In the spirit of “April showers bring May flowers,” the Jewel of the Month is the poppy ring I created for my designing friend Zang Toi’s 2007 spring runway show. I also designed a matching bracelet, choker and giant belt buckle — all in gold-plated silver. With Zang’s approval, I wore the ring myself with…
Fashion
What Wendy Wore: Ceil Chapman for Sunday Brunch
This vintage Ceil Chapman dress is very delicate, so I rarely wear it. I think yesterday’s brunch was the dress’s first outing since 2008. I was relieved that none of the seams opened this time. (In case they did, I had a tiny sewing kit in my purse.) What Wendy Wore Dress: Silk Ceil Chapman…
Vintage Pick of the Day: Jean-Louis Scherrer Suit
A gorgeous blogger sent me a link to this vintage suit by Jean-Louis Scherrer ages ago, and suddenly the page is popping up in my browser all the time. I take that as a sign that the suit desperately wants to appear on my blog. The ruffle at the bottom kills me! I remember Scherrer…
Mondrian Manicure and Minx
The squares and dots of my latest manicure by celebrity manicurist Tracylee Percival remind me of Piet Mondrian‘s Broadway Boogie Woogie. My obsession with chartreuse has now extended to my toes. While I was trying to take a picture of my metallic, chartreuse Minx pedicure, Henry the dog photobombed my feet, clearly begging for some…
For Bloggers Only … A Word About Comment Signatures
When I started blogging in 2007, newbies who put links to their blogs in the text of their comments were quickly corrected. I’m talking about this type of “Click me!” plea: “Wow! I love that outfit! http://wendybrandes.com/blog“ More experienced bloggers politely told the newbies that they didn’t need to include their URLs — or sign…
What Wendy Wore: Flower Feet for Mother’s Day
For Mother’s Day brunch, I needed to dress to impress — after all, my mom is a style icon! So I wore a chartreuse Yves Saint Laurent skirt that I got between 2002 and 2005, during my chartreuse-skirt period. That era was exactly like Picasso’s blue period, except without all the groundbreaking art. We had…
Great Minds Think Alike … About Checkered Sunglasses
Here I am wearing vintage sunglasses in May 2010. And here’s gorgeous blogger Ann of Annimal House this year. I’ve been enjoying Ann’s photos of her amazing vintage wardrobe for a couple of months now, but I had no idea that my checkered shades had helped inspire her blog! Now Ann and I have to…
DVF Leopard-Print Dress and Little Monster Paw … in 2002
I’ve been wondering when exactly I got my frequently worn leopard Diane von Furstenberg dress. Last year, when the photo below was taken, I figured that I bought the dress between 2000 and 2003. Good guess! While transferring files off an old computer, I found this photo from 2002. I had worn the dress to…
What Wendy Will Wear: Alexander McQueen Suit
I’m not in the habit of taking pictures of my outfits before I wear them, but I made an exception for this Alexander McQueen suit. I’ll be wearing it when I fly to D.C. for an event and I am sure that the gored skirt will be rumpled by the time I deplane. Luckily, gorgeous…
The Met Gala Dress of My Dreams
I can’t get over the cobwebby Zac Posen gown that actress Christina Ricci wore at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute gala on Monday. This dress brings the drama! The gala marked the opening of the Costume Institute’s Alexander McQueen exhibit. I was surprised by how few attendees wore McQueen dresses. Maybe all the…