Sailing . . . Takes Me Away . . . with BYT

Fantasy

It gets the best of me

When I'm sailing

All caught up in the reverie

Every word is a symphony

Won't you believe me

- Christopher Cross, "Sailing"

Last Thursday I joined several hundred other water lovers and some of the winners of the recent "Best Dressed DC" mini-contest - sponsored by Propper Topper and Farinelli's - on the Odyssey for a night of drinks in plastic cups (boo!!) and quite a good time (yeay!). Note: Your author was able to convince one of the bartenders to mix her drinks in a reusable glass (She said, "we're not supposed to tonight, but okay." She got a big tip.) BYT organized the cruise (first picture of Odyssey sign by Chris Svetlik - find more of his photos from the night on the BYT site) as a way to toast the winners of the contest, many of whom were photographed and interviewed by BYT over the last few months. Check out the photos - especially my squeeze's pictures of U.S. Royalty, Tyler Larish and Carole Greenwood.

I was really inspired by the fashion choices that night - almost every one of the Best Dressed winners was wearing something vintage or something thrifted. Although the lighting was horrible for my little point and shoot, I took a few snaps of some pretty cool outfits and accessories. Unfortunately, the lighting made everybody's faces look, um, ragged, so, I, um, cut them out. But. I included links to much better photos of each person at BYT.

Enjoy!

Anna Fuhrman (left), Owner, Proper Topper and Betsy Lowther, fashion writer and senior editor at Fashion Washington. Betsy is wearing a beautiful kimono, which she had shortened to be worn as a dress.

Here is Betsy's whole outfit (I swear, this is the only good picture of someone's head that I took that night.)

This is Holly Thomas, writer for the Washington Post. Her cute little jacket was a consignment find. Definitely read her interview at BYT. I think her description of the DC fashion scene is right on. On one had we have all the people who shop at Banana, J. Crew and Intermix and on the other hand we have people who actually give a shit. LOL. Just kidding (and she didn't say that - just my own interpretation!!). What I mean, of course, is that putting your look together from vintage and thrifted pieces takes some thought - you're not just buying the new spring line with that new hot color off the rack. It has to be more of a reflection of your own expression of style and take time and effort.

Eric Brewer, of Dissident Display, was looking razor sharp as always with his little vintage silk pocket scarf and shirt designed by his friend, Pranav Vora, of the company Hugh & Crye.

I had to snap a photo of Chris Burns' fabulous vintage Ocean Pacific down vest. He shared with me that he actually collects vintage OP items. Ahhh . . flashback to my pre-teen years and my favorite white corduroy OP shorts. Chris has some hot tattoos too - not your average koi and waves bullshit. He actually has some Keith Haring art on one of his forearms. I love me some Keith Haring.

And this red-hot lady is Carole Greenwood, chef, ex-co-owner of Comet Ping Pong, artist, musician, creative spirit . . . in a short, vintage dress.

Not sure if what Svetlana, one of the founders of BYT, was wearing was vintage, but it was pretty cool (and I love this shot).

Lastly, there's me. I bought this vintage, no label coat at Secondi last winter for about $60. I love it. I am also wearing my Obama hat, which some douchebag on the metro decided to mock. Luckily for him, I didn't notice until right before I got off the train - I can be pretty defensive of my President.