Autumn is upon us, with flooding sunshine and falling leaves and dropping temperatures. This is a favorite time of year because of the blast of color and treats of harvest, after all, who doesn’t love all shades orange or every apple recipe? As I moved summer lightweights to the back of my closet and woolen garments to the front, I made another adjustment, the shift from sandals to boots! Perhaps more than ever boots are everywhere, from the runway to the street, lace-up to zip-up, ankle height to over-the-knee, suede to shiny and in every hue. For this shoot, I dug up a favorite pair from last year and donned new favorites, but each one is a walkable boot–my main criteria. After all, we need to keep moving with all this brilliance around us! Joined by my kitty we danced about in the foliage for a brilliant afternoon.
Category Archives: Fashion
Fashion Statement
In The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, the fabulous antagonist, rants about style and trends and color in relation to what 
‘we’ simple shoppers experience while scanning department store displays. She is not exactly trying to teach her new assistant about the hierarchy of fashion, but in a backhanded way reveals how trends trickle down from the walkway to our sale racks. I never shop without hearing her tirade in my mind!
“This stuff’? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select… I don’t know… that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean. And you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent… wasn’t it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.”
Besides the brilliance of Meryl Streep’s delivery and the careful crafting of Aline Brosh McKenna’s screenplay we are left stunned by the machine of the fashion industry, and from runways to sale bins, you realize how superb but limiting trends are on our shopping. We are dictated to–except–and here is where I am most excited–except if you shop outside of the box.
Chillaxin’
August is the month to find shade, preferably by water, and let your eyes drift over the shoreline… You know, do 
nothing but give yourself a break from the phone, laptop and iPad, from your To-do-List or job demands or your next DIY project… And yes, shelve that self-help book too. This precious month chillax with no plan at all for a day, a week, perhaps if you’re lucky, the whole month!
Following this well-needed advice we took one day off the calendar to visit a favorite state park where at most we swim once between buoys and walk a bit in the sand. Arriving late afternoon when most are packing up we bring a Dinner Picnic. This timing might seem odd, but at day’s end beaches are so quiet you can hear the lapping water and watch the timid ducks…Extend your stay until early evening and you will have a glorious sunset all your own!
In the spirit of chillazin’ I offer no more words… Instead photos to inspire you to find cool water and slanting sunshine and time to allow your own relaxed smile to return… Nothing else… Nine Cent Girl is taking a vacation!!!
Nine Cent Girl 