Grand Ave., St. Paul

She got her cool carpet bag at My Sister's Closet.

closer, closer

I know you can click on photos and look at the detail but I thought I'd go ahead and do that for you because it was hard to see the pinstripes in her trousers...

Lake Street Savers, Minneapolis

Not content to pierce his face six or seven times, Spike here went medieval on his leather jacket, thanks to Saint Sabrinas. Arm, collar, epaulets, inside the sleeve gussets, inside the pockets, he carried through his vision of punk to the last stud.

Savers had it all for me yesterday-- expressive people, a Bill Blass wool kilt dress, white wool Anne Klein duffel coat with black leather buttons in snowy perfect condition, some red tweed chunky heeled boots that cannot be denied, and another of a million Savers mysteries -- a weep-worthy pair of trippy floral Roberto Cavalli jeans. Just as Moschino eluded Savers once (so much like Mossimo), so the very rare Cavalli slipped by as the similar but dime-a-dozen Cavaricci. The instant I saw this, my pulse shot up to about 220, my palms were sweating and there was an intense feeling of euphoria in the wallet region. I came home spent. Literally.

Lake Street Savers, Minneapolis

Even amid the pre-Halloween chaos at Savers, this woman stood out. Somehow or other, she managed to wrangle some really boisterous pattern and color, and ride it out like an old Paint. Maybe it's the calming taupe boots that keep it grounded. The zebra print dress is really a skirt but consenting adults dress them up all the time.

Lake Street Savers, Minneapolis

This might be my favorite and here's why-- what I initially took to be an arty Custo top peaking out from the paisley scarf was in fact a Power Rangers t-shirt. Fearlessly teamed with a girly tiny-print skirt and tied together with a striped elastic belt that echoes the colors of the shirt...genius. 70s-ish foxy coat and kicking lace-up boots, this woman has style muscles and she's not afraid to use 'em.

Lake Street Savers, Minneapolis

I was just about to check out with a cart o' lovely finds when I spied this couple. What did it for me was her leg warmers over pinstriped pants + work boots. But then there's her cool bag, his super worn-in boots, his leather jacket and muffler...

Lake Street Savers, Minneapolis

I was digging the small cutaway jacket with the tucked in jeans and high boots -- crisp and military but definitely figure fetching. Yes my friends, these were all taken ambush-style in Savers so the lighting is fatal and the backgrounds nothing short of chaotic. Try to focus on the relevant details, just as if you were shopping at Savers.

Jefferson Ave., St. Paul

I think I shall never see anything as beautiful as this tree... Someone said that. This is the street's style. Actually right in front of the house where we used to live.

Whole Foods, St. Paul

This is a photo of a DIY-er. Top to bottom. She's done this 'do herself for the past 16 years, which involves shaving the back, keeping the front trimmed up and a dose of L'Oreal ruby ("looks like catsup") as needed. When she was young(er), she sported blue or pink or other hair color not found in nature done up in a mohawk which she built with Knox gelatine or an egg white + ironing. She makes a lot of her own clothes, including the super-saturated stud belt she's wearing here. Lot o repurposed clothes which have dual advantage of having history and actually fitting her small frame. She used to have a lot of facial piercings but now sticks with tattoos in places that don't show. As much. She's mellowed.

Snelling Ave., St. Paul

Proving it's all how you put it together, the girl on the left is rocking a Forever 21 knit peacoat, and on the right, a sweet mashup of Anthropologie, Target and Gap. I particularly liked the belted cardigan and the delicate pendant on the righthand style sister.

Here I will interject a defense -- I have not been slacking, I've been out there pounding the pavement, but serendipitous sightings have been thin on the ground. Assuming that the drought was weather-related, I went out and about yesterday in idyllic conditions and pedaled down Grand Ave., through Macalester College, and on to the University of Minnesota with concerted lingering in likely style-trafficked areas. Nuthin. The women above saved me from utter despair, but I'm weak with the effort for heaven's sake. Well I'm off to wheel and deal with Everyday People on Selby for a vintage Schlampp's trenchcoat. It's for Emma, not me.

October 12th, St. Paul

This photo says many things to many people. Some pragmatists opined it was beautiful and they hurried to get out their woolly sweaters and fleece. I see my star magnolia cruelly tricked and my lounge chair befouled. Out of frame, some ivy and marigolds and tomato plants were blackened and frozen in the most hideously contorted poses. Casualties on the Russian front sprung to mind. This freak meteorological incident was not only a death knell for my garden, but also signals the beginning of a tough season for style spotting. Footwear in particular cannot survive below 40 degrees. Fashion is a zone 5-9 tender perennial. Those brave flowers who dare something more decorative than down and Uggs move very quickly from one heated building to another and the chances of spotting them are slim indeed. Further dimming the possibilities is the fact that my trigger finger is now part of a club-like mitten, and will be until May. It would be fair to say I'm not a winter person.