Madison Avenue, early morning inspirations

I thought you might enjoy a little spring window-shopping. Here are some lace tops at DKNY

and some cute shoes at Cole-Haan

a carré tied into a halter at Hermès - here's how to do this. Fold the scarf along the diagonal into one large triangle. The long side (the hypotenuse for you mathematicians) goes at your waist and is knotted behind you. Then you take a short end in each hand, bring them up behind your neck and tie there. This look is sleek and sophisticated in the little Hermès how-to booklet, requires a lot of adjusting in real life. Petite ladies may have better luck folding the hypotenuse up a "waistband" or two before tying the waist. I myself was cheered to see that it can be puffy and blousy on a store window mannequin as well as on me, especially since Hermès goes to so much trouble with its windows. Oh, and I loved the plastic bangles.


Here's some "beachwear" from Hermès. Love the scarf, love the bag, love the bangles, dubious about that necklace. I am also v. pleased that the window mannequins come in more than one shade of plastic.



and just when you thought it was safe to go into the water again, here's an expensive version of the look that will never die from Brunello Cuccinelli. A very expensive version

This morning's stroll also brings a reminder that people are still finding imaginative things to do with sequins. This is a shot of a dress in the window of J.Mendl (yes, that's really their name, it's not a deranged wordplay on MD and JC. They're exclusive furriers from Paris, and also do a line of TDF dresses). The top of the picture was all glare-y, so I cropped it, because I still thought the dress is lovely, even without its nice upper half.




and by contrast, here's a screen shot of something that fluttered into my inbox few days ago. I think it speaks for itself, although I have to say -- no, I don't.




Well, yes, I do. I think this outfit looks like someone forgot to pack the top that really goes with the skirt.