Muslin & Mezzotint

Sometimes stars align and voila, you're happy.

Shopping in my old haunt, Century 21 (if you are a New Yorker you know what I'm talking about), I found this perfect example of convergence and serendipity.  I mean, can you believe it!
This is a Sonia by Sonia Rykiel.  It is a jeans jacket.  It is quilted lined.  It is denim but tastefully EMBELLISHED.  And best of all, it FITS!  I've been admiring Sonia Rykiel for such a long time because she's had such staying power, she's built her brand on knits, and she is was a woman designing for women.  It's not that I've loved everything that she has designed but you always knew when something is a Sonia piece and you could sense a joy and appreciation for women in her designs.

Since we are in the midst of New York fashion week (showing Spring 2017?! When we haven't even left Summer??)  I think it is worth ranting that fashion is so lacking in everything that women are looking for these days.  I wish there was more intent, more integrity and more honesty in the fashion world.  Listening to public radio yesterday, I was so pleased to hear Tim Gunn talk about the deplorable state of the fashion industry in that it continues to refuse to design for the average woman in the U.S.  The average American woman wears a size 14/16, not a size 2.  The average woman is intelligent and thoughtful, not some bimbo with the attention span of a two year old.  No wonder there is a parallel universe of independents and home-makers gathering in strength.  No wonder the retail industry is becoming irrelevant, and, horrors, boring.

Thank God for Sonia Rykiel!

-Chee Mee