Soon!

I will be the proud owner of one of these:


(And, also, one of these:)



And hopefully we can get this ball rolling again!

Update on the update

So. Last night my laptop and wallet were stolen out of my room during a party at my new house in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, this is probably gonna put a damper on my blogging ability for sometime to come. I will be up and running as soon as I can, but honestly I have no idea when that will be at this point. Thanks to everyone who's sticking around, I'm not gone, just...a little down at the moment. I'll try and keep you all posted.

Update soon!

There is hope, dear friends. The last couple days have been rough, I wont lie. I've only been here three days but it feels like a lifetime. My schoolin' starts on Monday though and hopefully soon enough I'll be in a better groove. Right now the biggest hitch in my blogging is that I have no chord to hook my camera to my computer. But I am anxious to obtain one, and the minute I do there will be a proper cathing-up. In the meantime I hope to post a little something later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks to all that are sticking with me, and for your kind words!

Well friends, here's the brakes:

I'm moving to New York today. I haven't really mentioned this much because it's been a long, agonizing decision process, and my heart isn't really in this move. I'm not entirely sure what this will mean for my blog. It may mean that I'm not able to share with you as many personal outfits, since the place I'll be living isn't exactly precipitous to spending hours in the bathroom with a self timer. And I have little to no natural light in my room. But we shall see. I may have to take a short hiatus while I get settled, but I hope to be back in business ASAP. Thanks for reading! I really do appreciate every single one of you.

It wouldn't be make-believe...if it was 20 degrees cooler outside

The other day, as part of my on-going initiative to avoid packing (and partly inspired by that mother of all time-wasters, Stylemob), I played a little Fall dress-up.


It actually got me a wee bit excited for cooler climes (no easy task, I spent the first 18 years of my life freezing my ass off about 10 months of the year). Layers! Colors! Textures! Velvet! Bwaaaaah!


The white beret is BACK. Actually, I've commissioned my dear old ma to knit me a red one, so Herr Weiße Baskenmütze's reign of terror may be short lived. Funny story, it was so cold and miserable where I lived last winter that not only did I wear this hat every day, I also slept in it every night. Ha! Oh northwest Washington you CAD you!


I just finished taking in this dress and the sleeves are still a bit weird though I can't fathom why exactly, but still, it has pockets! Also, working at American Apparel has provided me with so many colors of tights and leggings that it is bordering on perverse. I have nigh on 20 shades for my legs to enjoy this year.


Not least of all is chartreuse! Although these are from H&M, not AA.


Chartreuse is the new black, y'all. Actually, chartreuse and black is the new black. I gotta get my hands on those socks! Anyways, I can't say that I didn't feel a bit of a psychopath wearing four layers of clothing and a wool coat while outside my window, entire families bickering about funnel cake were wearing outfits whose combined yardage wouldn't even have swaddled an Olsen Twin. But I now have more hope for the future. Fashion hope at any rate. I'll take whatever hope I can get.

Sew what?

Last night, I made a dress.


I bought this fabric at a thrift store almost a year ago and I've been totin' it around ever since, promising myself that I'd eventually make something out of it. My imminent move has sent me into a sewing frenzy, as I'm not exactly sure if I'll have a working sewing machine in New York (and I can't take my beloved Bernina with me).


Basically, I just followed American Apparel's lead and made a Fine Jersey Tee Dress, leaving some excess at the neckline to create sleeves.


It's far from perfect, but it's the first thing I've actually made from scratch in a mighty long time. Almost all my sewing for the past few years has been dedicated to hemming and adjusting. I look forward to making more of these things, they're insanely easy! Oh, and I still have a vintage pattern for making underwear lying around somewhere--next stop, choniesville?

Small Wonders

I'm in a bit of a financial crisis at the moment, even more so than usual, but of course that hasn't stopped me from thrifting. I braved resentful stares from old women today and ventured into Collector's Corner.


Blatantly fake Chanel bling. I have serious doubts that I will ever have the balls to wear this in public.


I have a lot of trouble with jewelry. Most of the time it just feels so showy and unnecessary, and I only really enjoy pieces that have some sort of sentimental value. But I can't say no to big ridiculous pendants. I tried on a chain that carried a two inch wide gold scallop shell today. I wanted to laugh out loud with joy but I was afraid the old ladies would eat me.

Inspiration: those Swedes again!

There was a time not so long ago when you couldn't have payed me enough to tuck in my shirt, let alone wear anything high waisted. But the times, and the waist lines, oh they are a changin' (sorry Bob). I've been a fan of the high tuck, as I like to call it, for sometime now, much to the chagrin of certain co workers and the delight of so many hobos (apparently it really pushes their buttons). Of course, no one does this look better than those crafty Swedes (the above image is from Artbox).


Here is yet another impractical bicycling outfit I wore yesterday (hence the sweaty face) featuring the high tuck.


This one is older, but I thought it appropriate! Thanks again, Sweden.


(from The Moderniteter!)

Artistic license

This may not surprise you, but art was my favorite subject in high school. Our art teacher was a small ferocious woman prone to outbursts of colorful (ha!) language and looked like a hamster. But she had a heart of gold and thankfully, for the most part, was content to provide us with endless tubes of acrylic paint and paper and pencils and leave us in peace while she processed endless amounts of mysterious paperwork at her desk.


I don't draw so much anymore, probably because I spend too much time on the damn internet and eating delicious foods.

Here's a little secret, just between you and me:

I'm lazy as hell (actually, it's no secret, as I'm for too lazy to hide it). In some regards at any rate. I'm always game for thrifting something weird and probably gross or buying fancy underpants, but when it comes to washing my hair...damn it all, sometimes I just can't be bothered. I very much enjoy the end product, but the process is just so complicated and usually involves me being uncomfortably cold at some point. On days like these when I'm really pushing the envelope and can't stand to have the whole greasy scraggly mess touching me, I make like Heidi and braaaid.





Coincidentally, we also made an enormous vat of fondue this evening. I'm still in a foggy cheese-induced stupor. Heidi and her Goat Boy would have been thrilled.

The weather and I don't always agree...

Common sense...shmomon sense. What better outfit to wear in the heat while riding up and down large merciless hills on a bicycle with only one gear in a breeze? Shorts and a T-shirt, you say? Surely, something that fully covers your ass, you exclaim! Nay, friends. I shake my head at you, and raise you one perversely shorts mini-dress and one set of thick socks with boots.


I brought my little owl friend along for the (wild) ride.


Signing off, I remain your sweaty friend,


R,HAB

Mmmm, delicious maaatching...

Today I took an ill-advised afternoon nap on our new sheepskin rug, and had a terrible nightmare. When I awoke my head was in an awful state, and I decided that the only thing to do was to eat an enormous ice cream cone. Fortunately, I live next to an amusement park! In my groggy state, I put on my newest thrifted dress from Salvation Army, only to find that when I arrived at the soft-serve stand and received my cone of glory, we matched. A lot.



I didn't have too much time to ponder, however, since as soon as I devoured the cone, it was time to devour my book, Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. It's a damn fine read, and I recommend it to you all!

The Swedish Thing

Inspired by this post from The Vintage Society, I've been spending quite sometime browsing TheModerniteter. Those Swedes have some serious style.


But the fun doesn't stop there! After scanning the comments section on a couple of posts (none of which I can read, of course, since it's all in Swedish, and pasting them into an online translation site yielded quite the grammatical riddle), I noticed that many posters added a link to their own personal blog at the bottom of their reply. After browsing through these endless links, I've learned a few things:

1) It's not just a flattering stereotype guys. Pretty much everyone in Sweden really is gorgeous, probably blonde and, despite what you might assume, rather tan.
2) Every blonde tan Swedish lass worth her weight in Kroner owns a pair of white Keds-like tennis, and wears them with eveything, especially black leggings.
3) Just as I suspected (I may be biased as a great deal of my ancestors are from the area), Swedes are cool as fuck.


Sigh. See? Though The Moderniteter is good for some serious hours, here's a few more of my favorite stylin' Swedes (I've also added these and some other great ones to my favorites list):

Matilda
Lisa Place
ella
It's Vintage, Darling!
Fyndigt



Obviously, there's something of a language barrier (unless you're fortunate enough to be fluent), but the great thing about these ladies blogs is that the photos, the clothing, the style, it all speaks for itself. It transcends. So have a look, poke around. I have a feeling these are just the tip of the savvy Scandinavian iceberg :n )

Oh hey, I'm back!

Well jeez. Here I was, about to just throw in the towel and delete this ol' thing. But then I read the comments a few kind souls left on my last post, and well, I'm giving it another go, for better or for worse. So, what better way to turn over a new blogging leaf than with...SHOES!

I posted a while back about snakeskin, and vowed that before summer was up I would own something made of the exotic stuff. Well, here we are in August and I have recently gotten my hands on the most glorious leather ankle boots with snakeskin detailing!

Click for a better view! Seriously, they are the new loves of my life. I look forward to spending many a lonely night come fall cradling them to my chest and whispering sweet nothing into their laces...um, and also wearing them with leggings and tights and silly little dresses!

Ooooh darlin'.

Also, if any of you are interested, I'm selling those white heart shaped Mango sunglasses I blogged about a while back. I broke down and bought them only to find when they arrived that they were too large for my small, unfortunate face. They'll be up on my eBay till this Sunday night, August 12th. Check em out (there's a link to my eBay over yonder ---->)