Puccini

My dream is to one day own a Pucci dress, and if I do get one, I will of course let you guys know all about it. In the meantime, I have Puccini.

Shell Game

I just read an article in The New Yorker about a fancy restaurant where dessert is somehow intertwined with a three-card monte. I'm still not sure exactly how it works — the server flips over a card that has your dessert ingredient of choice? — and I am in no danger of ever finding out, given the frequency (hint: not high) with which I take advantage of New York's fine restaurants.

Veracious

I recently started watching "How I Met Your Mother" on Netflix Instant, making up for the last seven years I spent ignoring it. (Eventually, I'll get around to "Friday Night Lights." Don't rush me.)

I loved the way the show played with time, moving forwards and backwards and kaleidoscoping narratives (think Memento or Pulp Fiction) in a way that is my second-favorite storytelling trick. (First favorite: body swap.) Also, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris are pretty reliably hilarious, even before HIMYM started.

The Birds

Another day, another inspiring/cautionary tale.

I found The Birds in the summer of 2001, looking at its vast expanse of polyester (it was at least three sizes too big) and seeing only the perfect color combo of its print.

Swamplandia!

I recently read Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell—have you read it?

Pandora

My most memorable night in Pandora started with Champagne at a secret party at the ugly Grande Arche de la Défense, and ended with a friend's broken collarbone... actually the night didn't end there, or with a trip to the hospital, though it probably should have.

Since then, I've always associated Pandora with bad behavior.

Charlie Chevron Brown Chevron Garden Chevron Party

Chevrons just for the sake of chevrons are not appealing to me (which is why I loathe Missoni (exaggeration)). 

Saying “chevrons” just for the sake of saying “chevrons,” however — that is very appealing to me. 

Peony Cache-Cache

My memory of this one isn't super-precise, either... I think I bought it in Buenos Aires?

My grandmother, who has been immortalized in these pages before, never talked about her clothes. I find this rule impossible to follow in my own life — obviously — but I do enjoy the aura of mystery in conveys, or rather would convey if I didn't treat every dress like an encapsulation of my own life story, complete with insecurities and indiscretions.

Fractal Candy

The simplest shift dress can go from ordinaire to extraordinaire with a judicious use of pattern. And by "judicious" I mean "as much as humanly possible."

So much pattern!

Wanderful

First, I want to announce the results of the second Dressopotamia Giveaway! The randomly selected new proud owner of Disco Mondrian is... Ellen! Ellen, I believe I have your email address from the Dressopotamia subscription list, but if that is a different Ellen, let me know and we will work it out. Wear it in good health!

In contrast to Disco Mondrian, Wanderful will never, ever leave my closet. I don't remember where I bought it, but I was in college, so I know it was many, many years ago. And it's still going strong!

Flimsy Whimsy

Aren't collars just so dramatic?

I am stalking a collared dress in the vintage shop across from my office. Unfortunately it costs $300, so my creepy love will have to remain unrequited.

Lily Pads

Brace yourself for another non-vintage dress.

Green Champagne

Does your wardrobe ever make you contemplate your own mortality?

Green Champagne offers me a peek into the abyss, and I’m not just saying that because it reminds me of a huge wall covered with the script for Waiting for Godot.

Arsenic

I recently read Deborah Blum's The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. It's a fascinating read on what could be a dry topic, and it makes me wonder just how many poisonous things we are blithely ingesting, totally unawares. Like, seriously, should I stop buying canned tomatoes?

One thing I learned was that people used to use arsenic for just about anything. Rat poison, sure. But also wallpaper paste, wallpaper itself, medicine and all sorts of green dyes — it was everywhere.

Red, Beige and Blue

Happy Independence Day!

Notice the themed outfit.

Sacapuntas

My mother's mother was the quintessential grandmother. She was a sweet woman who never swore, doted on all her grandchildren, took letter-writing very seriously and hostessing even more seriously. (She wasn't the sort to follow you around with an ashtray — that would be intrusive. But when we had grapefruit at the breakfast table, she would get up early to loosen all the segments in her guests' fruit.) She was born in Iowa in 1909. She was religious, but never ostentatious about it. She was what you picture when you picture a grandmother, and I don't think I'm biased here.

So I was really surprised to find this kicky little number among her things.

Excuse me for a second; this wig is all wrong. Yes, the spiraling black curls echo the pencil-sharpening-curlicues of the print...

Paisley Park

Why can't more things be paisley? It seems like it would be very easy to make a fresh and modern paisley — not just the colors, but the shapes. A smooth, sprightly, whimsical paisley — can't Jonathan Adler do something with that? I wouldn't buy it if he did — I'm not in the market for $68 coasters, no matter how cool they look — but maybe he (we? call me, Jonny) could spark a paisley renaissance.

Shady Lane

Shady Lane evokes a vague sense memory for me. Every time I wear it, I flash back to a mystery time when I was riding in the back of a pickup truck, feeling the sun on my face and arms. 

Filthy Martini

When I bought Filthy Martini, it was a huge shapeless dress with long sleeves and cuffs. Now it looks like this:

It's a pretty good argument for getting things tailored when you need to. Filthy Martini cost $12 in (probably?) 2002, it probably cost about $30 to get it tailored, and I've worn it about a billion times since then (one hundred million times a year), so the amortization on that works out to $0.000000042 per wear. Definitely worth it.

Swimming Pool

Another day, another experience in sartorial psychedelia...