What I Wore: August 2024, part two

Details: Chepe dress, Maguire shoes (both retail), Anna Paola bag (consignment), Warren Steven Scott earrings

Thoughts: It’s very very rare, these days, that I wear (almost) head-to-toe retail but here you have one of those unicorns. Winners got me. I usually only shop there for skincare, but I received some gift cards for my birthday just as they were running their summer clearance sales and I ended up having a good nose around. I found the black version of my “perfect blank canvas” dress and I could not resist getting it. Here’s the thing: I had spent a long time looking for a dress like this one — the cut, the style, the length, the fabric — before I found the original last year. I had been hoping for either black or white but, at the time, Winners only had it in navy. So I got the navy because, colour aside, it checked off all my boxes. And I have not regretted that decision even though navy is not one of my fave neutrals. It proved to be a good option for me, as it works well with lots of colours in my wardrobe. But black is still my OG so when I found this colourway … well, I just had to get it. I think this outfit shows what I mean when I call this my “perfect blank canvas” dress; it’s so incredibly easy to dress it up and down with different toppers and/or accessories. Speaking of the latter, peep those shoes. Now these were a total impulse buy, but as soon as I touched them, I had to have them. They are made from the most incredibly soft leather I have ever felt. I normally avoid shoes with a narrow peep-toe opening because they tend to cut into my feet and feel like torture … but not these ones. THE most comfortable sandals I own. And the colours are fun too!

Details: Ardene top (retail), Icone blazer, vintage skirt, Rafael Alfandary necklace (all secondhand)

Thoughts: It might seem bonkers to add more pattern to an outfit that features this skirt, but in fact it somehow makes a lot of sense. You just have to pick a good pattern. This one looks like it could almost be part of the skirt, so it works quite well. To keep the outfit from sliding into total pattern mayhem, I stuck with a plain white cropped tee as my third piece. Cropped tees — usually white, but sometimes black — have been my wardrobe MVPs this summer. They are the “glue” that holds together all my fun statement pieces.

Details: Glamorous top, Prairie Trail Goods cardigan, BDG jeans, Ralph Lauren belt, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Really leaning into a 70s boho vibe with this outfit, and I loved it. The mahogany brown accessories complement the pink and blue colour palette so well. The pattern mixing might seem a bit adventurous but it feels very harmonious thanks to the cohesiveness of that palette.

Details: Ardene top (retail), Lira jacket, vintage skirt, Hondo cowboy boots, vintage belt, Dooney bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I’ve been loving my cowboy boots so much this year, I bought another pair — this one. Now, I was hoping to find a brown pair (still looking!) but when this beauty walked into my life, so to speak, I couldn’t let it get away. It’s similar to the boots I already have, which are also grey and black, but the design on the shaft is different. For $30, I’m happy to have a second pair … especially since my daughter now wears the same shoe size and has started to, ahem, take advantage of that fact. Cowboy boots are hella expensive, so I’m considering this pair a hedge against future replacement needs. Anyway, since I love my boots so much, I’ve also started to wear shorter dresses and skirts again. In fact, I ended up buying this skirt specifically to wear with my cowboy boots. Is it too on the nose with the cowboy theme? Quite possibly. But it’s hella fun so YOLO yeehaw!

Details: Zara top, Pelican Cove vest, Brave belt, Ralph Lauren skirt, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: You can’t tell from this photo but this top is actually dark green, not black. It’s important for me to tell you that because, IRL, that little detail made the outfit even better. Otherwise, what can I say about this? It’s my “climate control” three-piece outfit formula for summer days: crop top, vest, skirt. For me, the 3rd piece is a one of the easiest ways to make outfits look intentional, and in hot weather, vests are the ideal 3rd piece to incorporate extra colour, or pattern, or texture into an outfit.

Details: Ardene top (retail), Only & Sons jacket, Suttles & Seawinds skirt, Aldo shoes, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I was not kidding when I said that cropped white tees have been my summer wardrobe MVPs. Here, it plays a supporting role in a composition I would like to call “Juxtaposition”. The jacket and shoes are a different vibe from the skirt and bag, but I really enjoy the conversation they’re having. It’s unexpected, and unexpected is usually jolly good fun. As far as fashion goes, anyway 😉

Details: vintage dress, DKNY belt, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Funny story: I thrifted this dress for my daughter thinking that she would appreciate its fun, whimsical pattern. It was a bit of a risk, since she’s becoming increasingly picky about her style, but worse case scenario I knew that if she didn’t like it, I could exchange it (VV doesn’t do returns). I showed it to her at home and had her try it on, and she loved it. Great! I took off the tag and popped it in the wash. A week later, we’re getting ready to go for brunch and I ask her if she wants to wear it. She puts it on and decides she hates it. Gah! Pre-teens, man! It was too late to take it back to the store, so I guess this dress is mine now. It’s fine. Joke’s on her: it’s hella comfortable and perfectly breezy for summer. I’ll probably mostly wear it around the house, but it’s cute enough to take outside too. And I love cherries!

Details: Old Navy swimsuit (retail), vintage pants, Birkenstock shoes (both secondhand)

Thoughts: And now for something completely different … this is what I wore on a family outing to Voyageur Park in Devon. We had a lovely time hanging out on the “beach” by the North Saskatchewan River — the kids swam a bit, I walked along the shore and looked for rocks (which is almost as much fun as looking for seashells by the ocean), and we had a lovely picnic en plein air. This is a beautiful little spot, just a short drive from our house, and relatively quiet on weekday mornings/early afternoons. We will be going back again for sure. As far as my outfit, a wide brim hat is always a must when I’m going to be out in the sun (along with sunscreen, of course) and my plastic Birks are my go-to choice for outdoorsy shoes. I mean, I probably wouldn’t hike in them, but I can walk for miles and they’re great for sand/water. For my “cover-up”, I love these elastic waist, lightweight cotton pants because they’re breezy, easy to roll up or take off, quick to dry, and machine washable. And they just happen to coordinate really well with my favourite bikini.

The Timelessness of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy

If, like me, you are a Gen X / Xennial who grew up on a steady diet of Vogue and Vanity Fair, there is probably a not-insignificant folder in your mental Rolodex devoted to all things Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. There was a period of time, in the mid-to-late 90s, when CBK was the epitome of cool. But not, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Gone Girl’s Cool Girl:

“Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.”

CBK would never, ok? At least, she never appeared like someone who would – drink cheap beer, play video games, burp. She did not visibly strive to be accessible, relatable, accommodating. She had the world’s most eligible bachelor running after her. I think she might have even made him cry once, in public. I don’t know about the male gaze, but mine, for one, was absolutely riveted by CBK.

I was reminded of this by a recent conversation with a friend, who told me that there are two different biographies of CBK currently in the works. I am cautiously excited by this news. I add that caveat because I have little interest in a conventional biography of the woman; what I am hoping for – what I have been waiting for, all these years – is a proper deep-dive into the mystique and mythology of CBK. Her public persona is an incredibly rich text, deserving of astute, fulsome analysis. Someone like Anne Helen Peterson might do it justice. Here, you’re stuck with me, giving it a college try.

An almost heretical thought struck me recently: CBK’s style was actually kind of boring. Wait, don’t start throwing stones at your screen just yet. Hear me out. Or, rather, allow me to show you.

Yes, she looks lovely. Elegant, chic. She really nailed that 90s clean-cut minimalism – was possibly at its vanguard. But try to separate the person (and persona) from these outfits. Cover her face, and just look at the clothes themselves. These are boring-ass outfits, be honest. If I wore any of these outfits to work tomorrow, I might get a compliment, but absolutely zero people would still be thinking about them 30 years later. I actually recreated one of her outfits a few months ago – because it had been stuck in my head for about 30 years, and I finally had the pieces to make it happen – and I was shocked by how “meh” I felt wearing it. It wasn’t a bad outfit; it was just unmemorable on me.

Yet, somehow, CBK remains a fashion icon to women of my generation – and, these days, is being discovered by younger generations too. There are still so many articles being churned out that aim to teach us how to “dress like CBK” and, honestly, I am starting to think they are missing the point. What fascinates us is the aura of CBK – or, rather, that of her public persona – and her clothes are not, on reflection, the source of that fascination. Clothes did not make CBK interesting; she made the clothes interesting. Copying her outfits does not allow the rest us to enter into the magic circle.

So what was it – the secret sauce? Was it something as simple as our culture’s fixation with WASP-y, thin, conventionally attractive, blonde women? I’m sure it didn’t hurt that CBK was all of those things, but she wasn’t a unique exemplar of that type; few of her cohorts have been able to carve out a similarly enduring niche in the cultural Zeitgeist. What set CBK apart? She was a public figure for a relatively short time yet has remained a potent cultural/style reference for decades afterwards. Why?

Perhaps it all comes down to silence.

CBK entered the public sphere in the pre-social media era. The internet was barely in its infancy. Sure, there were gossip magazines and celebrity culture, but the public did not have the same level of direct access to famous people that it does now. CBK was constantly in the media – especially in NYC – but she was written about. She did not speak. I’m not sure she ever gave interviews and, if she did, they were perfunctory ones – not the kind of soul-baring exercises (premeditated, yes, but crafted to achieve the impression of authentic connection) that have become the norm in the last 20 years. In her silence, CBK became a projection screen for the narratives that fascinated and compelled society then, and now. Was she a willing participant in this – indeed, a moving party in the whole process? Honestly, I have no idea. She certainly appeared to hate the media’s obsession with her and her personal life, but whether that perception was genuine or manufactured – or maybe a little bit of both – who knows? This is the deep dive I need someone smarter than me to do!

Thinking about all of this, I realized that CBK is not an exception. Society loves silent women – women who, for whatever reason, can’t or won’t to tell their stories in their own voice. Society loves women whose stories it gets to tell. Just look at Marilyn Monroe. OK, maybe “loves” is the wrong word. Just look at Marilyn Monroe. Let’s put it this way, then: society loves to consume women whose stories it gets to control. Beautiful women, especially. We will probably never know what CBK herself thought about the stories crafted out of her silence. She will remain forever just so: frozen in silence, frozen in time. Timeless.

What I Wore: August 2024, part one

Details: Max Studio top, Esprit belt, Ralph Lauren skirt, Old Navy shoes, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: One of the favourite outfits of this summer, and I can say that with my full chest. I felt like a (prairie) princess in this outfit. Whenever I wear this skirt, I am always thankful that I decided to pull the trigger and splurge on it last year, because it brings me so much joy.

Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, Roughrider vest, vintage belt, J. Crew shoes (all secondhand), Ricki’s skirt (retail)

Thoughts: Wearing all white is tempting fate to the nth degree, but I did it. On a WFH day, because I don’t trust myself with this kind of outfit in public. I’m calling it a win because, not only did I NOT spill anything on myself, I looked pretty fab too (if I do say so myself). There is something so elegant about an all-white outfit paired with strategic accessories.

Details: Zara top, Icone shirt, UO skirt, Napoleoni shoes (all secondhand), Icone belt (retail)

Thoughts: I wanted to take this skirt in a Papa Ralph-approved direction, and make it summery at the same time. Plaid is more of a fall/winter pattern to me, so the top half of the outfit had a lot of work to do. I think the crop top + chambray combo managed to pull it off. I like how it’s the reverse of a typical lumberjack chic outfit — plaid on the bottom, denim on top. If I had worn this outside, I’d have gone with some cowboy boots for sure.

Details: Ralph Lauren shirt & sweater, Twik skirt, vintage belt (all secondhand), J. Crew shoes (retail)

Thoughts: I thought this outfit punched way above its effort level; it’s pretty basic, but it looks so sharp. I wore this on one of my rare office days … and I ended up being the only person there, which means nobody got to see this IRL. Sad. Well, at least you get to see it here.

Details: Sandro top, Lord & Taylor cardigan, UO pants, Saint Laurent belt (all secondhand)

Thoughts: This is the kind of very traditional outfit formula that I rarely wear these days — I have, like, 2 classic cardigans in my closet — but I made it feel exciting (to me) by adding an edgy metallic belt and a crop top that showed a tiny sliver of skin. Ooh la la! I have to say that the combination of magenta and black is also really nice and sharp; the two colours play off each other very well.

Details: Charlie Holiday dress, Roughriders vest, cowboy boots, Brixton hat, Lena Bernard necklace, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Simple summer style — maxi dress, vest, cowboy boots. I think I’ve been wearing cowboy boots almost as often as sandals this summer, which is an interesting turn of events for yours truly. But I’m leaning into this vibe, and enjoying the heck out of it. Turquoise and red accessories to finish off the fit; it’s a combination that never lets me down.

Details: Ardene top (retail), Silverado jacket, Cotton Pickers skirt, cowboy boots, Coach bag (all secondhand), Icone belt (retail)

Thoughts: I love this jacket so I take every cool-weather-day opportunity to wear it. I should branch out and try different colour combinations for it, but it’s hard to resist defaulting to white and blue. It looks so good! I’ve been debating whether this vintage skirt is special or unique enough to keep in my (crowded, so crowded) closet, but this outfit convinced me to give it another reprieve. Come fall, though, some tough decisions will need to be made. I am not looking forward to it, sigh.

Details: Chaps tee, Denim & Supply jacket, UO pants, vintage belt, Manolo Blahnik shoes (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Southwest-inspired, but make it business casual. I wore this to WFH, but I could easily bring it to the office. It’s a rather muted colour palette for me, but the sequins and metallic mesh belt add some visual interest. I don’t buy a lot of sequins these days, but I picked up this tee because I thought it was a nice, subdued way to do sparkle. Like, daytime sequins. It’s good to have some of those on hand. You never know when you might need to zhuzh up an outfit.

Details: Zara top, vintage skirt, Aldo shoes (all secondhand), Prairie Trail Goods jacket

Thoughts: Patchwork, doubled. The jacket and skirt are made for each other, aren’t they? I chose the platform loafers as a bit of a wildcard pairing, and strangely (or not, I did put some thought into it) I was very pleased with it. I like the juxtaposition; the vibe of the shoes adds a more contemporary edge to the outfit. And the colour is soooo versatile. These shoes were a solid addition to my closet — just like my brown and black pair.

Details: Liz Claiborne dress, Le Chateau belt, Barbara Barbieri shoes, Rebecca Minkoff bag (all secondhand), Bozzolo tee (retail)

Thoughts: When it doubt, rainbow dress it up. Literally. We had a brunch date with friends and I didn’t know / couldn’t decide what to wear, so at the last minute I pulled this dress out of the closet and — bam! Outfit done.

Details: NBA jacket, Calvin Klein tee, Everlane pants, Gap belt, Converse sneakers (all secondhand)

Thoughts: OK, so this jacket was a total random impulse buy at VV. I don’t care about basketball or the NBA (unlike my son, who is obsessed) but something about this jacket spoke to me. I like the cut, the quilted effect, the floral pattern, and — above all — the weird juxtaposition of it all. I wore this on a library outing with the kids, and I have to say: I felt like A Cool Mom all the way 😉