nowhere to go

Last night, we planned to hang out at a friend's apartment. That plan didn't go through, so we ended up dressing a little fancy simply to kick back in our room. We did end up with an exciting walk to the grocery store and back.

J. Crew top, True Religion jeans, vintage shoes, Louis Vuitton wallet

I couldn't successfully crop the boy out of the picture. He wears a Forum tee, American Eagle jeans, and Etnies shoes.

The night ended with some trouble with on-campus housing, but it was a bunch of fun.

she's shapes

Though I look like a trapezoid when I wear it, I like the stiffness of this light denim dress. It sort of sticks out away from my body, keeping me cool when I'm rushing to class. Also, it has pockets.

Heritage dress, vintage sweater, Coach belt

The nights are getting cooler, so I'm getting to wear my sweaters. Autumn's almost here, and I'm excited! I think this would have looked better with my thin brown belt instead, but it's at home.

All day, I tried to find an area on campus without people to take some self-timed photos. I cannot believe how many bodies can be around at one time. Even in the basement of the Chemistry building, people were walking around. Is it too much to ask for a little seclusion? I ended up taking self-timed photos in my room.

ticket to ride

I had some business to take care of around campus yesterday, and I wore this casual outfit to get it done. I went to a meeting for my major, bought my textbooks (that I have to exchange, ugh), and ran around with a friend.

The Faint concert tee, AA skirt, Kickers shoes

My floormate told me I looked like "the woman from Pulp Fiction." Is it the hair?

I'm not down with this skirt, really. It's the American Apparel Interlock mini. I loathe that the hem of the skirt is unfinished, thus it can get ripply and stretched out if I'm not careful. In addition, the thing rides up hardcore. I had to change out of it before dinner because I was really nervous I wouldn't able to pull it back down while carrying my food tray. What kind of underwear am I supposed to wear with it? Everything I have that wouldn't show lines is smooth and just makes the slide-age worse.

How cute are the soles of these shoes, though?

merry unbirthday

I found a semi-private place with great lighting to take my photos right near my room.

The highlight of my outfit is definitely my early birthday present! All I can say is that my parents are the bestttt.



I had been lusting after the Hillier hobo bag for a few months, and my mom and dad surprised me with it before I left for school. Originally, I was carrying the larger size of the bag, but it was ridiculously huge and too floppy to be attractive. I wish I had some pictures of myself carrying the enormous thing, but Dad saved me the embarrassment. Luckily, I found the smaller size at Barney's down here and I was able to do the exchange.

Today's outfit was simple (again... I need more flair, I know) and mostly meant to deal with the summer that is still present in LA. I'm a total summer girl, but I'm really craving some layering.

UO tee, Hollister shorts, Moda Enrico flats (M by MJ knockoffs), M by MJ bag

I love that the bag can be worn so many ways. Here I wear the shorter strap on my shoulder and hooked in my elbow. I've also toted it around with the longer strap on my shoulder or across my body like a messenger bag. As I've said before, items that transform themselves are definitely the best.

room for improvement

I've spent my past couple of days lounging around in shorts and t-shirts with friends I didn't see all summer. You'd think I'd have a lot of time to post because I don't have class yet, but there's so much that's keeping me busy!

This is what I wore on move-in day. It's rather simple, but I was very comfortable and it kept me cool.

AA tank, Forever 21 bralette, Ruehl jeans

My room this year is a lot smaller than the one I was in last year, but it seems to have quite a bit more storage space. The only thing is, it's a lot more difficult to access than last year.



My closet is sort of deep, but it seems to already be full. The set of drawers in the closet is stuffed to the max, too. They're a hassle to open and close because they aren't on rollers. Despite the huge empty cabinets overhead, I don't have the space to acquire that many new clothing items anymore. This seems like a good excuse to expand my accessory collection, though...

toys and joys

The other night I went to a toy-themed birthday party. It was a fun last hurrah of the summer. I was going to be a magic 8 ball, but I thought drawing out a figure eight and writing a fortune in block letters would be too much work. I decided to be a domino instead. (Please excuse the awkward pose... My mom was the photographer.)

AA dress, Anchor Blue belt, vintage boots

Maybe a domino isn't a toy. I think it falls more into the game category, myself.

Tomorrow (well, tonight) I head back down to school! I'm excited for the new year. Once I'm settled in my posting will be more consistent again.

flare-up

I'm sick. When I woke up Friday morning I felt like death. My throat was so sore that I woke up in the middle of the night from the pain. Since then it's gotten better, but I feel like I'm running on empty.

Yesterday, I went with my aunt and cousin to the yearly carnival fundraiser that's held at my old elementary school. It was weird to see little kids I once knew all grown up and some even in high school. It was a good place for people watching and eating Portuguese donuts. Yum.

I wanted to be comfortable and warm yesterday to fend my sickness off. I decided it would be a good day to try on my new flared jeans that I got in the city a little while back. I'm assuming skinny's still in, but I'm a little tired of the silhouette already. It's even sold at like, Gymboree. I have a feeling that the flared shape going to come back soon.

Alternative Apparel cardigan, Gap tank, Ruehl jeans, Stuart Weitzman sandals, Banana Republic bag

I've been feeling a little bohemian lately. I want to wear all my fluttery and flowing tops now. Once the chill comes, I'm living in my leather leggings!

peplum fairy

My mom called this look a "peplum", though that definition doesn't quite apply. A peplum is actually a little skirt attached to some sort of top, but this skirt-over-skirt idea gives a similar effect and is easier to come by.

I felt sort of like a cheerleader in the first attempt. I took a detail shot of the layering.




Vintage sweater, Abercrombie & Fitch skirt (circa 2004), AA skirt

The second attempt was a little edgier, I think. I'm still having difficulty getting the proportions correct.




Gap tank, Topshop skirt (circa 2003), AA skirt

I took thirty-four photos to get three flattering enough to put up. Perhaps this is indicative of the odds that a skirt-over-skirt outfit will look good in public...

Also, thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post! You've convinced me that I should actually keep the top. I really liked looks 1 and 4.

take a bow

This is the interesting top I previously mentioned. I got it on sale at Martin & Osa, which is owned by American Eagle Outfitters, by the way. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I had never heard of the store before this past weekend, so I looked it up on Wikipedia out of curiosity. It's apparently targeted at 25 to 40-year-olds. Typical. My mom always tells me I like the frumpiest stuff.

Here are four outfits I tried with it:




à la Sailor Moon - I tied the neck piece into a bow and layered my basic black tank dress over it. I think I look like an anime schoolgirl, but I sort of enjoy this cutesy look. AA dress.

à la Steven Tyler - Leaving the neck piece in a simple loose knot reminds me of the Aerosmith singer's penchant for skinny scarves. It's a little more rock chic, but it's missing heavy accessories. Ruehl jeans.

à la flight attendant - This doesn't really need an explanation. I tried it untied too, but it just said "off duty flight attendant." Vintage skirt.

à la Katie Holmes - I really love how Katie wears her boyfriend jeans. This is my favorite look of the four. Gap 1969 men's jeans.

Even so, I don't think this top is worth keeping. No matter how I style it, it seems to still retain a schoolgirl / secretary / stewardess vibe. It's going back this weekend.

design on a dime

I know there have been lots of posts about Jonathan Saunders for Target on the blog circuit lately. I'm just as excited for the Dries-esque printed shirt and jacket as the next person, but it was more than just the clothing in the press photographs that caught my eye.


Look at those shoes! The low quality makes them a little hard to make out, so squint your eyes if you have to. They're essentially the Chloe boot before it got into a fight with a Bedazzler! And they're going to be a fraction of the price, for sure. I'm juiced.


I really really hope that the boots are actually going to be sold at Target and aren't some fancy label picked out by the stylist.

photos from Nylon and Barney's New York

backyard babies

Just a simple outfit I wore while we barbecued in my backyard this weekend. No pictures of the actual yard, though... Our weeds and dead grass are way embarrassing.




AA dress, vintage belt, Rainbows (not pictured)

perfect fit

I'm totally behind on my blog posts! I've actually been doing a really good job of documenting outfits and researching, but for some reason I haven't gotten a chance to actually put my pictures up.

I went shopping in San Francisco on Friday and picked up a bunch of great items that I will definitely be featuring in future posts. I got a couple pairs of jeans (as if I really need more, I know), a very different top that I'm excited about styling, and an advance birthday gift...

Purchases aside, the highlight of my day was my impromptu dressing room photo shoot. No one stared when I exited the room, so I'm going to conclude that my camera flash went unnoticed.




Abercrombie & Fitch tank, Paige jeans, scarf necklace, Stuart Weitzman sandals (not pictured)

I'm kind of into the baggier fit of these jeans now. They were snug when I got them last December, but I've shed most of my freshman fifteen already.

One of the saleswomen at Martin & Osa had a really great top that she said she got from H&M. It was a loosely-fitting white tee with white mesh on the shoulders. Okay, that sounds really tacky, but it was truly nice. As usual, I had to have it, but I couldn't find it at the store. I'm going to have to pop in and look for it on my break from work tomorrow.

money in the bank

The rule advising against wearing white after Labor Day needs to be overturned, or at least deemed invalid in the State of California. It is still blazing hot.

Check out my blingin' belt... It was a gift from a friend that I received junior year. I'm hoping to incorporate more ridiculous accessories into my wardrobe in the coming weeks. There is so much good (and awful) stuff in my home closet that I unfortunately can't bring back to school with me.




AA dress, gifted belt, vintage boots



My digital camera takes horrible photos. Never again will I buy a camera from Sony, a company that specializes in CD players and televisions. Any suggestions on a good model?

dual purpose

I'm such a fan of things that can be worn multiple ways. Check out this vintage skirt!

Hanes boys' tank top

Or should I say, vintage dress?

Coach belt

If only it was reversible, too.

slick

Even though I haven't found that much good use of my AA eelskin leggings yet, I'm clearly falling for the leather pants/leggings trend. I love them so much that I decided to scoop up yet another pair of latex legwear!

Behold, (as the salesgirl called them) the "leather legging". Here's how I'm going to justify this purchase; $42 at American Apparel, $18.50 at Wet Seal.

Abercrombie & Fitch tank, Wet Seal leggings

They don't fit amazingly. My eelskins are slightly higher-waisted and aren't prone to sliding down. These ones, unfortunately, contribute to front butt syndrome:

They're still pretty legit to wear under long sweaters and tunics this fall.

For those of you who can't bear to have sub-par leggings, I encourage you to take advantage of American Apparel's current sale! College students (maybe high schoolers too?) get 15% off purchases through September 2nd. And we all know this stuff like, never goes on sale.