I love this skirt

(photo from the Sartorialist)

I love the colors, the exposed seams and threads. I love that she paired it with a bright purple top and even brighter orange headscarf. How awesome and original and ballsy. I could never get away with this look. I think I'd look really messy and sort of like a colorful homeless person instead of cool and laid-back and interesting.

Ladylike...

...or something a little different...

So I need to look ladylike this weekend. I'll be at a church. Attending a christening. And seeing as how I'm not normally church-going, I wasn't sure what to wear

(Aside: I told M that I could swing cocktail party attire, but "church-y" was another business altogether).

I think this outfit is church-appropriate. But now I don't know what to do about the shoes and I need some girlfriend-help. Here are my choices:

Strappy red sandals. Too much red?


I love these yellow flats. But too weird? Too funky for the Lord?


I'm kinda digging these brown old-fashiony ones. But maybe a little off with the red+white combo? Red+white is harder to accessories with than I'd imagined.


Cute peep-toes? I'll have to do something about my toenails. And I'm not sure about the black. Maybe too black?


Black pumps? Again, maybe too black? Too evening attire against the more casual skirt+top combo?

Thoughts?

pretty clothes

My wardrobe fantasy right now involves these outfits from Anthropologie.

Isn't this plaid summer dress pretty? I like the colors in the plaid and the ruffle collar.


I love how they paired this navy dress with the red shoes. What a great combination!


Here's another combo I like. If I owned these pieces of clothing, I don't know that it would ever occur to me to put these colors+textures together, they look so pretty together though.



I sign up for their email newsletter and I think that those are lovely too (from a graphic design perspective). I save screenshots of those in an inspiration folder on my computer for future reference.

I want this shirt

Photo by Tony Luong seen on Print Brigade designed by Chris Piascik.

Now, I was intrigued by the original incarnation of it. But it really is quite fetching in green.

I can't go back to work yet, the new Anthropologie catalogue hasn't been browsed...

I like the color of this top and the hem of these pants, but let's face it, on me? The hems would just skim the arch of my feet. I have short legs.


I love this bag (and apparently the color yellow). I'd like to make one that is similarish and use this as the inspiration point.


There were a few photos of dresses with tights. It's interesting. I think I like it. Until I put tights on and remember how much I hate wearing tights. Also, the flower detail and pleated bust makes this dress for me.


I love this Annie Hall look (and there's that bag again). But I think it works best for body types that are nothing like mine (tall, willowy thin, long legs).

before I leave...

So M and I area flying out to D.C. tonight on a red-eye flight. Yesterday I had some free time so I got to do a lot of sewing. I have really been into sewing lately. I'm sure knitting will take over again when the cooler weather hits, but for now it's all about the sewing.

Yesterday I made a little bag (rats! I forgot to photograph it. Photo to come) which went pretty smoothly.

Still high on that achievement I decided to make a shirt. And I really wanted to be able to take it with me for my trip. I've been enjoying the lattice-type details I've seen in a few shirts and I had a mind to make one of my own.

I sketched. The sleeves actually got nixed.


I sewed.


I tried it on. Meh. The neckline bunches up.

And it seems that my mirror is dirty. That's what those spots are. They're on the mirror, not on my shirt.

And I've learned that it's not easy to take self-portraits without a remote release.

And also? (whisper) my bed's not made.

M and I are going to see H in D.C. and then head over to Pennsylvania to meet up with babies and friends and a wedding party. I'm a little worried about the heat, but I'm looking forward to a change of scenery. More on Monday!

striped ice cream dress

When I was a little girl. I read this book called Striped Ice Cream. It was about a little girl who lived in (I think) New York with her mom and sisters and brother. For her birthday all she wanted was a new dress. But her family was poor and there was no way as the middle child would she ever get a brand new dress. So instead, she asked her mom if she could have her all time favorite striped ice cream for her birthday instead of a cake. Wow were they poor because even that request drew apprehension from her hard working mom (dad bailed out on them years ago if memory of this book serves correctly). So the little girl had to settle for being excused from chores for the day.


You know, writing up this little book report makes me think that the story sounds kind of depressing. But it actually wasn't. I mean, they were poor and they struggled and they were always wanting. But I have fond memories of that book. The little girl (I wish I could remember her name) and her siblings made the best of their situation. They had lots of innocent summertime fun. They looked for ways to earn a little extra money so they could buy popsicles from the ice cream truck, or pay for a Sunday matinee. The illustrations were great too if memory serves correctly. Kind of like a little novel for young-young adults with a few illustrations thrown in a la Roald Dahl's books.

I don't want to give anything away in terms of the book, but the little girl does indeed get a new dress (her mom and older sisters sneak in the sewing while she's asleep or out playing) AND she gets striped ice cream for her birthday. And the bonus? Her dress is striped pink and cream and brown just like STRIPED ICE CREAM. Sorry about the caps. That's in the book too.

I've been working on this dress for a few weeks now. Sneaking in a little sewing in between work and dinner and chores. It's been a bit of an obsession. It's my first time following a pattern and it was hard. Pattern makers seem to leave out lots of details. And their illustrations aren't terribly illustrating. But the challenge I think came more from my ignorance. Sorry pattern makers, I'll cut you some slack.

The first article of clothing I ever sewed for myself (like really sewed with a sewing machine, not fiddling around with hand sewing) was a skirt that I still have. I broke all the sewing rules cause I didn't know them. Amazingly the skirt is still in one sewn piece and still wearable. The second article of clothing I ever sewed was a dress that I wore to jenn's wedding. I look back at it now and am amazed at how bad it looks. Oh the sewing mistakes. But again, no pattern, no rules, guerilla sewing if you will.

Don't get me wrong, there are mistakes aplenty in this dress. But they are more or less hidden and don't detract from the shape or drape of the dress so I'm going to live with them. I only had two yards of fabric so I used up nearly every little scrap. Boy was that a close one. I should explain that the pattern I used (Vogue 8468) was just the starting point as I ended up ripping out the neck to widen it - it was too close, I kept gagging, shortening the hem considerably, and employing unorthodox methods for sewing up the arm...um... openings. I added the peter pan collar based on a tutorial I found online. All in all, I'm pooped and my dress looks little like the one the pattern intended.

I intend to wear this dress to a wedding in Pennsylvania next weekend. Most likely I will not be eating striped ice cream with it.

it's not just me!

Looks like one of my admired designers Betsey Johnson is also rockin the retro vibe. Check out her Spring 2008 show!



I think this yellow one may be my favorite. I would wear the flowers in my hair too. But only for special occasions like lawn garden parties.


And speaking of hair accoutrement, I had to include an example of the big bows, cause swear to god, last night and part of the day before I was thinking to myself about how the big bow only had a few years' of fun back when Madonna was sporting her material girl look? And how no one's brought it back. And it's kinda cute and fun. And maybe I'd try to bring it back, but then again I get carded for ordering a glass of pinot grigio at CPK when I wear a barrette in my hair. With a big bow, I would probably get carded for buying booze, showing up at a voting booth and driving a car. Probably not a look I could sport for the every day.

retro

I've been on a retro kick lately. Really drawn to clothing and furniture from the mid-century. Over the weekend, m and I were in a thrift store and scored an awesome radio in really good working condition. I'll have to post a photo of it to share.

Today, I stumbled across this site and now I wish I had known about it before my wedding. I would love to have had a dress like this. (though to be fair, I wasn't on a retro kick back when I was getting married.)

There's so much to love from her Autumn-Winter 2007/2008 show, I probably would want to have 5 or 6 different weddings to get to wear all the different dresses I love. It doesn't work like that though, does it?

I remember after the wedding, I'd want to turn to m and say: you know, the next time we do this we should remember to....

Ha! Silly jean.

favorite photo for the day

I know it's only 10 AM, but...

From the Sartorialist.

Also, I have now put the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor's Island, NY on my list of things I must experience first hand in my lifetime. His photos from last year's party are also divine.

cute and colorful

I really like the look this girl is sporting:

Image from Punky B's Fashion Diary

The colorful top, wide legged jeans that are cut more like slacks, her enviable slim figure encircled in a braided leather belt, the casual flowy hair and most of all the aqua suede ballet flats(!). Nice mix of colors that go well together but aren't matchy-matchy. What's not to love?

as a woman of a certain age

I think that this is what I will probably look like (minus the cigarette):

Renata Molho (photo from the Sartorialist)

ed and beck

What an interesting couture site. Love their homepage illustration. I like the photo styling of their collections - so whimsical and mysterious. I think it works best with the women the men look a little awkward to me. Browsing through is making me want to sew my own clothes.

suggestive

While trolling through my blog reading today, I was overcome with really really wanting a white dress with red polka dots:


This is from Emily's site. She's such a cute and talented artist. I love her paintings.


And this photo of her studio from Tanya Whelan's site.

I suppose this canvas with orange-y red polka dots will have to do for now. It's going to be an apron, hopefully by this weekend.


It's a cold and rainy day out there! (100% humidity and a chance of rain -> hail in my neck of the woods). Stay safe if you have to be out and about.

cute dress

Saw this cute retro dress at the goodwill the other day.

I wanted to buy it but it felt like it was made of 100% polyester (no label) which I am having an adverse reaction (for no good reason) to these days. So I took a photo of it to remind me of its cuteness and maybe one day (sigh) I'll remember to make it for myself or something.

channeling the sartorialist

At the risk of being a little silly...


A total fluke that I matched so well.


But I do enjoy the ruffles and puffed sleeves.


I love this ring.


And dress-me-down-Fridays. They are the best.

work that skirt

I am terribly fond of skirts. Story goes that when I was a tot they couldn't find trousers to fit around my chubby tummy so I was often garbed in dresses and skirts. I have no idea how this makes sense, but I am just repeating what I was told.

When I was old enough to read, my favorites books featured young ladies from another time who were courageous and brazen with bustling skirts swirling around them as they kept house, hunted deer or even climbed trees. I loved that Jo March had pockets in the skirts of her dresses that she sometimes kept a book or candy in. I used try and slip paperbacks into my skirts with pockets. Not a good look as these skirt pockets weren't really made to house Louisa May Alcott tomes. And the weight of the books sometimes tugged the elastic waist a little too far south for modesty's comfort. Ahem.

But enough with my Proustian mumble bumble. Check out these lovely skirts from the Skirt Spot:

Aren't they the prettiest?? I actually think that these are not as cute as some of the ones they've featured in past seasons, back when they were still called Boutique Ooh La La.

for janecita

Aren't these the cutest?

I have a thing about red shoes it seems. I own quite a few pair. And mary janes. I always have a pair or two of mary janes in my closet.

This is the best part about these shoes (the part that makes me think of janet):

Photos from Ysolda.

the shoe project

Check out some fun portrait photography here. I'm thinking that San Francisco is a great place to do outdoor photography for the unlimited choice of pretty colors in backdrops (doors, walls, etc.) and the great outdoor lighting to be had most days of the year.

(from TwentyOne Pictures Ellen Ugelstad)

I really enjoy this photographer's take on traditional portraiture in her dyptique-esque approach to their faces and shoes. Oh, and the shoes are great too.

brand

If you've been receiving emails from me this evening, you have probably been inundated with links and photos of really cute things that I insist that you check out. Prepare to OD for the evening. Brand is a dutch clothing company for little girls. They seem to specialize in clothing that is exceptionally adorable in polka dots or stripes and featuring the color red.

But don't just take my word for it:


I WANT those shoes!


And these clogs, and I'm not a clog-girl. But don't you just love the model's pose?


And how about those stripey socks?