Before The New Year

So it's New Years Eve?? Jiggawhatttt?? I could go on about how this has been such a yadda yadda year but I'm not. This pretty much is all I need to say about New Years.



No, my New Years will (hopefully) not consist of a psychopath-hotel-heir trying to get with me or my sudden realization that I'm a huge skank and need Seth Cohen, but I had to post that. No one does it like the O.C. ANYWAY...

I'm going to put it out there...I have been pretty terrible in keeping up with posting. These past two weeks have been a little more hectic than I expected, no doubt I love it, but I haven't had nearly as much time I thought I would. Unfortunately the blog has been put on the back burner and instead I have been focusing on New Years event planning, listening to the Pixies excessively, rummaging through my mom's closet, and applying to college...again. I don't like making resolutions, let's be honest nobody can keep up with a grapefruit diet, daily 5k runs, or reading every New York Times bestseller. I prefer to make edits. How can I keep things pretty much the same but achieve some goals? Those goals being:

Blog more frequently!--Not only do I love writing about things I'm passionate about, but it's a fantastic way for me to write for pleasure and practice developing my style.

Cook more--Since I've been home I have been able to cook much more, and so far I've made some pretty fantastic meals with my mom. I have always loved cooking, it was definitely one of my phases (that joins the ranks of fashion design, tennis, and piano)...I had a cooking themed Bat Mitzvah party (yeahh....) and went to cooking camp for 2 summers, but I still enjoy it and would love to improve.

Be a more involved and thoughtful shopper-- Trust me I'm pretty stingy when it comes to shopping, although it may not seem like it. I've never done the Forever 21 thing (quality is incredibly important to me), but once in a while I find myself at Zara buying a pair of twill shorts that shrink after the first wash (clearly I'm bitter). I'm at a point in my life where I pay for things now, so I'm more picky than ever. I want to really save up for great pieces that are timeless, even if that means buying one or two items a season.

I think I will leave it at that. I don't want to overwhelm myself-- keep it simple. I apologize for the lack of photos or exciting content. I PROMISE I will do my vintage post next, but I just realized the whole reason I started this blog was to post my Sartorialist drawings...so that might come next. We'll see.

Here's a taste of what's to come...

Ps. I love dressing up for New Years, I was thinking I would go all out with sequins aka wear my recently aquired bedazzled sweater, but I'm going to keep it a little toned down..well sort of. I am going to wear the following:

I picked up this Rodarte for Target black camisole with lace detail the other day. For one thing, it's far more flattering than this photograph makes it appear and the material is much nicer than I thought it would be. There were only a couple pieces left from the collection when I got to the store. I tried on the leopard dress with the bows, although cute..it was a little much, so I settled with this.

Here is the outfit in its entirety:

Rodarte for Target camisole, Vintage Perry Ellis boys blazer, Vintage tiger-print skirt, All Saints necklace.

And the shoes...

Nine West Heels

Happy New Year!!!!

I Would Like To Know When Exactly I Marry Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Become Zooey Deschanel.

After returning from an great brunch in the city with my family, I watched a movie I had been meaning to see for ages: (500) Days of Summer. Ohmygod. A little obsessed right now. I loved everything about it, from the muted color palette of the whole film, JGL's face, the story to the music...I can't get enough. Zooey Deschanel's wardrobe was incredible and makes me want to run into Anthropologie and strip every mannequin.This clip wasn't in the movie, but sums up everything I love about these two.



So my consistancy with posting has been a little off lately, which probably isn't a great way to start off a blog. This week has been much busier than I thought it would be, starting with my day trip to NYC and then finishing the week off with the holiday sport of eating.

New York was fun and great mother-daughter bonding time, but a day is always too little. We started our day at the Japanese bookstore, Kinokuniya Books, where I could have easily spent the entire day. The variety of books and magazines they had was astonishing. Unfortunately things are expensive there since everything is imported, but I was able to pick up some things for myself and a gift or two. There are entire magazines dedicated to anything from nail art to crafts for your cats. I wanted to get it all, but I limited myself to street style magazines. I got an issue of Fruits and an issue of Street, both will provide inspiration for eons. Here are some images and my favorite looks from the mags, I apologize for my absolutely shit photography (I had to use my Canon SD1000 which pales in comparison to my moms Panasonic Lumix Digital SLR). Maybe a scanner would come in handy.

 

 

 

 

 

After we forced ourselves to leave, we headed uptown to Bloomingdales. My mom wanted to show me this British clothing line called All Saints which apparently is only sold in New York at Bloomindales. The line is pure genius. Incredible price point and even better designs. The pieces are timeless. The best way for me to describe the line is if Rick Owens had a child with William Rast, sort of rock and roll, but avant-garde at the same time. We were there for quite a while, mainly because I tried on the entire line. After many difficult decisions I came away with this sweater and necklace.

photo credit: www.us.allsaints.com

The picture doesn't do this sweater justice. You can wear it in a million different ways, pull it down to a dress, an off the shoulder sweater, a cowl neck, super baggy, turn it upside down...it's really endless.

I lost my favorite silver chain this semester, so I have been on the prowl for a replacement. This is so much better than what I had before. 

photo credit: www.us.allsaints.com 

Here is a detail of the shenanigans hanging off:

 

photo credit: www.us.allsaints.com

There is an incredibly dangerous sale on their website with free shipping to the US. Goodbye birthday money. Before we had to catch our bus back home, we stopped at FIT for a well executed exhibit on the evolution of Day and Evening wear. Any time I see a piece from Marc Jacobs's stint at Perry Ellis I get chills. At the exhibit they had an incredible suit made from a gingham picnic tablecloth-like fabric covered in embroidered ants (I think from his first collection in 1988) along with a knitwear ensemble Rodarte's infamous Fall 2008 collection (You know the one with the knit stockings and knit dress). Enough of me blabbing about fashion collections that I don't have pictures of, overall it was an awesome display. 

I realize this post is getting a little long, so I am going to stop here, but there is much to come in my next post, including but not limited to a Norma Kamali jacket circa 1986, original rock posters from Tokyo Police Club and Flight of the Conchords, and too many belts.

No More Rollin With the Homies.

Firstly, I must give credit to my gal pal Sophy for the title of this post. I was out at the Punk Rock Flea Market yesterday (I'll get to that soon) when I got a facebook notification that read "TAI DIED, WHAT WILL TRAVIS BIRKENSTOCK DO NOW" I was really surprised to find out that Brittney Murphy died. Besides Cluless (which is my favorite movie of all time) I didn't really see any of her other films or know much about her, regardless it's sad and will change that movie for me.

Now to the flea market. Overall I'm so happy I was able to make it, despite the foot and a half of snow on the ground. I was able to see some good friends and some great vintage. Getting there wasn't easy, after a 30 minute late R5 into the city, walking in the unplowed and unshoveled sidewalks made for boots filled to the brim with snow and frozen toes. Because of the weather the venue wasn't ridiculously crowded as it usually is and made digging through boxes and scouring racks a manageable experience. My mission wasn't holiday gifts, I had a goal to find a dress for New Years, a sweater, a skirt, a necklace, and maybe a pair of earrings (there is a seller who makes this fantastic leather earrings, see below, but I didn't see her table there this time). After much searching and price haggling I ended up with 4 great pieces and only spent $30.

I picked up these earrings two summers ago at the PRFM, so light and colorful!

I promise I will put up pictures of me actually wearing these things, but at this point I refuse to take mirror shots, my myspace days are long gone...see I tried.

I didn't end up getting the dress or any jewelry, but I got the following:
This awesome floral dress, probably from the 90's. It reminded me a lot of a dress my mom would wear in the summers we spent in Chautauqua, NY.

 Worn with Frye lace-ups, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, and a vintage necklace.

The print also reminded me of Marc Jacobs Resort 2010 bird print dresses, I guess its the contrast of the bright floral against the black.

 Vintage Jersey and Vintage pins.

I love this football jersey so much. I saw it when I first walked in and was about to buy it, but I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted. At the end I went back and bought it and am so happy it was still there. Its a pretty versatile piece and the colors are fantastic.

Vintage Sweater, Vintage Skirt, Vintage Chains, and Nine West Shoes. 

 

The first thing I picked up was this beaded sweater. Yes, it is slightly repulsive, but to a point where I had to buy it and will wear the crap out of it. It drapes nicely and has a great drop sleeve. I was apprehensive to buy any skirts because I wasn't able to really try anything on, but when I saw this I didn't care. The fabric is awesome and it is the only piece of animal print I own and I'm stopping my collection there.

Today I woke up and kicked myself for not posting yesterday, but I was out of the house literally the entire day and didn't have a moment between flea-marketing, being force fed by loving Jewish mothers, and socializing. I went and got a manicure (much needed after 4 months of college induced neglect) and tried out OPI's "Here Today…. Aragon Tomorrow." I love love love it. Its super dark, making it a perfect winter shade and it's not overwhelmingly green.

Took a picture, not only to show off my nails, but to show off this amazing cocktail ring my incredibly talented friend Michael made for me.

Tomorrow my mom and I are making a day trip up to NYC to check out some holiday windows, go to a museum or two, eat good food, and shop of course.

Blogophopic No More!

Herro Prease. It is currently a blizzard here, I think we are supposed to get something like 15 inches of fresh powder (yes. I referred to snow as powder. I have been living with 11 snowboarding obsessed boys for the past 4 months, I guess they have rubbed off on me.) Thank the baby Jesus I was able to fly home yesterday. I'm not sure if I currently have the emotional capacity to spend another day in my dorm eating Aramark food.




Growing up I always envied my brother and other college friends for their, what seemed like, incredibly and unnecessarily long breaks, now I couldn't understand more. I survived my first semester at college, it wasn't easy, but I learned a ton about myself. Now I am home for 5 GLORIOUS WEEKS and I have made it my mission to start and run this blog (ehhh ayyy ayyy ehh ay ehhh, gonna run this blog tonight...oh god finals week has really taken a toll on me.)

I read a bunch of fashion blogs and want to incorporate my favorite parts into mine. Hopefully, if this whole blog project goes as planned I will post opinions, projects, inspiration, photography, food, dressup, reviews (kept to a minimum, I leave that to style.com), my vintage collection, and everything else I love.

Writing a blog seems overwhelming. There are so many things I want to post that I have developed some sort of blogophobia, but I'm going to do this!

Today I woke up bright and early, ready to go to one of my favorite Philadelphia events: The Punk Rock Flea Market, only to realize that the odds of me getting back home were slim due to the pooey weather. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to leave my house without crawling on the sidewalks to move 5 feet. Since I was up I decided to be somewhat productive and start a sewing project. My mom has a mild obsession with Japan and their sewing culture, which I, too, have developed a taste for. Whenever we go to NYC not only is a stop at Takashimaya imperative, but at this one Japanese bookstore where we pick up some great craft magazines and project books. One of which is this book about recycling t-shirts, sweatshirts, button up shirts, ties, and scarves.



^ This is the cover/the dress I'm attempting to make. There is a minor issue. I cannot read or understand Japanese so I'm relying on diagrams for instructions, which calls for some brain power and patience, most of which I expended during finals. It will be interesting how this turns out.



Here are some more projects from the book. Clearly I anything I attempt to replicate will not be nearly as cool looking as their version, but it's something to do with the ridiculous amount of large and unworn t-shirts commemorating the crazy time I had at Dan's Bar Mitzvah. I will post pictures when I'm done, but now I am going to enjoy the unknown and potentially hilariously horrible SJP movie "Spinning into Butter" with my dad and eat copious amounts of chocolate chips and peanut butter.

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