Swatch Check

OPI releases their collections before anyone is truly thinking about wearing them.  Their Holiday Wishes collection debuted in March, I believe.  With the change in leaves, the chill in the air and the promise of mulled wine in the months to come, I can definitely use a reminder of some of the lush colors we're being encouraged to sport this fall and winter.
Like a lot of other outfits, OPI has also released some suede lacquers.  They dry matte and are in some of the company's most popular colors


 SUEDES




















Left to Right: OPI Ink, Russian Navy, Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, You Don't Know Jacques!, We'll Always Have Paris, Lincoln Park After Dark


HOLIDAY WISHES

 

















Left to Right: Ginger Bells, Shim-merry Chic, All A-Bordeaux the Sled!, Holiday Glow, Sapphire in the Snow, Merry Midnight, Comet Loves Cupid, Dear Santa, Glove You So Much, Smitten with Mittens, Meet & Jingle, Crimson Carol

Which colors can't you wait to wear?

A handy fix

Quiet as it's kept, my mother is an erstwhile nail technician. During my early teen years, I filled my Caboodles with nothing but nail polish (I wasn't allowed to wear make-up). I was a bad daughter though, the worst kind for a nail tech. I was a nail biter. I'd hoard all these fabulous and vibrant nail lacquers and I'd use them, but only on my toes. As I got older, I went through bouts of biting, not biting, acrylics, fiberglass wraps, and in my late 20's with the uncertainty of dating subsiding and my life plan a little more in place, my anxiety ebbed, the nail biting stopped and I dug into my stash of nail lacquer with reckless abandon.

Like most girls, I cut my teeth on Wet and Wild but with a nail tech for a mother, that didn't last long. I was introduced to the luxurious pigments of OPI and, later discovered, Essie my alternating drugs of choice. Right now I'm loving Essie's fall collection.

I'm currently rocking the Mink Muffs and dreaming about the real thing.  Before we know it, we'll be into the winter colors.

I have to say, I'm not much for the creme red of the Lollipop.  The Rock Candy is nude and semi innocuous, and the Mint Candy Apple...well, let's just say that green on the fingernails kind of hearkens to fungus.  What do you all think about the fall and winter colors?  What will you be rockin' at the Holiday Party?  Which of these colors can you see poking out from my glittens?

New England, as a menopausal woman

So, the fall in New England is equal parts beautiful and ridiculous.   New Englanders and NE transplants live in a menopausal environment.  There are those 70 degree F days, beautiful, ripe for hikes, the hot flashes.  We also have days when the mercury doesn't crack 50, the chills.  The latter days are the ones that have had me thinking about my cold mitts lately, which led to my musing over glittens.

The Husband (to be referred to as Ashkenaz Spice from now on) swears by this primitive but warm and utilitarian pair of Thinsulate glittens.  I think they approach hideous and look barbaric but when I wore them, they were magic.  The Thinsulate lined insides and the wool body of the glove had me thinking I stuck my hand in a warm cloud of comfort.  Since then I've been looking for some fashionable and warm glittens.  My criterion are that they not look marmish, gaelic (fair isle is not my style), or wack and that they cover my wrists.  I'm leaning toward glittens for the dexterity they allow*

glittens by brightbiologist on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Glittens :: Steven Alan, $128
Sutton Studio Cashmere Cable..., $58
Swix Membrane Split Mittens -..., $44
EcoRaggs® Wool Pop-Top Mittens..., $16
Carolina Amato Lambswool..., $14

 There are a couple of questionable things here, like who wears camel toe glittens?  Seriously?  Those are a reminder of what never to put on your hands...unless you're kin to Dr. Zoidberg.   Ashkenaz Spice's glittens are those oatmeal colored ostensible atrocities toward the bottom the others are glittens I'm considering.   How delightful are the cashmere glittens in Crayola colors?  The uber orange Carolina Amato gloves that escape looking like a jack-o-lantern?  I appreciate the understated simplicity of the black 'pop top' glittens and the Steven Alan glittens are pure funk.

I love the idea of a pop of color in the drab winter.  Color carries me a long way through the cold months.  Also, I'm considering the aubergine colored ruffled fleece ones (above right), though I could be persuaded otherwise.   How cute are these?  They're an Etsy find from the Rumstadt shop.  Deb makes fingerless gloves and glittens. They're economical, not cashmere or alpaca, but fleece should be warm right? 
What are you doing to keep your hands warm in the coming months?

*It's *so* gross to pull off my gloves with my teeth when boarding the bus to free my hands for grabbing my bus pass and then have the realization that I probably just got baby poo microbes in my mouth because that mom with the stroller gripped the railing with the death grip.

Happy Feet

It's no secret that winters in New England can be HARSH.  The first year I spent here, I refused to wear boots or hat, glove, scarf ensembles that didn't at least complement my coat.  Not to coordinate would have been  simply unfashionable.   It took one disabled and delayed bus to change that thinking.  Since I've been knitting things to complement my current wardrobe, I'm heading back into footwear.  Last year I made one of the best purchases ever.  Born Thicket boots in black.  They're the perfect winter boot.  Rubber soles to prevent slippage, lined, warm, leather.  My only regret is that I didn't buy them in brown too.

Born Thicket by brightbiologist on Polyvore.com

This winter I'm looking for a fashionable pair of comfortable boots (or two--to the husband's dismay) in punchy, or at least less wintry (read drab, dark), colors.  Comfort is key.  Neckbreaking Loboutin's need not apply, though I'm totally loving these Bloc mini heels... 

from: www.christianlouboutin.fr

I digress.  I went back to Born because the durability, comfort and aesthetic I find in their footwear has made me a disciple.  Aside from the brown Thicket, I'm considering the Audie boot (here in sage green) and the Allegra boot (in grape)  I also just love the Gellar.  It's not a boot but it has enough of a heel to raise me a bit out of the snow.  I love the Gellar's stitching, heel detail and laces. 

Which shoes should I get? Should I get two pair? Should I get some other heretofore unmentioned comfortable boots that are just as fabulous in the snow as they are on cobbled brick walks (if other, please mention which boots in the comments)? Interwebs, help me out.

Magnificent Millinery

I've always been one for what I consider to be subtle flair. I'm of the mind that you don't always need to be wearing the highest heels or the most decadent mink to make a statement. Usually, jeans, a tshirt and some fab earrings will be just fine, thank you. But on the days, when I'm itching for that extra snap, when I need an extra pop of drama, I reach for a headpiece.

It's a nearly natural progression, I was raised by church ladies. On Sunday's they'd step out and make Lady A's inaugural hat look like a propeller cap. It wasn't until college that I developed my own millinery tastes. I'll never forget the cover of the Heart and Soul magazine that the ravishing Ms. E. Badu graced, sporting jeans, a t-shirt, a blazer, her afro in full splendor, Converse Chuck Taylor X-Hi sneakers and a beautiful piece from Leah C. Couture Millinery. My appetite for headwear was whet but my budget was all 'Hell-to-the-naw!' Fast fashion boutiques like Forever 21 and H&M got hip to headwear, but the quality of their product was lacking.

Recently and, might I add, serendipitously, I hit up a street fair where I encountered one of the most stylish women in Boston and her uber crafted wares. I was hooked and MasterCard was enabling so I bit. Am I ever glad I did! So far, I've acquired a gossip curl headband (see image: www.galvinizedhats.com), a sweet convertible fascinator veil for my wedding, a feather creation and another cute everyday headband. There's no turning back. I might as well sign my paycheck over to Galvinized Headwear from here on out.

Start at the Beginning

This begins as a place where I muse over fashion and spout about the fashion in which I live my life and comment on the fashion in which others live their lives. As a graduate student in the sciences, I don't have much outlet for my sartorial expressions. No one in lab really cares what you wear, which Walter Steiger shoes you're coveting or which handbag you must have. They don't care about the fabulous milliner you've met or the Vogue September Issue.

This is where I balance opera length gloves with nitrile gloves, lab coats with swing coats, peer reviewed articles with reviews of my peers.

I hope you are able to fashion it into something that works for you.