Coffee Break: Canterbury Scarf with Hidden Pocket

58 Comments

1. Anyone have any must do things or restaurants I need to know about for Charleston this week? I have a work confrence and my husband is joining me for the weekend since we have never been before.

   1. I ate at (and loved) Magnolia’s (fried chicken is a must), 82 Queen and Hominy Grill. Heard amazing things about Husk and S.N.O.B. as well, but never been.

      1. Husk is good.

   2. SNOB definitely, 5 loaves, taco boy, toast for brunch, coast, kaminsky’s for dessert

   3. FIG!! Shopping at Half-Moon Outfitters if you are the least bit outdoorsy.

   4. Poogan’s Porch was the best food I had there. And if the weather is cooperative, a drink on the rooftop of the Vendue.

2. Interesting concept. Reminds me of the hoods we wore for law school graduation.

   Here’s an interesting photojournal on fashion at the Rolex Three Day Event (equestrian competition) – dresses with shoes you can handle a horse and jog in! The men are looking sharp too. Interesting to note that the most under-dressed woman was Zara Phillips! http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/2015/04/photoset-high-fashion-horse-inspection-at-rolex-kentucky-three-day-event.aspx

   1. These are great. I especially love the last caption noting the practicality and weather!

   2. I love the jog. Can’t say some of the skirt lengths were well planned for a jog on a windy day … but there are definitely some cute outfits. Rolex is a lot of fun, and it’s too bad the weather was so nasty on Saturday. The cross county usually makes for a great tailgate.

3. Anyone have any must do attactions or restaurants I need to know about for Charleston this week? I have a work conference and my husband is joining me for the weeekend.

4. What are y’all’s recommendations for jeans for long-ish legs with what were once described as “dangerous thighs” a serious booty, and a narrower waist? I’m tired of always pulling up my saggy jeans and looking to invest in some Big Girl Pants that hopefully won’t wear through in 6 months like the Old Navy jeans I usually buy.

   1. Paige Skyline Straight Leg Jeans

   2. Honestly, I would suggest going to a department store with a designer denim section (Nordstrom I’m assuming) and just trying on like 10-12 pairs. Bring a friend who will tell you how your booty looks in each pair.

      I did this and found that I really liked the J.Brand Maria High Rise Jeans but I tried on so many pairs. I have a similar body type, although without the long legs, and it always takes a lot of trial and error to find jeans.

      Good luck.

   3. I agree with TO Lawyer. For what it’s worth I have a similar shape, and I have had good luck with Citizens of Humanity, but I haven’t tried J Brand yet. And I am also hoping to try Paige at some point, it sounds great for those of us on Team Thighs.

   4. Seconding/thirding TO and la vie en bleu about trying on multiple pairs and brands. I consider myself hippy and have “athletic” thighs, and for me J Brand does not work. Paiges only work for me if they have significant lycra included. My best luck with designer brands have been Citizens of Humanity and AG. I also love Joe’s. I think it all depends on the stlying of the specific pair, your specific build, and the fabric contents.

   5. Fourthing (?) the suggestion to try multiple pairs. Also, don’t be surprised if you still have to get the waist taken in. #teamthighs

      1. Blerg, I’ve gotten so spoiled by online shopping, I now hate going to actual stores.

         But since there’s such a consensus, I will get myself to Nordies and try on a dozen pairs. #teamthighs #Icouldcrushamansheadwiththese #usefulforclimbingmountains #stillannoyingtoshopforpants

         1. I’m #teamthighs too, with a similar body type except for height, and found Nordstrom frustrating, partly due to organization (garments grouped by brand, rather than category–had a hard time finding things the website said were in stock). Also, the cuts that I found, even if they fit, often didn’t flatter. I ended up buying LOTS of jeans online, trying on at home, and returning what I didn’t like. The Paige Jimmy Jimmy Boyfriend Skinny is by far the best thing I’ve found to replace my worn out and no longer made Joe’s Curvy Straight. The Paige are a little big in the waist (definitely size down if you try them) but by far is the only pair that didn’t absolutely cling to my thighs in a way that I found totally unflattering.

            1. I am pretty much the opposite shape from you: flat bum, skinny legs and thighs, and I love the Rag and Bone Skinny jean. I find that most of the Paige jeans are terrible on me. So, just helping you narrow down your try-on list.

         2. You could try madewell. Free shipping and returns for jeans. I love my high waist skinny jeans from there.

5. Where do we want to stay? We’d be happy in a cheaper national brand hotel versus a more expensive boutique hotel. But, where are the good areas we should be looking at? Going in August.

   1. We stayed at the Georgian Court and loved it. It’s walking distance to both Granville Island and Coal Harbor. It’s more of an “expensive boutique hotel” than national chain, although when we were there (also in August) the chain hotels were expensive, and the Georgian was cheaper than the Hampton Inn around the corner that we originally booked.

   2. We stayed at the Pan Pacific near the waterfront, and it was great. Gorgeous views. Colleagues stayed at both Fairmonts close to the Pan Pacific (Waterfront and Pacific Rim, maybe?), and they also got rave reviews.

   3. I travel to Vancouver for work a lot. The Fairmont Pacific Rim is a great hotel but $$$$$. The Fairmont Waterfront is also nice and is more reasonable. If you would prefer a downtown view over a water view, try the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver. It’s right near some much more expensive hotels (the Four Seasons and the Rosewood) but very reasonably priced.

      1. I love the Rosewood, work always puts us up there. Not likely in OPs budget, but I love it there.

   4. I’ve stayed at the Barclay House bed and breakfast in the West End. It’s a very nice location, situated between Stanley Park and downtown, and within walking distance to Granville Island. Clean, pretty nicely decorated, comfortable beds and good sheets, quiet. It felt very private even though it was a bed and breakfast. The owner was very pleasant and breakfast is delicious. It’s served at individual tables, so you don’t have to chat with strangers first thing in the morning (something I do not enjoy). Rooms run around $250/night. I’m also partial to it because I got engaged on that trip . . .

      I’ve also stayed at the Four Seasons, which was nice, as expected. It’s about twice the cost of the Barclay House. Good central location downtown.

6. Any ideas for a gift for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary? They don’t need things, so I’m thinking along the lines of something personalized, perhaps from photos. I recently scanned their wedding album so I have that to work with, but not sure what to do with it.

   1. My stepmother’s 60th birthday was a couple of years ago and I made her a photobook. I reached out to all the people invited to the party and asked for pictures they had of them together and any messages they’d want to include. It took a month or two to get all the responses but it turned out really great. Some people didn’t have pictures, only messages, so I grouped those together. For everyone else, I included at least 1 picture and their message.

      I used the Blurb software to put it together. It was really easy to use and I was able to totally customize it.

      1. My BFF did a similar thing for her mother’s 50th. Happy tears happened, and it was really sweet to read some of the fun things people wrote. It’s a really great idea, especially if you have a few months’ lead time and contact details for all the attendees. :)

   2. If you don’t have time to do a photobook, a digital frame is another option that they might like. My brother gave my mom one for her birthday a few years back. He had already uploaded a bunch of family pictures, so she didn’t have to do anything but plug it in. She loved it.

      1. My mom’s best friend gave her this digital picture frame:
         http://www.amazon.com/Pix-Star-Digital-FotoConnect-Providers-Android/dp/B0056HNTAU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1430170514&sr=1-1&keywords=pixstar+digital+photo+frame

         When you set it up, you create an email address for it. Then you can send pictures to it from wherever you are. She loves the fact that new pictures pop up on it all the time…

   3. I’m hiring a photographer for my parents’ anniversary and doing a photo shoot with the family (parents, children and grandchildren). My parents have done one since they got married, so they are excited about new fancy portraits.

7. I am really rough on my clothes. Is this normal?

   – I’ve been buying nicer shoes (say Cole Haans) for meetings and the like. I wear them once, and the leather heel is scuffed up such that the leather peels. This is a $15-20 repair each time.

   – My pants (especially cotton ones) fade fast. I feel like I get 4-5 wears from them when they already start to fade or the hems drop out. These are mid-market pants – say Talbots and Ralph Lauren.

   – I can wear polyester shirts and the like for about 1 season before they get sweat stains or I can’t get the underarm smell out of them. I shower daily and wear antiperspirant too. Can’t wear cotton because you can see the sweat marks.

   – I buy nice cashmere sweaters (L&T), wash once on delicate, and they shrink or pill such that they are almost unwearable.

   Shopping almost gets me to tears now – I’m a size 16 so my options are limited, and I gain and lose weight all the time too. I just hate sinking money into clothes that won’t last. I do have good luck with structured designer dresses, so it’s not all clothes, but I just want to look crisp and confident in my business casual environment.

   Anyone who can commiserate or share their tricks?

   1. I would say that nicer cashmere sweaters don’t include the L&T brand, but you should hand wash those and use a sweater stone. You could also do the Dryel thing at home instead of washing. Basically, to wash you want no agitation – swirl it around I the tub, let it soak, maybe use a salad spinner to get extra water out, then lay it over a towel, roll it up to blot out extra water, and then lay flat. Even then, I still need a sweater stone. If you want minimal pilling, dry clean only.

      To get smell out of difficult fabrics, soak the garments overnight (or longer) in a vinegar solution. You also might try a better deodorant, maybe a stronger strength like Secret clinical or Dry Idea? Some deodorants, like Dove, do not work at all for me.

      I do scuff my shoes often, but I think that’s because I’m clumsy and tend to fidget. I don’t think more expensive shoes are less like to scuff, sadly.

      1. I found the opposite with deodorant- I used to have the problem of smell getting stuck in clothes and being ruined, and honestly, sweat wasn’t the problem, the problem was my deodorant mixed with sweat. Since I switched to natural stuff (i.e. not anti-persperant), I don’t have the problem of staining/smells AND my underarms are softer and not darker than the rest of my skin.

         1. +1
            I switched to a roll-on and the results are much better. I think I was using too much anti-perspirant before.

   2. Are you, me?? Seriously, I could have written that myself from the Cole Haans to the L&T cashmere.

      * I’ve tried to prioritize so nicer stuff is “saved” for nice occasions. I wear other shoes from the parking lot to my desk on meeting days and then slip into my “nice” shoes then. I also avoid anything that doesn’t look like it will stand up well–like wedge heels with straw/woven texture/light color on the wedge that is likely to get stained or torn when driving or hitting curbs the wrong way.

      * I wash dark jeans in cold gentle and minimize time in the dryer to prevent fade. Dark tops get their own load as well, so nothing rough rubs against them.

      * Try sport detergent to get out odors. It does wonders. Way better than simply treating patches with spray and wash.

      * Pick what you want to keep nice. I’m more likely to spend a lot on earrings than say sunglasses or shoes, since I know the shoes and sunglasses will take more of a beating from me in daily wear.

      * Make the drycleaner your friend. I have blazers that are technically machine washable that go to the cleaners since I can just sense that pilling or stretching is high risk. Same with my cashmere sweaters. I also looked for sweaters with some texture like ribbing since I think long nap is more prone to pill.

      Honestly, I’d love to hear what others do. I feel your pain!

   3. I went through a heavy sweating period where I ruined a bunch of shirts and the only thing that finally worked was CertainDri. After a few years, I guess my body changed and it wasn’t an issue as much. I now swear by the Secret clinical strength waterproof formula.

      1. Um, this – exactly. Our body chemistry and antiperspirant tastes are exactly the same.

   4. Could it be your washer or dryer? Is your water really hard? Have you mixed up what detergent you are using? Do you add oxiclean with whites or vinegar? I find that air drying everything prevents shrinking and if there are stains in them it doesn’t set the stains. It also helps with fading. I only dry clean or hand wash cashmere and wool.

   5. It’s normal, but it’s also preventable. People who aren’t rough on clothes are probably just more aware of their surroundings and more careful with what they wear. For example: they probably don’t do the dishes in their nice clothes once they get home (like I do), thus avoiding the splatter of water spots on silk blouses, and they probably look where they’re going on the sidewalk (like I don’t) and avoid scraping up their heels that way.

      But for the specifics, try using a “dark clothes” gentle detergent to avoid fading (it really does work), and to get out both odors and sweat stains, treat clothes with a paste of either baking soda or oxyclean, let it sit, and wash it with more oxyclean in the wash. This will eventually wear through the fabric, but it will make the clothes last a lot longer than otherwise. I also don’t put hardly anything in the dryer – pretty much only sheets, towels, socks, and gym clothes. I firmly believe that the dryer wears out your clothes pretty fast. For the cashmere, I wouldn’t put anything soft and fuzzy in the washer (although I disagree with the above poster that L&T isn’t nice cashmere). I would wash it by hand or via dry cleaner every time.

      1. I too am firmly in the no-dryer camp. I occasionally dry towels, but even my sheets wear out noticeably faster when I put them in the dryer so I’ve started line drying bedding too.

   6. As for poly, I’ve just decided that poly that gets well-loved just wears out (especially in cream) after a season or two and that the solution is to just not spend a ton of money on them.

      Tropical wool suiting material – (AT/BrooksBrothers/BR) – I find that this lasts longer but still, after 3.5 years of regular wear, they succumb to wear and tear too (small tears in the vents, salad dressing, etc).

   7. I definitely feel you re: the pain of trying to shop in the mid-teens sizes. 90% of stuff on the market doesn’t come in our size, and half of the stuff that does is ugly, overpriced, or both. Adding short-lived to the mix is just rubbing salt in the wound. :(

      I’m not quite as hard on my clothes, but shoes and handbags are my problem spots. Still figuring out how to handle the shoe issue, but my (Coach signature fabric, fwiw) get hand-washed in very warm water with a little dish soap, laid on a towel and turned over every few hours, and then hung up by the bottoms to finish drying. I own the official fabric cleaner, but a lot of what I get is just general scuzz, rather than specific spots or spills.

      You didn’t mention how you’re washing your clothes – I’ve found a lot of my stuff, especially darker colors, looks better for longer if I use cold water in the washer and keep the dryer time to a minimum. It seems like heat and agitation/friction are the killers, so minimizing those where possible helps a lot.

      Also, Dryel is a godsend for keeping delicate-ish things in good shape. I have a handful of dresses and cashmere sweaters that are DCO and I’ll run them with Dryel every three wears or so. Maybe look into Lasting Care or another very delicate laundry soap as well?

      1. Thanks, all. Some great ideas here. I’ve been machine washing more clothes – even Dry Clean (not DCO) – because stuff still smells sweaty from the dry cleaners. I airdry a lot of my work clothes already and use warm water (not hot or cold). I use Nellie’s Laundry Powder now and Sports Suds from time to time (I think these are the same stuff, but Sports Suds was definitely better than my own Tide type detergents).

         I try to carry my nicer shoes into my office – we have brick sidewalks around us – but sometimes I hit the stairs the wrong way and voila, another scratch.

         I think I get frustrated because things used to hold up better – and they were cheaper to boot! I thought that investing more in my clothes would make it easier to be polished. Instead, it’s led to more expensive maintenance. Need to reset my expectations.

         1. I have no personal experience with this, but I have read that Botox in the underarms can really solve sweat issues. It might be worth researching this type of option.

            I have no good suggestions but just wanted to empathize with you on your post – I also am really hard on shoes (and other things, but shoes especially). I’ve just come to the conclusion that I don’t try to buy “investment pieces.” I assume clothes have a limited life span.

   8. No help on the shoes, except the suggestion to get stacked heels instead of leather-covered. I beat up my shoes like nobody’s business.

      WRT the clothes issues, what I’m hearing is that you sweat a significant amount, and are finding no good solutions for cleaning your clothes. If I’m interpreting correctly, may I ask what you do with your clothes when you get home from work? I’ve found that my clothes last longer if I minimize washing and dry cleaning, so I hang things in a room with an open window to air out before giving them the look over & sniff test to see if it’s time to clean them.

      Cashmere can’t be machine washed. Knitters put cashmere in a washer when they want to felt it, but that’s definitely not your goal here. Hand wash or dry clean.

      For machine washables, I put everything in cold water, delicate cycle, and use much less detergent than the detergent bottle recommends. For things prone to fading, I turn them inside-out before they go in the wash. I air dry most of my work clothes that are washable.

      Finally, have you tried the vodka spritz method for smellies? It’s an old theater trick. Spray diluted vodka on smelly clothes and hang to dry/air out. It has definitely worked for me!

   9. I am a similar size and find that nothing looks good on me. And I’ve got similar wear issues.

      – I only wear my good heels in the office, as even walking from the car into the office has resulted in the heel scuffs as I hit a sidewalk crack every.single.time.

      – Wash poly tops/blouses after every wear and pretreat underarms with a vodka-water mixture. I first read about that here.

      – I would never wash cashmere in a machine (though I do put silks, lingerie, hosiery and other delicates in mesh bags in the wash on cold). Handwash cashmere in cold water, lay flat on towel while wet, reshape, roll up towel like a jelly-roll, squeeze out water. Dry flat.

      I use Mitchum Clinical Antiperspirant for men in the unscented “soft-solid” version. (Don’t get the solid- it breaks off.) For years I ruined things but my chemistry has gotten better and I don’t have the horrible odor and yellow problems anymore. Also you might need to wash each shirt after every wear. I do wash them in cold in mesh bags.

   10. For cashmere, I’m usually wearing them as an outer layer (so very little contact with my skin directly). I only launder my cashmere sweaters at most a couple of times per season. But I do let them air out after wearing to get rid of smells. When I do, I usually will dry clean them especially if it is high end cashmere (example, Tse) or something that is hard to replace because of design/details that I love. If it is a plain cardigan or v-neck sweater or something I can replace easily, I will handwash them. I usually will use a specialty detergent (I’m a knitter too) like soak or eucalan. In a pinch, I will use baby shampoo or another shampoo with cold water. I let the sweater soak for a good long while and while soaking I will walk by every few minutes and give it a gentle squeeze. If there are stains, I will treat directly with the specialty detergent or shampoo and rub gently to get the stain out. I will squeeze (gently) most of the water out and then lay flat on a bath towel and roll it up and put pressure on it to get most of the water out. Lay flat and “reshape” if necessary. Flip over every once in a while to make sure it dries evenly. This regime works out well for me. I have several Neiman Marcus label cashmere sweaters for at least 4-5 years and they look fairly like new!

8. Google is posting fashion trends based on search results. Tulle skirts, jogger pants, and midi skirts are trending. I’ll post the link in a reply.

   1. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/features/spring-2015-fashion-trends-google-data.html

9. On the one hand, a friend just tried it and lost 8 pounds and has wee ones at home. On the other hand, it seems like a total scam. On my underboob which functions as a third hand sometimes, I should be able to do portion control and workouts myself, but clearly can’t.

   1. It’s just portion control.

10. Help. I am invited to the wedding of a prominent judge. It is in the daytime at the home of a politician. But I don’t think it will be super formal. No dress code on invitation. Not a first wedding. Bride will not be in white. I would love to wear something I can nurse in, though I am fine going to the bathroom and taking off the whole dress if that is easier.

    What would you wear?

    1. I should add that weather likely will be in the upper 60s or 70s. I bet the ceremony will be outdoors.

       1. A nice day dress, in a pretty color, with my favorite jewelry. Like the banana republic Gemma wrap dress or similar.

    2. I’d stay away from a dress you have to remove to nurse. If the wedding is in a private home there are probably a limited number of bathrooms for all the guests. Might be awkward if you have to tie one up to nurse!

11. Levi’s Supreme Curve jeans

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