What I Wore Today--in poetic form

The three piece Eileen Fisher outfit I ordered from Neiman Marcus has arrived, been tried on, and worn to three different events: a board meeting, a cocktail party, and a memorial service. If I were tracking cost-per-wear, I'd be pleased.

However, I'll admit that I had to use costume tape to hold the dress in place. The dress fits beautifully, but that Balcony of mine is so crowded that my underpinnings are always threatening to embarrass me. Also, the neckline isn't that low, but somehow, I seem to come equipped with too much cleavage.

At times like this, my BFF is Hollywood Fashion Tape.

This stuff is the velvet rope that controls the crowds on your Balcony.

I wore these shoes with it

from Taryn Rose's new line. You know, the foot doctor who became a shoe designer? Apparently she sold the rights to her name and then turned around and started Haute Fouture. The shoes are rather old lady ... but in a way I like.

These are wonderfully comfortable when you put them on. The leather is soft, the wedge is comfortable, and the elastic straps accommodate my high instep. However, a cocktail party is a cocktail party, and honestly, I think a thoughtful hostess should greet everyone with a nice pair of fluffy slippers. Because after a couple of hours of standing, even these shoes hurt.

Oh, I also carried my vintage Chanel bag with the giant gold interlocking CCs.

Where's the poem, you ask. Well. You know the old rhyme about what a bride should wear on her wedding day? Here's my version:

Something old (last summer's semi-orthopedic Taryn Rose-designed old lady shoes)
Something new (the dress, belt, and sweater)
Something vintage (my bag)

Something glue (Hollywood Fashion Tape)

Short-waisted in a sea of belts

Garnet Hill printed cardigan and gray suede obi that would look terrible on me

Ordinarily, I eschew belts. I'm short-waisted, meaning there was a mix-up at the parts factory. I'm 5' 7", and apparently (and I'm not blaming anyone, parents) someone took a torso designed for someone who is 5' 5", and matched it with a pair of 5' 8" legs. I'm not complaining about having long legs, exactly, but being both short-waisted and busty creates quite a wardrobe challenge.

What Not to Wear if you're busty

Short answer? Everything.

OK, seriously, here's what I try to avoid wearing anywhere near my balcony: pleats, ruffles, pockets, shirring, or gathers over the bustline. Huge collars. Decorative appliqued rosettes. Big splashy prints (yes, I love Lilly, but not the blouses.) Anything double-breasted. Those long necklaces that you see all over the place these days. Statement necklaces unless they end at the collarbone.

Basically, everything that's been in style for the past five years.

What Not to Wear if you're short-waisted

Here's what I don't wear because I'm short-waisted: tuck-in tops. Belts. And suspenders, no matter how adorable and Urkel-ish I'd look in them.

But this outfit from Eileen Fisher has a great work-around.

Eileen Fisher sleeveless ponte dress, leather obi belt, and merino wool shawl-collared cardigan from Neiman Marcus

Yes, it has a belt, but it's an obi, meaning there are no belt loops. That means I can place the belt slightly below my actual waistline. And it's much narrower than the gray one from Garnet Hill. Also, in this case, the belt is the same color as the dress. Contrasting colors break you up and make you look shorter and wider. Wearing all one color head-to-toe is the most slimming and lengthening thing you can do. The long laces hang down in the front, adding to the vertical effect. Also, only the center of the belt is showing, because the whole thing is covered by a 3/4 length shawl-collared cardigan.

I'm delighted with this outfit because I took a chance and ordered it on-line, but it works brilliantly, so no trip to the post office, yay!

Also because I went through the entire line of reasoning in the paragraph above, and it turns out I was right, which proves I'm smart.

Also all of the pieces will work with other things in my wardrobe. Except maybe the belt. It might not play well with others.

Hmmm. I'll be keeping an eye on that belt.

Trip report: England; Day 2; The Tower of London and St. Paul's Cathedral

OK, let me get this out and then I promise I won't whine much more: what is with hotels that don't offer wireless internet? I don't even care that much if they charge a little something for it. I think charging for wireless internet is ridiculous, too, but not as ridiculous as charging 20 pounds a day for high speed internet access via ethernet cable. Come on, Marriott--get with the program!

I have to use my husband's work laptop to type this, and it's balky and uncomfortable. And I can't get pictures.

Instead, I'll tell you what I wore, and what we did.

I wore

pink Eileen Fisher 3/4 sleeve cotton t-shirt

J. Crew City Fit Cafe Capris

tan Prada driving mocs

black 3/4 sleeve Nordstrom rain anorak

under the rain anorak, my Chanel wallet-on-a-chain

I also carried my idiotic Coach Poppy tote for things like bottled water, my umbrella, sunglasses, the guidebook I broke down and bought, etc.

What I Did

Our first stop for the day was the Tower of London. Can I just say how ... weird ... it is that I've only been to London once before, and this choir trip's itinerary is duplicating so much of what we did 20 years ago? Luckily a few things were different or I'd start to feel ossified. The crown jewels are displayed differently; the Tower is more Disney-fied (every attraction exits into a gift shop) and this time, we have teenagers with us. So that was interesting enough, I guess, and it was a lovely morning--sunny, but mild. Good weather for exploring.

We ate lunch at a sort of outdoor food court area in a newly-developed area just west of the Tower (for newly-developed read "after 1991".) There were lots of tourists of different stamps, and the food selections were OK; the teenagers could chow down on hot dogs with fries, but I could go to Paul and get a ham baguette and a bottle of Badoit.

(I love Badoit SO MUCH but they don't sell it in Chicago. I bought three bottles.)

After lunch we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. I was ready to give it a quick walk through and bail, but the teenagers insisted on really exploring. So we walked up the 200-plus steps to the whispering gallery and another two-hundred steps through some very steam-punk looking metal stairways to the dome. There we had great views of the London Eye, and the London Eye had great views of us.

Afterwards we hit a bookstore for a little browsing (and the purchase of a much-needed guide book) and then the teenagers insisted on going back to the cathedral for evensong. The choir sang a setting of O Nata Lux that our choir has sung, and the teenagers just loved hearing it.

Sitting in St. Paul's--site of the previous Royal Wedding (Charles' and Camilla's doesn't count) listening to gorgeous music and watching the sky darken through the clear glass windows while the setting sun illuminates the gold in the mosaics? Is well worth the blisters those Prada driving shoes gave me.

Trip report: England; Day 1

Thanks for the good travel wishes! We arrived safely in London and have already toured our first historical site. More about Hatfield House when I've managed to email my cell phone pictures to myself.

What I really wanted to report on was the success of my travel outfit. I had a brainstorm when I was packing when I realized that some of the clothes I was bringing to wear as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral would also be great to wear on the plane and during our first stately home visit.

No one would play along and take a picture of me, but my husband and daughter both complimented me on what I was wearing. My daughter said I didn't look like I was going to be traveling, which given the state of modern travel, is high praise.

Inspired by MaiTai's recent posts on visiting New York, this is what I was wearing:

a gray Banana Republic crew-neck t-shirt with silk trim banded at the neckline
 in case I spilled something on myself on the plane

black Eileen Fisher pants
 with their elastic waist and knit fabric, they're almost as comfortable as sweats--perfect for sleeping on the plane

thin black cashmere Leila Rose cardigan
in case the plane was chilly. And it was.
 
black Chanel Cambon ballet slippers
as comfortable as slippers and just a little dressy, with the patent leather CCs

black Chanel Cambon wallet-on-a-chain
I bought this last spring for this trip because a WOC is so perfect for travel. I could carry my money, passport, boarding pass, pen, lipgloss, gum, and a comb and know that my pocket won't be picked and I won't lose anything. It might be a little matchy-matchy with the shoes, but hey, I'll risk being too pulled together any day.

black and white Hermes Bolduc silk jersey scarf, folded on the bias and double knotted off to the side
This was to add a little pattern and texture to a very plain outfit. And a scarf can help keep you warm (although I had to take it off during our tour of Hatfield House, where, due to the fact that I had nowhere else to put it, I knotted it onto the handle of my WOC. How very Babe Paley of me.)

I only managed to sleep for a little while on the plane, and so,

as dear Samuel Pepys would put it,

to bed.

Packing, packing, packing.

People, I know. I start blogging again with a bang, then ... radio silence.

The thing is, between the house being painted, the basement being flooded, and my entire family heading to England on Thursday, it's been busybusybusy around here.

See, we're not just going to England to visit the Tower of London to drool over the Royal Jewels. Although that's definitely in the itinerary.

Will you get a load of this? And this is the stuff that isn't locked up for tourists to gawk at.

We're also going to be spending the week in Canterbury, being a visiting choir at the cathedral. And the preparations are dizzying.

First of all, we had to watch Becket.

Richard Burton is OK, but Peter O'Toole leaves him sitting in the road.

Because it would be remiss to visit Canterbury and not understand why the characters in the  Tales were journeying to the cathedral in the first place.

Also, I'm very busy trying to plump up my family's flat American vowels so the tourists who hear us sing won't realize we're from Chicago.

Not that we won't sound good, but if I were a tourist at Canterbury Cathedral, I'd be a bit disappointed that the extremely professional-sounding choir (complete with angelic, soaring trebles) was actually American. I feel it only polite to disguise my Colonial origins. At least, while I'm singing.

The other thing keeping me busy is making sure we're all stocked with sufficient choir clothes. It is not, unfortunately, enough that we'll be wearing floor-length choir robes topped with knee-length surplices. We also have a dress code to adhere to as cathedral musicians: black skirts or pants topped with white blouses or shirts. Closed-toe black shoes. Neutral, white, or black hose. Or--thankfully--no hose.

Having done this before, I've managed to accumulate a significant stock of black pants (God bless Eileen Fisher)




















sensible black closed-toe shoes,

Chanel Cambon ballerina flats--way too logo-y, but INCREDIBLY comfortable

Haute Footure wedges by the very clever Taryn Rose

and a nice collection of blouses.

Lafayette 148 is a favorite for these.

Dear Fashion Gods: Enough with the ruffles. Those of us with a lot on our balconies would appreciate it. Thanks! Love, Poppy

The gem of my blouse collection is one by Samuel Dong that I swear is made of the earth's supply of petroleum by-products. If I spill spaghetti sauce on it,  I could probably clean it off with Windex. Which makes it perfect for travel.

Let us not forget a stylish pair of wellies, should the weather prove inclement.

Getting the children properly kitted out has been A Mad Scramble, let me tell you.  Young Master Buxom is 16, and in the two years since we last went to England (and tried to trick American tourists into believing we were an English choir) he's gone from wearing a boy's size 20 shirt to a 15/33. Which makes for a lot of shopping.

And of course, there's the girl. Who is wont to declare that everything she once liked is now Woefully Out Of Style.

So while I get ready, do me a favor and come up with suggestions of fun, frivolous things to shop for in London. I plan to visit Boots and Top Shop. What about Mango? And are there any fabulous products for aging English complexions that I need to buy and bring back to the States? Any products that are imported to the U.K. but don't make it to the States?