lucilleduquette:

i took these photos on the porch of the creepster house next to mine. both houses were originally owned by the same family, but while my house has been taken care of over the years, the neighborhing house has fallen completely by the wayside. i figured it was fine to snap some photos on the porch, since i assumed the house was abandoned. however, a few nights ago, our downstairs neighbor was sitting out on his fire escape, and swears he saw a dark figure approach one of the windows in the house next door, and stand there, staring at him, until he got scared and went inside. eek! 

this is probably my last post before my 30th birthday- just warning you in case you don’t recognize me next time, since i’ll look so old. next week i’m headed to austin to enjoy the warm weather, eat tons of cake, and maybe do some vintage shopping. if you have any recommendations for where to go, it would be much appreciated.

and before that, i get to celebrate my baby sister’s birthday with her! she’ll be in NYC for the weekend so i can spoil her rotten. i’m very excited. hope you all have a great weekend too.

+j uniqlo romper, loft military jacket (c/o), jcrew cardigan, fiorentini & baker boots, miu miu bow bag

i know you’ve all been anxiously awaiting this day as long as i have: the day that the FUR VEST would make it’s return. well, today is THE day.

no, the weather has not suddenly become warm enough to leave my winter coat at home. it’s just that the vest has been calling to me from the depths of my closet, begging to be worn. i figured, i’ve seen people wear vests in the dead of winter. yes, i used to look at them in their puffy sleeveless northface vests and think to myself ‘nice outfit moron. your arms don’t get cold?’. well today i am the moron, and i feel a great joy about it. i love my gryphon timeless trench, and my fur vest, and my love seems to be enough to keep me warm. who knew?

you have probably noticed the extra pop of color in my outfit today. this is highly unusual for me, but i have a weakness for fun socks and tights, as you have seen before in some of my posts featuring my neon yellow ankle socks from ‘we love colors’.

so, when ‘we love colors’ asked me if i’d like to try out a few of their other products, i chose some of the brightest things they had to offer! i am loving my new scarlet red knee highs especially- they’re opaque, bright, comfy, and don’t slouch a bit.

but wait! my red socks are not the only colorful part of my outfit. i got a little WILD this morning and decided to wear TWO colors at the same time. i felt very anxious leaving the house like this, as if i might be feeling self-conscious all day, but so far so good. and Noel helped convince me that red and pink are okay together, and will not necessarily make me look like a dorky desperate valentine.

this skirt is one of the few colorful things that survived my major closet cleaning a couple months back. i purchased it at a consignment store last summer when i was shopping with some friends. one tried her best to discourage me from buying it, asking something along the lines of: “where will you ever wear that thing?! it’s just going to sit in your closet”. i swore to her that i’d wear it all the time, and… i only took the tags off last night. 

one of my friend’s arguments agains the skirt was that it would make me look like peaches ‘n cream barbie. little did she know this was my most prized barbie in the 80s! i remember begging for this barbie for one of my birthdays, and my mom coaching me on politeness for my party- she told me i had to thank everyone for their gifts, no matter whether i liked them or not.

when the moment to open my presents came, i was at first elated to peel back the wrapping paper of a shiny peach ‘n pink box… only to tear it off further and see that i had received a peach ‘n pink KEN. my mom still loves to remind me of how i embarrassed her by marching up to my aunt and saying politely, “thank you very much aunt mary. i hate the gift, but thank you anyway.” although i have no memory of this, it makes me feel terrible! 

peach ‘n pink ken eventually wound up becoming an ‘evil giant’ for my brother’s Mask figurines, and i eventually procured the real peach ‘n pink barbie. today i feel like i have BECOME her, which is something i always wanted. the only way i could improve upon things would be to paint some glow-in-the-dark stars on my skirt like dream-n-glow barbie (anyone remember her??). 

today i have a special extra installment to my post. let’s call this section “what i DIDN’T wear”. i was admittedly kind of loopy this morning, and for awhile thought this striped steven alan sweater. i can’t believe i nearly left the house in this. i look insane, and not AT ALL like barbie. more like… mother goose, or amelia bedelia. and let’s not even get started on the crazy face i’m making here. 

anyway, i thought it would be fun to post. i would love seeing some of the outfit out-takes from other bloggers. i know i certainly generate a lot of them!

gryphon timeless trench, vintage fur vest, jcrew cardigan, vintage camisole, shabby chic skirt, jcrew belt, we love colors socks, loeffler randall gillian shoes, steven alan sweater, zac posen bag

several months ago i met Amanda, who is the founder of The Andean Collection, which features jewelry made of all natural materials. when i saw the pieces in the collection, i couldn’t believe all the brightly colored beads weren’t synthetic. but sure enough, they are all from seeds harvested in South America. better yet, their business follows fair trade practices, wherein artisans in Ecuador who create this jewelry are given partial ownership in the company, and receive fair wages. what’s not to like?

when i first saw the jewelry from The Andean Collection, the saturated colors and varied texture of the materials caught my eye. every piece was beautiful and wearable, and in my mind i was already coming up with ideas for layering different pieces together. when Amanda told me i could choose an item, i was so excited! it was a tough decision, but i ended up picking this Cloud Forest necklace. you know i usually stray away from bright colors, but not in this case- i wear my necklace all the time, and realized i had never posted any outfits with it here! time to remedy that situation.

this first outfit is from a couple weeks ago, when i tried to change up my typical saturday brunch uniform of sweater, skirt, tights and flats. i put on my pac sun jeans, which were part of the DIY workshop at the weardrobe conference over the summer, threw on my chloes with some socks, and brought out my prudence dahlia coat.

this coat took more effort and stalking on my part than any other item in my wardrobe. i decided i needed it only after the company that made it had disbanded. after much searching ebay (to no avail) and emailing with the designers from Prudence, i finally scored my coat. in the end, i think it was worth it.

i had to give a close-up of my gloves. i really like the style of them, but i hardly ever wear gloves. the minute i put them on, suddenly my face is all itchy and i can’t do anything about it, or my hair is sticking to my lip gloss and i can’t move my fingers enough to fix things… i need to get over this somehow.

underneath my coat i’m wearing a free people sweater that i’ve had for many years, and a new/old camisole. i found this pretty pink number in a vintage store in ohio over my christmas break- it was a full-length slip that didn’t really fit at all. when i got home, i put my new dress form to the test, and tailored it into a more fitted shirt.

if there’s anything i can think of as my personal ‘style signature’, which has been consistent for as long as i can remember, i think it would have to be the fact that i wear a vintage slip almost every day- and never in the way a slip is meant to be worn. vintage slips are so pretty, it seems a shame to hide them underneath something else. so i like to layer the long ones beneath skirts, making sure to let the ruffle or lace at the bottom of the slip show. it’s also a nice way to add length to a dress in order to make it work-appropriate.

but more often than not, i wear a slip as a shirt. all the others i have are white, or cream, or nude, so i’m looking forward to throwing this peachy pink one into the mix. i like the way the color plays off the strange wedge heel on the chloe shoes, and picks up the warm tones in the cloud forest necklace.

onto outfit 2- as i said, seeing all the Andean Collection jewelry gave me an urge to layer lots of their colorful necklaces together. i remembered a white plastic bead necklace, and thought that could compliment the Cloud Forest necklace. when i went to take it out of my jewelry box, i kept seeing more and more things to pile on. i think all the jewelry really brightened up an otherwise dreary winter outfit.

my velvet skirt, givenchy shoes, and yes, slip-as-shirt all came from thrift stores, as well as some of the necklaces. i’m debating getting rid of the ruffle on the bottom of the skirt- what do you think?

here’s a closer look at the jewels. the blue beaded necklaces is from jcrew, the yellow rock one from a street vendor, the dark green beads from a thrift store, pearls from my mom, plastic beads from a thrift store, and of course, the Andean Collection necklace. seeing these all together makes me want to create some of my own layered necklaces out of various beads and charms i’ve collected

my pile of necklaces also made me realize that i absolutely cannot go another day without this tagua necklace. i’m ordering the blue one asap- can’t you see it fitting right in with my mix of baubles?

outfit 1: prudence dahlia coat, pac sun jeans, moschino cheap and chic gloves, chloe shoes, calvin klein knee socks, vintage slip, free people sweater, andean collection cloud forest necklace

outfit 2: vintage slip, joie skirt, jcrew cardigan, givenchy shoes, thrifted belt, andean collection cloud forest necklace, jcrew necklace, thrifted necklaces

this is my last set of photos from my montauk vacation.

it is hard to believe this was only a couple of weeks ago! now i am completely swamped at work, and bundled up in boots and sweaters.

i do think this outfit could transition to winter rather easily. the skirt is a fairly heavy fabric (velvet? cordury? some mix of the two? i’m not sure) made by comme des garcons. it has some interesting seams running all around the skirt with unfinished edges- i wish they showed up better in these photos. i found it in a consignment shop in boston for a super steal- i don’t think boston-ites favor the same brands as nyc-ers, in general.

what i noticed in my limited time consignment shopping there was that brands like lily pulitzer, DVF, theory and ralph lauren were featured in the front of the store for higher prices, and then random pieces from CdG, Y3, and ann demeulemeester were hidden away in the back priced very low in comparison with consignment stores here. of course this is a huge generalization, but it made shopping much more fun for me!

i fully realize the fact that my CdG skirt is a mid-calf length in a weird fabric might have had something to do with the low price of this particular piece. but lately i’ve found myself wanting to try out some longer skirts. i just have to come up with the right footwear for winter.

flat riding boots will definitely make me look short and stumpy with a skirt of this length. and even heeled boots might not be the greatest since i don’t have any that are fitted to my leg. i think my lace-up fiorentini & baker boots would look too witchy with a long skirt. soo…. what’s left? maybe a pair of ankle socks and wedges? what do you think is the perfect type of footwear (and/or legwear) for longer length skirts? i need ideas.

comme des garcons skirt, vintage camisole, jcrew cardigan, vintage crochet table runner worn as a scarf, prada wedges, vintage belt, antique gold bracelet