Out for Dinner

Do I look unusually florid here? I'm either tanning during my morning scoots to the train station or I need to learn color balance in PS. Or paint that wall.

wait, I figured it out:

Pro!

 Kimono shirt shell: Forever 21 (thrifted)

Jeans: 7 for all Mankind (gift from brother)

Platforms: Candie's (thrifted)

Necklace: family crest (inherited)

Damascene bracelet: eBay

Stepped out for dinner with a dear friend I hadn't seen since I moved back up. Finally wore the shirt shell I thrifted last year when I was visiting for one of Favourite Joe's shows. There's a lot of yellow and bright teal in it, so I was unable to figure out an underlayer until I bought this goldenrod tank top I posted about last month.

This whole 'color' thing is opening up all sorts of new frontiers!

Good to see this outfit looks nice and not over-the-top "HI DID I MENTION MY ANCESTORS CAME FROM JAPAN"

A weekend of San Franthriftco

I recently visited the Bay Area for the weekend. Thrifting was involved, so I'll report back on what I did there. :D

Here is my first successful capsule wardrobe:

Citizens of Humanity sweatshirt (thrifted)

7 for all Mankind jeans (gift from brother)

ANAC mesh top (eBay)

OCCO Paris teal top (free)

Nancy Giallombardo denim skirt (thrifted)

Fitzwell Laura sandals (6pm.com)

I also had my trusty New Balance sneakers. Everything went with everything else! First time I've been able to do that. (My usual method of outfit selection is 'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh I wanna wear thisandthisandthisandthis') I also figured since I'd be thrifting during my time up there, that I could add stuff if I wanted.

I actually went up to visit my favorite Joe (srsly. I have met no other Joes I like better.) for his band's show and EP launch. The band is called The Hangover Brigade, they have a folk rock sound, and they are immensely talented and fantastic. (Which is good, because it'd be really awkward if I thought they sounded terrible.)

You can listen to the entire EP on CDbaby (they are also sold on iTunes, Amazon, and other large vendors) and you really should. I had the first track stuck in my head for 48 hours after the show, and that's an endorsement.

The Hangover Brigade's last show!

Here's their cover of No Diggity, that they played as an encore:


Before the show, we drove into the city and walked up and down Haight St. looking for gig-type clothes and accessories for Joe. The only thing more fun than thrift shopping for me is thrift shopping for someone else. Even competing with the pre-Halloween crowd, we had great luck!

Here's what we found:

Exhibit A: grey 5 button vest from Goodwill

Exhibit B: Fuzzy black J's Awake shoes from Wasteland. The soles are red!

Exhibit C: Marshall Collins flatcap from Goorin Bros. Not thrifted, just awesome. I'm pretty sure flatcaps were put on this earth for men with van dyke beards.

We also found these low grey Alfani boots and the following day Joe found the sweet Olympique Marseille track jacket at one of my favorite thrift shops. Soccer's his favorite sport, so extra win. It was in great condition, with a plastic tag loop still inside. I think it was new! I found another picture of it online:

Happily, Joe dug my style suggestions, and the things I thought he could rock he totally rocked. I thought he looked great, he thought he looked great, happy shopping vibes all around.

The items are all multipurpose and can be used for music gigs, work, or everyday. There was a coat with tails briefly tried on at a Steampunk shop because when it comes down to it, I think everybody should wear Regency style clothes, but maybe for another time.

And because I had a few hours to kill during soundcheck before the show started, I tootled back to the Goodwill down the street and went shopping for myself this time. >.>

Whee! My haul from two thrift shops that weekend:

I've been looking for mustard skinny jeans or jeggings for a long time to wear with sweater dresses & boots in the winter. I'm slowly taking steps into the world of color. Thanks to style blogs, I know colors I'd never wear near my face because of my complexion can be worn on my lower half.

These jeans are by Margaret M, and still had the tag attached. I found out it's a Canadian brand that makes their products domestically. Any northerners heard of the brand?

The wide leather belt is by Pellemelle, and thanks to alert readers, I know 'pelle' is Italian for leather. :D Italian leather, it says on the inside, and made in the US.

The grey and black checked vest is from TRF, which I think is a collection within Zara. It's size L, but it has criss-crossing straps in the back that let me cinch it in to the correct width.

The Forever 21 Japanese print shirt shell was a go back behind the counter that I pointed to excitedly as we were checking out. Instant sell! I'm not sure how I feel about the red lace, but the print and the long square fire hazard sleeves absolutely do it for me.

Check out the luster on these fake pearls! I don't often have luck thrifting jewelry, but I thought I hit it big with these. I want to wear the blue pearls with the lace-feather-ribbons flower pin with my dark blue OzzOn dress.

Lastly, these Candie's green and brown platform boots fill another hole in my wardrobe- casual sturdy boots in the brown color palette. My thrifted Doc Martens chafe my Achilles tendon something fierce, so onto eBay they go.

I put so many holes through my October budget that it's curled up in a corner somewhere licking its wounds, but I regret nothing. Sometimes I've thrifted things and gone 'aww crap, that wasn't a good idea' but this time, all items feel like practical fits within my existing wardrobe. Vest, wide belt, shirt shell, boots, jeans... this is basically Couturgatory right here in one thrifted heap. What's your latest treasure or your latest 'aww crap' purchase?

Street Food Cinema's Labyrinth

One of the things I did this summer was attend Street Food Cinema's showing of Jim Henson's Labyrinth with my friend Cathy!

Labyrinth is my favorite film, and getting the chance to see it on a large screen is always a treat. I've seen it in a theatre once before, in the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Brian Henson and a few cast members did a pre-show for that one. It was fantastic. (:

 In case you haven't seen it, Labyrinth features Jennifer Connelly as a teenaged heroine who sets out to save her baby brother wearing jeans, a vest over a foofy shirt, and sensible shoes:

So I wore my take on the ensemble:

Would have liked more contrast between the vest and the shirt, but it's the only one of that cut I've got. Wouldn't mind another layer-y vest like this, but I'll take it slow, since this one already makes my mother sad.

At least the undershirt is no longer white! I overdyed it to bring out the blue and purple in the t-shirt.

Theatre de la Labyrinth shirt: available on Redbubble, prints on etsy

Undershirt (overdyed): Anxiety Cafe (thrifted)

Vest: Zara basic (thrifted)

Necklace-as-bracelet: Printemps dept store in Japan

Of course one needs a bracelet of plastic beads for barter

Here is a picture of the shirt art from the artist's etsy store:

Seriously, I love this film so much. I love everything David Bowie wears in it, I love the Escher-inspired set pieces, I love that Michael Moschen does Jareth's contact juggling, I love that Gates McFadden of Star Trek: the Next Generation fame choreographed the ballroom scene.

Most of all, you can clearly see the passion and creativity in the detail that went into this film. The sets and puppets are bursting with personality and the world has that distinct wacky, gentle, and thoroughly creative Jim Henson feel.

Fran Brill said of Jim Henson, "He was gentle, empathetic, worked with praise and encouraged you to the best of your ability. He created an atmosphere of fun and foolishness intuiting that in order to create and feel free one had to feel 'safe.'"

It also features the only possible example of leggings-as-pants that doesn't meet with my disapproval:

woo hoo! David Bowie is borderline NSFW in this film.

The event itself had several food trucks and a big grassy lawn on which to spread picnic blankets. Cathy said it was a prime example of the sun worshipping Los Angeles culture. I'm starting to like the city, at least the parts I travel to within its vast bounds. It's too large to wrap my head around as yet.

When I get out of the monochrome suburb where my mother lives, Southern CA has some pretty neat events, creative people, and a lot of wonderful places to eat. I'm working on getting that activation energy to get in the car and drive for an hour to experience some of it. It's harder than just riding the train or bus for the same length of time!

Did you go to any outdoor events this summer? Are there showings of old or cult favorite films in your area?

Stripped Up for Hot Weather

This top is one of my new desert pieces. I managed to snag it for $3 at a thrift shop. Fully lined and 100% silk! It has subtle ruching down the sides and a drapey almost cowl neckline that flatters the figure.

Oh, and the tattered strips of silk: Instant love. Any occasion to bust out the fire hazard label! I feel they hang around my shoulders like the fluttering ribbons of fantasy wings. Or ribbons of homelessness, according to my mom. Agree to disagree.

Shredded silk shirt: unknown (thrifted)

Denim mermaid skirt: Bebe (thrifted)

Sandals: Clark's (gift from Cathy)

Necklace: Old Navy

Bangles: gifted x2, DIY, thrifted, and Paris

I feel kind of slouchy and feminine and classy-sexy all at once in it. Which is great, because I've also been totally slacking about cutting and styling my hair. And makeup. Meh. It's 90 degrees.

Thrifting is such an equalizer. I'd be too intimidated to wear an expensive silk shirt with denim and roll around on the floor in it playing with the dog, but since all price tags are the same, I feel like my clothes are cheerfully all-purpose.

Am I the only one who carries a mental price tag with items and lets that influence their use? I shouldn't, but high prices for things intimidate me. How much more freeing a $3 price tag can be. :D

The Ottoman Inspire

  It's pretty dark when I get home from class these days, so you are getting treated to my morning face. It involves squinting and unkempt hair.

Shirt: Bisou Bisou (thrifted)

Vest: MOUTHvalley (Japan, thrifted)

Pants: Koi Kathy Petersen (thrifted)

Sash: Megan Mae (gift)

Jeweled dagger brooch: eBay

  This is an entry for Spy Girl's Accessorize! challenge: pick your accessories for the day first, then dress to match them. I chose the jeweled dagger brooch I picked up on eBay recently. To match, I went with a (very loosely!) Turkish inspired outfit. The pants gather at the ankles and I added a wide sash around the middle (a gift from Megan Mae.)  The super flowy sleeved shirt and vest are for fun.

  I count five sets of strings/dangling things on my outfit, making this a definite top contender in the fire hazard category.

  Random note: I can't make a fist or grip anything with full strength for about an hour after I wake up. It's worse if I've been woken suddenly or didn't get enough sleep. The Internet says I'm having a stroke (I don't think this this the case, this has been going on since childhood. The Internet also said my migraines were brain cancer.) Does anyone else experience that?

East by South East

  Ariane at Style Sud-Est is doing a linkup with a Japanese-inspired theme and I was all, "I'm Japanese! I'm inspired!"
  I'm going to link this up to Patti's Visible Monday, as well.

Look, fire hazard sleeves! My favorite.

  This is my latest shirt shell from the thrift shop. It was like, "Look, (non gender-specific) bitch! FANS."

  and I was like, "Hells yeah." *reaches for shirt*

  I took one of the lovely button flowers Megan Mae gave me and used it as a kanzashi hairpin.

Kimono-style shirt shell: Zero Zero (thrifted)

Skirt: Express (thrifted)

Button flower: Megan Mae (gift!)

Laura sandals: Fitzwell (old)

Necklaces: gift from brother (Okinawa), rice necklace mall stand (very old)

  The only wee problem with the shirt: the way it's folded right now, I am a dead person. I'm going to have to take apart the ribbon under the bust and switch the fold to left over right. I am not at all superstitious, but I keep worrying a Japanese person will see me and be mortified. (haha!)

  It is SO HOT and sunny in the Bay Area right now! Of course by hot I mean it got to 85 the other day. I know all of you languishing in summer heat are staring daggers at me right now. I can feel them. Poik! Poik! Poik! Ow.

  I love this weather, though I can't spend a lot of time in direct sunlight because starting in my late twenties-early thirties, I started freckling instead of tanning evenly. NOW I know why fobby women shield themselves from the sun as if they were puddles.

  Last weekend in Sacramento, my friend got married in the California Automobile Museum. It was really cool! We could walk around and look at the exhibits in between the ceremony and reception, and there was Vic's ice cream for everyone. I never thought of myself as a car-lover (though I enjoyed working on them with my father growing up and in high school) but the collection there is amazing. There are interactive demos, old cars you can climb into and take pictures in, and free tours. I really loved it.

  I thought of Ally especially so I took some pictures of the classic cars. (click to enlarge and scroll)

  I hope all of your weekends are as gorgeous as mine. (:

Vintage Bohemian Fairy

My friend called my personal style "Vintage Bohemian... Fairy" today. It was accompanied by vague hand motions trying to help the definition along. I love the title very much!

Peach frilly tee: TRF t-shirt collection (thrifted)

Blue-grey lace vest: Odille (size 6 available on eBay)

Lacy pink tank: Express best-loved bra cami (old)

Skirt: Rebecca Taylor (thrifted)

Sandals: Eastland Lagoon sandal (product link)

Locket: vintage (etsy store feltinmyheart)

  Fall weather is here in the SF Bay Area! For those not in the know, fall is the time of year we get clear sunny days. It goes from September through October, and it is my favorite weather of all. You can tell I have no experience shooting on sunlit days. Hope you all like lens flare!

  I love the little ruffle and lace on this tee. It feels soft and fun without crossing the line into 'frippery.'

  This skirt has a bit of history. Some months back, Sheila at Ephemera posted about a Steampunk style skirt she found while thrifting. It looked glorious and I, being the possessive copycat wench that I am, thought, "I want a Steampunk style skirt, too!"
  And a month later I found this! It was beautiful! Couldn't believe my luck! Brought it home and hung it up for two months because I couldn't find anything that looked okay with it until today.

  It may not show up because of the backlighting, but this is the locket I am wearing. It's shaped like a pale gold basket of flowers, studded with rhinestones and pearls. The hinge opens and there is room for two photos inside. I call it my rage locket (purchased while rage shopping!) and I love it. I had been looking for something like my Express locket for a very long time.
  The bureaucracy and headache at my University has made my week one long Kermit arm flail. I'm going to have a nap, and I hope all of your weekends go beautifully. (: