Whenever a vacation lumbers toward its conclusion, depression sets in. The real world starts nipping at your heels. Office e-mail wails its siren call.
And with unwashed laundry spilling from your suitcase, it can be a Herculean task to pull together a coherent outfit — which is exactly why 75% of today’s look came from my mom’s closet.
The dress is mine — a consignment Phillip Lim number I picked up for less than $50. Originally, the dress was midi-length. Combine that dowdy length with the emerald silk, and the whole thing looked like a nightgown. Earlier this year, I got the dress shortened to the knee to make it more daytime-appropriate.
I bumped up the beach-casual quotient with flat sandals, a straw hat and a Deco-inspired necklace — all loaned to me by my mom. When I’m in town, I treat her closet like a library. I borrow, but I ALWAYS have to return whatever I select.
The shoes might be my favorite part of the outfit. My mom discovered these elaborate sandals during a mom-daughter trip to the Saks outlet. They instantly reminded me of Valentino’s Scarab beetle sandals from the S/S 2014 collection.
Like the Valentinos, this version also has Egyptian overtones. (Don’t those birds look like they were lifted from the hieroglyphics painted on the tombs of the great pharaohs?) But while the Valentino sandals retailed for more than $800, my mom got this Ivy Kirzhner pair for less than $75. (For a woman who hates to haggle, my mom can still strike discount gold.)
Eagle-eyed readers will remember that this isn’t the first time I’ve featured my mom’s clothes on the blog. (Exhibit A: This fringed suede jacket.)
But whenever I want to poach something from my mom’s closet, there are some ground rules. I can’t borrow anything until the previous item was returned in pristine condition. (I imagine the Smithsonian is just as strict.)
So, you tell me — have you ever raided your mom’s closet on vacation? And is she as firm about the return policy as mine?
