Mes Dames S/S12 Lookbook

Happened upon Mes Dames s/s lookbook the other day, and instantly knew these images were too beautiful not 

to share. The ethereal, summery feel of this collection makes my lust for spring weather so much stronger. Nearly 

certain that I  need those high waisted bottoms in my life right now; the same goes for basically every garment 

in this collection. 

Writing this post has left me sitting here, wishing I could frolic around with a sheer dress and flowers in my hair.

(found via Miss Moss' blog)

Crave You

Another day of school, another outfit thrown together whilst half asleep and in a morning rush. Coincidentally, the color combination of my tops worked out perfectly with my wedges and nail polish! I honestly didn't even try matching the two...it was such a pleasant surprise. I scored these wedges during a sale on Dolce Vitas website a few weeks ago, and I absolutely love the color! The color is perfect for spring and the platformed wedge makes them super comfortable; I had no problems walking around in them all day. What do you think of them?

Thanks to the gloomy weather California has had lately, I've fallen into a seasonal depression slump when it comes to outfit variation. I haven't had the motivation to dress in anything but pants and mixtures of layers/colors lately. I'll attempt to wear a dress, but something just always seems off about the outfit. There are so many dresses, skirts and shorts that are hanging neglected in my closet! Here's to hoping that the weather clears up soon, so that it really does reflect the season!

coral blouse: h&m / peter pan oxford: american apparel / tri-blend cardigan: american apparel / embroidered leather belt: vintage / second skin acid wash jeans: cheap monday / coral wedges: dolce vita / rose gold watch: marc by marc jacobs / nailpolish: essie "barbados blue"

Don't you just love the color of these? Swoooooon.

The post title is a song from Flight Facilities featuring Giselle. I've been listening to it non-stop these past few days, it's so wonderful!

Drizzle

These photographs were taken right after my last classes before spring break, and I've finally gotten around to posting them. Waking up to a gloomy, cold morning can be very dreary, so I decided to piece together an outfit that was anything but! This wonderfully cozy mustard sweater courtesy of sheinside.com and my green jeans from Zara brought a bit of brightness to my overcast day and lifted my mood in the best way. While the rain ceased for most of my week off of school, it unfortunately started pouring again today. Don't get me wrong, I love the rain, but I prefer staying toasty and dry. If only I was still excited to go out and splash around barefoot in puddles the way I used to as a child...

Toughing it out in the rain.

mustard sweater: c/o sheinside.com / plaid button up: urban outfitters / rain parka: american apparel / green jeans: zara / canvas and leather tote: rugby / boots: madewell

ps: sorry about the little hiatus everyone!

Instead of doing homework, chores and tending to my loving blog, I've spent my spring break sleeping in, cuddling with my pup and spending time with my boyfriend/friends. Typical. Overall, I can say that my week off (technically two days, since I worked every other day) was really great. The best part is that it was stress free!

I also have a deal exclusive to my readers: enter the code APR20 at checkout and save 20% off of your sheinside.com order! Discount expires May 30th. Happy shopping!

Vintage Green

I'm wearing my brand new sunglasses here! I've had my eye on these for quite some time and I finally pulled the trigger. They have the vintage green Ray Ban lens, as well as a transitioning black/tortoise shell frame. I'll have to post detail pictures for you guys soon! I'm also loving these new wedges I received from My Hot Shoes. I've had this strange obsession with orange lately, so when I saw these bad boys on their website I just had to order them. The fact that they match my favorite coat doesn't hurt either...

sweater: california select / blouse: vintage / coat: zara / riding pant: american apparel / 

wedges: c/o myhotshoes / watch: marc by marc jacobs / sunglasses: ray ban "meteor"

Today marks my first official day off for spring break! I've had work every other day (the usual), so I'm totally stoked to have nothing on my plate. Needless to say, I'm San Francisco bound!

Minty

Some more super comfy layering for my long school days. When I first bought this Madewell sweater I thought I would be wearing it weekly, but that hasn't been the case! I sort of forgot about it, though after wearing it the other day I fell in love all over again. I'm also wearing a blouse I picked up from the Jason Wu for Target collection. Unfortunately, it ended up ripping that day I wore it! I was so upset, but the construction on the blouse was far from satisfactory (I ended up returning it). I really loved the color, print and cut, though I guess I expected too much from clothing produced for target. 

When the wind is blowing, my shawl cardigan turns into a cape. I feel like a superhero when wearing it;

 all I need now is a catch phrase and a trusty sidekick.

blouse: jason wu for target / sweater: madewell / tri-blend cardigan: american apparel / viscose shawl cardigan: american apparel / riding pant: american apparel / boots: madewell

Happy Saturday everyone!

Wintry Weather

 It has been far too long since I posted, sorry about that! I can thankfully say that the three exams I had this week are over and I am now on Spring Break! Overall I feel I did well on my exams, with (hopefully) a B as the lowest grade. I had a bit of trouble with my geology lab exam, as I had to identify over 30 rocks, taking me a solid two hours. Although they're fairly tedious, I really enjoy my geology classes; learning about the formation of the Earth and all of it's internal/external processes is just fascinating! Now that all of my tests are done and I have a school free week ahead of me, I'll be able to go out and do more with my time! Aside from work, there will be exercising, serious cuddle time with my babychild Jack, boyfriend time, San Francisco outings, vintage shopping and quite possibly skydiving! Ahh!

The outfit I'm wearing here is quite possibly one of the most layered outfits I've worn to date. Four layers on top, velvet leggings with a skirt, and two pairs of socks. The weather that day was super chilly, hitting about 50 degrees once I was out of my evening class. Let's just say that reading the weather report when I woke in the morning was one of the best decisions I made that day.

sweater: vintage / wool cardigan: urban outfitters / tri blend cardigan: american apparel / chiffon maxi skirt : american apparel / 

socks: gap / shoes: vintage / watch: marc by marc jacobs / nailpolish: essie "tart deco" (not pictured: american apparel velvet legging)

 My friend Ahmed was doing some fairly ridiculous poses, thus the reason my embarrassing laugh was caught on camera. I'm sorry.

Rose golden

look ma, no arm! (ha, ha. I'm just sooo lame funny)

sunglasses: vintage / burgundy shirt with gold button detailing: gap / polka dot blouse: c/o urban 1972 / cardigan: american apparel / shorts: h&m / rose golf cuffs: nordstroms / socks: gap / boots: zara

I threw this outfit together in just a few minutes, still half asleep and nearly late for my hair appointment. Thankfully, the resulting mix of pieces wasn't horrendous. I'd like to give myself a pat on the back, as I'm pretty sure waking up and going out the door in 20 minutes is my all time record.

These pictures depict my hair post cut, thus the reason it's up in a bun. My hairdresser/friend had to comb my hair, which birthed a frizz monster unlike any I will ever show you. Trust me, I'm doing your eyes a favor.

Grassy

Loving this new sweater I received via postage the other day. It's the perfect style for the in-between weather California has been having lately -- a knit material to keep me warm in the chill of the morning, with holes to add a bit of coolness when the breeze rolls through during the mid day heat. I also love the bright green color, especially since it matches my clutch. Now if only the weather would stay warm; I'm tired of worrying about dealing with the rain!

sweater c/o urban1972 / crushed velvet dress, urban outfitters / tights, urban outfitters / socks, target / shoes, vintage / necklace, h&m / bracelets, h&m / watch, marc by marc jacobs / clutch, american apparel

If you follow my twitter, then I'm sure you saw my melodramatic tweets about hating my polisci class, as well as the latter tweets about dropping said class. Well, my twitter doesn't lie, folks. Unfortunately, the class was just too much for me to handle. The expectations from my teacher were ridiculous and I just couldn't keep up with the work; I probably should have realized this when she assigned three essays for homework on the first day of class. The work load just began getting bigger and bigger, which resulted in stealing the focus I should have been putting on my other classes. My breaking point was the midterm -- my professors study guide was superfluous, to say the least, including about 30 terms (of which we had to know 5 relevant facts for each) and four essays. I mean, come on. This is an intro to political science course, at a junior college. 

After dropping the course, I went through the all too common "stress cry phase", as I like to call it. I spent awhile telling myself that I was a failure for giving up on the class, that I should have gone through and finished it, yadda yadda yadda. After thinking rationally for a moment, I realized that in fact I wasn't a failure, and that I shouldn't have gone through and finished the course. Why? Because I would have failed the course and ended up negatively affecting the grades in my other classes. Some students just aren't able to be taught by certain teachers (I'm one of those students). Instead of crying over the stress of excessive assignments about federalism, the GOP and the Constitution, I'm going to take political science next semester with a different teacher, in a class that I'm able to balance with my others.

Now I'll have more time to focus on the three exams I have next week. Yay! 

Electrum

mixing hardware, as per usual.

chiffon blouse, american apparel / velvet leggings, american apparel / boots, madewell / everything else, vintage

left: bracelets, j.crew / key ring, forever 21 / silver band, flea market / oval ring, h&m

right: watch, marc by marc jacobs / silver cuffs, vintage / rings, h&m

For a few days now, I've contemplated not using these photographs for an outfit post. I actually really, really love this outfit and it's one of my favorites I've thrown together this past month or so, yet I was still hesitant about posting them. Why, you may ask? To put it shortly, I think my body looks unappealing. This is a subject that I've wanted to touch upon for quite awhile, though I never really took the time to write out all the things that were on my mind. I think it's important that I open up about this because a lot of women go through the exact same thing on a daily basis. 

First of all, please don't compliment me on or talk about my weight, because it's not something that I want anyone to do. This is a post about body image in general; I'm just using myself as an example. I've had a body image problem for quite some time now. These past few months I've been trying to view myself differently, though before this change I was constantly judging myself. Every single day I would look in the mirror and think, "you look disgusting". Because of these daily thoughts, my general mood was dimmed and I began to view myself as inadequate and downright gross. At the time, I never realized what a problem this mindset had caused. 

Flash forward to just a few months ago, when I realized these negative judgments needed to stop (thanks to the constant reassurance of my boyfriend and a close friend of mine). Instead of looking in the mirror and thinking negative thoughts, I began saying to myself, "you look beautiful today". Boy, what a difference this small change made. Instead of feeling down, my mood was brightened and I began to care less and less about my body type. (Of course, there are occasions when my self-conscious habits advance, such as not wanting to post these photographs, though I try to make sure my rationale has the upper hand.) 

As I said, I know a ton of women (and probably some of you!) go through these same internal battles every day. Obviously this is a subject that people talk about all the time, but I wanted to convey this through my blog as well. I want all of you to know that I think making judgments of people based off of body type is just wrong. Why should it matter what your body looks like as long as you feel good? Whatever your body type: thin, average or a bit curvy, I'm sure you're all beautiful in more than one way. Don't look down on yourself like I did; embrace your figure! 

(the reason for titling the post "electrum" is because the Pyramids at Giza were once capped with a mixture of gold and silver metals, known as electrum.)

Interview with Courtney of A Bevy Of!

Some of you may already know of Courtney, the lady behind the blog A Bevy Of (for those of you that don't know who she is, click that link right now!!). I love that Courtney's blog is a delightful mix of outfit posts, DIY's and personal ramblings (probably my favorite part). Below are a few outfits as well as an interview with said rad chick. Take the time to read this, you will not regret it!

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.

A: My name is Courtney, I am 24, I live in Los Angeles but I am from Michigan from a nice little town just 30 minutes from Detroit, I went to school at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit where I studied Graphic Design.

Q: What are the best (and worst) parts about living in LA?

A: The weather is beautiful.  The "coldest" it gets is 45 and that's super rare.  I had the opportunity to do design work for one of the owners of The Drybar (a blow dry salon) which opened up so many doors when it came to getting all of these fabulous clients I have now.  It wouldn't have happened if I didn't live out here.  And there is so much to do on weekends if you think it's worth the drive.  You'll never have to do the same thing twice!

The worst?  This is going to sound rehearsed because it is:  The traffic, there is traffic all the time pretty much wherever you go.  It sucks trying to go some place because even if it is only 2 miles away, it could take you a half hour to get there.  Oh, and a lot of the people are weird and/or rude.  I had one guy see me walking in behind him and he shut the door, like, pulled it closed behind him….. all while making eye contact with me.  I just stood there until he closed it and I opened it up for myself.  I had a homeless guy steal my cell phone last year.  I had a guy tripping out on drugs try to break into my apartment all while claiming he lived there and that I needed to get out.  I have a neighbor who yells from his balcony at traffic (we don't live that close to the road) and says he's going to come down there and fight it.  So yeah, I guess my point is that the people are weird and rude and suck!

Q: Where are your favorite places to thrift in LA?

A: I always go to the Goodwill by my apartment.  It doesn't always have amazing things but I pretty much always find something.  There's also this antique market that is held once a month in Long Beach.  It's amazing.  And there's this one vendor in particular that has 3 giant tents filled with gorgeous vintage clothing.  I would probably go every weekend if they held it that often.  Oh, and there's a vintage/thrift shop on Fairfax in the Hollywood-ish area that has rows and rows of amazing things.

Q: What's one clothing item or accessory you can never have enough of?

A: It always changes depending on my style at the time, which can change every week, but for the most part it's dresses and necklaces.  Lately, I have been buying/making a lot of tie-dye things and I just added my first official bracelet to my collection which means a lot more will be added soon.

Q: What led you to become so interested in fashion?

A: I had been kind of interested in fashion before this, but one day I was on Flickr and came across the group Wardrobe Remix.  It was like Lookbook but anyone could post and there was no hyping and all that drama.  There was one girl in particular who always had thrifted things and I thought they were so amazing.  So I went to the thrift store and that's where the real obsession began as well as the mixing and matching of things that just shouldn't go together.

Q: What inspires you in your daily life?

A: Other people interested in fashion!  I also go on numerous blogs, fashion or not.  I love going on design blogs like boooom.com and ffffound.com.  I also love tumblr for the beautiful photographs everyone posts.  Pretty much anything that is considered art can inspire me.  Music is definitely something that inspires me.  I love Pogo, Major Lazer, Die Antwoord, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, First Aid Kit, Tennis, Yeasayer, Lykke Li, Tallest Man on Earth, Gold Panda, Yacht, Local Native, Battles, The Wailing Wall, I could go on and on.  Oh, and coffee.  It's so weird.  Get a large coffee in me and I can't stop thinking and making things.

Q: What are a few things you hold dear to your heart?

A: My boyfriend, we've been dating for 5+ years.  He's so amazing and funny and perfect for me.  Michigan is dear to me, it's an amazing place to live filled with inspirational people and ideas.  Detroit is going through this beautiful artistic renaissance right now and I can't wait to move back (which I will be doing on April 20th).  My pets!  I have two cats, Ponytail & Mustache.  Plus, my parents have two young Golden Retrievers and two cats that I miss so much.  It's difficult to find affordable dog-friendly apartments in LA so that makes me miss my parent's dogs that much more!

Some inanimate objects would be my wardrobe, Futurama, my camera collection, my book collection, coffee, and food.  It sounds funny, but they all put a smile on my face in one way or another.

Q: What's your favorite cuisine?

A: Pizza….  I can eat and eat and eat when it comes to pizza.  Asking me to pick my favorite pizza is like asking me to pick my favorite item from my closet.  Oh man, now I want pizza…

Q: Are there any particular hobbies you enjoy that don't relate to fashion?

A: I have been ice skating since I was three years old.  In particular, I was very much into ice dancing which is like ballroom dancing on ice.  I trained at one of the best facilities in the U.S. and had so many amazing coaches.  I would train 5 days a week for about 4 hours a day during the school year and then 5 days a week for about 8 hours a day during the summer.  The reason I didn't pursue it after high school was because I had trouble finding a guy to skate with.  I still skate occasionally, but not as much as I used to.

I also play the cello.  I'm not amazing at it, but I'm pretty good.  Every time I watch a folk-type band that has a cellist in it, I want to start a band. Which might end up happening.

Wow, can you talk about awesome? Courtney is such a sweet, interesting gal and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to interview her so all of you could see how truly wonderful she is. After seeing some of her eclectic, awe-inspiring outfits, I'm sure you'd like to see more, right? Well, you can find her blog here. Go ooh and ahh at all of her posts to your hearts content!!

Siesta

Another one of my majorly comfortable outfits which I wore for school. Knits, cottons and flowy bottoms are always a plus for my long days spent going from class to class. Though it doesn't look like it, this outfit was like wearing a warm blanket (or snuggie, if that's how you roll); it definitely came in handy for those mini cat naps taken during my breaks.  

This fisherman's sweater has treated me so well; it's hard keeping myself from wearing it with everything. As for the tights, my boyfriend bought them for me back when he used to work at Anthropologie; they sold like hot cakes, so I was truly excited when he brought a pair home for me as a surprise! Often when I wear these tights, people gush on and on about how amazing they are. I definitely agree, but I don't wear them very often as I'm afraid they will rip!

The only negative of this skirt is the fact that it wrinkles far too easily. If only I could carry around a mini steamer with me at all times...

fisherman's sweater, american apparel / mustard skirt, urban outfitters / floral tights, anthropologie / socks, target / loafers, vintage 

nailpolish, essie "tart deco" / ring, h&m / watch, marc by marc jacobs