restraint

how, oh how, will i restrain from buying this now that it's marked down to $418 (from $598)?

1927

Jazz dancing, fast cars, conversation about Freud and sex all mashing together, lubricated with gin... and, of course, the shortest dresses in history.

In the upper echelons of American society, they became virtual works of art.
This is the finest example I’ve ever seen.

Slim. Minimal. Couldn’t be simpler. Except that when you put it on, the zigzag rows of silver and translucent beaded fringe are set into glittering motion that seems to flow directly out of you.
The light varies depending on your tempo (Charleston for fireworks, slow waltz for chandelier effect), but is always mesmerizing.

1927 Party Dress (No. 2924). Sleeveless, scoop-neck cream silk georgette, surprisingly substantial, with over 100,000 hand-strung baguette beads in seven tiers, plus an eighth tier across scooped back. 

The hemline falls just above your provocative knees; in Utah or Ohio, you could have been arrested (really) for wearing this breathtaking thing. Imported.

on sale now at j. peterman. 

it's long been my dream to work for them (even before elaine did on seinfeld). do you think this might serve as a job application?

make do and mend or how's that not buying stuff in 2010 going?

darning socks

during our visit to the open air museum, husband and i were struck again and again with just how few belongings people had. it appeared that most people had a large chest and a bed. other furniture - stiff couches and uncomfortable chairs - reflected that people didn't spend much time sitting indoors. they were undoubtedly too busy working outdoors or in the kitchen. and everywhere, on long, enviably-patina-ed tables there were handmade projects - sewing, knitting, mending. and it made me think of the book i've just read - make do and mend - which is a reprint of the leaflets that came out in England during WWII. leaflets on how to make your fuel and clothing coupons stretch as far as possible - saving money and reworking clothing to extend its usability. very interesting reading.

newspaper-lined shelves

i thought a lot as we went through the museum and i coveted heavy mixing bowls and those fantastic wooden dough raising troughs, about how people had good quality things and used them for years. and i remembered, with a bit of shame, my vow not to buy extraneous things in 2010. funny that, in what i decided would be a year of not consuming, we've bought a house, a car, a horse and an iPad and i may just have accidentally ordered a new 13" macbook air, which i'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of next week. it's HARD not to consume.

community knitting

i fear, after reading make do and mend, that what it would take for us not to consume is another period of rationing. we have to be forced not to do it, because our entire society is built around the notion of consumption - temptations abound around us. and i'm vulnerable to those temptations. the whisper of a lightweight, fast, not to mention gorgeous, laptop was just too irresistible for me. so, suddenly finding myself with the money for it (thank you norwegian tax authorities for giving me back a nice chunk of my money), i was utterly unable to stop myself from ordering it immediately.

knitting basket

i would truly love to get to the point where i am able to resist such temptations, but i fear as long as i have the disposable income, i will be tempted. and i will fall. this time headlong into a gorgeous, state-of-the-art macbook air. i just wish i could fall into a darning basket a little more often.

* * *

and check out my contribution to the window project

weakness in the face of fabulous orange coat

i broke my year of not buying things the other day while house-hunting. i had an hour to kill and lo and behold, in a little bitty town called gammelby (old town) that had a handful of houses and a B&B, i ran onto a large, modern building which said it was an outlet for the danish clothing brand bison. i had to go somewhere, since i wasn't due at the next house for an hour, so i went in. the shop was full of tempting things, but not all of the prices were that tempting. however, i went weak in the knees (and the pocketbook) in the face of this fabulous orange wool coat for 50% off, to boot. i made husband take some pictures of me in it on our walk in the woods yesterday. i hope you agree that it was too good to pass up.

when you fall off the horse, you just have to get back on, so i'll try to pick up the shattered pieces of my year of not buying things and soldier on. and i'm thinking it will help that i have a fabulous coat to wear.