Monday Morning Rituals

We all have our Monday morning rituals, whether that be by beginning the day with a cup of coffee, skimming the NYT online, or listening to NPR en route to the office. My Monday morning routine encompasses all of these things, but my Monday morning ritual is a bit different.


I cannot begin the day until I have checked Vogue.com's weekly Ten Best Dressed list. The list, which is compiled by Style Director Alexandra Kotur, usually appears online early in the morning each Monday, unless there was a big event that week which could possibly keep Ms. Kotur otherwise engaged. Such was the case during the week of the Costume Institute Gala. I was without my best dressed list for well over a week. I don't know how I managed to function. Fear not, though. Ms. Kotur always atones by providing us with an extra-long list for said functions, like the Oscars and, of course, the Galas.


I love this weekly list because it provides a brief snapshot into the world of last week's glamorous parties, store openings, art gallery shows, premiers, and more. Models, actors, socialites, Vogue editors, and the occasional random person that even I haven't heard of grace the list. Sometimes I like to joke that the list should be renamed the Nine Best Dressed...and Lauren Santo Domingo because she appears more often on the list than anyone else. Even Vogue resident International Best Dressed List appointee (Vanity Fair's iconic best dressed list and the one that everyone wants to be on), Marina Rust Conor, does not appear on the list as often as LSD. In fact, I do not even recall seeing Anna herself on the list as frequently as LSD.


So, who made the list this week, you ask? Well, Lauren Santo Domingo (in Carolina Herrera) and nine other young ladies including Sienna Miller (in a rather pedestrian outfit of denim, a white t-shirt, and black blazer), model Natasha Poly (in Alexander Wang), rock daughter Zoe Kravitz, model Arlenis Sosa (in Herve Leger), British model Erin O'Connor, model Liya Kebede (in Stella McCartney), Kate Moss (on the list almost as often as LSD), and Giovanna Battaglia (the person I'm not familiar with this week). The theme was "keeping it casual," so perhaps that is why many of the outfits were a little understated. I didn't see any stand-out ensembles, though I was quite taken with what Ms. Battaglia was sporting.


Be sure to check out next week's list! The list, which can be found at http://www.vogue.com/, is updated every Monday and has its own heading (Best Dressed) on the web page. Now that I have checked the list, I can safely and calmly proceed with the rest of my day. Phew.


(** photo credit: Vogue's website at http://www.style.com)