Sarah seeks her inspiration from style influencers—artists, bohemians, rock-n-rollers, mystics, and intellectuals. Sharing her 5 favorites of the day that can be found around the Seattle community, our editor brings to readers: pumped up kicks; street-style workout gear; savvy style updates for the holidays; a late happy hour hotspot; and Q—a nightclub for grownups.
Isabel Marant Fall/Winter 2012 showcasing my favorite “pumped up kicks.”
I’m not sure if it was the tennis shoe roller skates that were just coming into style that got the idea in my head, but I was all of eight years old when I decided I wanted to wear high-heeled tennis shoes. My parents weren’t so enthused, but I do remember sketching a pair in the hope that I would find that such a thing existed. I don’t know whether or not anyone was actually making them at the time but I am certain that they have been trying to come into style since the late ’90s and high-heeled tennis shoes are finally all the rage. Isabel Marant made a great stab at the trend and it has taken hold with Steve Madden knock-offs. Now even Chloe and Michael Kors have a version, and at a more accessible price point, Report is doing them. These pumped up kicks are here to stay. My friend, artist Piper O’Neill, has made them a regular part of her wardrobe and she makes me want to wear them. I have this fantasy that there will emerge a contingent of arty, bitchin’ chicks who run around in rock t-shirts, leather jackets, and wedge high tops who eventually balance out the Patagonia and lululemon set.
Kate Moss’s “Welcome to the Motor City” editorial photgraphed by Bruce Weber featured in W Magazine in 2006.
Speaking of lululemon… I don’t get it. Nothing about this “yoga wear” branded crew is anything I can identify with—and I practiced Yoga Sutra meditation for five years. I get that the style is easy to wear and has become a safe default setting for moms on the go, but it is expensive and at this stage uninspiring. Let’s just say I think the Detroit playground basketball court look for workout gear is so much more bad ass. Short Nike shorts and a Hendrix T would definitely get me into the gym. That other stuff makes me think of 1000 calorie coffee drinks from Starbucks, suburbia and SUVs. If this is not your thing, it can be a challenge to come up with fun ways to dress for an ambitious workout. I like the idea of feeling tough and edgy in my athletic gear, which is not the zen and docile state one associates with yoga but I’m a weights kind of girl so that’s OK.
I am actually working out again and I’m hoping the results will be evident soon. Not only am I hitting the gym, but I’m doing some creative visualization just to make sure I’m covering all my bases by picturing the lean, fit, fashion-friendly physique I’m working to achieve. I go through these cycles every so often, but not usually before spring. I’m finding that this time of year is better because I won’t have to stress over the holiday pounds and it’s so much more fun to think about the fall fashion trends that are still relevant. So many people ask me what they should wear to every holiday event they attend—one more source of stress on top of the other considerations we must make during the season. Wouldn’t it be great to do some research and invent a cohesive style personality based on your taste preferences and natural predisposition—or archetype, as I like to think of it—as a matter of course and not be worried about what to do at every turn? Having a consistent look and staple pieces to work with would be a more fun and efficient way to go about dressing for events and parties. I love this fall fashion trend guide put out by Fashionologie: The Fall 2012 Trend Report as a source of inspiration.
“Much Adorned” style trend feature in Fashionologie’s Fall Trend Report
Consider having a style that you’re always enhancing and developing as the artistic aspect of being you. You will find that you spend less money on cheap stuff that doesn’t really make you feel good to wear, and you will make choices that support your activities, lifestyle and persona with clear direction.
Being a wife, mother, editor and volunteer are roles I love playing and they define aspects of who I am in a satisfying way. It’s important to fulfill one’s many sides through work, family, service and creative projects, but one can easily forget how important a social life is to our well-being. Luckily, I was raised to know the value of cafes and cocktails and other things called frivolous by Puritanical finger-waggers. If I weren’t somewhat of a partier, I wouldn’t see much of a point to going to Mass on Sunday—and I love Mass. So I give the weekend my all. I love to go out on Friday night with an eclectic group of friends to a good late night happy hour and follow it up with some kind of active event or night club. This last Friday the Vanguard Seattle crew and some of our artist friends stopped at The Four Seasons after celebrating the anniversary of downtown clothing boutique The Finerie just down the block. I took my daughter and her best friend to the party, which was perfect fun for the tweens: an art show, a DJ, pizza and Dry Soda, and beautiful clothes to admire.
The Four Seasons Seattle Art Lounge’s cheese and antipasto counter
After sending them home (we live just a few blocks away) in the Four Seasons house car, the grownups stayed and enjoyed the cheese and antipasto counter for only $7.00 at the The Four Seasons Art Lounge. This very posh and stylish affair was actually quite inexpensive to my surprise. My husband always has the hamburger no matter where we spend our happy hour, and he was…happy.
Artist Juan Alonso and I at Q on Capitol Hill
The newest club in town is Q on Capitol Hill which Vanguard Seattle’s Sarah England covers in her post, “Quality Sound and Equality at Q.” Since moving to Seattle in 2004, I’ve had a disappointing time trying to find a decent place to party and dance with friends where I didn’t feel too old or enough like a stripper to be there. We heard Q was the place for our “type” and sure enough, it is! The music is right on the money, the venue is loungy, clean and cool with no wait in line. We met a hip guy from D.C. during the course of the night and I asked how he liked the place compared to venues on the east coast. He said it was in many ways better and he liked that the crowd was still defining itself. He especially liked that no one in any particular scene had discovered it yet because the best part of watching a place come into itself is right before it does.
