I believe it was Carolina Herrera who said that a woman should not leave the house before checking her outfit in a three-way mirror—advice that makes a certain amount of sense, but that I nonetheless find terrifying. I’d never make it out the door. Aren’t we hard enough on ourselves when we look in the mirror?

Lately my thoughts have been veering in quite the opposite direction. I kind of want to buy a big old floor mirror like you find at every cute boutique. The ones that lean up against the wall ever so stylishly—and at the world’s most flattering angle. An in-home skinny mirror! What better way to shake the winter blues than always thinking you look just a little better than maybe you do?

Plus, really do they seem to brighten up a room.

I love the mirror in this picture. It looks glamorous and tumbledown and like it was salvaged from some ruined Newport estate. But one could scour flea markets for months before finding the perfect specimen. Instead I’m thinking of going for this similarly dramatic, but also quite simple, beveled  number.