Last visits to Chinatown


I am getting premature nostalgia for little old San Francisco, even though I haven't left yet
I find myself behaving as a tourist everyday
And looking forlornly
At old photographs and videos of San Francisco!

Here is a Chinatown shoot near my apartment:

IMG_3673

IMG_3604

IMG_3650




IMG_3601

IMG_3668

IMG_3662

IMG_3623

IMG_3666


Details about the look:

Blouse: 1940s Hawaiian beaded birds ~ From: Alameda flea market
Skirt: 1960s ~ From: heldover
Shoes: 1960s ~ From: kennedy holmes
Hat: 1950s ~ From: Linda Wink bad girl vintage
Purse: 1980s Victor Carranza piano purse ~ From: Twirl Vintage Co
Belt:1960s ~ From: Costume Party SF
Lipstick: MAC in So Chaud

Photographed in: San Francisco above Chinatown Stockton tunnel
Photographed by:  Pierre Eymard



April 2011
Ann Taylor introduces Little Ann outfit for girls!

The limited-edition "Little Ann" outfit, made up of a hand-embroidered top ($78) and a matching silk crinkle skirt ($78) will hit select stores and the company's website next month. The twirl-ready Mexican-inspired outfit – created by Lisa Axelson, Ann Taylor’s head of design and a new mom herself – will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with 60 percent of sales going to the organization. For mamas loving the look themselves, a matching outfit will be available in grown-up sizes, with grown-up prices to match ($128 for the top and $118 for the skirt).

Katie Holmes is wearing the grown-up version for the SS'11 Campaign.
would be cute to see Suri & Katie in matching outfits!

reported by lilsugar

3 Years -- and a Giveaway!

Wow, it's hard to believe it's the blog's 3-year anniversary today! As I've done in years gone by, I've compiled some of my favorite outfits from the past 12 months:





One thing that struck me when I did this recap is how many of my true favorites come from the most recent months; the set above represents an outfit from each of the last 12 months, but if I had to actually select my top 12 favorites from the entire years' worth they would mostly be very recent. That means there might be entire months' worth of outfits, none of which would make the cut, while others that might have been in the top 12 aren't shown here. That indicates to me that my style continues to evolve; what I loved 12 months ago isn't necessarily what I'm drawn to right now. I think that's a good thing too; constantly evolving your style means never looking stale or dated.

Here are some outfits from "special occasions" over the course of the year:



In order top to bottom, left to right: Burning Man, Giants World Series, Yard Dogs Road Show, holiday party, Mark and I getting married, Film Noir Festival, Edwardian Ball, Lisa's wedding, wearing my new Valentino dress, my first pair of Miu Miu pumps 
(do you like how I cheated and stuck two more recent outfits in under the 'special occasion' heading? I'm sneaky like that.)


Other notable events over the year: Mark and I moved in together, bought a house, got married, took a trip to Minneapolis and Chicago (which included visiting Sal and Mike), and I went on a cross-country adventure that took me to New York to meet up with other bloggers and visit the Eileen Fischer studio, as well as to Seattle and Oregon for two different weddings. Mark and I attended Burning Man, and I did a whole series of posts about the experience (click for Parts 1, 2, and 3). I also did my first-ever post on Fashion Week, and was inspired to create a few different looks from what I rounded up. As of today I've posted 715 entries. All in all it's been a great year, and blogging continues to be a fun and rewarding pursuit for me, in large part because of awesome readers like you.

But wait, there's more! A giveaway!

To kick off my fourth year of blogging and also to give a big THANK YOU to readers old and new, I've got a giveaway for you. Madeline from the Red Dress Shoppe, who was kind enough to provide me with her beautiful Amelie Dress to review, has given me the very last one of her black elastic belts to give to one lucky reader. As you probably know, this belt is a staple in my wardrobe, and I've worn it dozens and dozens of different ways. Just take a peek at a few of them:





This belt is super comfy because of its nice stretchy elastic, and it has a shiny faux leather panel at the front for a cute retro look. For one lucky winner, it'll make a great accessory for all sorts of outfits.

To enter, simply peruse the Red Dress Shoppe site and then leave a comment on this post stating which item is your favorite. Include your email address in your comment; comments without a valid email address will be disqualified. For an extra chance to win, "like" the Red Dress Shoppe Facebook page, and then come back and leave another comment telling me that you did so. The contest closes to entries at 8 pm PDT on Friday, May 6. I'll announce the winner shortly thereafter.

Good luck, and thank you for reading!!

In Full Swing


Over the weekend I put together a few days' worth of outfits and recruited Mark to take some photos outside, just to mix things up a little. As you can see, spring is in full swing according to most of the plants, although the bougainvillea seems to disagree; it's half-heartedly putting forth a few small leaves, but seems content to hibernate a little longer until it warms up. I can't really say that I blame it.


For this outfit I kept it springy with the pale pink and off-white skirts, even though with all the layering it was designed with cool weather in mind. It was also the perfect vehicle for this fab new harness that Mark made. Actually I 'ordered' it from him; he had this very pretty caramel-colored, smooth leather in his stash and I thought it would look great for spring and summer in a lightweight harness style. This harness is the basic "Jane Doe" style, with straps that are thinner than the original. This strikes me as being a great option if you've been wanting to try out the harness trend, but don't want to look too edgy or bondage-y. The color reminds me of some of the leather accessories seen in Lanvin's SS11 RTW line.



Tank Top, pink skirt: Anthropologie
Jacket: French Kiss, thrifted
Harness: Audra Jean
Tulle skirt: Noa Noa
Tights: Hue
Shoes: John Fluevog

Dressing for the Season

I figured I'd better sneak in one more wear of this fabulous furry vest before we get too much further into spring. Despite it still being pretty chilly here, I've decided to make a concerted effort this year to dress for the season, which means shelving much of my warmer stuff like this vest, and avoiding wintry combos such as tights and boots. I'm still planning on wearing some of my boots during the summer, I'm just going to try to do it sans heavy tights. This look most certainly says winter, but it was really cold and rainy that day so I felt it was necessary.

One of the problems with living in a climate that doesn't have temperature extremes is that my approach to dressing varies as little as the seasons do, which means I can get tired of seeing the same things hanging in my closet day after day. I figure if I try designating certain items for a particular season only, then I'll have a renewed interest in them when that season rolls around again. Thus, this furry vest goes in the Winter pile for the time being, as do many of the other garments in this outfit. The leather pants might prove to be a multi-seasonal item, but for the next several months they'll most likely be appearing with sandals instead of boots.





How does your wardrobe change with the different seasons? Do you physically pack up items and put them aside for the season, or do they co-mingle in your closet all year round? Does this contribute to how long your items have interest and appeal for you?

Vest: Adrienne Landau
Scarf: Duke et Duchesse
Sweater: All Saints
Pants: Firetrap
Boots: Bos and Co.

Daisies on an adult size Lenci doll skirt

IMG_4559

IMG_4566

IMG_4576

IMG_4595

IMG_4557

IMG_4507


I have talked about how I look like Lenci dolls here
Since I have the same body type and face hahah
I thought I would take tips and hints from the dolls themselves!!
With the skirt above I can now officially style a Lenci - esque outfit!!
I also found a hat (will be in a future winter post)
I also recently won a Lenci doll purse on ebay which will go nicely with above hat!

Look at the felt flowers and scallops on the edge of the skirt and hats below!
The designer of my skirt must have loved lenci dolls as much as I do!



Outfit details:

Skirt: Late 1940s ~ from: bluemoon ahhh look how the daisy petals are all over!  It kills me!
Crochet top: 1930s crochet net with crochet berries
Shoes: 1960s A gift from hellosweetmarie
Purse: 1950s figural frog wicker purse
Hair flowers and bows: millinery scraps