Designer Spotlight: SCHAI

My style tastes are all over the place, but I have tended to avoid both very fitted, very body-con items and high volume, architectural designs. I wanted to break into new areas, though, and since I love independent and emerging designers, I absolutely fell in love with local Seattle designer, Suk Chai of SCHAI. Born in Korea, Chai studied at FIT and designed for Nordstrom for years. Her personal line is characterized by clean but not sharp architectural lines, exquisite attention to detail and crafting, and luxe fabrics and tailoring. She was recently highlighted in the New York Times T Magazine as part of the Not Just a Label pop op shop at the Waldorf-Astoria, honoring designs made in New York. The pop op shop opens tonight and runs for a week. 

I had been trying to hook up with her for months, and actually preordered two pieces from her spring line, sight unseen. 

Finally, I was able to see her clothing up close and personal (and meet the designer herself, who is lovely, warm, funky but elegant, and clearly cares enormously about the clothes she creates) at her sample sale currently on through Saturday at Sell Your Sole in Belltown. These gorgeous pieces are up to 80% off. She has a number of leather and shearling items, like this glorious black shearling-lined coat. 

She has a leather and calf-hair t-shirt with zippered shoulders, shown here with matching jacket.

I ended up leaving with an inky leather crop top in a boxy silhouette and a long face-powder pink fleece skirt with a high waist and full, subtle high-low shape.

Some of the looks seem simple until you examine the construction, which is exquisite enough that you could wear the items inside out. Look at the lining and inner seaming of this fleece skirt. 

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McQ sweater, Hermes CDC belt in etoupe, Chloe Drew bag in cement pink, M. Gemi loafers

High fashion meets the Snuggie. This may be the first time ever I have been warm in my drafty office. 

Halloween - Fashion Girl Style

Cookie. Freaking. Lyons.

With a full time surgical career, two kids, a husband who travels, and an active volunteer life, my TV watching is pretty limited. I resisted the chatter about Empire until the end of this summer, when I binge-watched the entire first season in less than two weeks (seriously fast, in my life!).

The music rocks, the brothers are adorable, but the show belongs to Taraji Henson. She steals every scene she is in - mostly because of her incredible acting, but her costume designer (Rita McGhee, if the interwebs can be trusted) gets serious credit as well. She manages to be fabulous and over-the-top and tacky and luxe, all at the same time. 

This Halloween, I rejected my 3 year old's decision that I go as Skye from Paw Patrol to recreate a Cookie Lyons iconic look from when she meets Lucious at the prison.

Fantastic.

Of all of her outfits, this one is distinctive and easy to recreate. I had a black leather skirt from Saks Fifth Avenue and some amazing Jean Michel Cazabet caged mesh booties. I ordered an inexpensive Calvin Klein white tank top and some cheap plastic "gold-like" jewelry from Amazon (China - FYI, 4 weeks for shipping!) The jacket, obviously, was key. I wasn't springing for the original Moschino for a costume that I wouldn't rewear, but I found a patchwork denim jacket from Burlington Coat Factory for about $25. A few dollars of a stretchy gold fabric, some really terrible basting while watching Project Runway, and a decent imitation was created. 

I debuted it on the Friday before Halloween for the business trick-or-treating in our Seattle neighborhood. The makeup, carefully done while studying a picture of Cookie, was a little extreme for work, but went perfectly when I got home and threw on the costume. The 3 year old insisting on the Paw Patrol costumes for the whole family? Refused to wear his. 

Of course, the fact that many of the people I know are also too busy to be on the cusp of cutting-edge TV (and, of course, the misleading factor of my not being black) led to mostly erroneous theories about whom I was. A Real Housewife was the most common guess.

Whatever. Nailed it. 

The Bag: Chloe Drew

Happy birthday to me! It is such an It Bag, but every time it came across my instagram, I coveted. I finally succumbed during last minute shopping before our belated Bali honeymoon at Nordstroms. I tried on the moss gray, but finally got the sales assistant to order in the last cement pink one from a store in Texas. It's a perfect pink - basically a neutral but with more interest. I will not be retiring it for the winter. 

Now I just need more gold jewelry. 

Fashion Girl Life Goals - check one off

Caroline Issa, founder of Tank Group, classic and tailored fashion icon, commented on my instagram photo. I'll be the one swanning around like a movie star for the rest of the day...

She exemplifies a cool but professional style that is actually wearable for the office, even a conservative office. Browse the other pieces from her signature line with Nordstrom's. I'm adding several other items to my wishlist.

Style Idol: Blair Waldorf

I was about 10ish years older than the target audience when Gossip Girl aired. Maybe more like 15ish. But, I was as big a superfan of Blair Waldorf as any teenager in a headband. I loved her take-no-shit attitude, her confidence-bred-from-insecurity, her hair (that one's on you, Leighton Meester), and her fabulous mix of cutesy, ladylike, preppy, and NYC style. 

I was living in Manhattan when the show first aired, in the Upper East Side, though in an apartment in hospital housing instead of a chic brownstone. I was only a few blocks from "New York's elite" however, and *my* apartment overlooked the East River. I watched the show religiously, in between dashing off to explore New York and my new single life, and window-shopped all the amazing stores from which Blair regularly toted overfilled bags.

A bargain-hunting fashion lover, I had snatched up an adorable Marc by Marc Jacobs Alessandro Bow dress marked way way down. Probably from Gilt.com. A simple A-line dress, but with a bold orange-red color on the bottom, with the huge distinctive bow tied across the chest, it was a statement-making outfit for work but still cute enough to wear out. I had literally owned it for less than two weeks, when Blair crossed my screen wearing my dress. My brother (who was my roommate at the time) was mostly indifferent to this, but it was like being blessed by my style pope. She did look much better than I did, but I wore it first. 

I still love the dress. I wore it in my work ID photo. I wore it again today, 7 years later. It's a rare quirky cutesy dress that doesn't look foolish on a 39 year old. 

Blair+Chuck4Eva

Saturday with Coffee Musings

Trying new, undiscovered brands is exciting. I'm hoping to make it to SCHAI, a Seattle-based clothing line by Suk Chai, before I leave for vacation. My closet is incredibly varied, so even though I do not usually think of myself in minimalist, angled, Asian-influenced clothing, I want to give it a try, She has a lovely, well tailored sheer skirt which she layered under a more traditional knee-length pencil skirt which may be exactly my speed.

There are a few brands, though, that I cannot make myself buy, even when tempted by a gorgeous piece, simply because of their names. That may sound silly, but the idea of wearing an amazing outfit and having to tell someone that it was by ACNE, T Bags, Nasty Gal, etc. Am I a prude? 

Throwback Thursday: My wedding

I'm only throwing back to the second wedding. The first also had a gorgeous dress, but that's a different story.

My second wedding was atypical even for a second wedding. I'd been reluctant to consider remarrying, after a particularly brutal and bitter divorce. In fact, we had even chosen to have a child before any decision about marriage. When I was pregnant, though, we started to get the questioning from family. It was initially funny to joke about baby daddies, and to claim I refused to marry my sweetheart only because he wanted me to change my name (Still does. Still won't.)

But in the end, we decided to get married: partially for practical reasons (insurance, wills), partially because I gradually overcame my fear of legal attachment to another person, and partially because PRETTY DRESS. 

No offense to Mr. Emerson, but the opposite of this

We bought the rings together. He stashed them away for months, until I thought maybe he had changed his mind, until his parents were in babysitting and we had a date night. We ate at the restaurant where we had our first date, he popped the question, we updated our facebook statuses, and went to the movie. No wasting a kid-free night.

Vintage Art Deco diamond and sapphire ring in platinum

Can I admit something? I had purchased a gift certificate to Luly Yang, a local designer, at a school auction two years earlier, and considered a wedding dress as one of the potential options. Clearly, at heart, I was still a romantic. We decided to elope. I wanted a dress that was genuinely rewearable, and since we attend charity events and the ballet often, it actually would get reworn.

I arrived at my first appointment armed with a Pinterest board and browsed the options, trying on different dresses and deciding what suited me best. Some options were just not suited to my curvy petite frame (especially while breastfeeding.) Sleeves were a must (it was couture, after all, so worth choosing something where fit was important) as was color. I selected a full skirt with layers of tulle (all white except a single pale blue layer), a silk faille bodice in stone blue with a sweetheart neckline, covered by a long sleeved V-neck "Luly Love" lace top, and a duchesse satin belt in dark navy. 

 I finally got her to stop calling me "Miss Shannon"

We eloped on the anniversary of our first date to the Willows Inn at Lummi Island, which was once ranked by the New York Times as one of ten restaurants worth a plane ride. It was 3 hours drive including ferry for us. The wedding was officiated by my husband's uncle,  a minister in Seattle. He and his wife were the only attendants, other than our toddler and my older son. 

We then roped them in for babysitting while we feasted at the restaurant (I have pictures of every course, but that's yet another story.) 

Shoes also by Luly Yang - sparkly!

I have worn the dress again, last year at the Pacific Northwest Ballet First Look Gala, and we even got our picture in Seattle Met magazine, probably because of my good-looking husband. There are some things I would change about the dress in retrospect - the lace was a little bulky given my, ahem, ample bosom - but I love it so much and loved knowing that my dress was unique. 

Shoe love: M. Gemi

I've been obsessed with shoes for longer than any fashion obsession, as are most women.Originally, I wondered at the appeal of my younger sister's shoe collection in the early 1990s. Of course, those were the days of clunky dELiA*s (wow, that spelling is even more annoying now.) Then, Sex and the City paved the way for appreciating shoes as art forms and more than just something that vaguely blends with your outfit.

You can't go wrong with the classics - Manolo Blahnik (my first), Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Ferragamo, Stuart Weitzman, etc. But, it's fun discovering newer brands that should someday be considered classics as well. 

Last spring, my Italian friend Annette told me that her son's friend had started a shoe company, M. Gemi. The goal was to create handcrafted fine leather shoes made entirely in Italy which would be sold directly, cutting costs. My first pair was during the opening sale.

This is the Farfalla, with a neutral snakeskin print and black patent straps. The craftsmanship is pretty clear and they are made entirely of leather, including sole. The styles are introduced weekly, and tend to be classic with a trendy twist, like a textured vibrato-type leather or a bold color. Most should continue to be fashionable for a long time. Sadly, since they are constantly introducing new ones, when they are gone, they're gone.

My latest came from their recent sale. I didn't need any more shoes (I never need more shoes) since I had just bought a pair of heels and new Pumas. I could not resist this color though. 

Look! They match my toes. These are the Cammeo in coral. 

One of the sweet touches is the handwritten card with your name. There is a slot in the lid of the box to preserve the card. 

The main negative is not being able to try them on. It seems like the sizes vary more given the handcutting and handstitching. I'm usually a 38 - on their recommendation, I got a 38.5 in the Farfalle which fit well, maybe even the teensiest bit snug in the toe. The Cammeo was recommended for upsizing, but the 38.5 for these is really loose. They offer free returns, but had sold out of this one and I was too impatient to wait, anyway! By the end of the day, I was scrunching my toes to stay in them, but small sacrifice - with some insoles, they should be fine. 

The Felize and the Pataso are calling my name. Resistance is futile. 

Anyone else can't resist a great coat?

I live in Seattle, which is grey and chilly and generally conducive to needing coats. But, can I confess? I own at least a dozen coats. Only two are "high performance" Gore-Tex Seattle-type coats, which were mostly obtained under duress and for specific purposes (like my first ever ski trip this past year.) But dressy coats have my number. My latest acquisition is a gorgeous Etro coat. I was inspired by this lovely Mary Katrantzou jacket worn by one of my style idols, Olivia Palermo.

I was able to find a great top on Gilt by the designer, and it inspired me to look at other designers who use digital prints. It allows designers to use more complicated designs than they could do easily with weaving or silk screening (my obsession with Hermes scarves has taught me the exactness required for silk screening detailed images.)

I found this Etro coat at Neiman Marcus and loved it - perfect graphics, nice length, similar colors but warmer, and easy to blend in my wardrobe. I even had a Tibi top that already matched. But,  even though I found it at 50% discount, it was still expensive considering I owned ALL THE COATS already. I even tested my husband, ever the enabler, who told me to buy it. Resisted. Until they marked it down again. Clearly a sign! So, I'm postponing the needed trench coat for another year. This one should keep me warm enough.

Um, I'd still love the Mary Katrantzou, too, so PM me if you see it on major sale?

Warmly,
S

The Bag: Vintage Hermes BBK

I was raised on a steady diet of vintage movies, so my fashion icons were the greats: Lauren Bacall (especially in How to Marry a Millionaire), Katherine Hepburn (can anyone wear pants like she does?), Audrey Hepburn (can anyone wear pretty dresses like she does?), and Grace Kelly (when she opens the Mark Cross bag to reveal a puff of frothy lingerie in Rear Window....)

So, for as long as I can remember, my grail was the classic Kelly bag. It seemed more like an unattainable item than something I could realistically own, more akin to marrying a prince or travelling to the moon. 

Last year, I started paying closer attention. I read up on Hermes scarves; even bought my first, from a reseller. I had a milestone birthday coming up in a year and considered maybe, possibly splurging. Then, I saw the perfect bag - a vintage black box Kelly - on HauteLook. It was reasonably priced, meaning just slightly less than my monthly mortgage. I studied the pictures, finally noticing the date stamp: circle E. The bag was handcrafted in 1975, same year I was born. That's a sign, right? After a super quick check-in with my husband and with just a little bit of nerves, I bought it. 

So, it was a present for my year-before-my-milestone birthday. I adore this bag. It is structured, subtly glamorous, serious but still sexy. I carried it constantly for several months before sending it to the Hermes spa for some touch-ups. It has fewer wrinkles than I do now. Hopefully, we both last for another 39+ years.  

Year-before-milestone birthday

Fresh and shiny from the spa

My mother tells the story of me as a little girl, with the biggest of ambitions. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered "a doctor." I'd also add "and a ballerina." Or "and a decorator." Or "and a designer." Oh, and "an astronaut."

I am a doctor, now. But I still wish I was a ballerina. I make up for it by serving on the board of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and admiring the talent of the professionals. I am working on decorating my home, as my children work on undecorating it. I also express myself through my wardrobe. Still working on getting to space, though.

I'm too busy by half for a blog, but who isn't? And it's a pleasant diversion from charting. Hope it can be a pleasant diversion for someone out there, too.

Warmly, S