The Back of my iPhone

At this point, it probably isn’t even worth saying something about how I never ever post. I got busy, and that’s probably not going to change, so I think I just have to be okay with only posting once or twice a month. I also haven’t had a really compelling reason to write anything. My budget is even tighter than before, so I haven’t purchased anything new/pretty. However, I still felt like whipping something together, cause its study week and blogging is a great form of procrastination. Since I don’t have anything particularly spectacular to show all of y’all, I hunted down a few photographic odds and ends that had been gathering cyber-dust on my iPhone. I have shots of outfits, accessories, cosmetics, and some of the tidier areas of my dorm room before I move out for the summer.

I have a fairly substantial little garden in my room, and this picture shows my four succulent plants. I don’t get a lot of sun in my room, so the desert natives are closest to the window. My building has incredibly depressing grey hallways, so I like having lots of life and color in my room. Its a cheerful (but messy) haven in my dark, architecturally strange dorm.

This is a shot from a day where I was having particularly strong Jean Seberg inclinations. I don’t have a Dior dress like the one she wears in Breathless, but at least I got the stripes and pouffy quality of the skirt right.

This is my very small collection of vintage rock posters. I bought them at a flea market when I was fourteen or fifteen from an aging hippie with a truckload of old vinyl and memorabilia. Now that I’m looking at this photo, I realize it would be kinda cool in chronological order, from Beatles to Janis to Queen. Incidentally alphabetical too.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with nail polish recently. This was a triangular variation on the Slim Silhouette nails I’ve been experimenting with lately. I was going for kind of an ikat thing with turquoise, coral, and silver. Perhaps not surprisingly, I’d been looking at a lot of fashion photos from Coachella at the time…

Here’s a great example of my obsession with making my room bright and cheerful, even at the risk of intense color clashing. I have a few jewel-tone pillows on my bed, and they are generally propped up against my equally vivid wall hanging. The wall hanging is a Versace-inspired printed piece of canvas from Lady Gaga’s set in Toronto from her last tour. It wasn’t designed to go on a wall, so its kind of a funny, irregularly quadrilateral shape.

Another shot of my mini-garden. These are all the non-succulent plants, relegated to my desk because they need less sunlight. They’re mostly baby spider plants, born from the mama-plant in the turquoise pot, and then transferred to various glass bottles and tin cans. The only exception is the parsley plant in the dark green pot.

When I have a lot of work, I tend to put it off by either posting here, or working on crafty projects like this one. This is a process henceforth known as procraftination, and its the classier cousin of procrasturbation. I posted here about my newfound love of detachable collars, but I was too cheap to buy one when I knew I could make it instead. I cut the collar off of a thrifted dress shirt, switched the plain white button out for a cool brass one, and added some beaded lapel accents. Voila, a detachable collar for free!

This is a bookshelf full of some of my favorite things. The top shelf is a mix of personal and academic books. This includes my personal bible, Generation T, in addition to the actual bible, which is something of a necessity for a religious studies major. In addition to loads of other fantastic books, this shelf also contains The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell, which is special for two reasons. 1) Joseph Campbell is the scholar who inspired me to become a religion major and 2) it was the first gift my boyfriend ever gave me. The bottom shelf also has a bunch of gifts from people special to me. The toast coasters are from my brother, and the mug on top is from my sister. The floral mug is from my mom, and the math mug is from that aforementioned boyfriend. The candy in the middle is more Gaga swag, from her pop-up shop at Barney’s this winter.

Last but not least, another photo of nail art. This is a not-very-inspired tripartite variation on that same Prabal Gurung design that I’ve been messing with. I actually really like the retro simplicity of it, so I might go back to this gold, turquoise, gold pattern at some point.

Anywho, thats all I’ve got today. Once my high-fashion summer starts up, I hope to have lots of great stories to share.

In The Doldrums

I am the everloving laziest. I just could not get it up to post last week, or the week before, or (most of) the week before that. I’m lame, man. But I’m glad to be getting back on the horse.

First things first, something exciting is happening on the summer plans front, but the internet is not the place to share. Besides, if you read this, its probably because you are one of my dear friends and I’ve already told you my news five gazillion times anyway (and you’re sick of it). Other than that fashion elephant in the room, I’m in the total doldrums, clothing-wise. I’m broke, in the manner of college students everywhere, so I’m just sticking with adaptations on my existing wardrobe, hopefully in a way that is still creative despite being in the awkward phase of the winter-to-spring transition.

In that spirit, I’m going with thematically springy layering, with some mild trend-hopping. Below, you can see a poorly-photographed progression towards my outfit for tomorrow.

I’m starting with this cute, floral sundress that I bought from the place I worked this summer (40% off employee discount, ftw!) It wasn’t on the rack, which means its probably less “vintage” than it is “fifties retro made in the eighties.” That’s cool though, its still painfully adorable.

However, I’m actually going to take a cue from my blogging idol, Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller, and layer a sweater right over an otherwise sexy sundress. This green sweater did not begin life in all of its current cropped glory; I bought it at Marshalls for ten bucks in 2009 and decided a few months ago that it needed a little bit of an update. I cut off the bottom third, and ended up with the perfect companion piece for hipster-y layers.

Last but not least are the accessories. To polish the look off I added my favorite (legitimately) vintage yellow glass necklace, ruffled ankle socks, and brown “leather” platform sandals.

When all is said and done, the trend tally here is pretty intense. I’ve got color-blocking, socks-with-sandals, neon, and a floral pattern worthy of Mary Katranzou. Maybe I’ll dial it back next time…

Other than this outfit-in-waiting, I only have two other items of news.

The first is this:

I had a fairly successful run at recreating the “Slim Silhouette” nail art from Prabal Gurung’s Spring 2012 show. Also, I’m ludicrously excited about his collaboration with Sally Hansen, definitely planning on buying some of these.

I also bought one teeny-tiny thing, despite my brokeness:

The vintage stalls at Market Monday got me again. Its a brooch, shaped like a moth! How rad is that? I don’t generally dig the butterfly thing, cause its a little dangerously Lolita for someone who already looks as young as I do. Fortunately, however, this looks more like something a grandma would wear. Plus its got pave rhinestones, which I always dig.

Alrighty, my fashion battery needs a recharge. Hopefully something exciting will happen in the next week or so, and I’ll be back for a juicy 21st post. (Jungle-juicy, because my blog will be old enough to drink? Perhaps, we’ll come back to that.)

I’m An Unreliable Poster, But Everybody Be Cool

I lied last week two weeks ago when I said I was going to post immediately after my collars post. But, you see, a) I didn’t realize it was a lie AND b) some very exciting sartorial shit went down in my life, so I was a little bit distracted. First order of business is that fashion internships exist, and I hope to have one this summer. And that vague statement is all I’m going to say about that, cause I don’t want to jinx everything by plastering it all over the internet. But it rhymes with Schmonde Schnast.

Secondly, I have been on spring break for the past two weeks, which gave me plenty of time to partake in my favorite wallet-draining pastime: shopping. I spent most of my break at home in MA, and dragged my mother (bless her willing-to-let-me mooch heart) to the really fancy mall for a couple of chic-but-professional necessities. These items are as follows:

This outrageously neon-y silk blouse from J. Crew. I’m always in the market for a vibrant blouse that I can button all the way up, preferably sheer. This blouse is indeed sheer, and exceeded all of my expectations with the glory of its acid yellow color. I still haven’t worn it, I’m saving it for the perfect moment in which to contrast it in a mind-boggling manner with my pasty, pasty skin.

I also got this darling drop-waist dress from Anthropologie, which is all adorable with its polka-dots and puffy sleeves, but refreshingly done in orange and grey. Its on the border of being too saccharine, but the color combo just about rescues it. Plus, I own several pairs of ruffly, lace socks, so I’m really in no position to make that judgment.

Because I love a good bargain, I also made a stop at Marshalls. Though Marshalls can be hit or miss, I’ve found some great stuff over the years, particularly in the shoes, accessories and home wares sections. This mission was a definite hit, especially on the shoe front.

I love super-high heels, but only when they’re stable enough to support my weight. I tried on some gorgeous Vince Camuto pumps once, and I couldn’t even stand still in them without feeling like I was about to topple over. These patent pumps are around the 4″ mark, but plenty stable thanks to the chunky heel. Plus I needed a new pair of basic black pumps, and these were only $15.

These blue patent Enzo Angiolini peep-toes have an even higher heel, coming in at 4.5″, counting the platform. Though these definitely qualify as stilettos, they’re surprisingly comfortable for their height. Meaning that I can wear them for three hour (mostly seated) stretches without needing to take them off; comfort is definitely a relative concept.

I also managed to score this Cynthia Rowley trench coat. Though arguably my most utilitarian purchase, this is one chic piece of outerwear. The silhouette is gorgeous, and I love the neutral color-blocking. And it will help me in my constant struggle against NYC’s frequent flash rain-storms.

So, conclusion: I bought plenty of clothes while I was home. And then came a five-day interlude in the middle of break during which I went first to Vermont and then to NYC with my boyfriend. I know what you’re wondering. Yes, I definitely bought more stuff. I dragged him to Urban Outfitters, because I needed a couple of last minute things for Scmonde Schmast, and he came with me because he is a kind and tolerant soul. He even willingly bought himself some new clothes, despite being generally indifferent to fashion beyond his basic everyday wardrobe. While he was checking out menswear, I hunted down a couple of simple pieces with nice high-waisted silhouettes.

These blue, silky paper-bag trousers were exactly the kind of thing I wanted to add to my wardrobe. They’re cropped at the ankle, and high-waisted for optimal crop-top integration. These are THE hipster pants of the spring, and I plan to enjoy the heck out of them before they fall apart thanks to Urban Outfitter’s classic shoddy craftsmanship. More to the point, they’ll look badass with my yellow shirt, though the combo may be a little bit seizure-inducing.

In other high-waisted news, these black flat-front shorts were a staple that I badly needed to add to my collection. They go with virtually everything, and I’ve been meaning to buy something like this for at least a year and a half. What my plain black skinnies are to winter, these are to spring/summer (henceforth known as sprimmer). Ideally, I would have like three pairs of these, so that I could just rotate them out, and never have to go without on laundry day. Though I think wearing the same thing every day might ruin any style cred that I have.

Once I finished with my NYC shopping, I got to actually wear my new duds out and about in the city. In addition to my shopping trip to Soho and my adventures in Midtown, I went with my boyfriend for sushi and weird juice with celery and St. John’s wort in it. We also went to the North End Grille for dinner one night, and to Craft for the dinner the night after. My entree at the North End Grille was tasty but unremarkable, though the pot de creme caramel dessert I had was arguably the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. And Craft was generally amazing. I had pasta stuffed with beans, brussel sprouts with bacon, and passion fruit/jalapeno sorbet. All weird-sounding combinations that were insanely yummy in execution.

Sadly, the tasty and fashion-forward adventure that was spring break eventually had to end, and now I’m back at school. But luckily for me, today was Market Monday, and the vintage/consignment vendors were back in the College Center. And it was almost 80 degrees, so I had an excuse to buy some warm-weather gear!

I found this 90′s-cute floral sheath at one stall, for just $15. I’ll probably get a lot of use out of it if the weather stays like it is right now, and its definitely a versatile garment that I can wear into the winter as well. I also nabbed a sterling and carnelian ring, and the red belt featured below in my outfit for today.

This is what I had to change into after realizing that the long-sleeved-but-otherwise-identical dress that I was wearing before was way too warm for this bizarrely summery March. Conveniently, the belt went well with the rest of the look. And between the color combination and the pose, it makes me feel like the lady version of Superman. Not Wonderwoman, mind you, but specifically like a female Superman.

Hot Damn, I Have a New Favorite Trend

I plan to have a big, exciting post sometime tomorrow or the day after, but today I am here to talk to you about detachable collars. I decided I couldn’t wait, because I am really into the way this looks, and may be sporting one or two of my very own before long. This is one of the best spins on a retro accessory that I’ve ever seen, and its making quite a splash at the moment.

The trend harkens back to the detachable linen collars men used to have for their dress shirts, but I would argue that the revitalization started with the Man Repeller collaboration with DANNIJO to create MR DANNIJO and this piece of wonder:

Incidentally, this collar is also the cover piece for a SHEfinds article on detachable collars. If you’re a fan of Ms. Medine’s generally badassery (as I am) you’ve probably seen this collar floating around her website for about a year now. However, it has taken the rest of the fashion world a while to come up with their own adaptations of the trend, adaptations which are friendlier to this blogger, who would prefer a collar that doesn’t chafe. Or stab, for that matter.

The SHEfinds article highlights lots of cute, beribboned, modish collars by the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Marni, but my personal favorite operates, fortunately, in a much less pricy echelon. Zara is the go-to shop for all girls interested in high fashion at a low price, and it has jumped on this trend with an affordable vengeance.

Two of my favorite things–beading and metallics–coexist beautifully in this piece. I plan on stopping by Zara tomorrow, so this could be my new spring statement piece. I have high hopes for the longevity of this trend, with any luck it will just become one of those looks that gets better with age. Here’s looking at you, color-blocked pumps!

*First photo from DANNIJO website, second from Zara website

Fashion I Love: Proenza Schouler, Christopher Kane, Marni x H&M

I wish I had something new and exciting to talk about in my personal fashion life. But unfortunately, no new clothes, no radical new interpretations of what I already own, and no time to think about anything other than midterms. And Breaking Bad, sometimes I think about that too. So instead of sharing something cool and new in my life, I am just going to share my opinions on a few things going on in the world of fashion.

Number 1: Fashion Week. I live less than two hours from NYC, but I didn’t venture in for Fashion Week. I did, however, keep my eyes peeled for anything particularly stellar that showed up online. I usually have trouble conceptualizing fall fashion when we’re just on the brink of spring, but I am kind of loving Proenza Schouler for Fall 2012, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have outdone themselves. Too many of the silhouettes are dense and baggy and far less “pret-a-porter” than the collection would imply, but I love the preppy-meets-biker-chick vibe, the cute metallic/plastic wrap mini skirts, the collarless structured jackets, and their cool take on the sheath dress–I would spend all my money on sheath dresses if I could. And that insane, woven-basket texture was such a gorgeous effect. I love the trend toward unconventional materials that we’ve seen on the spring and fall runways; I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for this to happen to fashion.

 

And speaking of unusual materials…

Number 2: Christopher Kane and his sheer plastic florals. I know I’m behind the times on this one, it was part of the spring collection, yadiyaddah. I don’t care, I LOVE the way these designs look, and I’ve already started trying to integrated a similar (but cheaper) effect into my spring wardrobe. Its also just so refreshing from Christopher Kane, whose clothes I tend to find a little bit trashy, generally. This is maybe a little bit kitschy, but in an adorable, wearable way. Its feels like what a hip downtown girl would wear to a garden party. Plus, I think its kind of sweet that the models are wearing old-lady comfy sandals, its so unusual to see girls on the runway who are apparently comfortably shod.

And now, to venture into a more affordable sphere…

Number 3: Marni x H&M. This collaboration is finally here, and I am thrilled. Every college student who loves fashion loves collaborations, because they’re affordable. But there hasn’t really been anything exciting since Missoni for Target. Versace x H&M was honestly kind of disappointing to me, despite the hype. For the most part, everything was gaudy and a little bit too Donatella. The only thing I really liked was a studded leather sheath dress (big surprise) which sold out in the blink of an eye. I had high hopes for Jason Wu for Target, but its looking kind of safe, not very exciting from a fashion standpoint. So that brings us to Marni. Marni is low-key, but still edgy. And it has amazing patterns. I love a diverse range of patterns that jumble together in ways that horrify my boyfriend. Also, everything in the collection sort of looks like it was taken from some piece of psychedelic 70′s upholstery, which I can definitely work with.

So many PRINTS! I’m pretty sure I could wear these three things together, and love every minute of it.

I’ll post an update if any one of these glorious pieces ever comes in to my possession, but I can tell you right now that the closest I’ll ever get to any of these things is one half of a pair of Marni earrings that I find on the ground next to the barren wasteland where all of the Marni merch was before it sold out.

*runway photos from vogue, marni photos from h&m website

Unsung Heroes of My Closet: Why the 1940′s Make Me Feel a Little Bit Fat

Recently, I’ve been sending out a lot of resumes. For those of you who have never had to deal with the gauntlet of stress that is the summer internship, it is essentially a hyper-competitive summer job in which you are at the very bottom of the totem pole. The advantage is that taken a job like this can help you climb that totem pole later on in your career. I’ve been angling for something fashion-related this summer, to make the whole process a little bit more appealing. So far, I’ve been able to work my vintage collection into my resume, so I’m off to a pretty good start!

Talking about my rabid need to buy more and more clothes also inspired a new blogging topic for me: Unsung Heroes of my Closet. This may even turn into a repeated segment for me, because even though my whole fashion ethos is about trying to wear everything I own, no matter how weird, there are a few items that never make it out into the real world, no matter how hard I try.

Today, I’ll be talking about a gorgeous black velvet sheath from the 1940′s. Its the gem of my vintage collection, but its never been featured on this blog, because there’s no way to wear this to class without looking like I’m going to a medium-fancy Christmas party, or to a funeral.

Here’s the front…

And the back!

This is an example of something that I saw, knew that I would never have a use for, and bought anyway because I couldn’t resist. Its by Bobbie Brooks, which, by my understanding, was the dElia’s of the 1940′s. It was one of the first companies that made clothes specifically for the teeny-bopper set, and established the idea of the juniors department. Its also extremely tiny, probably because it was designed for a time period where all food was rationed for the war, and Americans hadn’t become the heavyset bunch we are now. This dress is a size 8, but you would never know it by today’s standard. I’m a fairly petite person, and I can barely fit into it. Plus that belt you can see in the shot of the back is designed to tighten it still further. I think the message is that, if I want to wear this dress for real sometime, I’m going to need the accompanying girdle.

 

This unsung hero says: “Dress like its 1947. Because real women don’t need to breathe. Or sit down.” Over even smile, in my case, because I could tell the back seam was seriously considering busting open, in protest of my non-war-era hips. Plus, if I’d opened my mouth, I might have accidentally exhaled. I have never sucked in my stomach quite so emphatically.

My Offline Fashion Saga

I feel like I haven’t posted in eons. And thats not because I don’t have anything to post! I have a serious backlog accumulating here, and the internet has missed out on a few choice (by which I mean crazy) outfits. But that is because my academic life and my hopeful fashion life are having a major collision in the real world. A detailed description would be excruciatingly boring, but the upshot is as follows:

Over break, I had this amazing experience working for a badass set design studio, and I decided that I can’t really fuck around anymore. If I want to go into fashion, and continue having that type of amazing experience, I have to do something about it. Since the bachelor’s degree that I’m working towards is not in any way fashion-related, I need to start getting some of the foundational experience that I need if I want to go anywhere in the industry, and more specifically, to Parsons the New School for an MFA. So, I’ve been trying to convince my school to allow me to attend Parsons undergrad for a semester, and still give me academic credit towards my art history minor. Its not working out particularly well, so I’m now looking for alternatives and sending out resumes to fashion publications like nobody’s business. If I hear anything solid as a result of any of this, the internet will be the first to know, but for now its just chaos and confusion.

My other, less life-altering fashion saga was the disappointing purchase of shoes from Rue La La. I had my eye on a gorgeous pair of Steve Madden pumps. Online, they were black suede platform mary-janes. This is what I received in the mail:

Platform? Yes. Everything else? No. Arguably the ugliest shoes I have ever had the pleasure of trying on. Yes, I tried them on. Wouldn’t you? But in any event, they are going back to some Kardashian hell on Tuesday.

To make up for such a heartbreaking fashion tragedy, I bolstered myself today by going to the monthly thrift store in the college center, and hit the jackpot. Maybe not at the Dior level of previous thrift adventures, but I definitely had some substantial wins.

Starting with:

These earrings are the raddest. The lady who sold them to me called them “Joan Crawford earrings.” They cost twelve bucks, and weigh about twelve pounds, but its so worth it! Not to worry though, I have no Mommie Dearest intentions. I just feel glam wearing them.

I also scooped up a couple of scarves from the two-dollar bin. The one on top has a paisley and stripes situation going on, in addition to being hot pink. From the perspective of someone who likes her patterns loud and clashing, this is a total win. The bottom one is black and white, and shows different scenes of architecture in Venice. Its definitely on the dangerously kitschy end of the spectrum, but, again, this is not a problem as far as I’m concerned.

Last but not least, another purse to add to the collection. This one is so painfully seventies that I had to have it. I plan to wear it all summer with my brown platform sandals and possibly bell-bottoms. The whole thing is shiny plastic, and roughly the same texture as those fake wooden panels that station wagons used to have. And of course, nothing says high-style like “seventies car vinyl.”

Hopefully this collection of glorious accessories will keep me going throughout my academia/fashion collision, they’re definitely cheering me up right now. Almost as much as how gorgeous the campus looks when its 52 degrees in February!

See below, gorgeousness!

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