How the Mighty Have Fallen

One time Abercrombie and Fitch was a place America's royalty and plenty of other royalty shopped. This link is from the Wikipedia page, however a google gives plenty of info backing this up and there is even a book out there where the author sounds off about why they hate A & F and how the mighty have indeed fallen. And they have. Fast forward to 2011 and their attempt to convince girls as young as 7 years old (funny that, my eldest is 7) that they NEED padded bikini tops. Um, yeah over my dead body. It got a not so surprising negative reaction and shame on me for blogging about something that's been all over the interwebs today and that Abercrombie has now decided to market only to girls 12 years old and over. But it bears repeating, girls NEED to stay girls. Period and no matter how often it is repeated.

Consider these Land's End swimsuits. Feminine and cute. AND age appropriate.

If you page through the kids catalog, you do indeed come across 2 piece styles vs the tankini style above but they are age appropriate AND cute and feminine. This is a company that I love, love, love for providing stylish options for men, women and kids but also providing the tried and true classics that stand the test of time and aren't affected by trends. If you are looking for cute dresses and other summer clothes for girls, the LE "Knit Kit" is another sure bet. Cute feminine clothes, dresses for twirling with leggings or shorts underneath, and the prices are right. Garnanimals for this generation of girls.

And our girls will need to grow up soon enough anyway, right? I was heartened my eldest wanted some leggings to wear under one of her girly dresses the other day and she looked cute as could be when she put the look together. Let's hear it for cute and age appropriate and girls having the time to be girls.

Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro passed away this morning at the age of 75 due to complications from blood cancer. This article from the AP discusses her many accomplishments throughout her career and how she did indeed break the glass ceiling for women interested in pursuing higher office. The Hillary Clintons and Sarah Palins (aside from Mrs. Clinton already having many accomplishments and smarts that would help her be taken seriously as a candidate for higher office anyway) could more easily be seen as plausible serious candidates for the Vice Presidency and even the Presidency since a woman had been there before they did it.

I remember from my Hill intern days getting on the elevator, running like mad to avoid being late to wherever it was I had to be, delivering a letter to another office, or getting back to my office from lunch or going there in the morning. And I almost knocked her down. I looked behind me and there she was with her bodyguard. She had been assigned one because she had at this point officially become Mr. Mondale's running mate. I was absolutely blown away and taken aback because she was about 5'3 and wearing of all things....a dress. It was a dress similar to the one she is wearing in the picture from the Life magazine archive above. Granted she did wear suits with padded shoulders and bow blouses like the one Mrs. Mondale is pictured in above but very frequently she opted for the dress. I have looked high and low to find something to back this up but all I have is my memory; of reading an article about Mrs. Ferraro that said she often wore Maggy London dresses. Their square necks, nipped in waistlines and sleeves with inverted pleats that made a bit of a puff were a very far cry from the "uniform" many women wore in the early to mid 80s of a navy, grey, or black suit with big padded shoulders, and a light (preferably white) blouse with the floppy tie.

I don't remember anyone ever questioning her accomplishments or her authority even though she often opted for the Maggy London dresses over the power suits. A trailblazer in more than one way. God Speed Ms. Ferraro.

Getting the Green On

So this week there was a certain holiday where wearing of the green is for many mandatory and others at least think about it just a little bit before being contrarian. I had found a hole in one of my beloved shirts of the perfect emerald green and was not happy about it but it did give me the chance to try something a little wild and maybe a little weird for someone who considers herself a Prep. I had wondered what putting on basecoat, then opaque white polish, then layering a glittery but dullish shade over it would look like. It looks like the above. At first I thought "Yikes." and WTH? It is an out there look. However it has grown on me and the polish color looks almost three dimensional. I have also heard on very good authority that one way to deal with bruised or discolored toenails is to put this opaque white shade on as a basecoat. Then you're free to layer sheer polish over it without the discoloration showing through.

So this is what my toenails are going to look like for the time being. A bit new wave to be sure but a color I think we have all seen rugby stripes and polo shirts in. And anyway we all know there are a few types of Preppies (more on that later when I blog about my favorite things).

Not Dead...Yet

It's time. I have been not even remiss, beyond remiss in the updating of this blog. However, I am back and this time (I hope) I will not be such a slacker. So much has happened, the last time I posted a tea party was this event you had with The Girls or in my case my little girls and a few stuffed animals. Now it's, well, you know (more on this later, believe me).

I've also been still scouting out great preppy haunts in the Metro DC and Northern Virginia areas. I had passed by a shop called The Preppy Pink Pony many a time and, intrigued, had wanted to go in, but I was never there during shop hours and when I was, just not able to set aside the time to stop. Believe me as I gazed across the Safeway parking lot from the urgent care clinic, headache feeling like a vice, prescription in hand, I had wanted to stop by. But since this was my usual state when in that neck of the woods, I couldn't go by there. Until a few weeks ago when I was near there to get take out instead of stumble into the clinic sick as a dog. While waiting for the food, I took a stroll over there and Wow! This shop has alot of wonderful preppy needs and a zillion wants. They had Trappe Candles, Bed Head PJ's, lovely silver jewelry and Lilly things for the home like picture frames and bulletin boards, and Scout Bags. Which I immediately fell in love with because the webbing on many of their styles is not navy as is the case with many preppy bags but black. Which to my eye is amazing with pinks, greens and other preppy brights.

But this isn't all, The Preppy Pink Pony has Bonanno sandals, needlepoint sandals and monogrammed clogs for both big people and little people and...Lilly, the resident pooch. Natch, The Preppy Pink Pony has lots of treats for the doggie in your life.

You can visit The Preppy Pink Pony and shop online here.