Never Knowingly Overthinking

As usual, there have been many things on my mind this week:
Like, when is lousy stinking daylight saving going to end? And why oh why do I hate it so much?
Am I getting only six hours sleep a night, & if I am, does it matter?
Should I continue to eat six plump oysters twice a week even though I might be overdosing on zinc?
And, my personal favourite -
Is it just me, or is time actually speeding up?
Sadly, I can't answer any of the above except the one about daylight saving, although I don't really know why I loathe it so much. Maybe it has something to do with my chronic distaste for watching television & eating the evening meal whilst it's still light as it has unpleasant echoes of childhood.

Like everyone else this week, I have been thinking of many other things too - lost planes, celebrity girlfriend suicides, the return of Knights & Dames honours to Australia & , just in, the shock celebrity split of Gwenwyth Paltrow & her hubby Chris Martin, who once said that marrying Gwennie was like winning the lottery. An unfortunate comparison, given that most lottery winners end up losing it all.

But also this week, I've been madly distracting myself by Thinking Some Fashion Thoughts.

Just when I was feeling a little unhinged after marking 63 essays on how Shakespeare's play, As You Like It links to the topic of Belonging, I found a wealth of distraction in Carine Roitfeld's article in maybe Huff Post on How to Dress Like Her. Or perhaps it was her version of How to Dress Like an Ex Editor of French Vogue.

Ever since I was ten & read in a neighbour's Town & Country Magazine an article on How to Live Elegantly on Very Little Money, I've been obsessed with How To articles & books. The only bit of advice I can remember from that long ago article was to fix yourself an elegant breakfast tray each morning with an elegant Limoges tea cup & saucer that you purchased at a flea market next to a small elegant bud vase containing one elegant red rose that you grew from a window box in your elegant bijou apartment.

My ten year old self thought that was amazing.
My sixty one year old self now realises with that kind of advice, no wonder I've found life a struggle.
Anyway, Carine's advice was just as helpful.
Let me give you the executive summary:
1. Never wear comfortable clothes & shoes. If you do, you'll never look edgy.

2. Wear slightly messy hair. I can't remember the actual reason, but maybe so you'll look like you've just rolled out of bed with a Frenchman. Like Gerard Depardeau who reminds me of an aubergine. At least it's a French vegetable. Or a vegetable with a French-sounding name.

3. If your eyes are your best asset, completely smear them in black eye make up. I'm not sure what you do if they're not your best asset. Leave them alone? Sunglasses even at nite?

The Next Fashion Thought I had was, Normcore.
This is a term that I've recently picked up from the style section of Flipboard.
In case you don't know, it's a way of dressing that is just like, Normal. You know, jeans & a tee shirt. Jerry Seinfeld but not in the Puffy Shirt episode. Steve Jobs. Barack Obama.
Note all these examples are men. I can't think of any women.
But trust me, I'll make it my Life's Work this week to find some.