I was getting sick of all the shorts and scruffiness I've been indulging in lately, so I dug this little Marimekko number out of my closet.

Today was another lazy Sunday in which I lurped around in a man's undershirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. Very comfortable in the heat, but not fit for the public. Here's what I wore yesterday. This top was my first attempt at making a button up collared shirt - it was part of the required coursework for a beginning sewing class. I still haven't put the buttons on it, which is probably why I only got a B in that class. I like it better this way at any rate, because the fit is slightly big on me and wearing it as a half-assed surplice top improves upon that a little.

I've worn all these items before this year, but I don't care! It was over 100º today and I needed something that I could sweat profusely in and not wreck.

Today was my first day of the Fall semester, so here I am trying to look professional despite the 100º+ temperatures. My mother convinced me that the short shorts I had originally chosen would not cut it (I thought they looked very cute - and hey, I'm only the teacher's assistant, I should get a little leeway). The top is from the Paul & Joe Target line. The shorts you know as they have been seeing me through the hot weather. The shoes are from Oxfam in Belfast (I used to live around the corner from the Oxfam on the Ormeau Rd and found many a treat there).

This dress is from Topshop. It was deeply discounted by the time I purchased it which I attribute to it's inappropriately low neckline. I bought it anyway because a) I have a really bad habit of not trying things on before purchase (something I have been working on) and b) there's nothing that can't be fixed with a black tank top.

Tonight I went to the Hollywood Bowl. That is why I chose to wear this polyester top which was really too hot to be wearing when I snapped this picture. At the end of the night it all paid off though, as I didn't have to drag along an extra sweater. I'm pretty sure I got the shirt out of a free box in Olympia. Here's another picture of it dressed up for a party a few years ago.

I don't have much to say about this outfit except that we are getting into the dog days of Summer and my criteria for choosing clothes has become "what will I not ruin by sweating in". This top is from The Gap in Belfast. My friend Mr. B. helped me pick it out (that would be Mr. S.B. rather than Mr. J.B. incase you were wondering or cared). More accurately, I picked it out, he told me I should buy it.

This outfit needed to work for both my grandmother's 80th birthday brunch and an ADF show later in the evening. The shirt is from Urban Outfitters (where else right?). I added the earrings for the show. They used to belong to my mom - she's the queen of dangly earrings and wears them very well unlike myself.

Doesn't this dress look great against the blue willow plates in my mom's kitchen? I'm pretty sure I bought this at the Jet Rag $1 sale and that it needed some major repair work.

You've heard the cliche about brides telling their bridesmaids that they can wear the dresses again? Well, here I am, actually wearing the bridesmaid dress from my friend Mrs. N.'s wedding again! I made this dress from a Vogue pattern. Mrs. N. (at the time Miss C.) wanted all her bridesmaids in red and gave us a general idea as to the style, which we all made variations of. I added a black belt and a silver bracelet today which I didn't wear at the wedding.

This top is from UO. It's very comfortable, but I'm not entirely sure that the shape (long and tunic-y) is really me. However, I wore this outfit to a fashion department staff meeting today and one of my coworkers asked me if I made it (you may recall my thoughts on that subject) and then told me that I have great style and that she loves everything I wear. That made me feel loads more confident about the shirt and probably swelled my head ever so slightly.

I always debate wearing this top on St. Patrick's Day and can never bring myself to actually do so. St. Patrick's day dressing has been a bit of a conundrum for me since the 3rd grade when A. and I got into a pinching matching over whether "Kelly green" counts as wearing green. As an adult, my stance has been "They don't wear green in Ireland on St. Patrick's day, so why should I?". Nevertheless, this is a cool shirt. I got it from the same Tucson thrift store as my favorite blue button-up.

I made this dress last summer from one of the patterns in Wendy Mullin's fabulous book on stretch knits. Here's a picture of me wearing it out the day I made it. I still have a ton of this fabric so I'm thinking of making the Vivienne Westwood dress from The Guardian with it.

Weekend roundup

It's been a bit hectic this weekend what with moving back into my own house, so here's a quick look at the outfits that saw me through.

I wore something very similar to this recently (okay, not recently - several months ago). I'm really just showing off my new necklace. This was from an Anni Albers jewelry kit that I fell in love with. Yes, it was very easy to put together, and I could probably have figured it out myself given a good picture, but I couldn't resist and since proceeds from kit sales go to the Albers foundation I can pretend that it was actually a charity donation.

What a weird pose I have struck here. Terrible posture. (Top is from my great aunt)

This tank top used to be my mom's. I wore it nonstop in high school. The necklace is from Urban Outfitters and needs to be made a little shorter in my opinion.

At work this afternoon, a gentleman asked me if I was Hungarian. Apparently, he thought the top was Hungarian and therefore I must be as well. Clearly all sorts of cultural appropriation goes on in the fashion world these days, so its rather funny that someone would assume your ethnic background based on your clothing choices. Funnier still is that this shirt is actually Mexican and I am Mexican-American, so I guess maybe you can accurately judge a person based on what they're wearing. This shirt, by the way, was given to me by my dear friend Mr. R. who is always encouraging me to do more to celebrate my roots.

I've had this picture listed on my computer under the title "boring" which is basically how I feel about this top. I have loads of vaguely vintage button up shirts and this one is just a bit too boxy for my liking. However, when I wore it over to C.'s house, she gave me loads of positive feedback. So now I'm completely of two minds about getting rid of it or not. Any further feedback on this dilemma from others would be appreciated.

You would be forgiven for thinking I got this shirt at Urban Outfitters given my penchant for buying T-shirts there. But no, actually this humble shirt has a more interesting story than that. Years ago, when I was living in Glasgow, my friend M. took a trip to NYC, and I rather flippantly said "Bring me back a CBGBs T-shirt" because it was the first thing that popped into my head at the mention of New York. The next thing I knew, I had one. Apparently he took an entire day out of his trip to track this down for me from the club itself. So, ladies and gentlemen, even though I never had a chance to visit the famed club myself, thanks to M. this shirt is the real deal.

I bought this dress at Dumpster Values. R. said it looks very nautical, but I think it's probably a candy striper dress. I almost always wear this with a black sweater (as pictured here).

I bought this shirt at T.K. Maxx in Belfast. Vivienne Westwood is my favorite designer, but even a simple shirt like this one from her diffusion line would probably be out of my price range had I paid full price for it. With that in mind, it is still a little pathetic how excited I was when I saw that Anglomania tag amid all the other crap shoved on the rack. I always get lots of comments on this shirt from non-fashion people. It's probably the fact that its a rather in your face orange . . . or it could be the big scimitar wielding arm across the chest.

The top is from Urban Outfitters, the necklace is from Urban Outfitters, the skirt is from Free People. I should really be getting paid by URBN Inc.

K. gave me these old man pants back in high school when I used to work for her. Every few years I pull them out and fall in love with them all over again. The top is an Espirit top that I think I got at the mall in the last few years. I was wearing it in the promo shots ADF took at the Claremont Botanical Gardens a couple of years ago (which I sadly don't have any links for or I would share with you).

So, before I get into discussing the, frankly rather uninspired outfit I have on here, let me tell you the big news of my day: I have just heard that Rodarte is going to be doing a collection for Target. This is all very exciting, but makes me feel more than a bit disappointed that I haven't been disciplined enough to live up to my aims at the beginning of this project. Those of you who have been following since January or who socialize with me on a regular basis (and I suspect they are one and the same) will know that was able to hold out until the McQ for Target line came out in early March. After that it seemed that the shopping floodgates had been opened and, though I have cut back considerably, I have also managed to do a fair bit of damage with the URBN stable of brands. This news about the Rodarte collaboration has left me both sheepish about my delinquency and determined to get back on track after my five months of profligacy.

Okay, back to the clothes.

It's funny the garments people think I have made myself. They all seem to be either incredibly deconstructed pieces or very high end designer ones. I actually made this T-shirt myself in an industrial sewing class several years ago, and naturally I have never once been asked if this is "one of my own". The belt came from a thrift store and had been sitting in a suitcase for who knows how long. (By the way, these little Gap skimmers are the only shoes I have brought with me, so you will be seeing more of them).

Yet another old T-shirt (they do seem to have a way of multiplying when my back is turned). Again, I can't remember how I ended up with this one, but I have the strong feeling that I was either given it by my old roommate L. or found it in a free box.

The week of the T-shirt continues! I don't even remember what city I bought this one in, but I know it was in America and I know it was from a thrift store. I love how the graphic has a sort of a bootleg Star Wars thing going on.

This is an Espirit top that I've had since high school. It came from either Marshalls or an Espirit outlet store. Confession time: I am a bit label obsessed when it comes to shopping at outlet stores. I'll look at the tag first, the price second and then decide whether I actually like the garment or not. In my mind that's the only reason to shop at those sort of stores, because really, you can get unbranded clothing for a good deal cheaper at a thrift store. At any rate, I've been practicing this sort of behavior since I was a teenager, though in those days it was all about finding cheap Espirit tops instead of Westwood or Gaultier.

So I have started my semi-annual housesitting for S. and T.. The last time I blogged from here I confessed to what a terrible packer I am, so this time, rather then try to anticipate what I might want to be wearing, I figured I would go for a lucky dip and get one of my suitcases out of storage. Well, I managed to grab the one with all the old T-shirts in it so here I am wearing a Bon Jovi tour shirt. No, I have never actually seen Bon Jovi - I bought this at a thrift store in Olympia (actually it was in Lacey) in the late 90's when we thought it was cool and ironic to wear old metal T-shirts. I love this one for it's skull on the front and for the fact that it has a bit of profanity on the back (pretty hilarious when you think about the band's actual music).

I was joking with Mr. K. this morning that this is my "rock chick" outfit. So here I am striking a rock chick pose. Ha! The top is from Diesel. It's got a very random orange dot on it (obscured here by the necklaces) that I like to say is my clearance tag.