Hyacinth Bucket

Jill Stuart 'Cameron' dress (last worn HERE). Vintage belt & necklace. Miu Miu shoes.

Who wants to be the bride when I could be a flower girl forever in this faded frock? From moonlit garden tea party to geek heaven, where I played with gadgets galore to find the perfect PC. I'm not a fan of techie toys but need a new laptop for photos & music, something small & light enough to fit in my YSL 'Muse'.

"Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls, / Come hither, the dances are done, / In gloss of satin & glimmer of pearls, / Queen lily & rose in one; / Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls, / To the flowers, & be their sun... / Lily whispers, 'I wait" - Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Come into the Garden, Maud

The Envelope, Please

Vintage jewelry, Morris Moskowitz clutch, Club 7 Echo scarf (worn as top). 3.1 Phillip Lim skirt (last worn HERE). Chanel clogs.

On the Banks of Plum Creek, wearing scarf as strapless top, tied in triangle. Fall flora darkly dots cotton, reminiscent of foliage mistily reflected on a pond or a moody Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painting.My elongated envelope makes the case for clutches by day - carried it to a country fair & estate sale. Summer is peak tag sale season, but they start so early - I'm sleepy but satiated with oldie goldie treasure.

Summer School

"I have always found the times when another person recognizes you to be strangely sad; I suspect the pathos of these moments is their rareness, the way they contrast with most daily encounters. That reminder that it can be different, that you need not go through your life unknown" - Curtis Sittenfeld, Prep

Theory blouse. J.Crew skirt (last worn HERE). Vintage jewelry & Liberty of London scarf. YSL bag. Miu Miu sandals.

Visited The NY Society Library to flip through vintage fashion mags; somebody has to remember lost girls' worlds. One 1960s pastel pretty young thing was so inspiring, I was tempted to rip out her photo. Instead I paid homage here: seafoam scarf & skinny striped seersucker shirt with wedding cake skirt.

Be Italian

Anna Sui dress (last worn HERE). PG Bracelets (courtesy of designer). Vintage Gucci briefcase. Miu Miu sandals.

Super-excited when The Promotion Factory (visit HERE) asked me to style PG Bracelets (shop HERE). Change a bracelet, change a mood: Paola Garofalo designs according to the effect of color on emotion. I adore New Age notions like Gemstone Therapy, so her Chromatherapy collection makes me happy.

PG Bracelets are fun to tangle in knotted fabrics or charmed strings. My favorite is the striped Italia Universal Love, inspired by the country's flag. Italian pride is also shown on this Gucci briefcase's barred insignia. I picked pink bracelets to match paisley patches on my dress & patent leather peep-toe heels.

I'm Incendiary Too

Hanes tank. Joie skirt (last worn HERE). Vintage necklaces. Chanel scarf & clogs.

Feeling all Chinese New Year in vintage accessories. Incendiary Chanel moiré scarf adorned with gold lockets. Monet fiery pendant painted with burn-breathing dragon. ACCESSOCRAFT NYC knotted links.

Luscious leather in summer? It's a go-go with a tank top & color me happy sweet nothings. I'm sensitive to leather & suede's scent but regret passing up a certain caramel embossed leather pleated skirt awhile ago.

Last Winter

"She took back her sweatshirt & tied it around her tiny waist, like the sleeves were a black velvet ribbon & Audrey herself was a package, a precious little gift... She started walking... Away from the prison of her youth & beauty & into the hard-fought-for loneliness of her future" - Helen Schulman, This Beautiful Life

3.1 Phillip Lim jacket (last worn HERE). Ralph Lauren skirt (worn as dress). H&M headband. Vintage Mei Fa necklace. Chanel shoes.

Dashing around town in knee-length pleated skirt-cum-mini babydoll, but winter is my favorite fashion season - more substantial clothes. I cleaned coat closet to create room for further loves & encountered last year's shearling jacket, cozy inside & out. Definitely keeping to combat unpredictable windy weather.

Eye Wear

3.1 Phillip Lim dress (last worn HERE). Vintage sunnies & scarf. Penny Loves Kenny sandals.

Funny sunnies: cotton candy frames envision La Vie en Rose. I used to think they were UV-protected, but they're probably only some biddy's tinted eyeglasses. I'm a crochet-loving little old lady at heart, so this sparkly silver woven shift happily evokes tea time, needlepoint samplers, reading in a rocking chair.

GREY GARDENS: Boldini, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, & Her Son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill

Speaking of grey dresses, Consuelo Vanderbilt wears a splendiferous one in Boldini's portrait. Her elongated limbs are elegant as Ingres' Romantic Grande Odalisque, but it's her exquisite costume I covet: a charcoal gossamer gown, whose richly ragged tatters are fashioned with slashes of shimmering strokes.

Indian Bead

Anna Sui dress (last worn HERE). Vintage belt, jewelry, clutch. Valentino espadrilles.

Another green day dress, this one dark & brooding as a rainforest teeming with tree nymphs & faeries. Vintage handmade clutch: individual ivory Indian beads sewn onto silk, interspersed with taupe crystals to form flourishing flora. Envelope shape snaps shut over tiny interior pocket to secrete love letters.

Purse's label reads, Belgium. Perhaps previous owner was a Henry James literary heroine, visiting on her Grand Tour. She probably shopped at a specialty store for a souvenir of her adventure abroad & packed it in a trunk to return to the States. Clutch was forgotten for a century until I discovered it at an estate sale.

Cabbages & Kings

Moschino Cheap & Chic dress (coat worn HERE). Vintage belt & jewelry. Manolo Blahnik 'Hangisi' shoes.

Sweet as SOUR PATCH candy in cabbage tartlet frock, complemented by jade necklace. Love this fabric so much, I also have it in a bow coat. Match made in heaven paired with Baroque buckled sapphire slippers.

Attended garden party, where this dress was greener than ginkgo grove. Danced barefoot to avoid stains & abandoned flats at my chair, where they were admired as pieces of art - proud to be shoe connoisseur.

Shanghai Red

Marc Jacobs jacket (last worn HERE). J Brand jeans. Urban Outfitters ring. Chanel shoes.

I rarely work pants into my wardrobe, but J Brand's vibrant cropped cotton twill jeans remind me of a beloved bright red pair I had in high school. These skinnies are updated with faux front pockets to eliminate annoying wrinkles when lining scrunches & real back patch pockets perfectly carry essentials.

I adore pockets, especially in dresses, where I equate them with a gamine's insouciance & nonchalance. Even if I have a purse, they offer someplace to stick my hands. These pants pack the punch of a fruit juice box sipped under the sequined palm tree on my jacket. Now get out of the way, I'm going to the beach!

Fairy Light

EASTERN PROMISES: Hiroshige, Evening Shower at Atake & the Great Bridge from 100 Famous Views of Edo

Watching city from window, orange juice sun pouring through glass. Luxuriously hibernating several stories up in the sky, wearing vintage faux fur capelet like snow leopard in lair. An old fashioned movie star would wear it to a foreign film premiere circa 1930s Tokyo, lit by flickering Chinese paper lanterns.

Vintage capelet & bangles. Blumarine skirt (worn as dress - last seen HERE). Manolo Blahnik 'Hangisi' shoes.

Picture Jean Harlow loping in her bias-cut charmeuse gown, topped with this stole. A skirt-cum-strapless mini is my glamour gown. Its iris print is reminiscent of a rock garden's cherry blossom viewing party, lit by fairy lights. Even Eastern rainy days, such as Hiroshige's Evening Shower ukiyo-e print, are romantic.

Semi-Charmed Life

Anna Sui shirtdress (last worn HERE). Vintage bracelets, CHANEL scarf, SISO bag. Valentino espadrilles.

Semi-charmed shirtdress tied with ruby watered silk scarf. It's my best buy from a recent country fair: CHANEL if you please, scored for magic beans. I was excited as a curator finding a forgotten Cézanne.

Scarf decorated with gold designer nameplates & heavy metal chainlink fences - clearer photos soon. I looped the long strap of this woven lattice bucket bag, but it still softly knocks my knees like a puppy.

Oyster Pearl

Rebecca Taylor slip. Twenty8Twelve skirt (last worn HERE). Vintage necklaces. Valentino bag & espadrilles.

Consider me a convert to bags with handles & a shoulder-strap. Usually I don't like them together because handles look funny flopping uselessly, but my prized purse carries them both with panache. Style: floral lace needlepoint. Color: opal oysters concealing pearls. Rebel Rebel, the studded strap sings sweetly.

I'm almost pink as my slip - NYC is on fire. I ducked into boutiques every few blocks to bask in AC - dangerous occupational hazard for professional shopper. Fall clothes are out full force, made palatable by freezing displays. I'm falling in love with multiple coats; it's hard to be faithful to one for the season.

Summer of Love

Cynthia Steffe tunic (last worn HERE). Vintage headpiece. Sonia Rykiel scarf. Urban Outfitters ring. Miu Miu bag & sandals.

Dancing through several decades, starting with Summer of Love in this doily tunic. These low rhinestone heels are so practical, even my grandmother covets them (a biddy who collects sparkly stuff). She also adores this 1950s headpiece primly tufted with nude feathers & forget-me-nots tucked in between.

My grandmother had a similar hat when she was Southern Belle in Virginia. Love hearing how clothes used to be worn - it's like being an art historian or detective. The headband matches my blushing tooled leather tote, seemingly made for 1980s rock star girlfriend but only old as Miu Miu's last spring show.

The Bangles

Vintage belt, bangles, dress (last worn HERE). Urban Outfitters sunnies. Miu Miu sandals.

Floral bangles make me feel like cha-cha-cha Carmen Miranda, 1940s dancer. I never wear bracelets on my right arm, but there were too many for one hand - every move announced with clashing cymbals.

Not sure if this gold chain lasso is necklace or belt, but I wrapped it around my waist. Magical summer moments spent hiding in grass, wearing stain-proof black & white polka dot shift with Peter Pan collar. I amused myself by counting cartoon clouds, composing handwritten haikus, braiding daisy chains.