Like everyone and their sister, I binge-watched Netflix’ The Haunting of Hill House this past week. I hate scary movies, so this would not normally be something I’d line up to watch, but I was told that it was not super frightening/gory and I was intrigued by the reviews. I would say that it’s more emotionally devastating than psychologically scary. Some of the jump scares were easy to anticipate – and the ability to quickly fast forward came in handy for those – and those that were not, weren’t too terrible. I thought the execution of the show was excellent, and I definitely got sucked into the story big time. However, my overall reaction is somewhat ambivalent.

The storyline that resonated the most with me was Olivia Crain’s. I think it has to do with the fact that my kids are roughly the same age as Luke and Nell in the flashback scenes. [Also, their names are Luka and Teodora, which is an even bigger coincidence when you think about it.] When, at one point, Olivia says that she wishes she could keep the kids small forever … daaamn, that pulled at my heartstrings because, yeah, SAME. But by the end of the show, I didn’t know how to feel about Olivia’s storyline. What was its ultimate moral or message? Was there supposed to be one? Unlike the other characters, Olivia never got a true resolution as far as I’m concerned, and that really bugged me.

SPOILER WARNING

So, the house preyed on Olivia’s love for her kids and her possible (never quite clarified) preexisting mental illness and drove her to do something terrible. She was clearly horrified by the sight of Abigail’s dead body, and killed herself shortly thereafter. But unlike Nell years later, she remained under the “evil influence” of the house afterwards. Why? Later, Hugh volunteers to be the sacrificial victim to appease the “mad woman” to whom he used to be married, and with whom he will now (presumably) spend eternity, all the while apologizing for, you know, not letting her kill their kids. Again, why? The rest of the show’s ending was positively upbeat – the bit with the Dudleys was over the top, IMO – so it would not have been tonally dissonant for Olivia and Hugh to reunite on a different footing; Olivia could have acknowledged that Hugh had done the right thing in taking the kids away all those years ago (while Olivia posed an immediate danger to them), and Hugh could have decided to remain with Olivia at Hill House not as part of some devil’s bargain but as a matter of choice – true lovers reunited, blah, blah, blah.

And let’s not even get started on the notion that Olivia’s “possession” is a metaphor for mental illness, because her storyline is even more problematic under that lens.

I have, umm, clearly spent way too much time thinking about this. And I still don’t really know if I loved the show or merely enjoyed watching (most of) it.

If you’ve seen The Haunting of Hill House, what did you think? Who was your favourite character and what did you like and/or dislike about their storyline? And what do you think about the theory that each of the Crain kids represents one of the stages of grief?

Sleeve Drama

I had a whole post prepared for this week’s outfits, but it sadly disappeared into the ether. That’s the kind of week I’m having, you guys. In lieu of anything substantive, here’s a simple rundown of what I’m wearing. Blazer is YSL and was a hit at the office, with some people anyway. I don’t expect it to be a piece that everyone loves, which is in line with my aesthetic as a whole. Light grey can be hit and miss for me, but the fabric here has a heathered finish, so it works. I like pairing grey with black and white – it’s instant chic, as far as I’m concerned. Or, put differently, hard to mess up. The blouse and pants are old standbys, both thrifted naturally. I still love these crepe pants from Aritzia; they sit/drape so nicely. The shoes are Hispanitas, which my boss gave to me because they didn’t work for her. Boss of the year? Quite possibly.

Comfort Zone

Drapey sack dresses are it: comfortable and right in my sartorial comfort zone. Add leather, and you’ve got a bit of edge. Leather is always a little bit edgy, okay? Dress is Ayrtight and I’m still madly in love with it. I would happily wear it every day. Because of the deep neckline, it requires an extra layer which is no problem because my Club Monaco thin wool turtleneck is perfect for that. (Sadly, it needs to be retired soon. I’ve been wearing it for coming up on 3 winters, and it’s starting to show its age.) The leather vest is Sarah Pacini and it’s truly incredible. A one-of-a-kind piece I am so grateful to have found at a local consignment store. I don’t want to think about what it would have cost me otherwise. I can throw this over any outfit and feel instantly cooler by at least 25%. The shoes are Jeffrey Campbell and they’re definitely a lewk. I kinda dig the squared toe, which I haven’t worn in years.

Comfort Zone, part 2

A comfort zone of a whole other kind: this is my typical weekend outfit. I’ve worn a hundred iterations of this, but it’s easy and fun to update with new pieces. In this case, the new piece is this scarf I recently thrifted. I love the blue and brown colour palette, and used it to put together the rest of the outfit. The sweater is Oak & Fort (old and thrifted) and the jeans are AG (new-ish and swapped). My other favourite piece are the SoftMoc boots; I’m loving cognac accessories at the moment, and these are comfortable and stylish to boot. Zing! Did I just make a bad shoe pun? Yes, yes, I did.

I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I was going back to a modified capsule approach to outfit planning, and today I’m going to write a bit about my methods and observations.

I am not a typical capsule-devotée; my style skews to the minimalist side of the spectrum, but my closet does not. What I like about capsules is the sense of cohesion. I find it pleasing to the eye to have outfits that are harmonious without being repetitive – for lack of a better description, that look like part of a runway collection. Similar, but not the same. It’s obviously easier to achieve this by mixing a smaller number of items together; however, I also get bored quickly, so I like having variety over time. The compromise that has worked best for me in the past has been the rolling capsule – i.e. one that changes from month to month.

The last time I did a planned capsule, which was over a year ago, my approach was to select 5-7 statement pieces that were my favourites at that time, and build outfits around them. This is certainly a viable approach, but the result is not necessarily cohesive if, like mine, your closet contains a wide range of styles and colours. In principle, it’s possible to take, say, a preppy item and adapt it to suit a boho style, but it will require that you approach outfit building with a different lens; the item cannot be the focus, because it will naturally inspire you towards a preppy vibe.

One alternative would have been to use one (or more) of my style avatars as the “theme” of my monthly capsule. Almost immediately, though, I realized this would not work for me – again, because of the variety of options in my closet, deciding where to even begin would have been slightly daunting. The “building blocks” of my style(s) are fairly basic items, so that would not have helped me figure out the capsule in the same way as using statement pieces for a starting point.

The approach that struck me as having the most potential this time around was choosing a colour theme. Believe it or not, this was not an obvious choice for me. While my wardrobe does have a colour palette, it’s a relatively broad one. My outfit choices are rarely dictated by colour, first and foremost, although there are certain shades I won’t wear, and some that I especially enjoy wearing. In the end, though, I chose colour as my capsule-defining device because it helped me to pick out “starting block” pieces, and also infused cohension into the process right from the get-go. With the exception of blue and neutrals like black, each of my core wardrobe colours is only represented in a half dozen or so pieces, so my selection process was far more manageable than starting from scratch.

Briefly, this is what the process looked like:

– Pick 2-3 core colours (non-neutrals) for the capsule; these would be supplemented by 2-3 neutrals, usually black and cream/ivory.

– Write down all of the items I own for each core colour; ideally, there would be 4-5 items per colour. I had a vague goal of using each item in at least 2 outfits that month. [A typical month for me requires 15-18 work outfits.]

– Make a list of the number of outfits needed, and proceed to fill it out using the colour items previously identified, and adding other pieces from my closet as needed to complete the outfit. In determining how to complete an outfit featuring the core colour item, I focused on my style avatars as guidelines for silhouettes, combinations, etc.

So, for example, the exercise was not simply “complete an outfit using this green sweater” but, rather, “complete an outfit using this green sweater and make it fit the Artist vibe.”

When I was putting my October capsule together, this process hadn’t quite fully crystalized, but it was more or less what I did. Rather than core colours, I ended up focusing on neutrals; my colour palette was black, brown and pale grey, with plum and green accents. For November, I deliberately started with core colours: blue and forest green; my neutrals were black, ivory and grey. For December, I am thinking of switching to a warmer palette: red, pink and plum, with brown and black as neutrals. But we shall see.

A side benefit of my recent capsuling efforts is that I have started to pay closer attention again to what’s actually in my closet – and especially what’s missing and what doesn’t need to be there. Based on those observations, I have refined my thrifting list.

On my “buy” list:

cropped sweaters
chunky, textured knits
thin v-neck cardigans (for layering)
thin turtlenecks (ditto)
interesting toppers (shapes, textures, etc. – anything but your traditional, hip-length blazer)
sack dresses
waist belts
maxi and midi skirts and dresses
paperbag waist trousers
culottes
loafers

On my “don’t buy” list:

structured, traditional blazers (see above)
pencil skirts
sheath dresses
pants (other than as above)
jeans (especially skinnies)
frilly, girly stuff (it’s still my Achilles heel)

Newly focused, I am excited for the possibilities – both for my outfit plans and for my thrifting. Hey, with winter coming, I need all the distractions I can get!