Happiness is a blue beret

What's blue, 16 years old, came from France, and has moved 7 times? Why, it's my blue beret, and it's come back to me after going AWOL for roughly a year and a half. As I've mentioned before, I've been reorganizing my life for around two years now, so my clothes and possessions have gone into limbo, some reappearing and some remaining lost. When I came across my old blue beret this morning completely by accident, I felt as if I had just run into an old friend.

I bought this beret when I first went to Paris as a student, and I know it's stereotypical to have a beret in France, but I didn't have a hat, and it gets cold there. I had to get it because it was made of wool and was big enough to fit my pumpkin head. I loved it then, and after all these years, it still looks the best on me of all my hats. Plus, it's still in my possession, which is amazing considering how many things I've "misplaced" over the years.

Prince, your girl's raspberry beret has got nothing on my blueberry beret.

Now I'm suddenly inspired at how many of my old clothes I can revive (if I can find them), which will be helpful considering money is getting tight. My old beret, which is still in good shape, some shoe polish on my old boots, a few stitches to mend my old favorite but frayed blouses, and I could be good to go!


Above: Not as happy about this as I am.

Did You Know?

Did you know that every woman should have a certain 10 essential items in her clothes closet? That is according to Tim Gunn, on Bravo's Guide to Style, which I watched for the first time last night. I am a little bit endeared to Gunn, who seems sincere in his pursuit to make people dress better. I thought I would watch the show to make fun of it (have you seen Michael MacDonald impersonate him on MadTV?), but I ended up taking actual notes. Lucky for me, because if you go to the site for more information, you will not easily find checklists and clear information, which is probably intentional for getting you to watch the show. Lucky for you, too, that I did the dirty work, because they were not straightforward even on the show about this precious information. So, here are the items, with my comments:

1. Little black dress (check! Except the little shiny doodad on the back of mine has broken, even though it is staying in place)

2. Classic dress pant (... jeans aren't dressy?)

3. Classic white shirt (check! It's about three years old, uncomfortably tight across the bust, and is starting to show little sweat stains... ew. Ok, uncheck.)

4. Day dress (check! I get compliments on it, but it is made of synthetic fabric and doesn't breathe well.)

5. Blazer (check! If we are counting funky, Asian-Turkish inspired casual blazers? Tim??)

6. Skirt (check! Got lots of those, including my favorite, straight one, with a little sexy slit on the side.)

7. Cashmere sweater (check! It's second-hand Calvin Klein, I believe, and it's a cardigan, but it's cashmere.)

8. Jeans (Check! Again, lots of those, but I still find it difficult to find the best pair.)

9. Trenchcoat (Check! It's a raincoat, technically, but I think it counts.)

10. Sweatsuit alternative (I am just not into sweatsuits. I simply cannot wear them without looking frumpy. I'll have to keep watching the show to see what they come up with here.)

How do you fare? I am not a big shopper myself, but I am inspired. I think I may even go to a bra fitter this week.