An Image with a Long Afterlife

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I am always scanning my environment, looking for well-dressed people whose ideas I can borrow. Several years ago, I was in LAX airport and saw a woman ahead of me while I waited to order a coffee frappaccino and her ensemble — and her individual chic — have stayed with me for years.

 
 
She was wearing a dark blue jacket made of a techno-fabric and dark rinse jeans and carried a metallic gold shoulder bag.
 
She looked so great!
No, this isn't the woman; it's me, wearing an outfit like the woman was wearing
No, this isn’t the woman; it’s me, wearing an outfit like the woman was wearing

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Black sandals seem plausible, but since we were in L.A. and at an airport, she might have been wearing sneakers — or, as they call them on the West Coast, tennis shoes
 
 
This is me, trying to recreate her great look.
 
I have added black sandals. I have no idea of what she wore on her feet. To give you some sense of how long ago this sighting occurred — it must have been before I had a phone equipped with a camera. If I’d had a camera, I would have taken a surreptitious photo of her and then we would know what she wore on her feet.

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Note the fire hydrant; sort of looks like a companion
The Photographer particularly liked the shot with the red car racing by
Note my companion’s blue bow tie and matching cummerbund

 
 
This techno-fabric jacket — I don’t even know what “techno-fabric” means, but I’ve seen the word used on YOOX — has some fun details.
Would you like to see the fun details?
Would you like to see the fun details?

 
 
I am going to lay the details out least fun to most fun, but remember: They are all fun.
High waist, lightly gathered
High waist, lightly gathered
 
 
As implausible as it may seem, the fire hydrant and I are color-coordinated like prom dates.
Wide platter collar
Cornflower blue lining . . . but it’s barely visible in this photo

Cornflower blue lining
There! Cornflower blue lining
Oversized, dramatic back vent
Oversized, dramatic back vent

 
 
And now . . . drumroll . . . the best part:
 
Cornflower blue interior snap!
Snap!
Snap!

 
 
The Photographer wanted to take some photos of me in motion. He told me to walk and “act natural.” No instruction could have elicited more unnatural behavior.
Just walking naturally
Just walking naturally

Jacket: Carven; T-shirt and cotton camisole (underneath): JCrew; Jeans: JCrew; Bag: JCrew; Shoes: Donald J. Pliner

7 thoughts on “An Image with a Long Afterlife”

  1. Congratulations on your style memory! I have officially developed a sieve-brain: I see someone wearing a look I know I could copy (possibly already have most the elements for), am SURE it is so easy I don’t have to concentrate on remembering said elements and promptly forget all about it. Maybe I am too cautious of the photo approach, though probably nobody is going to object if an admiring request is made.

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  4. Love the jacket! Does techno-fabric mean you block radio waves? You’re a walking RFID-blocking wallet?? Perfect for travel, LOL!

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    • I wish that techno-fabric enabled me to move without detection, Bette! I expect that the term is a trade euphemism for “highly unnatural.”

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  5. I have a silver handbag in a “techno” fabric. It goes with lots of things PLUS it’s reflective in the dark, which is very important to me in Winter months.

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