On the movement of objects and the gift(s) from/to friends

This month I traveled to France and Belgium to see friends, relatives, buy used and new comic books…

rue du Midi, Brussels

Tintin, a lightly clad woman, and a Compostella hiker

 … and have a little vacation.

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While figuring out which coats to bring, one for the rain and one for the cold,  I encountered some old LL Bean coats that had hardly ever been worn. I threw them in the suitcase, my nice big reliable long trip hawler, with the thought of offering them to my first host, old time friend and LL Bean lover. He was so happy! Then at my friend Laure’s, she showed me a dress that had been given to her by a friend of hers. I tried it on and it was just too tight at the waist. But the following day I was seeing my friend Carla who loved it immediately. 

I did my usual visits to consignments shops and vintage stores, every European city has them at every street corner it seems -- making it difficult to resist the temptation of going in. A few new places I discovered were the flea market in Ghent where the set of six colorful chairs were for sale for 400 euros,

and yet another consignment shop on rue de Turennes in Paris, right next door to a one day "vide armoire," access to which required waiting on a line for which I had no patience.  

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All this stuff. And it's Christmas season, so there's even more stuff than usual to tempt the eye. What presents to buy and for whom. What to bring back. All these things everywhere. So many wonderful and beautiful things. But the book Stitched Up was on my mind. I encountered a long line of shoppers waiting to get into the newly opened Primarc on the rue Neuve in Brussels and thought, "arghhh." How can one fight back the awful labor practices of the fashion industry? 

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In Lyon, I bought a scarf from somebody sitting at a sewing machine in a little shop that purports to sell only locally made scarves. Lyon is known for its silk industry, and continues to produce, in small amounts, fabric for the upscale market. 

Buying hand made things from a reliable source might alleviate the guilt but won't solve the overall problem. 

I've been collecting wine corks and bottle caps for years, and this morning, I finally thought of something to do with them. Christmas ornaments! I had read an article in the New Yorker about a severely handicapped person who was wrapping objects with thread. And I had been struck in Brussels by a window decoration that had balls of thread hanging from a wooden treelike shape. 

I am obsessing with all the "stuff" I've been accumulating with the idea that someday I would transform it into some kind of artistic object, making a grand statement about consumption, luxury, high vs lowbrow. The process of wrapping yarn and ribbon around a core of useless hard shapes that had served their purpose was extremely therapeutic. 

There is no problem with loving objects. While hosting me for tea, my Parisian friend Mathilde laid out her new/old tea service that she had recently purchased in the Loire Valley.

We live in a material world. The trouble is that the material from which we are living has become cheap and disposable. 

Restaurant in Ghent with a wall made entirely of old doors

I'm glad that some (old) objects have found new owners. Like this sheepskin coat, which belonged to my friend Laure's Corsican grandfather and has found a new happy owner. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

late fall musing

Clara with old records,  and bags to drop off at the consignment shop. The bucket might symbolize my need to clean out my entire house...

It's Thanksgiving Eve and I am taking a vow of non consumption. It's about time! Last night, with daughter Clara visiting from NYC, I pulled out clothes I didn't want anymore - because I just didn't wear them, had no reason to wear them, and I could see her looking much better in them than I do.  In a frenzy of sorting through my closets, I was forced to face the reality of excess clothing. Too many of us  suffer from the uncontrollable urge to purchase, and we can't seem to put a stop to it. Retail therapy helps in the short term, but in the long term, whatever it is that is causing the uncontrollable desire to acquire has yet to be addressed.

Maybe the book I'm reading, which I picked up at a feminist book store on the Lower East Side, can help with this addiction. It's called Stitched Up and it's all about our love/hate relationship with the garment industry which has awful labor practices. Cheap labor is abundant all over the world, the garment industry will never run out. The more I read, the more disgusted I become with the rapaciousness of an industry that could pay its workers higher wages but won't because it might give one retailer or manufacturer a slightly -- ever so slightly -- less competitive edge against its competitors.

The book also points out the absence of minorities in fashion ads.   

I noticed right away, while perusing one of these street fashion web sites, that indeed ethnicity is almost completely absent. Plenty of gender bending, but not much ethnic diversity, in the people nor in the clothes. 

Meanwhile, my friend Laure who awaits me in Paris, is sending me announcements of "vide dressing" in December. We are going to be each other's partner in abstinence. 

Unless of course there is that perfect thing that goes with that other thing that I don't wear because it's too odd or I don't know what to wear it with. 

excerpt from "conversation" on FB, for the French speakers:

• Annabelle Cone ok: problème. Je viens de "vider" mes armoires en espérant que ma chère Clara se servirait (ce qu'elle a fait) et je me suis rendu compte que j'avais TROP DE VETEMENTS! Donc je prends aussi un engagement de non consommation de vêtements. On peut acheter des cadeaux par contre...

  29 mins · Like · 1
• 

  Laure Marcellesi On dira qu'on est des reporters pour Fringarde, on ne prendra que des photos. ou des cadeaux. (ou cette jupe vraiment trop parfaite, qui ira tellement bien avec ton pull gris...)

  11 mins · Unlike · 1
• 

  Laure Marcellesi Et si on craque, eh ben, on apportera tout ça à la prochaine saison à Révolution ou chez l'alligator rose. Faut bien faire marcher l'économie, non?

Hot and humid in New York City

This trip to New York City began with a ride on Amtrak's Vermonter. Interesting New Haven platform outfits while waiting for the engine switch from diesel to electric.

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In New York, daughter Clara  was her usual hip self…

…wearing a dress she has owned for many years that she had purchased via Etsy tucked into a suede skirt. The boots come from an LA thrift shop.

The heat made it difficult to zip around from East to West Village back to Soho and Tribeca, but I did manage to visit several used record stores in search of cds for the long trips in the car. 

If the blog could play a sound track, it would include John Lennon and Simon and Garfunkel. I discovered West Tenth Street, which, with shading trees and beautiful town houses, made the walk enjoyable. That street has a real corner bookshop, which added to the old world feel.
The man carrying a heavy load on his shoulders, walking in front of the vintage store,  really transported me to the turn-of-the-century Lower Manhattan photos of Lewis Hine.

                             corner book shop on West 10th

I found the Housing Works located at  #245, but it
was being renovated, so the selection was limited.

I did indulge in much thrifting, taking a break from the hot streets by cooling off in the air conditioned spaces of Beacon's closet et al. I also went to the movies, where the air conditioning was most welcome. The light from the screen at the Quad on West 13th gave off an interesting glow. 

Montreal! (again)

                                                         Avenue Laurier

It seems fitting that the first nostalgic vision for this posting is a 2 CV which lives miraculously up here on the Plateau, near Parc Laurier. Caring for this vehicle on this side of the Atlantic requires patience and commitment. (Caring for this vehicle on the other side requires the same considering they haven't rolled off the assembly line since 1990.)

During this trip to Montreal narrow neckties took on a new importance thanks to a male friend who has a particular interest in finding interesting ones. The vintage store on Saint-Laurent at the corner of Duluth had a nice selection. And, in case one has a desire to learn more about them, a book on that very subject.

On Saint-Laurent near Duluth

On Avenue du Parc in Mile End, I found an Armani linen jacket that I couldn't pass up. That, along with the silk skirt I found in a Park City, Utah consignment shop, make for a comfy but elegant summer outfit!

Found on avenue du Park in Mile end

Mile End has several consignment and vintage stores. In one on Saint-Laurent, I found a lovely pair of white linen shoes that fit me to a tee. But alas, I resisted the temptation. Instead I was impressed by the display of tweed skirts…in anticipation of fall which, in the August heat, is a nice reminder of what's to come.

Vintage on Saint-Laurent in Mile End

Montreal is mellow, peaceful and easy going. I finally made it to the Atwater and Jean Talon markets where one is smitten by the casual atmosphere and cornucopia of local summer harvest. 

Montreal, tu es "la meilleure"!

Jean Talon Market

                                          Atwater Market

Atwater Market

You are especially the best when it comes to finding precious old things, like ties, jackets, skirts and cars, but also books (I am always on the look out for used Franco Belgian comic books and graphic novels) and vinyl records. 

"Débédé" Rue Saint-Denis, Plateau

 Vinyl records , rue Bernard, Mile End

Friperie Bohème, Saint-Viateur, Mile End

Clara in LA

From Concrete Culture

Utah!

My older daughter moved to Utah in June, and I went to pay her a visit in July. Utah: it's nicknamed the   "beehive state" because people work hard. But there are also plenty of beehive hairdos, not to mention people in cowboy boots, off the shoulder shirts and lacy clothes that harken back to the '70s.

Park City where my daughter lives had two consignment shops. One of them sold cowboy boots, I almost want to say, of course.

Also, plenty of belts with elaborate silver buckles and interesting Native American designs.

       

I hope to make it into Salt Lake on my next visit. Park City was beautiful but it was also a little unreal, with so many extremely fit people walking around in their biking outfits. 

While waiting for a live band to start playing, I couldn't help but notice a very elegant older woman standing in the crowd. I loved the way she clipped her hair in a random way, and her little white purse contrasted so nicely with her black dress. 

The landscape around Park City is so varied: canyons, low grasses, rugged rock formations, and always that open sky and the hot, dry sun beaming down. The town of Park City is on a mountainside, with old miners' houses reachable by wooden stairways. I look forward to another visit, maybe in the winter?