Maybe it's just me. I just bought a lovely pair of
Camper mary janes and am completely sold on the combination of style and comfort. They also remind me of the '20s when Chanel was just getting started and women were wearing lovely shoes, elegant, low-heeled and very walkable.
The designer and artist, Sonia Delauney, is a fine example of how a working woman looked in the '20s. (For more on Sonia head to
My Dog-Eared Pages.)
It still works. It works because it's comfortable, beautiful, one is both capable of walking a distance and sitting awhile longer. It can go from day to evening and is uniquely female without resorting to youthful ideas of sexiness. Notice the shoes...
A pair of either of these Campers in soft grey would suit me just fine this fall. A t-strap would be even better.
I suppose the sexual revolution finished off this style of dressing. The cult of youth and the desire to be 'sexy at any age' (gagging)has so diverted the classic female style of dressing (broken record begins here) while not interfering in the least with male dress customs.
Yet there's hope. A fellow lady in l'age was puzzling over skirt styles. She hadn't worn one in years because they were uncomfortable, often too short, too tight etc. etc. Of course any opportunity to foist my own views on another cannot be overlooked - go for the a-line, I cried. She went for it and proudly wore one of her two aline skirts last week, taking time to demonstrate her ability to sit down without the skirt riding up too high and provide adequate side-view coverage thanks to the extra fabric the a-line so kindly provides. This skirt (and a second) were found on the rack at a
Cleo .And while both look like grey tweed they feel like cozy soft jersey. Chanel would approve.
All that said, I'll also be channeling the menswear look this fall. I have 2 lovely long jackets to show you. Both new (to me) and I'm tempted to pair them with another Camper shoe. The men's shoe for women.
