Category Archives: fashion

Iron Bowl

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iron-bowlToday is Iron Bowl Eve in Alabama. You have to choose sides — no more-iron-bowlexcuses. And even though today also is the first official day of Christmas shopping and we women throughout the state are eager to start wearing the snowpeople sweaters and angel earrings and candy cane-embroidered pants we put away this past January, we have to wait three days more. Today and tomorrow are for wearing crimson and white or orange and blue, and then Sunday (and perhaps Monday if you want to rub it in for co-workers) is the day for the winners to wear their colors proudly and triumphantly and the losers to look ahead to 2009. Read more about it at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081128/ARTICLES/811280301

Like many Alabama families. we’re a house divided. I try to remain neutral, unbiased and completely objective. Sort of. Younger daughter Carolyn is rabidly anti-Alabama. It stems, she explained this morning, from when we moved here to Alabama from Tennessee. She started third grade here and on her first day, everybody in her class demanded to know whether she went for Alabama or Auburn. The Alabama kids seemed especially intensely scary, she says, so she chose Auburn as the safer option and has never wavered. Older daughter Liz with her husband Jason and eight-month-old Nolan are blissfully unaware that this is a major football weekend. Husband John Pitts is totally focused on the Ole Miss/Mississippi State rivalry that culminates in the Egg Bowl, which is a big story, too, at least to those folks who live in Mississippi and we who claim honorary Mississippi citizenship.

Anthropologie

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huntsville-102908-014My favorite shop in the whole world is Anthropologie. I love huntsville-102908-015this store and I’m not really sure why. I immediately go to my happy place as soon as I walk in the door — in fact, this is my happy place. I mean, the clothes are far too young and funky for my post-menopausal body and I know I look ridiculous in the Cream-of-the-Crop Top paired with the Can-Can Pencil Skirt and coordinated with the Sylvan Scene Cardigan, but shopping hope springs eternal. Somehow, Anthropologie makes you believe. And then there’s the other side of the store: A sort of huntsville-102908-016eclectic and hip yard-sale jumble of linens and glassware and kitchen goodies — all those things you never knew you huntsville-102908-0171needed until Anthropologie gently waves them under your nose and says, “Hey! You are just the right person to take home this Pitch Pine Sugar Bowl” and even though you do not even use sugar ever at all, before you know it you are at the cash register trying to remember if you’ve already signed up for an Anthropolgie card. This happens to me time after time. Is it something in the store’s oil-diffused air? Has Anthropologie perfected an undetectable form of consumer hypnotism? I don’t know. I think I need to go again to figure it out. And again. And again. And … Check out the Web site at http://www.anthropologie.com/

Baby Holiday Fashion

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Seven-months-old grandson Nolan Thomas Behel was a Pirate Baby for Halloween — that’s his mom, my older daughter, Liz, demonstrating a pirate hook. Nolan seems to love dressing up (read “not mind”), so I think we’ve got some fun times ahead of us. And now that Halloween’s over and we’re into November already and we’re speeding into the holiday season, we (read “Grandma”) can legitimately start thinking about Christmas wear. (Sorry, Thanksgiving, for shortchanging you this year.) And of course, as a new grandma, I’m thinking ahead. I snagged this adorable Christmas onesie at Baby Gap earlier this fall as soon as I saw it. I love the cap. Who could resist? Definitely not me.

Fall Jackets

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One of the best things about fall here in Alabama is wearing jackets. I love jackets! I feel more pulled together when I’ve got one on, plus, it hides the dreaded middle-age pooch that persists in hanging around no matter how many crunches I do or chocolate-covered creme-filled Krispy Kremes I give up. Since my usual cold-weather outfit is a simple and lazy turtleneck with jeans, jackets jazz things up and help me look less basic. Shop for great jacket deals in the early spring as retailers get rid of their winter stock. That’s how I got these three great finds. One of my favorites is the orange embroidered wool. As soon as the temperature gets down to the 50s and 60s, I pull it out. I wear it so much I’m sure everybody gets sick of seeing it. But I don’t care! I feel happy as soon as I put it on. I got it on sale at Audie Mescal women’s boutique in Tuscumbia, Alabama, two or three years ago. The soft green quilted jacket is a velour-like brushed cotton in such a pretty shade. It’s from a clearance rack at specialty store Marigail Mathis in Florence, Alabama (http://www.marigailmathis.com/). I also lucked up on a near-matching long-sleeved green T-shirt. But the best buy is this fantastic gray jacket from Theodora women’s shop in Homewood (Birmingham), Alabama. I coveted it all season two years ago but could not pay the $300 or so price. I guess nobody else could, either, because I found it on the sale rack at such a discount that I bought it immediately before the store owner changed her mind. Score!

Shopping the Gap

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The other day I was in our Gap store in Regency Square Mall in Florence, Alabama — I usually cruise by every week or so to check out what’s new. And as a new grandma, I usually wander over to the Baby Gap side. Who can resist? Anyway, I found a couple pairs of knit pants for sale and this adorable little outfit and figured I’d better call my daughter Liz to check on sizes for grandson Nolan. “Hey, sweetie,” I said on the cell. “I’m here at our Gap …” She laughed. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “I’m at our Gap, too.” She’s in nearby Huntsville, Alabama, which has a Gap (after closing stores in the two malls) at the newly opened Bridge Street Town Centre. “That’s so funny,” I agreed and continued, “but listen, I’m looking at something cute for Nolan.” She laughed even harder. “Let me guess,” she said. “Is it a blue patchwork vest with pinstriped pants? I”ve got them in my hand right now!” Great shopping minds think alike. I’ve trained my children well.

Losing Stylishly

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Ouch! Football fans all over the SEC are shaking their heads over sad and unimpressive — but predictable — games on Saturday. Vanderbilt lost its chance of a perfect winning season — and who ever thought we would read those words? — to Mississippi State, Tennessee continues to limp its way to a perfect losing season after a trip to Georgia and Auburn demonstrated its lack of defense as well as offense in a loss to Arkansas. Alabama fans are happy, of course, since Texas picked off top-ranked Oklahoma* and made room for the Tide to move up, thereby validating coach Nick Saban’s multi-million-dollar contract. To fans, at least. And as is the way in the South, football drives fashion. An AP story today reported that Alabama’s rise in fortune has meant a rise in Tide merchandise sales. There are still some brave Auburn holdouts, however, such as Collage Designer Consignment in Birmingham, which had this display at the front of the store recently. Adorable, stylish and loyal, all at the same time. Because true fans never give up, so why not look cute while you’re supporting your team? Even if you’re not shopping for football, Collage has some great buys and a diverse inventory, with jewelry, evening, bridal and plus-sizes. I got a like-new top there for at least a third of retail. You can’t beat that. Now, if only some of that luck would rub off on Auburn. Check out Collage at http://www.shopcollage.com/

* My husband, sports editor of the Tupelo, Miss., Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, pointed out that Alabama this weekend performed the near-miraculous feat of winning twice without even playing, riding to on-paper victories with Oklahoma’s and Auburn’s losses. Is there nothing Saban cannot do???!!!!!!

Florence Fashion

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If you’re not wearing a team T-shirt to the football game today, try one of these super-cute BCBG MaxAzria tops. They’re lightweight enough to be comfortable under jackets but look great on their own whether you’re pairing them with jeans, nice pants or a skirt — versatility plus! And, as always, they cover all sorts of bumps and lumps. My true figure is much more like the green top than the black top, sadly, but both of these tops are so flattering. They’re from Marigail Mathis women’s boutique in Florence, Ala. Check out the Web site at http://www.marigailmathis.com. Marigail recently closed her adjacent shop MG2, and her husband, artist Tommy Mathis, moved his gallery, ARTifacts, into the space. It’s sumptiously decorated and the perfect spot for taking an art break. Visit online at http://www.tommymathis.com/

Mother-Daughter Style

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Both of my daughters are great shoppers. I’ve taught them well! My younger daughter, Carolyn, goes to school in Birmingham, Ala., and she loves shopping in consignment and charity stores there. Mainly she looks for T-shirts she recycles into other projects, but she also finds great retro/vintage buys perfect for a 20-something college student. She got the three tops on the left from a Goodwill store in Birmingham. The red wrap dress was about $9 — she’s going to wear it over T-shirts and jeans. The polka-dot white top was about $3 — again, wonderful with jeans. The pink cotton embroidered tunic is Free People and was about $5. These tops only needed good washings and they were good to go. She found the embellished yellow slip for $7.50 at Golden Temple Natural Grocery in Five Points South in Birmingham. Somebody had added lace and little satin roses to this slip — maybe to wear as a dress? Anyway, it’s adorable and the perfect length to wear under a couple dresses she’s got.

Carolyn had come home for a quick visit this weekend and showed me her shopping treasures. But before she went back to Birmingham, we had to negotiate a deal. She liked a new dress I had bought and wore to church on Sunday (see post below). I have to admit it looked a lot better on her than on me. So, in exchange for the dress, she gave me the pink Free People top, which she said didn’t really fit her but it was a $5 Free People top so she had to get it! Of course, it’s exactly the hippie-boho style we all wore 30 years ago, so naturally I love it. Thanks, Carolyn!

TJ Fashion

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This is why I love TJ Maxx: I found this short-sleeved, fake-wrap jersey BCBG Max Azria dress in a cute fall print — it’s actually called Fall Leaves Print — for $25. Yes, $25. I’ve had lunches that cost more than that. It’s flattering on my menopausal pear-shaped body, is the perfect length — not too short or too long — and is completely just right with sandals for our hot and humid early fall weather here in northwest Alabama. Plus, when it gets cooler (and it will get cooler, it will get cooler, it will …) this dress keeps going with the addition of turtlenecks and tights, our layering best friends. And the best part? The original tag says “$240.” Even if this dress never actually sold for that amount, I feel as if I scored a bargain.

Fashion Friday

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While the rest of the fashion world is focused on New York this week as designers show their spring 2009 collections, there’s other style news with a New York connection: two lines of “Sex and the City” clothes are in stores and online. Left is a look from SATC designer Patricia Field, whose Destination Style New York is sold as pre-orders now at hsn.com and live on hsnTV from Sept. 23 to Sept. 27. Think edgy, sexy and Vogue cover. Right is a dress from The Kristin Davis Collection, sold at belk.com and in Belk department stores. Think sweet, feminine and Real Simple cover. The Patricia Field line seems meant to directly evoke SATC style — many outfits are complete recreations of some of TV character Carrie Bradshaw’s more memorable looks. On the other hand, Kristin Davis’ line seems more evocative of the actress herself and not related to the show so much as just to be some wearable and pretty clothes.

Aren’t we glad we’ve got choices?