I am J.J. Abrams, and #reverb11 (December 28 - 31)

This post documents the day I realized that sometimes I don't have to point the camera away from the sun.

It was also the day I realized that as much as fashion bloggers love lens flare, I can't help the fact that it makes me feel like a pretentious douchebag. (Or J.J. Abrams. Whom I have to admit I don't think is a pretentious douchebag despite all his lens flare, because I enjoyed Super 8 a lot (the kids were handled well), and because Armageddon is that one movie I have to watch whenever it's on TV.)


(Star Trek is on my to-watch list.)

Cardigan: mother's, hand-me-down. T-shirt: Threadless. Shorts: aunt's, hand-me-down. Tights: BP Nordstrom. Boots: Steven by Steve Madden. Ring: Rapunzelsgold on etsy. Batman watch: Target. Friendship bracelet: DIY.

And the last of #reverb11, after the jump. (With a bonus Martin Freeman if you get bored.)

I write stuff after the jump.

sassy gay sam, and #reverb11 (December 22 - 24)

WOW THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.


I'm done with #reverb11 and have been for some time now, but I haven't posted any of my responses because I feel so apathetic about the outfits that I'm trying to work my way through.


(Also I am still working on the domain transfer, so I've been kind of occupied. It's coming along.)


(Also if you've looked at my tumblr recently, you've probably realized that my entire life has been sucked into the black hole that is BBC's Sherlock.)


Here's an outfit in which I unintentionally posed like the Tenth Doctor (or, as I call this particular picture in my head, "Sassy Gay Tennant"):

SO SASSY


Unfortunately I am not as attractive as David Tennant, so sassy!Sam is considerably less funny-looking than sassy!David.

This color combo makes me think of eggplants.

Double fishtail braids! These actually didn't work out that well because one side turned out longer than the other, but at least it looked a little bit alien, which is what I was going for.

Sweater: uncle's. Pink t-shirt: Paul Frank. Striped shorts: aunt's. Tights: BP Nordstrom. Black and white oxfords: Miz Mooz. Friendship bracelets: DIY. Batman watch: Target.

I hate these friendship bracelets because making them gave me tendinitis, but I also love them because the one on the left makes me think of a unicorn princess, and the one on the right looks like a glamorous version of a 12-year-old summer camp project where you were trying to be ~edgy by using black with pink.

Cool story, Sam.

I write stuff after the jump.

promises, promises

I feel like I lure people onto my blog under the false pretense that this is a fashion/style blog just because I post pictures of myself wearing clothes. (As opposed to pictures of kittens, not as opposed to pictures of myself not wearing clothes, although I guess that wouldn't be a very compelling fashion blog either.)


To prove my point, here is another list of lists (so meta!): ← unintentional sadface

Names of WiFi networks within range of my apartment building:

• hide yo kids hide yo wifi
• pretty fly for a wifi
• Ralph's Stupendous Network
• notwork

A smattering of unrelated statements

• I am almost at the very last of my Write One Leafs (Leaves?), and I haven't made progress on the next prompt, so I won't be posting any for a while.
• I do have a script from Script Frenzy that I'm going to post, though. Six months late.
• Target brand Up & Up floss is awful. It's so thin, it's like trying to floss while gripping a piece of hair.
• Humid weather does great things for my hair.

Current style direction (aspirational)

• Gibson tucks with vintage hair combs
• heinous jumpers (a la Arthur Darvill, Matt Smith, Martin Freeman)
• peacocks, stags, and whales as clothing motifs
• Saltwater Sandals (or sandals of that ilk) with socks
• multicolor striped metallic sweaters
• Creatures-of-the-Deep-colored hair
• gloves (knit fingerless, leather motorcycle)
• pants (cords, denim, twill?) in black, forest green, deep fuchsia, bright violet, gray, rust, indigo-blue

Current style direction (involuntary)

• what can be termed grubby glow

Really into

• tai chi
• ginger everything
• Justin Bieber's un/broken voice
• prunes

Consuming

• Pride and Prejudice (very slowly, on a Kindle)
• Downton Abbey (FLAWLESS SHOW IS FLAWLESS! You must try at least one episode!)
• Commentarius, only because Chandler read it, and he is probably my favorite Lily/James shipper on the internet. (OKAY AND I MIGHT HAVE AN INTERNET CRUSH ON HIM BECAUSE I ASSOCIATE HIM WITH JAMES POTTER.) (Okay, and the writing style makes me want to wince because it's in diary form, but I'm pretty sure my 17-year-old diarying wasn't very mature either.)
  

  
  (Oh look, I can actually excerpt my 17-year-old diary: 

  okay after freeze tag i ended up with a scrape on my left elbow and a bruise there, and a bruise on my hip somewhere, a HUGE bruise on my left knee, and a smaller bruise on my right knee.  the left knee bruise hurts like CRAZY.

  HOW RIVETING, YOUNG SAM!)

• The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, reread
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, excruciatingly slow reread
• The Golden Compass and The Fox and the Hound in 10-minute installments

Seeking

• more natural toothpaste, menstrual pads, deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner

Fictional places I would like to visit

• the Battle School in Ender's Game
• John Watson's closet, 221B Baker Street (Martin Freeman's version)
• Downton Abbey, but only if I were white
• ISIS headquarters
• the TARDIS
• The Shire
• Lyra's Jordan College
• Dictionopolis
• Cher Horowitz's closet
• Ariadne, Arthur, or Eames's dreams
• The Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries
• The Ministry of Magic's Auror Office
• Malfoy Manor
• The Burrow
• Diagon Alley
• Hogwarts
• Pigfarts

HOGWARTS PIGFARTS IS OUR HOME.

Jacket: mother's. T-shirt: probably brother's + DIY silkscreen. Jeans: Uniqlo. Shoes: Keds. Rings: Forever21 and Rapunzelsgold on etsy.

I've finally found it.

"It breaks a man to see what he misses."

I came really close to pinpointing the kind of 90s fashion I wanted to be channeling when I tried black and white florals with combat boots in June, but it wasn't until this outfit that I got a feel for just how frumpy I wanted to look. But, um, yeah. I think I got the frumpy down this time.

Scarf: H&M. Plaid shirt: Field & Stream via Costco. Skirt: cousin's, hand-me-down. Tights: generic. Boots: Steven by Steve Madden.

Minus scarf.

Plus scarf. As a testament to how old these pictures are, as I am writing this, the scarf has been cast off and is awaiting its fringe.

progress report: cable knit

I attempted to pincurl my hair again, but evidently, it's too long to be really curly rather than wavy now. For which I am thankful but about which I am somewhat vexed. In any event, this is a pretty boring outfit, but there's nothing like feeling like you're floating around in a cloud of your own hair to make you feel cute. I love having straight hair for about the first day and a half after I wash it, when it's swingy and reminds me of rain pouring down in sheets, or when I pull off my hat and my baby hairs are having a tussle around my part, but damn, I wish I could last longer without greasing up so fast. (That's why I curl my hair sometimes. Works like a charm. Like Wingardium Leviosa. Which is a charm. Unlike Lumos, which is a spell.)

Here's a progress report on my cable-knit scarf:

Jacket: gift. Mittens: J. Crew, gift. Jeggings: Forever21. Socks: HotSox. Black and white oxford: Miz Mooz.

last month's news

Wow, so, uh, this is kind of embarrassing, but the last time I worked on this scarf was August of 2009. I'm making progress, though. You can see how uneven my reversible cables are in this photo, but it's the most color-accurate one I have:

And here's a bow I made for my little cousin's Snow White costume for Halloween. The gathering is a little awkward and my hand-stitching is grotesquely visible, but the overall effect with the rest of her costume was quite good.

Does anyone even eat Almond Joys?

a short revision

I didn't expect too much from these high-waisted shorts from alloy, considering the fabric on the fabric-covered buttons tore off when I hand-washed them for the first time. But what's a girl to do with an otherwise perfectly good pair of shorts?



Enter my grandmother's stash of buttons. (Everyone's grandma has a stash of buttons, right?)

Five hand stitches later, I had myself a pair of gold-buttoned, high-waisted shorts, looking more nautical than ever. (And more wrinkly than ever, but let's ignore that right now.)

...VICTORY!

in your lace

Here's my lace shirt with crooked sleeves. I'd actually planned on making a circular shirt (like a circle skirt, but with more seams to make armholes), but I cut the head hole too big and ... this is the result.

Racy. And by "racy," I really mean "lacy" as spoken by a Korean or Japanese ESL speaker since R and L sounds are allophonic in Korean and Japanese RINGUISTICS LEFERENCES FOR THE WIN.

Denim blazer: delia's. Lace top: DIY. Jeans: Levi's. Shoes: Payless.

Seriously, though, am I allowed to wear this to class? I feel kind of inappropriate.

quaquaquaqua

For reasons unknown (but time will tell), this is my version of dressing down. I think it's the lack of thought that makes this outfit more unremarkable to me than something that looks disastrous:

Beaded cardigan: don't know + DIY. T-shirt: Kohl's + DIY. Skinny jeans: Forever21. Flats: Palladium Freerubber.