I have nothing intelligent to say about Fashion Week

So here are some pretty pictures.

J. Mendel

Tibi

Nanette Lepore

Milly

So far I think my favorite shows are Milly, Tibi and J. Mendel...but I haven't gone through all the shows on style.com yet.

It's interesting how prominent tights/hosiery are among all the designs. Was everyone always so mad about tights? Also I like how tights are paired with practically anything, including shorts of various lengths.

I must be crazy...

...because I'm kinda digging these ankle boots by DV by Dolce Vita.

They're like hooves, but in a good way. And I can see them meshing well with tights or skinny jeans, or funkifying a simple outfit of slinky comfy knits.

(Of course, the big secret of fashion is that beautiful, confident people can make even the fugliest clothing look cool, and they endlessly torture those of us who aren't so lucky. Case in point: Rumi of Fashiontoast. She would rock these boots without batting an eyelash. Because it's not about the clothes, it's about who's wearing them.)

[ DV by Dolce Vita boots: $103 and $114 at Endless.com ]

Happiness manifesto

I really enjoyed this post on the Happiness Project, about a happiness manifesto - really just a list of short aphorisms to guide you toward happiness. I have a tenuous grasp on happiness at best (especially lately - jeesh!) so I jotted down a few ideas for my own Manifesto in my Moleskine:

1. smile, for God's sake!
2. have a laugh.
3. go whole hog.
4. make something.
5. avoid small people. [not a dig at little people - I mean "small" in the figurative sense!]
6. clean up and get organized - you'll feel better.
7. fake it til you make it.
8. appreciate the small things.
9. give love.
10. never buy cheap shoes.
11. rise above.
12. pay yourself first.
13. want what you have.

The thing about these little mantras is that the perspective you bring to them means everything - which makes one's Happiness Mantra deeply, intensely personal. If you read these and think they all sound stupid, well, so be it.

I hope y'all appreciated #10 - never buy cheap shoes. I think we all know what that one means! I recently purged a bunch of shoes; they were all cheapies that I didn't wear, plus one pair of black Faconnable slingbacks I bought at Nordstrom for $150 right out of college (the price seemed ridiculous at the time, but as soon as I slipped them on I was hooked). I wore those puppies to death at my first job, until they stank (I don't really do pantyhose or socks) and were falling apart. Ah, the memories! I can only hope to wear other pairs of beautiful shoes to death.

...and thus, another post devolved into a discussion of shoes.

Attention:

Bluefly got their spring dresses in and they are smashing, dahling.

My picks:a halter number by BCBG ($116) and a boldly graphic silk creation by Alice and Olivia ($217).

Yum. Never underestimate the power of a good dress.