which shoes?

Gary Graham leather jacket, Hope Merry cropped t-shirt, J Dauphin gold necklace, Iosselliani pendant necklace thing, Marios Schwab leather sandals, Etro gladiators, Ann Demeulemeester sandals, Pamela Love cuff, and, most importantly, Philip Lim skirt.

Phillip Lim's designs are generally a little too feminine for me, but when he does it right (i.e. according to my particular aesthetic) it makes me weak in the knees. [Side note: I'm beginning to wonder if I haven't replaced romantic relationships with a tortured lust for clothing?] A lot of people are playing around with the idea of athletic gray sweatshirts and how to dress them up/make them more interesting - par example, Alexander Wang's version, which I love from the front, but am not quite as enamored of the back. Phillip Lim's take on classic athletic heather gray is easily the freshest of the lot, and I want it. I want something that could potentially be described as having ruffles (wtf).

I also have to admit that I'm liking the return of crop-tops. I'm not advocating a return to the 90s custom of perpetually-bared midriffs, but frankly most of my shirts are so long I could sit on them. Whenever I contemplate wearing a pencil skirt my pool of tops shrinks drastically because so many of them are too long or too lumpy to tuck in. Of course, I'm not going to go out and buy a cache of cropped shirts, I'll just cut some down to size and re-hem them. As soon as I re-learn to operate a sewing machine. Actually, I could just buy American Apparel's scrimmage shirt, which I've been eyeing for a while, on TrendyBlanks and be done with it.

So anyway, which shoes? I'm leaning towards the Ann D's myself.

mo' polyvo'

I spent all day at the library yesterday and then all night working on polyvore sets.

Sunglasses: Karen Walker, Top: Acne, Blazer: Rag & Bone, Shoes: Jil Sander, Jeans: Genetic Denim, Ring: Iosselliani, Belt: Keerstin Wintrup, Clutch: Bird, Earrings: Bing Bang

A Note about Shoes: I don't really like shoes. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'd much rather be barefoot. Consequently I wear sandals almost exclusively, and I essentially refuse to wear heels. There are so few occasions on which I am willing to sacrifice my comfort to look taller and more feminine, and so few occasions on which heels are mandatory, that I never wear them. What's more, a large part of my aesthetic is trying to look androgynous, and I feel heels detract from that ambiguous, sexless look. No one is going to mistake me for a man, but still.
So, what that means is when I make these sets and it comes time to insert shoes, I'm completely lost. I read Jak & Jil like everyone else, and I can appreciate the shoes featured on it, but since the idea of wearing heals is anathema to me, I can't really work them into an outfit without feeling like I'm faking it, and not very well. So what I'm saying is, if the shoes I choose are awkward, you now know why.

I never thought I'd do the blogging thing, but I've succumbed, largely because I can't face the prospect of working on my art history final paper. Instead, I'd rather look at jewelry on the internet.

Like everyone and their sister, I'm obsessed with Iosselliani:

There are literally dozens of other pieces that I'd sell a kidney to own, but these are just a few of my favorites. That claw ring will be mine, no matter what devious means I have to employ to obtain it. Oh yes.

And P.S. a word on the title: my grandmother's maiden name was Leper, so let's not get all pissy about it.

sources: iosselliani, the fashion spot, ioselliani, refinery 29, browns, iosselliani