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Merry Christmas, Babies! I hope everyone had a fantastic day filled with lots of love, joy, laughter, good company, and good food. The holidays are such a fantastic time of year and a wonderful celebration of the coming of the Christian saviour. Even if you don't celebrate the traditional Christmas holiday, or even if you don't celebrate Christmas at all, it's still a wonderful time of year to be with family and friends.
Fitz & the Tantrums - Santa Stole My Lady
This was my Santa Girl outfit! I made the skirt last spring to wear to the opera, and decided to re-hem it this weekend because the hem was crooked and very badly sewn. The number one issue with the crushed velvet fabric is that it's curly! So the hem ended up rolling and, though it's even & discreet, it's much much much too short to be comfortably worn. Bah, humbug! It ends up flashing my garters far too much and in the wind it's an absolute catastrophe & very reminiscent of Marilyn.
So we didn't get a white Christmas, but it was lovely anyways! I'll hopefully do a better round up of it later, but I wanted to get out these photos of what I wore before the Holiday was too far past. This outfit was inspired by an Harley Davidson Santa that my father used to own. I wore this leather vest and black booties to toughen it all up and make is more me-ish. Hmmm, me-ish, Chloe-ish, those are terms I tend to use a lot! But I really don't have a better way of describing it...it's my personality in the outfit! I wore this today, for Christmas with my family, and also last night for the Christmas Eve service at church and for a party at my boyfriend's auntie's house. One of my favourite parts of the Holiday season is all parties and the family, and being welcomed no matter who you are. Another favourite part (besides the birth and blessed miracle of the Baby Jesus) would be Santa Claus!
I was babysitting(!) three kids the other weekend. We hunkered down to watch Christmas movies and make cards, and while the two youngest were changing into their pajamas, the 11-year-old and I had an heart to heart about Old Saint Nick. He confided in me that he stilled pretended to believe in Santa, which is such a wonderful thing. I do, too. I believe in the spirit of Santa and in the wonderful symbol of Christmas that he is. I believe in the hope and cheer he inspires in young children and adults alike. I expressed this to the older boy I was "babysitting," much to his agreeance and we both kept it a little secret as the true believers stumbled back downstairs in their footie pajamas.
I hope that everyone reading this, no matter what faith you are, have a wonderful holiday season and that peace and warmth are with you and your loved ones.
Let me start this post out with: Right now, I hate Texans. If you're a Texan, beware!! Yes, all of our beautiful, lovely, Winterland snow is gone! All those Texans pushed their warm air and rain up to Minnesota and because of this, we warmed up above freezing and got loads of rain which washed away all our snow. And though it's back below freezing now, there isn't snow in the forecast before Christmas. I've never muched cared for Texas (mostly because they gave us the Bush administration) but now I care for them even less! For all I care, they can just leave the US. Christmas in Minnesota just isn't Christmas without white fluffy ice crunching under your boots and icicles dripping from rain gutters. How will Santa's sleigh land on my roof now? Huh, Texans? Explain that to me!!
Ok now that I'm over that rage (just kidding, I'll never be over it...) here is a "winter" outfit post for ya'll. It was inspired by '20s flapper drop waist dresses. The dress I'm wearing underneath (which I bought a couple years ago from UO) is actually drop waist, but it's short sleeved and the top is mesh, so I layered my knit turtleneck over it to warm it up. The tights are to give it some colour and to intensify the pinks in my turtleneck by means of "colour seperation." (Ooooh big vocab words from colour theory class)
You see this face? Yupp, that's how pissed I am about the snow going away. Ok ok ok, I know I said I'd leave that behind... Anyways, the lack of snow is making it even harder for me to get into the Christmas spirit! Finals have taken precedence over my first couple weeks of December (I have one more test and one more final project) so I haven't even had time to decorate the tree or get Christmas cards out! Hopefully I can catch up on that before work today and during my day off on Sunday.
In the meantime, I did do one Christmas-y thing! My boyfriend and I went to go watch the Holidazzle parade in downtown Minneapolis last weekend! We followed it up with checking out Macy's Santaland display and then writing letters to Santa! Ooooh I do so hope that he'll bring me the puppy, the snow, and the world peace that I asked him for!
I also just realised that I'm wearing my hair up in the photos. Even the one of me posting my letter to Santa. And in fact, I have my hair up right now! I'm not sure what it is, but I've been wearing it up lately. Okay, I know what it is...my boyfriend really likes it! But I sort of like it too, especially when I'm having a bad hairday or haven't been able to wash my hair. I also like wearing headbands, like this one, which I bought from UO a couple years back now. It's super cute and reminded me of the '20s (hence why I'm wearing it with my flapper inspired outfit).
Anyways, I'm off to go work on my Christmas cards! I have a list of about 40 people...let's see if I can get this done! Here's hoping for some snow xx
Hello! It's snowed! It snowed over the weekend (hmmm I took these photos a week ago, now you know...). It was so lush and beautiful. I hope we get more soon. Anyways, as I said, I took these photos a week ago, about the time that it was just started to snow, in the evening, and since then it has gotten so cold out! I don't know how many outfit posts I'll be doing this winter...
But here, I am wearing Cheap Monday acid wash skinnies, a sweater I found in the H&M sale section ($4!!), my winter boots from Khombu, and a new jacket that a co-worker gave me as a gift! It had been her's when she was younger, but she wanted to pass it on to someone who would wear it more. It is also the most wrinkly jacket that I own, now...
This outfit was inspired (entirely) by the '80s movie "Better Off Dead" starring my true love, John Cusack. It's such an off the wall movie and I definitely recommend it to all who have not seen it. You won't regret it! And whether you have or have not seen it, I've included some screencaps to aid with my demonstration of outfit inspiration:
Charles De Mar's hat is reminiscent of George Harrison's getup in "Help!" during the scene where they went skiing. I love Beth's matching jacket & hat, and Lane's down vest over the sweater is so lovely! Definitely something that I would wear....
Red ski pants!! I also love the teal jackets with the red-orange ski boots, and Lane's orange boots. If I knew skiing was such a fashionable sport, I would've gotten in on it long ago!
Red cardigan! Maybe I like this movie because it's set in the winter, so there're tons of chunky sweaters. It speaks to my frozen Minnesotan heart.
Monique's curly hair is so cute! I wish my curls were more kinky. I love the headband with her curls sticking out. I've never seen anyone look cute in one of these headbands...
And if you're wondering what to wear for Christmas...! Ricky's outfits in this movie are ridiculous. So many crazy patterned pants and tops! I love it so much! His wack-o mom is the same way... (All screencaps from here because my DVD wasn't working for some reason)
Anyways, back to the outfit! A couple of weeks ago I asked what you guys thought about the evolution of my style. Surprisingly, I got really great responses (I honestly didn't think that people usually read what I wrote...now I'll be more careful about what I ramble on about)! As I got dressed the other day when I wore this outfit, I was thinking to myself about how I used to wear acid wash a lot a lot a lot, which reminded me that I hadn't yet responded to the lovely comments I'd gotten.
So, I'm here to say thanks for all the feedback to my question. It was great to hear that you guys thought that it was totally normal to have such style evolution. When I started this blog in 2008 (as a sophmore in high school, I believe), the purpose was to "find" my style. I've experimented with some much: menswear, neon, colour blocking, skinny jeans, graphic tees, suspenders, ugly sweaters, the list is never-ending and, at times, extremely embarassing, but I documented it all and it's here forever now. It's been in the past year or so that I've really grown comfortable with my style and have had a strong feeling for what is "me" and what isn't. This is a good thing...I've grown a lot since I started the blog. I started college, I got a job, I've gone through numerous boyfriends and have developed friendships with great people, and lost friendships with others. It's all a part of growing up, isn't it? And if I still wore the same things as I did at 15, that would not be good! As one person commented, she'd be concerned if my style had not matured with me.
But, to grow on this, someone also commented on the fact that my style was more varied back in the day, and that they really liked it when I mixed it up more. So, as the new year is about to start and whatnot, my new style resolution is to mix it up more! I know what I like and what I don't like, but there's a lot out there that I like, but just haven't tried. So there's my style resolution, and let's see what I make of it!
In the meantime, as I said, it's really awfully cold outside and I don't know how long I can stand around taking photos in it for. So no more outfit posts are planned, but don't worry, I still have a lot to come for December! Hang in there babies and stay warm!
Howdy! I hope everyone's weekend went well, especially to all you Americans out there who had an extended holiday weekend to celebrate the short-lived friendship between pilgrims & the natives before we gave them small pox and forced them onto reservations. At least we now get to celebrate it by taking an entire day off from work and school, and just eating pumpkin pie instead! I had a really excellent Thanksgiving spent watching the Macy's parade, spending time with my family and a few friends, and being with my boyfriend, who is the greatest ever (teenage girl moment over.....almost....)
Here's a photo of us that I'm posting just to stare at while I write this. No, I'm kidding (a bit)! I actually ripped this from his sister's Facebook because I wanted to show off what I made...! And that would be the vest and tie, sillies, not the boy! Yupp, I made the vest for him as a present, and then Thanksgiving morning as I put on my orange dress, I thought to myself, "Hmmm...I had a lot of excess orange fabric from hemming this dress...maybe enough to make a neck tie!" And I sure did. So I made him this tie and we matched all day and probably made people have to run off and vomit from our cuteness. So that was my Thanksgiving!
Anyways, back to the original reason of posting and that reason would be...that this is a fashion blog!!!! Sillies. So here is what I wore some time ago. I was channelling a grunge look here, mostly because I wanted to wear this old olive green coloured hoodie. This is probably one of the most loved articles of clothing that I own. It's soft and worn in and the comfiest. Before it became mine, it belonged to my older sister. Before it was her's, it was her 9th grade boyfriend's. And before it was in his posession, it was probably some skateboarder friend's of his.
Despite the fact that I was wearing this super duper awesome (there's some skaterboy terminology in there for ya!) hoodie, I still wasn't feeling the outfit. To compensate, I've spent the next few days wearing frilly, girly outfits.
After the hoodie, my favourite part of this outfit was the accessories! I have a pretty good pin collection going, I can't even choose which my favourite is. A lot of them have little stories behind them, which is great. Like the camel...I found him in a dusty little antique store in Nantes after I got into a fight with my friend and we parted ways by the castle. And the owl...my ex boyfriend got him for me (oh, and the Beatles shirts I'm wearing here) when we were up in Duluth. We couldn't decide between several pieces, but he picked me up the owl for some month anniversary.
I also chose a collection of rings to wear. I enjoy wearing accessories, I just always seem to forget! Even despite this, I'm still not a mega-fan of this outfit. It's just too bland and is missing a bit of the Chloe-ness that's usually in what I wear... To sum it up, this is how I feel about this outfit:
Hope you all are hanging in there & getting anxious for the holiday season! xx
Here is another segment of my 6-items-for-25-days experiment, which I've now ended. I took these photos a while ago and simply forgot to blog! I'm falling behind, it seems. Since these photos, it has now snowed and Minnesota is a lovely heaven of white and ice. I'm so happy, even if most people are not. Snow is a guarantee in Minnesota, I don't think we've ever had a winter without snow. But even so, with each new snowfall, people act like it's never snowed before and like winter is this entirely new concept which they've never heard of before. It's extremely bizarre to overhear conversations like this, but a certainty soon after the first snow.
This outfit was inspired by one of Rory's outfits in the first episode of Gilmore Girls. I cannot find a single screencap from this scene, but in it she's wearing a huge white sweater (her muumuu), black tights, and Doc Martens. I love some of the late '90s grunge fashions during the first season or two of the series, and this particular outfit I've always really liked. I watch this show a lot, and have probably seen it all the way through about 5 times at least, so yeah...you get the picture...
I love this turtleneck, which I stole from my sister's closet, because it is so warm and the most ultimately cozy sweater I own. It doesn't quite live up to Rory's muumuu, but it's pretty comfortable and makes me feel safe, so it has the same idea to it, I guess. And of course these shorts are a staple and these boots are a new favourite, which I bought from DSW last month.
So I have a quick question for any of you who actually read this and don't just look at the photos (I know you're out there!!); do you think my style has dramatically changed since you began reading my blog? I had a comment on my last post that my style used to be so much better, and more original, but now I just look like all the other girls. I take everything that you guys write to heart, and I've been mulling this over for a while...just thinking about how my style has changed, and how I feel about it. I'll touch base with this more later but, doesn't everyone's style change over the years? And aren't we all influenced by what we see around us, including what other girls are wearing? It's never been my wish to look like everyone else, but maybe the commenter was right. How do you guys feel about your own style changes through the years?
Anyways, since I've now given you something to think about, and myself too, it's time to go! I don't have classes tomorrow, and only one on Wednesday, so I'll finally have time to relax and get some stuff checked off my to-do list. It's Thanksgiving on Thursday and then the mad rush of Christmas shopping begins! Anyone else working in a mall or in retail can feel my pain, I'm sure....But in the meantime, I can relax with my boy and watch movies. I think tonight might be "Pretty Woman" while he studies, hmmm. I can never get enough of Julia Roberts or the ninties!
For the past 16 days, I've been wearing the same 6 items (undergarments, jackets, and accesories not included). This is supposed to continue into the next 9 days. (I've already cheated a number of times...remember the orange dress??) I'm doing this for my fashion ethics class, where we're experimenting to see if you really can wear only 6 base items and still function, professionally and socially. It's been fun, but I already did this when I backpacked Europe over the summer for 5 weeks. Yes, it works, but it's not fun! Time to quit this and start spreading some love to other clothes in my wardrobe.
For a better idea, these shorts & this shirt are two of my six items. I also included the shirt and shorts that I wore here, a turtleneck sweater, and a blue skirt (for church and dignified events).
I'm so glad we can wear different coats, shoes, and accesories! This wasn't the case while in Europe, so I consider myself even more hardcore back then. For the assignment, we're also not supposed to shop for apparel for 25 days. There're several people in the class who refused to do the assignment, which is really silly and closed-minded. I feel like you learn a lot about yourself, your consumption, and how much excess you have in your life, by doing this. When I got back from Europe, I cleaned out my room, donating things which I never thought about or needed while away from home. It took loads of clutter out of my life and has me buying less and less. Would you guys do this experiment, too?
Anyways, getting off my soap box now! I was channeling a Minnesotan art student in this outfit. Wait...isn't that what I already am?? Ha, the irony! The Van Gogh bag is from Amsterdam. There was this sketchy knock off tent next to the Van Gogh museum which, mind you, wasn't better priced, they just had better stuff than the real museum gift shop. So that is where the bag is from - the sketchy tent shop.
These shoes are a gift from Wanted Shoes and I love them for the Molly Ringwald aspect of them. The white and the crochet detailing...I know she'd be jealous of me, if this was 30 years ago and if this was Pretty in Pink (unfortunately it's not...)
Oh and this jacket! I love the teal colour and the Minnesota-feel of it. It's by the brand BB Dakota and if I'm not mistaken, it's the one worn by Kristen Stewart in the first Twilight movie. So I guess it's a bit more Forks-ish than Minnesota-ish?? (Yes, I've read the books/seen the movie...don't let this affect your opinion of me, please!)
I suppose this outfit makes it seem a lot warmer out than it is... But boy, it's getting cold out! There're red noses and huge down, puffy jackets galore on campus, and I'm still anxiously awaiting our first real snowfall, where it all sticks and doesn't melt.
In the meantime, I'm keeping warm indoors and doing a lot of DIY stuff! I've been sewing, making greeting cards (the holidays are upon us!), and painting. I made these frames for by boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. It was his 22nd and I wanted to make him something sweet and homemade. I went to Walgreens and bought a couple of frames. Then I painted them a base colour (pink and orange), waited for that to dry, then laid stickers down. I followed that with a layer of blue paint, then pulled up the stickets once it all had dried. And voila! I don't think it's such a bad effect, but I definitely should've sanded the varnish off the frames first.
Hope everyone is keeping warm and enjoying the onset of the holiday season!
On Thursday night, my boyfriend and I attended a special event at the MNOpera - the world premiere of "Silent Night"! This was our third outing hosted by MNOpera and, funny enough, it landed on the anniversary of our first date...which was to see Die Fledermaus at the opera, also! For that date, I had strep throat and mononucleosis. I have no idea why he still wanted to take me out. I'm happy to say that, for this anniversary, I was in much better health!
Anyways, as I said this was the world premiere of the opera "Silent Night" based on the 2005 film picture of the same title, or "Joyeux Noel." For those unfamiliar with it, the story is a fictionalized account of one of the truces which took place in the trenches of WWI in 1914, on Christmas Eve. When I first saw the dates on this opera, I thought to myself, "Hmmm...a bit early to be releasing Christmas to the public." (I say this, but my own workplace put $58,000 tress up the day after Halloween.) Interestingly enough, the director commented on this before the show, noting that they tried to make it less focused on the Christian aspect of the holiday. Instead they focused on the idea of "home" and what it means around the holiday times. The show reflected this greatly and in such a beautiful, heartbreaking way.
This here is the French general and dang, check out that uniform and the combed back hair! Everything I want in a man. Whenever I think of men in uniform, I think about some of the decorations they wear. I don't wear much jewelry, but brooches are one thing I'm more than happy to buy into. For the performance I wore my little camel pin:
This little guy came from a closet-of-an-antique-store in Nantes, France. I adore his little face and bejeweled saddle.
Back to the opera, because it really was just that amazing! We saw Wuthering Heights last April at MNOpera, and the staging made it really feel more like a movie than a live-performance (in the best way possible!). The use of different screens, visual effects, and lighting were just so exciting. This performance featured some battle scenes as well, which were beautifully executed and almost like a sad, battlefield dance. It was all really heartbreaking, as WWI was. The destruction and the uselessness and the deaths...it's all such a pity, even nearly 100 years later.
The performance came back from intermission with a very grim ending. I left the theater with anguish in my heart, as war tends to leave me, and with heavy thoughts circling my head. Such power and emotion an opera can cause! My boyfriend and I walked back to the car in near complete silence, just out of emotional exhaustion. I never entered into the theater expected to be so emotionally struck.
Besides the jawdropping visual effects, the music was incredibley beautiful. It had a Christmas-y undertone but was, at times, very sad and hopeless, at others frightening, and even further, joyous and exciting. See what I mean about an emotional rollercoaster? The singing was all in German, French, and English. This was the first opera I'd seen which used French, which was great, because I was able to understand most of what they sang! Yessss, my education is paying off!
All of these beautiful photos are credit to Michal Daniel of MNOpera.
If any Minnesota locals are interested in seeing this opera (as you should be! Don't let the word "opera" hold you back from this performance), MNOpera is offering a special promotion for Tuesday night's performance on the 15th. Just enter "blog20" as a coupon when checking out online at MNOpera.org to save on up to 4 seats! This performance is at the Ordway theater in downtown St. Paul, which is probably one of the most romantic theaters left in MN.
Anyways, as a quick word about this outfit that I wore! I found this dress last spring at the Selby Ave. vintage store, "Go Vintage." It was on sale for maybe around $10 because of small tears, a stain or two, and the general fact that it was atrocious and looked more like a circus tent than a dress. I wish I took a photo of it when I first bought it...I probably cut off a good 4 feet of length. Yes, it was long! Well past my feet (okay, okay, okay, I'm only 5' tall). I cut all that off and hemmed up the lining and the tulle. I mended the little tears, gave it a thorough ironing (this is the most wrinkle-prone dress I've ever owned!) and voila! Not such a bad outcome, huh?
It has such a '70s vibe to it, but I sweetened it up (and maybe threw in some '60s?) by hemming it. It still makes me think of Mama Cass whenever I wear it, though. I mentioned this to my boy last night, to which he hmmmmphed and took it as me feeling bad for myself. Though Mama Cass was often seen in unfitted, tent-like outfits, I meant that I felt more like I should be singing in quartet of hippies and wearing flowers in my hair. Oh, if only I could sing half as well as Mama Cass!
