you're standing on my neck

Halloween Edition!




Daria and Trent

This summer, I decided to dress up as Daria for Halloween after spending most of August watching the complete series while sewing. I'm not really a big television person; I only like a few shows, and I only watch them on DVD/Netflix years after they air. It's even more unusual that I'll actually relate to a TV show.

Daria is special to me. I only saw it a few times before it got canceled, but I was obsessed with the VHS tape we made of Is It College Yet?, and I made all of my friends with Noggin watch Daria when I went over to their houses. My family had this little Daria book called The Daria Diaries that I read dozens of times.

If you met me, you probably wouldn't make a Daria comparison with me. I'm very chatty, pretty silly, and fairly easygoing. But underneath my ever-so-normal exterior, I've got a lot of the same flaws Daria has. We're both judgmental, nerdy as hell, and self-congratulatory. (Daria sums it up in the first episode: "I don't have low self-esteem. ... I have low esteem for everyone else.") I tend to be very impatient with people's foibles. As I've gotten older, I've loosened up and made plenty of my own bad decisions and mistakes. Even so, that part of me that just won't suffer foolishness and immaturity (because, of course, I am SUCH a paragon of virtue... not) is definitely still active. Watching Daria reminds me of my faults, but it also reminds me that even those faults have their positive aspects. I like Daria. I'm on her side.

Alex is my Trent! Pretty good, eh?

open another bottle of inspiration

I've been feeling a little blah about my outfits and clothing in general this week. I've got other things on my mind, I guess. We're over half way through our quarter--almost two-thirds through, actually--and I'm feeling a little weary. Since I'm feeling kind of uninspired, I thought I'd try a little inspiration post here.

I love inspiration posts on other blogs, because I'm terrible at keeping up with trends and designers. Well, I suppose it's not that I'm terrible at it; it's more that I don't care enough to seek that information out. Nevertheless, I'm as inspired by a great collection as the next fashion blogger.

What does give me a lot of ideas is images I come across in my everyday movie-watching and internet-surfing. Here's a smattering of inspiration that I've come across in recent months--it's all quite disparate, but hey, as long as the individual outfit is cohesive...


Anna Karina in Godard's A Woman Is a Woman


Sylvie Vartan, a 60s ye-ye singer.
(Picture found here)


Bridget Fonda, my doppelganger to the extreme with that hairdo, in Single White Female


Agnetha and Frida of ABBA sporting some CRAZY tunics in the "Thank You for the Music" promo.

It goes without saying, though, that the thing I find most inspiring are the outfits of other style bloggers.

I promise some real content tomorrow. You have my word!

with a little help from my friends

I thought I'd mix things up a little bit today and showcase a couple of my friends!


This is Kiyan, who always has on something unique, perfectly-put-together, and inspiring. He makes bold sartorial choices, too, which I really admire. The other night, he wore sequin pants and a red blazer to a party--and he looked AMAZING. Oh, and he's totally brilliant on top of all of his fashion prowess!

Here's another friend of mine, Sam.

Sam has it all! He's one of the best listeners I've ever met, he's ever-so-handsome, and he's incredibly intelligent. We try to go on a weekly "date" to catch up about our lives, gossip, and eat/caffeinate. Today we had a picnic! We made a delicious salad and enjoyed it over by the little forest. Sam made the tastiest croutons ever :D


I love how Sam always has that perfect just-rolled-out-of-bed-chic look! He somehow exudes stylishness even when he comes to class in his pajama pants. Seriously. I met him in my writing class last year, and he wore his pajama pants, and it somehow looked cool.

Here I am during our picnic, complaining about something or another, as per usual. I'm a ranter.

Being rather underslept, I kept it simple today with a vintage sweater, my favorite jeans, and some loafer flats. Thanks to Sam for snapping this incredibly flattering, Kodak Moment photo of me ;)

crimson and clover

I took a stroll through the little forest by my dorm house today, and it was lovely. Red and blue is one of my favorite color combinations, and it's been all over fashion blogs and sites this month. Since it was so sunny today, it seemed like a natural time to try it out.


skirt: American Apparel, hand-me-down -- shirt: American Apparel, $9 -- cardigan: Levi's, hand-me-down -- shoes: MIA via Nordstrom Rack, $40




The problem with taking photos out there is that it's nearly impossible to show flat shoes over the groundcover!




I definitely got a spiderweb to the face taking these photos. Yiiikes.

I feel guilty when I don't actually write any real content in an update, but I'm just so busy that I don't have time. Today I've been slaving over this extremely comprehensive Power Point all about contraceptive methods. I co-teach a sex ed class at my college, which is really the culmination-this-far of my lifelong obsession with sexual health. My interest is really scientific, actually--I love understanding the biology behind how and why things work, memorizing statistics, stuff like that. The hours of work have paid off though, because the presentation is exactly how I want it to be. And yes, there is a picture of Elaine Benes and a reference to being spongeworthy. (Can't help myself--the sponge has a pretty high failure rate, and there are far better choices for most women!)

Better go! If I keep writing, I'll be late to my own class :P

i'll try to find you left of the dial

pants: thrift, $4 -- camisole: freebie with the other camisole I have underneath that you can't see :P -- shoes: urban outfitters, $10 -- cardigan: American Apparel, $20 -- earrings: $2

I mentally refer to these shoes as my "fall-on-my-ass" shoes. The heels are made out of this completely rigid, non-shock-absorbing, slippery material. I have fallen down wearing these shoes SO many times. I love their cute wingtip detailing so much though that I can't bear to stop wearing them, dangerous as they may be. They look a little splotchy in the photos, but they're just wet from the lawn.

I got into the Style Gallery on Chictopia on Friday, which made me so happy! I've been using the site intermittently for almost a year now, but I've never made the Style Gallery. It felt great. Here's hoping for a repeat performance!

Thanks to Alex for taking these photos!

your red hair's burning

skirt: thrift, $5 -- top: thrift, $4 -- boots: thrift, $7 -- cardigan: thrift, $3.50 -- tights: Nicole Miller via Marshall's, $3 -- necklace: won via The Upside of Wonder in an All the Pretty Birds Vintage giveaway!

Alex took photos for me today! I also spruced up the blog a bit, I hope you like it :)

It rained today, which I really enjoyed. The Indian summer we've been having was welcome, considering what a comparatively cold summer we had here in the Bay Area, but I was getting pretty sick of my summer clothes.

Autumn and Winter dressing offers so many more style options! Logically, it makes perfect sense: needing to wear multiple layers means you can wear more items of clothing. Furthermore, as Alex pointed out, I have a "boot thing," so the cooler weather means I can rock them all the more often. To be fair though, I wear them all the time in the summer anyway. I just don't much like sandals.



I was so happy and surprised when I found out that I'd won this necklace from the The Upside of Wonder's All the Pretty Birds Vintage giveaway! I enter almost every giveaway I see, so I was really happy to actually win for once! It's a really beautiful vintage necklace made by Avon, of all manufacturers. Who knew?



I'm always a little insecure in patterned tights, but I think I should probably get over it...

My dad says that I should stop standing pigeon-toed in my photos. Hmm.


I'm very serious-minded, in case you couldn't tell.

as long as I gaze a waterloo sunset

dress: thrift, $4 -- shoes: BC Footwear, $40

Oh goodness! I still just can't seem to get my face and shoes to be sharp. This dress actually came with a little vest that matches the skirt, but I didn't feel like wearing it today.

Check out my super cool antique watch! I say antique because you have to wind it by hand, so I just assume it's old. Could be a holdover, though. Anyway, I scored it for $7 last year from this little antique shop run by a batty old lady.

I bought this dress back in August, and I've been waiting for a day cold enough to wear it! Today was that day :) I was especially motivated to wear it after watching Quadrophenia the other night. It's a movie from the seventies about Mod culture in 1964 London. I thought it was a boring movie about unsympathetic people, but the clothes and scooters were pretty cool. Also, a young Sting has a featured role. He's one intense-looking guy.

Creepy, right?

the film of my love

Didn't get around to taking photos for today, so here's a bunch Alex and I took on Saturday.

sweater: thrifted, $5 -- jeans: Levi's, $40 -- shoes: thrifted, $11 --purse: vintage Coach bag, present from Alex

I actually threw this on from the pile of clothes in my car--Alex really wanted to take photos, but I had on a tee, flats, and jeans, so... Alex encouraged me to make grumpy model faces :P

I'm not much of one for grumpy faces, though.

This sweater is actually the sweater of a friend of mine that she gave to the thrift store... which we realized when I wore it to her birthday party!

Alex and I have been digging on Redwood City where we took these photos. It just has such a radically different vibe than the rest of the South Bay and lower Peninsula. Lots of old buildings...

Alex in his outfit! Thrifted deadstock Levi's Sta-Prest (I found 'em! woo!), Sperry Top-Siders, vintage shirt, and vintage cardigan.

Lookin' too cool for school.

We're not nearly so highfalutin as we might appear though...

Sleepytime... be ready for some mod action tomorrow, though!

rattled by the rush

Quick one today! I decided to wear something I really wasn't sure about today. I feel like the blazer is just a bit too long for the dress, but I like how they look together. Sort of off-kilter business casual.

dress: Lulu's, present -- shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via 6pm.com, $15 -- belt: thrift, $1 -- blazer: thrift, $6

Having some photo difficulties lately. I had been borrowing my school's DSLR, but they finally asked for it back, leaving me with only my teeny Fuji point-and-shoot. I like how it's easier to frame the shots, but the focus degrades like crazy toward the edges. I'll figure it out...

there lived a cat, a phenomenal cat

I made a new friend today!

In a moment, meet Pinto, the adorable cat that plays in the mini-forest by my dorm house. (My house, by the way, is a co-op house that happens to be a very dorm-y building, and it's where I live at my college... hence, dorm house.)

Monday is my easy day, so I took a leisurely outfit photo stroll through the mini-forest.

Took some outfit photos, no big deal...

dress: thrift, $3.35 -- tights: Payless Shoe Source, $3 -- blazer, thrift: $8 -- shoes: thrift, $11

belt: thrift, $2

I was so stoked to find these shoes this weekend! They're a lot more expensive (at a paltry $11, however) than most of the shoes I buy at the thrift store, but I've been lusting after some heeled desert boots/wallabees since I saw them in the magazines in August. They were just too expensive to buy, so I was really happy when I found these. They're a little more square toed than I'd like, but I'll take what I can get! They're a lot like these ones from BC Footwear that I had my eye on.

BC Footwear Atmosphere, $60-$80

Back to my story!
So I was walking along...when I heard something rustling in the underbrush! My school's campus has probably the highest squirrels/square mile concentration in the world, so I didn't think much of it. But then I saw a swishy, long, striped tail... and an adorable little kitty!

Because of my mother's frequent warnings of rabies/bites/scratches when I was a kid, I kept my distance. Even so, the kitty walked up toward me, meowing inquisitively and swishing its fluffy tail. I was quite taken with it as it looks a great deal like one of my cats at home, Kermit.

forest-cat

Kermit

forest-cat

Kermit

I decided to name the forest-cat Pinto because it's much smaller than all of my (exceptionally large) cats at home and it has a cute little tan cast. It also just suits it very well. Maybe next time I'll be able to ascertain its gender. Its friendliness points to male, but its petite size points to female. Hmm.

Pinto rubbed my ankles a whole lot!

Pinto has a funny way of nibbling lovingly at your ankles and leaping up toward your hands to get you to pick him/her up for some snuggling.

There was some serious purring happening at that moment.

Pinto walked behind me the whole way back to the edge of the mini-forest! I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other...

I think he/she must belong to one of the faculty families that lives in the neighborhood on the other side of the mini-forest. He/she is too friendly to be feral. It's probably a bad idea, but I'm going to pick up some kitty treats for pinto when I'm at CVS on Wednesday to see if we can't cement our friendship. (Oh, watch me anthropomorphize!)

Type Cyan

Here's my art project I've been talking about! These are a series of cyanotypes I produced on the pages of an antique book from 1923. I brainstormed the images, took the photographs, created the cyanotype paper, and printed them.

If you enjoyed these, please check out my Flickr page!

Here I am at the event where I showed them, smiling like a dork :)

Smiling REALLY big with my prints :P

I love how they turned out with the frames, too--I wish it could come across right online!