vacancy

dearest internet darlings:

in the past 7 days i have embarked on my summer journeys, adopted a nomadic way of life, and driven the 400 mile drive from Phoenix to Orange County (and back) 3 times. I am slowly adjusting to living (and dressing) in a world where 105 degrees is a good day. I must apologize, my lovelies, for the lack of updates: i have been sadly without internet for at least the past week and my blog and journal have been poorly neglected. but no worries! within this next weekend, i will be back and posting with my usual (maybe pathetic) furiosity! i'd love to start documenting what it's like to try to dress attractively in the sweltering summer heat. an adventure, to say the least! for now, i leave you with an AMAZING fashion inspiration, as well as just a really generally good movie, which you should go out and rent IMMEDIATELY:

please take note of Sarah Lyons' amazing wardrobe, celebrating the delightful tackiness of the wrong end of the 90210 in the mid 90's. i am especially in love with her perfectly permed hair, and oh, of course, those amazing platforms. just my luck, i managed to pick up a perfectly Slums-inspired pair of platforms today at the Goodwill for only $2.99. Now i will be able to live out my mid-90's hollywood dreams, just like i've always wanted.

summer love

today orange county decided to grace us with 90+ degree weather, 

so i am wearing a very simple, very light outfit to cope with the heat:

leopard print sunglasses: urban outfitters

white lace dress: secondhand

white slip: american apparel

acid  yellow wedges: target

My Sweet Lo

The second i started reading Vladimir's novel Lolita, i was instantly in love. For its literary value alone, this book is absolutely amazing - Nabokov's prose are ecstatic and beautiful, rolling off the page and off the tongue more like a lengthy poem than a dry old love novel. However it is not only his words that make this story so enchanting - it is also the story, a story of love versus lust, and its characters: the humble narrator Humbert Humbert and his peach-fuzz child love, Lolita. Throughout the book, Nabokov takes great care to describe Lolita's childlike wardrobe: her full petticoats, her slouchy bobby socks, her saddle shoes, and through the years several different film versions of this classic have taken on these descriptions and made them into full on icons.

who can forget Stanley Kubrik's 1962 famous rendition, where he showed us Humbert's first view of Lolita (played by Sue Lyon): sunbathing in her 1950's bathing suit and sunhat, and of course peeking with sultry eyes over a pair of now-iconic red heart sunnies. 

Then there was the 1997 remake, when Lolita was portrayed as a young, sunny, russet-haired & long-limbed Dominique Swain, complete with braids and braces. 

Lolita has long been my biggest fashion inspiration, 

and lucky for me pinafore skirts and heart sunnies are plentiful these days. 

trends can kill nearly anything,

but something tells me this icon will stand the test of time.

jellies & jams

of course we all remember jellies. how can we not? first, we wore them in our happy childhood summers. then, we got a blast of nostalgia when they showed up again a few years ago on the shelves of Urban Outfitters and other trendy retailers. and then, we got sick of them as we watched them go on sale at Target and Payless. But leave it to Madame Vivienne Westwood herself to take something we thought was done for good, and revamp it into something i'd kill to get my hands on. Yes, it's true, Ms. Westwood has ingeniously created her own full line of plastic "jelly" shoes, in absolutely amazing styles including her classing t-strap maryjane pump, some gorgeous jewelled flats fit for Cinderella, and even some amazing wingtip oxfords!

find out more, or purchase yourself a pair (and let me live vicariously through you, please)
here
and
here.

Sew U Take 2

by this time there is almost no one in the world of crafty fashionistas that hasn't heard of Wendy Mulligan (of Builty by Wendy fame) and her amazing basic how-to sewing book, Sew U. The sprial-bound book managed to close the gap between thousands of fashion lovers and their intimidating sewing machines. it taught us the basics, from sewing on buttons and cutting out patterns to customizing our own designs. and now she's done it again! Wendy has brought us a new book, Sew U : Home Stretch! The book covers all the basics on how to sew with stretch fabrics, no easy feat! Just like its predecessor, it even comes with it's own patterns from size XS to L. Which means it's time to hit the fabric store, buy a few yards of stretchy lame and jersey-knit and forget about spending way too much money at American Apparel when we can just make our own stretch basics!

(ps, find out more or buy the book at built by wendy)

eye candy

every month, i start a new folder on my desktop and any time i see a photo of something - anything - that inspires me, i just drag & drop. the finished result is a really great archive of inspiration, for any time that i have a deadline for a Fashion class and i'm hard up for ideas. so here are some of my favorites from May's folder:

kelly bundy

lately i've been feeling the delightfully trashy, always exciting style of the 90's sitcom fashion icon Kelly Bundy. oh, Christina Applegate, nobody can pull off skin-tight leather, obnoxious florals & bleached hair with 2-inch roots like you.

the outfit i wore today, channelling the great ms. bundy:

top: undershirt, available everywhere

belt: thrifted, $6

skirt: united colors of benetton, thrifted & gifted