On My Mind
It’s the final stretch of 2023 and this is my last to-do list. Christmas plates are out and in use, tree this weekend. Good thing my girls don’t read kic because I’m looking for the Chanel flats above for my younger daughter for a combined Christmas/birthday present. The girls’ birthdays bracket Christmas by a day, very bad planning on my part. I’m finishing North Woods, which is incredibly well written, and will dive right into The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. Yes, it’s another epic novel, but the reviews are fantastic. Good luck finding a copy. One more facial before year’s end at Augustinus Bader Skin Lab NYC. The AB Soothing Cream is my skin savior and you can buy refills. A festive sweater has never been my thing, but this Max Mara vest could sway me.
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This Toteme scarf comes in grey, too, however the dark brown and beige caught my eye.
Books
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is my December book club read. I suspect that I am one of only a few to have finished it. I listened to all 31+ hours (two r/t flights to France helped) on Audible. Narrated by the author is an extra bonus. Usually, I read short stories between epic novels but, for some reason, I’ve slid right into another sweeping multigenerational saga, North Woods by Daniel Mason. It, too, is very good.
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Nowadays it’s often too cold for a wool coat. I love my wool coats and get the blues when I have to wear a parka every day — parka fatigue. After buying a light-weight Max Mara Cube jacket to wear on the plane, I had an ‘aha’ moment — a Max Mara Cube vest (and here) to wear under my wool coats would solve the warmth problem. The Max Mara vest is not down-filled so it’s not bulky, thus it looks great under a coat. It’s, also, very warm and runs large. Grey here.
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My ancient (early ’90s) Prada jewelry roll is in tatters. This Smythson jewelry roll would be the ideal replacement, especially since it matches my passport cover.
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I have three pairs of dressy evening shoes and two of them are Chanel. Like the others, these slingbacks would be a forever pair. Stupidly, I didn’t look for them last week. Quel dommage.
Travel
Paris goes all out during the holidays. And, with the Olympics here next summer, the city is being extra spiffed up and looks fantastic. This was a quick trip, but I was lucky to have lunch and a stop at Ritz Paris Le Comptoir for madeleines with @habituallychic. Then, I heeded my friend Kate’s advice and went to Soeur. Be prepared to shop because this is an incredible line of well made and well priced clothing and accessories. The knitwear and coats are especially gorgeous. Finally, getting two of my favorite magazines the day they hit the newsstands is always a thrill.
Fashion Find
Wrap skirts are my thing. Two of my most cherished are Céline circa 2014, and one of them is most likely the prototype for the Phoebe Philo A1 skirt above. I’m in Paris for the week working from the hotel Chateau Voltaire aka my Paris ‘home’ this past year. Certainly dampens any urgency to find an apartment, but that’s for another post. Yesterday Phoebe Philo dropped A1, new styles along with a delivery of continued pieces from her debut collection. The email alert came in at 11:04 PM my time. Because I’m still on NY time, I saw it and immediately scrolled through the new offerings. At first glance, I didn’t see anything I wanted. But after chatting with @fastened2fashion I locked in on the Scarf Skirt and could not check out fast enough. This is what I meant in a post last August when I wrote ‘(h)ere’s hoping Ms. Philo continues to design clothes that elicit such joy.’ Joy, indeed.
#Don'tOverPurge
In a post week before last, I mentioned that I’m eyeing the new iteration of the Saint Laurent Downtown tote. After Kathy commented on her first Downtown tote, I had an ‘aha’ moment — I (of course) kept my circa 2006 ivory YSL Downtown. Now that I have a smaller laptop (life altering) I don’t need a massive travel bag and I prefer the dimensions of the original Downtown. Thank you for the reminder, Kathy!
#Don’tOverPurge
On My Mind
I allow myself to buy doubles on Black Friday. However, anything I’d post on today sold out two weeks ago when this crazy sale season began. I bought doubles of the Gauchere top and skirt. One skirt was shortened and the top recut smaller, the other set I left as is. This is the only brown ‘full look’ in my wardrobe and I’ll be very happy to have the skirt in different lengths. Most of my purchases never even go on sale and at this point in the season I’m not tempted to buy something just because it’s marked down. But when I do find a gem, I feel like I’ve won the fashion lottery!
Happy hunting!
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