good genes

Going through these photos for Dossier, I found the one of Mom Mom on the right, and it made me think of my sister, on the left. I'm missing her extra (that kitchen is in Australia) as yesterday was her birthday!


Stay posted on my news of fashion (and, for the moment, family) at Closettour.

x

flown the coop

...for the time being.I saw this little arrangement in a window in Stockholm, which is where you can find me for the moment. (Click.) Or, as ever, at Closettour. (Click.)

Yours truly,

The Jaybird

spread the love

Again, Tom Slaughter (click) makes it easy to spread the love, just click, print, cut, give. 

In the meantime, I'm spreading the love at Dossier (click) and Closettour (click). Come find me there!

xx

CLOSETTOUR

First I was Gathering String (click), then I was trying to solve the Sartorialist's Dilemma (click), but now I've landed on CLOSETTOUR (click).


I know, it's been a bit of an identity crisis, but that's what getting dressed is like sometimes. The blog you see at CLOSETTOUR right now is just the beginning of what I hope the project will grow to be. I'll write more as it develops, but for now, please note that CLOSETTOUR is the new Sartorialist's Dilemma.

"It sounds like an animal. It came from the Planet CLOSETTOUR!" Joe Walker, hyperlocal blogger, The New York Times

I think he meant it sounds like a planet. Come visit me there! (Click.)

more fall colors...

Just cause I'm busy doing research doesn't mean I'm not cruising for babes at the bus stop. Check out my latest style shot at Dossier. (click).

terrific day at dossier, and also in L.A.

This is why I love Dossier. It's an outrageously gorgeous day at the style site (click), and the front page pointed me to a website called My Parents Were Awesome (click), which inspired me to dig up this photo of my mom, who is still awesome, holding my older sister, who arrived in L.A. today from her home in Australia. (click.)

Welcome back, Sar!

restoration

There's a new post on the Sartorialist's Dilemma, the remnant of a restorative weekend: click. Come take a meander with me there, and please leave comments (click) behind like little bread crumbs, so I know you stopped by.

Kate said she was so impressed (I think that was her nice way of saying surprised) that I left the suede jacket behind. Restoration, Kate, is all about letting go. And let's be honest, it will probably still be there when I go back next week.

of grandparents and garments

A few years ago my grandmother, Mom Mom (pronounced MUH-mum, in case you've not met her), came to visit me in the 39th Street showroom of the designer I worked for at the time. Here we are then, as she asks that all-important question, "What to Wear?"

It's a question I've been asking, and attempting to answer lately on my new website (click).

Recently, the reporting has taken me back to my first days in the Garment District (pictured above and below). A rally there last week got me thinking about the demise of American manufacturing, something I know my late grandpa Jack had quite a lot to say about.

I found this (click) in a letter he wrote to The New York Times 22 years ago:
"...to believe that trade deficits are not detrimental to the wealth of a nation is to miss that these deficits provide the foreign exchange that is gobbling up American corporations, compromising national sovereignty and systematically reducing Americans to the status of tenants in their own land."
Yesterday, I visited Mom Mom, and told her about the rally in the Garment District and finding that letter.

"Well of course," she said, " You know your great grandparents were in the garment business."

"What?"

I'm sure that any number of relatives on my dad's side of the family reading this are thinking they must have told me this a hundred times. But I didn't know! My great grandfather, as history would have it, established a factory on Greene Street that made pants for the soldiers in World War I. This is sort of like reporting on the history of Elsie the Cow this summer (click) and discovering Elsie's handler hung out with my other great grandfather at the 1939 World's Fair.

As my cousin Ken said yesterday, witnessing my discovery, "You can't escape your family."

For more, see the newest entry on the Sartorialist's Dilemma: (click)

free for all

Kevin Kearney (click) called me a cheap date (!) when I forewent my free footwear at Cole Haan's party the other night--but then I told him I was hungry.

photo from The Selby for Cole, Rood & Haan

For more details, see the Sartorialist's Dilemma. (click.)

jaybird's jeans

It's not news that I'm a little picky...okay, obsessive about jeans.


Here's a shot I took to accompany my first story on the topic several years ago (click.) As usual, looking for an excuse to photograph my feet (click.) The Denim Diaries continue now, on The Sartorialist's Dilemma: click.

the sartorialist's dilemma

As I mentioned Monday, this Gathering String thing is a work in progress, and I've already moved it. And renamed it. It's now called the Sartorialist's Dilemma, and it resides here: (click). I would love your comments as I embark on this project, combining two inspirations, The Sartorialist (click) and Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma (click) in an effort to figure out: What to wear?

Many of you, dear friends and family, have been collaborating with me on this for years. As you well know, this is no new dilemma for me.

Help me figure it out: click. I really would love your comments in regards to the project!

gathering string

Well, good morning! I'm presenting a whole new project to you today. For the moment it's called gathering string and resides here: click. I've made three entries already, and the one that may best outline my intentions thus far is this one: click. In essence, it's one Jaybird's attempt to figure out what to wear. Remember the first day of school? click.

gathering string's URL (that's web address, luddites) is catchy, I know, but for the time being, we're sort of in beta. Which is to say, that you, dear Jaybird readers, are my test kitchen.

It's very much a work in progress (what isn't?) and I'd love to know your thoughts on it. By all means, leave comments or send me emails. More to come...

is steven the new ralph?

Steven Alan Spring 2010 from Steven Alan on Vimeo.

Here's hoping that Spring 2010 looks, smells, sounds, and tastes something like Steven Alan's presentation a few nights ago. I think I sense a lifestyle brand...more on Dossier (click).

DVF: princess of power

This week I found personal and professional advice in a highly unlikely place: backstage at Fashion Week's Bryant Park tent.

The source however, was a reliable one. None other than Diane Von Furstenberg. Let's have a quick look at her to-do list so far: find my prince (click), design something revolutionary (click), become an icon (click), find my prince--again (click), make a comeback (click), become a contributing editor to a powerful publication (click), lead my profession's most visible association (click), beautify my city (click), and, as you can see below, have a healthy, beautiful, and supportive family. She must be doing something right.

This season's collection, not surprisingly, was pretty and powerful. But most powerful, I found, were Ms. Furstenberg's instructions for her models as they took to the runway. See below, and at Dossier, (click).

Karen the Kiwi

Karen Walker's show is one of my Fashion Week favorites. Maybe it's her New Zealand heritage, which reminds me of my favorite muses (click.) I would happily wear pretty much every piece she sends down the runway, but Karen herself is also a fount of fun ideas.

This season she pointed to the television show, "The Prisoner," as the source of her "'60s Edwardian on the seaside" inspiration, assuring me I wouldn't have to watch all 18 episodes on DVD to get the point. But if this trailer is any indication, I just might want to.

I love the name Patrick McGoohan, and I also love this shiny pencil gray slicker--perfect to hide under on a rainy day at the beach. See Dossier (click) to find out what else I would pack for my getaway with McGoohan.

Up next...my favorite Princess of Power...(the evolution of She-Ra).

party dresses

For the Cynthia Rowley show, the interior of Gotham Hall felt like a saucer glass of champagne: all round, open, golden, and bubbly.

All I could think about was a peony pink dress she made ages ago that I desperately wanted to wear to the senior prom.

Ten years later, some clever girl will probably spot this bottle green number with the floppy bow for her springtime inspiration.

Meanwhile, Jill Hennessy carried the fuschia torch in the front row. More notes at Dossier (click.)

harlow honeys

more on dossier...(click).

fashionably recovering

Fashion's Night Out was lots of fun (click for details on Dossier), and today, the drizzly day after, I'm taking cues from this little lady, shown lounging in John Patrick Organic's Spring/Summer 2010 collection, and getting some reading done at home.

Next stop, Cynthia Rowley.

fashion fuel

Earlier today I gave you the soundtrack of my morning. If only I could have given you a taste!

Have a lick at Dossier. (click.) More Fashion Week coverage to come...

toothfairy resides in telluride

One of my very favorite things about writing profiles is finding out about other people's very favorite things.

Jewelry designer Anna Sheffield was especially fun, because in addition to being tremendously talented (I actually swooned when I zoomed in on this ring--click.) and just plain easy to be around, she grew up believing that the Tooth Fairy lived in Telluride. I may intentionally teach my kids this one day.

Read all about it in our conversation, at Dossier Style. (click.) This was so much fun.

p.s. Have you voted for Deanna yet today? (click.) She could win $15,000 to help make sure the Tooth Fairy will still have places like Telluride when our kids have kids.