Fashion for Writers

As I sat down to write this (after eating a hunk of focaccia paired with some leftover barbecued chicken), I realized that I’d neglected my posting duties as of Sunday. Horrors! Here’s what I was doing: traipsing around Oakland and Berkeley, eating brunch with one of my closest, kindest friends, and forcing Chris to wait for me as I sadly tried on a chiffon-and-lace dress that claimed to be of my waist size but apparently would not fit somewhere else, as I attempted to get it on this way and that. (Someone had apparently broken a dress at another store I went to earlier that day and I was thereafter extra-sensitive about the issue of breaking something that wasn’t mine.) And then there was a barbecue at my parents’ house, and lots of “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and before I knew it I was falling asleep.

Joanne, whom I spent most of the weekend with, and as seen in the picture above, is a chum worthy of many accolades, but I’ll confine my gushing for now to the style arena. She’s a perfect example to me of how a style magnet friend does the following:

• Will go shopping with you. A no-brainer, but this has lots of sub-explanations — the SMF cheers on the best pieces and quietly discourages the worst. And the SMF always knows when to say, “I’m over it,” so that you can go home and watch “Full House” while working on your laptops. This actually happened. 
• Is an inspiration. I would never have realized that mustard yellow is such an awesome color if Joanne hadn’t shared its glory with me. 
• Shares. The SMF does not hoard the best eBay sellers. The SMF will forward you coupon codes, in case you don’t have them already. And the SMF often lets you shop in his/her closet, which is the most fun kind of shopping. 

Not to mention the SMF will often do things like send you a text on the way to the BART station that says, “Go to twenty two shoes if u have time. Its a couple blocks past bart on the right side of the st. Xo!”