keeping it minimal

My style efforts of late are not much to speak of. The coldest days of the year are upon us here in the northeast, and staying warm is the prime directive. But look! I put on some false eyelashes. Short individuals. It’s hard to see on camera but they make an incredible difference in person. For one they are dark, and my lashes, while healthy enough, are pale, and don’t announce themselves. They are nice but, you know, no one is writing sonnets about them.* I can see why people speak of becoming addicted to false lashes. The effect, even of short, modest ones with only one coat of brown mascara, is, basically: BOOM.

*Not one sonnet. It strikes me I hardly know any of the right people in this life.

Eyelashes, those quintessentially female attributes, shorthand for femaleness in all manner of cartoony contexts. As everyone knows, though, full, heavy lashes are appealing on absolutely everyone, at every age. I don’t know why I can’t bring myself to be very interested in mine, though I suppose there’s no logic behind what does interest me, either. Sometimes I learn that I can make some moderate effort to achieve a pleasing effect and I’m delighted, and adopt it immediately, and sometimes I am untouched. Eyelashes are like that for me. I amp them up as a novelty now and then and I like how it looks, think it looks better in a sense, even…but evidently do not care about looking better in that sense. Like when you have some power at your disposal and it is the possession of the power that matters, not the wielding of it.

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J Crew cashmere hat, Old Navy sweater

Most days my face is something like this. Probably a bit more boring than this, even. Or a lot more boring, though maybe you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference…who can say with faces. This is the Glossier face tint, which I like very well so far, high in silicone so it feels like a primer, extremely sheer but really the closest I’ve seen to something undetectable on the skin. Reminds me in texture of Armani Luminous Silk foundation. It doesn’t cover much (not sure how buildable yet) but that is rarely my intention anyway. What I want from a foundation product, if anything, is a gentle evening of skin tone without some dreadful sacrifice of skin-like texture.

On the cheeks my favorite, favorite blush of the moment, Tarte cheek stain in Natural Beauty, a deep rosy color that does look natural on me, about like the color my cheeks actually turn in the cold. Also undetectable if I’ve done a good job, which if I take more than 8 seconds I usually do. Fewer and the results are sometimes questionable.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara, which liking as well despite the plasticky/silicone wand (these I typically do not enjoy). MAC Fanfare lipstick, which so glad I picked up recently! A faultless nude pink that isn’t too pale, like so many popular nude pinks are on me. It’s one of the colors my lips often simply are, one of their more flushed shades…they have many shades, depending on humidity and hydration levels, blood flow, etc. All nice, it should be said. All just what they should be. But a girl likes to have options.

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Isn’t winter exhausting? I seem busy (working), cold, and so tired all of the time. I am not dull, but I can appear so in such conditions.

Innocent winter, so little deserving of blame here.

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challenge: interior design

Modani, a furniture store specializing in contemporary designs, recently invited me to design a living room infused with my style. The idea is to begin with one of their modern sofas and build out from there, using their accessories or any others. This kind of thought experiment always interests me, underscoring the fluid, plastic nature of style and the sense of the word style that is universal, not limited to clothing or the presentation of the body but inclusive of the entire environment surrounding or belonging to the self.

When you begin to think about style in this expansive way, intimations of one’s style start popping up left and right, its influence revealing itself in every aspect of life. Even if you are not consciously thinking about it this is the case, even if you think you do not have a style, you do. Like an accent. If you do think about it, though, the number of variables up for consideration…endless. The potential for harmony and expression, endless. I have long thought about style in this broad way, a certain way of approaching the world that reflects a bank of principles I am acting on (not so easy to identify these) regardless of the application. That said, I seem often to be contradictory, both minimal and baroque, rustic and modern.

It’s almost more entertaining to design a theoretical living room than a real one as with interior design I always have difficulty making final decisions. They are more final and lasting (and expensive) than most fashion decisions, and not so many of us get to have multiple houses to design.

In the absence of an oxblood leather tufted sofa, I would perhaps go for something completely impractical, like this:

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Modani phantom sofa

Having determined a white base (white walls, definitely, large windows), cream and pale wood accents seem inevitable, and texture becomes critical, the presence of interesting textures to balance the absence of color. Hardwood floors in a pale oaky shade (or whitewashed, even!) and a cream shag rug, say.

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Modani Mateo rug

A few white leather footstools dotted about.

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Modani Tedo stool

I completely fail to get the mania for throw pillows. I can see them being useful for certain lounging positions but the kind that are only for show and actually cannot be used (i.e. are uncomfortable to use)…I don’t get it. Art I get, certain tchotchkes I get, purely decorative throw pillows I do not get. That said there could be some cream brocade pillows on the sofa as well. I guess. And one of these Brahms Mount alpaca cotton throws.

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Brahms Mount Alpaca/Cotton Herringbone throw

A low reclaimed wood coffee table with a simple silhouette, the contemporary sofa contrasting with the raw wood.

J. W. Atlas reclaimed wood coffee table
A grand spalted maple bowl wouldn’t go amiss here.
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Spencer Peterman oval spalted maple bowl
Bookcases, surely. Perhaps something like this, or perhaps one wall custom built with shelves in some useful geometric configuration like this.
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Modani Lugano Library case

So, one wall of books, one wall of windows, one wall mostly a generous passage into the kitchen, and perhaps above the sofa a large brush painting of plum blossoms. Something like this, but I am going to try to paint my own.

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OR, the painting alone on a blank wall, and a large mirror above the sofa instead. Perhaps with a simple wood frame or perhaps with no frame, just clean edges.

A vase with some rotation of my favorite blooms, preferences for white and rosy shades. Peonies, snapdragons, tulips, ranunculus, orchids…

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Simon Pearce Anemone vase

Hm, something to put the vase on…a vintage pedestal table along these lines. I like the idea of some elaborate touch that isn’t quite intuitive but that is still tied in with one of the thematic threads of the room.

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This is a good beginning, I think. Now I’m thinking about the kitchen…

Modani images provided, other vendor images link to vendor pages