The Directrice Turns 100!

  If that wasn’t the most misleading headline ever . . . A quick retrospective showing the many faces of The Directrice, which is really just an excuse to play with WordPress’s carousel feature. [su_carousel source=”media: 5545,4716,4584,4215,4105,3921,3730,3630,3994, 3811,5868,5860,5804,5798,5616,5613,5441,5430,4879,4381,4228,4122,3373,2790,5275,4692,4590,4218,4201,3774,3566,3103,3003″ limit=”30″ height=”350″ title=”no”] Now, a couple of housekeeping items. First, I wanted to let you know that … Read more

Durability

  Despite my willingness to embark on what might seem to be a gratuitous frolic-and-detour in the pursuit of a non-essential prize — see, e.g., Monday’s post — I am a fairly practical creature and have limited interest in taxing my ingenuity with the maintenance of clothes. In general, I prefer things that I can … Read more

In Which the Directrice Borrows Trouble

  Since I often show clothes that have been altered or re-purposed — sometimes, significantly — I thought it might be helpful, or at least interesting, to see what these treasures look like before those radical changes are implemented. Here goes! I like colorful tops to wear underneath jackets and sweaters. Even though they may … Read more

Casual Friday: Two Fabrics, One Blouse

  Bonjour, mes amis! It’s le weekend, as they say in France, and we are heading into my favorite time of year: fall. It’s still a little warm in Washington, but cool enough for long sleeves, if one is so inclined. The bandana-print is so naive that it has some chic all on its own. … Read more

Why We Should Dress Up for Jury Duty

  In the District of Columbia, registered voters and licensed drivers are summoned for jury duty in the Superior Court every two years, almost like clockwork.   As you can see from the pictures, I am completely respectable in Business Casual, but I’m not that dressed-up.     Out of a pool of 100 prospective … Read more

Casual Friday: Showing My Stripes

  My unbounded enthusiasm for stripes is no secret. I found this top a few months ago; the designer showed it with a matching skirt, but that seemed like a little too much stripe to me. The top is fabricated from an incredibly heavy viscose/nylon/elastane blend, which is a little perplexing because it was sold … Read more

Standing Out in a Crowd

  A couple of years ago, I got on to a partly-full Metro car and found myself sitting next to a man who began to engage in what the police call “lewd behavior.” Ugh. It seemed to me that the least confrontational way to deal with the situation was to get off the train at … Read more