Inaugural post

The idea for peacock & poison green came to me last week when I was doing a FB post about my 2009 New Year's Resolution. The two-part resolution was: 1) Buy no clothes/shoes/accessories in 2009, and 2) get rid of 52 pieces of clothing (i.e., one a week). So, October 1st was the 3/4ths-of-the-way there mark, and I posted that I reached that milestone with zero temptation to write a book about the experience -- a reaction to the spate of books out now about these wacky one-year lifestyle experiments/stunts where people eat local, use less electricity, or, you know, cook their way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. After I posted about not being at all interested in writing a book about my experience buying no clothing for a year, I realized I actually had a lot to say about this topic...and how it relates to what we wear, how we think & decide, how we imagine & present ourselves, and what it's like to be a 40-something female these days...So -- welcome to p&pg. I hope you'll read, enjoy, react, & comment.

Peacock and poison green is my favorite color combo, BTW, and you'll be hearing more about that as the blog rolls along. What else will I be posting about? Here's a sampler of future topics (what  my 10-year-old daughter would call "idea insurance"):

1. Why "I was Jacquline Kennedy's Dressmaker" was my favorite book as a child
   
2. Which 52 pieces of clothing got de-accessioned in 2009 and why
   
3. The 80/20 rule as applied to clothes, and why I "frequency file" my closet.
4. How people react to my peacock & poison green color fetish
   
5. What it's like to organize a neighborhood clothing swap for fellow moms
   
6. Why Real Simple magazine is my porn
   
7. What "want vs. should conflict" is and how it relates to our shopping behavior
   
8. Why I'm obsessed both with Michelle Obama's fashion choices and the media coverage of them
   
9. How some of my clothing "issues" play out in my choices about my kids' clothes
   
10. The post-Seinfeld take on the J Peterman catalog
11. The unique form of Buyer's Remorse that pertains to clothing catalog purchases
12. That startling gap between how you think you look and how you look when you see yourself in store window when you walk down the street. What's up with that.
13. How my sister only wears one designer and how I'm considering moving in that direction
    
14. What happens to my blood pressure when I watch "What Not To Wear"
15. What mindfulness meditation can do for your daily outfit selection.
16. The catalog wars: J Jill vs. Boden vs. J Crew vs. Lands End vs. Eilenn Fisher --- what are we being told? What are being sold?
17. My idea for a fashion-oriented reality TV show set in my favorite So Cal thrift store
    
18. That whole "what season are you?" fashion & color system -- does it work?
    
19. My incredibly fabulous and fashion-forward sister in law, and why I can't be her.
20. What your sleepwear choices say about you
    
21. The increasing importance of well-fitting undergarments as we age. No, really.

Today's outfit: Black v-neck t-shirt, purchased at Quality Thrift ("QT") c.2001. Long blue skirt, purchased @ QT,  2007.