3/14/10

Wardrobe Therapy questions-- and some answers

1. Thinking primarily (but not necessarily exclusively) about looks, who's your favorite performer of your own gender and species? Why?
I don't have one. But, these three are interesting to me. First, Keira Knightly in Pirates-especially that Chinese costume. Then there is Joanna Lumley from Absolutely fabulous- I always want a smoke and a drink when I watch that show, thand of course, Joan on Mad Men- I love that show- but especially Joan.  I like how they are so put together and adult looking.

2. If you could live in any historic era with a really good clothing budget (as well as soap, toothpaste, and delicing as needed), when would you choose? 

 I think it would be the early 1800s, either with bustle dresses or a bit earlier with regency style dresses. The issue is this- those regency dresses wouldn't look all that great with my figure- but I really like how they look all the same.  I need a more structured dress to look good in, that would be the bustle outfit-but those look....painful.

3. What's your favorite painting or other form of visual art? Why?

I like outsider art. Especially carved wood and mixed media.  I love the fact that people with no training but a love of creating make things that are so interesting.  These type of pieces are always intensely personal.

4.What is your first memory in which clothes are important?
Middle school. I went to a church school before that and clothing was just something to keep us from being naked. Middle school was a different animal. This was the late 70's too.  It wasn't all that pretty.

5.What is your favorite garment ever? Why? 
I had a great lambskin black leather jacket that was ripped to shreds during my roll over crash. I miss that jacket so much.  Second was a great pair of Frye boots I had in middle school and high school.

6.What is your favorite garment in your wardrobe right now?
I have a very nice denim blazer style jacket that makes me look nice- 10 lbs lighter and more pulled together.

7.What is the worst clothing purchase you can remember making?
Capri pants in this huge, loud pattern. Even paired with a black t they were hideous. I must have been on crack when I bought those. Capri pants never look good on anyone who isn't Audrey Hepburn.
8.What's your most embarrassing clothing-related memory other than a bad purchase?
I was out on a date once and my bra strap just sprung. So one boob was much lower than the other and things were hanging out and around. I tried to fix it with a safety pin, but that kept coming undone and poking me.

9.What body part (no more than three!) are you proud of and expect compliments on?
My hair and my eyes. I like them both- although my hair is now mostly grey so it's a lot of work to keep it up and sometimes I fail.

10. What body part (again, no more than three!) seems to require management, if not coaxing, cajoling, and sometimes outright begging if it's to please you?
Boobs. They are huge. They hurt. They don't fit into clothing well. I hate them.

11.If you could dress however you wanted all the time, what might you include?
Black stretch pants that aren't tight- so like yoga pants, a long tunic type t shirt and flip flops that have arch support for my feet.  I hate Angelina Jolie as much as I can without knowing her- but that is exactly how I would dress every day if I could get away with it.

12. If you could shop at any store (or from any designer), which would you choose?
 I have no idea. I guess I would want to shop somewhere with some fantastic vintage turquoise and great leather items.

13. Where do you ordinarily shop now? 
TJMaxx, Marshalls, Target- the like. See, I kind of dress how I would like to all the time already.

14. What clothing, accessory, or prettifying need (if any) do you enjoy shopping for?
I still love purses and bags, jackets, shoes and jewelry. Everything else I hate.

15.Which one do you most loathe shopping for?
Bras. The ones that come in my size are old lady granny styles, with straps 3 inches wide and 4 to 6 hooks on the back.

16.Do you consider yourself low-, medium-, or high-maintenance?

Low to almost no maintenance. I have a 5 minute make up routine. I have a 20 minute shower routine that includes my hair. I'm pretty fast.

17.What are the two most frequent occasions that you dress for and how would you describe them?
There is the in-the-home, and the out-of-the-home. In is exactly what it says. Out means going to the boys school, grocery shopping, art supply shopping that kind of thing. Not exactly places you need an extensive wardrobe to visit.

18.What was your favorite Hallowe'en costume ever?
I have two, one was a great dead-bride outfit- I had a vintage wedding dress that we buried in the yard to get it dirty and gross, I did some great grey makeup with flesh coming off my face, a fantastic 12 ft long train that was also buried before we sewed flies and other bugs to it- and I had a bloody hand on my shoulder.  The other was the Evil Queen from Snow white. I had the entire outfit that I made from scratch- it was really cool.

19.What do you see as the current problem(s) with your wardrobe and/or look?
I think the fact I don't really have a "look" is the biggest issue. I don't go out in my pj's- that's about the nicest thing you can say about what I wear these days.

20.At the end of WT, what lovely compliments do you want onlookers to give you?

"where are you from? You don't look like you're from here.."

OK, can you gleen anything from this?????

7 comments:

drwende said...

There's a lot to glean:

1. You want a simple, effortless, casual look that is nonetheless pulled together and not completely unstructured. This supports my theory that low-maintenance people benefit from lots of up-front planning. We need to be so well-equipped that grabbing what's in the closet works reliably.

2. Fitting the kind of clothes you like is not a no-brainer, as tunics tend to hang off the bust, leaving a girl no shape. It's important to identify areas that call for extra work and/or compromise. Do you embrace that silhouette and do exciting jewelry up top? Wear funky belts? Try a different but equally casual shape?

3. The tension between elegant models and outsider art suggests that your interest in funky stuff isn't unlimited: you want funk with a sense of chic. Dressing Rich -- now 20+ years out of date in its illustrations -- talks about this, and I've never seen another book that did.

I think it's the tensions between style preferences that lead to glamor, and that's exactly where standard systems fall apart.

scb said...

Wende's so good at gleaning! Wow...

What you said about the clothes on Mad Men "put together and adult looking". Exactly. I look at pictures from that era of people I know, and in the pics I know they're younger than I am now, but they look so much more mature. There's something about that style of clothing...

I wish you could find a reasonable facsimile of your lambskin jacket -- that sounds like the very sort of pulled-together yet edgy that you need.

When I was very small, my mother tells me I said that when I grew up I wanted "hangings", too. (i.e. big boobs). That's one of those "be careful what you wish for" things. What I wish for now is a boob lift. That ain't gonna happen.

Looking forward to seeing how this WT session goes for all of us!

Anne At Large said...

This supports my theory that low-maintenance people benefit from lots of up-front planning. We need to be so well-equipped that grabbing what's in the closet works reliably.

I swear this is the only reason I don't look like a hobo every day. I highly recommend it as a general system.

Also, that Regency dress looks like the world's most awesome nightgown. And now I want to see you running around in sleek black yogawear with large turquoise accessories. Might not be warm enough though.

DirtyCity said...

"Joanna Lumley from Absolutely fabulous"

This may be my favorite answer of all the questionnaires I have read.
I still dream of living that life...well perhaps not quite to that excess...but damn close.

Cookbook said...

I love the fact that the first thing I saw upon opening your blog was Patsy. I LOVE PATSY.

thefarmersdaughter said...

Patsy had a few outfits that I loved back then- one was a white tunic over a tank with a long white skirt and a scarf that I thought was fantastic.

Mostly, I love Patsy for her utter lack of true humanity. She's out for Patsy and a good time. Something I can't be- so it's nice to live through someone else- even via the tv...

Esti said...

aw, Patsy! I love Joanna Lumley, and I could watch Ab Fab constantly. There's something really appealing about looking made-up and put-together but acting like a soggy mess, isn't there?

It sounds like you're going for a really appealing combination of comfy but well-fitted clothes and structured extras (leather, stone jewelry). I love these combinations, especially in a dark palette. Very classy.