Snake, Dog, Fake, Liar

My favourite places to take pictures around the house is definitely in front of the climbing foliage on the garage - however, either my face or my clothes tend to get hideously overexposed by the light whenever I pose here. This time it's the dress, which I got in a care package from the Stylish Wanderer (<3!). It's a beautiful silk dress and the colour is actually quite vibrant, more or less as shown in the picture below. Since it is the only pink piece of clothing I own, I added ripped tights and witchy flat ankle boots to make it suit me.

Big Shakes

This week's outfits haven't been a total waste...

I sort of wanted to get in on some draping action here, so I wore my circle scarf long instead of doubling it up like I usually do. But screw the rest of the outfit - these shoes are $3.50 worth of WIN.

It's been gray and gloomy out for the past couple of days, to the point where all I want to do is stay inside drinking tea and wearing pajamas all day instead of getting up and dressed for work.

I wish my camera captured my shirt details better, so here is a close-up shot. One of my really cool co-workers knows I'm into vintage clothing so she brought me this amazing lace top with mother of pearl buttons! I love hand-me downs...

These Ferragamo bow flats don't get a lot of closet action. They're so precious, that I'm almost scared to wear them!

Right now, I'm just "stoked" on life in general. I have so much love for so many people (but especially one person, you know who you are!) and a few exciting "blogger" things to divulge within the next few weeks (again, you know who you are!). So stay tuned and you may be pleasantly surprised (this applies to everyone).

Out by the boxcar waiting...

Guerilla knitting!

I wish I lived in NYC or some other metropolis, because I can't even describe how happy I'd be if I saw a little bit of fuzzy graffiti in my own hometown. Yes, I'm a total sucker for just about anything made by hand using needles and yarn. I've started a new knitting project myself. It's just in the baby stages, but it will end up being a loose knit sweater. This yarn is mohair and it feels just like knitting angel hair, especially with the colour being light pink with silver sparkles.

Maybe someday I'll graduate up to doing something as epic as the 66Sick DIY Rodarte dress. Yeah, keep dreaming Isabel.

Here Comes Your Man

All weekend, I've just been wearing a variation of this simple outfit: floral grunge-y dress and band shirt. Yesterday it was an Ian Curtis shirt with this dress, plus grey leggings and moccasin boots instead of ripped tights and Docs. I think I like this outfit much better, though. I live for the weekends, when I can dress down and look like hell instead of having to prim things up in order to look 'work-appropriate'...

Oooh, new thrift finds to share! When you live in a small town, it seems like the only thing that kills time is spending hours knee-deep in people's castaway clothes, searching for treasures. For only $5, I snagged this 80s sequin sweater and some lace-up heeled sandals.

Rainbow Project

I know mentioned I had an exciting project to share this weekend, so here it is! Basically, I was poking around Garbage Dress during the week (best. blog. ever.) and discovered this piece of art Zana did called "The Spectrum of All of My Clothes", which I think is amazing and appeals to me on so many different levels.

So I got kind of inspired and decided to do my own copycat take on it, which just means photographing myself in monochromatic outfits. It was a really fun project (only took about 20 minutes) and I learned quite a bit about my wardrobe. For example, it was easy to put together the black, grey and white outfits but significantly harder for the purple and blue. I couldn't even manage to put together pink, yellow or green outfits. So without further ado...

Rocking the red! Featuring an H&M hair bow, vintage tee, H&M pants.

Clad in black (I really should have tried harder with this one.) Featuring a thrifted dress, ripped tights, thrifted oxfords.

Dressed in blue. This is so "Balmain" I can taste it. Featuring a thrifted shirt, jacket and DIY pants.

Swathed in grey (Apparently 40% of my wardrobe is different shades of grey.) Featuring a sweater from Tavi, Old Navy dress, American Apparel tri-blend leggings, thrifted shoes.

Wrapped in white. Featuring an Old Navy tunic, thrifted newpaper skirt, Joe Fresh tights and thrifted shoes.

Can't think of another verb other than "wearing" purple. Featuring a thrifted dress and Doc Martens.

Hey white boy, what you doing uptown?

I look a bit like a babbling idiot here. Excellent.

Cardigan - American Apparel
PJ Harvey tee - Voltage Vox
Jeans - Cheap Monday
Shoes - Value Village
Bag - Topshop

I can't believe I never thought of looking for oxford brogues in the men's section of thrift stores! After all, some of my best shoe finds have been in the men's section. These babies are comfortable as hell and I never want to take them off. Seriously, if you (like me) have been searching for the perfect pair of brogues for what seems like eternity, don't be afraid of gender-bending! Next time I go thrifting, I might have to stock up on cheap men's dress shoes.

P.S. -I have an exciting project I will post about this weekend!

P.P.S. - Buy my shit!

I knew a lady who came from Duluth, bitten by a dog with a rabid tooth...

Just experimenting with ways to wear this blouse. Usually the strings get tied up into a neat little bow, but I felt like letting them hang loose for a different, perhaps a more 'unfinished' look.


Things I learned today (or "Daily Discoveries" if alliteration floats your boat:
-I think I have coprolalia (this is only half a joke)
-I have the coolest best friend in the world (of course I knew that before, but I learn it over and over again each time we hang out)
-I want to read "Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered" by E. F. Schumacher
-The word "Immure" means "to enclose within walls" (thanks Dictionary.com's 'word of the day')
-The capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott (actually, I learned this yesterday)
-Worn Journal is kind of awesome

blank looks and no books

Pinstripe seersucker jacket - American Eagle, free at swap meet
Jersey pocket skirt - American Apparel, $30
Nude tights - Joe Fresh, gift
Suede shoes - Mephisto at Value Village, $7

I am wearing nude 'stockings' with what I'm 99% sure are orthopaedic shoes. It doesn't get much more granny then this. I've fallen and I can't get up! With my love for knitting, baking, tea and cats, it was clearly only a matter of time before I started wearing invisible pantyhose and shoes with arch support.

I had a pretty sweet thrift trip on Sunday, which yielded a number of awesome things. These grey granny shoes are almost brand new, and the pair of men's black dress oxfords aren't too shabby either. Yes, I bought men's shoes. Even though they fit well (a little wide), they make my feet look as big as boats. Lastly, I found a Disney shirt with Donald Duck on it! I've always wanted a vintage Mickey Mouse shirt, but have never managed to thrift one so old Donald will have to do for now.

That old lady just gave you the dirtiest look.

Do not let the ripped tights, zipper skirt and Joy Division tank. I am not a badass in the slightest.


Sorry for the unexpected absence, I spent my days off back to my University town for a long weekend full of friendly shenanigans. I had amazing time catching up with my little FUMS (Fucked Up Movie Society) family and am impatiently waiting for our next reunion. The movie schedule for the weekend was Fubar and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, with the latter being almost unwatchably plotless.

They even made me a sign!

Immaturity at its finest...

surrender, rend it, i'm yours.

Is it just me, or have Aldo shoes been utterly KILLING it lately?? I know their stuff isn't often the highest quality, but it takes me years to wear out shoes* and anyone of these pair would be quite the welcome addition to my shoe collection.

Mmm, brogues, t-straps, lace-ups and buckles. The last pair of booties are obviously Marc by Marc ripoffs, but they're 1) real leather and 2) on sale, making them nearly irrestible. I might just have to pull my credit card out for this one...




About the shoe collection, I stopped counting when I passed 40 pairs. I may not be Imelda Marcos, but for someone with as little closet space as I do, it feels like a shitload when they're all haphazardly piled on top of each other.

*I wear my shoes in pretty much constant rotation, so some pairs of shoes I've had since Grade 10 (about 4 years ago) still look brand new. As hard as I try to "break" the pairs I don't care about anymore, their condition never seems to wear. This explains why the sudden passing of my brown leather brogues was such a grievous shock.

Once upon a time there was a fox and he was called Jerome...

Happy Belated Mothers Day to all. I decided to document yesterday's outfit in a series of photos instead of just taking one. Partially to be interesting, and partially because I was having a particularly "ugly face day".




I just had to post a picture of this "public service announcement" placemat drawn by a kid because I get such a kick out of the fish drinking a beer. Enlarge the photo for added hilarity.

I was born with a hammer in my hand.

I'm not the kind of person who wears all black, well, ever. I went through a brief semi-goth phase when I was fifteen (basically, I dyed my long hair black on a regular basis and listened to a lot of KMFDM) and haven't returned to wearing a monotone black outfit since those days. But I decided to experiment with "the dark side" yesterday, and limited myself to wearing all-black. With the red lipstick, I have to say, it felt pretty darn glamorous. Later in the day, I had to attend a benefit concert with my parents, so I changed and cheated a bit by wearing brown platforms. I was expecting the concert to be lame, but there was actually this frenetic bluegrass band that I really enjoyed. I've never thought about it much before, but I guess I'm a fan of frenetic bluegrass?

P.S. -Does anyone else out there share my love for wickedly obvious spelling mistakes?


Also, I added the MOTHERLOAD of new stuff to Cleaning Out My Closet. Take a look!

With dirty hearts and hands washed clean.

I always wonder why such a thing as 'Casual Fridays' exist. I mean, aren't Mondays the most difficult day of the week? Why not give the employees a break on the most unpleasant day of the week, rather than on the day they're all wired for the weekend? Just a thought. Half the time on Fridays, I don't even feel like 'dressing down', so the concept is wasted on me entirely.

This new Joy Division tank is definitely a 'win'.

this is rough

Miniature revelation: the bad haircut looks somewhat normal when left to dry in curls. Clearly, I am shocked.

I would also like to offer this obituary to my beloved pair of woven leather brogues. They first fell ill with a small rip in the month of April, but their condition deteriorated quickly and after May 6th 2009, the leather upper became fully detached from the sole. They were laid to rest peacefully on the same day. May their life in heaven be as fulfilling as their life on Earth.

Some of my favourite memories with the brogues...