-
Need a Prom Do-Over? Go Vintage
Ever wish you could have a re-do for your high school prom? Did you choose the wrong date, the wrong dress, or get too drunk off Dr. McGillicuddy’s? Maybe, like me, you had not yet learned the importance of proper eyebrow maintenance. Or maybe you still cruise past the juniors’ section in your local department store every spring, secretly wishing you had an excuse to wear polyester satin and sequins again. Well, there is still hope for you. Vintage Madison, a group of “like-minded ladies who collect, sell and adore vintage clothing” is hosting their first annual Vintage Prom at the East Side Club on May 7. And if you…
-
Spring Fashion Finds Under $50
It’s official: spring is on the way! I’ve seen the tips of crocus and tulip shoots poking out of flower beds around my neighborhood. And the stores are full of spring styles. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to give your wardrobe a warmer-weather pick-me-up, though. There is a lot of great stuff out there for less than $50. To celebrate five years of collaborating with designers on its Go International line, Target is reproducing some of its best looks from past collections. So if you coveted something that sold out the first time around, it’s worth checking to see if its available again. Here are my…
-
Runway Fashions for Rent
Have you ever looked in your closet before a big event and concluded that you have nothing to wear? If you said no, you’re lying. Choosing clothes for holiday parties, weddings, and other special occasions can be stressful and expensive. And after you’ve gone through the trouble of finding something acceptable to wear, the sad truth is that you’ll probably only wear it once or twice–for most of the year it will hang neglected in your closet in a garment bag. I stumbled upon an ingenious solution to this problem. A website called Rent the Runway allows members to rent current styles from over 90 designers for prices ranging from…
-
Four Centuries of Fashion
I’ve been doing a lot of research on vintage fashion for a novel I’m working on. I recently came across a treasure trove of information on the website of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Perusing the photos of garments from the 1600’s through today is like taking a walk through time–albiet in a corset and sometimes painful shoes, but always looking fantastic. Here are a few of my favorite ensembles from the Met’s archives. All photos are from the Costume Institute’s website.
-
Feels Like Home
I’m thrilled to have the talented blogger and decorator Doreen Creede from Style Maniac guest posting today on Glossing Over It about interior design. Decor is something I admire and enjoy, but I don’t have any background in it, so I was thrilled when Doreen agreed to say a few words about her own approach to a designing a room: Candlelight glows against the soft brass of my vintage coffee table; its mirrored surface gleams with glasses of garnet wine, platters of creamy goat cheese, and bowls of savory sundried tomatoes. Shoes have been kicked off, pillows smushed behind backs, lights dimmed low, music turned up high. Flames lick against…
-
Vintage Vixen
I have not been posting as frequently in the last couple of weeks because I’ve been working like a crazed woman on my second novel, Gently Used. The novel tells the story of a fictional vintage clothing store, the women who work and shop there, and the garments that come through the door. It is loads of fun to write, and whenever I get blocked, I do research on vintage fashion, which has led me to some fun discoveries online. A recent search for 1950’s ball gowns led me to the Etsy store of Timeless Vixen, a vintage shop based out of Beverly Hills. The shop carries an impressive range…
-
Glossing Over It Has A New Home
Glossing Over It has a new home. One more suited to the lifestyle to which she’s grown accustomed. It looks like this: Just kidding. That’s the home of fashion designer Trina Turk in Palm Springs, as photographed in Town & Country. What I really meant is that the Glossing Over It blog has a new home on the interwebs, meaning I’ve changed my blog address. So make a note of it, and change your bookmarks, blogrolls, and links. Because my new web address is…get ready for it… If you forget and go to my old address, susangloss.com/blog, don’t fret. The door will not be slammed in your face. You’ll be…
-
Geek Culture (and Couture)
If any of you happened to stumble upon my blog yesterday, you may have been greeted, not with pictures and posts as usual, but by hostile gibberish that looked like this: Parent directory wp-content wp-admin wp-includes No, that was not supposed to be an experimental concrete poem. In a fit of what can only be described as temporary insanity caused by too much time online, I decided that would try to move my blog to a new web address. By myself. I can’t explain why I decided to do this without the assistance of a professional. I can only say that I was motivated by a surge of geeky empowerment…
-
Everyone Needs a Photographer Friend
It is absolutely essential to be friends with at least one good photographer. Seriously. The person doesn’t need to be a professional–anyone with a decent camera, preferably a digital SLR, and knows how to use it, will do. In these days of constant life documentation on Facebook, Picasa, Flickr & Tumblr, you might as well look good. This is where the photographer friend comes in. A good photographer can make you look Project Runway-ready even if you’re feeling bloated, have a giant zit on your chin, and your hair decided not to conform to the styling products you put in it and instead looks straight out of a Flock of…
a blog on fiction, fashion, food + family