Orange Sweater

While cleaning up my closet the other day I found this pullover I knitted several years ago inspired on a pattern by Rowan, the English knitting company.
I used a yarn with 10% mohair in it, I forget the name of the company now, but it was American. The world of knitting has exploded in such an amazing way since I started knitting in 2001 and I have not been able to keep up.

Longchamp

I haven't drawn in a while because my clothes are repeating themselves! And lately I have been wearing a lot of black...
I took a work trip to Dallas this week and I dug up a little bag I have only used two or three times. It is Longchamps and I bought it at the Paris flagship store around 1998. The typical Longchamp bag was very overexposed at the time, and I found this little foldable suitcase charming. It was perfect for my three-day trip and it saved me a lot of headaches. I love it and now I want to use it as little as possible to keep it in good shape!

Black Coat

This is what I called my "lifesaver" or "magic" coat. It is from H&M and it goes down to my knees. It has a very high collar and a hood, and when it is cold and windy you will not feel a thing. I don't think it is filled with feathers but it has quilted details at the sleeves and edge of the hood.
I had set this on the floor to sketch it when half way through my cat came and plopped on it and took a nap! I was going to paint it with black paint and a thick brush but instead used watercolor pencils once the cat made an appearance.

RRL Coat

I am suffering through a bad cold and my pen tablet is not working, and yet here are the latest sketches.
This is a white & black pinstripe shirt from Forever 21, from 2 seasons ago. I paid practically nothing for it and it's still going (I wash it in the delicates cycle though).
I paired it with a tan corduroy vest from... Old Navy. Yikes, right? But it was actually very well made, from three seasons ago I think, when they were trying to go into a different direction to compete with H&M a little.   I am not one to freely mix black and brown, but it works when you are evoking a bit of a "Wild West" look, for which RRL is so well known.

This is one of my favorite coats: a RRL brown wool toggle coat. I bought it at the RL San Francisco store in 1997 or 1998 without knowing that one day I would end up working for the man himself. It never goes out of style and it is a more relaxed take on your classic preppy toggle coat. It is the length of a car coat and does not have a hood. Those coats are way too preppy for me and always make me think of "My Bloody Valentine" starring Melissa Gilbert back when in the 80's.

Grey & Black

Another grey & black combo. I paired it with a purple sweater actually. It was warm enough that it was all I needed along with a black linen scarf. This autumn has been awesome, I was actually wearing a polo shirt outdoors yesterday.
The boxer shorts here are from Faconnable and they actually used real Liberty of London fabric for this line. I bought them several years ago at the flagship store in Rockefeller Center. They were pricey but worth it. The buttons are mother of pearl, the elastic has lasted a long time, and the cotton lawn fabric is a delight. I think all boxer shorts should be made of cotton lawn.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle season is here again. I took out this Fair Isle vest in navy with jeweltones. Most of the Fair Isle out there is very neutral, but I liked the intensity of these colors, which look better on me. The pants are RL in a simple Tartan. And the gingham shirt is by American Living.

I don't know where I found the focus to sketch last night. I went to Tartine for dinner with friends in the West Village. Because it is BYOB, I always tend to drink too much. Lisa brought a bottle of Domaine Tempier rose - it is late in the season but it was warm enough last night for a rose in November, fancy that. I brought a 1999 burgundy Hautes Cotes de Nuits, which I was saving for a special occasion. It aged so well. The taste was a bit spicy, with a very faint hint of oak, a bit alcoholic, but it tasted expensive.

I started a new sketchbook last night, this time focusing on compositions. Here is most of my outfit today: a Forever 21 tattersall button down shirt, Polo RL moleskin pants (my favorite clothing item this season), H&M socks and C&A underwear.
I was going to add color to this drawing but my instinct tells me to leave it as is.

Herringbone

I have owned these pants for several years now and they are timeless... and cheap, from H&M. It is a grey herringbone wool.

This is a Polo RL navy blue quilted jacket that I bought in the San Francisco store in 1997. I am always tempted to give it away because it has seen better days, but again it is a timeless piece of clothing. It has a grey herringbone lining.  I love how this drawing came out, it is very very faithful to the original.  This along with the drawing of my car coat are my favorites.

Finally, the last page of my sketchbook! A Louis Vuitton wallet in dark green Taiga leather, which I also bought at the LV San Francisco store on Post St. It has been my companion during these last 12 years and it still may have 3 more to live. I could have replaced it a long time ago but it has a nice patina. It is the squarer European size.

I will now move to sketching compositions. I haven't figured out how that will work or how it will look.

Black Cords

I am going to wear these tomorrow. They are fine-wale black corduroy jeans from Rugby, very skinny. I was dismayed to see they went on sale this weekend, a couple of weeks after I bought my pair. I had to seriously restrain myself from buying anything this weekend at Rugby, including the purple cords I saw a couple of weeks ago, and the grey herringbone tweed jacket.
I drew this using an old fashioned pen nib and ink. Several years ago I bought vintage Gillott nibs, and there is one that produces the finest hairlines ever, but at the same time if you apply pressure, the line becomes 10 times wider. It is a nib used for copperplate sketching, I believe, and I can see why.

Herringbone Plaid

This shirt was given to me several Christmases ago. It was purchased at Kohl's. It is a grey herringbone yarn dyed plaid, slightly brushed. I know I write this about all my clothes, but it has held up pretty well, with no flannelly pilling. I normally wear this on weekends but I brought it to work today with my Uniqlo skinny black jeans.

Purple Gingham

I feel my sketching was in better shape last night, perhaps I was too tired the other day. I will never be Ingres, but these drawings reflect my "hand," even if they are recolored in Photoshop.

I was going to wear this polka dot tie (vintage) with an H&M purple gingham shirt, but ditched the tie because it looked too thick and wide with the skinny fit of the shirt.

The socks are from H&M but they were too warm so I ended up not wearing them. The underwear is from C&A, my fave.

And the sweater is a wool/acrylic blend from Old Navy. It is nicer than it sounds and I love the light grey heathered color. It has held up well and not pilled. I haven't visited Old Navy in a long time, I don't like their quality.

I am three pages away from filling an entire pocket-sized Moleskine sketchbook with drawings. For the next sketchbook I am thinking of drawing compositions of two or more items of clothing together. I don't know how long I will continue this sketch project, but I am thinking that when this is over, I will start sketching everything I eat at home: for example, an egg, a vegetable, etc., moving on to finished dishes? I will call that blog "Foodsketch."

Brown boots

I have to start by saying that I hate this drawing, it looks ridiculous, like a teenager made it during recess. I obviously was not too inspired last night when sketching.
They are a pair of English ankle boots in brown pebbled leather.

Boots

As anticipated, I am running out of things to sketch as the items I wear repeat.
I hadn't sketched my RL ankle boots. I bought them at a sample sale and they turned out to be one of the best sample sale buys I've made. They fit great and they have rubber soles, which make them last longer.
I tend to favor warm browns in my footwear, like cognac, but these are a nice dark chocolate brown that goes well with cooler browns.

Tweedy

I paid a visit to the Rugby store last night and fell in love with everything for F'09. They had corduroy jeans in bright colors: orange, green, purple, red... I almost bought them but I held on tight to my wallet.
So today I took out my Rugby brown herringbone tweed jacket from a couple of years ago. I paired it with a RL Polo green sweater in angora and lambswool. The cut is too bulky for me but I love the color, which is like a pale minty sage.

I bought this grosgrain banded watch at Orvis two years ago. It was the only place where I could find it. It comes with four different grosgrain straps. They are always featured on RL ads but we as a company do not carry them.  So far so good - it keeps time accurately and I have not  had to change the battery.

Today I almost wore my tan corduroys but they look ridiculous, like clown pants. I must give them away or wear them only on weekends around the house!

Dots

It is getting to the point where I have already sketched what I am wearing, but there is always room for new items.  I am almost at the end of my pocket sized Moleskine notebook. I went to Border's last night to buy a new one. Using a 30% off coupon it still came to $8. Too bad they did not have them at overstock.com, where the regular sized sketchbooks are $8!

These cufflinks belonged to my partner's grandfather. They have mother of pearl with nice violet undertones. I love their simplicity.  I am not good at drawing objects, but they convey the shape and look.

Continuing with my polka dot obsession, these black H&M boxer briefs with polka dots are fun and right on trend (my personal trend, that is :). I actually drew this with a Rotring ink pen I had not used in about 10 years. I went to Lee's art supply and found the ink cartridges.

Edwardian

This Polo RL shirt is a couple of years old. It reminds me of Edwardian men's shirts and it borders on costume the way some RL apparel can, but not when you pair it with jeans.
The cashmere socks are by J. Crew.

These Converse-style shoes are RL and made of suede instead of canvas. The only disadvantage is that the rubber areas became too yellow.

Plum

Something happened last night that disheartened me a little: I received the J Peterman catalog in the mail and came to the realization that my sketches look a lot like the drawings in their catalog. Here I thought I was all original. I saw an ad on Craigslist a couple of months ago and they were looking for illustrators. Perhaps I should have applied...
In any event, today I am wearing a deep plum Polo with Uniqlo black skinny jeans.  I like Uniqlo although the quality is not the best in the world and the cut of their clothes is not too flattering. Except for these jeans, which I bought a couple of years ago when they were only in Edison, NJ. They subsequently abandoned their suburban store to open in SoHo. I haven't purchased anything since, but it may be time to visit their jean selection again.

Grey

I ended up not wearing this coat today because the weather was warmer than expected. It is a vintage Pendleton. I am a big big fan of this brand and I used to collect their old woolen plaid shirts. My dream someday is to work for them and design their home collection.  I have to admire them for not licensing their brand to Target or some other big box retailer, but I have a feeling it is a brand that could be much bigger.
I always feel a bit odd when I wear this coat, like I am impersonating Blake Carrington on his way to an oil rig in Colorado.

These are H&M boxer briefs. I love the black and white stripes. I have a similar bathing suit from Moschino and it is a lot of fun at the beach. I tend to favor Gap boxer briefs because they feel less synthetic, but I have to admit the fit from H&M is better, more body conscious.

Finally my other Hermes watch, Clipper. It is a great watch that has not gone out of style. It is 10 years old and it has never given me any problems. Keeps time great as well. Crappy drawing though, I am not good at drawing objects!

Plum & Orange

Today I wore again my rust orange corduroys, perfect for this month, with an H&M shirt with a plum and orange overcheck. The shirt is already five years old but I always pull it out at this time of the year.

An H&M plum wool v-neck sweater. The quality is not that great but it was cheap and I was more interested in the color than anything else. It has started to pill at the elbows.

These whimsical socks were given to me by my MIL several Christmases ago.  I know it borders on cat-lady, but they are fun. I think she bought them at Bloomingdale's.

Here again the Hermes "Heure H" watch. I have mixed feelings about it, I don't like advertising the H on my wrist. This morning I was in a meeting with someone from another division and she was wearing the PM size in gold. Yes, it is immediately recognizable just as the "H" belt, and for that reason I would much rather prefer the Cape Cod. Tourneau is having 24-month payment plan on their watches and I am tempted to list my watch on ebay and go for the Cape Cod...

I have had this yellow scarf since 1988 - I bought it at C&A in Goettingen, Germany, "Canda" brand. It is acrylic but it has held pretty well. They just don't make synthetics the way they used to...

Horsey

On Friday, someone at work said I looked so Polo with my Adirondacks outfit. It made me laugh because I always admire the guys who work in apparel and put so much time and effort in assembling their outfits. They put layer upon layer upon layer. On Friday I was layering the ombre plaid with a vintage Woolrich red & black plaid coat.

Today I am wearing typical Polo again but not as multilayered as the apparel guys, heh heh.
I am starting with an Hermes cashmere scarf in the signature "Hermes Rouge" color. I am not very happy with the way the cashmere has become fluffy, although it has not pilled at all. It is made in Scotland - I wonder if at Loch Erin.

Polo RL orange wool socks from last year. I am wearing ankle boots so they will be hidden, but it is so cold outside that I need wool today. I really like this shade of orange.

A Rugby military green cowl neck sweater. The cowl neck trend seems to be alive and well this season, so I am not putting this one away. In case you are wondering, my shirt is a brown tattersall button down from Forever21 (Heritage 1981) and my pants are the same moleskin jeans I wore on Friday. The jacket is Polo, reversible with a houndstooth one one side and solid khaki cotton twill on the other. I didn't have time on Sunday night to sketch everything.  I was also going to draw today's entry with watercolors but I prefer to add color on the computer, and I think I will stick to one illustrating style for the duration of this project.

Finally, a RL D-ring belt. I don't usually like gold, I prefer nickel but the gold of these rings goes with the warmth of the other colors.

Adirondack Country

This cranberry, black & grey ombre plaid shirt is from Arrow Jeans at Sears. I was checking out the Land's End offerings when I came across this shirt. It only cost $20 and the quality and the colors are great, they even paid close attention to the buttons. I don't know if someone is trying to revive the Arrow brand, but I can see how it could become a favorite with hipsters given the right marketing - they should have done something with "Mad Men."

The moleskin jeans are from Polo RL as part of my shopping spree at the Bleecker store the other night. The quality is thick and velvety and the color looks like real suede.
J. Crew tooled leather belt. I bought it on sale three years ago. Well made even though it is from China.

Standard Polo RL light tan socks.

Aqua & Grey

Last night I went on a RL shopping spree to lift my spirits. I first stopped at the West Broadway store in SoHo. They always have a great selection and I love the loft-like space.

I instantly fell in love with this cotton car coat, especially with the leather details and the tattersall lining. This will probably be my largest purchase of winter, but I expect it to last for a couple of decades.
Then I walked to the Bleecker store, which is my second favorite because it is devoted to men. I was looking for corduroys but did not find the ones I wanted, which are thick, velvety, and with thicker whales. But I noticed this v-neck pullover in a lovely shade of aqua. It looked familiar to me and when I got home I realized why: I have exactly the same color in a sweater I bought at Monoprix a couple of years ago ("Derby" brand), with a crew collar and saddle shoulders. So sadly my RL sweater will have to go back to the store. They had the same sweater in orange and yellow.

My trousers are by Banana Republic, "Dawson," and they are 5+ years old. I guess it is time for these to be put away because I was told at work today that all my pants are too baggy. It is true that the cut of men's pants has changed significantly towards a narrower leg... and even though these are waist size 31 they do look big on me. Part of me wants to be a rebel and wear baggy pants in order to go against the grain, but when something does not look flattering it is time to move with the times...

Black & Blue

I had to take my mom to JFK this morning after a wonderful 12-day visit. I was feeling a bit blue, so I chose to wear all black today.

These Polo RL black socks with blue polka dots marry my two favorites of the moment: polka dots and cobalt blue.
A repeat appearance by C&A briefs, branded "Angelo Litrico." I am sure they look (and sound) extremely cheesy, bringing memories of John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever."A black dress shirt from Target. Yes, Target, Merona brand. I am not a big fan of their clothes but for some reason they got this one right. It is very fitted, the weave is a twill, and the cotton has been mercerized slightly, giving it a nice sheen. Or perhaps it is a silicone treatment that will wash out. In any event, it looks great new but I wonder how it will hold up to repeated washings.

Once again as well the CK belt.

Pumpkin

"I hate this time of year with all the pumpkins and fall colors and chill in the wind," said someone I work with. I couldn't disagree more: October is actually one of my favorite months until April comes. I love rusts and oranges at this time of the year - I find it relaxing to wear the colors of nature and seasons when you live in an urban environment.

Today I am wearing RL Purple Label red socks, 90% cotton, 10% nylon and made in Italy. I bought them at the Mansion yesterday after work. I was helped by an awesome salesperson who showed me things they did not have on display. It makes me proud to work here, even if I can only afford socks! I had just thrown away a pair of J. Crew red cashmere socks that lasted for three years, and these are the same shade of bright holiday red.

This is one of my favorite Hermes ties, showing labrador puppies playing with red balls. I think I bought this one in 1998 in the San Francisco store. The orange is perfect and I it always gets compliments.

An American Living dark blue gingham shirt. It has an "easy care" finish which would be a no-no in RL product but for the JCP customer it is a must. I personally love not having to iron this shirt.

Banana Republic silk & wool zip pullover. I was attracted to the spicy caramel color. I think it is two years old and it has held pretty well, although I only wear it at this time of the year.

After a couple of weeks of doing these sketches I am thoroughly enjoying the process. My sketching had been so rusty and this helps me get back on track.

Lavender & Grey

Continuing my love affair with lavender and purple this season, here is a new Polo RL cable knit sweater in 90% merino wool and 10% angora. I bought a similar quality two years ago in a light spruce green color. It has held well with minor pilling. I love this color even though it is deeper than what I wanted.

These Polo grey corduroys are two years old and I purchased them at the outlet. Personally, I like the corduroy quality better at the regular stores. I was wearing them on weekends only but when I saw how well they went with the lavender sweater, I moved them to my weekday wardrobe.This Banana Republic belt must be 10 years old. It is too narrow for today's fashions, but I love the saddle stitch - meant probably as another Hermes knock off.

Gap light pink knit boxers. These are looser than the boxer briefs and have become so soft that I hate to part with them. They are part of the collection I wrote about, which was made in mercerized cotton in all the colors of the rainbow, launched around 2001 or 2002. The t-shirts I bought as part of this collection are still in amazing shape. Oh Gap, what ever happened to you?

Light grey H&M cotton socks, the type that come three in a pack for $8 or so. They hold up well for a couple of years although the elastic stretches after a while.