Monday, November 30, 2009


Sometimes in my mess of a bedroom, I'll find two garments laying on top of each other that I would never have thought to combine. That's how I came up with this outfit. The blouse is from Topshop and needs some bra strap holders sewn in as the front and the back are both cut very low and it has a tendency to slip off my shoulders. Because of this, I haven't worn this top as much as I would've like to. The dress is actually my 8th grade graduation dress bought for me by my mom at some mall department store (the label is Rampage). This dress has gotten a lot of wear over the years. In 10th grade I mistakenly used it as the basis of a 1940's look I was trying for a big holiday party. I had even interviewed my great aunt on hair and makeup of the day with no luck.
(Me: What sort of makeup did you guys wear in the 40's?
Aunt: I don't think you need to be wearing much makeup at your age)

I wish I had pictures available of that night, because my look is so not 40's it's laughable. The socks are from Hansel from Basel. I'm not entirely sure they work here, but it was a bit too cold to go without them, and I also just wasn't feeling the whole bare knee thing today. The necklace is Automatic Sweetheart (who by the way will be out selling her wares along with many other fine artisans at the Unique Los Angeles Holiday show this weekend).

Sunday, November 29, 2009


Does anyone remember losing this blazer at the Jabberjaw in the Spring of 1997? If so, let me know and I will happily return it to you. Around that time, I was in a band that played there quite frequently and one night after a show we found this in the video game room. Since it fit me so well and since no one was around to claim it, I put it on and wore it home with the blessings of the Jabberjaw "staff". The truth is that I'm not all that crazy about this blazer. I think the lapels are waaaay too big for me and the colour is a bit too teenaged goth. The problem is that it fits so perfectly that every time I talk about getting rid of it someone talks me out of it. Today, for example, I horrified my mother by telling her I was going to donate it.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Here I am forcibly removing my cat from the picture. If she wants to start her own blog, that's fine with me, but she'll have to take her own pictures. This dress was given to my mom by one of her fashion history students (she usually made them write a paper on an item of vintage clothing, and I guess the student didn't want to keep this particular piece). She passed it along to me this year when she was scaling down her collection. I posted a better picture of the outfit on the Wardrobe Remix Flickr pool which you can check out here.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

I always gravitate towards pants in the Wintertime, which is a bit of a shame because I own so many lovely dresses and warm tights. This dress I bought at Jet Rag (though not at their $1 parking lot sale). At the moment all the buttons are being held on by safety pins, so it looks like a bit of mending will be on the agenda for this weekend. I realized after putting together this outfit, that a belted dress might not be the most practical look for Thanksgiving dinner, but I fared alright.

I was so excited when I reached into the pockets of this jacket and found a money clip I had presumed stolen over ten years ago and a tube of lipstick gone MIA. This means that the last time I wore this coat was Halloween 1998 when I dressed as a sort of mod cat girl. The coat is from a Pomona thrift store and cost about $16 - a small fortune for me back in high school.

The contents of the pockets

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Okay, so rules are meant to be broken right? And here I am breaking one of my cardinal rules of fashion by wearing boot cut jeans with wedges . . . and denim wedges at that!!! I got these shoes at the liquidation sale of the Built By Wendy Los Angeles store and thought they would suit a denim on denim 70's flared sort of look. Please note: this is the closest to bell bottoms you will ever see me wearing. The jacket is vintage and I'm pretty sure I bought it at Dumpster Values during my college days.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Okay, so these past two days I've been embracing the squalor of semi-unemployment and have worn the same sweater two days in a row (!!!!). I should probably just get rid of this sweater, and would have done so long before now if it were a hand-me-down or thrift store purchase. But sadly this is not the case - I actually spent something like $25 on this top back in high school (a fortune for the 16 year old me, and even now an amount I would have to seriously consider before dropping on an impulse buy). I have such an aversion to sending such clothes to the Goodwill, so I tried to give it to my mother who turned it down saying the colours made her look "like death warmed over". I guess I will be holding onto this for awhile longer til I can find someone who really loves it. Any takers?

This is Monday's incarnation of the sweater. Today I left it loose, rolled the sleeves up a bit and added a scarf (actually it's this sweater) and rain boots.

On Sunday, I pinned up the back to give it a tighter fit around the hips and paired it with my current favorite Free People boots and a necklace of my late grandmother's.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

This hooded sweater from a little shop in Askøy Norway where I spent Christmas 2000. I can't remember the name of the store, but I imagine it doesn't exist anymore. It was kind of cheap, slightly depressing and located in something akin to a strip mall.

These shoes from Urban Outfitters are a bit insane. I can't wear them for long stretches of time . . . yet, but I am practicing. The jacket is from Anthropologie.

As you can see, my cat T. is a bit of a diva and always wants in on a photo opportunity. The faux Chanel jacket is actually BCBG by way of Marshall's.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

This is the outfit I chose for a night out at the American Legion Hall. The shirt is from a Pomona thrift store. I love the slightly Art Nouveau flower pattern on it. You can get a better look at the shirt (and a not so great look at me) here.

Sunday, November 15, 2009


Here I am channelling Marty Mcfly. My mom bought this for me (second hand) years ago when I used to do a lot of backpacking. I kept seeing it peeking out of my closet and decided that today was the day to take it out and make a decision on whether to keep it or not. I must say that even though it is not the most fashionable thing I own, it is so incredibly cozy . . . and then "Back to the Future" came on TV and it seemed like a sign.

Saturday, November 14, 2009


I call this my "Beatles dress" because many years ago I wore it to a Beatles themed party my roommates and I threw. I got it at rummage sale back in high school and shortened it from knee length to this much more flattering hemline. (I think it could probably do with some adjusting to the side seams as well as it's a bit sack like).

Friday, November 13, 2009

I love old 40's and 50's camp jackets. Sadly this one is missing half of it's buttons. I can't remember where I bought it, but I would venture to say that a proper vintage shop probably wouldn't sell an item quite as worn as this one is, so it was most likely found at a thrift store.


Isn't the label adorable?

Thursday, November 12, 2009


R. gave me this dress which she found at a thrift store. It's got a very 1940's look to it, but one look at the inside reveals overlocked seams, so I think it's actually from the 80's. The headband is from Urban Outfitters.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009


I can't remember where I found this jacket, but I think it may have been at Dumpster Values. What I do remember is that at one time I was very into light green and blue plaids and this phase roughly corresponded to my time in Olympia. The hat is from Marimekko's H&M line. Truth be told, the only reason I bought this hat is because that particular day I had about a half mile trek through the blazing sun back to my car.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Apologies

I have been shamefully remiss lately, not only about posting in a timely manner, but indeed taking pictures of my outfits or even bothering to get properly dressed in the first place. Given the amount of time I now have on my hands, I should really have nothing better to do than play dress up all day. There are really no excuses other than my own laziness. At any rate, I'm going to use this opportunity to get caught up with the outfits I have photographed and make a concerted effort to get back on track for the last month and a half of my experiment.

I was tempted to wear some lace tights with this outfit, but it really needed that bit of colour.

I love the colours on this shirt, so I've been hanging onto it with the idea of turning it into something fabulous. I ran some elastic through the hem here, but I don't think it's there yet - clearly it needs a bit more work.

new purse from my dad.

detail of a necklace I wore last Saturday

I've pretty much worn all of these things before, but I liked the combination of the blue and pink.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

hiking chic


The hat is from UO, the glasses are Michael Kors by way of T.J. Maxx (or maybe Marshalls), I have no idea where the sweatshirt came from, but I don't think I bought it, and I couldn't find a matching pair of heavy boot socks for the life of me. Clearly this outfit was put together with more function than style in mind, nevertheless, an elderly Japanese man complimented my hiking companion and I on how well turned out we were. After that I noticed that the look was very similar to the majority of other hikers that were out that day - mainly Asian women over the age of 60.

(oh yeah, and the shoes are from R.E.I).

Tuesday, November 3, 2009


This shirt is from Uth, a British line that I am pretty sure is no longer with us (I just spent several minutes trying to find some sign of them online to no avail). The top is a bit too cropped for my taste hence the use my trusty tube top cum waist cincher. The tube top is from mall punk superstars Hot Topic. Most people I know have a problem with Hot Topic, but I would be lying if I were to pretend I didn't go there to buy Joy Division shirts at age 13. Back then HT was not the mega chain it is today, but a single store based at my local mall where one could get black nail polish and Manic Panic (I found this interesting piece on the history of the company, if you're interested). I guess what I'm saying is that Hot Topic and I sort of grew up together, and though I never shop at it these days (or even pass by it without feeling very very old), I have to give it some sort of respect.

Monday, November 2, 2009

I'm thinking of doing a collection called "Bugs and Bows" because recently I've been spending my time either embroidering insects onto things or knitting bows like this one.

A big thank you to everyone who came out last night to support local craft and music.