the straw fedora

 Style ain’t nothing but keeping the same idea from beginning to end. Everybody got it.

                                                       –August Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

I got a new hat, a snazzy little blunt-brimmed straw fedora in bright ivory. Arguably out of place anywhere but summer.

IMG_6175

IMG_6191

IMG_6214You gotta get. that. dirt off your shoulder…

IMG_6203Some light, easy fare for the last days of summer. Old Navy top, Hollister cut-offs (thrifted, cut off myself, as is invariably best – don’t want them to look too neat or precise), Victoria’s Secret python bikini top, Superga sneakers, Goorin Bros. Marin fedora, Fossil watch, antique scarab pendant, Pearls of Joy 6-7mm studs. On the lips: OCC lip tar in Banjee.

This is my rather dull balcony. There’s a fair amount of hat holding because there was a real danger of having it blown off. Plus, it looks saucy.

IMG_6225_2-bw

IMG_6222_2-bwIf you can’t do gangster poses with a fedora, when can you?

Resolved to play more with black and white. Got the excellent advice to include some pure black or white (or both) in the composition to maximize the range of contrast. Have a bit of a thing for sepia, too.

IMG_6184This lip color is a straight, marigold orange (swatched here in my ode to orange). I was skeptical to use it alone–thought it would look too editorial/bizarre–but after messing around a bit, adding a little gold powder to the center, I really liked it. Not as distracting/weird as you would think bright orange creamsicle lips would be, right? [Or maybe I got desensitized over time…] Fruits of experimentation.

x

more white stuff: Supergas

If you’re going to wear all white…you need white shoes.

IMG_5174

I wanted something casual, something very like Converse, with the versatility and casual style of Converse…but maybe not quite Converse. Something unfamiliar and new. Maybe something more in the classic tennis sneaker silhouette….And so I browsed.

months elapse

Finally I went for these classic Supergas (via Zappos). A few weeks after coming across the brand online I saw a woman on the train wearing some red ones with a dress and some funky glasses, which was advertisement enough. Supergas are like the Converse of Italy, with a sturdier canvas upper and a [much] heavier sole (though both benefit from some kind of insole). They have pleasing seam detailing along the sides that makes them more interesting than the ultra-plain tennis shoes (why are they called that? You couldn’t properly play tennis in them at all – they have almost zero support) in addition to being better constructed and more durable. [And here is a random tidbit for you: Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen are the current artistic directors of Superga.]

IMG_5180

They have the inbuilt impracticality of all white things vulnerable to stain and wear, and we know how I like impracticality. [As if one pair of impractical white shoes were not enough.] I’ve treated them with a fabric protector to extend the life as long as possible but I understand this can only accomplish so much. So be it.