The Style Post

The luckiest thrift store shopping day of my life occurred not too long after we moved to Madison 4 years ago. I took an evening out for myself and hit up the local Good Will and almost immediately found the coolest top ever. It was utterly fetching with a mock high neck in tightly gathered vertical pleats, the tiniest poof at the shoulders, long sleeves ending in a row of buttons starting 2 inches above the wrist and the loveliest subtly pinstriped brown. It fit incredibly well, and was marked $3.99. Never mind that my co-worker Sascha asked if it was Puritan Day when I wore it to work; he's Australian and clearly doesn't recognize a fashion coup when he sees one.

The top is from Parisian fashion designer Isabel Marant, the it girl of the fashion scene. I love how her clothes project that famous French girl insouciance that so many of the rest of us try to emulate. I have been following her since that serendipitous purchase and was delighted to recognize her Liberty print skirt on Garance Dore (below), the French girlfriend of the Sartorialist. While I could never pull off a skirt that short, I've been oogling her jacket (above) in the same sweet Liberty print. Unfortunately, Marant's pieces are incredibly difficult to come by, especially in the States. Sigh. Perhaps it's time for another trip to the thrift store.