Jacqueline de Ribes Cocktail Dress: How to Sell?

From my downscale shopping in Paris in June . . .
to upscale shopping my closet

HELP WANTED

 Many years ago, I acquired a Jacqueline de Ribes dress at one of my usual venues. I knew the name--probably from reading Vogue in the 1980s. (My memory was a veritable storehouse of miscellaneous info. Alas, not so much for recent things).  The dress had lingered for many months unsold. So I finally bought it. 

There's no size in it, but it fits Miss Em. She doesn't want it, not having a J de R lifestyle.

I first tried to sell it a few years ago. I had read that Didier Ludot, the famous Parisian vintage couture shop, was having a LBD show. I emailed a pic  and asked--in French that was corrected by Mr FS--if they would be interested. As usual--no reply.

Yesterday, I picked up an Architectural Digest from the FREE BOX at the library. Newest issue. I discovered that The Metropolitan Museum of Art is having a J d R show, featuring both her own designs and the chic stuff she wore (People with that caliber wardrobe don't follow the Kondo decluttering program--or I guess they love everything). 

So here's my question: how do I sell it? And for how much? It's the twin of this one, offered for $950 on 1st Dibs.

Thanks for any advice. 

A Wonderful Book You Might Not Have Heard Of

There are good books and there are great books and there may be a book that is something still more: it is the book of your life. If you’re quite lucky, you may at some point chance upon a novel which inspires so close a kinship that questions of evaluation (Is this book better than merely good? Is it some sort of classic?) become a niggling irrelevance. Luck has everything to do with it. For the sensation I’m describing has its roots in a poignant, tantalizing feeling that this marvelous new addition to your existence, this indelible Presence, has arrived by serendipity. Anyone who cares seriously about fiction eventually will get around to The Brothers Karamazov orMadame Bovary or Pride and Prejudice or Moby-Dick or Don Quixote, and if you’re somebody whose closest literary attachment is to a book of this staple sort, the satisfaction you take from it will not be graced by the particular haunted feeling of good fortune I’m talking about; you will have, instead, the assurance of knowing that your keenest literary pleasures were preordained. One looks differently on the book of genius that, even in a long bookworm’s life, one might never have stumbled upon.

This is from Brad Leithauser's introduction to Independent People by Halldor Laxness.  Ive been meaning to recommend a few books people might not have heard of (and to elicit recommendations for books I might not have heard of). 

Like Leithauser, I picked up Independent People by accident, though not, as he did, on a hiking trip through Iceland. No, more prosaically, I picked up the book at a library sale. I had never heard of it. I was enticed by the publisher (Vintage Books) and the remark by Jane Smiley on the cover: I love this book. It is an unfolding wonder of artistic vision and skill--one of the best books of the twentieth century. I cannot imagine any greater delight than coming to Independent People for the first time. 

While you are reading it, you might wonder what makes it so great. It took me a while. Often, I felt like I was trudging through this long book, much as the main character trudges through life. All will become clear on the last page.

 An interesting sidenote: The novelist Ann Patchett opened a bookstore in Nashville. 

In an Atlantic article, she mentioned that she did not like the name--Parnassus Books--suggested by her partner-to-be. She had always fantasized about owning a bookstore called Independent People--"after the great Halldor Laxness novel about Iceland and sheep." 

Well, in honor of Patchett, I'm not going to link to Amazon! Buy it from an independent bookstore or do the frugal thing and check it out of the library. My library doesn't own a copy, but they would buy one if I requested it. I really should as a service to other readers in my area. 

Do you know of any books you might never have heard of?

I Fail at the Kondo Method. Everything Sparks Joy.

The title says it all. While the internet is filled with tales (and videos) recounting everyone's success with the Marie Kondo method of decluttering, I have been a failure. You are supposed to discard anything that doesn't spark joy.

While going through my tiny closets and pulling things out, I find that almost everything is sparking joy. Some things would spark joy in a lot of people. My weak spots involve fabric--pretty fabrics (no matter how small a piece--and no, I do not sew), cashmere sweaters, Italian sheets, linen dish towels.

I am also made joyful by bedraggled versions of the above. I LOVE the Eileen Fisher long alpaca vest that I rescued from an ignominious end at Goodwill. I wear it all the time at home. Ditto for the linen comforter cover with holes. Ditto for the frayed linen dish towels. I could go on.

If I donate these things back to the thrift shops, they will be tossed in the garbage can. Really. They get too much immaculate stuff. They have no room for the shabby. It gets put out by accident and if a worker or customer  spots a hole, into the garbage the item will go.

As I declutter at a snail's pace, I am filling a bag with things in good shape. My holey alpaca vest is safe with me. (And think of all the time and labor involved in producing that vest!)

Maybe I need to read that Kondo book again. I'm #12 on the list at the library.

Holiday Shopping: DONE!

It's easy for me to say. I am a noted holiday- and gift-scoffer. Not totally, of course. I just hate that holidays have been hijacked by the marketers. I am getting Mr FS the same thing he is getting me: nothing. Actually, he has promised to buy and install my heart's desire: a new toilet. I will keep you posted on this momentous event.

Miss Em wants nothing at the moment. She is in Serbia till July. It has been a transformational experience in many ways and she knows she can always decide on a gift (which may or may not be material) when she returns.

As for Frugal Son: we did NOT get him what he requested (NOTHING). No, we followed the tradition that we developed over the years, in which gifts could be from thrift stores or grocery stores. The task of amassing such gifts has always fallen to me, since Mr FS has an aversion to stores.

Here is the Frugal Son list, all from thrifts and the library book sale:
--a NEW maple cutting board with his initial on it (Very exciting, but I would have bought it even if it had the wrong initial.)
--a wonderful book by David Mitchell
--NEW LL Bean Storm Chaser boots (can't believe someone donated these)
--the BEST: George Plimpton's book on fireworks*
--a TSE black cashmere cardigan (probably the most "valuable" in terms of original cost)

AND--A CHECK--amount not yet determined

*The George Plimpton book on fireworks is a treasure. Frugal Son used to check it out of the public library every few months. The head librarian told him that he was probably responsible for keeping it from being de-accessioned. Then he grew up, went away, and stopped using our local library. Amazingly, I dropped in at the Library Book Sale a few months ago and flipped through a single box. AND THERE IT WAS. How's that for karma?

We all love David Mitchell.

And this is the beloved "blast from the past."

I Love Alice Munro

Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature! You can read about her in lots of places. You can--as of this writing--get some of her books from paperbackswap.com. You can--again, this may change--get her books used for supercheap on Amazon (as of this writing, the book pictured below can be had for a mere penny plus shipping). Or frugal fans: go to the library.

Here's what I love about Alice Munro, whom I discovered in a borrowed New Yorker as a college freshman: she is a wonderful, wonderful writer, but not at all difficult to read. And because she writes short stories, anyone can find a bit of time to read her.

I am someone who reads the Brothers Karamazov for fun. I even wrote about it. But it is a huge time investment, not to mention an emotional one. Same for another group of favorites: the late novels of Henry James.

I often say that the hardest type of literature to find is something that is good--very good, excellent--but not too intellectually or emotionally draining. I loved the title story in this collection. I read somewhere that a movie is in the works.

Reading: A Frugal Gift

Yesterday, in my first post-hurricane post, I listed the books I read without--and then with--power. I have often felt that the greatest gift given me is my love of reading. Unlike Mr FS, I did not grow up in a house of readers. In fact, though doing well in school was encouraged, I sometimes thought that my family thought reading was--well--unproductive. I remember sidling up to my mother as she was in conference with my 4th grade teacher. I expected to (over)hear praise for my fine grades. Instead, I heard a discussion of how I "read too much" and needed to "go outside more to play." I was stunned. How could the activity that brought me so much happiness be so devalued?

As is no doubt obvious, I also get a lot of pleasure from frugality--for its own sake as well as for necessity. What--in our time and my place--could be more frugal than reading? The first frugal tip one hears is USE THE LIBRARY. And yes, the library has computers, and dvds, and pizza parties for teens, all of which are great helps to frugality, but the biggest savings comes from books. And what use is that if you don't like to read?

While reading may be a very inexpensive pastime, travel is not. I once asked Mr FS why his parents didn't travel more, even in their long retirement. He said it was because (he thought) his father liked reading so much, that he traveled in the mind. Like Thoreau: I have traveled much in Concord. At least I think that's what Thoreau said (my expert, Mr FS, is in his little shed, where he reads). The internet provides various versions of the Thoreau quotation: I have traveled A GOOD DEAL, I have traveled WIDELY. Whatever.

I am not quite ready to travel exclusively in that way just yet! In fact, much of my frugality is in the service of saving up for the big travel expense of next summer.

These meanderings were prompted by some internet travel as I read about Marilynne Robinson, author of the three books I read over the past week. I found a wonderful interview with her in the Paris Review. What an interesting person: she reads so much more widely than I do.

Here is the end of the interview: on reading and travel.

INTERVIEWER

Do you feel like there’s something you’ve missed out on in life?

ROBINSON

There’s always something that I feel I’ve missed. I should travel more, for instance. I went to Paris last fall, which was a great departure for me. I flew Air India, which in itself was quite remarkable. I had a lovely time in France and I thought, I should do this more often. But then I come home and I think, I have all of this work to do. Look at all of these books I haven’t read. Frankly, you get to a certain point in your life where you can do unusual things with your mind. So then, I think, do them.

Ahhh, something to look forward to. After our next trip--we hope to Vienna, Budapest, and ????. With a stop in Paris, of course.

In the meantime, I want to start on Robinson's non-fiction, including this, which she seems to think is her most important book.

A Good Idea from An Everlasting Meal: Precook Your Vegetables

I first read about this book in the Wall Street Journal. It was mentioned in a piece on leftovers, one of my favorite topics (no kidding). I put in a request at the public library, and--lo and behold--the nice bookbuyer ordered it. As it happens, there is only one idea in the book I really like: precook your vegetables for the week. I have been doing this for a while--caramelizing and freezing slow-cooker onions, roasting vegetables, making large vats of ratatouille--but I had never elevated it to a philosophy. What Adler points out is, that if you have a bunch of precooked vegetables, you can make dinner in a trice, since the vegetables are the hardest part, taking prep, chopping, etc. Her faves seem to be greens and roasted vegetables like cauliflower. You can make sandwiches with precooked veggies, throw cooked greens into a stir fry, and so on. She is especially fond of the sandwich idea, starting with toasted, garlic-rubbed bread Italian-style. WARNING: This isn't really a recipe book, but an idea book. There are SOME recipes. Adler takes as her model How to Cook a Wolf, by the great MFK Fisher. Maybe I've been reading too many student papers (make that definitely), but I have to say that Adler's prose doesn't do it for me. Her foreword is written by Alice Waters, famous foodie, and Alice presents these three sentences as examples of Adler's fine writing. Sentence 1 on eggs: Eggs should be laid by chickens that have as much of a say in it as any of us about our egg laying does. (REALLY? I don't have a say in whether I lay eggs or not.) Sentence 2 on leftovers: When we leave our tails trailing behind us we lose what if left of the thoughts we put into eating well today. Then we slither along, straight, linear things that we can be, wondering what we will make for dinner tomorrow.Sentence 3 on salting: The noodle or tender spring pea would be narcissistic to imagine it already contained within its cell walls all the perfection it would ever need. We seem, too, to fear that we are failures at being tender and springy if we need to be seasoned. It's not so: it doesn't reflect badly on pea or person that either needs help to be most itself. So, if you like the prose, read the book. In any case, PRECOOK YOUR VEGETABLES. THEN EAT THEM. (Sorry--still can't paragraph with the new template)

Words of Wisdom and Warning: Decluttering

As a messy clutterbug AND a teacher, I have a double whammy: teachers often let personal tasks pile up and get to them only after the semester is done. So, stuff and jobs have been piling up. Adding to the emergency is that Miss Em will be bringing home two people: her friend Mr C AND his twin brother, also Mr C. So, we have been cleaning. And, of course, as all teachers know, cleaning is a great way to avoid the real task: grading student work. For emergency assistance, I went to the library (note: LIBRARY, friend of frugal and messy) and checked out two books by my favorite clutter guru, Susan Pinsky. Here is the warning and, for me, motivation. According to Susan P, most of the clients who hire her for a hefty hourly fee do so for one task: to go through their STUFF and motivate them to get rid of it. She does not spend most of her time creating clever organizing systems. No: she holds up item after item and says Go or Stay? Susan P is not a big fan of frugality because she says it leads to clutter (and I gotta admit, she has a point). But I am WAY TOO CHEAP to pay someone to stand next to me and say Go or stay. So I'll do it myself. Here's the drill. Read a few pages of Pinsky. Put some stuff in the donation bag. Grade a few papers. REPEAT. How's your decluttering going? Or are you a paragon of no-clutter? If so, wish me luck.

Lessons on Quality in Clothing: Fabric and Construction Details

A couple of readers have asked me how one recognizes quality in clothing--both in the retail and secondhand markets. As a total non-sewer, I have to say I have learned a lot from books.

I've written about this book before. I first encountered it courtesy of a friend with whom I was planning to compile a guide to secondhand shopping in New Orleans. Well, the friendship ended as did the idea, hatched in those halcyon pre-Katrina days.

Why is a book on secondhand shopping still in print after 12 years? Because most of the book is on how to recognize quality: in fabric and in construction. It is really good: even buttonholes and button orientation are things to inspect.

Confession: When I was in graduate school and my TAship ran out, I discovered that I was very good at finding vintage clothes. So I did. And consigned them at the Eye of Osiris, the epicenter of the Bloomington vintage world. In another life, I must have been a seamstress or weaver, because I am very good at discerning nice fabric. In fact, I run my hands across the racks at thrift stores. I can always recognize fellow fabric people, because they--like me--look with their hands.

This is definitely a skill you can acquire, simply by going to stores and touching the merch (clean hands, please!). You could follow the path of Terri, at Rags Against the Machine, who will be scoping out shops from low-end to high-end in the coming year.

Try to get a hold of that book. It is fascinating reading.

Do you have any recommendations on how to learn to discern quality?

Multi-Generational Housing? Retirement?

I guess I never told you that we were going to Florida. Well, we're back, and Miss Em is off to her next adventure.

I'm in the waning days of my vacation, and love nothing more than curling up with a good book. FROM THE LIBRARY. Everyone knows that is a key part of Frugality 101: use the library.

One book I'm reading and loving is this.

Yes, I am thinking about multi-generational housing.

Every few days, it seems, there is some article on the increase in multi-generational housing brought on by the financial meltdown, We hear of college grads or young adults moving in with parents; parents moving in with kids; the middle-aged moving in with even older parents; or the same older parents moving in with their middle-aged kids. This is always presented as some dire necessity,* to be escaped from ASAP.

The parents of the baby boomers are especially horrified at the prospect. My mother--aged 81--was talking about assisted living, and I suggested she move in with us if she needed extra care. She said, "That is the cruelest thing anyone has ever said to me." I didn't mean it that way! I thought I was nice.

Anyway, the dire articles always have zillions of comments, most, like my mother, horrified. Then there are those, mostly of Asian descent, who say: That's how we do it! Some point out that college grads who do that can save up for a house. The elderly can hang with their grandchildren and children. Multi-generational housing is presented as positive--something that can be pro-active, rather than simple re-active to economic or other emergency.

That last has been especially on my mind. Instead of a few intense (and not always in a good way) visits to relatives, wouldn't it be nice to have a more low-key relationship--every now and again, for a short time?

The book pictured above shows many ingenious transformations of houses (and not Mcmansions) to accommodate more than one family, with opportunities for togetherness and lots of privacy. I've already figured out how my 2000 square foot house with small back building could accommodate not one, but two families in addition to Mr FS and me.

Food for thought. What do you think of the issue of multi-generational housing?

*After writing dire necessity, I knew it was from somewhere. It is: Milton's Samson Agonistes. This tells of Samson's death, when he pulls the walls of the temple down, killing the Philistines and himself.

O dearly-bought revenge, yet glorious!
Living or dying thou hast fulfill'd
The work for which thou wast foretold
To Israel, and now ly'st victorious
Among thy slain self-kill'd
Not willingly, but tangl'd in the fold
Of dire necessity

Wonderful Books for Children for Chanukah and Christmas: Not for Children Only

Just thinking about these books fills me with emotion. They are worth owning (I do), but remember: LIBRARY.






Do you have any favorite books from these and other traditions?

Decluttering: Good Tip from a Good Book

Decluttering continues apace. After a bit of decluttering that brings a bit of cash in, we continue with plain vanilla decluttering: stuff out.

Some of the recipients of my weekend decluttering were closed for Memorial Day. The library will be receiving about 150 books, which they will sell for a paltry amount, making them a teeny bit of money and some readers happy. For the FREE BOX, Miss Em will be providing around 50 style magazines. That will make some people very happy also.

We will get the WHOOSH that comes from emptying out the clogged arteries of your space.

Because I am naturally a messy accumulator, I read decluttering books for motivation and the occasional tip. NORMAL people do these things naturally. For me, a heretofore unthought-of tip is as momentous as the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Cortez (really Balboa) in the sonnet by John Keats.

OK. Here's the tip. When you are decluttering use WHITE garbage bags for donations and BLACK garbage bags for garbage. That way, you never need to look inside the bag! Here's the brilliant tome where I discovered that tip by Susan Pinsky.

And for the work of another genius, check out this sonnet by John Keats.

On first looking into Chapman's Homer

MUCH have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told 5
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken; 10
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.