What I wore all week. Gatsby dreams. Lambrusco and chocolate realities.

Also: I am wearing my clothes.

Honestly the biggest thing I learned this week is from my friend

Valeria Krasavina

— that there’s another lens in the front of the iPhone camera and mine’s covered with SPF. Honestly the only thing I could come up with is that iPhone had activated some sort of “over 50 filter” after detecting my over 50-ness. Someone said one of my white shirts had a “halo effect” - nope, not really.

Anyhoo.

White shirts are my quintessential

Allison Bornstein

“love to buy hate to wear.” I love the idea of a crisp white shirt. It makes me think of Gatsby, and how I imagine white shirts flying from his — what’s an indoor balcony? Mezzanine? (But anyway, that’s my imagination; when I looked up the passage, the shirts were every color.)

Same idea though. The perfect white shirt. Its preciousness is, in a way, what makes it good. Ohhhh loook I am so louche and laissez faire. I am most certainly NOT the kind of person who orders a sundae, pushes into it so hard the chocolate overflows, and then leans an elbow into that chocolate. #notverygatsby

It’s on every must have list, every packing list, every classic list, etc. ad infinitum. I have been sold this idea that the perfect white shirt will change my life. That I should “invest” in them. Nope, nope. There is NO return on this investment.

So here I am, with all these white shirts. Most of which I am AFRAID to wear. Because — life. Life is not life without marinara. And Lambrusco. At 54 I know this for sure.

So the question now is — is the play worth the pay? Is the perfect white insouciant delight of my dreams real enough to merit ongoing trips to the dry cleaners?

It was time to stop staring at those f*ckers. Wear them. And make some decisions already.

MONDAY

I didn’t take a picture and this was PCC (pre-camera cleaning). So this is like a vague sense of an outfit. Damn it.

What: This is an Old Celine white shirt, and I love it so much I just keep it unworn in my closet. Miu Miu skirt and leopard shoes (here is the new version). Miu Miu bag. (Do you like this as a smaller alt? I really do, actually.) Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses. Sheer socks from Amazon.

Why: I just love this shirt so much. The fold over collar. The sleeve details. The big opaque hem. I never wear it, too afraid. Also, it feels like I would never want to tuck in this shirttail detail. And the skirt has belt loops, so I always tuck things into that. A day of meetings and walking. The shoes are so supportive. The sheer socks kind of bridged the lightness of the top and the chunk of the shoe. Also they made it so much easier to walk. I liked the brown bag on the shoulder to bring something darker to the top of the outfit.

Outcome: Lofted. Settled. Ahhh.

TUESDAY

What: Prada white cotton top with roses. (This preloved tee must be the same collection and I love it. Use WELCOMEVC for 10% off your first order in app.) J.Crew x Maryam dress. Secondhand The Row Geri velvet sandals (green, brown size 8 new on a big sale, maroon 10). Margiela bag (there is a smaller one for a lot less $). The Row Gala pants from so long ago.

Why: The fact that you don’t need to button up the white piece makes this a lot more wearable; it’s not in direct contact with your makeup. I was going to use a green slipdress under but that was too much. So I reached for this, but then I needed to cover my ass. This was the most exciting part of this for me — trying the long silk pants under the transparent dress when I’ve always layered with skirts under or over. Also, I thought the burgundy and pale pink was different for me. This shoe adds another texture and some heft to stand up to the pants and the flowers; that was my thinking on the bag too.

Outcome: I liked it. Like, it felt pretty. But not so super me. When I got home, I kept the dress on (it is so comfy like a nightie) and added one of my uniform tees. And then grabbed this belt so when I was walking around my house cleaning up so I could carry my iphone and count it as exercise. Trusty Miu Miu hotel slippers. That felted Lofted Settled to me.

(as always, couple days for all and the rest for paid subscribers — thank you for the support so I can do this!)