stalking the wild Gardenshade

About a year ago I mentioned that I'd captured the J.Crew Gardenshade Pencil Skirt - well, two GSPS's -  a heavy cotton in a murky blue and green floral which I love because there are no orange flowers. And the fabric is strong-minded enough to de-puff the tummy! I now admit that I have a third.

This skirt was another of those obsessive afterthoughts - long after it had disappeared from stores and website, it dawned on me that I should have it. My mom was a glorious natural redhead, milky complexion, wedgewood china blue eyes, and she insisted that her little brown-or-hazel-eyed brunette children would look just as great in redhead-clothes as she did. Um, not. Or perhaps only in the case of deep, swampy blues and greens, and basics like clear black and navy, otherwise even things that were made for us tended to look like hand-me-downs in the wrong color. But because of all the blues and greens, I held off and was late to the gardenshade party.

Speaking of wrong color, doesn't that bright green sweater with the soft tones of the skirt make your teeth hurt?

from a not-so-recent appearance
on eBay...

I challenged a bemused helper formerly known as a Personal Shopper to find me the vanished Gardenshade skirt. The Personal Shopper was polite but dubious, made no promises, but about two months later I got a call from a store across the country - someone had gotten around to checking the We Will Find It email notices, and We Will FOUND IT! was I still interested, she wondered? Well, yes, and when we discussed the price, there was 40% off the last markdown price and the skirt was mine for under $20. I didn't have the nerve to ask about the student discount. I have my limits.

And still later, it arrived, and then another one arrived, also quite cheap, and then in another month, when the third arrived, practically for free, I figured I had a lifetime supply. I have one in my regular size, one in my "slimmer" size, and thanks to the mysterious people who put size tags on things, the third skirt is in a size that is between the other two when tried on, and not a size 2 as labelled. Which is fine with me. I don't even bother to aspire to a size 2, although it's interesting to think that someone in WWFIFY recognized that it was not a 2 and decided it might fit that odd lady in New York.

So, going forward, now no matter what happens I will be adequately Gardenshaded.  I was afraid to tell the WWFI people to stop, because it's like contacting the government - they only read part of the message and they get that part wrong, and that's what stays on your record. I could just envision the notation "Take no action on future WWFI requests" permanently attached to my account number. So I figured that if necessary I could return any additional arrivals or give them to similarly complected relatives, but I haven't had to. The supply stopped as mysteriously and inexplicably as it began, and I put the skirts on a shelf in the closet and thought no more of them.

Time passed, and now I'm thinking about travel in what looks to be a warm fall - and while madly looking in my armoire for the lightest-weight twinset (thank goodness I had remembered to leave a reminder taped to the inside of the door when I reorganized at the end of last summer -- cotton Missonis are in box under bed!), I remembered that I had at least one GSF skirt that would fit. What joy! the skirt goes with so many things. For instance, these Everlane silk blouses...

It's grand with pale pink, too. I thought this DVF top in a more emphatic shade of pink would be cute, but I didn't read the label till it was home - all poly. Back it went. The skirt will probably go with many more things, which is a good thing, considering that I'll be The Girl in the Gardenshade Floral Skirt for years and years to come. And yes, when I finish the sleeves on that denim top, the skirts will go with that too.

Here is a recent post on Ruth's blog in which she is wearing her Gardenshade skirt. Her new shoes are pretty cool, too.

Do you still love your Gardenshade skirt?

a few more Grails and after all that, a possible fail

The first time I saw the word "Grail" used in connection with a shopping venture was on the Purse Forum, Hermès scarf department. The ladies were discussing their "Grail scarves". I got it immediately. I had two Grail scarves in my life at the time: the scarf that showed scenes from the Bayeux tapestry, and one that depicted adorable little monks and pilgrims climbing up Mont Saint Michel. The Guillaume scarf was the one I'd bought on our first trip to France together, we'd been to Bayeux in the days when the Tapestry was pinned up to the walls of a simple building, you could walk right up to it, no alarms, no plastic. I was close enough to see the textures of the yarns and the types of stitches. Viewed like that, even though the lady embroideresses were the wives of the conquered British nobles and probably weren't all that happy, you could detect some irony. I loved it. My favorite scene in the original (1066 & all that) Bayeux tapestry* is the one where the invading French, having landed at Hastings, immediately unload kettles and cauldrons and cooking tools and boxes of food, obviously not wanting to risk living off the land. When we reached Paris, I made right for  Hermès and when I saw the scarf, I knew it was meant for me. I treasured it until it disappeared at the same time a household employee informed me that our washing machine wasn't working and she'd be happy to drop off that week's laundry at our local Fluff 'n' Fold. The towels, shirts and stuff were replaced in due course, but the disappearance of the scarf hurt for a long time. Anyway, for years I sought to replace that scarf, and when I learned that Hermès repeats classic designs from time to time, and also that unsold stock moves around the world from location to location, well, Lancelot and Perceval had nothing on me. Finally, I found my Bayeux tapestry scarf in the colors I wanted, finally, found it at Harrod's of all places! And the other one, I saw the cute little characters climbing the mountain in a silk Hermès blouse at a vintage store, but never on a scarf. Still looking. The Hermès search service doesn't apply to hunts for scarves that are so old they have value as antiques, alas.

The Grail of last winter/spring was the Margaret Annie, a Liberty shirt sold by J.Crew, and that Quest was described in an earlier post,  I actually got the shirt at a site-wide promotion after a lot of huffing, puffing and early rising. I've admired it for months. Know what? I haven't worn it yet. I don't like it with a black or navy blazer, it reads, dunno, somehow like a lady who needs to get out of the house more. That combo just lacks energy. I don't like it with jeans either. It's fine with more tailored pants, and I've been trying pencil skirts, but I really think this needs some more movement, maybe pleats? On the skirt, not the pants. Well, it looks great in the closet.



And I now have 2 gardenshade floral skirts, which were so cheap I felt I really should have a duplicate. The hem can be lowered about an inch with the help of hem facing, since generous hems and seam allowances are not part of the design equation these days. So one will have its hem lowered. This skirt is great with a denim shirt, navy linen shirt, chambray top, pale aqua cable linen sweater (very light weight). There's also a pale mint green featherweight cotton short-sleeve cardigan from a few summers ... maybe I should have grabbed a third skirt?

Another quest was a very lightweight cotton print skirt named Flora. Oh, right, the Goddess of Little Spring Vegetables! Every time I saw that skirt, I felt I should be paring and trimming cute little baby veggies with a sterilized cuticle scissors. But no. While I was having vegetable visions, the skirt appeared and disappeared. Again, finally it turned up. The print is gray and rust on cream, which sounds the wallpaper in one of the unfortunate boarding houses that George Orwell visited, but it's actually quite nice. The fabric is so light that I feel it would look skimpy with anything other than a tank, and the tank has to be cotton, because the skirt is a thin cotton. OK, I'm babbling here. Fortunately I have a few ribbed knit tanks in rusty copper-y colors with names that sound like Smoky the Bear officiated at the naming. Since I don't usually introduce my clothes by name, I could care less what they're called. So Flora's a success. Note: based on the position of the label, Flora should open at the left side. But the skirt hangs better if the opening is center front. Flora had quite a few outings last summer, and this summer I'm wondering if Flora might like to be a strapless dress.

Finally, I have fallen in love with still another Hermès scarf. It's not new, I guess I just wasn't paying attention when it first came out. Or I was broke. Or both. The design is called Les Toits de Paris. It just says Paris to me, the girl at the window, the rooftops, the cat... and the colors could be Paris at different times of the year, different times of day. I bought several, one in Paris at 24 Faubourg, the others at different times in different places, on what I call the "secondary market." If I see another color, I may just implode.

*Many probably know this, but just in case: the real Bayeux tapestry is not a tapestry. It is a long and narrow piece of embroidery in yarn on linen that tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England, in great historical and social detail. It was made to be hung around the walls of the cathedral of - Caen? I forget. Name an important cathedral in Normandy. If you drool over the embroidered samplers made by talented little girls in (US) colonial times, you will absolutely have to go lie down when you see this one. Take your time, the delight is in the details.