The Columbia Daily Spectator — the undergraduate news organization of Columbia University in New York — had its annual fundraiser last Friday. This was a pleasant change, because the dinner has been held in January or February for ages. Last year, the students told the board of alumni trustees, of which I’m a member, that…
outfit post
Going Wide With Frame Jeans and Diane Keaton
I need to do a YouTube video about my whole history with jeans. I’ve realized that since my teenage years, I’ve always been searching for a style that’s not readily available. Over the past decade, I’ve been bedeviled by the persistence of skinny jeans/jeggings, which was a style I loved in the 1980s — when…
Coachella 2019: What Wendy Wore. Again.
For a lot of people, Coachella is a high-fashion moment — a runway in the desert. Then there’s me, wearing the same thing three years in a row. I wore the same hat, shorts, boots, and denim jacket (tied around my waist in each photo) at my first Coachella in 2016 too — the only…
What Wendy Wore: Double-Vintage Ossie Clark
On Tuesday, MrB and I attended the Awards for Excellence dinner for the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Dick Tofel, our friend and the president of ProPublica, was among the honorees. Four recent alumni were also recognized and I was absolutely blown away by their work: I…
What Wendy Didn’t Wear: Patrick Kelly Mini Dress
For last week’s video on the late designer Patrick Kelly, I wore a Kelly dress that I’ve never worn out in the real world. Can you guess why this one stays in the closet? What Wendy Didn’t Wear Dress: Vintage Patrick Kelly (probably from eBay, maybe purchased around 2008?) Boots: Prada (2012-ish) If you truly…
Throwback Thursday: Ossie Clark in 2005, 2011, 2019
In my tribute to my late friend Al Radley, I posted a photo taken in his house in 2005. The long sweater I’m trying on belonged to him, but I was wearing my own vintage Ossie Clark dress. In 2011, I took a photo that showed the dress clearly. And last Friday, I randomly wore…
What Wendy Wore: Valentine’s Day 2019
I was mildly disappointed with myself last night for being sartorially lazy on Valentine’s Day. You know I love theme dressing, yet I didn’t wear my vintage Moschino heart dress … … or my vintage Gemma Kahng heart vest. But I decided to forgive myself for not dressing to code because I did have an…
Throwback Thursday: 2014 Oscars, 2019 GEM Awards
In 2014, I wore a Zang Toi trench gown to the Vanity Fair Oscar party. Last week, I wore the same dress to the GEM Awards — aka “the Academy Awards of the fine jewelry industry” — where I posed for a photo with Monica Stephenson, the founder of ANZA Gems. What Wendy WoreDress: Zang…
What Wendy Wore: New Year’s Eve 2019
I hope you had a fantastic New Year’s Eve! I had a wonderful dinner at Balthazar with MrB; my stepson, William; my designing friend Stacy; and talented journalist siblings Jesse and Abby. View this post on Instagram New Year’s Eve at Balthazar #nye2019 #happynewyear #friendandfamily #newyearseveparty A post shared by Wendy Brandes (@wendybrandes) on Dec…
Year in Review: What Wendy Wore in 2018
For 2017, I was proud to be able to do a “What Wendy Wore” year in review post featuring 12 slow-fashion outfits. In 2018 — despite Henry David Thoreau’s famous “… beware of all enterprises that require new clothes” — some of my most notable looks did require something new. I mean, I normally don’t…