Various Notes, Mostly Fashion Related

1. On Friday, I wore a new top. After several hours at work, I felt something scratching the back of my neck. I then realized that I had not removed the tag from my top. Unfortunately, I had already attended a meeting, so I have no idea how many people noticed. Perhaps no one noticed; no one said anything to me.

2. By the time lunch rolled around, I had decided that said top made me look pregnant. Or maybe just fat. Neither is really a look I’m going for.

3. In an effort to get back to last spring’s level of fitness (sadly, I’ve been a bit lazy this summer, and by a “bit,” I mean a lot.), I’ve been trying to work out more. So, I’ve been doing a lot of lunges. The other day I guess I overdid it, because my ass has been aching like crazy. The left butt cheek is somewhat strained, but the right one is in bad shape. This morning I was whining about it to Lord Kissington. He suggested that I use some of the muscle cream I bought after a recent bout of muscle strain brought on by enthusiastic dancing (don’t ask). I decided against using the muscle cream because I didn’t want my ass to be all “menthol-ey.”

4. This weekend, I ended up at Ann Taylor Loft. I rarely have any luck with this store, but they always have something cute in the window that pulls me in and makes me forget all the previous bad experiences I’ve had there. Things started off well, when a saleswoman greeted me and told me she liked my boots (newly purchased last week). When I went into the dressing room, there was another saleswoman there. She pointedly ignored me, as I stood there at the entrance with a pile of clothes. Thinking perhaps she was a bit slow, I tried to make my interest in trying on the pile of clothes known by glancing around to see if any rooms were open. She then deigned to tell me that “all the dressings room are full right now.” Now, would that have been so hard to tell me without prompting, dear? The dressing room I eventually went into was huge, probably bigger than my kitchen and bathroom combined. Sadly, it was almost useless, as it had, despite miles of wall space, only two tiny hooks, each of which could hold no more than two or three garments. And the hooks were on opposite sides of the very large room. Sigh. When trying on clothes, I like several hooks, or even better, a nice long rail. I need a section for things not yet tried on, things I love, things I wouldn’t buy if they were the last piece of clothing on earth, and things I’m on the fence about. Since there weren’t enough hooks, I had to dump the clothes on the bench. I tried on clothes in multiple sizes: 6, 8, 6 petite, and 8 petite. There is no rhyme or reason to their sizing, and I sighed, wondering again why I was in this store. I overheard another customer asking the ever-helpful saleswoman if a pair of pants looked too baggy. I fully expected her to respond, “just cinch it.”

5. The whole shopping experience was salvaged by the fact that the new boots looked great with everything I tried on, even if the clothes themselves looked like crap.

6. Go Fug Yourselfis one of my favorite Web sites, and the women behind it did some fantastic blogging from Fashion Week in New York. One of the best pieces was about seeing Anna Wintour and Rachel Zoe in the same room. Check out those pictures. Anna Wintour is 56 years old. Zoe was said to be 33 in an interview in the LA Times last year, which would make her 34 now (yes, I’m really great at math). Perhaps she’s lying about her age, but whatever, it’s time to get out of the sun, Rachel. Compare those wrinkles to those of the much older Wintour. Rachel, you look great when you’re airbrushed, but oh my God, your skin. Please consider staying out of the sun, or using some sunblock, or perhaps taking one of those stupid headscarves you’ve forced on all your starlet clients* and somehow fashioning it into a protective sun mask.

7. Fashion Week produced a few nice bits and pieces, but overall there was too much black, gray, and beige. How about a little color for spring?

*You know, the one that Nicole Richie keeps wearing in some bizarre effort to detract attention from her way too prominent ribcage and clavicles. And the one that Lindsay Lohan hopes will distract you from the deadness in her eyes.