(pic heavy and shamelessly and slavishly adulatory, not to mention ramble-y)

So I first saw this woman on The Sartorialist a few months back, and was perusing a bunch more of her looks today. O.M.G. It was so exciting to see what this woman does with clothes. For the record she's an editor at Vogue and it's so unfair, she must have an unlimited budget and a closet the size of a house, but I can't even hold it against her. Her name is Giovanna Battaglia and I want to be her and own her wardrobe!

Here I must confess: many women's outfits I find tepidly interesting, or else outright boring. I can definitely see when someone is well-dressed, pulled together, or even trying to be offbeat and creative...to various degrees I might feel like, "Hmmm, that's nice." And I definitely appreciate when a person dresses well. But very few people absolutely knock me out. (Angie is one of them, obviously.)

So anyway, this Giovanna person: so many different things she's doing with clothes, and none of it ever wrong! I'm trying to imagine if it would even be possible to get a similar effect with, ahem, affordable, non-couture clothing and with a body type that is not like hers, tall, leggy and whippet-thin. That's why this is perhaps not a really meaningful or helpful post for me.

I guess it has meaning in terms of at least leading me toward a hypothetical rubric. So...what's the common denominator here, and what excites me with her look?

I'm enamored with her ensembles particularly because/when they're:

playful
theatrical
architectural (make sense?)
minimalist
just a hair short of maximalist
bold yet feminine
she mentions "glamour" as something she is trying to attain
ever surprising, not formulaic

Plus I'm not that much of a shoe admirer, particularly of super-high heels, and Giovanna has THE most fabulous shoes, and a genius for matching the right pair to an outfit.

I had no idea I had champagne tastes (on that beer budget)...remember, I'm a romantic punk.

How to interpret such strong reaction?

(Wistful sighs...)

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