Outfit for a Tuesday: Dots, Vertical Stripes, and Cosmonauts

Fifty years ago today, during the defense spending histrionics and political hubris of the Cold War, the first man was sent to space, a cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin, who instantly became a national hero for all across the vast, expansive Soviet Union, and though an inspiration, an object of national disdain and sense of failure over here in the United States. Unfortunately, I was not apprised of this momentous occasion until listening to a particularly noxious radio disk jockey this morning during my commute, his announcement following rather obvious allusions: "Man on the Moon" by REM and "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. So, my look is not cosmically informed, as it very well possibly could have been, had I only been made aware a mere hour before.

Instead, I have turned to what has surely become a hackneyed trick: mixing patterns within the same color palette. Today, black and cream, this time in a vertical stripe short-sleeved sweater, with slight oscillations in the bandwidth, a rippling effect in the varying widths, creating a type of movement in this pattern, coupled with a basic polka dot silk scarf. I love this scarf because it is a complete circle, making it immensely easy to wear; I call it my necklace scarf. This combination was worn with loose black dress slacks and tapered-heel black pumps.

I found these vintage earrings at an antique shop in a small town in Pennsylvania, Adamstown, little recognized in the great public cultural consciousness, but well-known as a type of Mecca for antiquers and vintage browsers. The main street of the town features two eateries, and upwards of thirty antique shops and larger vendor malls, with both junk and treasures from across the centuries and decades. These pieces feature both a prominent clear rhinestone and champagne tinged pearls, in an intricate, almost floral structure. Again, nothing moon-age in this design, rather, they are particularly organic and earthen, other than perhaps the sheen of the rhinestone and the opalescence of the pearl, but I find them rather beautiful and bold nonetheless.