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step into my closet

The two biggest questions I get asked about my clothes are, “where did you get that?” and “how did you ever think to put that [insert bold color] [insert item of clothing] with that [insert bold color] [insert item of clothing]?”

If you just don’t have time to put together an outfit or maybe you think you don’t know how, or you have a vision but are stuck on where to shop, check out the recently launched Kassie’s Closet. This project is based on the idea that every great pair of shoes deserves a great outfit. Or you could look at it the other way around and say every great outfit deserves the perfect shoe. Either way, in Kassie’s Closet you will find a set of outfits designed by a team of stylists, complete with purchase information and hyperlinks to each item. Just think, you can browse where I buy my outfits without the burden of finding a babysitter, parking or mapping out a route from store-to-store.

As if this weren’t enough, you can also “save” products and outfits you like to your own profile and receive emails when additional outfits are built by a stylist you follow and a notification on your page when a new outfit is made around an item you have saved. You can comment on outfits and engage in an “e-conversation” with the stylist who created the look. It’s interactive. It’s current. It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Or should I say, the greatest thing since four-inch heels?

Even if you don’t purchase outfits identical to those featured, you can use the Closet to inspire you to put together similar outfits or to put your own spin on a certain ensemble you see pictured.

I’m proud to be a Kassie’s Closet stylist, though everyday I wait for the Closet Powers That Be to realize I don’t really have any styling qualifications beyond being a wardrobe wonk with a strong appreciation for clothes and a slightly unhealthy fetish for shoes. I enjoy contributing to the Closet because it gives me a chance to put together wardrobe ideas I’m contemplating for myself, as well as providing an opportunity to share with you outfits (or versions of outfits) I already own. It’s my small way of making the world a more polished place, one soul (two soles) at a time.

If you aren’t already in the Closet, click on the link above to request an invitation (you will get one, it just might take a day or two) and start browsing. Let Kassie’s Closet and the team of stylists inspire you.

I look forward to seeing you in the Closet.

men’s wear wednesday: chivalry

Is there anything hotter than a chivalrous man?

Well, it depends.

Chivalry is only attractive when it comes naturally. It’ shouldn’t feel forced or put on. That is, don’t make a big deal about opening the door for me. Don’t make a sweeping gesture when pulling out my chair or letting me enter the room first. A polite, “after you” is fine, but that’s all that is necessary. Just do these things because they are nice. I promise I won’t be offended and think you think I’m not strong enough to open my own door, adept enough to pull out my own chair or that you want to check out my ass. (Well, I might think the latter, and I might catch you doing it, but you should still let me walk into or out of a room ahead of you.)

These gestures are polite. They don’t make me feel inferior or incapable or like I’m a member of the weaker sex. (After all, it’s clear which gender keeps the world moving.) But I know most of us women have encountered a man who has come across more jerky, less knightly in his chivalrous approach.

As it is, we live in a society where manners seem to fall by the wayside. We text through meetings, averting our eyes from the person we are meeting with. We take phone calls during dinner. And let’s not forget my all time least favorite technological advancement: call waiting. I always waive it as an option for my home phone, and if on my iPhone I have a call coming in while I’m already talking to someone else, I end that call or let the incoming one go to voice mail.

So, when it comes to simple courtesies that are thoughtful, I’m not going to take offense.

In fact, extra points for draping your cape over a puddle so I don’t get my Prada shoes wet.

must have monday: the great white blazer

I have to admit, while it is a must have, I haven’t found my perfect white blazer yet.

Two years ago, when Rosanna Vollmerhausen, owner of DC Style Factory, came to my house and performed a closet audit on my spring and summer wardrobe, her immediate observation was that one of my gaps was a great white blazer.

I have spent the last two years on an mission to find it.

I know it shouldn’t be this hard, but I’m very particular about my blazers. They cannot be boyfriend style, for one, a cut that is (sadly for me) ubiquitous. Given how unforgiving white is, the material has to be of a certain quality. Cheaper fabrics might be passable in black but white shows all flaws. And speaking of flaws, given what a complete and utter klutz I can be, I really don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on this piece. I’m bound to bump into someone with a glass of red wine or have a kid with a nutella mouth give me a hug when wearing it. In other words, this will not be an investment piece for me like my black Smythe blazer was.

So the hunt continues for an affordable but not cheap looking great white blazer with a good shape. If you have any leads, you know where to find me.

summer clothes woes update

First of all, I would like to extend a big hug to everyone who reached out, either publicly or privately, to offer advice, share links, or otherwise advise on my efforts to find casual but stylish weekend summer wear. Given the level of response, I feel it’s only appropriate to provide an update.

Based on a recommendation from my friend Erika, I checked out Madewell, the casual sister company to J. Crew. I ended up buying their beachhouse dress in fuchsia (pictured). One concern about this dress is how many ice cubes would be dropped down the cut-out detail in the back, which (sorry) I found impossible to photograph for you without my back looking fat. While I like the idea of a mustard colored patent leather skinny belt around the waist, I don’t love the dress enough to keep it for the price. Back it will go.

This week, J. Crew kindly sent me a notice that more items had been added to their summer sale. Lured back to their website by my second favorite four-letter word, I bought the Driftwood dress (I know, this has a dreaded elastic waist, but I envision belting it) and the Elinor dress.  I think (hope) one or both of these dresses will help fill the causal weekend outings wardrobe gap.

I spent time time cruising the likes of Anthropologie and Modcloth but didn’t find anything that fit the bill. (I found a lot of items that didn’t fit the bill, of course.) Lilla P has some cute dresses but the price point is more than I want to spend on casual attire. Thus, the hunt continues. I’m determined to stay laser focused until I have filled my closet with seasonably appropriate weekend attire.

And then we can talk about shoes again.

on interns (guest post)

The following was submitted to me after my skin-tern post, and I loved it so much I asked the author if I could share it. This person needs to stay anonymous for obvious reasons but anyone who has ever hired, supervised, cursed or been eternally grateful for an intern will relate to this piece.

There was intern drama today of the unnecessary kind. The kind that comes with accepting an internship on Capitol Hill, a place where you may have landed because of your last name, but once you walk through the door the playing field is leveled by the likes of me.

Maybe it is because I have risen through the ranks from intern to senior staff because I kept my head down and worked hard. I let my work speak for itself. I showed up on time. I did more than was asked of me, but not so much people thought I was kissing anyone’s ass. My daddy didn’t write the campaign a check, my uncle didn’t go to college with the Boss, and certainly it wasn’t my GPA or SAT scores that got me in the door.

Capitol Hill is not summer camp and yet parents some how find a way to send their kids off to Washington, D.C. for six weeks and expect young staff, who let’s face it, aren’t much older than the would-be intern, play Camp Counselor to their kids.

For many interns, this is their first experience in the real world – they’re thrust into a well-oiled machine, a respected institution, and have the first chance to build a name and a reputation for themselves.

When you walk in the door, I take notice of details like what you’re wearing and how much make up you have on.

Yes, DC is hot, but you need to wear a jacket.

Yes, you have to give three tours today,

Yes, you have to take your Toms off.

You are a reflection of the Member you are interning for and more importantly, you must respect the hallowed halls that American heroes have also walked.
LBJ, JFK, John McCain, Shirley Chisholm, Barack Obama.

You are privileged to be here. We all are.

If you want to skate by and use this opportunity as another notch in you belt of extracurricular activities or as a topic for your grad school admission essay, fine. But don’t be offended when I don’t remember your name. You have four, maybe five weeks to give me a reason to remember you – how I remember you is your decision. But I promise you, if you show up everyday ready to hit the ground running, humble, eager, and do what is asked, you will earn the trust of those around you and you will be remembered. This will serve you much better than being remembered for poor attitude, tardiness, inappropriate language, or short skirts.

current obsession

Let’s get one thing straight, I obsess about a lot of important things. My job, my kids, my life. The unexplained leak in the kitchen that I discovered on Tornado Friday. But the heavy must be balanced by the frivolous, and lately, the consumer goddess in me has been singularly focused on waiting for a certain handbag to go on sale.

The DVF Harper clutch.

I know, I just bought the Rita by Lillybee, the lovely bone-colored fine Italian leather bag that pairs beautifully with every bright color that dominates my spring and summer wardrobe. But I can’t use a bag of that delicate hue everyday. Already, I’m fretting over the faint marks of use that are making themselves apparent.

The DVF Harper clutch breaks all my handbag rules. The flap closure prevents quick retrieval of one’s phone. Unless one is using the strap, it needs to be carried. Carried. That means potentially left behind. It isn’t possible to secure it on a bar hook when out having a glass of wine. I probably can’t carry anything bulky in it, like the make up bag I tote around with me on a daily basis with my 7 lipsticks in it, or my sunglass and eyeglass cases. But I love it partly for its streamlined-ness.

If there is a purse fairy, I’d like an Hermes Kelly bag. But if the purse fairy is on a budget, yet still feeling generous, this handbag in a perfectly bold Chelsea color and an effortless envelop style would continue me on my journey (its a marathon not a sprint) to embrace wardrobe components that are slightly outside my comfort zone.

And it would give me one less thing to think about at 3:00 in the morning.

skintastic

My first day of my second job on Capitol Hill, I wore a black pant suit, the best suit in my closet at the time. When I reported for duty that morning, the office’s old school secretary (who had taken shorthand during negotiations on the Civil Rights Act) looked me up and down with disdain and informed me in a most serious tone that the office had a “very strict dress code.” You would have thought I’d been wearing a tube top.

It turned out pant suits for women were against policy, as were, for the record, cropped tops.

Me: “Really? You had a problem with them in a Senate office?”

Apparently, they did. A few summers earlier, an intern dubbed “MTV Bethany” had indeed tried to get away with a navel-exposing cami. You would think a person handed a dress code that indicated women couldn’t wear pants would not be so bold as to push that particular envelop, but she did.

“She was a skin-tern,” my new officemate and future best friend informed me.

It was then I learned about the one constant every summer on Capitol Hill: the arrival of skin-terns. You’ve seen them. Young women in college who have landed their dream internship with their hometown senator or Member of Congress, but they have never had an office job and don’t know how to dress the part. Their mom bought them a suit or two from the Limited or Banana Republic which they then try to marry or supplement with their club wear, the fanciest stuff in their closet. The result leaves nothing to the imagination.

Sadly skin-terns aren’t the only ones perplexed by what passes for summer office wear. A former colleague emailed to express her dismay at what young women in her office are wearing this summer; she has genuine concerns that their wardrobe choices reflect poorly on her organization. I affirmed for her the following:

1. Strapless is not appropriate in the office.

2. Spaghetti straps are not appropriate in the office.

3. Mini skirts are not appropriate (even as a “suit” component) in the office.

Much like anything in Washington, DC, knowing how much skin to show is about striking a balance. You want to show some leg? Cover the arms. You want to bare (so to speak) arms? Wear a skirt of a longer length. In the dog days of summer, you want a sleeveless dress with a skirt of a shorter length? Make sure other assets are contained, but not in too clingy of a fashion.

Think of it as a form of bipartisanship.

must have monday: summer clothes

Has it really been an entire week since I last wrote? Apparently, I need a ghost writer or at least to prepare extra posts to share on days I don’t have time to write. Sorry to be MIA. I’m surprised I didn’t get any panicked emails wondering if I was about to slip into cyber-oblivion like I did in February and March.

I have no excuse considering how much time I spent on my computer over the weekend. I created outfits for Kassie’s Closet. I did some work for my day job. But mostly, I scoured the internet for good weekend summer wear.

Today’s “must have” is not focused on an item I cannot live without, but on items that I desperately need: summer clothes.

Frankly, I hate summer. I melt in whatever I’m wearing. While I have a nice selection of professional summer dresses, I’m bereft of casual summer party wear. My clothes either scream Monday-thru-Friday or are too don’t-go-out-in-public-y. I don’t have any middle of the road wear. The deficiency is of my own making. I hate sundresses. I hate shorts. I hate capri pants. I hate bathing suits.

That doesn’t leave a lot of options.

Yesterday, I cruised the web, site after frustrating site, determined to find summery dresses. Why do all the dresses of an appropriate weight and material have an elastic waist, which is just deadly on me? Or spaghetti straps, which require a strapless bra? Why do the dresses in the styles I like only seem to come in either very synthetic (i.e. hot) fabrics or those I’d prefer to leave to office attire?

By way of example, pulling from my standby, J. Crew, this Kimono-sleeve maxidress would be perfect if it were cotton. But it’s rayon. The Villa dress in stripe would look cute with my coral wedge espadrilles but for the elastic waist. And what is with all the strapless options? Raise your hand if you really and truly love strapless dresses. Or do you just wear them because it’s all they make?

The bottom line is that I am still looking. Ideally I want three dresses and a couple of skirts that can take me from little league games to BBQs or out for weekend drinks and/or dinner with friends. Today I want your suggestions.

Don’t make me go to the next social gathering in jeans.

 

champagne or gunmetal?

 

Same dress, two different colors. I’m partial to the champagne gown pictured on the right. Lee is partial to its gunmetal sister pictured on the left. Let’s settle it here with an electronic arm wrestle. No, seriously, please feel free to weigh in with your favorite.

(For those who are wondering what happened to the pink over budget dress, according to Lee the material was very delicate and she had already noticed some snags in the fabric, not acceptable for an $800 dress. She was worried about the gown standing up to a cross-country airplane ride, not to mention the prospects of getting multiple wears out of it.)

Ultimately, Lee has to make her own decision based on what she feels most comfortable wearing, but I champagne plan champagne to champagne work champagne on champagne subtly champagne swaying champagne her champagne to champagne choose champagne my champagne favorite.

Champagne.

pretty in pink

After hearing my complaint from afar that she did not try on enough color, Lee sent me these never before seen pictures of her in the following gowns.

This fuchsia Badgley Mischka dress is everything I love. It’s playful. It’s young without being prom-y or slutty. It’s mature without being matronly. With alteration of the straps, it would be sexy without being too revealing.

Sadly, it’s double her budget.

Lee dutifully tried on some of the dresses that had been pinned by her team of consultants, with the following results (in her own words):

1. Amsale Back Cutout Gown – the cap sleeves didn’t quite work and it was too plain – very bridesmaidy.

2. BCBG Sophia gown – the material was too plain and bunched up in the back.

3. Tadashi Shoij Asymetrical Pleated – it was very nice, but lots and lots of material. And honestly, it wasn’t sexy enough.

4. Tadashi Shoji Draped Taffeta – it had no hanger appeal (just looked old ladyish) so I didn’t even try it on.

Two other options that are back in her budget stratosphere and still in the running include:

And this:

After talking to Lee, it sounds like the middle dress pictured here is in serious contention. She reports it has a nice swing when she walks and it will travel well. But it’s black. Sigh. I’m totally smitten with the pink dress, as is she, perfectly illustrating why people should never try on something outside of their price range. I still plan to lobby for her to find a way to make it work. (After all, lobbying is what I do.)

And I believe people should have those things they most want and love.