november street style

i'm a little late in relaying this (more than a week late), but a fashion site based in richmond, from the runway to rva, has a monthly street-style post - headed by leney - and i just so happen to be on it from the fashion show! made me feel pretty cool. my friends lucy and jack are both in it too, we're a pretty stylin' bunch if i do say so myself.

i'm wearing that sea of bees necklace, an american eagle shirt (old), and h&m pants and shoes.

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merry christmas to me

necklace - galactic beam necklace by sea of bees

her name is edith.

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work it

be warned that the photo quality in this post is just desparageable.
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so wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending a (free!) fashion event at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. they have run some garment construction workshops, and this was similar to a graduate collection - one piece per designer, forty designers, all teenage. one of the designers was my friend Dylan, so naturally I had to go. that, and that fashion events are so rare in Richmond you simply must attend one whenever presented with the opportunity, right? They turned the atrium of the museum into a catwalk.

in a Project Runway fashion, the budding designers were presented with a room full of supplies, mostly reclaimed/recycled. then they chose a piece in the museum to serve as the inspiration for their design. some pieces I thoroughly enjoyed. many others I thought were much too literal in terms of translating from the art to the garment.

anywho, some highlights:

my personal favorite

the necklace is made of cut and spray painted popsicle sticks, the dress is straw and grommets, and she's wearing litas. swoon. i was thrilled/sad to see the litas. they're the first I've seen in Richmond besides mine own. I love that someone has them, but now I don't feel special anymore.

and this is my friend dylan's! I love it. the pants are cut venetian blinds painted copper. the bodice is wire mesh and thick wire. isn't he fabulous?

i went with Carson, saw a few friends, and i even met a few nice people - fellow bloggers Austin Prime and Leney. Austin's boyfriend made my favorite dress, the first one, and Austin works for almost all of the major radio stations here in Richmond as a dj and he's only 18. pretty impressive. I only met Leney in passing but she has a lovely blog, you should go check it out. she also is a street style photographer for from the runway to rva. i do my research. all in all it was a good show, though out of forty i really only loved three... less than 10%. ouch. but i learned something from that night...

..i really need a new camera.

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sticks and stones

i had the pleasure of attending one of the best and most interesting installations i've ever seen a week or so ago. it's dubbed the 'stick stack show' and is the brainchild of Charleston-born  artist Jonathan Brilliant. it's huge. it's so complex. it creates the most beautiful shadows. it took him about 12 hours a day everyday for two weeks to put it together. it is different everytime it moves from gallery to gallery since each gallery is a different layout, amount of space, height of ceilings, etc. it's amazingly big. in the Richmond Visual Arts Center, it takes up a very large room, and accompanying pieces of his are in and around the rooms/halls surrounding the main installation. here's the most amazing part:

the piece is made of 7" wooden coffee stirrers. also, there's zero glue. they're woven together.

and here's a picture of my friend noma for scale and posterity. i told you it was huge. and it extends even more than ten feet higher than noma's head below. my camera just isn't big enough. you can walk under it, inside of it, it's astounding.

it's truly a wonderful show. the rest of the pieces are also made out of coffee cup sleeves, lids, straws, you name it. it's a traveling show, too. it leaves late december - and much like set strike, they're having a strike for the installation come time for it to leave. i can't wait to go help break down this thing.. it's should be interesitng.

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blooming leopold

dress - thrifted; belt - wholesale-dress.net; necklace (bullet) - gift; fishnets - bygones vintage in carytown; lipstick - covergirl 'flame'

**i thought this was saved as a draft. turns out it was published. that's what happens when I try to be productive in the wee hours of the night. that's also the reason for the lack of words on the original post.

so this is one of my latest loves - a handmade pin-striped dress from rumors! i saw it and, like the dress in the previous post, fell in love with it instantly. $11. am i right? rumors has sold out a bit lately and become less of a thrift store and more of a boutique, but all the same i am simply mad for this dress.

it instantaneously reminded me of the lovely lady lauren at blooming leopold vintage. she created her own line alongside the vintage she sells, and her spring 2011 pieces are divine. this dress reminds me of her pieces so much. i think what does it is definitely the pinstripes - they are rampant among her line. we're cut from the same cloth in the sense that we both seem to adore stripes. especially those of the pin persuasion.

daddy won't you please come home?

dress - rodarte for target; pearls - vintage/thrifted; ballet flats (not shown) - capezio 'daisy' split sole

...aaaand thus, i return. hello everybody!

i apologize for my unexcused absence for a little over a month. it's just the beginning of the school year and everything. also within the first week of school my house got broken into, and for a week or two a few weeks ago i was pretty blech. about a guy or something.

but, on the plus side, i've taken up those ballet classes i wanted to so badly (check that off my resolutions list!), and started working as a spanish tutor to make a little money. my litas and i are also very happy together; we've moved past the honeymoon stage but we're still just as in love! and as for today's little number is a beautiful rodarte for target dress i was so thrilled to find in my size at rumors for $8. sheer nude chiffon, light pink satin, and a light lace are just too beautiful. it's a wonderful take on a vintage slip. i should be resuming all my other blogging activities, though i haven't read any blog material in more than a month. sorry!

things are okay... things are okay. it's kind of weird. but for one thing, i'm happy to be back here!

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lately i've been too enamored with annette hanshaw.

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i hit 25000 pageviews today! thanks so much everybody.

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lita love

jeffrey campell 'litas' via solestruck, need supply co. shorts, capezio leotard

hey gang, long time no see! sorry i've been m.i.a. post-hurricane, but the power's back, school's started, and i'm here to stay. just a short post for today..

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i am simply mad about my new litas. i've been scrubbing floors and cleaning houses for a few weeks to make the money, and i ordered them last week. they came today, just a few hours ago. solestruck never fails to crack me up with their packaging - 'the acceptance and use of this package constitutes an agreement that the holder will observe the rules and regulations of sporting such amazing shoes as issued by the solestruck better shoe initiative.'

i love getting mail - especially presents like shoes. they may not be real presents, since i bought them, but they are certainly presents from solestruck. i also got some september issues of various magazines (vogue, elle, etc.) to flip through, and a lovely ivy wreath i won from hivenj. and hot pink bubblewrap. oh goody!

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hurricane

nope, that is not a stock image. it is one of the many candles keeping my room properly lit after sunset.

as you may or may not know, there was a bit of a hurricane ravaging the east coast on saturday. as fairly inland as i am, richmond was hit with an abundance of power outages and trees crashed into houses. luckily, my house is intact, although every house around it is damaged in someway. we're lucky.

i had been neglectful (read: lazy) in the last week or so over here, but now, without wi-fi or power, i have taken up temporary residence at the local barnes and noble for a few hours. i can't do very much without power, just finish my assignments. sooo if you were wondering where the hell i am, i'm in the dark.

i hope everyone else here is safe, and international readers, feel no pity. it wasn't very much more than a bad storm, but because of the drought this summer there were many a tree easily uprooted. hopefully tomorrow i'll have power and warm showers.

ta-ta until then.

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photoshoot

well my day(s) in town were really fun! i love being in the city, no matter how hot it is (and it is very, very hot), and seeing weston - and his new 'boy toy' as he put it - is always fun.

there's this great railroad bridge over Richmond's James River. we got bored, and it's such a beautiful location, and weston had a new Pentax DSLR. so naturally, we held an impromptu photo shoot! all of these are straight out of the camera, too.

the man himself

3 separate trains came while we were on the bridge. it's so very exciting, you have to run to the nearest concrete alcove and hide. the trains always see you and then they blow the whistles. i love it; it's become one of our favorite hangout spots. whenever trains pass it makes it even better. they're so loud and it's so nice.

it was a horse, therefore i had to ride it.  each of the alcoves (out of maybe eight?) have amazing grafitti. another thing i love about richmond - we have the most amazing street art.

first ensemble: both american apparel, target shades, misc. jewelry

second ensemble: calvin klein dress, same shades, misc. jewelry

both pairs of shoes: dollhouse

i'm not the best model, but it's for fun anyways, right?

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god bless america/n apparel

blouse - american apparel; trousers - american apparel; shoes - dollhouse; bag - neiman marcus (gift)

sorry for the miserable expression. i was in a bad mood.  but you can see my new black hair real good. anyways.

a rarity: i'm wearing this today! because i took the photos yesterday, and this is a scheduled post. take that, time space continuum. 

this is also probably my most expensive outfit. i convinced my mother into shopping at american apparel and made it out with a blouse, two pairs of trousers (they're too lovely and tapered to be 'pants'), and a knit skirt. american apparel, no doubt, has the best trousers, as the pleats and tapering are beautiful, and they all fit so well. but at $75 a pop there is no way i could buy them for myself.

today i'm taking a trip into town to spend some time with lovely people get my learner's permit, get into shenanigans, and eat cuban food. not in that order.

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100th post. wooh! 

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where am i going

richmond at night, as photographed by me

accoudrements turns one today. i was going to take some silly pictures with candy and candles but then i got an unsightly pimple. blech.

anyway, i couldn't really be happier. i know a lot of people could say i don't have much to show for it, but others would say i do. i think i do. at about 150 followers (counting bloglovin') strong, i think my little piece of the internet has made a tiny name for itself. granted, i would love to have better photo quality and better shoots (which are both impossible to achieve with a 10 second self timer and a point and shoot), but i'm really very happy with how far i think i've come. 

 i like to think about where i'm going, too. i certainly don't want to become stationary and sedentary, and i want to get out. don't get me wrong, i love my city, i do. but if i stay here i'll certainly suffocate.

 i do struggle with some things when looking at my life, but when i put things into perspective i find that i can't be upset about my life right now - it really isn't life. from when you are born until the day you turn eighteen, this isn't life. it's just not. there are so many restrictions and rules and having to follow them all is just shit. you really cannot be your own person while submitting to them. i guess for the longest time i've just wanted to surpass them all and not be what age i am but i can't do much of that without a fake id, now can i? but this isn't life. nobody in this stage has really experienced life yet, save for a lucky few.  but for now we have to wait - i have to wait, which took me a very long time to realize. i can pitch fits and struggle and make waves all i want but in the end it doesn't matter.

all i can do is wait. i only have a few years left. if i've waited this long i can do it. and i have things to look forward to - both in the long term and the short term. in the short term for now i have lovely things set up: i'm spending time with some of my favorite people all through this week, and then school will start and i'm taking art classes again as well as japanese, and ballet will start soon after school, and i've wanted to take ballet ever since i was forced to quit by my father as a little girl. and then in october i'm off to see wicked showing at richmond's most beautiful theater, then panic! at the disco is coming and i already have tickets to that, and in february i am going to go see coppelia, my favorite ballet, at the richmond ballet, and in may, since i receive 5000+ pageviews a month i can qualify as a fashion blogger and get a press pass for richmond fashion week.

in the long term? i have so many plans. i can hardly wait for next year to begin applying for colleges.. i have made lists already - fashion institute for design and merchandising, san francisco division: my perfect line of study in my favorite city? hell i even already looked at studio apartments there.  and if fidm doesn't work out, there's always the art institute of california san francisco for fashion merchandising, nyu for the same thing or visual communications or entertainment set design or the san francisco school of digital film making, and there's just so many good options at  the moment. i don't know. i just honestly look at myself in five years, and i can see myself pretty broke in a small apartment with my cat. and i can't wait. 

i'm done gushing for today, i just really want to thank everyone who reads what i write here, and for everyone's wonderful support. as cliche as it is and as cliche as it is for me to say it's cliche, i couldn't do it without you all and i have a little something in store for you all soon.

things are just kind of good right now.

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fasola potrafi

fasola potrafi, the brainchild of polish photographer extraordinaire ola golczynska. this is what editorial dreams are made of.

 

the pictures speak for themselves.

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