Winter Wows & Historical Style

Alas, will spring ever come?! I know, I know – I shouldn’t complain. We’ve had an incredibly mild winter, with only that little blip of a blizzard last week, which, thank god, turned out to be less ferocious than feared. But I still long for the warmth of the sun and none of the hideous white stuff on the ground.It was exactly that stuff that kept me from wearing an appropriately themed outfit to a dinner party on St. Patrick’s Day. I had to settle for a wintry ensemble, but one that included some spectacularly embroidered boots from Turkey (with some green in them). Turns out I wasn’t the only one donning boots that night, as you can see in this picture. That’s me on the right. The other two kicks belong to Sandy Cardin (left) and William Chickering (middle).

Franklin McNeil had no such reservations about the weather. He was all decked out for St. Paddy’s Day. You couldn’t miss him!

The hostess of the dinner party, Melody McCoy, sided with me. She was cozily tucked up in a black wool turtleneck along with a fetching suede fringe skirt by Ralph Lauren.

At another event, I spotted an elegantly dressed woman who turned out to be a jewelry designer (no wonder she was so stylish) named Petra Class.

She was in town for the American Craft Council show, displaying her wares at the Convention Center and on her person.

Also dressed for the last gasp of winter was Wendy Jachman, who not only looked glamorous…

…but who sported these great little glove-y things that, while freeing her fingers, still kept her hands warm. (They look nothing like the threadbare Dickensian things I wear around the house!) Wendy’s are by Elyse Allen.

And her earrings are by Baltimore’s own Rebecca Myers.

Here’s Ann Koch wearing a great Meg design. Ann, who does development for Johns Hopkins, is always impeccably dressed, and she has a soft spot for an independent shop in New York called Meg. Ann and I are on the board of Single Carrot Theatre and do a lot of committee work together. So many times she’s walked in with some unusual, eye-catching article of clothing, and when I ask her about it, it seems it’s always by Meg.

Finally, one last plug for the grand ball of the Maryland Historical Society, to be held on Saturday, March 25th, at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. I’ll be wearing the vintage Galliano gown my friends are sick of hearing me talk about (pix next time), and loads of other people will be wearing fabulous modern and vintage fashion as well. Here are some of the many outfits from the MDHS’s huge costume collection that will also be on display.

Hope to see you there!