the baseball cap

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I’ve mentioned before wanting a baseball cap but could never quite find something that suited me. What I really like is that broken-in look that caps get when someone actually wears them a lot, curves the bill, ideally the bill gets a bit frayed, etc. I don’t care so much about the color or logos as the look; classic/vintage baseball shape, nondescript, Everyman’s cap. So, I reasoned, it would be great if some friend with too many hats anyway just gave me an old one. For years this seemed reasonable, and I left no small number of hints about how reasonable I thought it would be. I’d given up but IT FINALLY HAPPENED! A friend gave me a hat!

A baseball cap can be such a strangely feminine touch. You can throw it on with anything; dress it up a little, dress it way, way down, take it in a sporty direction, a butch direction, an editorial direction. It always adds for me (on others and on myself) an air of friendliness and approachability. It seems more likely that I would be asked for directions, randomly smiled at, that kind of thing. There’s also something inherently wholesome about them, not least because properly worn, you should be outside. [Here I run into problems because once it’s on…I can’t exactly take it off. A curly hair thing.]

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I love it.

What’s a governor’s club? Who cares!

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I’d also like to make a case here for the exposed, unadorned neck. A young, healthy neck is decoration enough, in so many cases, especially as in a case like this, with such a clean, abundant expanse of skin showing. It can be a shame to break up that expanse, even more so than with the wrist, for me, as there is such an appealing, intricate arrangement of bones and tendons around the clavicle and the base of the throat. [Am I losing you?] I think the play of light in these varied hollows can be stunning, as good as or better than jewels – a simple presentation of the occasionally lovely human body. Have oiled up here with some Nuxe Huile Prodigeuse (and sunblock), which is phenomenal.

Strapless sweetheart bodysuit from MotelRocks (via asos), Paris Blues shorts*, Skagen watch, Mexican bone bracelet, amber ring, Converse.

*I am into white shorts. With the cap I really wanted to wear [more casual] cut-offs but I realize I don’t have white cut-offs. Project.

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And of course a baseball cap is the quintessential American accessory. Happy 4th of July.

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I’m with the bandeau

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I have so many bikinis, one has to justify owning them somehow. Pairing a bandeau with a high-waisted skirt (or pants, or shorts) makes it so much friendlier, so much more wearable. There is still a fair amount of skin on display yet the effect is, to me at least, conservative. Well, let’s call it summer conservative,  compared to a full abdominal display.

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I sometimes enjoy when a photo turns out blurry as the image then really comes down to the silhouette, which is a preoccupation of mine. Whether or not I like a look often comes down to the overall silhouette, which it is in a way easier to see from a distance (literal or figurative), without the distraction of the details. This shot has the ideal amount of blurriness. Probably there is a technical term for that?

[UPDATE (one option): bokeh, n. a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image. Thanks, Chris.]

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Goorin Bros. hat, marimekko for anthropologie bikini top, American Apparel pencil skirt, gladiator sandals from Italian eBay boutique*, vintage Timex watch, Scotch & Soda wrap bracelet, Spektre sunglasses.

*I was looking for gladiator sandals in a very specific style (leather straps of a certain width, arranged with a certain degree of complexity–not more, not less–with ankle straps, not shoddy, affordable…) for about four or five years before I found these, and they meet all of my criteria.

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