silk charmeuse & lace

Speaking of lingerie, here’s a recent acquisition I am loving. A silk charmeuse chemise from Sapphire Bliss, a brand with a small collection of intimates, quite reasonably priced (especially when they have a sale to close out the discontinued styles, like this one) and with beautiful fabrics. Around the same time I purchased another chemise from another brand, more expensive and dramatically less nice, a cheap rayon blend that was basically a mass of static cling. Returned that, kept this.

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I love a chemise, whether worn as a night shirt, a slip, or (especially) as a luxe camisole. I look for light, expensive feeling fabrics and good quality lace. Cheap lace is not hard to spot, for one it’s not very expensive, for another it’s often bulky, thick (not delicate) and bland, maybe even familiar because you’ve seen it before in some other inexpensive application. Sometimes tacky (the color, for example, or the scale of the pattern), and sometimes poorly constructed. Good lace is not hard to spot, either. Usually it’s on good fabric, is one tip-off, and vice versa.

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Silk charmeuse is a nice variation on silk, charmeuse being a thin satin weave – threads woven such that one side of the fabric is glossy and one dull. You can also find poly charmeuse but it doesn’t breath as well as silk, just as you would suspect. It can be quite nice, though, too, and hardy. I also like the silk camisoles from J Crew, as a plain option.

A sufficiently elegant chemise can easily do double duty as a chic tank top, and pairs beautifully with a blazer. Such a versatile piece. Slightly longer and you’ve got a dress, a look that was trendy last fall (and still fair game, I think).

A visible piece of lingerie, tastefully done, can add an intimate, vulnerable touch to an outfit. These are fabrics you want to touch, that look, even at a distance, wonderfully soft and smooth. I like such elements, that draw people in, that make the clothing an extension of or bridge to the skin rather than a simple shell or covering.

 

Valentine’s gift guide

There is certainly a cheesy, overcommercialized aspect to Valentine’s Day but it’s true too that there is a lot of cute stuff to be had, and I don’t mind a certain degree of sentimentality. I can genuinely like it, even.

Here are a few pieces I would love to be given, and I’m sure I’m not the only one:

1. a luxurious red lipstick

Lipstick Queen Silver Screen Lipstick in Have Paris, maybe, or Le Metier de Beaute Maraschino

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2. pearls

Because, pearls. But also how charming are these akoya heart drops?

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3. a cookbook

I’m really into Mediterranean fusion cookbooks at the moment. Enjoying _Plenty More_ and definitely want to have a look at _Ottolenghi_.

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4. fancy lip balm

Always good to pave the way for kisses, no? This natural, nutrient-packed offering from Tata Harper caught my eye recently.  Be True lip treatment. There’s a tinted version as well.

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5. liquor, in conjunction, glassware

I don’t know about you, but I love being given alcohol. Champagne, especially. Say it with champagne! Better still, say it with champagne glasses. Really, really tall ones…

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6. the scent of roses

I always enjoy Tea Rose, a simple, bright citrusy rose fragrance from The Perfumer’s Workshop. It’s so inexpensive, too. I find it layers beautifully with any number of other fragrances, and especially like to use it to brighten or soften various masculine favorites of mine. Alternatively a lot of L’Occitane’s rose scented products are lovely, also their peony products, peony being much like rose in character but a bit softer and, in a pleasant way, harder to identify. I like the hand creams.

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7. gourmet ingredients

Gourmet herbs, spices, salts, things that come in beautifully packaged jars…I can’t get enough of that stuff. Surprise me.

8. a locket

I’ve been susceptible to the Victorian charm of lockets for as long as I can remember. I’m always looking for interesting vintage ones (I haven’t found one yet, in all this searching, but it’s one of those searches that’s been going on for years, off and on), and like a lot of different styles, from miniature hearts to oversized ovals. This chubby Tiffany’s gold heart has that classic (plain), clean (really plain) look I like. Lockets can be cheesy but, you know, it doesn’t have to be like that.

27679161_927308_EDIt’s unoriginal, I suppose, to give someone a necklace with a heart on it…but honestly I think necklaces with hearts on them are appealing. A dainty chain, a dainty heart*…maybe solid, maybe studded with some stone** or another. I can’t go for those swoopy, stylized hearts but a plain, shapely heart, sure.

*something like this tiny platinum heart, for instance

44870_main**case in point, the diamond heart necklace Lena Dunham wore in her recent Elle cover, speaking of Tiffany’s. I find that piece so beautifully sized and the shape of the heart appealing as well, curvy and proportional – there are many unfortunate heart attempts out there, as far as I’m concerned. Making a mental note to try to get my breasts to do this thing Lena’s are doing here. Imagine with a pearl pendant? Nothing not to like there.

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What do you think? See anything you like?

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