Week 5 - Leftovers, and Wende is Difficult
This week in Chicagoland...
Lots of snow and bitter cold, plus the governor got arrested, which surprised no one but the governor himself, and upset no one but (possibly) his wife.
Me, I had a little Christmas party on Thursday, where we spent several hours wrapping a ton of gifts for various church benevolence projects. I also locked my keys in the car on Tuesday and spent the entire afternoon in a gas station a block away from my office - couldn't leave, of course, because I had to wait for the tow truck, which was slow in coming because we were in the middle of a snow storm and he doubtless had more desperate people to rescue. Convenient though, since I'd just come from the doctor, who told me my blood pressure was too low and ordered me to consume beverages and salty food. And what else is there to do in a gas station but just that?
Back to WT. Directives live here.
Breath - I piled my jewelry last year, and nothing much has changed since; Wende is correct in supposing that nothing else needs to be piled. I'm ok as this stuff goes.
Bones - Done. There's really nothing broken.
Head - Here's the thing - I've unconsciously moved away from neutrals on top almost completely, and toward bold colors most of the time. But a lot of my necklace wardrobe served as accent color when I wore more neutrals. I need to intentionally think through how things should pair up now. Either that, or add one or two more substantial, investment-type pieces in metals. Probably both.
Heart - Here's where Wende becomes difficult.
- Looking over the items from past weeks that suit you and make you happy (particularly the Superstars), what features (shape, color, fabric, etc.) define your personal style?
- If you had to sum up your personal style in 5 words or fewer, what would those words be?
- How does that style connect to your values?
1. The consistently successful elements are:
- Strong color (usually solid)
- Uncomplicated design
- Moderate styling
- Soft but shaped construction
- Drape and flow
- Flexible formality (dress up/dress down ability)
- Natural fit and motion
- Disinclined to get in the way or call for attention while being worn
3. How does this connect to my values?
Though I'd a thousand times rather live exclusively inside my skull, frolicking with ideas, when I do have to venture into the corporeal, I'm a rigorous pragmatist. I don't have much patience for idealism, and can be unsentimental to a degree some people consider frightening (or so I've been told). [Example: I hate Thanksgiving, because the conventional mode of celebration does absolutely nothing to encourage me to feel thankful. My preference would be to make it over to my specifications*, which is socially unacceptable because apparently most people have gotten their emotions all mixed in with great-aunt Gertrude's sweet potato recipe.]
My natural question, for most everything from holiday tradition to closet organization, is, does it work? It's an orientation could be mistaken for the barren, utilitarian aesthetic which is actually only characteristic of male engineers, but that isn't it at all. In truth, it's the high functionality - the "working-ness" - that delights me. It's eliminating the non-working-ness that gives me the charge of significance. This is why AT advice on storing unused extension cords neatly tied with grosgrain ribbons color-coordinated with your kitchen decor gives me hives. Rubber bands work; therefore, rubber bands make me happy. And by extension, opening the drawer to see a less functional but more attractive arrangement would actually make me unhappy.
So it's not that I don't have preferences about how things look, it's that those preferences include an aesthetic reaction to practicality. And yes, I think my "straightforward" style connects. Functionality notwithstanding, it would be different if I felt like playing games with my clothes. Some people do. But not me. I'm not really very much fun, but to the extent that I am, I prefer to play with my ideas, instead.
*Starting with swapping out the turkey for lobster, an idea I've been pushing for over a decade before it caught attention in the media this year as an economic choice, and which, for me, has nothing to do with the fact that the Pilgrims lived in New England, and everything to do with the fact that I don't like roasted turkey.
Your discussion of the delightfulness of working-ness delights me. It's Not-Me, but it's such a trenchant explanation of an interesting point of view that it ZINGS. (Zinging is functional; this is my word for getting so brilliantly to the point that it doesn't so much make me think as fetch me up on the far shore with the thinking already done.)
ReplyDeleteThere was a food critic who said Thanksgiving should be celebrated with spaghetti carbonara, but I could go for lobster.
Ooh, I zung? Cool!
ReplyDeleteCarbonara would also be totally acceptable, and potentially tidier.
You frequently zing.
ReplyDeleteI am a bigger fan of functionality than I am of prettiness, too. The thing I loved about AT was that it seemed to balance that so nicely--but now, ribbons around extension cords?
oh dear.
Marry a Canadian. (Or just move here! Much simpler). We aren't nearly as fussy about what we eat on Thanksgiving. Lobster has a great chance, if it isn't already on the tables of the Maritime provinces and/or BC.
I'm with you on both points- usefulness is the number one thing I look for in any item. If it isn't useful I can't make room for it in my life.
ReplyDeleteLobster would have been an item they would have eaten in the new world. The used to serve lobster to prisoners 200 years ago- it was plentiful and cheap. There are letters back and forth to various authorities as to whether lobster was over the top "punishment". It is only in more recent times that lobster became a delicacy.
Punish me! Punish me!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. Husband and I were discussing the decline of the so-called "upper class luxeries" in life and how lobster fishers, in particular, are beginning to suffer.
@Alana - that's why there was a movement for lobster this Thanksgiving - prices had fallen when other food costs were inflating, so it was a bargain compared to turkey.
ReplyDeleteBut, marry a Canadian? No way! That would mean *two* Thanksgivings! ;)
I have to say, I love Thanksgiving, and a big part of that is the turkey. Not so much the stress and family drama, though, so to combat this, I have started to try and have turkey more often (thus meaning I am getting better at having it be moist and tender with crispy skin, mmm). For some reason, lobster intimidates me but I am fine with a 15-lb. bird.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I am coveting your style statement, that list is a good What I Wish I Was Going For and it sounds like you've got a good handle on it. You might also check etsy for reasonably-priced statement jewelry in metals, or the Sundance Catalog for less reasonably priced stuff (but man, is it gorgeous).