Getting Inked
I must admit, I don’t get the chance to hand-write many things. It’s not that I have wonderful penmanship either, average at best, but there is something much more pleasurable and thoughtful about writing something by hand than typing it. Once written, you can’t take something back, and every stroke must be deliberate and premeditated.
The Scent of Spring
So I spoke last week of spring colors and fabrics, but rising temperatures require more than just stashing away the flannel until fall. The amber, tobacco, and spice laden fragrances I generally favor just don’t do so well on my skin when the weather turns warm.
Simplifying Dressing
Welcome to Simply Refined. I think it only appropriate for my first post to discuss a beginning of sorts: Dressing. Not what you are wearing, but the activity of getting dressed itself.
Not being much of a morning person, I must admit that there are days where I attempt, with bleary eyes, just to figure out which things are blue and which things are black. Tying my tie more than once seems preposterous. But, there are things one can do to make the morning a little more relaxed and enjoyable, and the process of getting dressed more than a rushed means to an end.
I am a big advocate of the Dressing Box. Collar stays, tie bars and pins, cufflinks, watches, pens, etc. all in one place. Reaching in and selecting the day’s effects is a moment to pause, reflect, and compose oneself, rather than a hectic scramble while trying not to miss anything. Amidst the chaos of getting ready in the morning, you can have an almost meditative moment, colors and metals ruminating for a little before you put your collar stays in and cufflinks on. If nothing else, its a brief moment of “you time,” when you can feel a bit indulgent before facing the coming day. Not a bad way to start things off if you ask me.
These boxes are most often leather, in black or brown, and range from the basic (although one cannot quite call anything from Smythson Basic)
to the superlative
