Lead Me Not Into Temptation

I have cut all ties with the retail world, in exchange for a chance to re-connect with my more creative self. I sew, paint, design clothes, up-cycle clothes. The problem is, I rarely get around to these creative pursuits. Playing the "no time" card doesn't satisfy anyone. The object of this little blog project is to remove one of the greatest obstacles in the way of my creativity: my reliance on acquiring new (or new to me) items when I feel like wearing something different or exciting. My grand "Avenue of Temptation" is better known as Walnut Street, home of the four story flagship Anthropologie store, the Steve Madden boutique, with their clearance rack cornucopia of 90% off shoes and boots, and finally Joan Shepp and Knitwit, the sexy designer boutiques that call the meek to worship at their altars of Christian Louboutin, Blumarine, and Y-3. Vintage boutiques and incredible thrift stores dazzle me from every cobble-stoned corner of the city. There is no safe zone. It's woman vs. wild, open fashion world. There was no apple clinging to the branches of the tree of knowledge, it was a shinning red patent vintage Chanel quilt-n-gilt that tempted Eve. Since then, we were all born into fashion.

For the next few months (until summer) I will be preparing my little hors d'oeuvres of fashion advice, and pairing them with cocktails of $$-free fashion refreshment. Not just whine and cheese, I will also post all of my DIY projects so all you kids can play along at home too.


One project I'm thinking about starting with is the miracle of the luxury tee shirt, like this $78 number from J. Crew. How many baby fingers get chopped off while the kiddies embroider yuppie tee-shirts? I digress, and by no means intend to turn my fun little experiment into a politicaly motivated bitch fest (But I probably will anyway). This is fashion for those who want to be duped. Not terrible-looking, but paying eighty bucks for a sloppy-looking "art" tee? Methinks I can do better.

Word of the Day: d'Orsay- Refers to any shoe that has a closed heel and toe but which is cut down to the sole at the sides. It can be made with a heel of any type and any style of vamp (front). The style is one of several fashions named after the Count d'Orsay, a fashionable dandy living Paris in the mid-1800s. (from WWD fashion glossary).

Cheers to the fashionable dandies!
Abra