Miscellany

Directorate!  Forgive my absence? Turns out that wrapping up a career takes longer than I expected. But now it’s done: transition memos written, notices of withdrawal filed, goodbye emails sent, personal effects removed. I’ll publish two posts this week (to whet the appetite) and then next week, it’s VACATION DIRECTRICE ON LOCATION IN ECUADOR. If … Read more

Greetings, Directorate! And a Happy New Year to all of you! I am sorry to have fallen silent for several months. I’ve been preoccupied. But I’m here now, returned to you with the full capacity of my brain and heart focused on the important business of getting dressed for work.   I have resolved for … Read more

  Better late than never, The Directrice suggests a few things that you might want to buy as holiday gifts for the stylish women in your lives. This includes yourself.   These pants are cropped. If you are short, and typically wear petite sizes but don’t want cropped pants, buy the regular length. Those of … Read more

  Rather than make you guess, I’m just going to tell you where The Photographer and I are. We are in the Berkshires, escaping the heat of Washington, D.C. for a few days. We are staying in Pittsfield, at a hip hotel — Hotel on North — which puts us in easy striking distance of … Read more

  Like many of you, I vowed at the start of the pandemic to ruthlessly clean my closets, cabinets, and drawers, top-to-bottom, and rid myself of the greater of (25% of possessions OR anything that I have not been loving or using in recent years). Fourteen months later, I got down to business.   This … Read more

Fatima came to visit a few weeks ago and for once, we took photos of a few garments before they were altered so that you could see how they were altered and what a difference alterations make.   What follows is a true story.   * I had two denim tops: this one from 2016 … Read more

  This is a micro-post — to get you through the weekend to Monday’s post, which will be a full-length publication. I sensed you might need a little boost.   In the excitement of SpaceX’s recent launch, The Photographer put these two photos in front of me, side-by-side and asked, “Who wore it better?”   … Read more

  After five months without leaving Northwest Washington, D.C. — and scarcely leaving our apartment — The Photographer and I decided we needed to get away.+ The arboretum staff are fighting a constant battle to maintain native grasses, plants, and wildlife. Part of those efforts involving controlled burning (which we could not do) and brush … Read more

  Dear Readers:   Thank for your thoughtful messages! It’s so good of you to write. Hearing from you always lifts my spirits.   I’ll be back. Perhaps next week. The Photographer and I are fine, holed up in our apartment trying to minimize the spread of coronavirus and avoid the oppressive heat of July. … Read more

  Sooooooooooooooooo.   It’s been an extraordinary 10 days. A moment and a movement that I hope we will look back on in a few years as a watershed.   In keeping with the general tenor of this lighthearted blog, I am not going to soapbox. (I’ll hold that until we’re a little closer to … Read more