fashionista

newly purchased, most definitely vintage, off white & black, peep toe, patent leather wedges

Fash•ion•is•ta– /ˌfæʃəˈnistə/ Show Spell[fash-uh-nee-stuh] A designer, promoter, or follower of the latest fashions

Who moi ? As Big Shamu would say ... snort !!
Please note however they do not say wearer of les latest fashions

or as anyone who knows me in the flesh and sees me trompin' around this little village in my What Not to Wear, mostly second hand (definitely not vintage), drab coloured, fleece and denim uniform of the Self Employed - complete with either clunky but tres handsome Birkenstocks (oh so sturdy & comfy) or my (hardly-ever-take-them-off) Blundstone boots (I need an all terrain kind of footware for my daily expeditions with Missy D).

Winnie and I walk by Monty's window each early morning - a fabulous, big second hand and vintage store. Margaret, the owner does fantastic windows and some thing is always catching my eye as we stroll by. Recent thrilling acquisitions from the window - 2 world globes (I've always wanted a small collection of globes). I spied these shoes a few weeks ago. I walked by the window and a voice in my brain whispered Did you see those shoes ? I think they were black & white ! Back up girlfriend ! So we backed up to get a better look. Well I thought about them all day and finally walked the 3 minute walk to Monty's after lunch to check them out. Yes ! they were my size, an 8, and they were shockingly inexpensive - for they are, no question, a thing of undeniable beauty. I was disappointed that they didn't have a chunky sturdier heel, this tapered wedge to weeny heel is just asking for my bum ankle to rollover on itself again and again (which causes me to very dramatically collapse in pain on the street - not at all pretty to witness as I pick myself up, dust myself off and hobble away).

So ... I don't know if I'll ever actually wear theses shoes, and I'm not sure where I'd ever wear them. The night that I purchased them I rolled up my jeans put the shoes on my feet and held this black and white skirt (which I've had for 4 years and worn once) up against my body as if I were wearing the chic ensemble and modeled les outfit for the cowboy. He looked back lovingly at my Birkenstocks - How sweet is that ?

I recently watched the movie The September Issue - a documentary about Anna Wintour editor (for like forever) of Vogue and the visionary and boss lady of the famous, fat as can be, much coveted September issue. I have been a subscriber of Vogue magazine for as long as I can remember. I began my fascination and love of all things fashion way back when I was a teenager along with a serious addiction to periodicals which continues to this day. It's still a thrill to me, always, when I go to the post office and stuffed into my postal box is the latest, cello wrapped issue of Vogue. The documentary was fascinating and I found myself immediately going back through all my 2010 issues (which happened to be of course still piled bedside) with a fresh eye and renewed interest. The main character in the movie of course is Anna herself, the two supporting roles (her ladies in waiting) are Grace Coddington - Creative Director (for over 20 years) and Fashion Director - Tonne Goodman. These two women, both artistic geniuses, are responsible for selecting the clothes and accessories, art direction of the main fashion layouts and styling and overseeing those photo shoots. Month after month after month. Amazing & Incredible the work, the thought process, the continued originality and imagination required and the constant attention to every single tiny detail. And very often Queen Anna tears their vision to shreds, as is seen clearly in this documentary, but that's just how it goes at Vogue. Anna's the boss, she has made Vogue a great success in this era of dwindling magazine sales. She has the ultimate 6th sense about all things fashion and these three women work together beautifully, tolerating the bumps and snits, the cuts and kills along the way, and they create together, every month, breathtakingly imaginative fashion pages.

Interesting to note that both Grace and Tonne do not dress particularly fashionably - they both have a very plain, classic, unadorned daily uniform, plain long hair, minimal or no make up and sensible flat shoes. Sigh ... so I guess it's true ... maybe I really am a fashionista.