Lifestyle Features

Back-to-school supplies

What you won't find on your syllabus

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 26, 2009

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Photo: Margo Roy
VINTAGE LAYERS Shop Find at 16 Free St.

After a summer that started with a monsoon and coasted into its final lap with a heat wave, when we talked about Wilco, celebrity deaths, and Shakespeare in the park, when we feared tasers and crime sprees, and we consumed Mexican food and ice cream, we're ready to make the transition into fall. It's back-to-school time, and we need a different set of basics to make a fresh seasonal start.

Here are a few of fall's must-haves:

• For guys, A SUIT. For girls, A BLAZER. For looking sharp in the classroom, at the office, or out on the town, the look is classic, tailored, and professional. (Don't forget that you can learn more about fall's fashion trends in the next issue of Style magazine, which hits the stands late next month.)

• BOOTS. Again, for guys and girls. Experiment with heights (ankle, calf, or knee), heels, and colors, but get at least one solid pair of boots for fall trekking. They pair well with jeans, slacks, and skirts alike.

• Fall's other big gender-neutral fashion trend is LAYERS. V-neck cardigans, Grandpa sweaters, henleys, and T-shirts will appear into the cold months with mixed and matched patterns and colors. Speaking of colors, this fall's palette replaces typical autumnal hues like burnt orange and brown with PINKS, PURPLES, and a neutral triad of BEIGE, GRAY, AND HONEY YELLOW.

• A BIKE. Nothing says autumn like a languid bike ride through the West End, rust-colored leaves crunching below your tires, the smell of cider and woodstoves in the air... Okay, perhaps that's a bit much. But seriously, a two-wheeled ride is the ultimate fall accessory — it's eco-friendly, and depending on the one you choose, it can complement the season's vintage aesthetic.

• Whether you've got a new apartment or a different dorm room, outfit it with UNIQUE ACCENT PIECES from Se Vende (south-of-the-border inspired dining ware and display items; 81 Market St.), Blanche & Mimi (cottage-style housewares and antiques; 184 Market St.), Pandemonium (quirky clocks and lighting fixtures, along with kitschy collectibles; 2 Exchange St.), Ember Grove (handmade hanging and floor lamps add a warm natural glow to any room; 247 Congress St.), or Addo Novo (well-made, modern pieces with price tags to go along; 490 Congress St.).

• No back-to-school survival kit would be complete without its scholarly accoutrement. Check out fall's BIG LITERARY ARRIVALS (Margaret Atwood, Dan Brown, Jonathan Lethem, and Jonathan Safran Foer all have new releases hitting shelves in September and October) at Longfellow Books, One Monument Way. For your ACTUAL SCHOOL-SUPPLY NEEDS, we suggest a foray into Wigon Office Supply, for a shopping experience that matches, or even exceeds, its practical purpose.

Deirdre Fulton assures us she was always the best-prepared student in class. She can be reached at dfulton@thephoenix.com.

Related: Deep impact, Owning her identity, Dead like me, More

Deep impact
In the most memorable piece in Waterville author Ron Currie Jr.'s 2007 debut short story collection, God is Dead (Viking), God is reincarnated as a Dinka woman in a refugee camp in Sudan, who enlists a jive-talking Colin Powell in an effort to find a young boy.
Owning her identity
After twice seeing the one-woman stage adaptation of The Passion of the Hausfrau at Portland Stage Company, and perusing several issues of the Hausfrau mutha-zine , I was curious to see how Nicole Chaison's tales of motherhood would translate to book form.
Dead like me
"Perception vs. reality. In high school, they are pretty much the same thing." So writes Tonya Hurley, author of ghostgirl and ghostgirl: Homecoming (Little Brown), two books ostensibly written for young adults but with elements that are just as appealing to grown-ups.
Snapping towels
Through the rest of June, a classic battle of the sexes will be waged at the wading pool of Deering Oaks Park. The Fenix Theatre Co., Portland's premier purveyor of outdoor Shakespeare for the summer, stages a smart, wet, and aggressive Taming of the Shrew as its first summer show.
Enrich thy neighbor, Portland
Back in the temperate zone, the local and national economies are in the crapper.
Gilded stage
In the Theater at Monmouth's Twelfth Night , the Bard's gender-bending foibles play out in a proscenium within a proscenium — or, more strictly speaking, a sound stage within a proscenium:
Local activists crusade to cut circumcisions
What do William Shakespeare, Don Johnson, Sean Hannity, Redd Foxx, and Ralph Nader have in common with Jenna Jameson flicks and 70 percent of men worldwide? They're all uncut.
Here comes the neighborhood
She wants you to cook some bacon, scramble some eggs, and pour some mimosas — and she wants you to be able to do it all at the last minute.
Eating, my words
In 2008, I’m going to eat less meat.
Corporate Shopping Alternative
There are still some shares available at regional community-supported agriculture operations, for the lucky ones (myself included) to snatch up over the next month or so.
The Big Hurt: Durst pantsed, Michaels smooshed
"This isn't a reunion, this is a comeback," quibbled the red-hatted irrelephant in a BBC interview.
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Topics: Lifestyle Features , Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, More

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