home movies

Finally, here's the little movie I shot while I was back home this summer in the San Juans. I set it to "Curls" by Girls, a simple, beautiful song.



I wish I could show you all how good this looks on actual film sent through a projector. I lost about 95% of the colors and clarity as a result of the transfer from Super8 to digital, since I could only afford the cheapest method...but heck, you get the idea anyways! Regardless, it was a fun experiment, and now I know my camera works, which was the real goal. Everything else is just gravy, baby.

Happy weekend!!

courage, my love

I'm pretty sure I've already ranted and raved to you plenty about how I feel concerning pants. Long story short: I'm not a huge fan. I think the main problem is that, while I have great affection for the lower part of my legs, the upper parts? Not so much. That's why skirts and dresses are so great--they're made for playing a devious game of hide-a-thigh.



Ah, but pants! (Or should I say the pant??) They're everywhere these days--and not just any pants, really cool pants, like the ones up top. Slouchy, cuffed, printed, plaid. They make me want to throw caution to the wind...and my insecurities out the door.



So I'm trying. I'm experimenting. I think the secret to this thing might be pairing the pant with a really killer shoe. Sadly, my sexy shoe supply is sparse these days, so I went with the old staple Dingo boots. I dig it, but it's not quite there. But I'm ok with that.

On a side not, I said goodbye to my yellow walls today. I've moved in to a new place, though unfortunately most of my stuff wont be following me for another week or so. Outfit shots might be scarce for a while, I'm still figuring things out. And I'm sure gonna miss that golden glow...

(top photo from Stylesightings, click it for the original source)

Simplicity

I don't know what it is, but lately I've been feeling like it's time for a change.



A lot of the clothing I own is a little on the fussy/kooky side. I will never, ever loose my love for the wacky/tacky side of the '70s, the ruffles and patchwork prints, you know, shag-carpet chic.

But at the same time, I feel like a lot of these things were purchased with a desire to over-compensate for something I felt I lacked. Growing up, I was pretty uncomfortable with the way I looked, and like a lot of girls, I discovered early on that clothes could be a great way to distract both yourself and others from whatever it was you felt unhappy with.



But more and more, I'm longing for the sort of wardrobe simplicity that I've never felt able to master. Clothes that don't scream for attention, but instead leave you to do all the talking.



And that's a scary thing, for me anyways. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm scrapping the whole mess and starting from scratch (that would leave me nigh on pretty darn naked, though I have been making some tough decisions, the benefits of which you will no doubt be able to reap on my etsy...)

I guess what it comes down to is, it'll be my birthday in less than a month, and maybe I just feel like it's time my wardrobe grew up a little too...ya know?

Greatest Hits

This sort of an amalgamation of what I wore out and about the last couple of days: top and skirt from Friday, shoes and bag from last night.



The blouse is more of a peachy pink than a cream, I don't feel like that comes across very well in these photos. It's also 100% puuuure silk, which feels nice in these sweaty times.



Haha, also, did anyone else read the article in the May issue of British Vogue about the "new" ways to hold your bag? (And I quote, "the new way of carrying a bag is not to carry it at all, but to 'wear' it with nonchalance, an attitude that the French have always affected so well.") Mon dieu, "wear" my bag??? Quelle idée!

So here's my best attempt at "The Cuddle". Puts ol' Aggy right to shame, I know.

Red Hairing

(me circa Spring 2007)
My hair used to be A LOT redder. And, while I'm pretty pleased with my general strawberry blonde-ness these days...seeing these photos of Eleanor Cording-Booth over on Show Me Your Wardrobe...






...has got me itching to jump back on the rusty bandwagon.

I'm not sure I really want to repeat the process of trial, error, and tears (so many tears) it took to finally achieve the shade you saw above (of course I didn't do anything so brilliant as to keep track of my steps...grrr...), but dang if I don't miss that hair!

It's all in the...

Friday was a funny day. I woke up at my boyfriend's house to surprisingly warm weather, and surveyed the pile of mismatched, rumpled clothing that I had let accumulate on top of his hamper over the week. Faced with the possibility of rain, and the knowledge that I would be walking a lot that day, I decided it was imperative that I dress in layers.



Everything was going along swimmingly--grab a little of this, a little of that--but when it came to top it all off, I realized to my horror that the only jacket I had was my big, heavy, smothering peacoat. Unacceptable! I knew if I wore it I'd just end up having to carry it around half the day when I got overheated, but that if I didn't wear some sort of top layer I'd get cold as the day progressed.



Fortunately, I happen to be a pack rat genius. As I was pawing desperately through the hallway coat rack, I came across this tweedy blazer I'd bought at some stoop sale months ago and left (I'd like to say with clairvoyant fore-sight, but probably just brash carelessness) hanging safely between the wooley Pendeltons and duffel coats.

In the end, I rather liked the results of all this forced creativity: a mix of prints, textures and materials that had me, finally, ready to face the day!

next stop: yumsville

It seems like there's been a lot of talk about bows as accessories lately: Liebe Marlene wears them in her hair, while Bird Baths prefers them around her neck, among other places. So, in an effort to soften up my intimidating new boots, I decided to try a floral dress and big poofy bow of my own. I still felt a bit like I should be pacing around a war room, or at least bouncing an enormous inflatable globe off my rump, but I'm working on being comfortable with that.


Also, a couple of you expressed some interest in my afore mentioned peanut butter cups. So here's my completely unscientific, rambling, potentially useless recipe! Enjoi!

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.

Don't fear the romper...

Ha ha ha. Ok. So, lately I've been seeing some pretty sweet one-pieces around internet way. Such as


as seen on softspoken's flickr, and

from ..it's.magic..

Which got me thinking. So, the other day, I bought this romper


I would like to point out that I actually work at American Apparel, which means I get 50% off most merchandise (it also means I am required to wear head to toe AA clothing every day I work, but that's another rant all together). Otherwise I wouldn't set foot in one of those places. But, since I do indeed set foot in one of those places about five days a week, and since Tri-Blend is basically one of god's greatest gifts to man, I had to go for it. You only live once, and I suspect that the painful hours I have spent inside the flourescently lit white box that is my place of work is beginning to shave off precious years of my life. This romper is soft and lovely and very very silly. On me, it looks like this:

That's cool and all, but I'm sure as hell not about to start strolling around town in this thing. Lounging around eating stale Easter candy and watching Kids in the Hall episodes on YouTube is one thing, but swinging by the ol' corner store for a gallon of milk is a whole 'nother ball park. Nuh-uh. So I decided to brainstorm a few viable outfit options using this thing. My first attempt was a bit tentative. Shoes were a necessity, as were some sort of cover-up. And so,


Still not exactly practical, but on the right track. I though about adding a skirt, as tucking tank tops into high waisted skirts has become a new pastime of mine. I tried

but I still wasn't satisfied. I've had a love-hate relationship with shorts for years, as in, I love the idea, but often hate the way they make my lower half look. But dark denim is so classic and, thankfully, dark, that I though I'd give my chopped off Levi's a try


I think this one's my favorite. Whether or not I'll be able to work up the courage to actually wear this outdoors (excluding my back yard, on a towel, eating string cheese and reading Lula magazine) remains to be seen. Baby steps, I say.