Visible Monday: a Pencil Skirt Edition

If there is one garment I've come to love in nearly two years of blogging, it is the pencil skirt.  I have them in black, charcoal grey, red, coral, purple, navy, and several prints.  Most of mine are in a knit, which means that if I had to run in one, I could hike it up and dash.  But this particular skirt, worn to class last Wednesday evening, is a lined linen gingham...and I felt slightly hobbled. 

The skirt is by Jones New York and the blue top by Anne Taylor Loft.  I didn't notice it when I wore this top with a suit jacket in January, but it gapes if the wearer bends just the right way.  I didn't discover this before I left home that day and thus had to move very carefully for the three hours of class.  While I like the appearance of the outfit, for classroom functionality, it gets an F! 

The scarf rosette, as well as all other items were thrifted.

I'd love to hear about some of your wardrobe malfunctions and how you coped with them when changing wasn't an option.





This post is a part of Patti's Visible Monday round-up at Not Dead Yet Style.  Come make yourself visible with the rest of us.

The Window Shopping Project: XXI

I first visited a Forever 21 store roughly a decade ago, at the insistence of my two youngest daughters.  I had never heard of the store, but they were insistent, even though it meant a drive of 40 miles to shop the one store that was open in the KC metro area at that time.  We all three walked out with purchases.  I bought a pencil skirt and a long scooped neck grey tee.  I wore those items once.

Since that time, five local stores have opened, a sign of how the "fast fashion" concept has grown.  The clothing is based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and autumn of every year.  It uses Quick Response (QR)  to improve manufacturing processes in the textile industry with the aim of removing time from the production system.  The method was introduced in the early 1980s by the US Apparel Manufacturing Association to address a competitive threat to its own textile manufactures from imported textiles in low labour cost countries.

The concept of QR is now used to support "fast fashion" which creates new fresh products that draw a consumer back for consecutive visits.  While traditional fashion seasons follow the cycle of summer, autumn, winter and spring, fast fashion cycles have compressed in shorter periods of 4-6 weeks.  Consumers of fast fashion thrive on trends and fast fashion is considered to be the "supermarket" within the fashion industry.  Cost is the consumer's primary buying decision.

Proponents of fast fashion would argue that bringing high fashion down to affordable levels democratizes fashion, though a 2008 New York Times story asserted that only 10% of American consumers are hyper aware of designers.  Some argue that it has spread the recognition of designers, though a number of them have brought suit against retailers like F21 for alleged violation of Intellectual Property rights.  In a  2011 Business Week article Scafidi, a copyright law expert, asserted that "Of the various fast fashion chains, Forever 21 is the one who treats liability as a cost of doing business."

Opponents of fast fashion argue that clothing of this quality contributes to textile waste, and in 2007 the documentary, Made in LA, detailed a lawsuit brought by 19 garment workers who had been contracted to produce garments for Forever 21.  Julie Su was the lead attorney in the case against the company.  While F21 claimed that it wasn't responsible for conditions in factories where their clothing is produced, their business model creates and demands conditions that squeeze suppliers to get things done as quickly and cheaply as possible, without regard for workers.  F21 settled out of court.

Today, because of changes in a trade agreement restricting garment exports from developing countries which expired in 2005, only 20-30 percent of F21 clothing is produced in LA.  Much of its manufacturing has moved to China, Pakistan, and Vietnam.  In one such factory, Susan Berfield reported that workers sewing grey cotton vests for F21 were finishing up a 10,000 piece order for which the seamstresses earned about 12 cents each.

I was surprised to learn that the chain was originally intended at first for middle-aged women!  It was founded in 1984 by Korean businessman Do Won Change and his wife Jin Sook Chang.  The original store sized at 900 square feet is still in operation in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles.  Today, it has 480+ locations worldwide in the UK & Ireland, Belgium, Austria, France, Bahrain, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, UAE, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica.  Their largest store in Modesto, California covers 154,000 square feet over three levels.  The company employs 35,000 and had a profit of $135 million in 2008.

The Changs are an American success story.  From their humble beginnings delivering coffee and natural juice or dressing hair in Seoul, they moved to LA and worked menial jobs until they opened their first store with items produced by Korean-American manufacturers.  Jin Sook Chang proved to have a sharp eye for trends and negotiation, and remains the head buyer for the company.  The Changs are born again Christians.  If I had made a purchase last Sunday, I might have walked out with a shopping bag referencing John 3 :16.

As I shopped loud music set the pace.  I found many items had slipped off their hangers, though there were quite a few young male employees who seemed to tend to this.  I loved the gallery of accessories, but found that the layout of the store was disorienting.  No sooner had I thought that I'd visited every display, I would turn around and discover a section I had seemingly overlooked.    The one item I thought I might purchase, a 4.95 bandeau, was such a popular item that day that I couldn't get close to the display.  There was a long line to pay.  And just as on my last visit with my daughters last year, there was a guy nearby ostensibly hanging up stock, but personally I'm convinced he is there to say flattering things about the items shoppers about to purchase.

Much as I am attracted to some of the items pictured in my video, and the prices that are competitive to thrift store prices, the impulse to buy was similar to the feeling I had as a kindergartner in a candy store with a nickel in my sweaty hand.  Let's say I bought cotton candy with it--it dissolves in the mouth and leaves your hands sticky.  And that was my experience with the two items I purchased a decade ago--they disintegrated in the wash.  Only rarely do I come across F21 items in thrift stores.  

If I were a teenager shopping with my first paychecks, I would likely shop this store, but as a middle-aged consumer who may be a cheapskate, I look for items that last.  Has your experience with F21 been better than mine?

My score on Wednesday's questionnaire was 62.

Bubbles and Dressing to Shop

On Friday, my Window Shopping Project will resume with my first look at a specifically fast fashion retailer, Forever 21.  I've noticed that my readership on some of these Friday posts has dipped a bit and thought it might be a good idea to remind everyone that one of the reasons for the project was to look at social class and our shopping habits.

The Forever 21 store I visited was in a large, healthy mall with a number of higher-end stores.  When I visited last Sunday, DH sat and people watched while I perused the merchandise and the atmosphere of the store.   Inside the store, I noticed shoppers in their teens through their twenties.  The older shoppers seemed to mostly be mothers...with credit cards no doubt.

Outside the store, DH watched women who dressed up to shop.  He finds this strange because I do not dress to shop.  He did notice that those were dressed seemed to be somehow self-conscious.  When my session was finished, I found him in the food court visiting amiably with an African-American woman who had been shopping with her son, until her feet began to hurt. Over the years, I've learned not to leave him alone for very long because a wide variety of people, toddlers, old men, and lone women easily take a shine to him. 

We discussed this self-consciousness as we drove home.  My desk at work is behind a darkened window just outside one of the entrances to my building.  As coeds enter, I frequently notice them studying their reflection in the window.  Sometimes they are startled to realize that there is a person on the other side of the window and quickly they move away.  Self-consciousness is a sort of bubble.

We also discussed why it is that people take a shine to him.  I like to think that he lacks this self-consciousness.  He lacks it because he avoids all situations (like the formal Awards Reception I must attend this Sunday) that make him feel self-conscious.  He has lived a life that leaves him open and accepting of people from all walks of life.  He doesn't approach them; they approach him.

Recently, I came across this questionnaire thanks to a tweet by Jess of Consume or Consumed.  I did the questionnaire just to see how I would score.  The questionnaire explores how well we understand folks from different socio-economic classes.  I did better than I suspect many of my working class and wealthy students would have.  But, I also suspect that DH would do far better than I.  I will reveal my score on Friday and encourage you, especially the Americans among us, to see how you do.  It's quick.

And if you don't want to take the questionnaire, do you think that social or economic class is a factor in self-consciousness?  Or, do you dress to shop?

Visible Monday: The Morning After

This Gap dress that I thrifted several months ago has hung in my closet waiting for weather that felt right for it.  But when I finally put the look together last Wednesday afternoon, I realized that the waist hit too high.  After I'd snapped the photos of this first iteration, I realized that there wasn't enough color in the look, though I loved the silk scarf which is covered with the wildest mushrooms, the kind that one begins to find if you traipse around in the woods this time of year.  And I had added a timid dab of oudh behind both knees.  It has a scent like the rich smell of earth, just before a rain.

I wasn't very happy with the first iteration of the look--to neutral and my students would think the scarf was fussy.  The second iteration with the red belt on the outside of the jacket was better.  All of a sudden, I was having one of those times when you can't make up your mind and the piles of possibilities grow larger as your time shortens.  The red sandals are Clarke's.  Ultimately I added a pleated J. Jill sweater and a pair of purple suede Mary Jane heels.  All items have been thrifted.

This look was just fine for what was on the agenda that evening.  Students were to have the second draft of a paper on the changing meaning of the word "American" over the various periods of American literature we've been studying--realism, modernism, and post-modernism.  In the first draft, they try to Google their way through this paper and I get a lot of Mom and apple pie type stuff.  Students have to be coaxed to use their writing to discover what they think.

The second half of class included presentations done by the students on Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, Don DeLillo, John Updike, and Tim O'Brien.  Oh, and Raymond Carver, one of my favorite short story writers.

I want to thank all of my guests who attended the rollicking 60 hour pajama party this weekend.  We had guests from all over the planet--the Arctic Circle, and Panama, and the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, and several American states.   We even had a guy show up.

The food was fabulous, though I'm afraid a couple of us over-indulged in Curtise' gin bottle and Melanie's martinis.  

 

Several sent their regrets--enough to make me wonder if this shouldn't become an annual event at Rags.  Any thoughts?

I am particularly indebted to Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for the hand-holding she did in the planning stages of the pajama party.  I was very very worried that the linking device she uses every Monday for Visible Monday would not work at Rags.  This post is a part of her weekly roundup of bloggers.  Visit us there.

Virtual Pajama Party--Come Join the Fun!

The big day has finally arrived! I know that some of us can't attend. At least one told me she was getting her wisdom teeth pulled. Another is off to Paris and Provence. And at least one is getting married!

Most nights I don't wear "much" to bed. But I have taken to wearing white chemise in recent years as a way to cope with the changes of body temperature that are characteristic of menopause. In honor of this special event, I've decided to wear my film noir dacron slip (it has a tag that reads "Black Magic"), with a funky satin/silk kimono. The kimono is reversible and the dragon on the back side reminds me of something a fighter might wear in the ring.

I probably ought to warn all of you that I'm not very pleasant for the first hour after waking in the morning. It takes at least two cups of coffee before I feel human enough to cook! And these photos are an honest early morning look.

Now, does anyone remember how to play "Stiff as a Board, Light as a Feather"?  It's that levitating game?

• Here's how to "attend": Just compose a post that includes any night wear, midnight snack or delicious brunch dish. 
• Include a link to RagsagainsttheMachine.com somewhere in your post. 
• Go to the bottom of this post and click on this cute little link:

And Lorena just missed the deadline. Find her look here.

The Secret Room & other Pajama Parties I've Hosted

In the invitation to my Pajama Party, I mentioned a "secret room."  Several years ago, after our first empty nest remodel, we turned one of the attic bedrooms into a study for me.  In that study, I keep clothing that I consider to be costumes, all of my scrapbooking supplies, projects I'm saving for retirement, and my collection of elephants.  Just off of my study, in a little room, we initially thought of as a room to entertain the grandchildren.  When they outgrew it, the room became my "harem" room.  This little 4 x 10 space features a stained glass window, the most expensive carpet in our entire home and 31 pillows.  To enter it, one must turn the brass gong sideways, set the magic lantern to one side and crawl in.

This is certainly better accommodations than I've had for previous pajama parties I've hostessed over the years I was raising my brood of daughters and step-children.  In recent weeks, I've asked my daughters what they recall of the some of the parties we threw during my single parent days.  Predictably, their memories are very different than mine.

• At one, I thought it would be a good idea to make banana splits.  I bought all the supplies and then allowed the girls to make them.  This was great fun until it came time to eat the results...and I had 10-12 bowls of melting ice cream.
• At another, the girls did facials with laughable results.
• One years, I raced out to the grocery store for supplies an hour ahead of the party's start, only to realize that the drive through had loaded another customer's groceries into my car!  A quick call to the store, they duplicated my purchase from the receipt in their database and DELIVERED the party supplies to my door!
• At one, a 12 year old girl announced that she had a yeast infection at midnight and that I needed to make a trip out to get her the necessary medicine!?
• I witnessed disturbing rape fantasies...
• I delivered the entire group of girls to Sunday School in my father's mini-van the following morning.

The parties for the boy children were somehow more rowdy, but more manageable.

• We took a group to see Pokemon one year, suffering through an hour or more, only to have the film burn in the final moments.  One guest insisted that his tub of popcorn be drenched in nacho cheese?
• A sledge hammer was put to use cracking nuts on a butcher block in our dining room and nut shells were everywhere.
• A feather pillow was destroyed and in the boys' efforts to hide the evidence, the vacuum was clogged with a million little pin-feathers.
• DH ended up sleeping outside the door of the tent pitched in our living room, when the boys were still going strong at 4:30 a.m.

I don't know what kind of shenanigans attendees at Friday's Pajama Party might cook up, but the harem room is ready and waiting.

The pajama party post will go up shortly after midnight my time, Central Standard Time, Friday morning. My apologies to my international readers who may have to wait for it a bit.

 Does anyone have a hookah? Or horror stories about pajama parties that went awry?

Visible Monday: Tornado Edition

I tried this red/ivory gingham dress (Talbots) on recently, considering whether I ought to shorten the hem or part with the dress.  The bodice is detailed in a way I like, but the length was troubling to me.

But by the time I'd styled it with every cream/ivory top in my collection, I'd talked myself out of the hem and out of possibility of parting with the dress.  My favorite mix was a variation on an idea I saw Debbi at She Accessorizes Well try recently.  she had a lace top that she paired with a colored top underneath.  I recently thrifted this top also by Talbots and it was my surprise favorite of all the combos I tried.













I was worried sick about all the midwest bloggers I follow all day Saturday as tornadoes tore across Kansas.  I had Beryl, and Catherine, and Debbi, and Dani on my mind.  When I finally went to bed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday evening, Sunday morning, I was somewhat certain we would not be awakened by a tornado siren meaning that we too would have to take shelter.  I pray that all are okay.

Some may have noticed that I didn't blog much last week.  I visited all the blogs I regularly read and commented, but in spite of having photos to work with, I couldn't think of anything to write.  It was a very odd state of affairs.  I have been busy with my teaching and I know that my body ached as those with minor arthritis will when weather of the magnitude of Saturday's is impending, but this wordlessness is a strange state of affairs.  The pajama party will go on this Friday, but I'm curious if spells of this hit any of my other blogger friends and what you might do to snap yourself out of it.

Find me and the gang at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style.

Visible Monday: Oudh Edition

This dress has a hand-sewn label that reads Woolf Brothers.  I found it in a Salvation Army one day this winter and snagged it, remembering that as a teenager Woolf Brothers was a luxury department store in my area.  The store has been out of business since 1992, but when I investigated today, I was surprised to learn that the Woolf Brothers were distant relatives of Virginia Woolf!  The colors are not especially Easter-y, but more something one might wear in late summer, but I loved the bold stripes and the double row of brass buttons.

For kicks I added the lacy gloves, and the small navy bag by Liz Claiborne.  (The gloves made setting my timer interesting.)  The shoes are navy Etiene Aigner, out of the depths of my closet.  I purchased them new 7-8 years ago.

The golden egg was out of the grandson's Easter basket, but it brought to mind an impulse purchase I made this past week when I had been on the internet too late.  A week ago I read this enchanting post about an intriguing aroma that wafted in the air in Doha, Qatar.  The writer identified the scent as oudh, a fragrance achieved from either from smoke of  agarwood chips (a dark resinous heartwood that forms in an evergreen native to southeast Asia when it becomes infected with a mold) or distilled into an essential oil.

The more I researched this aroma I'm convinced I've never sniffed, the more intrigued I became.  It is mentioned in the Sanskrit Vedas and its complex scent is said to change throughout the day.  Quality oudh can smell woody, incense-y, sweet and rich, smoky, floraly resinous, and fruity, in a rich long lasting multifaceted way. The smell is calming and richly beautiful. But, Poor quality oil can produce oily, sharp, leathery, sour and bitter smells. Smells that are acrid and irritating. (source)

A number of sights mentioned its spiritual and healing values...as well as the fact that it is more expensive than gold.  One reason for this is that its popularity in the middle East has led to the depletion of the natural resource the oil is manufactured from.  I have ordered two tiny samples, vials, for the whopping price of $50!

Have any of my readers ever smelled this scent?  Have I been taken in by site after site that described it in poetic language?

This post is part of Patti's weekly Visible Monday post at Not Dead Yet Style.  Come join the fun!

We have a Marketplace Giveaway Winner

Today, with the help of my lovely assistant, we selected a winner for the Marketplace:  House of India giveaway.    The grandson has learned to read in the past six months:  and he says the winner is Lila of Bella Gets Real!  Please be in touch so that I can forward your details to them.  And Congratulations!

The Window Shopping Project: Kohl's

I visited Kohl's several weeks ago during my Spring Break, armed with a couple of coupons I had received in the mail.  I receive the coupons monthly because I have a Kohl's credit card!  My readers are likely surprised to discover that I have a credit card for a department store because all of the clothing I have worn at Rags has come from thrifts.  The last item I purchased for myself at Kohl's was a pair of trainers (shoes) purchased before Rags began.  But, I have routinely used the card to make purchases of gifts for birthdays and the holidays.  We bought my grandson's wedding attire, black trousers and black button down,  last fall in the boy's department there.

Kohl's is a family-focused, value oriented department store offering moderately priced apparel, shoes, accessories and products for the home often in environmentally friendly stand-alone stores.  Across the USA there are 1,134 Kohl's stores in 49 states. (Hawaii is the exception).

I had not realized that Kohl's began as a chain of grocery stores in Wisconsin.  While the first department store opened as long ago as 1962, the chain has been expanding since the early 90s.  Most of their stores are stand-alone facilities, like the one pictured in my slide show.  And they are laid out using a "racetrack" aisle that allows a quick perusal of almost every department, with displays laid out along this central aisle.   The checkout is centralized meaning that a central line is used for check-outs.  In 2011, Kohl's was the 20th largest retailer in the United States in terms of revenue. 

Kohl's carries exclusive lines like Chaps by Ralph Lauren, Simply Vera Vera Wang, Elle Contemporary Collection, Rock & Republic, LC by Lauren Conrad, Jennifer Lopez Collection, Dana Buchman, and Mud Jeans.  Private brands include Apt. 9, Sonoma, Croft & Barrow.  Judging by these brands, a number of my thrifted items have originated at Kohl's.

I was surprised to learn the Kohl's was recently honored by the US Environmental Protection Agency with the 2012 Energy Star award for sustained excellence.  They have been recognized for their strides in energy efficiency for three years running.  Buildings with the Energy Star designation use 35 percent less energy and generate one-third less carbon than similar buildings and over 700 of their stores meet this designation!    In 2011, Kohl's purchased 1.4 billion kWh of green power to offset 100 % of the company's purchased energy use.  Kohl's is one of the largest single hosts of solar energy production and in 2011 it launched its first wind locations at its Corpus Christi, Texas store.  At 38 stores in 13 states, Kohl's has installed electric vehicle charging stations.  In addition, Kohl's employees volunteer in communities nationwide as part of the company's annual Go Green event for National Volunteer Week and Earth Day.

And while I have said that I'm not particularly accomplished at coupon shopping, I was impressed by this article by Lesley Mitchell which describes how she purchased an $85 pair of shoes for $6.32.  As Mitchell describes it, you can create your own sale price by using percentage off savings pass and the dollar off coupon, like those pictured in my slide show.  Her shoes were on clearance for $32, but she shopped on a Saturday when the store was taking an extra 40% off.  Then, she used her savings pass and dollar off coupon to whittle the price down, down, down.  Kohl's allows a shopper to combine the shopping tools they offer.  I used one such coupon on the shoes I purchased 2 years ago, but they still cost me $90.

I'm curious to know the best clothing bargain you've ever had combining coupons and sales.  I didn't spend my coupons the day I visited though I found plenty of items that caught my eye.

Come back tomorrow to learn the winner of the Marketplace:  House of India giveaway.

More Kameez Please

Here's another piece I thrifted long ago and then never wore because I worried about aspects of cultural appropriation.  I have admired salwar kameez on Leia and finally asked Cynthia at BeFabulousDaily several weeks ago.  Cynthia wrote a well-informed response.  On Sunday, with a day of grading papers ahead of me, I took the plunge.

The pattern on the front of the dress is embroidered in silver and gold and blue threads.  I know why I found it at the Salvation Army for $2.99--as the embroidery is beginning to fray.  I paired it with a pair of We Love Colors footless tights I purchased expressly to wear with this almost a year ago.  You see, the tunic is slit up the side of either leg to a spot somewhere between the top of the thigh and the waist.  And finally, I wore the new saltwater sandals.

DH LOVED this and so did I.  On the one hand I felt like I was wearing a dress, but I could sit at my computer with my legs in a loose lotus and grade to my heart's content.  And, when I stepped out to sample the beautiful afternoon I was missing, the tunic, a light cotton, fluttered prettily or provocatively in the breeze.  I am kicking myself for waiting so long to wear it.  And I come across these all the time in the thrifts...so a new collection may be in order.

This is perfect lounge wear, perfect for an upcoming pajama party perhaps.  I've been trying to recall other pajama parties I've attended as an adult.  We have weekends with the family at the lake fairly frequently, but that doesn't count.  I've had scrapbooking parties with my mother and sister in which we stayed up most of a night.  But the best example would probably be the group of 25 colleagues who gathered over 5 weekends during the course of a year for a "retreat" designed to bring more "soul" into our work lives.

I remember these weekends fondly.  We took long walks and shared poetry.  We wrote poetry and sketched.  We learned to listen.  I know that some of the women retired to their rooms with bottles of wine, but other evenings we danced to the Motown sound until very late.  I think the head of HR and a bookstore manager were shocked to see the moves I remembered learning from the Alpha Kappa Alphas back in my college days.  And one weekend we shared the grounds with a meeting of Sufis in training, as they whirled in their huge skirts on the grounds.

So, I'm curious how many of us may have attended "pajama parties" as an adult and what one did for entertainment at such an event.  And don't forget to put the pajama party on your calendar for April 20.  Come as you are or in your jammies, and bring a midnight snack.

There's still time to enter the Marketplace:  House of India giveaway here.

Visible Monday: The Queen of Diamonds

This crazy tie has hung in my closet for months.  I bought it as incentive to learn to tie a tie.  DH is no help in this department.  Years ago on a cruise, he was obliged to dress for a formal dinner and did not know how to tie his tie.  I attempted to help...with less than stellar results.  Our solution was to track down our favorite bartender, who wore a tie as part of his job.  HE was incredulous that DH did not know how, but took his tie, went off to a mirror, and returned with a noose that DH could use.  Suffice it to say that this bartender received a larger than average gratuity.

When he dressed for the wedding last September, we had a pamphlet from the Men's Wearhouse that gave step by step explanations.  That's what I used to achieve the knot I got.  Close-up below.  Placing the queen of diamonds on the knot was serendipity.

The gray blouse is by Banana Republic.  The skirt, about to be retired is by Ralph Lauren.  The black pumps by Etienne Aigner.  All items thrifted.

The skirt has developed a kink in the nylon zipper.  My naked legs are taking their trial run for the season here.

This post is part of Visible Monday, sponsored by Patti at NotDeadYetStyle. Every week I meet new bloggers via this fun event, so if you're so inclined  come add your look there.   On Wednesday, this same look will be part of a colorblocking roundup put together by Jill at Everything Just So and Adrienne at The Rich Life (on a budget)

I'll be grading papers this week...but want to remind you all of the MarketPlace:  House of India giveaway, if you haven't already entered.  You can triple your chances by entering at The Elegant Bohemian, The Frump Factor, and Over50Feeling40!