the stars at night / are big and bright

I made it! I've been here in Austin for about two weeks now, and I'm happy to report that I am alive and well... and in a bit of a culture shock. Yes, I grew up in Texas, but it's been awhile (16 years!) and I think the time and distance of living in a completely different part of the country for that long has all but erased my memory of what things are actually like here. Albeit the state capital, Austin is unlike other parts of Texas. In my very limited experience of living here thus far, I already get a 'blue city/red state' vibe here (glory be!) and I've come across many fabulous things to see, do, and eat (emphasis on 'eat'). That said, Austin is still Texas, and with regard to the clothing choices of the locals, the aesthetic here is noticeably different from what I'd grown accustomed to in Seattle. First of all, for a place that gets so hot in the summer, I find it interesting that many of the privately-owned boutiques in town stock garments that are made exclusively of synthetic fibers. As we are all well aware, polyester and acrylic blends just don't breathe: come July and August, that's not going to be good for business. Austin is also a bit more 'flashy' compared to the places I've called home in the Pacific Northwest: it's so crazy and interesting to be back in a place where people wear cowboy boots in a non-ironic way. Now, feast your eyes: a couple of examples of classic Texas flash:

rhinestoned butts
drive me nuts
(and not in the good way)

Spotted in a business meeting. Only in Texas.

I want to smack some sartorial sense into these folks, but it's almost more satisfying to just sit back and let it happen, partially because it's fun to watch, but mostly because there's simply no changing it anyway. Texas is Texas, and it'll be damned if anyone tries to change that. I'd like to think that I've made some progress with regard to my fashion choices since my childhood days spent in Texas, so if I ever start looking like this (again), please stage an intervention:

Notice I'm not smiling.
On purpose, or an unintended side effect of the ensemble?

So! Now that I'm settled, this place is gonna need a new look to match the Texas ambiance. Flash? Glitz? .gif animations of piñatas exploding and pistols firing into the air? I'll figure it out eventually, but until then, y'all take care, and feel free to drop a line.


Vaya con dios,

-dau

last-minute shopping

Well, a lot's happened in the last couple of months... as some of you have already heard, the 206 will be movin' on' down to Austin, Texas in just two short weeks! I am so excited about this opportunity (and to live in a place with sundress weather more than two months out of the year!) but will miss many things about Seattle: good friends, good food... and, yes: the shopping. As I verified last summer, Seattle gives several arguably hipper cities a run for their money when it comes to diversity, breadth of options and designer availability in fashion. Never one to leave any stone unturned, I am working my way through my bucket list of Seattle-y things I want to see, do and eat before I move back to The Motherland. Discovery: the problem with having a bunch of shops on one's list is that you will invariably be leaving town with more things than intended. (Note to self: you are moving across the country soon. Stop adding. Just subtract.) In any case, it may be too late to add these to the Seattle Favorite Shops list, but I wanted to pass along the good word. (Preaching the fashion gospel isn't easy, but someone's got to do it, right?)

I ventured out downtown on a recent weekday off to brave the tourist crowds and hit up some of the downtown-area places I'd passed several times during the work day and kept mentally reminding myself to go visit. Alhambra on 1st and Pine had been on my list for some time, and I am kicking myself for not having gone in sooner. Impeccably styled and impossibly chic, this space is brimming with some killer pieces, my personal favorites being a selection of amazing dresses by New York-based designer Gary Graham that make me wish I had a super fancy event to trot one out (and justify the expense) for. Owner Sepil Kaymaz has created one of the best spots in the city to find something truly unique. Earlier in the day, I'd wandered into Maggie's Shoes on 1st and, again, was wondering HOW I'd missed this place up until now. I left with an amazingly soft, unbelievably comfortable pair of Trippen Mary Janes that will be perfect for summer in Texas. This shop is stocked exclusively with German and Italian shoes that the owner brings back on her twice-yearly pilgramages to Europe, and she's clearly developed quite the sixth sense for superior footwear in her 25 years in business.

Well, folks; until next time, when I will be reporting back from Texas! Y'all brace yourselves; this is gonna be good.

Giddyup,

-dau

a heavy subject

What sometimes feels like several lifetimes times ago (or, more accurately, the early 1990s), there was a girl in Texas who never felt like she fit in. She was friendly, bright, did well in school and had many interests, but because she was The Chubby Girl, she always felt like she fell short. Growing up and really wanting to believe that you can be anything you want to be is sometimes difficult when others seem to look at you like an ‘almost, not quite’ individual because you’re fat. I know from experience: I was obese until about age 21, when I decided I was tired of being the girl people seemed to discount because of her weight.

No doubt, this is a sensitive topic. Recently a mother in New York wrote an essay published in Vogue about her controversial, bordering on cruel techniques in aiding her young daughter’s weight loss. The backlash that followed raises some valid questions and concerns surrounding the topic of childhood obesity (Slate ran an interesting piece on this). What’s the “right” way for parents to manage this situation? Growing up, my family always made me feel important, loved, and encouraged: I never felt any less loved than my younger brother, who was dealt the good fortune of never being overweight as a kid. Beyond home, however, was a slightly different story: I got my share of teasing and at times felt marginalized because of my weight. At church of all places, other kids were cliquish and rude: even now, I can recall verbatim some of the mean things other kids said to me and it still hurts a little bit. It makes me even more upset when I think about the awful things kids are saying and doing to one another nowadays, with the reach of gossip and vitriol forever changed by technology and social media.

Growing up The Fat Kid (or the Gay Kid, or the Biracial Kid, or The Poor Kid for that matter) is not easy. Teaching children that it is unequivocally not OK to tease, taunt, demean or otherwise bully other kids who are different from themselves is something that we can all do, even those of us who aren't parents ourselves. ‘Fat shaming’ in the media, the onslaught of countless fad diets with dubious success rates, and the glorification of physical 'perfection' are certainly contributing factors to the screwed-up relationships many of us have with our bodies, myself included. Sometimes, it really just sucks to feel trapped in the cycle of negative thinking surrounding one's physical self, a cycle perpetuated by a world that only reinforces the notion that to be different from some idealized construct of perfection is 'bad', and that it's acceptable to chide others who deviate from this ideal.

I wrote awhile back about my interest in fashion and style, a hobby that dates back to my elementary school days (embarrassing, yet hilarious photos of some choice '90s-era getups can be viewed here). Even when I was at my heaviest I liked to shop and put together outfits: clothing was my suit of armor, a tool I used to detract attention from a body that made me feel uncomfortable and ashamed. Fashion has always been my way of expressing a version of myself that looks somehow better than how I might be feeling at the time. There are examples of unconventional style experts and encouraging signs of a much-needed departure from the Vogue standard of beauty, but we still have a long way to go as a society concerning genuine love and acceptance for all people. Here’s hoping for a future where The Fat Kid isn’t labeled as such; where encouragement and support can be found at home, at school, and everywhere else.

-dau

Happy Easter

Spring has even sort of sprung in Seattle, as we're experiencing a banner weekend of sun and not-unbearable temperatures this weekend. I'm celebrating with two things: Peeps and yellow denim.

top: Cloth & Stone at Nordstrom
yellow jeans: Adriano Goldschmied at Anthropologie
sandals: Target
necklace: Stella & Dot
leather cuff: purchased at a Pike Place Market vendor

April showers,

-dau

April fools

So, here's the deal. Life as I know it has been one big bout of insanity these last several weeks, and while I've done and seen lots of things, taken a few photos, had many grand ideas about what to write about next and even started to type out a few words about that stuff... I just can't seem to get my act together these days. Call it Spring Fever, or just call me an overscheduled, overanxious scatterbrain... either way, these last few weeks have been a bit of a blogfail. So! Apropos of nothing, here's two shots of Things Men Wear that Make Me Want to Stab My Eyes Out:

This was taken at the Nordstrom Rack in Salt Lake City, but this offensiveness can be found pretty much anywhere. How, pray tell, do men get off wearing embellished jeans? Less is more, guys. Promise.

Spotted on a bus in downtown Seattle: the dreaded 'dress shoe/athletic sock' combination. I don't know if this dude thought he was fooling everyone by going with a black ankle sock (as if the shoe and sock would just blend together...?), but the Seattle White peeking through his jeans tells no lies. (Many) White Men Can't Dress.

There you have it, folks. Guys, we've talked about this, and we've talked about it again, but I feel like we just keep having this conversation and nothing ever changes. What's the saying: you can lead a horse to water, but you can't force it to wear garments that don't make women grimace with disgust... something like that.

Until next time, when I've gathered my thoughts sufficiently to create a coherent post that doesn't read like an attention deficit-disordered stream of consciousness. Here's hoping.

Nothing to see here, folks.

-dau

March madness

Whew! These past few days have been an absolute fashion whirlwind, thanks to some serious style events around town. Seattle Magazine hosted its first Seattle Fashion Forecast show at Benaroya Hall on Wednesday, March 14th as a benefit for Community for Youth, and it was a fête fit for the big time. The show was an experiment in combining current trends with Seattle-friendly all-weather gear, which proved to not only be possible, but cool. Seattle-based outerwear designer Wraphabillement was featured alongside selections from local shops, including Fremont bike style staple Hub and Bespoke, wedding and general fancy-pants occasion favorite Luly Yang Couture, and, one of my absolute favorites, Horseshoe. A few highlights from the night...

The guests arrive.

Kiiiind of a big deal now, folks.

This fashion enthusiast made a bold statement in Missoni pants. Yowza!

Ladies, take note: this is how to rock an evening dress. Stunnah!


Seattle Magazine Fashion + Lifestyle editor Kate Calamusa kicks things off.

You know you're in Seattle when you're drinking a beer during a runway show.


Bravo!

This was such a fun, fresh, well-produced event (thanks to many volunteers who helped to pull it off), and I cannot wait for next year's show. Next up: my semi-failed attempt to score big at the grand opening of the Nordstrom Rack's new location! The Downtown Rack left its old digs at 2nd and Pine and moved up the street into a new, much-needed larger space in Westlake Center, making it now adjacent to the Nordstrom flagship store. The store opening was on a Thursday morning, so some coworkers and I made the trek through the rain up the street from the office to 5th and Pine. When we arrived at about 8 AM, there was a long line of fashion fiends waiting for the doors to open at 9:00...

Hardly an unruly mob, this crowd demands last season's styles at deeply discounted prices. (Irony: the Occupy Seattle outpost is right across the street.)

Coworkers Jen and Jillian surveying the scene. So much for getting our workday shop on.

Initially dismayed that we clearly wouldn't be shopping that morning, the day suddenly brightened when we spotted this Top Pot cart dispensing free donuts to the crowd.

Free donut in hand, I considered this one a win.

This coming Tuesday, March 20th marks the first day of Spring. Given the trademark schizophrenic Seattle weather we've been experiencing (it's sunny! it's raining! it's... sunny over there and SNOWING right in front of me!), I am more than a little skeptical that we'll be getting nothing but sunshine and lollipops by next week, but let's all cross our fingers and hope that we can crack into our warmer weather wardrobes sometime soon.



Vitamin D-reamin',

-dau

not-so-sweets, round 2

Several of you asked, commented, or adamantly disagreed with the items on my holiday treat hit list. “I LOVE dark chocolate!” is a declaration I hear constantly from my friends who know I can’t stand the stuff ( yes, I know... antioxidants; potential health benefits; blah, blah, blah). By popular demand (and by ‘popular’, I mean ‘a couple people asked’, but I’ll take it), here is the second installment of dessert offenders:

• Angel food cake and pound cake. These two baked goods (baked bads?), while on opposite ends of the density spectrum, are equally guilty of the cardinal sin of sweets: not being sweet. Along the same lines as a dreadful holiday bundt, these cakes are only palatable if they’re covered in other things: fruit, sauces, or really any other topping that doesn’t suck as much as what it’s intended to compliment. Whipped cream and strawberries on angel food cake? Please. These “cakes” are weak sauce and should be blacklisted from dessert menus everywhere.
  
  

Don’t be distracted by the Spanish packaging.
It’s the same in any language: algo tan feo.

• Fruit and cheese platters as dessert. I have philosophical objections to the idea that fruit and/or cheese alone can constitute the final course of a meal. Fruit is good. So is cheese. But don’t arrange them in an artful, pleasant manner on a plate and call it dessert. The phrase “lipstick on a pig” comes to mind with this situation.
  
  

• Shortbread. As the name implies, this concoction comes up short in the sweets department. I’ve never understood those people who, come Girl Scout cookie season, will rave about how much they love Trefoils and will be ordering several boxes, with almost willful ignorance of the fact that Samoas and Tagalongs (and even Thin Mints!) are far better choices. At almost 5 dollars a box these days, this is a sugar-related mistake you literally cannot afford to make.
  
  

• Red Vines. This one is a bone of contention among office workers, who will fervently debate the merits of the giant Red Vines (barf) versus Twizzlers, the clearly superior strawberry licorice candy. Twizzlers have a smooth texture and buttery, satisfying flavor to them, the likes of which Red Vines simply cannot compete. Eating Red Vines is like attempting to consume those wax lips you get at Halloween, and wax lips are not supposed to be eaten. A true sign of a non-treat.
  
  

Sold in bulk; still a bum deal.

• Toffifay, Toblerone and Ferrero Rocher. Last time I slammed Roca and its variants, and these offenders made the list for the same reason: these 'treats' are far lesser than the sum of their parts. Each a confusing mashup of multiple ingredients, these European confections should never have been imported to the United States, especially given the fact that we've mastered the delicate art of combining chocolate and peanut butter and are never looking back. That, friends, is beauty in simplicity.
  
  

All of this may have you asking, "All right, then what DO you like?" The short answer: everything but what's on this list and that list. In particular, I enjoy straight frosting (yeah, that's right), but it has to be the right kind of frosting, and Cupcake Royale has this one down. I'm also particularly fond of a specific sub-genre of sweets I've affectionately dubbed 'old lady candy', including black licorice (licorice allsorts and Good-N-Plentys are fantastic), horehound and sassafras flavored candies, Mary Janes, Goetze's Caramel Creams, salt water taffy, Necco wafers and, up until a couple of years ago, Valentine conversation hearts (Necco changed the formula; tear).

Objections? Resounding thumbs-up in agreement? Suggestions for additions to the list? All right, fellow sugar addicts: let's hear it.

-dau