summer - The Seventh Sphinx

Free shipping and free returns? Perpetual promotions? Solid customer service? Asos, you are a my kind of vendor.

I usually end up returning something from any given order but I usually end up keeping something, too. The quality of the asos brand stuff is hit or miss but they carry a lot of other brands as well (a number of European brands it is otherwise tough to acquire), and there always a sale on, and usually a promotion on top of that. I like this site for lingerie especially.

Today’s choices, I realize, are almost all for when winter is a distant memory…

It’s a little strange to shop for the distant future. It’s an exercise I enjoy, though. It encourages me to be aspirational in my style choices, and forces me to ask myself the very useful question “Am I going to like this in 4-6 months?” (answering which question is a more rigorous process than answering “Do I like this now?”). Usually I want to be able to say I will like something for many years (which may or may not be correct), though I will now and then yield to the whim of the hour (which may very well stand the test of time better than the more carefully chosen pieces).

Shopping is a tricky business.

Images (from asos) link to item pages

fluid black maxi dress

white linen maxi skirt

paisley skater skirt (a bit of a wild card, this)

jade shift dress with strap details (gorgeous color)

(back view)

tuxedo pants (right?!)

We’ll see how it goes.

This is the suit I was wearing in the bandeau/pencil skirt post. This design is by the Finnish brand Marimekko via Anthropologie (thrifted). I am often drawn to bold, rustic stripes in varied widths like the pattern featured here. I find them somehow more approachable than a bold, bright solid, more eye-catching, too; a pattern that invites attentiveness, gives you something to look at. Leave it to the Scandinavians. Also really like brown mixed with pastels. This is reminding me how I want some of those beautiful little Scandinavian-inspired bowls in Anthropologie – the size and style of a small Japanese rice bowl (and in fact made in Japan, evidently. I don’t know why but – usefulness entirely aside, though I do find them useful – I just love dainty porcelain bowls like this), with many different patterns to mix and match. I feel an urge to acquire a random selection that is not unlike what I experienced with the eggcups…

This was another instant, effortless, yes-this-is-the-one kind of acquisition, I think largely because of this brilliant color combination + ratio of light tones to dark tones situation.

Doesn’t it seem like one might wear a turban with this suit?

[More on turbans soon…I got some fabric.]

I like hiphugger style bottoms, too. The silhouette they give seems pleasantly sleek and sporty to me, like you ought to be playing beach volleyball (which is probably true), or wearing them with a tank top in one of those Olympic runner get-ups. Sleek is a prominent keyword in my style, I would say. Or, at least, I want it to be.

Hm. I want to go swimming.

Tag: summer

weekend distraction: asos

bikini of the day: the bold bandeau