HOMEMADE TOILE PRINT SKIRT - SNIPPET OF FASHION FROM THE 1770S

This toile (pronounced "twa") print skirt is my first handmade circle skirt and I'm really pleased with it. (Spanish translation equivalent: It pleases me. Those 3 years of Spanish are being put to good use, you see.) Toile print basically means colonial people dancing around trees and serenading sheep with bagpipes (if you look closely, you will see just that). Toile is usually seen on curtains or pillows BUT I HAD BETTER PLANS. Also I'm intrigued by the style of the 1700s, Marie Antoinette-esque. (you could even say I have a fetish for neck ruffles ;D). I will be posting some Baroque-esque things soon too! What do you think of it? What would go well with it? Have you ever sewn at all? Would you like to? Comment!

This is not meant to be a tutorial exactly but I can show you the process of making my fabulous circle skirt. Here, I am making sure the wide waistband is the correct length all around. 

Waistband is ready for sewing.

Bird's eye view.

I had so much making this skirt, really. After I cut out the hole I decided it was a time-traveling porthole to the days of our dapper colonial men and women. 

Deeper into the porthole...

I APPEAR FROM THE YEAR 1776.

Remember when I said I had so much fun with this skirt fabric? Okay, okay, okay, this picture here is a nod (more like a full body jerk) to that Spongebob episode where Spongebob and Patrick are hanging with this surfer guy and they keep striking the above pose and shout, "THE POWER WITHIN." Anyone remember this? If you are out there, please make yourself known for I must commend you and maybe we should go get ice cream later. 

Frilly Socks In Hillcrest

So I was walking to Artist & Craftsman in Hillcrest the other day and we came across this electrical box with flying space pies on it and, naturally, we could not pass it up.

Socks: American Apparel. Pants: Forever21. Sweater: Ralph Lauren. Shoes: Old Navy. 

Yes, I am obsessed with these socks. 

Shoes: Steve Madden. Socks: American Apparel.

I have been getting some lip about these socks every time I wear them AND LEMME JUS SAY that these socks are da bomb. Da bomb. All the people who've told me that these socks "are for children" are not particularly fashion gurus. I got these from the adult section of American Apparel AND if you haven't seen non-children wearing these socks yet then either I am incredibly fashion forward or you're just not exposing yourself to much fashion. And it is probably the latter. 

A REVIVAL OF ALL THAT IS GOOD: HAND-WRITTEN LETTERS

Hey ya'll! Recently, I started sending handwritten letters to an old friend from high school. To be honest, we weren't close in high school, but the awesome thing about that is, is that even though high school is over I'm still befriending those old peeps! She lives in Davis now but we are CLOSER THAN EVER. I actually used to send letters to friends all the time, but I become discouraged because no one would send any back. It's like talking to rocks, really. I'd get a Thank You, but good luck getting someone to write you a heartfelt letter in this society lost in the oblivion of acronyms. I actually used to pray for someone to write letters to AND FINALLY MY PRAYERS HAVE FRUITIONTED. When high school was over I'd thought, "Oh gosh darn, now I'll probably never see those people again." BUT I WAS WRONG. And I'm glad I was. So here some pictures of the letter I just sent her. I drew the flying baby/cherub/fetus and tried to use water colors to make it more ethereal-looking. I HOPE IT WORKED. In any case, I love reading her handwritten letters so much and she loves mine! *-* 

 

THE CIRCUS TICKET CLERK

This look is inspired by the Circus and all its whimsicality. Many of my looks are made up of characters from my mind and what I envision them wearing, directly related to their lifestyle. Here we have the ticket clerk who has a keen eye for fraud and is easily made to laugh at those who try to enter the circus with fake tickets. 

Awesome Reads: Clockwork Princess

I am currently reading Clockwork Princess by the illustrious Cassandra Clare. It was released just over a week ago. I've been waiting DESPERATELY for this book to come out since Clockwork Prince, the book preceding it came out, back in December 2011 (the 6th, to be exact because my speciality has always been remembering useless information). This is a YA fiction book (whenever I see YA I always say "YAH!" because that's just how my strange mind reads). Right, let me stop you there, you probably have preconceived ideas about YA fiction, but really, I used to hate it for no reason until I actually read some. They have good stuff. I am way too invested in this story and I can't remember ever being so viscerally involved with any book or any characters ever. The series is called The Infernal Devices and it is a FABULOUS series. My synopsis is going to sound really lame, but the story follows a shape-changer girl who finds herself living in Victorian England mixed in with these badass demon fighters called Shadowhunters, who are also badass. The characters have such awesome character arches, subplots, and they are all just so real and believable and you can't help but love them and want to know more. The author has another series named The Mortal Instruments and those are also fabulous. If you haven't read Cassandra Clare's books then YOU MUST immediately. I love that woman so much. Clockwork Princess is the last book in the series and I've found myself in this strange dynamic state of reluctance to finish the series and eager to bask in the presence of my favorite characters--even if for only a page more. 'Tis a strange place to be. I usually know when I'm reading crap and this, my friends, is most certainly not crap. I'll put up a YouTube review of this book soon on my BookTube channel so watch out for that!

Screaming. 

St. Patrick's Day Palooza

On St. Patrick's day, my most Irish friend and I moseyed on down to Balboa park where they had this whole St. Patty's Day fest down at the House of Ireland. There are all these houses like House of England, who gave me the most fabulous "cuppa tea" (the lady actually said this quintessential English phrase in the most quintessentially English accent you could imagine),  House of Norway, House of China, and they were all giving out free food from their countries (but encouraged donations)---it was crazy shiz. This old man from the House of Norway was talking our ears off, but Bearnt, his Norwegian name is, said only entertaining things. I learned so much about Norwegians I can't believe it. He had some good jokes, so you will allow me to reiterate one. Bearnt told us that in Norway there are two kinds of women: the tough kind and the wimpy kind. You know how you can tell? He then showed us a picture of a normal skiing girl, in a jacket and on skis--the usual. Then he showed us a picture of a girl skiing in a bikini and said, "The tough girls, they always ski in the bikini, ehehehe!" Bearnt's a real cool guy and he told us to come back some time to visit, which I'm sure we will. Also their Norwegian waffles with the cream and jam were fiiinneeee.

"This is how you know the tough woman."

Heyyy

I recently discovered this app called "GirlsCamera" (unisex app) in which you can actually customize your photos all crazily-Japanesily. It's highly reminiscent of those incredibly fun Japanese camera booths. Of course if given the chance I would say GO INTO THE BOOTH because I've done that before and we were in there for hours and I cannot tell you how much I savored every minute. And you get these wonderful and sickenly-cute photos to show off. Here's a sample below. 

This one's my favorite, by the way.

INSTAGRAMMING NOT FOOD FOR ONCE. 

Real Life Dr. Seuss Creature Found

ATTENTION INTERNET:

This, my friends, is the Saiga Antelope. GAZE upon this fantastic creature of nature.
Is it not the epitome of God's creation? I mean, it looks like a creature out of a Dr. Seuss book.

I found this in a magazine in a doctor's office and I found out they are highly endangered. PLEASE KEEP THE SAIGA ANTELOPE IN YOUR PRAYERS.