Michelle Obama’s Tracy Reese Dress Sells Out in Less then 24 hours…
Posted: January 6, 2013 Filed under: Politics, Fashion | Tags: Fashion, Michelle Obama, ModCloth, Tracy Reese, Dress, Best of Luxe, Democratic National Convention, Pink Wallpaper Combo Frock 1 Comment »…on ModCloth, the online retailer and my guilty pleasure. On the Tracy Reese website all sizes but 4, 6 and 12 had sold out by 3:30 am the early morning after they went on sale. By 10:45 pm however, it looks like Reese ordered a new batch of dresses for production as now the dress is available in all sizes from 0 -14.
ModCloth, however, is still out of stock.
The official name of the dress, according to the Tracy Reese website is “Pink Wallpaper Combo Frock.” Really boring, and borderline horrible of a name, if I must say.
ModCloth went with “Best of Luxe” which is infinitely better. Pink Wallpaper Combo Frock may be more practical of a name but it lacks imagination and means nothing to me, a woman who would want to buy this dress. Well, actually, it does say something: it says you are wearing a combination of wallpaper as a frock. “Best of Luxe” does not evoke “you are wearing wallpaper.”
Luxe, a word I had not seen before, means “the condition of being elegantly sumptuous.”
Best of Luxe is a rayon/silk mixture though, so not really the best of “being elegantly sumptuous.” Despite the exaggeration of luxury, the ModCloth name implies that while wearing the dress, you then become the best at being elegantly sumptuous. Which again, is better than wearing wallpaper.
The addition of rayon into the fabric, which diminishes the luxury, is clearly an economic choice. Read the rest of this entry »
Leggings Behind Pocket Hate Conspiracy
Posted: July 9, 2010 Filed under: Chicago, Style | Tags: Chicago, Clothing, Denim, denim leggings, Design, Fashion, girls hate carry purses, girls hate pockets, Leggings, ravenswood CTA mugging, Shopping, Trousers, Tunic, Women's 2 Comments »
fake denim leggings, yeah? Image by Idhren via Flickr
I came late to the 80′s revival legging fashion parade.
At first I couldn’t understand why stockings suddenly went out of style. I didn’t understand the bare skin between the ankle and the top of the foot. But then I saw that leggings can provide texture that no hose or stocking can. Leggings are also thicker than stockings but not as thick as pants, so I slowly became receptive to their usefulness. The cuteness of tunics over leggings was not lost on me, and then one day, a friend wore fake denim leggings on a hot day and I became a fan.
My like of leggings had to do with the usefulness of the accessory, despite modern outfits for ladies these days being utterly useless when it comes to pockets. When I wear leggings I have a dilemma. If I were to wear the leggings right, I can’t wear a bottom or top that has pockets. (Or I just haven’t found the right clothing options?) When I bring this up to my other female friends, they look at me strangely, not understanding my need for pockets. Somewhere over the past couple of years, my female peers began hating pockets and I never got the memo. Why dislike pockets?
Pockets are useful. You put things in pockets. Chapstick. Change. A hair tie. Tissues. Keys. Items easily lost in a large purse. If I wanted to run to the corner store or buy some alcohol, I don’t want to take a bag – a large accessory. I want some folds in my clothes that hold these items on me, for quick access.
With the comeback in leggings, fashion has also brought back the cross body purse,… understandably, because there are no pockets on women’s outfits. I have always loved cross body purses as a way to carry all my EQ. I believed these purses were “safer” until an earlier mugging in my neighborhood was made more complicated by the woman’s cross body bag, and she got beaten up for it. The police at the subsequent CAPS meeting explained how these types of bags make it harder for you to give your purse to the mugger, and harder for the muggers to snatch it. You can get strangled by your bag, and if the mugger gets frustrated, he can punch and kick you while you are entangled in the straps. An unpleasant thought.
I hate carrying a purse though, and I know I am not alone in this. Sure, clothes without back pockets make my ass look better, but I already have my mate so am no longer advertising myself to the male population by wearing skin-tight pants.
Is there a way to make clothes for women that include pockets without appearing bulky? Instead of rehashing old styles from the past 100 years, can we make something new and creative? Some kind of functional clothing, with pockets?
In Purple We Trust?
Posted: November 2, 2009 Filed under: Chicago, Style | Tags: Clothing, Fashion, Health care, High-heeled footwear, Mary Tomer, Michelle Obama, Mrs O: The Face of Fashion Democracy, Nancy Pelosi, Obama administration, Olympia Snowe, Politics, Presidency of Barack Obama, Purple, Shopping, Society and Culture, United States 3 Comments »
Barack and Michelle Obama board a plane in Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota on June 3, 2008 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Purple purple everywhere. Purple shoes, jackets, blouses, shirts, ties, dresses, purses, belts- if your wardrobe needs updating, you buy purple, the fashionable color for the past two seasons (arguably, the color since last year). Why this color, the color long associated with royalty?
Do you remember those “Start Wearing Purple” ads by Yahoo? Where they referenced that gypsy punk song from 2005, “Start wearing purple“, by Gogol Bordello? This was around the same time that Yahoo changed their logo from red to purple. Did you see the date on that link? June 12th, 2008. Didn’t Michelle Obama wear a purple dress when her husband recieved the democratic nomination, on June 3rd? Michelle Obama wore a color that blended both political parties…. her color choice was symbolizing her husband’s willingness to work with both parties, to be bipartisan. Purple, the color that said everyone’s ideas would be incorporated, so we as a united nation could solve the many many problems that emerged during, out of, and because of, the last presidency’s handing of political and economic affairs.
Chances are, you have something purple in your closet, and it is new. So why are you wearing purple? Are you aware that fashion houses grabbed onto this color because they love Michelle Obama? I’ve acquired two purple items in the past couple of months- a blouse, and a pair of purple suede high heels (doubling my impractically purple suede heel count), and yeah, I respect the Obama administration and the idea of listening to everyone. Purple wearer, do you too believe in incorporating everyone’s ideas? Do you too want to be inclusive and fix the problems that plague America? Are you willing to listen to the other side? Are you willing to compromise?
The date that marks one year after Obama was elected is upon us, and news outlets are questioning Obama’s accomplishments. The most popular problem of the day is healthcare, and while most Americans believe our healthcare system is broken, the effort to fix this problem stops at party lines (whether it’s over fear-mongering, ignorance, or just plain party line stubbornness), with Olympia Snowe being the exception. All this big government, little government talk is getting us no where in fixing America, and Obama is the only known and willing compromiser. I don’t see much bipartisan action going on, but I sure do see a lot of purple. And frankly, it’s starting to make me sick.
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