Today marks Earth Day’s 40th, and I have to ask myself, do we leave a bigger carbon footprint by hoarding stuff like a pack rat or by churning old things out of the closet every season only to buy more? What exactly is the sustainable approach to fashion besides making our own clothes, by hand, by candlelight, out of recyclable materials (btw, why do I always associate going green with a pre-Industrial Age scenario!)?
I’ve just posed a question I can’t answer, but suffice it to say I don’t think recycling unwanted clothes and accessories at the local Goodwill drop-off can offset the rate at which I re-populate my closet. Disposed stuff seems to beget more new stuff, and the cycle is never ending. My closet is a landfill of guilty pleasures, and in another century it might contribute to something really bad to our planet. I don’t know what yet, but I’m always told if it looks this good, it’s not going to end well. And my closet is pretty awesome if I may say so myself 
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Anyway, if Earth Day’s motto is to reuse, renew and recycle then I suppose my FIMTSO series is sort of on the right track….I’m…trying.
But I just can’t seem to promise the universe that my Louboutin footprint will shrink any time soon because, well…the Loubs are always so darn pretty, and when you’re standing inside the shoe department surrounded by peep-toes and slingbacks and stilettos and ballerinas screaming “BUY ME” at you, you’re not exactly thinking about saving the environment. You’re still stuck on rationalizing why you have to own more than 20 pairs of shoes. In black.
So much for my Earth Day repentance; it’s more of a confession than an atonement. But in the spirit of using things that are recyclable, today’s pics are of some of my favorite re-usable bags that are meant to replace those disposable plastic bags at the supermarkets. Too bad these bags are so cute I don’t have the heart to use them for my groceries 
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Tags: carbon footprint, Earth Day, FIMTSO, Louboutin
It’s tax day here in the US and what better way to diffuse the pain of getting socked by Uncle Sam than a little retail therapy? As expected, very little foot traffic at the stores but tons of customer service. I see lots of fashionistas loitering as opposed to buying; we are all anxious for sale season to start. It looks like the sour economy hasn’t sweetened up any…
…or so I think after walking around my favorite store for an hour, and until I run into a killer pair of Chanel boots that I think would look pretty cool under a few skirts or pairs of pants in my closet:
Before you make any gladiator jokes, let’s just say these hybrid shoe-boots have a way of lengthening the legs and shaping the calves like there’s no tomorrow. This pair is a size 37 and just one half size too big for me. My nice shoe guy is jazzed up about the prospect of pushing a $2100 (no, that’s not a typo) pair of boots but alas, after checking his computer system, tells me they are sold out across the nation in my size. Egad, is the shoe department recession-proof? So much for hoping to score these on sale.
Anyway, he’s locating these Louboutins for me instead…we don’t know if they’ll ever show up given the small inventory buyers are stocking their stores with these days:
NOT that I need more shoes!
It’s been almost five weeks since I started the bootcamp program to tone up my body. I’m here to report that I’ve put on two pounds, my jeans feel tighter and looser in different parts, and the 6-pack abs are still nowhere to be found. This is where I’m reminded of an YouTube video on how to fake abs. If I assessed my body’s jiggliness quotient (JQ) as cottage cheese level those five weeks ago, I’d say I’ve successfully upgraded to jello. Sigh. So the mochi I ate probably didn’t help my cause any either. Who knows, maybe in 4 more weeks my JQ will be at mochi level. For now, I’ll keep telling myself that I’m slowly building muscle mass and see what happens at the end of my bootcamp in mid-June.
I’ll admit I do feel stronger, more energized, and that’s enough to keep me vested in the program. The body image issue, however…well, instead of moping over my own theory of relativity (freefall from aging + inertia also from aging = long sleeves + lower hemlines) (is it any wonder I’m blogging about travel and fashion and not physics?), I exact my revenge on gravity with some retail therapy on the westside. Beverly Hills to be exact. How about we test out the gravitational pull between the boutiques and my checkbook?
I’ve probably driven down Wilshire Blvd a thousand times, and this is how it looks and sounds on a very windy day:
No, I don’t bury my sorrows in hard drinks doled out by seedy bartenders in dark bars (that’s only appropriate for birthdays). I prefer to escape in boxes upon boxes of Manolos and Louboutins showered upon me by my favorite shoe guy at Saks–doesn’t the store look all sunny and innocent on the outside…
when all kinds of sins of gluttony are committed inside?
I won’t confess to my own sins (what happens at Saks stays at Saks…er, in my closet) but how about I take you on a drive instead:
Lest you think it’s all rosy posy in this part of town, even the F word (foreclosure) has been whispered here–look closely at that yellow sign below:
And like any other American town, there are typical schools
and boring storefronts
just blocks down the tony bubble of my sweet escape.
Tags: Beverly Hills, Chanel, Louboutin, Manolo, Rodeo Drive, Saks
