Labor Day Weekend vs. Tights

Labor Day Weekend is famous for being well.....hot. And it has been. SO HOT. That dumb mother nature has been screwing San Jose. Oh it's gonna be 61 degrees today.....24 hours later...oh we're having the biggest heatwave since '95 today, temps in the 100's kind of screwing us. It bites. But I can cope. My skin can't obviously, I was lucky enough to get a fat new tomatoe sunburn. But I wear tights anyway. Don't ask why, I don't know myself. Just when I visualize the outfit, it always looks way better with tights. More polished, more elements, whatever. I just wear 'em, and I always suffer, but today my tunic benefitted. It's new, and it's Ray-on or whatever that is. Some popular fabric from past years. Oh well. I like the grecian feel, and the print is wicked. Not too shabby. It feels so great to be winding Sunday down, but to know I have one more full day to get my labor day kicks in. Three days is the perfect weekend length. By Tuesday, I'm not ready to go back to school, but it's much less painful than waking up to that alarm Monday morning. I've been there. It hurts me inside. I want to cry when I hear that 5:30 a.m. alarm. But on Tuesday, all is at peace. I plan to do some painting, swimming, and plain basking in the fact I don't have any work to do whatsoever. (Francesca's collections tunic, forever 21 tights, steve madden boots, topshop necklace, art&wine festival locket)

In One Package

Of all reasons to dress up, my favorite might just be all the messages you can convey in one look. Nobody knows exactly what you're thinking. It's almost mysterious..in a way. You can show a feeling, creativity, or the ultimate death of all personal style, copy a celeb. But still, if you pull it off really well, it's hard to tell. Black and White are some of my personal favorites, because black has this reputation of being dark and edgy, or even creepy. But white, is innocent and childish. Put it togethor, and you're one interesting yet complicated person. Still, silouhettes make the piece, and make the absolute feel of a look. It's a tricky thing, getting it right, but when you do, it's liberating, and you wanna show everyone how special you are. Unfortanutely for me, this usually happens on a day where I have a lot of time. And on days where I have a lot of time, I usually have nowhere to go. So I'm stuck at home in my funky headpiece and boots, begging for an excuse to walk out my front door. It's never possible for it not to have a story, even if you don't think about it all, it still tells a little bit about you. Sure, pretend you don't care, and wear flip flops and t-shirts to Broadway shows (Yes this is true and shocked me), just beware of the message you send out there. And for the most of us, that don't spend our days deciphering people's fashion ensembles, just look nice. Someone out there will come up with your story for you, and it will be a good one.

P.S. Forever 21 skirt, forever 21 tights, steve madden boots, H&M shirt, Francesca's collections hair flower

Grunge No More

Whenever I think fringe, I get this picture of Taylor Momsen in fishnets and black eyeliner with motorcyclists and tacky Elvis impersonators. Fringe has always been associated with grunge and the almost...scandalous. But not anymore. Alexander McQueen's latest collection entails a classy take on this previously dirty trend. Though grunge fringe is hardly a bad thing, and getting numerous stares from people at the citi bank can be fun, It's great to have a new way to wear it. A fresh, more wholesome way at that....at least for the fashion world.

Teenage "Behavior"

I'm sure every one's heard people talk about teenagers and everything they say has to do with them: laziness, technology obsession, no respect for themselves, their peers, adults, and their environment. This is partly true. We are a bunch of twitter, facebook obsessive compulsive disorders waiting to happen. Who knows if by 2020, we'll know any real person at all, except to walk next to them while on a smart phone induced myspace rampage, chatting with everyone but the person we're with. God knows how many times this has happened to me. We want boyfriends more than air and the latest celeb poster put up via thumbtack and superglue is more important than our parents newly painted wall. I say we, because I am not innocent on all charges, though I can honestly say to think of any of these actions makes me cringe. We are teens, and therefore, or behavior (usually) is less than satisfactory. But it is not just us that made this name for ourselves. After years of seventeen magazine "tips", telling us to be oh so concerned with our guy's every move and recently, being "fat and ugly" more than what is healthy for our body types, we can get confused. After years of media, television, and movies....(a.k.a Zack and Cody, MTV, Nickelodeon) telling us lazy, barely passing, rude to even our best friends is somehow.....cool. Help me here...am I missing something? This is new behavior.....helped on by our surroundings. Ask your mom, who's wall you just screwed with Justin Beiber pull out poster.... this behavior wasn't nearly as prominent in the glory days of pack man and nylon. It's out there, the influences, as I call them, but we.....we choose it, and that there, is our one major failure. And it can't be healthy. As an individual who doesn't want to be told a heart shape in my tan will make me hotter for summer (thanks seventeen) I say screw normalcy.

If you have any respect for yourself, and what our species is turning into makes you cry yourself to sleep at night, you'll check out seventeenmagazineproject.blogspot , a girl's experience of living off of seventeen magazine tips for a month.

Ete, Femme

When days reach a scorching 95 degrees, the only thing that keeps me sane are my gladiator sandals and the ice machine in my freezer. The pool is necessary for survival of the day. And even though its uncomfortably hot, and being outside can be excruciating, it seems the only thing you can do is go to a festival (Greek anyone?) or BBQ party of some sort, which is exactly what we did. God I love Greek food. I would trade my right hand for baklava and lamb with tzatziki sauce. Even though it's terrible Greece is dealing with such tough financial situations, at least they have their food. It has yet to reach that hot again, but if it did, I'd be prepared with my hollister denim short shorts, charlotte russe gladiator sandals, white ruffle forever 21 shirt, forever 21 mustard colored knit beret, forever 21 shades, and tilly's chunky necklace. Now if I could just get a slushee....

It's Been a While

There is one plus side to taking a leave of absence from blogger. The fashion takes accumulate, and where else can you get a fantastic background but Great Britain? This month, I was lucky enough to take a two week tour of the United Kingdom. I was definitely most excited to see London. And it was great, but I have to say, it was the places that I didn't expect that much from that really captivated me. It doesn't get more beautiful than the Irish countryside. Medieval castles in small quaint towns just don't exist in the United states. Our history is largely from the last couple centuries, which made this experience all the more memorable. London reminds me of N.Y.C, but Dublin is in a class all it's own. You don't see any pubs titled "the Hairy Lemon", or "O'Donohughes", anywhere around here. I must say, the excessive amount of fashionable people was a nice change. Californian summer everyday wear ranges from jean short shorts and abercrombie tees, to denim bermudas and baggy camp t-shirts and flip flops. Is it just a lack of time, interest, or disregard that causes this unfortunate wardrobe catastrophe I couldn't say, but on the one hand, it does add to a person's sense of individuality if they do it any other way. These photo backgrounds range from the Lodon eye, to Glendalough village Ireland, to Conwy, Wales, to the Conwy castle. I'm almost always wearing my forever 21 black tights, and steve madden boots or flats, as suitcases aren't designed for large expanses of foot wear. Ever present is my black by me jane leather jacket and yellow knit beret. Special pieces are my green paisley scarf, black and white check scarf, blue rag scarf from Switzerland, gray sweater dress from hollister, green stripe dress, urban outfitters skirt, and and gray bubble dress from forever 21. My pieces may be common mall finds, but it's how you wear them that counts, and a mossy castle in the background doesn't hurt either.

World Market Scarf Makes the Outfit

That's right. You heard me. World Market Cost Plus scarf. It gives my outfit the little bit of color it needs to be memorable, but it absolutely isn't a designer piece. The boots are Steve Madden for Macy's, the dress is a vintage-y piece from Forever 21, tights from Forever 21, vest from H&M, leather rocker jacket from Macy's (B Hip by me Jane) and a little red clutch my great-grandma gave me when I was like five. I LOVED it then. I loved all things red then. I still do, actually. I lost it for like 7 years, found it, then lost it again, then recently found it again. Vintage. Oh yeah. I'm really excited because this is the first picture of myself on this blog or anywhere online, though I've been dying to for like, years. I didn't have a camera for quite a while, then when I got one, I couldn't take the right level of photo I needed of myself for a blog. The self timer things is really bad. The photo's off-center and.....bad. And I just felt really awkward about asking people to take my picture for a fashion website, but I finally worked up the nerve.

Polyvore on the Rise

When I first learned of polyvore, I didn't know ANYBODY on the site except the girl who showed it to me, and I hardly knew anybody who knew of it. But now, more and more sites have links to polyvore. Ex. Charlotte Russe, Chictopia, Pottery Barn teen, ect. Maybe it's just me being naive, but could it be that polyvore is one the rise? To celebrate, here's some of my favorite recent sets. The site has great new features like ASK, new contests regularly, and a great community. I can't stress it enough. JOIN fashion peoples of America and otherwise!

A Good Scent is a Good Start

In San Jose, there isn't much shopping at all. When people want designer boutiques or even a great vintage find, they go to San Francisco. Luckily, we people in the 10th biggest city in the U.S. have one little high class strip on the border of San Jose and Santa Clara. It's only a small little area, but it makes living here bearable. There's great music playing, a relaxing bistro-cafeish atmosphere with the few well dressed people the city has to offer and anyway......a great little store none of my friends have ever heard of called Anthropologie. It's a national chain, but I've only seen three of them in my entire life as they are much too nice for your average shopping mall. There are several things I just love about the store. Just walking by on the street you are previewed to an elaborate and creative sculpture-ish decoration. This draws you in a enough for you to walk in, and when you do, well, when I do and assuming everyone else has a smidgen of wit enough to agree with me, the flowery scent and uniqueness of the overall store just captivate you. It reminds me of an upscale Cost Plus World Market for clothes. It's exotic, eclectic, and down to earth at the same time. Not to mention a great interior design collection and organic feel to everything. Being in the store is a new adventure everytime. I praise the person who comes up with their clever decorations. Their prints and detailing are exquisite. And yes, yes, I do sound like a walking advertisement but it's such a pleasing atmosphere, I couldn't care less what foolishness you think! Unfortanutely, some of their garments are a bit out of my price range and I have yet to own an Anthropologie original. Hope your wallet is fatter than mine!

Polyvore Sets.....Again

Having the ability to browse endless expanses of clothing, jewelry, photos, images, and more and then incorporate them into ANYTHING I WANT is thrilling. Forget the price tag....it's polyvore! In fact, most of the sets I've made total over $1,000 dollars.....But I like to think I've inspired someone with my designs. Who knows, maybe some rich British socialite will come around and say, "Oh that girl is genius! That's exactly what I am looking for in an outfit!" Even though that will never happen, I really don't care. It's just plain fun, and a colorful thing to be able to post on my blog. Photos are so much work with the getting a good picture, uploading, the deleting, and saving to a file, mixed in with drama that my computer always conjures up in the process. This is easy. Style, online or in person is such a great form of personal expression. People can tell so much about you from what you wear, so it's important it really reflects you. Unless of course, you're a boring, lazy slop of a person, in which case, it's probably better to dress like you're worth getting to know. Fashion sense demands respect and shows how creative or put togethor you can be. God, I sound like Stacey from "What Not to Wear", but she couldn't be more right. In short, dress good and play polyvore! Yes, I am aware that that was not good grammar.

Why Does Technology Hate Me?

The title says it all. I wore this outfit in December. Uploading photos take forever, then my dinky computer doesn't let me move them to my photo file, then the computer gets stuck and I have to shut down......then the photo remains on my camera without another thought for months until I try uploading a video took on my camera for my friend, and am reminded of all the fileless photos!!!!! Anyway. Forever 21 from head to ankle. Ankles belong to my Steve Madden black suede boots. Forever 21 blazer, tights, t-shirt, and skirt. It's tackey. I'm tackey. Nuff said.

Excuse the blurriness, my camera hates zooming in. What you are looking at is a giant inspiration board type thing I made because I read way too much Nylon and Teen Vogue have way too much free time. I sort of had a digital print, prismy, gemstone pattern theme and all my fabrics were shiny. I'm so weird because normal people use inspiration boards to inspire a collection, but I used collections to inspire an inspiration board. I'm just one backwards gal. This is just one of the many posters and collages I have all over my bedroom walls. Seriously, I've forgotten what color my walls are painted. I post EVERYTHING on my walls. I feel the constant need to make stuff, even if I have no idea what to make, which makes me one very frustrated person.

What's in My Bag

Just in case you haven't used you existing wit to figure this out, this stuff was not actually in my bag when I took the photo, I just scavenged around my room for colorful fashionable stuff that would look good white my bright bag. I got the bag at a Cirque du Soleil "Ovo" show in San Jose for the meek price of $80 (It's totally worth it. I just love the way it feels in my hand) Also pictured is the January Nylon Issue, a pink gift wrapping bow, Bath&BodyWorks liplicious lipgloss in passionfruit guava, which smells (and tastes!) like a jamba juice smoothie, and a shiny blinged out scrapbook from an arts and crafts fair. If you look carefully, you can see a feather quill my dad brought back from Germany. It comes with its own traditional ink! It's so fun......until you get it on your hands. NEVER get it on your hands unless you want purple skin for a month. Yes, that black thing in the back is my boot.

Just Give Me time

So many trends, so little time. So many trends I've hated, and swore to myself I would never wear. But after a long while of seeing them over and over again in magazines, they started to grow on me. Once upon a time, I detested skinny jeans and was head over heels for gouchos. Oh, so young....so foolish. After being forced to stare at the glove like fitting jean long enough, things just began to make sense. Now the only pants I own stick to my legs like glue. Other once hatreds include acid wash jeans, booties, and GASP...high waisted skirts. But it's so weird because everything I used to hate now are my greatest desires, my faithful companions from day to day. When I began seeing lingerie like peek-a-boo clothing on the runways and in magazine photo shoots, I was apalled. Shameful! But now........you get the picture. I can't look at that photo of the beanstalk model covered from head to toe in tomatoe colored "underwear as outerwear" and not feel a great need sweep over me. I don't even despise Chanel's Fall 2009 eskimo suits! Now that I think of it, that abominable snowman borrowed rug coat would look stellar with skinny jeans....and maybe some booties. But there is one trend I just can't get over. CLOGS. There is no way in HE double toothpicks I'd place my foot in that awkward, noisy, little shoe. I just won't. I can't. I grew up watching my mother waste so much potential on them. When I look at them, I think rodeo gone wrong. All my nightmares of childhood shoe shopping with my mother return. GAG. But honestly, they aren't that different from the embellished ankle cowboy boots I saw in that boutique.....and they look kind of fun to wear and tap around in......NO. I will not allow myself to go there. Clogs will not win this battle. Not tonight anyway...

Kira Plastawhere?

Just the other day I was making a collage for an art journal, and I was looking through the old September '08 Seventeen mag, just to find an article about the sixteen year old Russian designer I used to admire so much, Kira Plastinina. Maybe not her plasticy, pink, fluffy clothing per se, but her accomplishments as such a young designer. I realized you never see her any more. I used to be constantly reading articles, ads, you name it about her in teen vogue, seventeen, and other teen magazines, but it's as though she vanished from the face of the earth. I looked her up and found that her U.S. branch of her company went into bankruptcy and closed most of its 12 U.S. stores! How sad is that! I love to see someone go for their dreams and make it happen, and when they get set back this much, it makes me miserable for them! It ruined my whole day! I dedicated my collage to her and her clothing.

These Puddles Aren't Going Away

Here we are, more than a month later than my last post, and yet, it RAINS! Our dryer needs a vacation from all the sopping wet clothes, and someone needs to take me in their time machine six months in the future and fly me to Montana, because I swear, I forgot what blue skies look like. But hey, it least I can live it up in a bold shouldered H&M purple cardigan that matches nothing I currently own but makes me feel happier just thinking about it. Maybe I'll cut some stylish menswear trousers out of the Miley Cyrus Harper's Bazaar, (Anyone else sick of the "True Miley"?) and glue them where I desire. But..........no. I could never ruin a magazine. I never throw them away, give them away, or cut stuff out. I can't. Someday soon I'll have to clean out my sock drawer just to fit all the glossy pages and enjoy other people's style with my bare piggy-toes.