Fall Means Fashion...

While it is so very true that I am not yet ready to let go of summer and embrace autumn, one thing that I do look forward to is the fashion and style magazines that outline the colours, fabrics, patterns, textures and what is "hot" for the coming season.  This weekend was no exception in my ritual of buying and immersing myself in the manifestos, the fashion "Bibles" and what to look forward to in this season that I never claim as my "favourite" but have been doing remarkably well at embracing.

I've been interested in fashion for a long time though I never felt a calling to it as a career.  As a young girl and a teenager I was forever drawing models and outfitting them, or cutting from catalogues and creating outfits from the items advertised within their pages.  My downfall in this area was the inability to properly befriend a sewing machine.  I can wield a needle by hand, but sit me in front of a sewing machine and I am an embarrassment to my ancestry...of men and women who worked in the worsted factories in the Manchester area of England, of a step-grandmother who was a whiz with an ancient Singer treadle and a mother who made a great many of my clothes -- she herself self-taught.  If I hadn't been able to handle the cooking segment of Home Economics in grade 7 my teacher told me I would have failed the course.  Enough said.

I've loved shoes since I was old enough to buckle and then tie my own.  I may no longer be a slave to a high heel but I still look at them, try them on and occasionally wear them because I know how they change the look of my legs, the way that I walk and the way that I feel.

I rarely, if ever, buy anything that is shown in the magazines as the latest "must have" because usually, especially with Vogue where they highlight the designs from the latest collections, they are so outrageous no one would ever wear them on the street  the price is out of my league.  But I do so love to look and admire and dream.

At this juncture in my life, my menopausal body "mature" years, I'm more about the accessories, the perfume, the ways that I can still feel changed as the seasons roll over one from another.

While shopping for make-up (I wanted a red lipstick) after my hair cut & fringe colour (I've gone with purple this round and I love the stark contrast to the salt  & pepper grey) I decided I wanted a new perfume.  In The Bay, I was given a sample of Lady Gaga's perfume "Fame" out this week (it was, surprisingly to me) quite nice though I didn't purchase any.  In Sephora I was given a sample of Marchesa on a slip of ribbon.  Also nice but not what I was looking for.  I wanted something "timeless" and "classic".

My usual "go to" for classic would be Chanel No. 5.  But I wasn't feeling in a "Chanel" sort of mood, and for awhile I'd been thinking about "Miss Dior" and how many women when asked in various publications, would list "Miss Dior" as their favourite.  I was on a Dior mission.  And the result?  I.am.in.love.   I put it on and I can't stop raising my arm to the point where I am able to detect the fragrance.  I'm careful not to do this in public as I'm sure it looks quite strange.  Hey, it is what it is.  And I love it.

So I'm set for the beginning of autumn.  I have a lovely red lip colour from MAC (I liked Russian Red in a matte), but went with a limited edition "mattene" called "Eden Rouge".  And to go with those purple bangs and my fading eyelashes, a purple mascara from Sephora.  And the nice thing about the September Vogue?  I don't need to use hand weights for strength training.  Lifting that every so often is a great work out.