Oh, Hell Yes

Matches everything, instantly screams the person wearing it is awesome. Now I just need an extra $1050 laying around...Shourouk necklace available for the wealthy here.

Window Shopping the Reimagined

I still haven't recovered financially from the trip overseas and the holiday season, so buying much beyond my weekly groceries and gasoline is out of question for the moment, but that's no reason not to keep looking at beautiful things. At the top of my current list of fantasy items are all things that have fun with design:

This Mandy Coon bunny bag evokes the Velveteen Bunny of my girlhood memories, acts as a belt (so much smarter than an annoying, easy to lose clutch), and is basically right up my cutesy alley. I would pretend that the velvet, tweed-like fabric makes it sophisticated, but the truth is that I don't care if by carrying it I'd look like an overgrown toddler carrying her stuffed bunny. 

Rachell Sumpter is an artist I've followed for years. I love her paintings, which often feature the Pacific Northwest and its native inhabitants reinterpreted with modern day touches (think gals in knee high socks and fringed hair spear fishing and riding polar bears), and love this just released kaleidoscopic natural spiderweb. At just $25 from Tiny Showcase, it's an easy way to add color and vibrancy to an empty space.

Who says bookends have to be boring or stuffy? These Artori ones are downright hilarious and would make any bookshelf a little more dynamic. 

I'd seen this Dannijo necklace floating around the interwebs for a while and felt sort of indifferent to it, but when I recently saw a woman wearing the collar at Anthropologie, I swear, it looked a-frickin-mazing in person. She wore it with a little plain grey t-shirt and looked like a million bucks. All for the price of about $300...sigh. Oh well. 

Let It Shine

The holidays and holiday parties call for glam, merriment, and the wearing of multiple shiny, glittery articles of clothing. Sorry, subtlety and demureness are obviously not my forte. These newest light-bending items are souvenirs from my recent trip to London. Topshop...man, does that store own me. It's a good thing for my closet there isn't one in LA yet. Though, seriously, when is Topshop coming to LA!?!

Black and Tan

The past few days here in LA have been alternately rainy and cloudy. I'm not complaining-it's the perfect opportunity to bust out my furry leopard coat, which happens to go very nicely with my new metallic gold polka dot ballet flats from Zara (thanks mommy)!

Brrrring on the Winterwear

On Sunday I worked on a film for twelve hours starting at 7:30am, mostly outdoors all the way up in Valencia while it rained-like all day and evening long. My toesies all but fell off from frostbite and there was nothing so pleasurable as the hot shower I jumped into immediately after getting home. I followed that up today by rolling in to shoot for Glee at 7am. Needless to say, while writing this at 5:30pm I'm ready to go to bed! But more importantly, I had a real wake up call as to the sorry state of my winter accessories. I'm the dummy you see walking around in the rain wearing soggy ballet flats and the same fake, faded pashmina scarf I bought in London for 5 quid six years ago. With a trip to Europe around the corner, it's definitely time to start thinking about some updates!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Look, Don't Touch

Just because I am on a shopping ban until I'm in London doesn't mean I can't look...right?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ballet Flats That'll Get You Closer to God

Apparently this Wildfox Couture x Jeffrey Campbell collab comes out in February. However impractical it is to wear pale pink satin platforms during the rainy season, I have a feeling I'll be wanting to prance around in these ridiculous, dreamy beauties nonetheless.

Via Buzznet

Hats ON!

These 1930's inspired hats by Behida Dolic Millinery leave me seriously swooning lately. They are sophisticated and while they certainly evoke the feeling of being out of the past, have a timelessness thanks to the impeccable craftsmanship and modern choice of colors. $400 plus is a lot to drop on anything, let alone a throwback accessory, but a girl can dream. Or hope to collect gift certificates come the holidays, you know, either one. Distant hope of attainment aside, the work is definitely impressive when it makes you want to chop off all your hair, knowing full well it'll never look half as charming as the models. 

Adventures in Haircoloring?

My hair is driving me batty these days. I think it's time for a change, but what to do? It's naturally curly and mousy brown, so I straighten and dye it black, but it's conversely both flat and frizzy, and generally just rather disappointing.

I figure when I get it cut I may bite the bullet and go for red, like a deep auburn shade. You know, even though I can't afford to get my hair professionally colored anymore and red is the most challenging DIY shade. But until then I'm thinking about bleaching the split ends that will end up getting cut and coloring them with a crazy Manic Panic bubblegum pink or royal blue. I know it's a bit "done" but with just a couple weeks of being 26 left, I'm pretty much at the end of the days where dying my hair like that is going to fly, so I know I should just give it a go already. I'm just terrified that I will totally eff it up. Then again, even if I do, there's really not much black dye won't cover, right?

First image from the black label section of Bando, fourth by Emma Gibney via Scalpture.  

A Trip to the Lash Bar

Tribal Patch lashes, which can be separated into two different sets-the orange and blue, and pink

Tutu Laceflare lashes, with gold-flecked tulle 

Green Folklore lashes, which also separate into green feather accents and yellow threaded lashes

You know how sometimes you have an "ugly day" or "fat day" and it totally takes the wind out of your sails? I've been having an ugly, like 5 months. Seriously. And even if I logically know what when other things are getting me down I tend to think about how much I dislike my looks, it doesn't change my behavior, or drive me any less cray-cray. Ugh, to be a superficial Libra. So to combat my moody blues, I've been trying to refocus my attention from matters of appearance that have been thrust upon us all by genetics, nature, God, or whoever else may be responsible for such things, and instead focus my visual interest on the things that I control that do make me feel good or allow me to express myself. Instead of worrying about how wide my hips look in that dress, I'm trying to think about how perfect the necklace I've got on is. Which brings me to these wackadoo/amazing Shu Uemura eyelashes. They always offer unique, fun, expressive lashes that can take any look over the top. Which is about the only reason I would deal with falsies, which I find incredibly annoying; the idea that girls wore these every day in the Sixties actually hurts my eyelids. I bought the first two pairs in a rash bout with retail therapy this evening, but the third were way too much for even me to justify. So when and where am I going to wear these little bits of fun?  I don't know, but life finds a way and I manage to find ways to wear weird stuff often enough. Whenever I do, I'll be happier than before I had them on. And that's a start.

At Play

So as I made clear here, I'm really into the idea of combining colors right now and decided that while I usually leave the nail art to manicurists or pre-made Minx nail strips, it would be fun to try my shaky hands at a tie-dye/graffiti inspired look that works because it doesn't have to be perfect. Next time I'll vary the colors more so the look is easier to see, but this was a punchy way to keep myself entertained while sitting in traffic or listening to drab lecture moments this week. Before adding the crackle polish, paint your nails in any number of color splotches and vary the design to make the look more like tie-dye; the more it resembles the swirls of rainbow sherbet, the better the end look will be!

So as mentioned with that talk of lectures, now that school's started my life is much more boring. I did manage to check out the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA with my mom last week, though. While some of the exhibit's inclusions were unnecessary and sort of silly (I think we could have all done without the angora sweater from Ed Wood...), I fell in love with his drawings so full of lines that they resembled etchings and was mesmerized by how current they look, even though much of the most impressive stuff was from the late '70s when good ol' Burbank-residing Tim was just 20 years old. It was really inspiring to see into the mind of someone with such a unique aesthetic vision and a never-ending slew of ideas. There's also something to be said for someone who manages to make the quirky and downright odd seem approachable. Edward Scissorhands shouldn't have been for the masses, but there's so much charm in the detail of everything Tim does that it's hard to deny his talent or how it makes us feel. I couldn't take pictures, but here's the print I bought and the baby t-shirt my mom got me (erm, no, I don't have a baby, but when I do he will win a best dressed award).

I also had my first opportunity to check out the Stark Bar, which has brought even more drool-worthy seating to the museum's outdoor space. LACMA's outdoor environment is truly becoming a whimsical paradise for afternoon adventures, even with that awful 1970s Japanese Pavilion building.

Bugs and Baubles

Yesterday Mark and I visited the Craft and Folk Art Museum, which I didn't even know existed until I worked at LACMA last summer and drove past it everyday on the Miracle Mile. I wanted to check out the Jennifer Angus All Creatures Great and Small exhibit, which takes insects and puts them into "wallpaper" skull shapes, combines them to create giant mutant insect creatures that are framed on the gallery walls, and Victorian themed vignettes using beeswax to build sets like a church and funeral procession. It was pretty cool, creepy, and fun, but unfortunately didn't allow photographs; I mean, there were no security guards so I should have just pap-ed away, but I've got this annoying tendency to follow rules. So I borrowed these:

While there, we also stopped in their museum shop, which is worth checking out on its own and is accessible right off of Wilshire (the museum entrance is actually inside the shop too). Mark and I each picked out some fun jewelry, which is shocking because while Mark is an awesome enabler when it comes to shopping, he never treats himself or lets himself be treated. I was excited he found this watch works necklace, which is a bit steampunk without being cheesy or tragic. I picked out a skull bracelet in happy colors since my wrists sadly usually go naked and a pretty string of seed and fabric beads from Laos that will be perfect to offset my typical silver and gold necklaces with some levity. The shop had lots of stuff for all budgets and ages though, not just the silly stuff we liked.

All in all, it was a perfect summer day; I loved seeing all of the kids across the street at the Page Museum rolling down the hill, families watching tar bubble in the pits, and people picnicking in the breezy sunshine.

All CAFAM photos from Fashion Intel.

Feeling Fruity

If you're wondering whether I'd wear this Piers Atkinson cherry headpiece, the answer is yes.

Happy Feet

I wore these shoes last night, which are one of my all-time favorite pairs with their pop of fuchsia suede and contrasting green and blue pom poms. I mean, pom poms! Gah! I spent a good year searching for these on the internet before finally finding a pair on eBay in my size, in the right color, in heel form, and for a price I could afford. While I was out a girl came up to me and asked me if they were Marc Jacobs (they are M by MJ) and immediately after confirming I squealed "eBay!"  I know I'm a dork, and that a lot of people are afraid to buy shoes on there, but I can't help but want to share the love that eBay has spread this shoe whore's way. Half my pairs must come from there and they have all been new or "worn once" with the pictures of the soles to prove as much. It's the perfect place to find older styles, hard to find sizes if that's an issue for you, and lots of quality brands at steep discounts. If you're patient enough to do a little research, sizing shouldn't be a problem (which was her concern) and you're unlikely to wind up anything other than a happy customer. I know my feet are.

Wild West

After initially saying he wanted to stay home when he gets time off from work between Thankgiving and Christmas, Mark now wants to take a trip; fancy that, because all of the sudden I have this intense desire to go to Wyoming and tour the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I love the idea of seeing all these uniquely North American animals in the opens of nature, soaking in the quiet snowy wilderness, and experiencing an American culture that is distinctly different from any we've experienced in our lives in LA despite being so geographically close. We're not sure the timing will work since it won't quite be winter season there yet, so in the meantime, I'm crossing fingers and filling my mind with thoughts inspired by the Native American and western cultures that make Wyoming such a vibrant, if accidental, prospect for travel.

T-bird necklace from MijuAndYou

Probably the only cowboy boots I've ever been attracted to, but boy am I, from Old Gringo

Rad "Cuttler" sneakers by Supra (no longer available). I love how the stark black and white turns a traditionally earthy pattern into a graphic, urban one.

Dannijo's Nela necklace

Tank dress by jessalinb