the clothes 2011

Would wear this blue suede belt with these Bass Loves Rachel Antonoff oxfords while dancing to classic rockabilly.

One of my favorite dresses and one that I've worn more times than I care to count (I took it with me on my study abroad to Greece, so there was definitely a lot of remixing from living out of a suitcase for 3+ months), is this plaid shirtdress from Urban Outfitters; bought 3 years ago now. I find shirtdresses the easiest wardrobe item to remix. This dress also was in one of my favorite outfit pictures of all time (see above) and used to be part of my header image. Sometimes the outfit and nature work together to create that one perfect photograph. The daisies in that field only lasted around a week...

I received this dress from my sponsor Bohemian Bisoux Vintage and I couldn't be happier about it. The eyelet fabric makes it so perfect for spring and the shape is obviously, one of my favorites. The details and quality of the dress are just a couple of the reasons I love vintage; the fabric is so nice and everything was made to last. Not that it's really a new thing, but I really hope these types of dresses will be one of my staples this summer. I especially love how pulled-together they look when they're such a simple pieces and look nice with minimal accessories which suits summer weather.

P.S. First picture, totally candid. I was off-balance and about to fall over, so I started laughing at myself...and voila, self-timer!

Outfit details:

vintage feather fascinator

UO jacket

vintage dress c/o Bohemian Bisoux Vintage

Jeffrey Campbell heels c/o Modcloth

Rebecca Minkoff purse

Diary of a Lost Girl is a classic silent starring Louise Brooks. Louise plays Thymian, a naive young girl who watches in incomprehension as her father fires a housekeeper he has seduced. The housekeeper's fate serves to foreshadow Thymian's own as later the same day she is raped by her father's assistant. After giving birth to a child made in the act and refusing to marry her rapist, Thymian is sent away to a home for wayward girls and generally abandoned by her father. We watch her father move on with his life, marrying and building a new family and his assistant continue to lead his normal life. If you think it sounds disheartening, just wait until you watch it with Louise's expressive eyes staring back at you in confusion and sadness...

Diary of a Lost Girl, screencaps by me

A couple of weeks ago I received the most interesting e-mail from someone named Matthew who is in a band called For The Birds. As he explained in his e-mail, his girlfriend Caitlyn, is the band's singer and apparently reads my blog! Wonders of wonders, one of my blogtitles (this one) became a key lyric in one of their original songs, entitled A Round "Room." It was a pretty crazy and very cool e-mail to receive; quite unexpected, but in the best possible way. I even enjoy the song! So, that's my little 'life's crazy' story for today. You can check out their myspace here where the song is available for a listen, if you like.

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
’Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink."
-John Keats

After taking these pictures I was quite dissatisfied with the final product; both the outfit and the photographs themselves. I almost never capture in a photograph exactly what I would like; I'm always reaching for some strange, intangible and seemingly unattainable goal, but I do usually come to some acceptance of my final product. This post however was on the virtual chopping block. The tights especially seemed so jarringly bright, there was something juvenile about them and I wondered why I had chosen to wear them instead of some more understated color (sometimes it is after I take pictures that I realize an outfit doesn't work the way I had envisioned it). Then I remembered the yellow tights in Balenciaga's Pre-Fall 2010 collection and those just at Fendi's F/W 2011 runway. So, while my personal styling is hardly as crisp and fresh as either of those collections, I decided to let the pictures remain. Even the outfits I don't enjoy in retrospect were worn and since I blog, recorded.

One of my perennial favorites of LFW is Jonathan Saunders and this season was no exception. A wonderful mix of bright colors and patterns that still manages to feel balanced and ladylike? Yes, please!

Jonathan Saunders was inspired by photographer Paul Outerbridge. Outerbridge had a long career in photography, but might best be remembered for his experimentation with female nudes in the 1930s; the striking full-color images were ahead of their time. Jonathan Saunders not only borrowed colors from Outerbridge, but also the 1930s silhouette. Personally, it's the sort of collection I could see myself wearing not only next year, but for many years to come (had I the budget).

*collage pictures courtesy of Style.com