"Recapture your freedom which eloped with your youth’’

A few weeks ago my friend and I were browsing the internet in class when I came upon these irregular choice boots on a blog...

This quickly linked me to the Irregular Choice website. As the thumbnails of beautiful shoes loaded on the screen my friend and I both literally jumped towards the screen gasping. I just fell immediately for these black rounded wedges with some spectator style some studs and some absurd height they are the kind of shoe that makes any outfit work. But as a browsed the site it just got better and better and pinned over more and more. I've always loved the brand but somehow this current selection blows my mind. British designer Dan Sullivan designs irregular Choice. The brand aims to fill the gap for unique, creative shoes that stand out among the ordinary. The designs are perfect for the customers who are bored with the standard options. The shoes are also relatively inexpensive. (Well inexpensive in comparison to many designer brand, but out of reach for the fashion dreaming college student and part time Forever 21 employee.)

So more beautiful shoes follow.

The first outfit is from quite a while ago. I was so happy on an H&M trip that they had helped me achieve   my dream of head to toe prints. Next goal: skinny floral pant suit. The second outfit I wore yesterday to work. The other day it hit me that i had forgotten to check out Rodarte for Target so I dropped by before work yesterday. There was a very limited selection left. I was really kind of hoping for the dress Rumi of fashiontoast is wearing here. I fell for this fuchsia tulle top. Because of course I love tulle and I could think of a million things to wear under it for many different looks.


First look: (dress, tights, necklace)- H&M, ring-Ebay, wedges-unkown from flea market.

Second look: sheer top- Rodarte for Target, under top- Thrifted, skirt-H&M, boots- Gojane.com.

Quick note: Am I missing something because I cannot figure out how to title my posts on blogger anymore?

Other than that....
A couple years ago, I found an online vintage shop that amazed me they had the most beautiful things. Real vintage and antique clothing dating back to the 1800's. But then I closed the site, forgot to favorite it and forgot the name. Yesterday I was searching through pages of google search results for "vintage clothing" when looking for images for my fake website for Catalog Development. There it was on about the 5th page when I randomly clicked a link.


The site is vintagetextile.com. The site sells Early, Victorian, Edwardian, 1920'2-30's, and designer items from the 1940-80's. As this stuff is the real thing, father than the collection of 70's and 80's items with the occasional 50's or 60's dress that many vintage retailers sell, the merchandise does carry hefty price tags. Prices range typically between $500-$3000. They currently even have a 20's Fortuny Delphos gown with a price of $12,000. Now that would be wearing a piece of history! Without further adieu I bring to you some beautiful images.

Fortuny

Many other lovely things I'd love to wear

When I was little this empty bottle sat on a bookshelf at my grandparents. That bottle looked just like this...

I used to pick up that bottle and smell the inside close to my nose every time i visited. The smell, to me, was the most lovely  had ever encountered. This ritual continued into my teenage years. Finally one day I looked at the bottom of that bottle where a label read "Avon Sweet Honesty Cologne. My mother promptly ordered me a bottle from a co-worker who was an Avon sales representative. This has become a staple sent for me. When first applied the sent is a little overpowering and smells a bit like baby powder but once it settles it smells just as that little red oriental bottle smelled. A sniff at my wrist at the end of a hard day evokes memories of my grandparents house.

Unfourtunatly the Sweet Honesty bottle now looks like this...

 

Now I am wondering when Avon stopped packaging their fragrances in pretty and quirky bottles. I'm sure todays Avon customer is much more simple, classic than kitschy.

My other fregrence staples include any of Escada's fruity summer Island Kiss, The Body Shop White Musk Parfume Oil, and Betsey Johnson.

 

So I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of Lula magazine. I guess it just takes a bit of time for international mags to get to stores in the states. I love the visuals in the magazine and read through a couple good interviews. When I saw Nina Persson as I flipped through I got esspecially excitted as she is the person I would like to meet if you told me I could meet any living person I choose. When I read about a short film they decided to make inspired by Nina's vampire teeth I imediatly went online to see. Check it out here.

Avedon
While in Detroit over the weekend, after a delish black bean burger at Honest Johns, I visited the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) to see the Avedon exhibit.  The show traveled through his career from the 1944-2000. What really fascinated me was a fashion photographers work being seen truly as art. And I couldn't help but think that very little of what we see in magazines today is likely to be seen hanging in an art museum 50 years from now. A magazine gets cut apart and thrown away and the images, once looked at tend to fade away in our memory. These images are memorable and they are beautiful. The poses and the settings feel natural and real where as today's editorials though often eye catching seem so contrived. It's not only the photography, these models have a kind of talent I don't think we see so much. They seems so smart and so real and they know how to be natural, they know how to pose. Take Dovima, a dancer, and she uses that talent in pictures. A model that particuraly intrigued me is Penelope Tree. The 6th image is of her. My mom said that when she saw this image hanging at the museum she deeply recognized it and thought she must have ripped it out of a magazine and posted it on her wall when she was young.

Beautiful Fall Days That Feel Like Spring

These Photos are from a couple shoots I did with friends for my Catalog Development class. I am creating a lookbook for an imaginary vintage store called Paisley Vintage. I will post scans of the finished project.