Category Archives: Style and Fashion Blogs

Perpetual Fashion Critique

Posted on by
2

Look, here’s the first event we have gotten dolled up for together in a long, long time. The Poop (what a great name) had a pithy little posting about taking fashion critique shows and turning them on moms and dads. Since I do host a show where we rip on celeb fashion, I so relate. Yes, I too am often in my mommy track suit, but when it’s time to dress up, sharpen the fangs.

Daphne and Mark in NYC

I recently realized what an occupational hazard I have with this. I can’t turn off the Fashion Team brain. I am also in Star Magazine every week doing the jokes for Worst of the Week, so it’s like I can’t turn ever turn it off. Yes, I can be snarky, but I love when someone looks great.

My husband Mark Peel’s restaurant, Campanile, was recently nominated for Best Restaurant in the country for the James Beard Awards (the Oscars of dining). He lost to Gramercy Tavern, though he did win it in 2001.

Mark was fine with losing this year, and I was fine because it brought us to New York and allowed me to get dressed up with my husband. He spends five nights a week in chef’s white while I toil in my track suit, so good times. At these food events, Mark has plenty of old friends and such that he wants to talk with.  I want the free wine and food that goes with it. So I have learned to bring my best gay friend Michael with me. He is the perfect date. Mark likes him too, since then I am not saying, “Can we leave?”

Michael is fab and works in fashion so needless to say, we had a constant fashion critique going. Food people are not the toniest types, so there were some errors. Flips-flops at black tie event at the Lincoln Center, really? Two women thought that was okay. Then there are the re-used prom dresses. And, I’m sorry, but the bubble skirts need to stop.

But this year, people looked a lot better than when I went to the Beard awards in 2004, when I swear I saw nail art. There are also those who don’t have the figure of a model or the budget of one, but clearly made an effort, so good for them. By the way, Kim Cattrall co-hosted the event with Bobby Flay, and she looks great and committed like a pro to all the banal banter she was forced to say.

Now, there were about three women who we really thought looked great. And we made a point of rushing over to them and telling them, which always makes someone feel good. The last lady we championed ended up being the wife of the chef of Quince, a restaurant in San Francisco that I have heard nothing but good things about and wanna go to when I have my 36 hours of child free time in SF in August.

At midnight as the security guards were yelling, “Go home, this event is over,” to us and the other stragglers (I mentioned there was free food and drinks, right?), a sweet young man came up to me and said, “I noticed your dress earlier and I wanted to tell you how much I love it.” That made my night. He was a cooking student who was volunteering, and when I told him about Mark, he got so excited. He had written a paper about him, so I introduced them. And it proved we aren’t the only ones sizing up everybody’s fashion.

Eyelash Curler: A Cautionary Tale

Posted on by
Reply

From my world o’cold I’m swimming in, I must depart this word of warning for the multitasking mom. My sister Cecily was curling her lashes Thursday, getting ready to meet us out for a girl’s dinner. She decided to multitask, also known as sitting on the can while curling said lashes, but she stumbled. The result? Half her eyelashes are now gone from her left eye. A clear chunk o’ lash is missing. When will it return? Who knows?

(Here’s Cecily with Vivien, eyelashes intact.)

She said it doesn’t hurt, but sometimes it’s better to take the 3 seconds to complete things. When something like that happens to me, I always think I dodged a bullet. That it could have been worse; I could have been distracted and in a hurry and plowed my car into a tree. So, don’t stop making yourself pretty, just do one thing at a time. That’s my takeaway.

Shimmey, Shimmey Undie Pants

Posted on by
4

Moms, been too long since you’ve bought the basics for yourself? Well, that’s the pickle I found myself in the other night. I was meeting girlfriends for dinner sans kids about a mile from my house. Wanting to drink and burn some calories before I stuffed my self I decided to walk. I threw off the cargo shorts and t-shirts I had been wearing all day, hey it’s not always a track suit, and started walking. About a mile from my house I realized there was a problem. I had my worn out, white cotton granny panties on and they were falling off.

Daphne in panties

This first happened when I started to lose my baby weight. A great sign that I was dropping pounds. Well, no L-B’s have been shed lately so I knew I had worn out undies. If I turned back I would be late, so I treked on. But I had to either hold the sides of panties up or every few feet pull them up, a problem since I was walking on a busy street, or sort of waddle. Needless to say, my progress was slow. Several times I felt the panties starting to get dangerously close to the hemline of my A-line dress. Once when this happened I came along a crew of Hispanic men who were redoing a sidewalk. I smiled and said, “Good evening” hoping they wouldn’t think less of me when I hitched up my giddy up. Not the most dignified moment, but better than dropping trow in front of them. Had I come across an old fashion phone booth I would have pulled a superman and pulled the underwear off, but no such luck.

Because of my waddle, I was quite late to my dinner. Along my walk I thought about this issue and realized it had been more than a year since I had bought a pair of underpants or a bra. Why do I neglect these? I have bought make up, I think even a car, and certainly shoes, oh, we just bought a house, but not a few cotton panties which I could have gotten, um, let’s see, anywhere. Am I the only one who neglects the fineries?

Transitional Mom Hair

Posted on by
Reply

This is why moms cut their hair. This is me a year ago with Vivien. It was kind of a Jennifer Aniston cut, but it had grown out and lost it’s shape so it sort looked like I was trying to do the rocker mom thing.

I try to appear in photos with Vivien only when I look half way decent. I love the pictures of my mom with my sisters and me. She is from a generation that made an effort to look good, no track suits, or jeans. I want Vivien to look back and say as I did, “Wow, my mom had style,” or at least, “She was cute.” If Whitesnake gains renewed fans, maybe she will.

My Kid Looks Better Than I Do

Posted on by
2

How many times have you felt like your kid looks a lot better than you do? Could be almost every day. But it really hit me today. Here she is wearing a great dress we got her in Paris, and I am dressed like a slob. I had exercised, but really it’s not an uncommon outfit for me to wear when I am not working.

Daphne in workout clothes, Vivien in a dress

Mommy clothes are either working out clothes, the horrendous mom jeans, or the flowing skirt/dress thing. We went to our Rock Toddler music class and a mommy friend was there in the flowing dress look. I think that is the way to go. Especially in the summer. Comfortable, no tushy showing, still feminine. ‘Cause sometimes I see moms running around in their faux workout clothes, and I am seeing outlines of a body that shouldn’t be showcased. I think, “Oh God, that is me!”

Partly it’s fashion by sleep deprivation, but now that I get more sleep I think I could pull it together. Do I really need to be this casual in order to parent? Do any of us? It feels like it, but maybe we all need a paradigm shift.

Prenatal Waxing

Posted on by
2

A down-there grooming for the mom-to-be, as mentioned in Jezebel, is no joke. Before I gave birth to Vivien, I braced myself for my first-ever bikini wax. At the time I thought I was going to have a vaginal birth and wanted a clean plate on which to serve my daughter, so to speak. Also, the bigger the belly gets, the harder it is to do any kind of trimming. If you can’t bend over, it’s a jungle down there.

My Two Loves
Creative Commons License photo credit: virexmachina

But don’t let anyone con you. Waxing hurts. When I got it done, waxer lady said I was sensitive because of my hormones. I was sensitive because my hair was being yanked out by strips of hot wax.

Do get a wax, and getting a mani-pedi is smart. ‘Cause, let’s face it, once that new baby comes, you are a prisoner in your house for a while and you want to look your best for… for… for… hmmm, who will see you?