Pintucked Pinstripes

It just felt right to wear buttoned up pinstripes Tuesday, with the weather all blustery and autumn-like. So right, in fact, that I awoke in the middle of the night with a kernel of an idea about what I would wear germinating in my sleepy brain. By morning I had it all worked out: my vintage gray pinstriped jeans by Lee with gathered ankles salvaged from a box of clothing I saved from the 1970s, jeans so old that not only were they made in the USA, they actually boast a tag inside that says Garment Workers Union of America.  With the pinstriped trousers, I chose a white collared shirt with crisply turned-back cuffs by Worthington for JCPenney that I’ve owned for over a decade and a black cotton vest with a fluttery lapel by International Concepts (INC) for Macy’s. A look through my extensive belt collection turned up a vintage Merona belt from Target, so old that the black suede had faded to dusky iron. Perfect.

I brightened up all that ashen neutrality with a golden–hued vintage pendant chain that belonged to my grandmother and some gold-colored beaded hoop earrings with a matching bracelet that I found a Cost Plus World Imports last month. I added a fabulous fashion ring made from a gold-encrusted black and white seashell that I bought from a jeweler at Maryland’s Renaissance Festival last year and selected some black, almond-toed booties by Cami for Spiegel.com to keep my feet toasty. Finally, I wrapped a luscious gray, white, beige and charcoal scarf around my neck to ward off the bluster and set out on my long commute to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. for a day of research.

My outfit was a study in shades of gray, matching the leaden sky.

Cheers,

Lynell