White Out

Labor Day is fast approaching and while I welcome the start of the school year with open arms and a big fat kiss, I'm a little less enthusiastic about shelving all my white pants. I absolutely love white pants, almost as much as I love navy (don't even get me started on the two together!). Even though temperatures remain in the high 80s through early fall here, I'm an old-fashioned girl: No phone calls after 9:00 and no white after Labor Day. So, it is with great sadness I say goodbye, until next spring. Cue music...

Gingham Couture

I just caught a lovely post on gingham at The Adventures of TartanScot. I immediately gushed to Scot about my longtime love of gingham. It's so summery, so fresh. It's at once uber preppy, yet country. Right now, it's even couture. Is there any fabric more all-American? 

I just bought a heap of gingham shirts from JCrew. For summer entertaining, I keep piles of the cheap stuff in every color. It's less than $4/yd and makes any party so festive. I just pick my color to set the tone and whip out the pinking shears. My fav scheme is the cornflower blue with my blue/white Spode dishes and pink and orange garden roses. This first image, via Scot, will be forever filed in "favorites." Unfortunately, I can't see my husband agreeing to those hot yellow pants.

Of course, this inspired a  fantasy shopping spree....

Fantasy Shopping resources for those of you lucky enough to care: 

Dress, Giambattista Vallie, $719 (on sale from $1800) at barneys.com

Snake skull clutch by Alexander McQueen, $1360 at harveynichols.com

Diamond earrings, Munnu $7500 at barneys.com

Shoes, Reiss Women, $290 here

Watch, Michael Kors at net-a-porter

Images: The Adventures of Tartanscot; Atlantic-Pacific; Alexandra Rae's fantasy shopping files; Audrey Hepburn, Bridget Bardot, via my pinterest boards; last collage from The City Sage;