Fashionably Feathers

$5 a bunch. Lasts two months.

Uncertain

About the clothes and the photo. Thoughts?

yay for $5 H&M scarves!

This is what happens when you don't pick out your outfit the night before:

Your colleagues laugh at you and call you a Quaker.

the boys the boys

the boys at the coffee shop complimented me today on my "ensemble"


I added this picture, because it is also a glamor shot of Javi. The camera doesn't add ten pounds to him! (it just cuts his body in half)

Professional Series #1

I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts on my work clothes. I don't have a lot of extra money, so when I do go clothes-shopping, I usually end up buying work clothes because it is more important to me to look nice at work than to look good (not that I don't) doing other activities.







I call this outfit my; "All Black Everything"
for all you JayZ enthusiasts out there
But not the outerwear, that's not black, that, was a whim.
Also, I'd like to note, that is not my messy room in the background. My room is squeaky clean, that's my roommates room, my kitten broke my full-length mirror.

Fashionably Mira

Oh no she didn't. . .

Oh, yes I did. Went crazy at Nordstrom Rack, that is. Who can resist tiny stretch pants Levi's?




P.S. Thanks for the invite, brother.

Fall Fashion

I noticed a lot of girls (mostly asian) on my campus wearing shorts with opaque tights. This is my interpretation:

who's your hoodie buddie?

Hoodie Buddies

Emphasis on the word BUDdies.

So a roommate of mine and myself went grocery shopping at the local Fred Meyer. It was news to me that Fred Meyer not only carries your everyday groceries, but also home decor, clothes, shoes, well really I think they carry everything in the world. Distracted by the non-perishable part of the store, I wondered aimlessly from section to gleaming section. I happened to be in the "teenage angst and rebel section complete with bedazzled bum pockets and camouflage shorts" when I found a priceless gem: a hoodie buddie.
What is this hoodie buddie I speak of? let me explain: a hoodie buddie is nothing less than a zip-up hoodie with earbuds attached through the shoe strings that poke out through either side of the hood. not just any earbuds. They are incorporated in the jacket, and end in a special pocket specifically designed to place an iPod. (advertised as an mp3, but let's be honest with ourselves, if you don't own an iPod you don't own a life.) I was sorely tempted to buy a buddie to take home with me, and I carted the darn thing through the entire store trying to decide if it was worth it. I ended up putting it back, but I think about it daily.

Swimwear. The possibilities are endless.

I am hesitant to post pictures of myself in a swimsuit. But what can I do? This is AWESOME! And yes, I sewed this from scratch without a pattern.

Time to Tailor

As many of you are no doubt aware, I like to do a little sewing from time to time. I did this one a few months ago. As you can tell from my pasty white skin, I was indoors studying a lot at the time, and this was a good way for me to unwind from school. This was the most involved project that I had attempted to date, and I was very proud of the results.

I like to troll the thrift stores wherever I am to look for bargains, from time to time these bargains include a nice suit. Usually I just taper the pants a little and I am good to go, if the jacket is too big I just leave it for another lankier (or thicker as the case may be with different suits) guy to find and utilize. For this suit though it was in such great condition and it was such a good price ($15 for a three piece suit) I talked myself into attempting a riskier job. I was going to shorten the bottom of the jacket by three to four inches.

As you can see below, this suit was much to long for me. I am not sure what kind of string bean was wearing this before me, but dang.
The first thing that I had to do was unpick the lining and figure out where I was going to put the seam that would curve around the bottom of the jacket up to the buttons. This is the most visible part of the project so I was a little worried. You can see below where I marked from a template that I copied off another jacket and inked it on there and then pinned it. What you cannot see is that it took me about three or four tries sewing and unpicking til I finally had it right. The other side only took me two tries though, so I did improve on this project.
The next step was difficult as well, mostly because you can change a seam, but you cannot unpick something that you have cut off. In order to get the corner right on this jacket I needed to make sure that the seam would lay flat once I cut off the excess material, but I could not do that until I started cutting, catch 22. I finally bit the bullet and did my best, and it turned out, after a little tweaking. Below you can see that first seam finished and cut.

I was pretty proud of that corner, I really think that I did a good job and people seem surprised when I tell them that I did it myself. Surprised in a good way. After the corner I just needed to cut off all the excess along the bottom of the jacket, press the cuff part (that is one of the trickiest parts of tailoring I think, how much pressing the fabric comes into play in making the garment look right, I have actually considered getting some tailors tools that you use just for pressing stuff and shaping fabric) and then sew it up. I sewed all of the bottom part of the jacket, the lining and the back corners by the vents by hand. It actually did not take too long and was really good practice. Plus, on something as visible as the bottom of a jacket I did not want to risk the blind hem.

Here is the jacket when I had finished one side. This is good to see how much I had cut off as well as to compare my work with the original tailoring of the jacket. If I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job, especially for a rookie.


I thought I took some after pictures without my hands in the pocket, but I do not know where they are and do not want to look through a bunch of folders tonight for a picture that may or may not be there, so here is one that I did find. This was really a picture to show a cool tie and shirt that I got at Goodwill, but it will do. This was actually a really fun project. I got to try some stuff that I had never done before and my confidence is a lot higher with sewing now. I know that I can just be careful and unpick if it does not work out. Next project? I am currently tapering about five pairs of pants that I got on my run of D.I.s that I made when I went from L.A. to S.L.C. I went D.I.s in Las Vegas, St. George, Cedar City, Provo, Midvale, and Salt Lake, not to mention a few Saver's on the way and some Goodwills in California. It is the summer of thrift for sure. Look for future posts highlighting some of my finds!

An "A" for Style

Whoever said that $25 can't look like a million bucks, they ain't got nuthin' on me. This is what I wore to my oral argument (I did not wear the sweater when I was speaking though). All I did to the suit was taper the legs and a little blind hem. I think it turned out pretty well. I am going to try to fit the jacket a little better around the waist, but I only have so much time.
I thought I would try out a new style on the pocket square, this method is called the "shell". Pretty nifty, Fred Astaire would be proud.
This is a little idea I had the other day. I want to try out the off-color vest with the suit. I also have a gray suit that I can wear with a blue vest. I think it looks OK, but not great. Back to the drawing board I guess.
Last thing for this post. Closeup on my fine handiwork on the pants. Also, I got these shoes at D.I. for $12, they are a brand called Florisheim, they are super nice shoes. The weird part is that Lance was showing off the new wing-tips that he got at D.I. to me, and I found these like a day later. Brothers to the bone I guess.

Of coarse I am.

This jacket is blue, but only in color, because it knows it is the most awesome jacket, with its customized sleeves.

Are you a member?

This jacket is red, and you're green. With Envy.

MSRP: $78, ROSS: $16.99, You: jealous much?

For Members. Only.

It's not the clothes, it's me. Really.

It really is me, Mom found someone to shorten the jacket, I tapered the pants myself with a little help from Mom on the waist. Guess who learned to sew a blind hem? Me!!!!! Takes the total cost of the suit to like $25, because Mike gave it to me. Not to mention the three or four hours I spent sewing of course. Eat your hearts out. I also sewed some pockets squares, and since they were around, Lance and Trent got some too. Next on the the docket: skinn-fying my own jeans and a linen pocket square. Look out!