The Great Indoors

  My tripod arrived! I've been struggling with lighting issues in my apartment (13W fluorescents do not flattering self-photos make) so I tried a page from Stef's book (her blog Diversions is an introvert's wonderland of beautiful small details, gorgeous colors, and artistic photography books) and went out for a little walk in my neighborhood.

  My neighborhood isn't very dangerous, but it's not well-kept. There's a lot of abandoned furniture dumped into empty lots and on street corners, overgrown weeds around dark concrete apartment buildings, and that sort of thing. I tried to find some greenery, set up the tripod, and give outdoor shots a go:

Settings on my camera make quite the difference

Self-conscious, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. :D

  I've also started reading up on tutorials on how to clean up images. (Stef's got some tutorials on her blog here.)

  This is a layered outfit because the weather has been much more typical of San Francisco spring this week:

It's been this and a 25 mph headwind

  After I took a few photos, I fled inside to take close-ups:

  The sweatshirt body panels have been sewn inside-out. It makes the design stamped on it very subtle and faded on the front, and more saturated on the sleeve. It's a gorgeous print of ginkgo leaves, orchids, coral(?), tentacles(!) and some random Victorian keys.

I don't understand either, but I really like it.

  Under it, I wore a racerback tank top that is solid in front and lace in back. I love these as underlayers because you can see lace peeking out above anything scoop-necked, which I hope is sexy but not trashy. Unfortunately it seems they've gone out of style, because I can no longer find them anywhere.

It's the Japanese version of cleavage. Raceyback!

  I've decided I don't like the trousers I bought to wear as leggings as trousers. They are definitely going under dresses and getting tucked into boots in the future.

  P.S. Check out this fellow playing with his frisbee in a 20mph headwind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf5mCS6HYaI (warning, windy camera sounds)

Sweatshirt: UO (thrifted)

Underlayer tank: cheap junior shop

Trouser-leggings as trousers: cheap junior shop

Coat: H&M (old)

Skirting Those Mom Issues

  It was still reasonably balmy yesterday when I wore this outfit: overcast and foggy, but no damp gusty winds. Yay!

  This Hikari skirt is made up of panels that run from the upper left to the lower right. It was originally too large (found in a thrift store), but I took it home, picked the stitches out, removed a panel, and sewed the two edges back together. I still have the removed panel, which I want to make a pattern of some day.

  I adore the grommets, the deliberate parallel loose threads, the cutaways over patches, and how the stretch denim gives it a flattering booty fit up at the top. My love for this skirt was cemented forever when I wore it visiting my mother and she let out an exclamation of dismay as dramatic and as gentle as only a woman from Japan can. "No! ... noooo. This skirt looks homeless! Please. Please!" (I haven't worn it in front of her since, to spare her the distress.)

  For all my love, I have difficulty figuring out what to wear with the skirt -- it is a greyish-green that actually matches my car (!) but most of my wardrobe is grey and blue.  Blue doesn't seem right, and grey would put me into Desaturated Santa territory.

    I'd love to hear any ideas, because the only picture I could find for it was when CEIBAsf used to carry it:

I'm not so sure it goes with the 70s disco dots or the shirt that looks like a spinal column and ribs

  Anyway, for lack of anything else in my wardrobe, I wore it with an off-white burnout shirt with flutter sleeves, layered over a black stretchy shirt with flutter sleeves.

  And since flutter sleeves always make me feel fancy and fairy-ish, I added this fairy-in-a-bottle necklace I bought years ago from Etsy:

The key to nerdy jewelry is to stay subtle. Which is definitely what nerds are known for.

Skirt: Hikari (thrifted)

White shirt: MNG basics (thrifted)

Black under shirt: Derek Heart (thrifted)

Belt: Nine West (thrifted)

Necklace: Etsy (The Thorn & Rose - on vacation since Sept. 2012)

Dusting Off the Duster

  I got a full night's sleep yesterday, but I didn't make up the sleep deficit from the previous night, so I woke up stiff and cranky. It was almost another zero-point fashion day, but I tried to spruce it up a little.

  I started with my comfortable Flynt jeans and a Cop Copine white cotton shirt that's cut kind of like a dress, with puffed shoulders, a round scooped neck, and a tie in the front.  Then I added a pinstripe vest and duster coat.

  I've had this duster for years but am only now figuring out what I might wear it with. I think the problem is it is brown, while the rest of my wardrobe is composed of greys and blues. Funny story: I found the pants that go with this jacket in a Japanese thrift store, over 5,000 miles from where I found the coat:

  Same buttons, fabric, and everything. They were about $12 and I didn't get them because my apartment's too small for cool story memorabilia the size of pants, but it was pretty sweet finding them. Then I went to a Mister Donut and had a long think about globalization the rest of that afternoon.

  As for the outfit, I think the shirt knot, the vest, and of course, the Western-inspired coat all tie together for a last-minute Western theme. I thought about wearing boots, but I was too tired to wear anything but my New Balance running shoes. My platypus feet and I love them so much.

  I'm still working on how to take photos that aren't either completely washed out or dark beyond recognition. Also, my tripod is coming tomorrow! I'm very excited about this.

Coat: Diesel (Crossroads)

Shirt: Cop Copine (thrifted)

Vest: Triple Five Soul (clothing swap)

Jeans: 7 For All Mankind Flynt (thrifted)

Shoes: New Balance 1122 (Dad)

Zero-Point Fashion

  I was up all night working on a research paper, and today it feels like someone took my face off, put it on a counter, and ran toy Tonka trucks back and forth over it before reattaching it.

  Therefore today I am wearing the lowest-effort things possible: jeans, a cotton shirt, and sneakers.  No makeup at all. I think of this as my zero-point of fashion*- clothes I put on to go outside that take the least time and thought possible. This will of course be different for everyone. For some, it might be sweatpants. Others might have a zero-point at slacks and a collared shirt.

If you spend more time, energy, and money getting dressed and manage to underachieve your zero-point look, you have failed at outfit. (It's okay. We've all done it.)

  This drab grey tee is extra-special, though. It came from Japan! I found it in a thrift shop (called recycle shops over there) for about $2. It has 'FROWERZ' printed on the front, no doubt the work of some savvy quirky Japanese clothing company. So it's a meta Japanese shirt poking fun at Engrish- misspellings and nonsensical English phrases on Japanese clothing. It has fake retro fading, and it was also thrifted. This makes it the most hipster item I have and will ever own. It would be a serious contender for most hipster item of all time, but there is no plaid on it.

  What is your zero-point outfit and what are the circumstances in which you wear it?

*  I can't claim credit for this; my friend was explaining the concept of zero-point to me the other day, using a $2 bottle of Charles Shaw as the example for wine.

Pyramid Gams

  You know that boxy-top-skinny-pants look? I believe (with no evidence) this look was pioneered by hung over celebrities because large shirts don't require much coordination and bug-eye sunglasses cover dark under-eye circles.

  Gals at my school favor puddle-shaped, dolman-sleeved, burnout jersey affairs with giant keyhole openings (do those look good on anybody? please educate me if you have evidence they do.) and little flat slippers, and this look makes my inner 'slobby' light go all blinky.

Does anybody else think of this when seeing those shirts?

  My unreasonable dislike was heightened for years by the complete inability to find Pants That Fit, due a long trend of skinny jeans and my superpowered kicking legs. Skinny pants are not what you wear when you have SKLs. You don't want to wear anything that shows your lower body is twin upside-down pyramids dramatically sloping to your relatively delicate ankles.

  I firmly believe people of all heights and sizes can flatter their cool and unique features with different clothing styles and cuts.  I also believe my legs and skinny ankle pants are a death match I could sell a lot of tickets for*.

  Now that I write this out, I realize why I have an averse reaction to this style: it can turn your entire body into a squat, upside-down pyramid, starting with making your torso look huge and ending with your wee ankles and your feet in their tiny scraps of cloth. It looks slouchy chic for those who are tall with long skinny limbs, and needs to be deployed with extreme caution for those who are not.

  However, Gracey over at Fashion for Giants regularly rocks a skinny jeans and loose shirt look, proving that you can proportion reasonable looseness with fitted pants and look lovely (and proving a bright smile is the perfect accessory to any outfit.) I've decided to try my take on the look: boots instead of slippers, and a loose shirt instead of saggy-puddle-shirt

  Also, I will take any opportunity I can to wear these Naya boots. I love how they look so much.

  Right now my camera is propped on a cushion balanced between my sofa and the coffee table, which is why I have no head. Enjoy it while you can, because I've ordered a small tripod and this might improve in the future. Key word: might.

  What do you think? Slobbiness successfully warded off? Or are the tendrils of puddle-y trend sagginess still clinging to my thighs?

*  The profit is actually in the refreshments- I would sell kettle corn, cider, and strong tea.

Shirt: Gap Maternity (thrifted)

Underlayer tank top: Zara (thrifted)

Skinny jeans: cheap junior clothing store

Boots: Naya Lightning (old)

Breaking Through Fog and Fashion Rules

  Another gorgeous day Friday! Went for lunch in my favorite part of the city, the Richmond District, then sat in a café doing biomechanics homework for 2 hours. -_- Every time there's an exam in this class I suddenly become very popular.

  Fortunately I took along a long wool coat, because by 6 pm the city, scandalized by my bare legs, sent gusts of damp, chilly wind so I'd cover my shame. Jeez, San Francisco, so passive aggressive. If you weren't so pretty I'd never date you.

  I wore a thrifted summer dress, black strappy sandals, old Old Navy* necklace, and my navy fedora. I love me some hats, but I can't wear older style women's hats because my head is too large. (These days a lot of hats use stretchier fabrics, so it's a bit better.)

  I struggle with styling the fedora but I'm reluctant to get rid of it because I bought it way back in the day when I had income. The problems are that I'm not sure what it goes with in my wardrobe, and that it has a high crown. I have a longish face, so cloche hats and cabbie-style caps are more complimentary. I tried folding one half of the brim down and pushing it back on my head. Thoughts?

  This outfit is an exercise in breaking color rules. It mixes brown (dress skirt, necklace cord, bracelet, stripes on dress) with black (sandals, top of dress) with navy blue (fedora, dress bodice.)  The dress has all of those colors and I find their arrangement on the bodice so fun and cheerful. I think it ties everything together.

  I figured while I was breaking style rules with impunity, I might as well take a total departure from my preferred fit. It kind of worked, in that it was comfortable and easy to move in, and kind of not in that it weirded me out because without fabric on the backs of my thighs I kept thinking my underwear was showing.  I may have to do more trials and report back.

 * Hah! I want an old Old Navy navy item.

Dress: Scrapbook Originals (thrifted)

Fedora: Stacy Adams (link to item)

Sandals: Eastland (link to item)

Necklace: Old Navy (old)

Bracelet: CostPlus World Market (old)

A Dressing Down

  Last month my adviser at Uni took great pains to tell me several times the huge disadvantage I was facing applying to graduate school (I am a returning student who took a lot of prerequisites at the local community college, which has been awesome to me.) There was useful advice in there, but the vibe I got was 'don't bother, try paying for a masters degree out of pocket with all that money you don't have, then maaaaaaaybe.'

  Last month I also broke my $40/month budget for clothes. COINCIDENCE?

  I found this cool Ann Taylor pantsuit on sale for $25 at Black Pyramid, an online shop for vintage clothing.  The 80s and 90s count as vintage now! That's right, the clothes of my youth are now considered old, which by definition (or the transitive property) makes me old.

  Anyway, I loved the look of it.  The Asian style (henceforth referred as AZN) velvet long vest with frog knot fasteners? The long drapey trousers to which I could add elastic and make KUNGFU harem pants?  Yes!

  It arrived today and I am excited. "Pantsuit" means one piece, apparently, but it will not be difficult to cut the stitching that holds them together and make them separate items.

  And then I had a dream featuring Ken Watanabe as a helicopter pilot, and the forecast today is warm, gorgeous weather, so things are turning out all right.

  Ken Watanabe can fix anything.