Here's our resin replica of the medieval seal of Our Lady of Walsingham, which I took down from the dining-room wall yesterday to photograph for a slide for tonight's lecture.
So I'm still wrapping up the end of this lecture and nervous about the time, although it should clock out at roughly two minutes a page. Going to spend the morning cleaning it up and tying it off, then if I still have any energy left, push through my Marianne Moore essay for Friday.
Wearing this morning:
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Mama dress (S) in Caffe Mocha, bought September 2024, last worn October 29. Total wears this year to date: 5.
*Secondhand Eileen Fisher merino cardigan coat, bought September 2024, last worn November 2. Total wears this year to date: 12
*Snag merino tights in Red Velvet Cake, bought last year.
*Xero Tari boots, bought summer 2022, last worn yesterday.
I should really do a better job of tracking wears for every item I own, and to track over the years, which I haven't done. Fifty wears for an item would be a real milestone, and I'm sure I've hit it with certain items. If I've worn a dress 25 times just this year, and have owned that dress for two years, then yeah, I imagine I've worn it 50 times, at least. A hundred wears would also be a major milestone. And the thing about this is that it's really not about frequency of wear, just number of wears over time, for the life of the clothing item. I've worn this dress 5 times since it arrived at the end of September --- which actually seems like a lot, in under two months --- but I hope I'll be wearing it five years from now, or ten.
Ditto this cardigan, which I love so much. I haven't had it that long, but I've already worn it more than ten times, because it's just one of those default items. The same goes for these boots, which are in their third season of wear. I haven't counted wears, but given that I've worn them almost every day through two winters already, I feel sure we're approaching a hundred wears, even if we're not actually there yet.
This is how I want my clothes to be. I adore these boots, not least because although yes, they look not-new anymore, they are holding up brilliantly to an obsessive level of wear. I look at other shoes (and really, I should be wearing my Mary Janes more, since I did buy them), and then I step into these shoes, because they're a known quantity and they work in so many situations, with so many outfits.
And I'm grateful to have been able to buy these clothes. There were so many years when even one of these secondhand items would have been too expensive. I know it's a privilege now to be in a position to buy them, and not to have the competing expenses that accompany a larger household. We had that season, and it was wonderful, and I regret nothing --- but I do enjoy this new season for many reasons, not least because I find that things are within my reach in ways that they weren't before.
Well, back to work in a moment on this lecture. I'll be glad when it's over. My outfit plan for the evening is my new Dark Turquoise Smock dress with matching tights and my Birk Melrose boots, plus my Ann Taylor magenta blazer cardigan. Not exactly basic academic black, but then I don't wear basic academic black if I can help it. I might add either my new teal-flower scarf or my linen soft pinky-purple scarf as well. It's going to be chilly tonight --- already it's ten degrees cooler today than it was yesterday, and tomorrow's high is only in the upper 40s, a real shift. Time to break out the snuggly clothes in earnest, at least for a day.
But now to work.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Leaving within the hour for the Abbey, where the Thomas More Scholars will be hosting us for supper, then my lecture afterwards.
I am dressed and ready to go:
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Smock dress (M/Midi) in Dark Turquoise, bought this past week. First wear
*Secondhand Ann Taylor cashmere/rabbit-hair blazer cardigan, bought October 2024, last worn November 5. Total wears this year to date: 4
*Snag microfiber tights, I forget the name of this color, bought summer 2023 for wear last fall and winter.
*Secondhand Birkenstock Melrose boots, bought summer 2023, last worn November 6.
*Thrifted scarf, bought Sunday in Dallas. First wear.
I love the deep magenta with this dark teal dress --- it's fun to use this teal as essentially a neutral, with just these few touches of contrast in my cardigan and in the pattern of my scarf. Then dark boots to ground things. This all feels imaginative but not too wacky or disjointed. It's just light-dark-color-pattern, the basic outfit formula, done in colors I like.
I'll take my heavy cardigan coat to wear after dark, when it'll be really chilly. I'm sleeveless under my cardigan and figure that I should be pretty comfortable in shifting temperatures, with an extra layer to put on when I need it.
And soon, off we go! I will be glad to have this evening behind me, I don't mind telling you. It'll be fun, but I am tired and ready to be not-onstage for a while.