On Clothing and Style

So I've been reading a lot since I've been home...mostly Vogue, because my subscription gets sent to my parents' house and I had three issues waiting for my return to California. This, of course, has me thinking a lot more about clothes than I normally would. Trends, silhouettes, colors, eco-friendliness...there's really a lot to it. I don't like most of it. I read Vogue for the journalism, the photography, and the perfume samples. Many of the looks I see are as unattractive as they are impractical--and so expensive! No one should ever need to pay $850 for ugly shoes. I live in jeans and t-shirts during the week and love dressing up for Sunday and other special occasions--I'm always on the lookout for new skirts and dresses. I always want to look nice, but I've never paid more than $45 for a dress...and that was the time I bought fabric for a prom dress my grandma sewed.

 No matter what stage of life I'm in or how much money I end up making one day, I probably won't spend much more than that per article of clothing. I've thought a lot lately about the Book of Mormon's description of the proud and wicked. Several times it their "costly apparel" is brought up. The righteous, on the other hand "did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely." Not fashionable. Not icons. Neat and comely. That's I'd like to be. I don't have to pour money into the pockets of fashion houses (which seem more like abstract artists and less like designers of clothing every day) or overhaul my wardrobe every season to look nice.

But this is still a concept I'm working on...in some of dreams I wear Oscar de la Renta head to toe.

Want.

I never thought I'd envy a member of Hillary Clinton's staff. Then I saw Huma Abedin's wedding dress in The September Issue of Vogue. (You always capitalize The September Issue. ALWAYS.) I love seeing clothes on real women instead of models--they're prettier because they're more reasonable--a real outfit instead of a mood board on a person. I like Oscar de la Renta clothes for the same reason. Ladies, grab your fashion magazines or pull up google. Compare an Oscar de la Renta ad to a Rodarte ad. Which one would you rather buy and wear? Yeah. That's what I thought.

How Vogue Saved My Life and Halloween Adventures

I bought the November 2009 Vogue tonight whist grocery shopping at Albertsons. I like Vogue. Their writers are fantastic and it's fun every now and again to see what the classy rich gals are wearing. (That's the difference between Cosmo and Vogue-class.)

Then we loaded up McKell's car with our groceries. She put hers into a cooler in the back-and something in there is going bad. Carolyn and I were about ready to die - until I opened up the magazine, flipped to the Trésor by Lancôme ad, and smelled the heavenly perfume sample.

Speaking of Vogue, I felt like I belonged in it on Halloween night. I had just dyed my hair red again (and I feel like myself!) and I loved how everything came together.

I was a 20s gangster.

It's been awhile since I've taken tons of pictures of myself. But tonight was a good night to do it.

I went to a few parties. It was fun, but nothing too memorable.

My favorite costumes of the night:

(If you're clueless about this, you're probably a good parent and don't let your kids watch Nickelodeon. But The Fairly Odd Parents is still an excellent show.)