conde nast: kiss my ass

I received a little post card in the mail yesterday from the my dear deceased friend Domino Magazine. I was expecting to hear from them one of these days to reveal what magazine would be sent to their subscribers in its place. I had speculated with Darlene what the magazine would be, and concluded that it would be Allure. A totally useless publication that I only read at the nail salon or in the grocery line. I say useless, but I am not against breezing through it as long as I don't pay for it. Well, they did worse. Much to my chagrin, I will be receiving Glamour. I feel like it is a totally waste of paper to have it sent to me. I am thinking of cancelling the subscription, is that even possible? Barf. Conde Nast, you fail. FAIL.

RIP Dear Domino

collections

What do you call it when you have multiple things that are basically the same or have a common theme that brings them together? If they are really things, or tchotchkes, it's a collection. But what is it when those things are clothes and accessories, an obsession? Well, sort of, I guess. But I do like to consider myself a collector of clothes rather than a shopaholic, even if I am known as the latter to most of my friends and family. At one point I even planned on opening a store to sell all my treasures that I acquired over the years, but I soon realized that that idea just enabled my shopping addiction.

(flikr)

I've been collecting clothes for longer than anything else; it probably started when I got too old to play dress up with my dolls - at an embarrassingly late age, mind you. But dress-up is dress-up whether it is with dolls or people! My collections are not so much by garment - although I do have quite the collection of shoes, jeans and vintage dresses - but more by theme. I am just drawn to certain things. Usually because I like them and the way they look and the way they feel and the way they make me feel when I see them or wear them.

I've decided to start documenting these collections and the stories behind them, and how they started in a new series on this blog. I know I have been really bad about posting recently, but I promise I will follow through!

otis jury show

Thursday I went to the Jury Show for my Alma Mater, Otis College of Art and Design as a juror. It's the first of the 2 shows that are put on by the students in the fashion program. The Jury Show is the one that determines who gets to participate in the benefit show for their scholarship gala, or whatever it is called. I worked hours and hours/days and days to prepare for that show when I was a junior and senior, and I couldn't help getting anxiety flashbacks before I walked into the Cal Mart. Especially since it was the first time I've been back since I packed up my life there on the last day of class senior year. Much to my not surprise, many of the teachers had no idea who I was, but I did get to see my favorite teacher who always had faith in me, when no one else did. So that made the whole day worth it.

(Vanessa Bruno blazer, Who Cares blouse, Abaco belt, Marc by Marc Jacobs jeans, Report Signature pumps, fancy charm bracelet and various other jewelery)

I will most likely never go back for the show again, and I definitely got the urge to visit people there out of my system. I don't really know what I thought I would get out of it, but I didn't get much.

stripes and polka dots

Last night, I got back to LA after a too short weekend visit home, and played host to my cousins who were visiting from there. We walked to El Compadre for some Mexican food, mariachi music and absolutely delicious margaritas then on to El Prado for some not so good wine but really great atmosphere and music - I felt like we were in the NW, it really had that vibe - then onto one last drink at The Gold Room. I am sad to say that my favorite bar might not be my favorite anymore, there was some awful performance going on that included the worst singer ever trying to crawl all over the booths and benches. We watched a group of regulars look at each other and leave 5 minutes into the performance. Although I think it's no longer chill or cool, Heidi and Doug were thoroughly entertained and that's all that really matters.

No Pants After Dark #11

(Thakoon for Target t-shirt, Target skirt, Zara belt, Christian Louboutin espadrilles, vintage jewellery)

Heidi pointed out that "No Pants After Dark" sounds really naughty. I can't believe I didn't think of that myself or that someone didn't say anything sooner! Oh well, too late. I think when I reach 20 on the blog, I will stop counting them, because it really has become habit to only wear dresses or skirts at night when I go out, which was my intention from the beginning.

Loot

One of the joys of going home is discovering something new from my mother's closet that she has recently found, forgotten about or grown tired of. Every time I go home, I find something that I can take with me. Often times it's something that I might have thought was butt ugly when she first got it, and couldn't understand why she spent so much money on it...

This trip yielded some great results, including this mesh tube dress from one of the ugliest brands ever, Lilith. I have now taken TWO Lilith pieces with me. Shocking, really. It had sleeves back in the day, but my mom cut them off. I sort of wish I had one that still had sleeves along with this altered version. It's great though, because it really goes down to my mid calves, but i can scrunch it up and give it texture and create the illusion of opacity. It's better than those American Apparel dresses that are tight and short, because the texture of the scrunching makes it less revealing.

I wore this out dancing and bar hopping with my friends in Portland. It wasn't exactly 80's Night appropriate, but it was definitely dancing appropriate.

No Pants After Dark #10

(Lilith tube dress, Isabel Marant plaid shirt/jacket, Abaco Paris belt, Loeffler Randall shoes, vintage jewellery)

mix-master

This is what I wore to work last Wednesday. I really enjoyed the stripes with the print of the sweater and the oxfords. I think it's one of my better day-time, jeans centered outfits I've created in a while. Please excuse my mop, I thought it would get cut out when I cropped the photo...but then I would have cut out my feet.

(Gap t-shirt, Thakoon for Target sweater, Earnest Sewn jeans, Dries Van Noten oxfords, vintage jewellery)

I look so happy to go to work, no?

champagne at the darling mansion

Last night I went over to The Darling's house for some wine and overall redonculousness. For some reason things are always a little crazy there when we light the fire and keep opening new bottles of wine. It doesn't help that we all showed up with 2 or 3 bottles each and when the other peeps that came over brought bottles of booze too.

Oh well, it was a night filled with drinking, dancing, music making and lots and lots of giggling. And even though I felt gross I managed to produce an outfit that was free of pants.

No Pants After Dark #9



(American Apparel tank, Target skirt, Betsey Johnson heart tights, Zara belt, Sigerson Morrison flats, vintage bracelets)

Unfortunately the tights did not make it through the night. I had a feeling when I put them on that they would be a one wear item, but I was really hoping to get 2. Alas, near the end of the night they basically disintegrated. LAME. I wish I had bought them in bulk, but they were not cheap.