The Time is Now

purse - h&m // everything else - vintage (natch). 

In between covering the Los Angeles Art Book Fair for ArtForum and conducting preliminaries for my thesis (it's on the concept of "middlebrow") I've been longingly flicking through the various tweets, 'grams, slideshows, and Vine posts from Fashion Week. Chlöe Sevigny's collections for Opening Ceremony are a perennial favorite of mine, but I was especially struck by this season's mish mash of 60s student activist mixed with 90s skater. I've said before that "good" sartorial inspiration—good as in it doesn't make you feel like shit about yourself or simply results in a shopping list—makes you excited about the possibilities of the things you already own. Scrolling through Susie Bubble's post, which is an nice mix of lookbook images and snapshots from the live presentation, I suddenly got excited about some of the more lovelorn pieces in the back of my closet: berets? DOYYYY Baby-blue fur coats? Check. 60s style ankle boots? Check. Mod coats in vinyl and leather? Check and mate.

When I bought this coat in Los Angeles a few years ago, I thought the cute collar and buttons were a nice counterpoint to the slick leather, but it was down to my ankles and made me look like an extra from The Matrix. Some scissors, a little fabric glue and a few clothespins later, I had got it down to a more manageable length, and it's become one of my favorite things to wear on a rainy day.  Or even just a quick trip to the liquor store for some Grape Vines.