Back. And in love! (With shoes!)

Well, that was kind of an impromptu little break, wasn't it? So sorry for the complete drop-off-the-face-of-the-blog moment. One day, I was just puttering along, doing my thing; the next thing I know, I'm juggling 15-hour photo shoots and looming deadlines and a packed schedule of activities (er, like hanging out with adorable puppies at Pawtobello Cafe and the Halloween bus bar crawl, which was just. so. awesome). It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun and not a lot of free time to ruminate about fashion, unfortunately.

{As further proof of insane busyness, I offer this: The new Vogue arrived yesterday and I had not even finished the last one. This has never, ever happened before. See what I mean?}

But not to worry: I have also been shopping. (Er… probably a bit too much shopping, but that's neither here nor there.) I have recently developed a new obsession, and that obsession is the Calvin Klein fall collection. It features exactly the kind of sleek, dark, inventive styles that I was fixated on in my last post. I've been to the store in the basement of Ngee Ann City at least three times in the past week just to visit and drool over my favorite items (the long sweaters, mostly) and enjoy Francisco Costa's lovely, simple designs.


I've barely paid attention to Calvin Klein in recent years. (If by recent years, I mean since I was about 17, which is longer ago than I care to admit.) The company fell victim to the whole let's-put-our-name-on-everything boom of the 1990s, and I've never gotten over the stigma of all the Calvin Klein crap you used to find at discount department stores. What changed my mind? It was a skirt. A gorgeous, draped, pencil-y skirt that another editor had loaned for a photo shoot we did last week. I slipped it on just to try and it was so beautiful. It felt beautiful. Next thing I knew, I was a instant, total convert to the brand.

Oh, and their shoes! The shoes are amazing. I was so completely adoring them in the store – where they only carry up to a 38, which is three sizes smaller than my feet, and which is also much more expensive than in the U.S. – that I may have immediately went on the internet and bought these. And, okay, maybe these.


And that's what I have been up to. More to follow – much sooner, I promise.

{Update! Update!} So, the new shoes arrived. The pewter ones are pretty cute and seemingly very comfy. The black heels are gorgeous, intense -- and waaaay too high for me. There's something about the wedge-ish heel that makes them *appear* to be of a reasonable height, and yet they are not. After trying them on, oh, about six times in hopes of suddenly developing a tolerance for 4-inch heels, I'm returning them. I just purchased the slightly less fabulous (but also much less high) Steve Madden black patent Stich version as a hopefully suitable alternative. Sigh.

(A small declaration: I'm sitting here looking at the collection slideshow on style.com, trying to pick out some pictures to show you, and I can't. Not one of the pictures shows the subtle loveliness of the pieces. This is why I hate runway pictures. I've always felt like a bad fashion person because I really dislike watching the runway recaps after the collections, because they are boring and flat and just never convey the drama and detail of seeing the clothes in person. It's always felt like cheating myself of fashion – I'd really rather wait the six months until the pieces show up in stores and beautiful magazine editorials than see the styles right away. And so, I am absolving myself of this guilt and admitting it publicly: I hate runway recaps, and I will continue to avoid them at all costs. Phew. What a relief.)

{the meager amount of pics I have found are from the Calvin Klein site, except for the shoes. isn't the first one – from the fall 2007 runway rehearsal – just gorgeous?)