If that wasn’t the most misleading headline ever . . .
In recognition of this milestone, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for reading and, for those who’ve been willing to share their thoughts, for commenting and writing to me. My work colleagues have remarked that the women posting comments on this blog are so smart and thoughtful and I agree heartily.
A quick retrospective showing the many faces of The Directrice, which is really just an excuse to play with WordPress’s carousel feature.
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Now, a couple of housekeeping items.
First, I wanted to let you know that I am working on some indexing that will make this site easy to use for reference as the contents’ volume grows. Right now, general topic areas are listed in the column to the right (e.g., Dressing (57) will let you scroll through all 57 posts about dressing, in reverse chronological order) and you can use the search function in the upper right corner to search by keywords (e.g., Marni, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report). I plan to add indexes organized by month, by garment/accessory, and by designer. If you have suggestions, please let me know.
Second, readership has grown over the last few months. So please take a moment to tell me a little about yourself and what you find useful, amusing or entertaining about this blog. What social media sites do you favor — Instagram? Facebook? Pinterest? If you have ideas or questions for future posts, please let me know. (FYI: A closet tour is in the making.)
Third, Posy has demanded equal time. She appears in fewer pictures than Harper because she is more evasive than Harper. (Posy would say she’s more active.)
Thanks again for reading! If you’ve been enjoying my posts, please share a link to this site with your friends. You may also want to visit my Pinterest page, which I have just launched with some skepticism and trepidation.
With warm regards,
Tory (The Directrice)
I love your blog! My style is similar to yours; corporate but with a feminine or boho twist. I’m a retail manager who has worked for some stores you probably shop at. I love clothes; especially those made from luxe fabrics and with unusual details. Dressing up each day is my hobby…I don’t know what I’ll do when I retire!
Justine, Julia, Kate, CND, Jodie, Sharla, Rhizophora — Thank you so much for your comments here and on so many other posts. Hearing back from readers is a BIG part of what makes this project fun; without you, I am just howling (or perhaps chuckling) in the wind. Keep coming back for more!
Hearty congratulations Directrice! I adore your work. Thank you so much for your time and thoughts and gorgeous outfits. Justine
Hi, I’m new here. I’m a lawyer in the midwest. I just started a new job a few months ago that is “professional dress” but not necessarily suits every day (at least for women). I like your style, both fashion and writing, and I’m hoping your blog can help me realize a work style that is both professional and “fun” or “personal” or something like that. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Welcome, Cristine — so glad you found the site and I share your hope that you will find it useful. Keep visiting!
Congratulations, Directrice! 100 posts what a noteworthy milestone! I think I enjoy most your flair for redefining, repurposing and fashionably accessorizing your outfits. I, also, appreciate your wonderful sense of humor, the occasional inclusion of a husband comment and of course, any sighting of Harper or Posy. Please continue to inspire and amuse!
Congratulations Directrice! I love your style, not so far from mine, actually. I find your blog very inspiring and different from all the others
Congratulations on reaching 100. But I must admit that this milestone has generated a guilty feeling in me! There are three posts — the earliest probably about number 60 — on which I’ve been meaning to comment. My main point was to be as follows: Prior to the Directrice, I was under the impression that professional dressing for women necessitated streamlined and structured clothing. The most important lesson that I’ve taken from the Directrice, is that a professional, powerful woman can dress creatively, femininely, and with “softer” touches like the occasional ruffle, peplum, flair, embroidery, etc. The post that solidified this for me was the one about a jacket to litigate in — it blew my mind that the jacket had a bit of ruffle/peplum. Among other points of progress, thanks to the Directrice, I’ve now given a professional conference talk with embroidered smock under a classic navy blazer and slacks and I now own a marigold bag for work travel. Please keep the inspiring ideas and the posts full of charm and whit.
Ahhhh, but this is a guilt-free zone. And you’ve provided many comments!
Congrats!! I definitely think you should continue with the pinterest…it’s a fabulous venue for those of us who have time to spare!! Especially when I’m searching for something in particular, it can be helpful (I like it better than instagram since pins can be saved & organized).
I also like how you do into detail about the altering of items….I don’t think everyone thinks about this, so it’s a great reminder! jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
ps…love the kitties’ pix also!!
Congratulations! I have so enjoyed your posts and find myself referring to them for real info on choices even when I shop, capitalizing on what I learn. It involves seeing real-time combinations that are so clever and personalized in a great way. The styles coming from your blogs make clothes seem fun but always tempered with power and relevancy. Thanks. I appreciate your efforts. Kate
Did I see CND saying she liked “the inclusion of an occasional husband comment”? Well, that would be me! I am Husband! (Also principal photographer.) It has been such a joy to see you develop this blog and become a master at blending words and pictures to say clever & funny things about dressing stylishly. I always knew you loved clothes since we got married five years ago, but I had no idea of the depth of your expertise. You have a whole vocabulary of mysteries — peplum, viscose, ticking, darts, vents, cady, voile, boucle, broderie anglaise, and of course, Kitten Heels for Everyone. Now, when I see you rummage through your closet, I know you’re computationally integrating hundreds of pieces of information at blinding speed, like the Terminator. It also pleases me that a little community of readers has sprung up — to each of you, thank you! you have no idea how much happiness The Directrice gains from your comments and ideas. It has also been a great pleasure to learn photography to match your learning of WordPress. I always thought of myself as a word guy, and it has been so cool to become a picture guy as well, thinking nonverbally and artistically. And I am now able to look carefully at one of your new dresses and say, “Hmm, Jil Sander?” and sometimes actually be right. That’s what I always hoped marriage would be, a mutual voyage of learning new and surprising things. Your first 100 posts have been a delight, and I look forward to the next 100. I love you.
Congratulations on your first 100! I believe I’ve been with you from your first month or so and your posts quickly became my favorite blog. I especially enjoy your wit and humor; your captions always make me smile. You’ve also given me the fashion courage to switch from heels to flats at work. You always look intelligent and chic and you’ve inspired me to make some style changes of my own. My arthritis thanks you. Congrats to your photographer spouse as well – very nice work! What a great collaboration and nice to see you’re both having fun.
I am thrilled to actually be contributing toward someone’s physical comfort! Thank you for reading and commenting, Lynn.
Amen to all those comments above! I once said to you that you were my happy moment in a very stressful job week – and you continue to be so. Happy 100th post Directrice! I’m not a Pinterest aficionado so I will continue to read your blog directly on my computer screen, joyfully checking on the days you post. I eagerly await your closet tour since a challenge I face is storing and caring for my lovely wardrobe additions, including shoes, jewelry and eyeglasses in an organized manner, easily accessed for outfit creating. Looking forward to your next 100 posts! Thank you š
Sigh, I meant wit ~ the Directrice and whit don’t belong in the same sentence!
I’m a writer who mostly dresses casually, but I love the way you think about clothing and style. Your wit and smarts shine through in the way you write and dress, and I always get a kick out of the unexpected ways you play with color and cut. Great job on the photography and support, husband, and cats, well cats are the perfect, if often elusive, accessory. Great writer, great stylist, great fun, Directrice. I’m a fan. Thanks.
Thank you, Wendy! My husband is also a writer — and I feel that the world needs to take care of its writers (reporters, essayists, novelists) and to remember that words can be as evocative and powerful as images. I don’t think a picture (and surely not just any picture) is worth more than 1,000 well-chosen words. What kind of writing do you do?
Congrats! Really enjoy reading your blog.
The above Directrice’s Husband Comments are such a treat! Aside from the beautiful and loving nature of the Husband post, I was reminded of an article I read about the sometimes vastly different vocabularies of men and women. The words mentioned above and ascribed to our Directrice are perfect examples of words I only recently realised many men may not know the meanings of, or just don’t use very often. (Bodice, floret, surplice, bias, gauntlet and their ilk.) And then were the ‘action or tool oriented man’ words which from memory included scabbard, awl, flange…
Ps Directrice have you any experience of Chie Mihara shoes?
Hi Justine — I do not, but your question prompted me to look (on the Internet). They’re so beautiful! Are they comfy, well-made?
Happy to confirm that they are quite wonderful shoes. They are fabulous shoes. Extremely well made and very, very comfortable. The styles change quite dramatically each season and range from subdued to outrageous but always adorable. Over the past 2 years, since coming across them, I have collected (amassed) several pairs (quite a sizeable (!) collection). Generally I find them a medium width fit. My feet are narrow so I use leather inserts and find that works well. If you purchase a pair from her Spanish web shop, the customer service is excellent. I have also purchased from Yoox, FarFetch, EBay, Spartoo, and Amazon (UK usually has better selection than the US). Now our Aussie dollar is so awful though, my purchasing has been quite curtailed (sob). Let us know if you buy any. They are really up your alley. I saw you have Bloch ballet flats. I take a 9 in those, and a 40 in Chie Mihara, in case that helps you out re sizing.
I just read today’s post about your “hideo-marvelous” blouse — and had to come back here to say that this is why I like your blog so much. Not only will I see a cool, unexpected but intriguing outfit, and have it expertly de-constructed, but I will get to read witty, vivacious prose (which is much less common with fashion blogs), accompanied by witty photographs that makes me smile, if not laugh out loud. Brava!
Nothing could be more pleasing to me, Bubu! Thank you for coming back to leave such a generous comment.
Directrice – even though I’ve had the very great pleasure of knowing you lo these 30 years (or so), it is amazing to me that I did not know the depth of your directriceness until the advent of this blog! It is such a treat – and an education – to see and hear all the creativity in that well-coiffed head of yours in this new medium. So very proud of you – and as always, stand ready to take on any hand-me-downs…
Directrice, you’ve raised my game. At the least, I never go anywhere without a scarf. It’s a start, right?
JWT — You CAME with lots of game!