dueling cyclones jackknife

dress: thrift -- vest: thrift -- boots: thrift -- sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Yesterday my mom came to class with me! It was all kinds of fun. First, she treated me to a delicious lunch and afterwards we enjoyed a fantastic lecture. I realized that my mom's never actually seen me "in action" in class, so it was really cool to share that part of myself with her. School is my number one obsession in life, you see, and it means a lot to me for her to see me in my element



Thanks for taking these photos, Mom!

Feeling quiet today. What are your plans for the weekend?

Today's title comes from Destroyer -- "Rubies."

i dance to forget my fall from grace

dress: Urban Outfitters -- cardigan: thrift -- shoes: Seychelles, thrift -- belt: thrift -- scarf: thrift

Wow, guys, I managed to make exactly the same weird face here as I did the other day! It's a bit of a struggle to get decent photos. I just can't deal with how the camera I used to use always made my feet and legs out of focus, I don't have the DSLR I was borrowing over last quarter, and I can't use my dad's camera since I'm not home. Even though that old camera I've been using works okay, I have to tape the battery door shut and it eats up 4 AA batteries :\ I'm thinking about just buying some $100 point and shoot or something.

Today is the first day of the quarter! I am really excited about my new classes, especially one about women's history that I'm taking with a phenomenal professor. My mom actually took a class with her when she went to Stanford, and when I told the professor, she invited my mom to come to class with me! And, since my mom is on spring break from the school where she teaches, she's actually going to come on Wednesday. Yay :)



Lots of fun little details today! All of the buttons were coming off/missing when I got this sweater, but I couldn't find five of the same ones. I ended up finding a few different wood-looking ones that coordinate and two of those pearlescent ones. I like how they all work together.

This dress is one of the two things I've ever bought at Urban Outfitters that wasn't on sale. I just love it so, so much. It gets wrinkly since it's linen, but I don't mind. It's simultaneously interesting and timeless. You can't really go wrong with that!



Haha, my feet are so red. I've walked a couple miles in these shoes today, so it makes sense! They're Seychelles, but I found them apparently never-worn at Savers this fall for $10.



This bracelet belonged to my great-great grandmother, who passed it down to my great grandmother, who passed it down to my grandma, who randomly gave it to me when I visited her this summer. Way for me to be in the right place at the right time! She was just trying to clean out her jewelry box a bit. It's got a stamp on the clasp that says "FEB. 14 82." 1882. Crazy. I adore it, but I don't usually wear it since it's such an heirloom, and I'm scared of something happening to it.



Yummy orange juice! It inspired me to name today's post after a song by one of my favorite groups, Orange Juice. You know that song "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins? He actually got his start in Orange Juice in the late 70s. Their album You Can't Hide Your Love Forever is a classic. Also, I like to pretend that "A Girl Like You" is my theme song.

could have planned it all

I AM BLONDE! I did it! One Colorsilk kit, one bleaching, and one toning later...


Already having more fun!



I love it! I hope you do, too... And if you don't, pretend you do :P

Anyway, this was quite validating since I've had countless hairdressers tell me to never do bleach myself. It was really pretty simple, and my hair still feels nice and strong.

As a little prize for those of you who regularly read my blog, if you want an extra entry in the giveaway you can tweet or blog about it and post a link. Or both! TWO extra entries. Fancy that.

Today's title comes from Blondie -- "Accidents Never Happen." It was either Blondie or No Doubt, and I have to say that Debbie is closer to my heart (although Gwen Stefani has some amazing abs and awesome hair).

100th post giveaway!!

Wow, I can't believe I've already hit 100 posts! What started out as a little experiment on a whim has grown into  one of my most treasured daily activities. By 200 posts, I'll be calling blogging a passion :)

To celebrate, I thought I'd do a giveaway as a thank-you to all of my readers. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would be the best thing to give away, and what I've settle on is a bit unconventional, but I think you'll love it.

The winner of this giveaway will win a package of custom-thrifted and "oh so sophi" goodies! 

Now what do I mean by "custom-thrifted"? Whoever wins will give me her (or his!) size, color preferences, and some likes/dislikes. I'll head out to my favorite thrift stores with the winner's specifications in mind and pick up a few awesome pieces. In addition, you'll get a little bag of my favorite nail polish, some of my favorite teas, a mix CD, one of my favorite books, a photo print or two, and a couple of other little surprises.


To enter, simply leave a comment below telling me what you're looking forward to this spring and your email so I can contact you if you win. That's it! You don't have to follow or Tweet or anything. But if you'd like to, I would genuinely appreciate it.

This is open to domestic and international readers :) Winner will be drawn on April 8th.

P.S. I'm bleaching my hair! Since I have a pixie cut already, a dramatic post-breakup haircut was limited to shaving my head, so I went for some crazy dye :P It's not done yet, but I can't wait to see how it turns out.

i just can't see her again, i've got to see her again

shorts: thrift -- blouse: thrift -- cardigan: thrift -- shoes: thrift -- tights: Aldo clearance -- necklace: Madewell, won in Sydney's giveaway

It may look like we're having beautiful spring weather. We're not. It's sunny right now, which is the first nice weather we've had in five straight days of heavy rain and clouds. The rain isn't supposed to truly stop until next Monday. i.e., the first day that I'm back in class after spring break. Nice timing, universe. Really nice.



All that being said, I'm still super-stoked  to be on break. I've got lots of really exciting plans like 1) actually reading other people's blogs, 2) cleaning out my filing cabinet and reorganizing my files, 3) finding a way to arrange the furniture in my room so that I can use my speaker towers and my desk, and 4) putting decent content here on my blog. Alex's break isn't right now, sadly, and my friends from high school aren't on break either. What can you do!



Now, please enjoy some other photos. From left to right: me and my cat Kermit acting like the weirdos we are, another outfit shot, and what it looks like after I put in my hair product and before I make it go the right way



Today's title comes from The Pastels -- Crawl Babies. I'm obsessed with The Pastels. If you like The Vaselines, Belle & Sebastian, Beat Happening, or Tallulah Gosh, I know you'll love them.

take me in and dry the rain

dress: thrift -- boots: thrift -- shirt: thrift -- tights: Marshall's -- leather jacket (next photo): thrift

100% thrift today, not counting tights. It's raining like crazy today, which I normally wouldn't mind, but it's supposed to keep raining the whole way through my spring break. Lame! I just took all my spring clothes up to school with me, too. :(



I've been using my camera that I bought in 2005 to take photos for these last two posts since it somehow manages to take way sharper photos than my camera from 2008. Oh well. It has some dead pixels and a weird dark spot, but it also has a swivel LCD like a video camera. Meaning that I can actually see where I am in the shot while I'm waiting for the self timer to go off. Very convenient.



Tomorrow, I'm going to finish up my Etsy stuff and catch up with all of your blogs. In the meantime, I am basking in the wonderful feeling of not having any pressing engagements or tasks.

Today's title comes from The Beta Band -- Dry the Rain. Such a nice mellow jam, and it's in one of my favorite scenes in my favorite movies, High Fidelity.

z'avez pas vu ma brosse à dents!?

dress: thrift -- belt: thrift -- boots: thrift -- earrings: thrift

Oh my goodness, it's been quite a week. I still have one final on Friday, but I'm not too worried about it. The big hurdles for me was my term paper about thrift-vintage fashion and authenticity. (The written version of the presentation that I posted.)



I really love the sweep of this dress! It's just a real pleasure to wear. My grandmother took me thrifting for my birthday in September while I was visiting the small town where she lives. I filled up a whole grocery bag for something like $4. Small town thrift stores are the best!


Tree earrings and nice pleats!

I hope you like the new layout :) I've got spring on the mind, and I was sick of the dreary brown and black of my old background. Oh, and...

my Etsy shop is up and running!

I'm still working on posting everything I want to sell. It takes SO LONG. Oh my goodness, I figured it was a ton of work, but I had no idea just how much. I'll be posting about it more over the weekend once I'm all done posting my wares.

My 100th post is coming up, and I think I'll host a giveaway to celebrate. What is your favorite kind of giveaway? Do you like Etsy store credit? Thrifted accessories? Little trinkets? I don't have much of a budget, I'm afraid, but I want to give away something that people want and that will entice participation, too. What has worked for you?


I feel like such a broken record, but, again, I am so sorry for being such a terrible blog reader! I've just been so, so unbelievably busy that It's been impossible. But I should be back in the game for the next couple of months until finals hit again...

Today's title comes from Jacqueline Taieb -- 7 heures du matin, my favorite getting ready for school jam. Definitely beats "Friday."

please forgive my silence

In the past week, I have...

Written 6,500 words of essays
Printed 7 photographs (each one representing between 1-3 hours of work)
Attended 6 classes
Taught 1 class
Cleaned up after the mess left by cooking dinner for 50 people 2 times
Cleaned 1 bathroom
Read for 3 hours

...so blogging just hasn't been in the mix. But things should be back to normal starting Tuesday or Wednesday

In the interim, here are some collages I threw together of pre-blog outfits or outfits I didn't end up posting. Some of these are as old as the summer before my senior year of high school. Note the awesome bathroom outfit photos.





I suppose it's an opportune moment to mention that I've decided to start growing my hair out! Not to the way it is in those photos, but to about my shoulders. I'm hoping to rock a nice shag, the big girl version this haircut that I had when I was 13. Just maybe actually styled a bit instead of just left to dry and a bit more layered...


Note the iMac in the background.

All right, 17 photos of me is way more than one post needs! I should get myself to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.

Also, an anonymous commenter asked for some hints about where to buy an awesome 80s prom dress. I can't tell you any specific places to look except in the San Jose area, but I see nice ones at Goodwill all the time. And Salvation Army, for that matter. As with all thrifting wants, it'll take a while to find the perfect one, so just be patient and open-minded. I bought my 60s floor length navy chiffon prom gown for $8 after buying a $35 80s one on Etsy that just wasn't working out.

guest post at north country girl!

You can find today's post over at North Country Girl, the inimitable and charming blog of Michal. Her casual-but-refined style mixes vintage and contemporary to great effect. Not only is she super stylish, she's also a talented musician and an avid reader. She was one of the first people to take an interest in my blog, and over the months, we've become friends and, recently, penpals! Her support still means so much to me. I hope someday soon I get to actually meet her in person :)

My post for her today features a look inspired by my favorite book, If on a winter's night a traveler. Go check it out!

do you wanna make tea at the BBC?

Busting out my corporate executive pose:

blazer: found in my high school's costume closet -- skirt: thrift -- shirt: thrift -- shoes: Pour la Victoire via Loehmann's

Today I got to pretend to be a serious grown up! I had my final presentation in my postmodernism/writing/oral communications/research class, and part of the assignment was to dress nicely. One of my classmates showed up in a tux, just to be tongue-in-cheek. Since it was supposed to be formal, I went out and bought nylons since my skirt is already informally short. These nylons were the closest I was able to get to my natural paleness, but they were a little too tan still. I am absurdly pale.

The paper I presented today is about postmodern notions of authenticity and identity as seen through the case study of thrift and vintage fashions. That's right; I did a serious assignment about thrift style. Remember that survey I posted up here a few weeks ago about thrifting? I used quotes from  you!

My presentation is a solid 11 minutes, but I've uploaded the whole thing to share with you in the (vain?) hope that someone out there will watch it ;) Sorry you can't read the slides... they're all just words anyway.

More than Just Dress-Up: Constructing an Authentic Identity from sophi on Vimeo.

Today's title comes from The Clash -- Career Opportunities. Seemed appropriate given how much today felt like playing academic. And I've got summer internships on the mind. Hmm.

there's a lot to be done while your head is still young

dress: American Apparel, present from my Mom -- blazer: thrift -- scarf: antique shop -- shoes: thrift -- tights: We Love Colors, present from my Mom


I felt very French in this little ensemble yesterday. I'd had a bit of difficulty styling this dress in ways over than boots-and-big-cardigan, so figuring this whole blazer-and-flats bit out was exciting for me.



It was super bright out when I was taking these yesterday morning, making for some rather harsh shadows. I can't wait for the next time Alex takes photos for me, let me tell you. The whole tripod and self-timer thing gets old and boring fast, especially since I don't have a remote.

On that note, I have to return the DSLR I've been using next week. I guess it's back to my point and shoot! Maybe Alex will let me borrow his nicer-than-mine point and shoot? Anyway, I've been thinking that buying a DSLR would probably be a good move on my part, but I just don't have the funds at the moment. Which brings me to my next point...

I am going to do an Etsy store over the next few weeks! I've got a bunch of awesome stuff that just doesn't quite work for me. It should launch by March 20 or so, and I'll leave it up until it either all sells or goes untouched for so long that I become totally discouraged. I should have a selection of shoes from 7.5-9, some jackets, dresses, and other fun pieces! I've been wanting to do this for ages, so I'm really excited.

Today is my dear friend Lauren's 20th birthday! You should check out her art--she's by far one of the most talented artists I have ever met.

I hope all of you are having good weeks and staying happy and healthy. Things are busy for me (surprise!), but I'm still feeling like my head is above water :)

Today's title comes from Belle & Sebastian -- Sleep the Clock Around. Have I ever mentioned that I'm obsessed with (mostly early) Belle & Sebastian? Some of my favorite music ever.