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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!
Say hi & welcome to my beautiful new boots! What glorious little babes these are, they've hardly been off my feet since I bought them two Saturdays ago! I have this problem where I buy something new and then wear it constantly for a few weeks, eventually forgetting completely about it once it's replaced, re-finding it years later and deciding it no longer reflects my style at the moment. It's an extremely complex problem. Hopefully these new boots won't fall victim.
Oh, I'd also like to introduce my wonderful exotic bird shirt! I found it at Blacklist Vintage last month during MN Fashion Week. (I even blogged about it here.) It's another one of those things that I wear constantly. The shorts are from H&M, the socks from Target, and the belt is secondhand. But these boots!!!!
They make me feel like such a bad ass. I even asked my friend, who teaches self-defense, to help me review...so I can be as bad ass as these boots make me feel. Ok, that's all I should say...but let this photo be a reminder to you to watch your step!!
Anyways, maybe I'm a totaly ninny but I'm so excited that Halloween is behind us finally & I can almost fully embrace the holiday spirit! I'm already thinking about how I want to design my Christmas cards this year, and I've been buying cute holiday fabric to make into vests and skirts and whatnot. Of course we have Thanksgiving first, but all the same...I'm so excited, I can barely contain all my holiday excitement!
One last shot that Moses wanted to get on! Well...he didn't want to, but I wanted him to. See ya'll soon!!
