An auspicious start to the year

Somehow another month passed without a blog update. No matter - this allows me to do a quick summary of my first month of preppy thrifting in 2012. 

I was fortunate to make a trip to the Westport, CT Goodwill store during the second weekend in January. Like everything else in Fairfield County, it has a reputation for being expensive, with prices often more in the "consignment store" range.

One would definitely not shop there if one were really on a tight budget - frankly, you could probably find less expensive new clothes at TJ Maxx, Marshall's, or the big box stores. Despite the prices, however, Westport Goodwill also has a reputation for having excellent secondhand clothes, and frequently high-end ones at that (e.g., Prada, D&G). This was my first visit in three years, and it did not disappoint.

In these lightweight plaid Theory pants, I'll be ready for my cruise (it will be my first, with my parents, at the end of March). I'll also be ready for trips to Weekapaug and other preppy enclaves.* 

I plan to pair these with a coral Lacoste polo shirt (not shown) that I found at Savers later in January.

"Yes, please, I'd love another gin and tonic."

I'll also be packing this canvas J. Crew skirt, which by the look of it and the still-sewn back pockets, has never been worn:

Dreaming about warmer weather is every New Englander's birthright in the winter, even if one could hardly characterize the temperatures in Rhode Island in January as chilly (it was in the upper 50s both yesterday and today). Still, I'm traditional enough that I wouldn't consider wearing the above items now.  

So I wasn't about to walk away from this Goodwill trip without finding a couple of things to tide me over until spring. This lambswool Horny Toad sweater was new with tags and (despite the bad color of the photo) is a nice sort of heathered olive and has a contrasting pale pink along the foldover collar:

This skirt was the clear standout of the trip, however. It's in a very fine-wale corduroy, and has hot pink grosgrain detail at the top of both patch pockets and down the center.

(I admit to a soft spot for grosgrain detail, just like I love rickrack, too. I only wish that I didn't now associate rickrack more with certain girls with bangs. I love vintage clothing, but there's something a little too precious and studied about the "quirky winsome girl" aesthetic.) Anyway, the skirt:

Skirt by Anne Carson (somehow I think it's not this Anne Carson)

And here I am, badly backlit, pairing the sweater with the skirt:

What else? I turned 41 in January, and received these lovely flowers:

and this spectacular phalaenopsis orchid:

and a few wonderful books, including the glorious Indian Textiles coffee table book. I have a lot to learn, and more trips to India are clearly warranted... 

as soon as I finish that gin and tonic.


Namaste and dress well,
Kelley

*A longish footnote: on the preppy book front, I highly recommend Tad Friend's exuberant, gorgeously written Cheerful Money: Me, My Family and the Decline of Wasp Splendor. Friend is a staff writer at The New Yorker and writes brilliantly and (surprisingly) movingly about downward mobility. (Tad, if members of your extended family ever need assistance in maintaining a preppy wardrobe on a budget, I'm your girl.)

Finally, all this talk about preppies reminds me of my favorite Metropolitan Diary entry, when someone recounted a story of being on a shuttle from Manhattan to the Hamptons:

Woman passenger: Driver, there's a wasp in this van!

Male passenger: Actually, there are three of us, but we're perfectly harmless.