Winter Formal

Hello all,

First, I would like to apologize for the long absence in posts, but in my defense, I am still getting used to this, and so far I have learned...it is not easy.

On my locker last week (scratch that - on everyone's locker's) there was a bright yellow invitation with a bold red "X" across the front (representing 2010) that announced the approaching Winter Formal. Obviously, word have spread round' long before everyone received their invitation, but while the guys barely spoke a word of the upcoming dance, the ladies of the high school frantically discussed what they would be wearing and where they should shop for their designated theme. Oh the theme - I almost forgot. The theme was the decades. Freshman (including myself) were assigned to the 1960's. Sophomores were 1990's, the Junior's were the 1980's and the Seniors were anything they wanted to be. (Some seniors joked that they would come in togas to represent 10BC!) Anyway, options for the 1960's consisted of women's wear during the Vietnam war, housewife's and flower-power prints representing hippies (just some things my Aunt and I thought of.)

At the dance, I would say that most girls opted for fun, flowery, bright dresses from Free People or Urban to stay within the free-spirited hippie theme. But I was intrigued by a modernized house-wife idea. Therefore, I hopped on over to "Michael's: the consignment shop for women" to get some ideas. Usually, I can tell whenever I go into a consignment store, whether I am going to purchase anything there, and most of the time, the appearance of consignment shops can really turn me away, but not Michael's. They have such an amazing collection of Chanel, to Bottega Veneta, to Hermes, to...to...well everything else (sigh). Therefore, I grabbed a bunch of pieces, some of which included a crop top from Prada (with adorable polka dots), a sequined vest from Vera Wang and a Michael Kors suit, all of which I tried on in a very revealing dressing room - the kind where doors just aren't necessary in the end. But my favorite piece, was a "rope-patterned" black and red, two piece Moschino dress. I was absolutely in love with it, and on the plus side it was on sale. I had to sleep on it, and ended up coming back the next day, to pick it up!

Sadly, I dont have any pictures of me wearing this dress with my grandmothers black gloves, but I wore this outfit with half my forearm length black gloves. My Aunt has a box of gloves in all sorts of fabric over at her house that belonged to my great grandmother and great-aunts. She also has my grand-mothers white silk wedding gloves that stretched all the way up to her shoulders! They are stunning.

Moschino dress

I hoped to make this dress look a little younger, by adding these Deena and Ozzy wedges, I got at Urban Outfitters. They are super comfortable and quite easy to dance in.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

p.s. sorry about the not so great photo-quality!

-Sj

Movies that left me speechless and Inspi(red)

I do enjoy movies, and (occasionally) going to the movie theatre can be rather thrilling, but to tell you the truth, I am not so big on TV. I hardly ever watch TV (except for the every now and then Gossip Girl and Law and Order) and it is planned in advance if I am going to watch a movie. Anyway, many moons ago my Aunt revved up my love for black and white films, and ever since I saw my first, she has been bringing them over to our house and we sit around eating popsicles and watching ancient romances. While my love for black and white films is still up and running, I have found a love in several other movies and if you were to ask me what my favorite movies were it would definitely be...

The Duchess

Photocred: www.collider.com

While this movie is utterly tragic (and slow), I believe it represents Kiera Knightley's poise and elegance. And my gosh, the fashion aspect is out of this world. If you havn't seen this one, be sure to put it at the top of your Netflix list, because it is a must see.

Funny Face

Photocred: J!

This was one of my favorite scenes from the film as she waltz's down the steps in the most beautiful, crisp red dress, one could ever wear. This movie was one of the first that my Aunt shared with me, and I would watch in anytime. Amusement, Romance, and Fashion, all in one (well, that's usually what I like seeing anyhow.)

The Devil Wears Prada

Photocred: The Movie Bing 2

Of course. This would be on my list. This one will probably be one of my favorites of all time for a very long time. Anne Hathaway is superb (for those that haven't seen it) and the story has both a lesson and fashion sense behind it - clever.

The Pirates of the Caribbean

Photocred: Cinematic Intelligence Agency

This movie will be in my heart for all of time. It will be past down from generation to generation and will be placed on the shelf of my great great great great grand children. That's the plan. If you haven't seen Pirates, part of you is missing. This one is definitely joining The Duchess on Netflix.

Wait, but why post about Pirates on a Fashion Blog? Well, whenever I watch the movie, I can't help but think why a designer wouldn't use it for the basis of a really amazing line. Obviously only a modified line will do, in order to be wearable, but wouldn't that be amazing? I mean just look at Kiera above. (Ideas should swarm your head right about now).

My Fair Lady

Photocred: www.filmreference.com

The music and the story is marvelous, and it is amazing to see Audrey transform throughout.

Next to be seen on my list: Breakfast At Tiffanies

Photocred: http://gentlebear.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/

My Aunt has yet to come over and together we will get some popsicles out and watch this classic. Although... I have heard many mixed reviews about it so if you have seen it, what did you think about it?

I would like to make a special thanks to Sarah (Buzz) for my blog award! What an inspiring and amazing gift. Check out her blog: http://thebuzzonfashion.blogspot.com/

-Sj

Dressing your head

"Why bother to accessorize?" Someone once asked me, and I replied by simply staring at them until they got creeped out.

From Henri Bendel

From Lesters

But while accessorizing covers a wide range of fashion, this post will only focus on one area - headbands. I think my love for headbands began in the 6th grade, when I didn't know much about fashion but I no one had headbands and I saw them as something that could make me stand out...in a good way. Anyway, my love for them has expanded as well as my collection. Some were my sisters when she was younger (and yes, they still fit us), some I have collected from far off places such as China and Florence. Some I have found in little boutiques around the city and others I have purchased at Bendel's. Gosh, that place is like heaven. Whenever I walk into Henri Bendel's, I rush to the back of the store (but now that the headband department is upstairs, I rush upstairs), and literally stay there for hours and try on nearly everyone, and at the same time get very annoyed by the sales clerks as they give you a million to try on, and then it is too awkward to say you don't like it, and that you are fine ON YOUR OWN! But anyway, I have officially decided that I will not be having a vail at my wedding, but instead a headband. Perhaps one that has some net coming down over my face because that is just so elegant.

Accessorizing makes an outfit complete. It creates the finishing touches and smoothes out the edges. Accessorizing can change an entire outfit! Once I saw this girl wearing a uniform (white shirt tucked into a blue mini pleated skirt) but she wore bright blue, funky socks and a headband with a big bow on the top of her head, and I just couldn't stop looking at her. After all, if she hadn't accessorized, I can promise you that I wouldn't have been staring.

I love reading magazines like Teen Vogue and seeing how they play and mix up an outfit with a headband. Some think that only little girls can pull off headbands, as they automatically picture a little girl with a huge flower on top of her head but I strongly disagree with this because women could wear head-bands if they just experimented a bit more, and took more risks (just for the women that aren't sure about headbands). On the other hand, many headbands can be wild, and I do have to admit that they take guts to be worn. But all in all, comps to the woman in the world who experiment with them.

From Urban Outfitters

Vintage D&G

From J-Crew

From Henri Bendel

Just for fun

As I said before, my collection is expanding and I am at loss of where to put them, so here they are stacking up in the corner of my windowsill. Although, I am ordering shelves for my wall soon, and I have an idea about how to put them on the shelves. I will post about about the shelves when they come.

-SJ

p.s. the long black D.I.Y. skirt is coming along. Post coming soon on that too!

Harem Pants - Part II

Look #2:

Sisters fedora

These black harems are great (a bit big but who can tell?)! I feel like they can be worn with anything, and are good for all seasons because they are light, comfortable, and easily wearable with anything, and when I say anything, I mean anything. Especially, if you have no idea what to wear, or if you really want to wear a shirt but don't know what pants to wear, you know you will be able to turn to these.

I love how baggy they are.

Sequined sweater from Urban Outfitters, Belt from Gap Kids, Pearl necklace from Santa this past christmas and Harem pants from a Japanese boutique in Soho.

Look #3:

I know I look a little evil in this one...I blame the flash.

Intermix Vest, Lucy Skyes shirt, pearl necklace from Santa and Harem pants from Free People

These pants are silk and have a great bow as a belt. They are super tight at the calf, but I thinks thats why I like them (even though they are rather hard to move in.)

Did you notice the collages in the background? That is my sisters art work (though I wish I could say it was mine because they are all so fabulous!) She makes collages as a hobby and they get better and more intricate as she each time plus, I get great ideas from them. At first we had so much empty room for the collages around on the walls, but she is like a machine and has already makes so many, that we have to move things around in our small room for each one to fit. I will do a post on them soon.

The long black skirt is coming along and I hope to finish it this weekend.

On that note, have a great long weekend everyone and happy MLK day.

and check out the following post for Part I of this post

-SJ

Harem Pants - Part I

Due to my very limited computer skills, I wish I could turn this blog into one very unique, creative and amazing (!) blog, but I am still learning...so I do apologize. I will have you know that I do know that the appearance of this rather bare blog looks...well...bare, and I will work on that. Maybe some day in the far off future, I will have customized this blog to an extraordinary extent and it will be fabulous. But before I get too ahead of myself, I must be brought back down to earth and remind myself of where I was supposed to start.

Harem pants have been a new addition to my wardrobe, and I love them. They are comfortable, easy, and can go with practically anything. Mostly people or at least I see more people in them in the summer time, as they are easily worn with tank-tops on a hot day, but I truly believe that if you wanted to - they can be appropriate for the winter time as well. Seasons matter, but if you have several pairs of pants (that you are in love with!) just sitting in your drawer, glaring at you each morning, saying "WEAR ME! (even though I should be worn in summer)" it can be a little intimidating. Therefore, I gave it a go. Worn with tights and flats, I very much like this outfit and found it fun to wear it to school even though I got many strange looks from people as I passed them in the hallway...

Harem pants from Anthropology, worn with white tights from Gap Kids, and Flats from Lesters.

J-crew tee-shirt, cardigan I got in Hong Kong two summers ago, leather bracelet from a street vendor in Soho, and pearl necklace from Santa this Christmas.

My friend said I looked like a genie in a bottle

My sister said "OK, jump."

A page on Harem pants in the Septmber issue of Vouge 2009...Where my love began

See previous post for Part II of this post

-Sj

The Return of Tulle

Each year, there are many many trends I find uneasily wearable, or simply not of my taste, but recently I have found tulle popping up here and there, and must say that it has come to my liking. Tulle has been around forEVER, but mainly put under dresses and skirts to give it the extra poofy flair it needs to top off a look, but now, the undergarments have become the outer garments. What was meant to be hidden away and tucked under something ever so tidily has now re-positioned its place to the main piece of a look, and is not trying to hide anymore.

The (famous) opening scene to Sex and The City, as Sarah Jessica Parker flaunts her tulle

A Luella tulle skirt and lace shawl

Where tulle was once a simple pink and white has now become lavishly extravagant in color, which rather than creating a sweet girly look when paired with ballet flats, has now transformed to a punk-rock-edgier look as more girls (and women) pair it with heels or combat boots.

A "Net Twisted Bubble Skirt"

Found at Intermix

Photo Cred: Intermix

Alexander McQueen Embroidered Tulle Gown

This dress is stunning. Absolutely stunning.

Photo Cred: FabSugar

-Sj

Happy New Year! and a new kind of Ralph Lauren Polo

A year or two ago I was really into the Ralph Lauren Polo's and I got this hot pink one (which I wore to an unbelievable extent), but now that I have grown a fair amount and expanded my fashion palette, I decided that I didn't like my Hot Pink Ralph Lauren sweater much anymore.

BEFORE

As soon as I was going to put it into the giveaway bag, I said "hmm," maybe I could do something fun with this. Instantly, I jotted down some ideas for the sweater and it all narrowed down to this...

AFTER

Worn with Abercrombie jeans

Underneath sweater is a Surrealist lace top

My Dad said I look like I had been attacked by acid...thanks Dad.

A view of the back

Sometimes I think people might think I am goth (ripping up and shredding my clothes) if I were to wear it but then again it is a hot pink sweater, so never mind. Honestly, it didn't take me very long, all I needed was a thread puller, scissors and three hours straight to work on it. I've never done anything like this - distressing a sweater before I mean, so it was basically all an experiment, but hopefully it will be of more use to me now. My next project will consist of a black floor length dress that will become a floor length skirt instead. That project will consist of a bit more work but we can only wait and see what the final product will be like. Look out for a post coming soon on that project.

Have a happy new year everyone, and hopefully we can all stick to our resolutions for the year (I am always bad at that)!

-Sj