Its a Mad Mad World

Another lame title, but things are quite mad here. And busy as all get out.

We have returned from San Fran (working on getting the pix to share) but am now working on going down to Washington D.C. for the cherry blossom festival and meeting up with my dad and stepmom there.

I honestly do not travel around so much but now that I am, it makes me feel all chic and sophisticated, putting together my little suitcases and toiletries into bitty cases. Or ziploc bags.

I am also working towards a position where I get to work on the window displays for a thrift store, but since its New York City, anything you have an interest in trying to do, there are roughly 10,000 people that are also there and have way more experience doing it than you.

But I think it would be a really fun thing to do! And challenging! And not just challenging in the way that working in a thrift store will be an exercise in self-restraint and buying shiny things!

I know that shopping in stores for clothes is fun and its nice to get brand new things that no one else has worn before, but I really like the idea of getting something at a thrift store that someone else can no longer afford to keep and had to donate, but I can keep it and love it.

Its no longer just sitting in someone's closet, unloved and unused, taking up valuable space where loved clothing can be stored. Its like the perfect thing ever. Plus, I love the thrill of the hunt and never knowing what awesome things you can find!

Its perfect shorts with tights weather here in NYC. I am pacing restlessly between the pants and dresses, the sandals and closed toe shoes, champing at the bit. I WANT TO STOP NEEDING SWEATERS AND FABRIC ON MY FEET AND LEGS TO STAY WARM.

The story for this top is that I had this shirt from forever21 when I was obsessed with lace paneling on tops. But being me, I got a stain on one that just wouldn't go away. I finally cut the lace off to keep so that I could maybe sew it on to something else. But fondling the lovely jersey soft fabric, I didnt want to relinquish the shirt either. I decided to safety pin the front of the now free-dangling puff sleeves to the now lace-less front of the top, pulling up enough fabric to hide the tiny-everlasting stain and to make the front of the shirt higher than the back, which I think is cute.

I like the fact that you can see the safety pins and that there is a little gap between the sleeves and armpit, it feels somehow edgy to me.

I am afraid that this is, sadly, as edgy as I will ever come to get. Safety pins holding up my shirt sleeves.

A San Francisco Treat

Really bad title post, sorry. I am super awful at coming up with good titles. Maybe I should just use song lyrics. There are so many good ones.

Anyway, my love and I are heading to San Francisco super soon to see his sister and to be tourist dorks.
Mentally, I have been conjuring up outfits to wear there. For like weeks.
I was imagining wide brimmed hats, huge sunglasses-bigger than my whole face! Summery dresses, open-toed sandals, delicate strappy camisoles!

It will most likely be raining, but the fantasy lives on. *goes to check out weather report*
...I even drew a list of what I want to bring on the trip:

Scanner is not operational at the mo, sorry, so a pic will have to do.

I've got a to-do list on there and everything. Notice how I even had to draw 7 pairs of underwear? Sad.

To be an even bigger dork, I threw down on my floor what garments I wanted to bring, then arranged seven outfits out of them-could i wear each item with every other item? Then it could be packed.

I wish I had a polaroid camera, I totally would've taken a pic for each item, then shuffled them around into little polaroid outfits.

Actually, I really want to do that. FOR EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE.

Is this a future project? Except, I dun has an old polaroid camera. < -_->

hm...!!

I debated packing way less than this, so that I would HAVE to find a nice thrift store or goodwill of goodies to have enough clothing. But I shall also go to thrift stores anyway, hopefully.

Apologies for the sorry quality of the pix, I was in a rush.

Blue, yellow, and grey together with a kind of khaki/olive color...YUM!

Should yellow plus grey stripes plus brown plus maroon tights be paired together? WHY HECK YES.

Hmm...perhaps grey tights with this? I may be bringing red knees high socks....

May nix this sweater, its so thin...

Can I just say that I love this heels pictured here? I thrifted these recently, and it was such a surprise! The material that crisscrosses the front is a big ol piece of elastic, which makes me go eww.

But when I put them on, they are the most comfortable shoe (more comfy than, gasp, a flat shoe) and feel so light on my feet. I have to stop myself from sleeping in them, plus the new york cold crap weather = horror.

These are not even all the outfits I made. I have been narrowing this list down even more, but also throwing more stuff in....

....like running clothes! I figure if I schlep them across the country, I better gosh darn run in them, up the majestic sloping streets of San Francisco! Plus I told people I would run with them in this 4K at the end of the month in Central Park (never ran a race in my life), so yeah.

p.s.

Just checked the weather! Rainy our first weekend there, then sort cloudy and then kinda sunny at the time we leave.

But weather can change! It is gonna be AMAZ'N!

Gray Stripes Are Forever

Every person has their quirks...one of mine about clothing is that I am afraid of prints...no, not afraid. Just very...particular.
It can't be too abstract a print, it has to have the right color pallette, it has to be printed on the right kind of fabric...it can't be a huge print, but not microscopic.
But stripes....stripes are much easier! A smaller to medium stripe, with the colored stripe on white or cream is always classy. Dressed up or down. Black and white is too graphic, navy and black is too muddy. Therefore, I own many a striped...garment.


I don't remember what I was listening to while taking these pictures...I want to say it was a Killers' song...I think I was listening to Muse Radio on pandora.com....I was really into it...
Still look scary, though, so apologies.
Just focus on the clothes, please and not the scary girl in them.

I think I have a problem...I own too many stripes...even the shoes have little leather strips/stripes.... *forlorn*

BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP THE WHORLY SWEATER

I drooled over this sweater and then, lo, I was way downtown, found a hidden Anthropologie with an epic clearance section (oh you, recession, oh you)-I beheld this!

top: H&M

pants: gap

tie/belt: target

shoes: target

sweater: anthropologie

Hair Makeover!

Since moving to Manhattan (not that I live right IN manhattan), I haven't had a haircut. I wouldn't even get massages or facials had I not actually been employed at a spa, haha.

I have yet to get a mani/pedi.
I plan to remedy that soon.

So my hair is stupid long, in that its long enough to do stuff with...but I don't, so its stupid. When I really feel ambitious, I put it in a crooked, lopsided braid. Mostly ponytails. A 'bun'.
But the hair drives me crazy. Shampooing. Conditioning. Taking forever to dry. Lovely blowdryers that give me sunburn, it feels like.
So I turned to my friendly free section of craigslist, got a free haircut, with my love wailing and gnashing his teeth.
"It could be a crazy person trying to cut your hair with chopsticks in their living room salon!" he said, or something like that.
Psh, if he can have his hair be two inches long and not grow it long for ME, why should I have to keep my hair long for HIM?
Anyways, I always feel like a short hair kind of gal, even when my hair is not akshually.


BEHOLD!


The fiend of craigslist is actually a lovely woman working her way up the hair ladder at the Paul lebrecque (hope I spelled that right) salon, who took her careful and diligent time-over an hour-to make this baby. Hair.
I have since then mangled the style, but it looked way better than it does in this pic.
The salon, btw, on the upper east side of Manhattan, is pretty gorgeous, they have a sort of boutique and nail salon and drinks all up in there. It was pretty fancy and decadent, I never could be able to afford that. So it was nice to take a chance and be pleasantly surprised.
I haven't had my hair done in a salon in ages....I forgot how heavenly it feels to have someone shampoo your hair...
and the crazy thing is that the lady lives maybe a mile from where I live!
I had my best friend come with me for moral support and to take pix, but it just never happened. I guess it would seem silly to impose that way.
I do intend to take pix for my first manicure/pedicure, though!

Cabin Fever

I think I slept wrong on my eye.

Its sore, its not red-looking, so the only explanation is that I slept on my eye wrong, right?

Well, it hurts. I took my first spin class today (you know, that gym class where you ride a stationary bike all hardcore for an hour?) It was actually sort of fun....it reminded me that I REALLY need to exercise more...

I am also feeling cabin fever, I think, which causes me to have a million windows up of forever 21 shoes, drapey vests from Banana Republic...


Speaking of which, I am totally sure that if I do not get this vest from Banana Republic, I may explode (I have been wanting it for months now, even before it was in stores but ON A MANNEQUIN TO TORTURE ME).
All the vests I own are the fitted proper work vest-type sort. Its nice to cinch your middle with a fitted vest and billowy shirt sleeves-but what about a fitted shirt or trapeze top or crop top underneath a lovely flowing knit vest! With a great texture or reversible print!
I need this one from BR...I NEED IT...its sooo expensive....

A new rule: It is time to transition from drapy open cardigans to drapey open vests-works for both the spring and fall/winter!
Is that enough justification to buy this vest from BR??

We all have the movies that we watch simply for the clothes.

*cough! Marie Antoinette! Cough Cough!*

I watched "Easy Virture" for Colin Firth.

And then for the clothes.

LOOK how long Jessica Biel's legs are in those trousers! Amazing! That dazzling smile! That cloche hat! That adorable tiny furry sweater!

I had a hard time finding screen stills of clothing from the movie-thanks Google Images-but if you were curious, the film is 1920's era, lovely sleek evening gowns mingled with smart outfits. Brazen American infiltrates and upsets a stuffy British mansion/chateau/estate...totally worth it if you love Colin Firth.

I have the shortest legs, but thanks to these pants, or the camera angle, they look SO LONG!

Do you like the weird tying thing I did with the blue ribbon? I am sooo bad at posing, apologies.

I just wanna look as great as Jessica Biel, is that so wrong?!

Check out the bling! And these shoes...I have yet to find the perfect pair of red shoes...but raspberry wedges...ADORABLES!! The knot in the shoe echoes the knot of the ribbon of the shirt...I am a dork....

My mom found this for me in a garage sale for like 50 cents! Its super heavy and I have to be careful when I wear it. The black stone cameo, I get so afraid that I will chip that sucker.

I loved how navy blue and raspberry could go with a colorless top and neutral-colored trousers. Sort of letting the shoes and ring speak. Now it just looks sort of patriotic to me. Red, white and blue.

Top: Charlotte Russe (the ribbon + lovely collar shape + lace made me buy it)

Pants: Thrifted

Shoes: Thrifted

Ring: Gift from Mom!

I Heart Colors

I don't know when it started, but I have always been more of a color, less of a black/white kind of dresser.
I distinctly remember as a littl'un loving to dress myself in orange leggings, an orange stretchy skirt and yellow tank top. Thought I was the s***.
Even still, today there remain colors that I only watch and admire from afar, like yellow and neon any color. Deep purple. Pearl. Ecru.
Now I am just naming obscure wallpaper colors.
But during a recent thrifting stalk, I mean trip, I found a sweater in yellow that had my kind of neckline. I couldn't leave this sort of neckline all alone in the thriftstore! Even if it IS yellow.
I will now make it my duty to find multiple ways to wear it, whether I look good in the color or not, whether the sweater makes my arms look like muscle-y sausages or no!

So here is the first tentative attempt at yellow:

Apologies for my gut hanging out here.

My posing is always so painful (in case you couldn't tell) and self-conscious, so I thought I'd smile.

Ghastly.

I need to start wearing make-up for these shoots. Perhaps I would be less horrifying.

Isn't this jacket adorables?! Its a bit snug for my massive footballers shoulders, but I love it so! I am forever on the cusp of donating this to a lucky lady with teenier body type, but-HELLO! BROWN ADORABLE BLAZER IS TEH FUNCTIONAL! Worth its weight in gold.

The pockets slay me with their cuteness! I think this jacket was the beginning of my obsession, er, collection of blazers that I never wear...maybe obsession is the better word here. Sigh.

So...not great shots of the sweater itself but I plan to show more outfits with it, hopefully with better pix.

sweater: thrited

blazer: forever21

necklace: forever21

pants: gap

shoes: thrifted

I think it'd be really interesting to make a photo collage to see how people have changed their dressing style since they were wee...I know I want to do it for me! Except there were many years where I was camera shy...even now I kinda still am, but for my love of having others see the lovely clothings!

Quest for Irregularity

Okay, so the way that I unwind after work at home is by trolling the clothing web pages of my favorite places.

Looking at all the clothes and shoes relaxes me and energizes me. It also makes me drool a little.

I used to dismiss the website Free People because I went into their beautiful store once and saw their gorgeous clothes-a bit more than I could ever afford and a lot tinier than I could ever squeeze a leg into-and I felt the unbearable pain of unrequited love.

Regardless, I succumbed months ago and peeked at their site and saw these interesting shoes-they were so unique and different! They were clog boots! Totally smitten. Deep smit!

The online reviews of the shoes were a motley assortment-some people loved them, others complained of their epic pain! My love never wavered.
I researched the company that made the shoes, which I learned was called Irregular Choice, a British shoe company. Artists!

I was confused why the shoes were "called Lewis Clogs" on the Free People website, but on Irregular Choice, they were called "Long Lashes."
Perhaps when the shoes are being sold to a boutique or wherever, they are christened under a new name.

Anyway, I suffered and stalked Irregular Choice on the web-there are some of their shoes on e-bay, but not many, definitely not my beloved ewok clog boots!

Long story short-happy ending!!

I went with my friend and her sister to Daffy's-where I hadn't been in years (I've been mainly cruising the thrift stores for my fix)

AND THEY TOTALLY SELL THE BRAND-THANK GOD FOR JANUARY SALES!!!

I'm sure that they thought I was a little crazy-I was sort of spinning around happily, my arms full of shoes, two different shoes on my feet. They moved on to clothes, but I sort of stayed with the shoes, hardly able to believe my eyes. And, of course, I purchased a couple of pairs-on super sale!!

I am not one for the whole slouchy trend with boots-But I love this curved heel and I feel that the low slouch collar thing going on with these allows you to wear the boots with jeans, shorts, or a cute dress!

The shoe on the right is half a size bigger, yet the width is visually narrower-what is up with that? Is it because of the shoe style? Is that a thing thats normal with shoes? I feel as though I am going to study shoes more closely...
They have an adorable cushion lining thats sort of irridescent and the sole of the shoe (no tread whatsoever, so hopefully i don't walk on anything slippery) has a colorful cartoon with robots.

I wish I had another person there to video record me trying on all the irregular choice shoes-even the adorable size 6 boots that barely fit one foot, while my other monster right foot wouldn't even get into the boot at all so I hopped around, half praying half cursing.

I even briefly, blasphemely was thinking I should still get the size 6 boot for my size 8 feet-I could get leather stretchers. Thats how drunk I was on joy. The sacrilege.

I was just so in love with the design of the shoes of Irregular Choice and the construction, beautiful materials! Some of that season's shoes made me feel like a modern day superhero, with a sort of hot pink aluminum soft fabric! I can't find any pix, but in the next post I will put up some better pictures of Irregular Choice's beautiful designs!

The shoes I was lucky enough to buy were very sort of 'safe' designs...I recently saw Irregular Choice shoes on Modcloth.com, so I hope that they will become more accessible!

And, of course in the future I will feature many an outfit starring these lovely feet accessories!