers. . . . . Collages by Drew.
Washington D.C.: I’ve been there three times already, but I really need to give D.C. another try. The first time I went there I was around 13, and my family went there to go to Mount Vernon and a bunch of the Smithsonians, and I loved Mount Vernon but got bored of the museums and lazy about walking. I was too young/silly too appreciate it all, because when I went to the city again I was in my early 20s and really wanting to go to the historic spots, but didn’t get the chance. Now I think I could spend a week there, going to the museums again, and then seeking out all the historic houses I’ve read about in Sarah Vowell’s books. And then a Lincoln pilgrimage to Ford’s Theatre and the house across the street where he died . . .
Photos by Drew
On my birthday a few months ago when we took it easy and watched nerdy things on tv we saw this Smithsonian On Demand program called Aerial North Carolina, and it really made me want to finally take a trip to Asheville. Because I had never really been to Asheville, but when I was moving to Georgia 4 years ago (!) I drove right by Asheville and was blown away by the beauty of the mountains and was really tempted to stop because of its F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald connections.
We planned our trip this last weekend before I got sick, but I was too excited not to go. It was really cold in the mountains when we got there Saturday, so we just ate dinner and rested. The next day was even colder, so we stayed in the car for most of it, driving into the mountains to Boone, where Drew spent some time in college. We took backroads through the mountains, which were covered in snow and absolutely beautiful, and I learned that I like snow ok as long as I can just look at it from inside a warm car. The only time we got out was to take Drew’s mom’s recommendation and stop by the original 1880s Mast General Store. As soon as I went inside I remembered that one of you had recommended it to me in a comment, because it seemed really familiar and half reminded me of the old general store in Social Circle, Georgia. I loved it.
The cold weather kept making me sicker, and on Monday morning when we woke up to go to the Biltmore I was almost tempted to just sleep the whole day. But once we made the drive and walked onto the grounds I got excited and almost forgot about being sick. The place is beautiful, and huge (supposedly the largest private residence in the country), and even though I had been worried about long lines and crowds there weren’t many people there at all. We were given headsets and then sent off on a go-at-your-own-pace tour, which is my favorite kind of tour by far. Big crowds and standing around listening to tour guides usually makes me antsy, so I like when you can take your time when you want to. Especially in extra good rooms like Edith Vanderbilt’s bedroom and this room in the basement covered with murals that were painted during a party in the ’20s.
We were probably in the house for two hours, so by the time we went back outside I was feeling pretty bad again. We got some hot chai and apple cider in the old Vanderbilt stable-turned-bad museum coffee shop (kind of sacrilegious, but I wasn’t complaining, except for when they blasted U2 all over the grounds), and walked around the gardens, which look like gardens usually look in the south in January. All brown and grey and no color, but kind of eerie and fitting to go along with a cold, grey day. There were lots of flowers in the heated Victorian greenhouses though. And as nice as the gardens were, probably the best part about the Biltmore grounds is the view. Blue Ridge Mountains as far as you can see . . .
I know this is the third new collection I’ve posted in a row, but I just got a hold of these lookbook photos from Wren’s spring collection and I had to post it right away because, 1. it might be my favorite spring collection yet this year, 2. Wren is one of my favorite labels and their spring collections are always their best, and 3. I’m still sick, it’s still cold here, and this whole lookbook is a breath of California fresh air. Seriously, wearing one of these sun dresses during the spring at, say, Hearst Castle, is my idea of heaven.
This collection was inspired by the ’50s and ’60s, and films from that era like “The Last Picture Show.” I can definitely see vintage influences, but one of my favorite things about Melissa Coker’s designs for Wren is that they never go the direction of vintage pastiche, or that dreaded word, retro. There are nods to the past in some of the fabrics and the shapes, but everything looks modern and never too cutesy. I can see a bunch of dresses already that will go on my spring sale-stalking list; that blue one on the top right will probably replace winter’s Leith dress as my Wren dream dress.
Photos: Thomas Whiteside; Stylist: Susan Joy; Hair: Amy Farid; Makeup: Suz Gerstein.
