Wardrobe Prattle, 1

Who is your candidate for "best dressed," real or fictional?

Andy Warhol, for a combination of artiface, using what you've got and the advice "if you look older when you are not, as you age you look the same."

And I like looking at Ms. Bitch Cakes and Audie at Geek Threads.

Is there anyone you're tempted to see as a style icon, but you'd never dare dress that way?

I would like to have a calm, cool and collected style like this:



But I am more mussy and chaotic like this:



That's Clara Bow, by the way. Yeah, no one ever accused Grace Kelly of high times with the USC football team.

What is your favorite garment/outfit ever?

When I first started working as a teenager there was no point in saving my money for a car or anything (so I was told) so I spent a lot on clothes. I bought this jacket from the Gap sales rack--it was a medium pink, made from a heavier sweatshirt material, long sleeves with mother of pearl snaps up the front. I wore it with a black turtleneck, black skirt, and black tights and shoes. Sometimes I swiped out a white collared blouse. I loved that jacket. I finally gave it way after college, and I sort of regret it.

And my grandma made me a cotton slip when I was about 4, and I wore it all the time. My mom threw it in the trash when I was 7 or 8 and I indignantly dug it out. It was raggedy, but I liked it.

What is your current favorite garment?

My green cardigan. A workmate said she liked its lovely pea color and that it matched my eyes.

What would you wear if you could wear absolutely anything?

White collared shirts. I'd like to be cool, calm and collected and it was a real battle to finally accept I'm not that sort of a person. Plus, huge rack.

What would your favorite store be, if money were no object?

Oh, I'd just employ a full time dressmaker.

Do you have a favorite store now? If so, why? If not, why not?

Not really. I like the discount aspects of Marshalls & TJ Maxx and I'm usually quite lucky on the shoes and accessories there. The Lord and Taylor after Christmas markdown cashmere extravaganza. Some other department stores. Ann Taylor and Banana Republic sales racks.

What's your best fashion faux-pas story, now that the scars have healed?

When I was about 8, I went to Field Day and 2 girls told me my clothes didn't match. I tried to argue that the colors were alike, but was forced to admit that a pastel striped shirt and shorts with a pattern of primary colored ants didn't really go together.

And that's why for the next 25 years, I never wore more than 2 colors in an outfit, or more than a solid neutral and a print.