Testing My Hand

So she may be no rendition of Karl Lagerfeld's legendary sketches, but I am pretty proud of my first amateur color sketch.  I've been playing with sketching for a while, mostly with pencil and pen.  I really want to get the right materials.  This was drawn on plain white art paper with a regular #2 pencil and colored in with Crayola colored pencils.  Somewhere in boxes in my parents house is a collection of Faber Castels that belong to me that I really long to get a hold of.  

If you cannot tell this is an altered interpretation of the outfit I put together while fooling around on H&M's website.  I like the mix of shades of blue with touches of teal, yellow and pink.  Though they are not quite the shades I imagine because they got a bit blurred and weird when mixed up with the graphite of the pencil.  Also the pants are supposed to be sheer with little shorts underneath, I think I made this clear.

More sketches to come later hopefully, and hopefully better suplies to be used.  I do have a great array of art pencils (charcoals and Staedtler design pencils, but it's a matter of getting a hang of how to properly use them).  Hopefully I will be taking a drawing class this summer.  Fashion sketching is a far cry from architectural sketching, and yet they both have similar rules, aesthetics?

xx Ladies and Gents

Upcoming...

So I've been neglecting my poor sweet little blog.  I am still getting the hang of things, I am only so technologically savvy.  But lately it seems like I've skimped out on all the material I could have been posting.  So thus I am giving a sneak peek into what's been looming around in my life and dancing in my thoughts and dreams.  Full slew of posts to come tomorrow, with a promise of ample amounts of photos.

Desire Inspire + Ornamentation & Frivolity + Reflected Vanity:
1.  Lemon yellow.  I do love a good pastel, and as of last summer lemon yellow is my new favorite color, especially for spring/summer.  I think it comes down to the fact that it's such a happy color, and before I never felt confident in orange of yellow hues, but now I found a shade that works for me.
2.  Hat collection.  I have too many hats, but in the best way of having too many of something.  I bought a new hat this weekend at Lord & Taylor.  But my all time favorite hats consist of the vintage collection I inherited from my parents (I think they had/have great taste).
3.  Rhapsody In Blue-My wardrobe as of about a year ago is substantially blue based.  I am not sure what color dominated my closet before, but blue has taken over.  I especially love charming blue&pink ensembles.
4. I have a new obsession with high end make-up, especially Chanel, YSL, and Estée Lauder.  I think after a certain amount of time you determine that something are worth the money.

Strut & Strike A Pose:

I need to finally cover my favorites from the S/S 12, F/W 12, and resort.  Two of my ultimate favorites this year has been Ralph Lauren, and DVF ready-to-wear.  Both classically American, the subtle perfection of beauty, and yet so different.  Late 1800s/early 1900's dapper and swank vs. 50s/60s/70s grove in the best shades of neons, pastels, and neutrals.

But I do have others that I loved beyond belief.  Some designers never fail to mesmerize my every delight.

Life, Leisure, Luxury:

So I'm in the current mood of: My room does not function for me creatively.I purchased new sheets that I love.  But there is still much work to be done.  I have a lot of clutter from ongoing projects, and in such a small room it is hard to organize all my possessions and my never-endingly-growing wardrobe.  Worst of it is my hats are starting to crowd.  I have a few ideas for how to fix this though.
One of which is use them as decoration instead of hanging art.

Screen Gazers + Amazed & Amused:

1.Recently I've seen some very thought-provoking films, one about Karl L., and the latter was We Need To Talk About Kevin (Tilda Swinton completely blew my mind).

2.Exhibits:  The New Wing at the Stewart Gardner, 4 equally wonderful exhibits at MFA
3.Butterflies, Geckos, and Bonsai trees at the Boston Museum of Science

4.  Current band and song obsessions: Lana Del Rey, Noisettes, Santigold, Animal by Miike Snow, Pumped up Kicks, Rhapsody In Blue, New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down...

4.  Recently watched B&W films.  Favorites: The 39 Steps, Nosferatu, The Big Sleep, M, Broken Blossoms, The Goldrush  Intriguing: Earth, Strike, Zero for Conduct, Rules of the Game, Paisan Hated: L'Age d'or (Explanation: While I saw the artistry in the film, it makes you so uncomfortable you don't want to watch, but I conclude that the surrealism was well executed, and sometimes it is painfully uncomfortable to observe humans in all states of indignity.)

Workstation:

1.As I said, many ongoing projects.  One of which is finishing of the first skirt I have ever made.  I hit a rough patch with it, ultimate frustration.  Sewing, properly that is, is a test of patience.  But it is coming along nicely, it's not perfect, but with some practice I think I'll be on my way.  Definitely not giving up on sewing classes.  I highly suggest taking one.
I made some other things as well, but what I really need to get back into is my sketching and painting.
2.Wildlife photography has my attention now as well.  Even in highly urban areas it is amazing the sort of wildlife that flourishes.  Maybe it's just that I am happy to be out of Winter and into Spring, with flora everywhere, and the promise of goslings.

Yachts, Jets & Paradises:

1.I am completely determined to one day own a floating island.  I keep seeing these images cropping up all over the web, and it just seems like a great getaway.
2.Also intensely looking forward to Summer and heading to the beach.  My sister and I went to Cape Cod at the end of last summer and it was an amazing trip, I'm craving more adventures.

Wit & Lit:

What's on my bookshelf?  Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen, Everyone Worth Knowing (I temporarily gave up on reading this, it became to whiny to handle), Blink, Follow The Model, Emily Post's Etiquette, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scorcese did a wonderful job bringing this to life, but nothing beats the actual text and original illustration-good to know sometimes that there are traditional book artist out there such as Selznik), The Art of Fiction (Ayn Rand), The Know-It-All, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be (Paul Arden)

So that's what April has brought.  And I leave you with these photos.

xx, Ladies and Gents

How I Would Do It...

So the great thing about e-sites nowadays is you can throw together dream looks, like the one to the right, Hot @ H&M.  I was merely fooling around.  Happened to love these pants, and then figured I should share it here.  Sorry about the marginal confusion.  I will do my best to fix that asap!

xx Ladies and Gents

P.S.  If I did ever wear this it would be to some hot soirée dans NYC or down south where the weather is warmer.

P.P.S.  I was in H&M today and made a wonderful purchase.  Will be updating later tomorrow.

The Dream Dress

So I recently purchased this BCBGMaxazria Red Tula Peplum dress at Lord & Taylor.  It is for now the current obsession and love of my life.  I find it both powerful and inspiring.  Expect to see it featured quite often within the coming months/years.

xx

Easter Pastels

Weekend packing can be so hard sometimes.  I always find myself boarding the train and thinking, damn if only I had learned in my early years to be one of those ridiculously and marvelously light packers who totes around a purse with all the bare essentials and manages to look impeccably chic.  But alas I'm one of the other types of chic travelers.  I'm by genetics an excessive over-packer.  I will pack every "essential" I "need" for each individual outfit+make-up+jewelry+hats,scarves, and etc. even if I do not necessarily wear it.  But I like to keep my options open.  This evenings feature slew of posts will be my exploration through what to pack for Easter weekend wardrobe?

The absolute essentials:

2-3 different bottoms: 1 pair of pants + shorts, skirt, or a dress
1 blazer/jacket
1-2 sweaters/cardigans (neutral)
2-3 tops
2 pairs of shoes (1 flat, 1 heeled)
little stockings
...and of course must not forget under garments!
1 belt
a couple of headbands, scarves
hat, scarf, gloves
basic jewelry (absolutely pack new DIY necklace)
basic make-up

This Northeastern weather is throwing me through a loop recently, so figuring out what to wear is like trying to draw a map of the Bermuda Triangle.  It seems everyone who lives in this vicinity of the nation, by observation, is going through the same conundrum.  Hopefully soon we will be in the full bloom of spring and bare legs because I too like many would like to put away my tights and heavy coats for good!

 xx

Last Friday Evening

Several weeks ago my friend linked me to a fellow blogger's site, Martini of Beyond Boston Chic.  As many of us new (such as myself) and old bloggers know, Martini was displaying her photos at the BCAE, and on March 30th there was to be a small soirée of sorts ("To The Nines") hosted by the BCAE and Martini herself.  My friend, who I shall call Star for confidentiality purposes, suggested that we go to said soirée.
And so last Friday evening we glamoured up in our highest heels, me a sailor-esque pair of Michael Kors blue patent peep toe pumps, and my friend in a sassy pair of fantastically yellow Betsy Johnson tattoo inspired stilettos.  Everyone seemed to do their upmost to achieve some stellar looks.  Favorites were: a pair of turquoise sky-high pumps from Target no less, a fabulous striped glitter bolero, and a wonderful blue 80s style dress.
I am still waiting for photos from the event to turn up.  There were certainly a lot of cameras flashing, and the photos that were on display were fabulous as well.
In the end it was a lovely event with some lovely personalities, I received some great advice, Martini gave a very endearing speech, and in the future I hope to mingle amongst these very stylish individuals again.

Cheers, ladies and gents.  Look forward to meeting again.  xx

Something I Thought I'd Never Do.

To thrift: the act of bargain shopping for second-hand items at a discounted store.
Let's go thrifting this weekend.
I just thrifted the best jacket.
She's a great thrifter because she always finds unique items.

Usually associated with the students and shoppers on a budget.

However, I recently discovered that thrifting can be an enjoyable experience.  All sorts of people thrift.  But the beauty of being a thrifter is finding those magic items.
This past Saturday a friend of my suggested that we take a trip to the Garment District.  GD was celebrating their birthday and giving away free cake.  Definitely a good hook to get you into the store.  I had zero intention of spending any money, but suddenly I found myself amongst the designer racks where I picked up two BCBG items, and a Matthew Williamson for Macy's skirt.  Later I added to the pile a DKNY shirt and an Anne Klein scarf, and a cute shirt by some random brand.  Half of my items still had original tags on them, and the others were in very excellent condition.  Now in the past I have avoided the thrift stores for fear of wearing something that was previously owned/worn by some unknown person.  I do possess in my closet some great vintage handy-me-down items that I inherited from both my mother and grandmother.  But with these handy-me-downs there was an ability to trust the previous owners care for the item, and know where it's been.  While I may not be completely converted to the way of the thrifters, I am impressed that I can find some great deals.  My total at the end of the day was $82, I don't think I can beat that unless I were to buy less or pay less attention to the labels or care.  But I am certainly now open to another thrifty experience with the new found knowledge I have.

Pictures to come later.

Happy thrifting ladies and gents. xx