Tag Archives: houndstooth

Oct 09 2014
8 Comments
OOTD, themed

OOTD :: of houndstooth and fun fur

10.9.14

10.9.14

10.9.14

I think this is one of those outfits that’s great only in theory.

In reality, I’d be too self-conscious. The fur is just a bit too much look, as Nina Garcia of Project Runway fame would say.

And, let’s face it: it’s really only wishful thinking on my part that it’ll be cool enough to be sporting long sleeves, boots and fur. Fall weather won’t hit SoCal for another month, if at that. But it sure was fun vamping it up for the camera in this ensemble. I even got all jiggy wid it by resurrecting my oversized sunnies.

It’s sad, actually. Because I probably would’ve worn this last year, heat notwithstanding, because my students were very tolerant and even appreciative of my sartorial experiments. At the very least, no one would say a word but I’d still feel perfectly comfortable swanning about in it.

This year, I’ve got an interesting batch and I don’t entirely feel safe around them. Not that I think any of them have a shiv hidden up their sleeves or anything. Not that kind of unsafe. More like an emotional caution, if you know what I mean. So I’m less likely to make wardrobe risks this year, more’s the pity.

So the jury’s still out on whether or not I’ll end up keeping the vest on all day, if at all. I’ll let you know. In the meantime, enjoy the Trend Salad pattern du jour: houndstooth. It’s my second favorite color after plaid.

 

:: Just the facts, ma’am ::
Dress – H&M
Vest – eBay
Booties – Westies

:: Linking ::
Style to Inspire @ Rhea Etcetera

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Apr 01 2014
19 Comments
OOTD, themed

OOTD :: of literary stylings, cheating just a bit and Leonard Peacock

4.1.14

4.1.14

4.1.14

Okay, so I cheated.

Gracie’s Literary Stylings came creeping on little cat feet and surprised the dickens out of me – Has it already been a month since my last official participation? – and like most surprises do, it caught me completely unprepared.

As I scrolled through my Goodreads entries, I realized that I’ve been primarily focused on fantasy/sword and sorcery novels in the month of March, and as much as it would’ve been fun cosplaying, I just don’t have the creative juices to tie in a Tolkein-esque outfit with any of my other linkup challenges. Maybe if you’d caught me pre-Spring Break Can’t Come Soon Enough, I could’ve done it. But as it stood, I couldn’t even muster the energy to entertain the thought.

So rather than ransacking my brain and/or my closet, I took the cheater’s way out, drove the 30 miles to my favorite public library and snatched some YA fiction off the New Releases shelves in the hopes that one of them would elicit some sort of inspiration. Of course, some would say my way isn’t cheating at all – is actually the harder road since it requires me to read something entirely new in the span of mere hours before March turns into April.

But I didn’t graduate CAL an English major for nothing.

Enter Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, stage right.

The only reason I picked it up was because the book jacket mentioned that the author was the same one who’d penned Silver Linings Playbook. I’ve not read that book but I saw and enjoyed (?) – can one truly say they enjoy a movie about bipolar disorder? – the movie, so I decided to give Peacock a chance. The title was intriguing, at the very least.

I thought I found my quote pretty early on in the book – page 46 of 273, to be exact – and I’ll share it with you eventually. What I wasn’t prepared for was the roller coaster I’d ride for the remaining 200+ pages and the two and a half hours it took me to finish reading.

This book is gut-twisting, immensely disturbing, wickedly caustic, seemingly predictable then dizzyingly unpredictable, and deftly manipulative. I was repulsed and fascinated, sometimes alternately after chapters but often concurrently. I sped through this book simply because I had to know how it ended. If I may be granted a bit of presumption, I’d hazard an opinion that this could possibly be this generation’s Catcher in the Rye. Leonard Peacock can certainly hold his own against Holden Caulfield in terms of acerbic judgments of the world and the people who infest it.

Read it at your discretion. There’s a disaffected teen, a gun, a planned murder/suicide, and homosexual themes. Some critics say it’s got everything and the kitchen sink which makes it feel sensationalist and emotionally unscrupulous. I say it’s an unflinching narrative about what a lot of kids feel is their only recourse, especially after Columbine.

Dark themes indeed.

Before I turn you off entirely, however, I have to say that the last chapter, although definitely obscure, is ultimately redemptive if you think about it long enough. And now I share with you the quote on page 46.

Do something you love today. Ride a roller coaster. Swim in the ocean naked. Got to the airport and get on the next flight to anywhere just for the fun of it. Maybe stop a spinning globe with your finger and then plan a trip to that very spot…Eat some type of ethnic food you’ve never heard of. Stop a stranger and ask her to explain her greatest fears and her secret hopes and aspirations in detail and then tell her you care because she is a human being.Sit down on the sidewalk and make pictures with colorful chalk. Close your eyes and try to see the world with your nose…Catch up on your sleep. Call an old friend you haven’t seen in years. Roll up your pant legs and walk into the sea. See a foreging film. Feed squirrels. Do anything! Something! Because you start a revolution one decision at a time, with each breath you take.

And when I choose to throw on a houndstooth dress, a statement necklace and a dramatic hat just to teach English to a bunch of disinterested sixteen-year-olds, that’s my personal revolution.

:: Just the facts, ma’am ::
Dress – H&M
Hat – eBay
Necklace – eBay
Pumps – Janine @ Payless

:: Linking ::
Literary Stylings @ Fashion for Giants
Hat Attack @ Style Crone

 

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May 29 2013
10 Comments
themed

Week 15 :: of memories, Mom, and Mod madness

My mom is beautiful.

I remember growing up and sifting through pictures of her as a teenager and her being so self-effacing and even disparaging of her looks.  She’d always maintain that her younger sister was prettier, but I thought otherwise.

To me, my mother’s smile was positively radiant, her posture ramrod straight and elegant.  Her short shift dresses and bouffant hairdo were the epitome of class and style, and she was stunning both in posed photos (no artificial mugging for the camera for her) and in candids (she looked good from any angle).

I wish I had quick access to all her photos because I would make the most amazing collage to show you exactly what I mean.  Even now, at almost 70 this year, my mother still looks and acts like she’s decades younger.  And although she complains about her high blood pressure and is no longer free to indulge in many of the native foods because of it, she is one of the most active and vibrant people I know.

I guess that, more than anything else, makes her beautiful in my eyes.

I didn’t know it then, and she probably wouldn’t be the first to call it so since she’s not really into fashion, but Mom was the epitome of Mod.  So when I was sorting through my closet for Icon Week, it was one of the looks that was a total no-brainer.

Icon Wednesday

When Mary Quant, the originator of Mod, began scribbling away in her sketchbook in the ’50s…[w]hat she gave birth to was boldly black and white, zippered, geometric, and shiny – and went so far beyond new as to be positively futuristic…Mod still feels like the future – not the future as it happened but the era’s happy, optimistic, and flirty version of it.

Icon Wednesday

Some of you may remember one of my favorite photo shoots, and in retrospect, I realize it’s a favorite because I was channeling my mom.  After perusing my closet this week, I came upon another realization: a good third of my clothing reflects Mod Essentials.

I own such an unhealthy amount of a-line skirts, shift dresses, and black and white graphic prints that I was hard-pressed choosing how to represent the look.  I’ve had this dress since the beginning of last summer, though, and hadn’t yet worn it so I figured I’d give it a chance to shine.  Throw on a pair of chandelier earrings and my trusty captoe flats, and I think I’ve done well by this genre.

Icon Wednesday

Mod is so compelling to me, and I know now that I owe it all to my mom.  What about you, my friends?  Have you ever been inspired by your parents’ fashion choices?

:: Just the facts, ma’am ::
Dress – H&M
Shoes – Dexflex @ Payless
Earrings – F21

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