Emerson Fry Linen tee (purchased via slowre)
Rag & Bone/JEAN Wicked jeans
Birkenstock Arizona sandals
Wearing/Buying
Where is FALL?? I’m ready. I’m always ready for cooler weather around this time of the year – I’ve had enough of the heat. We’re getting a bit of a break though actually, it’s not gotten above 90 degrees the last few days.
Speaking of fall, have you seen Only Child’s new arrivals? I’m still interested in a duster/vest to wear as a layer over my James Perse dresses and add pockets, but I also still wonder if I’d actually WEAR one. Haley’s is very good – and so is the Cardiff work jacket.
Oh, and who took the sizing survey at Elizabeth Suzann? Did you use your 10% off coupon yet?? I’m so tempted by the clyde jacket, but I’d also like to wait for the cold weather collection. But then the 10% off won’t be valid. Decisions, decisions…
And as I was browsing Garmentory (use my referral link for a $20 credit when you sign up for an account), I stumbled upon HAIR GOALS!!!!! I don’t want mine as long as hers, but I love the color, and I need to understand how to do a top knot like that…mine are not good – see above. Part of my new not giving AF attitude is trying to live a bit with my grays growing in. If I was still giving a fuck, I would have already been to the salon to get them covered a week ago. The problem is that I’m not quite ready to grow my grays in, so I’m going to have to get them covered at some point. And anyway, I’m not convinced the growing out will be pretty AT ALL.
Reading/Watching
Stylish “older” women are having a moment…although I’m not sure why we have to qualify them as “older” – can’t they just be stylish women? Anyway, I really find the most stylish women are of a certain age; I don’t find much very interesting amongst the “instagram-famous” bloggers/influencers. I can’t relate, and I truly find that most of them all look alike.
Man Repeller – stylish women to follow on instagram
Cup of Jo features a stylish “older” woman in her week of outfits post (peep her Robert Clergerie shoes!)
I am obsessed with Alyson’s outfit – it’s a People Tree X V&A dress, which incidentally Kathryn posted about in a comment here several weeks ago and THIS was the one dress I really liked. I still like the pattern better from afar though LOL.
If I’m most afraid of anything, it’s having a family member diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, or being diagnosed with it myself; my uncle died relatively young from Alzheimer’s, it progressed quickly, and was heartbreaking to see. I’m a nutrition buff anyway, but after listening to this episode of think earlier this week on my public radio station with Dr. Bredesen, the author of The End of Alzheimer’s, about his program to prevent and reverse cognitive decline, I am even more convinced than I already was that food is the best medicine. Going to devour the book this weekend…
What have you read recently that you’ve enjoyed? or found helpful?
Doing
Getting ready to move? Packing, purging, etc.
I love the Only Child Arden top in raw silk! I’ve been hoping ES would do something similar but I’m sorely tempted by this!
I am letting my dark brown hair go gray as it will. I used to color it in my 20’s but stopped after 9/11 (long story). The gray is mostly isolated at my temples right now with a few other scattered about.
Currently reading James Altucher’s “The Power of No” and looking forward to GOT on Sunday!
Hi Grechen,
Always happy to read you – I think your first paragraph about “stylish” older women is missing the end of the last sentence ? (I think I can guess what you mean and I would agree… but you never know !)
oh my gosh. yes, thank you for pointing that out. i was in a hurry to publish before i left for pure barre and didn’t finish my thought 🙂
I did the sizing survey for ES and yes, also used the 10% off coupon code! I bought the Maxine crop top in white raw silk 🙂 I figured any discount w/ES is a good one!
I’m 50 now but haven’t had any grays come in except for maybe 1 or 2 strands in the past 5 years (which I pulled out). I know it’s d/t my genes on dad’s side. I do love the look of all gray/silver on women though.
I’m getting rid of stuff and purging too; will be having a garage sale come October!
I ordered a Georgia dress (regular length) in charcoal linen. The weather has been so unpredictable this year (unseasonably cool, then unseasonably hot) – fingers crossed I’ll get some use out of it in late October. If nothing else, I can pair it up with leggings or even over jeans for Fall.
I also have store credit saved up for the Signature relaunch and restocking the CWC. I would love to snag a Harper dress in the heavy wool fabric. I’m also excited to see if ES has a selection of knits this winter. The Kordal Billie styles looked beautiful, but neither color would have flattered my skin tone. I hope to see those in a charcoal gray or black!!
I started going grey in my 20s (thanks, Dad!) but I’ve been coloring for fun since I was ~16. I’m 44 now. The past year, I’ve let it go natural a couple of times to see how much grey I have (I’m now coloring very close to my natural shade so it doesn’t leave terrible roots, and I’ve also been doing semi-permanent color as I check the spread of grey). I’ve decided I’m not quite ready to go natural yet 😉 I’ve also got a TON of wave/curl I never had before, EVER, so apparently that’s a thing. My mom (age 67) had her hair just go curly this year too…..And she’s gone natural (she didn’t really start getting grey until her mid-50s)
Love that dress. I have a long sleeve maxi dress I love but I NEVER know how to wear it. I wear sleeveless maxi dresses to work (business very casual – academia) but long sleeve seems too dressy. The only environment I can ever picture myself wearing it is entertaining at a dinner party. Weird, right? So I’m hesitant to buy another!
I ordered Maxine Crop in ivory silk crepe with the sizing survey coupon! I’d planning to wear it as part of a 2 piece wedding dress for my wedding next fall, but I’m mostly just excited to have a gorgeous top I can wear afterwards 🙂
I think you might find yourself loving the duster if you get one. The ability to throw it over anything and have pockets is the best! And the wool ones from Only Child look gorgeous, I’m debating if I also need a wool one.
Sorry for this, don’t mean to step on any toes, but due to the health implications, I feel I must make a comment. First, the alzheimer trial only included 10 people and they all had symptoms of memory loss. This is neither a sufficiently large nor a representative sample. Second, to quote Dr. Bredesen, the findings are “very encouraging,” but the results are anecdotal, and a more extensive, controlled, reproducible clinical trial is needed. Third, much of the advice can be boiled down to eat healthy, exercise well, get sufficient sleep. Which is great and costs little so wonderful advice, we should all have at it in that respect. I only mention Dr. B’s own cautions as while the health of effects of jumping into hormone replacement therapy or removing gluten from your diet are totally worth it, if you have symptoms of alzheimers, and are being closely followed by a trial, there are risks to HRT and even to removing foods from one’s diet, if one has not consulted a nutritionist. Of course one can have a healthy non-gluten diet, but important nutrients that will have key impacts on health may be lost if one if not aware. I recently sat in on a discussion of medical practitioners who were seeing serious health issues from individuals who decided to remove gluten without substituting other whole grains, etc. , so just saying ;-).
of course. i’m certainly not trying to prescribe anything here 🙂 and he himself absolutely recommends consulting with a professional before embarking on any significant course of treatment.
his talk resonated with me 1. because it’s in line with a lot I’ve already read about links between food and health (specifically a higher fat, lower-than-what-we-think-we-need protein diet), 2. because he mentioned the benefits of a ketogenic diet (which has been used for years to treat epilepsy, and only recently looked into to treat other neurodegenerative disorders) – something i’ve also read a lot about and 3. because he talks about using fasting as a way to get your body into ketosis without having to so drastically cut carbohydrates – something i’ve also been interested in…
i’m not under the impression that we can all follow some diet and be healed or never get sick in the first place – there are too many variables – but i will never stop exploring new research and ideas on the links between food and disease.
First of all Gretchen, I wanted to tell you how trim and radiant you are looking in your recent outfit shots. Definitely the combination of Pure Barre and the hair color (& the happy smile) is a winner. I’m trying to get back to a healthy lifestyle so you are inspiring me. I’m so over the heat too. Hawaii is less about high temps but the humidity with no “Kona winds” has been brutal recently and I have no AC in my apartment. I’m looking forward to Octoberish, out of hurricane season ( I do hope you are not affected by Harvey where you are).
I wanted almost everything from Only Child. And she implemented petite sizing too for some of the items! I ordered both the Madelyn and the Cardiff (which is ironic since I just spoke about the heat, right?). I will be traveling in November and would like to take one wool layer with me for when I feel like dressing up and getting out of the puffer. I have the old Madelyn but love the slouchier look and color of this one. I love the big pockets. When I fly with my old Madelyn, I can stick my kindle, tissues, earphones, etc in the pocket on the plane. I figured I’ll start with the outerwear, maybe pick up some other pieces later. I wanted the Vista jumpsuit (I already have the linen version and love it) and the Alta tunic. I’m still not sure how I feel about the nubbiness of raw silk yet though. I have a raw Jaime + Jones piece and I’m not used to it looking like it’s pilling. It looks beautiful but it is just a change in mindset for me.
One more thing – I love the Admonish pouch I received from Slowre. A nice non-black piece for me (I plan to use it as a clutch).
Not only hair goals, but earring goals! Pretty cool (do you know where they’re from on Garmentory?).
I totally get what you mean about the “insta-famous influencer” bloggers all looking alike: Uber blonde long wavy hair, red lips, high heels on cobblestone streets, and a BILLION and ONE photographs of themselves!!! Ugh!!! No thank you.
I’m kind of getting on board with the idea of a floral dress. Do these things occur organically, or is the fashion industry magically leading us down that path?!?
I was happy to see the ES coupon code for the survey, as I would have done the survey without the promise of a coupon code! I live in TN so I pay sales tax of almost 10% on my orders, so it basically got my order down to the original price of the item. Yay. I am in dire need of pants, so I bought the Tilda in black cotton canvas. I don’t own a basic black cotton pant, and I hope these will work! They should arrive in time for the cooler weather, so I’m excited.
It may be a false impression I’m under, but I think the CWC isn’t relaunching until fall of next year. I emailed customer service to inquire about navy canvas pants, and Emily indicated that they would have a small signature relaunch in November with items they know people are eager for (Cecilias, Clyde styles), and then a bigger relaunch in 2018. It seems like the CWC is 3rd in line for relaunch.
Oooops, totally meant to wish that you stay safe and dry Harvey-wise yesterday, but had a senior moment there. So….stay safe and dry everyone in Texas!
She is doing another knit collab with Mandy Kordal, launching in Sept, but lighter fabrics, silk knits etc. I am stoked for the products, but as I will be outside of internet contact in far north (watching fall caribou migration) I expect everything will be sold out by the time I’m back :-(.
For those of us who are afraid of colour (yes, I include myself in this 😉 ), I commend to your attention the following video, via Liz: https://www.nowness.com/story/united-colors-of-shirley-kurata. I love every single iteration. Maybe that’s the solution? Wear colour, but in very, very austere styles? Mind you, I could never stick to a uniform. I cannot commit to anything, much less style. No. 1 reason why I do not have tatoos, although I love tatoo art. Maybe a blog suggestion for you, Grechen: what’s your colour? Just a thought! ha ha.
Funny that you mention how “older” stylish women are having a moment because I was just looking through some photos on pinterest and posted a mini-rant on my site about seeing the words “Advanced Style” associated with older stylish people. I ended up finding out there’s a website called Advanced Style by a photographer who highlights stylish seniors. While I applaud the photographer for taking photos of these people and pointing them out, I also want to slap him for using the word “advanced”.
All of that got me thinking: Why the f*** must we even give it a name? Just like you said, why not just say “stylish women”? I feel like “Advanced Style” refers to a college class of some sort. I also didn’t like how it equates the words “advanced” to “old” – as if they are synonymous. *eyeroll*
Go for the top knot! I think that would look great.
I’ve been dithering over which ES pants to get so the 10% discount helped the decision. Got the Florence pants in natural cotton canvas and the Tilda in flax linen. Now I’m second-guessing myself on the fit and fabric for the Florence. Does anyone have this in the cotton canvas? It’s wide-legged so I’m worried it may be too stiff/awkward in the cotton canvas (esp in a light color). Can anyone comment on this fabric? Thanks!!
So do you mistrust the medical community? Honest question. Because if eating a ketogenic diet or cutting gluten truly “reversed alzheimers”, then surely doctors who study and treat neurogenerative disorders would be all over it, right? Eating healthy is great, but its a real elementary approach to significant complex diseases to say that food can “cure” diseases. TBH I didn’t read the book and have no intentions of reading, because the excerpts tell me as a scientist I’ll be rolling my eyes right out of my head. Just my 2 cents.
I obviously don’t have and haven’t tried either pant, but the cotton canvas does seem rather stiff to me, which puts me off the Florence in that material. It could soften up nicely though, in which case it could be pretty good lol.