Obligatory “I can’t believe it’s already July” introduction … but, honestly, the last few months have been such a daze, I can barely keep track of the days of the week. All I know is that there are 5 weeks left until my vacation (2 whole weeks, woot woot!), and I know that because I counted this morning. I may or may not be counting that every morning.

Another reason why I feel like I’m living Groundhog Day is the weather. One day it’s warm and sunny; another day it’s cold and rainy. It might have been June, or it might have been April all over again. If you ever find yourself wondering “does Adina not know how to dress appropriately for summer?”, the answer is that I do, but I am also living in the land that summer maybe forgot. Sartorially, this is not a great loss to me – hello, I love layers! – but it does make the months blend together, and I do miss the mental state of being associated with summer. Oh well.

On to the clothes:

This is actually a much more cohesive line-up than I was expecting. I think cutting my hair has made me feel re-inspired, somehow. This haircut works better with my overall aesthetic, which makes me appreciate the said aesthetic more. As it happens, thrifting has been very boring/uneventful lately, which means that I have been focusing on my existing pieces and finding ways to make them feel fresh again. Accessories have played a huge part in that, and I am having a lot of fun with them again. I’m currently really into simple outfits with interesting, architectural (dare I say, brutalist) lines and one big statement piece of jewelry. You’ll be seeing more of that in July. I have also been doing a radical closet purge in anticipation of the next Wardrobe Exchange secondhand clothes pop-up market in September. My goal with that is to let go of designer pieces that I love in principle, but which don’t really fit my style. I find that difficult – it’s hard to let go of the mentality of “it’s a quality silk blouse, of course I’ll find some use for it at some point” – but I am getting better at it.

I can’t say that I’ve thought much about Game of Thrones since its finale. What I did do immediately afterwards was order George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before a Game of Thrones. Here’s what it’s not: a prequel to the ASOIAF books. To me, it does not read like a novel, at all. The narrative conceit is that it’s a history book about the Targaryen dynasty assembled by an archmaester. In fact, it reads precisely like historical non-fiction … except it’s all about a made-up family in a made-up world.

As a lover of the historical non-fiction genre, this was right up my alley. If that’s not your jam, your mileage may vary. It’s a big honker of a book too – over 700 pages long. The first 50 pages or so had me worried because they are almost a word-for-word repetition of Martin’s The World of Ice & Fire “encyclopedia” history of Westeros, which I already own and read. If you have that book, you will know the broad strokes of the Targaryens’ reign; Fire & Blood adds a ton more detail and colour to the story. What I did not realize until the end was that it actually stops 5 or 6 kings before Aerys the Mad (the last Targaryen king before the ASOIAF timeline kicks in). So now I am wondering if this is going to be a two-parter history. Par for the course for Martin, I guess.

You might expect that this is a book which only GoT fanatics obsessed with Westeros minutiae might truly enjoy. I don’t count myself in that category, but as a history nerd I was totally engrossed by it and loved it. It’s basically a fantasy retelling of European history, focused primarily on the British isles. My favourite part of the reading experience was trying to figure out what real-life counterpart(s) each Targaryen king was based on; in most cases, each character was a mish-mash of several real kings, with events depicted in the book having been inspired by various (predominantly Plantagenet and Tudor) English kings’ lives. That’s my take, anyway. I don’t know if Martin has ever confirmed his sources of inspiration.

After reading Fire & Blood, I was in the mood for more history, so I re-read David Starkey’s Crown & County: The Kings and Queens of England, A History from my library. It’s an enjoyable, easy read though it felt rushed in places – what I basically wanted was a separate biography of each monarch, especially the Plantagenets. For reviewing the highlights, this hit the spot.

Then I decided to do the same with French kings … only to quickly realize that books on French history are much harder to come by than English history. Most royal biographies focus on the Bourbons (Henry IV through Louis XVI) which is all fine and good; right now, it’s medieval history I’m most interested in. There is a shocking lack of recent biographies on the Capetians and the Valois as a whole. I ended up ordering John Julius Norwich’s A History of France, which was broader in scope than I strictly wanted, but a great read as always – JJN is one of my favourite historians. My only complaint is that the book turned out to be much shorter than I was expecting (a relatively slim 400 pages), and a lot of the medieval history was very lightly touched on.

Let me take this chance to make another plug for Maurice Druon’s Accursed Kings series about (the Capetian) Phillip IV and his progeny, another likely source of inspiration for George RR Martin. This book has it all: political scheming, murders, adultery, sorcery, 13th century courtroom intrigue. And it’s (largely) based on real life events, which is fascinating. I basically want to read the non-fiction version of this series, and really delve into all of the details. Someone write this book, please. I am currently re-reading Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror, which is an excellent resource on the 14th century in Europe (predominantly France and England).

In non-historical fiction news, I also started but have yet to finish Normal People by Sally Rooney. This book came with a lot of hype but, for some reason, I didn’t connect with it enough to keep at it. I didn’t hate what I’ve read so far, but it’s meh. I’ll probably push myself to finish it at some point.

What have you been reading lately?

Monochrome

I love a good monochromatic look. The key to making it interesting, in my humble opinion, is to layer different textures for visual interest and “depth”. This outfit, for example, is all about subtle details. I love how the gauzy dress overlay contrasts with the textured sleeves. The lace-up shoes are also a little snazzier than your average pair of black flats. I wore these on my commute, then ended up switching to patent leather metallic grey pumps at work because I could not resist the extra bit of monochromacity (not a word, don’t care).

Notes: Rick Owens dress (secondhand, $133); YSL blazer (thrifted, $10); J. Crew necklace (thrifted, $10); Napoleoni shoes (thrifted, $6).

Weather Reversal

Ok, so here’s the thing you need to know to understand this outfit: mornings lately have been cold here. (I may also be turning into wimp as I get older, ahem.) But by midday, the temperature rises and it becomes quite warm. (Did I mention that I am a wimp at both ends of the scale?) This outfit was designed for temperature swings … and also because I love this coat and have missed wearing it lately. As it happened, I ditched it by about 10:30 but it was fun while I wore it. The rest of the outfit held up just fine for the rest of the day. It’s mostly made out of linen (both the tunic and the pants). The piece de resistance was, of course, my beloved Rafael necklace.

Notes: Cartonnier coat (thrifted, $21); Eileen Fisher tunic (thrifted, $8.50); Lida Baday pants (thrifted, $4.50); AGL flats (consignment, $67); Rafael Canada necklace (thrifted; $8); Anthropologie bag (swapped).

Cozy Friday

Last week, I came down with a terrible, horrible, no good cough which turned out to be bronchitis in the end. I had a pretty miserable go of it for most of the week, but after 48 hours of antibiotics, started to feel somewhat human again. Just in time for Friday, which was nice. (I usually start feeling worse, not better, before a weekend. Sigh.) I put some real clothes on for the first time in 2 days, but went with the most comfortable option I could find in my closet. This Ayrtight dress feels like pyjamas, honestly. The relaxed silhouette of the oversized Chevalier blazer from Wilfred works well with the drapiness of the dress. Not a bad effort, all things considered.

Notes: Ayrtight dress (consignment, $45); Wilfred blazer (thrifted, $6); Cole Haan shoes (thrifted, $10); H&M belt (retail, can’t remember the price from a decade ago).