where's the G theme? (and run away, DMC!)

Ahh, the invisible friday. Today was not supposed to exist. One would expect to you know, make the most out of an extra day of the year to do things insane, and then the next day be like, "I ran off a 45 story building and landed safely using an anorak as a parachute? There was no yesterday! It does not exist on a regular calendar! Silly tool."

But no. I spent it swimming HCIAA Championships. (Warning: my life and not about fashion, if you don't want to read it skip this paragraph.) I did come and break my personal best (29.1 seconds 50 free; school record in medley; 1st place 2nd place (2), 3rd place, but I wanted to do something crazy! Like skydive into a pool of jello! I'm going to have to settle by making a bikini out of all the medals and plaques I've gotten this swim season. That will make up for it.

I realize I haven't posted my outfits in awhile, so here they are in all their mediocre glory.

Gah, it makes me sad that the pictures never do the clothes justice. or one, the scarf was actually a belt during one part of the day because of school dress code (no studs on pants.). Also, the shirt is my favorite shirt in the world. It's got bell sleeves, and is just flowy and feminine enough to wear with plain pants and have an outfit right there. I purchased the vest at a children's clothing stall on Canal Street some time ago.

The leather jacket was designed and made by my mother. Everything--the inside plaid, the cocker spaniel buttons, the cut--all chosen by my mother for me before I could even fit into it. I'm disappointed in how pathetic these pictures are, but at least you can see the jacket. It's definitely going to be a staple in my spring wardrobe, I love it to death.

Right now, I'm drooling over all the jewlery over at Paraphernalia, an online jewelery store specializing in seriously graphic jewerelery. I recognize the heart necklace from a picture of the Cherry Blossom Girl; but in truth I'm in love with bow (tie) necklaces just as much. Worn with a simple shirt and leather jacket, I can definitely see myself wearing them. It's all relatively affordable for jewlery too--$20+.

They have a variety of neclaces and brooches--animals, cameras, etc. It's all very cute.

And wait wait wait, hold on a minute.


The Sart does it again. Okay, maybe I just like this picture because she looks like a cooler version of me, slightly more hipster. It's the necklace that did it for me. Is this not love? I think I want to move to Paris and investigate if we were seperated at birth. Ignore the fact she's just perfect looking and I'm giving myself a huge amount of credit myself. She's just so cool.

Lately I've been paying more attention to shoes in part because I have blisters on blisters and I don't like to wear my favorite boots (my outfit above features them) down, especially because of how much they originally cost. My friend Therese had these gorgeous, stunning, insane pair of lace up boots that made me drop my bag of chips when I saw them. Which is saying something because my hands were turning blue from the cold during lunch.


Oh yeah. Work it. It pains me to know that these are only $13.99. Yes. Online. $13.99. I almost don't want to post the link to where to buy them, because I want them all to myself. But since I'm such a nice person, I guess I can sacrifice these. Get 'em here while quantities last.

While I'm at it, I'm going to make a collage of shoes, because I can. Just not tonight...my eyeballs might be bleeding from lack of sleep. Goodnight!

Ahh....and banners. I'm looking for a spread, it reminded me of hippies and spring and I can't seem to find it. Eh, I want to make a spring themed banner to lighten up the blog a bit. Any suggestions? Or should I leave it how it is? It's a bit dark.

Z....... tired. Good night.

dress to impress.

one of my favorite pictures of the week. altamiranyc. it's also fun how i dressed like the girl version of this today. i had four hours of sleep so i think i did pretty swell for even putting a skirt on. i love that it's his not just his clothes that make his fashionable, but his slouch, his hat, everything about him screams ''IM COOL AND I KNOW IT." He's dressing for himself. And also the random kid is cute.

who do you dress for?
I dress for myself, cliche as that may seem. To a certain extent I dress for other girls--being complimented always puts a smile on my face--but it doesn't bother me if people describe my style to be ''out there'' or ''unusual''. I would much rather be described as an unusual dresser than as a nice dresser. Nice reminds me of a forgetful, whimpy sales clerk or teller that has friends but occasionally they'll forget she exists. No, I am certainly not ''nice'' and nor should my clothes give that impression. Nice doesn't suit me. I like gory, ridiculous cheap B-movies and tin lunch boxes as bags. How does that translate to nice dressing? It doesn't. It's more borderline tacky, and thats how I like it.

More often than not I'm dissatisfied with my outfit of the day. This is probably because at the end of the day when I'm taking a picture for you lot, they just don't picture well. Maybe it's just my lack of camera skill / patience / posing, but it just doesn't look right. I over analyze my outfits to a point where I wonder why I wore it, on the bad days. I know, given the resources or time I could come up with something infinitely more interesting than what I end up wearing. I could do better for myself with what I have, actually. It's just that sometimes something is missing and I don't feel like I thought I should.

When did this competition with myself start? I don't know what exactly to make of it, but after dwelling on it for awhile and avoiding my homework I guess it's a double edged sword. It's a good thing, to be in this state, because a challenge always--or should always--bring out the best in people. It also makes me observe all the facets of fashion and style, so I can realize what I like, what works for me, what I don't like, and what doesn't work. It forces me to use my imagination more (which is of course the lifeblood of fashion and art) so I can transfer looks I liked at the runways into my own interpretation for inexpensive daily wear. Plus, I like looking at myself and pretending I'm modeling. Because I'm just really vain and awesome like that.

Perhaps the only downside is the fact it's a battle between myself, and those are always the hardest. I can feel great in sweats and parade around the block (I am known for doing so in the Spring, actually. It's pretty rad, you should try it sometime.) and at the same time I might just sit in my bed and curse life. I can feel great in my most luxurious dress but then feel frumpy in it a minute later. To be blunt, it's not really about what I wear so much as how I feel when I'm wearing it. Will, self-confidence, it controls how you look. People can be impressed with what you're wearing but it depends on you and how you feel in it.

People can dress for best friends, worst enemies, parents or coworkers pretty easily from what I make of it.

It's just so much harder to dress for yourself.

it's better than the easter bunny.

As promised, scans from NY Mag. It's my first shot at scanning something properly, so I hope it's alright. Click to enlarge, as usual. I recognied the Rodarte dress immediately from the whispy melancholy color (can a color even be melancholic? Meh, it's a well enough description methinks) but the way the ballet dancer put it on display took my breath away. I hope you can appreciate it just as much as me, despite the scanner.


The second dress is as the description state, ''Organza dress, $950 at Diane von Furstenburg." I never really looked into anything other than her trademark wrap-dresses. She was one of the first designers I really obsessed over even before I became a fashion addict, so that just goes to show how little I've really check up on her over time.

I wrote the obligatory and inevitable Oscar In Review on my other blog, Retro Splash. It's pretty nice, go see.

This was the best moment of the Oscars, though. No lie:

Free e-shoes if you know who they are. (Invisible free shoes. Ohsnap.)

rodarte and ballet and cupcakes and me.

I changed up the blog last night, although I'm not sure if I like it enough to stay, it's kinda dark and I want something to celebrate Spring. I'll tinker around.

Anyway, my favorite runway looks as of recent:


Luisa Beccaria F/W 08 in Milan. This is the first time I've seen her collections and looking to her previous ones I'm glad I was introduced by this one; it's her best so far. Feminine colors, frothy materials and details, I love every aspect of the collection and it's dream quality. Very wearable and very delicate. Click to enlarge, if you please. Images all from the fashion spot.


Rick Owens F/W08. One word: fan.effing.tastic. I love every look, and the way he worked the fur was amazing even though I'm not a fan of fur usually. The tailoring is impeccable... jesus, I want every look right now. Its steady and sharp....really, just look for yourself.

As I have no doubt my fellow bloggers will be posting their opinions on Gucci, I'm going to let them tackle that runway (so I can finish reading this article on one of my favorite Japanese fashion houses, Comme des Garçons. It's a long one, be warned, but a great read.)

What do you think of these collections? Yay or nay?

Also, NY Mag has this fantastic edit on dresses from the runways, and their Rodarte picture took my breathe away. Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere on the website AND Rodarte's site had so many hits it's out of bandwidth. Gack. I'll scan it in tommorow.

Until tommorow;

Belle.

the snow machine is a weapon in my mothers hands.

so we had a snow day today. i woke up, put on classical music, went to sleep with the snowflakes, and then woke up and stared at the snow some more. One of the things I love about my room (maybe the only thing actually) is the view over the park. I have a killer view of the park from my window, it's like my backyard only random drunk strangers might sleep in it sometimes in the summer and I don't really think people have that happen in their backyard normally.

My apologies for not taking a picture when the snow was still pristine, there isn't much point now since it's dark and the snow's been walked on so it's not as pretty.

I spent the rest of the day being a living radiator for my cat in the kitchen and puttering around the intarwebz in my sweats and crooked glasses. I am well on my way into becoming a crazy cat lady, make no mistake.

What I thought you might like to read:

Blogs Can Kill Brands from ideasonideas. I found this article through another site, I think it was Bits and Bobbins? I don't quite remember, but later on today or tommorow I will try to retrace my steps. The website is a great fnd and I'm reading through them all, slowly but surely. This article is right on the dot. Blogs are the new 'thing'--word of mouth, or rather, a blog post, can totally change your view on a brand or at least manipulate you. Blogs radically impact my view on fashion and style and I have them on just as high a pedastal as designers, actually. So this hits home. The article talks mainly about car dealerships, but you can translate the main idea into other buying experiences easily.

UNDERBARACLARA. Absolutely. effing. ridiculous. "Oh look I have this amazing blog and an amazing house and an amazing dog and an amazing haircut and oh by the way I have the wardrobe of a goddess. Would you like to pretend you can read my words of wisdom?" Read my lips: Not. fair. My newest inspiration and style icon. Also I would like her house and all worldly possessions as my own. Preferably yesterday. Thank you.

Craftster wallets from magazines tutorial. I saw some awhile back at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival at a lovely crafts booth and I fell in love. The price tag made me fall out of love. Knowing they couldn't be that hard to make (and certainly not worth the $15 price tag when I only had $20 to spend) it's nice to know that if I e v e r get insanely, incredibly bored and by some chance of luck, craftsy I can make my very own Prada wallet. Ha.

Freebies. I have a bunch of fabric and a dress form lying around in my house, and I have to make curtains for my new windows anyway because my parents sure as hell aren't going to buy them when they can make them (not like they will. It's obvious procrastination is hereditary.) so I can just lay aside some of the nicer fabric for a tunic, since my mum said she'll teach me...eventually. Ignore the fact I can barely sew and the last two (from this exhibit, it's fascinating) are ridiculously complicated.

My favorite etsy shop of the moment:

JOODITO. Her jackets are made salvaged materials using 'experimental methods'--basically, she just designs and adds as she makes them, no plans or anything. I found her on craftsy, and she's a very down to earth, curious person. She moves from one jacket type to another based on people's suggestions, and these are borne from other craftsy user's suggestions. I love everything.

Cheers!

skittle fingers. (jazz hands are so last season.)

I have to study for tests so I made Abigail post something. I don't have the same taste in jewelery (I like costume jewelry and ironic figurines) but she has some interesting finds. So. I made her post. This way she can't ever insult my blog because she contributed to it! If I could pat myself on my back for my genius I would. In fact, I am going to go find a way to do that right now and leave you to her. Cheers!

It’s me (Abigail/Joey/Minion), not Arabelle! Aren’t you exited?

Now, I’m not a big fashion person. I’m the first to admit it; I pretty much just pull on the first thing I see, and hope I don’t get cold. However, there is one thing I can get passionate about, and that’s jewelry. I’m like a magpie, attracted by anything that sparkles. Or nail polish. I dig nail polish, I really do. As of right now, 10 colors. Oh yeah. But I digress, jewelry is cool. Like this:

1) Riceball Earrings on etsy

makes me feel all Asian.

However, I’m not here to show you cool stuff I found on Etsy. I was looking through New York magazine’s spring fashion photos, and although the clothes bit didn’t really hold my interest, the jewelry did. It was all big-ass chunky stuff. And I, being the impressionable person I am, immediately decided I wanted some. Big Lucite neon bangles and ginormous tacky necklaces are now the stuff of my dreams. I think this will be appearing tonight

and

in every color, as they sprout legs and $100+ price tags and dance away. Maybe one of these rings will sprout wings and have me chase it, spreading candy and fairy dust in its wake.

1) Hand carved tapered bangle made from Lucite; $135 at alexis bittar

2) Star studded hand carved lucite, $165 at alexis bittar

Well, I can’t think of a way to properly end this, so I will just post some random video.

Zebras not included.

a late swim meet made both me and my outfit tired looking. apologies for the blurry mirror shot, i hate mirror shots (oh so myspace) but heyyyy. it's a picture. I played around with the outfit a bit more, the shirt out of the skirt with the belt tied haphazardly, and another look I used today was my 'zebra' sweater from a few posts back (picture here) over the shirt. It was more of a comfort thing and I liked how it clashed with the color of the skirt. Abigail was a bugger about it the entire day, though... so I'm going to wear it quite often just to annoy the crap out of her.

I am still in a style rut. Tommorow is a 2-Day schedule, meaning I don't have any teachers that will give me a detention for a dress code violation so I'm going to wear my ugliest possible leggings, if I can find an equally awesome skirt in my closet. I want to dress in the dark.

Hey thats a pretty good idea. Now if only I would actually get up before the sun to do that.....

Hum. Anyway, away from my ramblings and onto something you might actually enjoy reading about. My ebay watch list is a bit naked right now, but it's a pretty to look at nevertheless:

Vintage 70's micro mini button down leather high waisted skirt from brownbettievintage. It's an XS and I immediately thought of Zoe and her infatuation with button down skirts. BBV is a really good store and the end prices and relatively reasonable so if you want a button down, this is a great color.

I have other items on it as well, but nothing really worth posting as they usually end up in the $200+ range and watching them more than necessary makes me depressed.

But you know what makes me smile? Shoes.

Gladiators are huge for Spring and I don't actually own a pair I like, so I'm in the market for some. These two are ones I'm thinkin' are pretty snazzy:

1) Matt Bernson's line for SS08. The entire line is pretty nice for both men and women, my favorites are the KM Gladiator and Edin. Both are approx. $170. His site has store listings but no online store on which to order directly from him.
2) Would you believe me if I said those were from Old Navy? Yes, the chain store is moving up in the ranks. I love the Urban Explorer shoe collection. The braided gladiator sandal is actually on sale for $15 online, which is a healthy difference from the $170 shoes right next to them above. But with the cheap price tag comes cheaply made shoe, and people want a sturdy shoe, not glorified flip flops.

I want shoes like the runway shoes from the last post! Oh yes those sexy gladiators. Mhmhm. Pretty. Personally, I don't love peeptoe all that much but lately looking at the runway glads I'm thinking differently.

I would get started on my want list from Urban Outfitter's UK, but the price tag literally makes me cry and the want list is so long I would never get my looming pile of homework done before dawn. So, I guess this is goodbye for tonight! Bye. =]

it's like there's a second ceiling.

my apologies for the lack of updates, i've been without the laptop and my cell phone for awhile. also, i opted for comfort over style this weekend. this shirt i am wearing is the bomb at the former. And to be truthful, I've been more interested in looking at these runways more than how to recreate them myself:

Every look is easily thrifted, but the individual pieces aren't your typical runway aesthetic, but maybe that's just my runway-n00bness shining through. When I think of RTW on Runways it's usually polished, sleek.... not what I see here. These runways exude personality, vintage, quirk, and a style thats very hard to pull off. Which is why I both love it and hate it.

It's frustrating how the looks are so deceptively simple; so easily attainable. But the individual pieces are hard to find, and quite frankly lately I haven't been able to put together an outfit with pieces I normally could combine to make something I like. I have a specific vision for outfits I want to wear and right now it's just hard to piece together. Right now I'd rather just buy that style from the runways.

I want to have that runway wardrobe. Every time I see something that is that ugly-pretty, quirky but drop-dead stylish, it's like I have just been proposed to by a dozen male models. But at the same time, attaining this level of style is harder than it looks. I could just throw on a random sweater, patterned shorts and insane tights, but would the effect be the same? I'm learning as I experiment that it's not just what you wear but how you wear it. Models are paid for their walk, how they show off the clothes, but I am of course no model and I lack their talent when it comes to that VOOSHBUYTHISIT'SSEXY factor. I don't want to be a model, but I want to look good in clothess that would reduce other people to anxiety attacks. Okay, maybe not anxiety attacks. Maybe just shallow breaths.

This girl is who I want to be at this very moment: (from Facehunter.)

Hedge fund daughters and young money teenagers have it so easy. They can buy the whole look and not have to think about anything. I only really understood that until I read this article, though. I don't respect hedge fund kids for their fashion sense half as much as normal people, really..... which reminds me of something else.

What puts people on the front pages of newspapers and fashion blogs? There's a formula to it, certainly....their clothes, their attitude, their faces. But what exactly is that formula? I want to be as fearless as them. I want to sit down with them and know their secrets. When I'm old I want to be the insane bat lady that everyone is both scared of and loves likes their own mother.

Pretty much, I want to be like this when I'm old and wrinkly:

No words describe how wicked rad and scary this photoshoot from foto_decadent is. For serious. It's insane.

This post is also amazing in a different way (meaning, black and white and not half as squirm inducing) you definitely need to see it.

.................

I've decided I'm just going to wear what I see in my closet for awhile. I don't care if it clashes, looks mental, or whatever. I just don't want to feel bland. Being overdone is better than being forgotten.

nerdbait and ferrerro roche hoarder. what could be better?

Happy Single's Awareness Day! How did you spend it? Not being single? Single and hoarding chocolates and carnations? If you did something like the second choice, you are in excellent company. Meaning, me. Congratulations, you're that much cooler!

My outfit was the exact opposite of my post from yesterday, it was very Liz Claiborne (as my father remarked....while he was talking about the new Thom Browne collection, and reminiscing on how when he was cool they were good friends.......were. Huh.) I wore a long, full, green skirt with a purple ascot top tucked in and a vintage belt, with a shiny...silver-biege ish sweater tha covered it completely. It reminded me of Japaneses baggy style. Which is why I wore it. I wanted to feel Japanese. I ended up feeling like a Hawaiian Hippy. Oh well.

I personally liked Joey/Abigail/Minion's outfit better. So I took a picture.



Too bad her feet are two sizes bigger than mine (maybe it balances out the size of our ego's?) because I would be on those cowboys boots faster than you could blink. And I'm going to be borrowing that skirt constantly this spring. Oh yes. Ican'twaitican'twaitican'twaittillspring.

Truth be told, when I met her freshman year I went over to her because I thought her skirt and boots were cool. That's why we're friends right now, those boots. Materialistic but HEY. IT WORKED OUT. Right? Judging by the number of fights we had today I guess it did.

Oh yes, I have a Spring thrift trip in the making! A certain someone gave me $50 that I will be putting to good use at the local thrift stores and you can be sure I am beyond itching to get my fingers on the racks. I have some items to trade in as well so I shouldn't have to spend too much. Florals shoes oxfords lace leather goldjumpsuitsohmy! I want to go now.

Speaking of gold jumpsuits, I found a pretty funky leotard in my closet by Paolo Santini. It's leopard print velvet.

Can you say brilliant?

And now I'm getting a toothache, so I'm going to dream about this bag because i miss my old leather tote:

$645 at Active Endeavors. It makes me wish for my free leather tote bag even more now. Le sigh.

my son is in a nurse constume (and it's awesome.)

It was raining all day so I figured I'd dress more sensibly today. (read: i wanted to wear my awesome sweater. I found it in my closet, and it's a lot like the one I wanted on ebay that went for $200+. Woohoo.) I'm still tired of this weather and my dismal selection of pants. I need more jeans. Or I have to find my rainbow high waisted ones. Neither will happen anytime soon. So, as a result, my outfit was pretty basic. Blah. I wore mah hat, mah lovely fedora hat, but my cat was sleeping underneath it and it was too painful to take it away from her.

I want a really hideously tacky outfit for tommorow. Something horrendously out of the norm for me, really out there. Something so random that it's awesome. I WANT A GOLD JUMPSUIT.

Perhaps not that crazy. But something different, you know? I'll play around with stuff tonight, I'm really thinking about this ugly plaid skirt I have.... and the sweaters I found the other day in my closet. Branching out into different styles is hard, is it not?

To be honest, I just want to look like I just came off of the Romance Was Born runway: (and I don't care if it's from 2007.)

1) They make acid wash cool.
2) This is me. The nerdy, mental, shiny, tackiness. Oh yes. Me.
3) Those floal legggings? I was eyeing them in the Sock Drawer even before I knew about the floral trend. This is destiny.
4) The random hair things on the last model are made of win and insanity. YAY, INSANITY!

I want it. Every picture is going on my wall and will slowly but surely be replicated. (well, maybe not hair monster.)

Mhmhmhm.

Also, for those umbrella challenged readers, this does not relate to fashion but it is going on here all the same.



1) Open your umbrella from the button or the black thing at the spokes and push away from you to the top of the umbrella.
2) Use.
3) Close umbrella by pulling the thing that connects the umbrella spokes TOWARDS YOU. That means USE FORCE. Do not expect it to close if you repeatedly beat it on the side of the walkway in the parking garage and curse (unimaginatively, too) at it.
4) Do not use.


I told you I'd post it, Joey.

Also, this marks the one month anniversary of my blog, as Joey reminded me so kindly. Woo. It feels like it's been a week! I love blogging and I hope you enjoy reading what I blog. :) Bye!

you're in season denial. DENIAL.

So. This is my day in a nutshell. Beware the awkward poses!!111.

Well now. Wasn't that fun? I really get way too much enjoyment from a Stetson Original hat and a camera in a snowstorm. It's the only fun, actually. Today I was irritated it started snowing.
I am not a Snow Scrooge, no sir, in fact I do enjoy me some pummeling of Joey (Abigails newest nickname, after her favorite Ramone.) but due to my SMART DRESSING for the WEATHER I really couldn't do anything except get pushed around by Michael in the snow when he wanted me to join in on snow surfing. Because, you know, he thinks it's completely practical to snow surf in a skirt and flats. Oh yes.

I'm just fed up with winter. It never snows hard enough for a snow day, and if we have no school tommorow when it's going to be a half-day anyway I'm going to be pissed.

But anyway. What I wore underneath the coat:





From what I wore around the school (the sweater) to what was underneath to the jacket I wore later on that day. With mah hat. I love my hats. I love this scarf. I love block colors. Wheee.

Today I felt kind of Gossip Girl and kind of Fall Season 08 Proenza Shouler with my color combinations. (The tights come off as a kind of purplish grey but they really are just grey.) Proenza was on top of things this runway collection, everything was very wearable so I figured I'd take some inspiration from her.


(image from stylebytes. =])

Speaking of inspiration....you know that amazing dress Keira Knightly wore in Atonement? A dress from my dreams. I saw the previews and I'm probably going to see the movie sometime this weekend with the power of the intarwebs, just beccause I've been staring at the previews and pictures of the dress for the past two days and I want it so hard.

Well, if you've got a few thousand lying (at least $7000 to outbid the current bidder) around and you love the dress as much as me, you can get it, because it's up for auction.



Speaking of Keira herself.....a lot of girls I've been talking to lately on style forums say they draw a lot of inspiration from her. I do too, to a certain extent, I love her boyish but classic wardrobe with fedoras and fitted suits and the like. It doesn't hurt she's a genius, either. But she's not my main icon. I don't really know who I look up to who's a celebrity. Kate Moss? Sure, for some things, she's fearless. Irina L? Definitely some. But as for real Hollywood A-listers, I'm drawing a blank. I love street style, quirky offbrand designers and so much more than people that grace magazine covers. It's definitely because of how attainable and inventive their looks are, they might have something in my very own closet but wear it totally differently. And I like that. I like the concept of easily attainable fashion. Designer brands are too lofty for me, and besides, they get paid and make money from making something new, but street kids just get a second glance and maybe a photo. But they are inspiration for high brands. They are the beginning and end to the trends. But they're seldom the first ones on most girls minds when they think of style 'icons'.
I don't get it.


Maybe I've just been sniffing too much snow.
*kills pun*