Retail Therapy

Wow, I really have been neglecting this!

Yesterday is basically the worst day of the year for me, and so I engaged in some retail therapy to help get my mind in a different place. Here's what I bought:

They're all from Chiara, a UK retailer with crazy low prices. My little splurge cost just about $40, which isn't bad at all. I've ordered from them before... if you've ever seen me in my yellow and black colorblock dress, it's one of my favorites, and very well made. No complaints about the quality of the clothes.

I'm so excited for that floral dress to get here. Time to plan some outfits!

Outfit Post

 

Not much for you today... just tomorrow's outfit. I'll have to tote those wedges to work... we got a couple of inches of snow last night!

My Turn To Play Fashion Police!

Without any ado... here are my favorite Golden Globes dresses in order!

Julianna Margulies in Andrew GN

10. Julianna Margulies
I love the black and gold combination, and I love how simple yet elegant it is. And now I want to do this design on my fingernails.

Lupita Nyong'o in Ralph Lauren

9. Lupita Nyong'o

That dress has a cape. I really don't need to say more than that. She's a superhero.

Zosia Mamet in Reem Acra

 8. Zosia Mamet

This dress makes me want to write poetry. She is in the arms of vines; she is belted by dark flowers, a living column adorned with shadow maples and daisies of ink... (I didn't say it would be good poetry).

Emma Thompson in Lanvin

7. Emma Thompson

I've been researching Renaissance fashion lately, so this inverted "V" shape really threw me for a loop! I love it, though. This is the sort of thing I'd wear if I were a famous actress. And then Joan Rivers would get down on me for being "matronly" and say I should "dress my age," and I would probably make some snarky Twitter comment about how not all of us are so desperate to look young that we butcher our faces... yeah, it's a good thing I'm not a celebrity. (I also can't help but look at her Louboutins... they don't look like they're for human beings to stand in. No wonder why they were in her hand on stage!)

Elisabeth Moss in J. Mendel

6. Elisabeth Moss

Again, this has the armor-like feel to it... though this one is more artistic. It's like a mosaic. Without the sheer parts, this may have moved up a few spots.

Cate Blanchett in Armani Prive

5. Cate Blanchett

*Chandler Bing voice* Is Cate Blanchett ever not flawless? They cast the perfect actress as Galadriel, let me tell you. Anyway, I adore this dress... I like flouncy, and I like regal, and I like lace... and this is all three of those put together.

Amber Heard in Versace

4. Amber Heard

Oh, this is so basic. So, so basic. But it works. It's a great example of being sexy without showing an overabundance of skin all over. Alluring, I'm going to call it. It's sleek and beautiful.

Mila Kunis in Emilio Pucci

3. Mila Kunis

I wish this was a straight-on shot of her gown, because the details are gorgeous. I also like the transition from bodice to skirt... how the sequins gradually get sparse. They remind me of rain on a windowpane.

Olivia Wilde in Gucci

2. Olivia Wilde

Green is my absolute favorite color, and I love how shimmery and shiny this is. I also love that she didn't try to hide her pregnant belly. She is stunning. Back to the dress-- I would have liked this a little more had it maintained its sleekness, but it looks a little too sequin-encrusted at the top.

Kate Beckinsale in Zuhair Murad

1. Kate Beckinsale

I love a dress that looks like I can wear it as armor. This is a perfect balance: it's elegant, curve-hugging, and glamorous, but it wouldn't look out of place if I donned this with a helmet and a sword... and I'd feel like Lady Sif.

And the Golden Globe Goes To...

...who cares? It's a night for dresses! I'll be watching the red carpet as I correct a stack of poetry portfolios... hopefully I can post my favorite dresses before the night's over. :)

I Promise I Don't Live In My Parents' Basement

No, really! I don't! I'm a functioning adult who works a full-time job, is married to a wonderful man, pays her bills, and lives in her own apartment.

The above disclaimer is necessary because I have just decided to join the Society for Creative Anachronism! Contrary to what you might think about those crazy men and women who dress up in Renaissance garb, cook authentic foods, and go fight in their own medieval tournaments, we're actually pretty normal human beings.

I just discovered that the SCA is active in my area, and I'm pretty excited! For those of you who aren't familiar with what it is, here's the description straight from the website:

The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our “Known World” consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.

I'm most excited about the costumes, the feasts, and the tournaments. Since I started researching my family history back in 2004, I have learned a lot about European history, and am fascinated by some of the things my ancestors lived through, achieved, and fought for. I will never be a Viking shieldmaiden, but I can emulate my "fiery" ancestor Joanna of Flanders by learning to fight. I will never be a real duchess or queen like my royal forebears, but I can honor my lineage by earning a title.

How does this fit into a fashion blog, you might wonder? Well, I'll be making my own costumes! I have to decide where my persona will be from and when she would have lived, and then begin to research. I'm leaning toward the late 1400s/early 1500s in France or England, so I can wear a hennin and enjoy the decadent dresses of the Elizabethan era.

Hennin

Portrait of Catherine Parr, 1545

I'm really excited about all of this! Now, not only do I get to research history, I get to immerse myself in it. And dress like that! :)

Renaissance Lady

I completed my belt... at the cost of sleep. I spent all of last night working on it and watching hockey. When I closed the last ring and looked at the clock, it was near midnight! Then I was starving, and there was really nothing in the house, so my husband and I drove to the nearest open restaurant for a little midnight meal. Bedtime last night was near 2 am.

But it's so worth it... check this out! This is the finished product; the Renaissance jeweled belt I was talking about yesterday.

The whole thing... 40" long and fits over a hoop skirt

The flower... I made the floral medallion. It took the better part of Return of the King to make this. :)

Closer view of the belt

And now, after this long day, I think I'm going to take a nap. :)

Project Peek

Sneak peek of what I'm working on: 

It's a jeweled Renaissance belt. Like this...

romanticthreads.com

The flower/quartz/leaf adornments took FOREVER to wire and put together; now I'll be beading strands for the better part of the night and maybe-- maybe-- I'll be able to start putting them together.

UPDATE: Beads are tiny. Fingers are freezing. This is not a good combination for dexterity. I am in dire need of chocolate. I am also equipped with a new level of respect for people who actually made these in Renaissance times

Newest Nails

Well, today marks the fourth day in a row I've been off from school, thanks to the dangerously cold temperatures. Since I left all my correcting at school (I knew I'd kick myself for that!) I had time to do my nails!

I used my new Deborah Lippmann polish in Glamorous Life, let it dry, put a piece of tape on my nail, and then used my Orly polish in Liquid Vinyl. Then I put a matte topcoat over the black. The diamonds are little metal ones out of a nail art kit; I painted them with the same colors.

And now it's time to catch up on the latest Sherlock episode. Personally, I love this cold weather. :)

Back in the Saddle

When I was in college, I used to model. I did both commercial and artistic, and it was a riot. It was almost like acting... I got to be so many different things.

From Pandora... (© Mike Kelcher)

...to Ophelia... (© Blake Johnson)

...to a bridal magazine. (© Salwa Bullard)

And then, no two ways about it, I got big. Size 14 girls don't model, right? And I missed it.

Just the other day, I was looking at a beautiful set of photos done by a plus-size model. And I'm not talking industry-standard "plus-size," I'm talking real-world, curves and thighs, size 16+ hourglass beauty. She was gorgeous.

A bit about my self-esteem: it's rare these days that I feel pretty. But I get nothing but love and compliments from my husband. I revealed my weight to a good friend and she exclaimed "No way! Where do you put it all?" Friends have remarked on how nice I look. I feel like it's all lip service, though they all assure me it's not.

After looking at that lovely woman's photoshoot, I checked out some other models. They were all as big as, or bigger than me, and they looked incredible. They were confident, beautiful women. And I thought... I can still do this. I can get back in front of the camera.

So I'm going to do it. I'm taking back my body, and I'm going to find my beauty again. And I'm going to have fun with it. If and when I get some work, I'll post the results. :)

Girl Meets Curl

Yesterday, I had plans to go out with a friend for breakfast and coffee in the morning, but the severely low temperatures and ice on the roads prevented me from going. Therefore, I had a lot of time. So, I decided to see if my hair was long enough to curl.

I haven't had long hair since my wedding in December 2008. After that, I chopped off ten inches to donate to Locks of Love. Then, I was in the middle of growing it out again when I did a photoshoot for a salon hair care company; my contract stated that I would have to let them cut, dye, and style my hair as they saw fit. I ended up keeping red hair, but the stylist gave me a pixie! I kept it for a while, but have been growing it out steadily since around 2011.

And now...

On the way to the game. Nothing-- literally, nothing-- keeps this girl from her hockey.

I haven't curled my hair with a curling iron since middle school (I prefer the grandma foam roller method). Here's how I did it:

1. Gather a 1/2" to 1" section of hair and lightly spritz with hairspray.
2. Open curling iron so the clamp and barrel are separated.
3. Starting at the crown, manually wrap hair around barrel so that ends of hair don't get crimped.
4. Put clamp down; hold end of hair close to the iron. Hold for 10 seconds.
5. Keep curl wound and bobby pin in place. Don't take out the curls until they are cool.
6. Finger-comb, more hairspray. Done!

This doesn't look nearly as nice as a lot of curls I've seen, but I haven't done this in ages and I also used to be incredibly terrible at it... so I was pretty pleased. Practice makes perfect... though I might just stick to grandma rollers because this took TWO HOURS.

I do need a new curling iron though. Anyone have any good recommendations?

Oh, also, our hockey team won 8-0. #1 in the nation right now! YEAH!

This Is An Unnecessarily Dramatic Saga About Boots

I have a love/hate relationship with tall boots.

I love the way they look, the fact that they match my jeans AND my dresses, how they keep my feet dry in Minnesota winters, and how they hide my ugly wool socks at the hockey rink.

I hate that I can never find a pair that fits my specifications.

Just recently, the pair I'd owned since college finally had their last hurrah when I nicked them on something and a big chunk of the (faux) leather tore open. I had a pair in the closet that I'd bought around 2009, but they were rigid and I couldn't zip them over my calves for love nor money. It was with a sad face that I deposited them in to my "garage sale" box.

Cue the search for a boot. At the same time this happened, my beloved oxfords split at the sole, and I needed a new everyday shoe to wear to work. I found BOTH at Payless!

The tall boot was like a miracle. It was everything I had looked for in a boot and could never find: black suede, almost nonexistent heel, extended calf (big enough to be roomy), side zipper. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing. Observe:

Okay, maybe the unicorns and rainbows are an exaggeration.

But, since I could only get one pair, I had to be sensible and get the pair of shoes I needed for work. They were also quite fantastic and comfortable:

So, I bided my time and waited for the post-Christmas sale. When I went back in, they were out! However, my friend Janna, who was working that day, called around and found a pair in Maple Grove (about an hour away). Luckily, I was going to be in the area the next day, and she had them put the shoes on hold for me.

When I got there, lo and behold, they had saved the wrong ones-- they were my size, size 8, but not extended calf! I couldn't even zip them up; I was SO mad. The associate called around to all the metro area stores-- not a thing. And they were out of stock online.

I was so disappointed that even a nice cup of glögg couldn't cheer me up. I spent the night doing some online shopping and found one pair of shoes available in my city that matched my specifications: these. But they were on clearance, and were out of stock online. Oh boy.

I went the next morning to Macy's to pick them up, and when the associate told me they only had them in a size 9, I could have overturned the very nice display of Madden Girl boots.

My feelings. Except with boots.

Instead, I asked to try them on. And, by some small miracle, they fit!

I intended to save money by waiting for the original Payless boots to go on sale, and actually paid ten more dollars because I waited. Oh well. These will probably last longer. Lesson learned: if you find perfect shoes, just buy the damn things!

Off to hockey now. These lovelies have PLENTY of room for my thick wool socks. Go Huskies! :)

Rachel McAdams and I Are Twins

I'm an avid thrift shopper. And here's why. I picked up this dress at a Goodwill for about $4 with the original tags still on. It's part of the Rodarte for Target collection, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I got so many compliments on this outfit today! It almost made me as happy as the news that school's been canceled for Monday due to the Martian weather (no joke! Minnesota's colder than Mars right now.)

Sorry, it's 6am and I'm tired. Plus, I suffer from Bitchy Resting Face.

Dress: Rodarte for Target
Cardigan: Laura Ashley
Leggings: Target
Boots: Style&co.

Back to the dress. I was browsing for pictures of it to plug in to Polyvore, and look who I found!



That would be Rachel McAdams! Based on this, I think I actually own something stylish now. I don't know that that's happened before.

So, okay, Rachel McAdams a.k.a. Regina George and I aren't technically twins. Not even close. But we DO have the same dress, and that's pretty fetch. ;)

Nerd Chic

My husband got the above Avengers shirt for me for Hanukkah, and I've been musing on how to style it with something other than jeans... this is what I put together today. I own the brown boots, the glasses, the Thor's Hammer, and the eyeshadow above... that skirt is a $600 Phillip Lim skirt, but I'm betting I can find that color in a fabric store somewhere and make my own. What do you think of the outfit?

Welcome!

I figured that the best way to start this blog would be with a note about why I'm doing this in the first place, and what to expect!

This is all about my passion for-- and journey through-- makeup, fashion, hair, and nails.

When I hit college and started modeling, I had a few goals: I wanted to master makeup, hair, and fashion. Historically, I'd been awful at all three. Here's me before learning about anything:

2005

My standard uniform was pulled-back hair, hoop earrings, and a hockey T-shirt. I never did anything with my hair; no product, no flat-irons, nothing. My closet was full of boring solids, I owned one purple Lancome eyeshadow palette, and lipstick was foreign to me. My nails were never painted because I bit them all the time.

Eventually, I mastered makeup-- and did it so well that I managed a Sephora (where I was required to stop biting my nails to make them look presentable!) and started my own makeup artistry business. I learned a little bit about hair; I was forced to, as I chopped off my hair after my wedding to donate to Locks of Love.

2009

Still, I didn't know how to put together an outfit, and my thick and unruly hair left a little to be desired... especially as it began to grow out again.

In 2010, my husband and I decided to try for kids, which required me to undergo a course of hormones and medication changes which wreaked havoc on my body. I went from 125 pounds to 180 in a flash. My size 6 jeans didn't fit any longer; I was wearing a size 16 instead. The hormone therapy was unsuccessful; my treatment had rewarded me with no child, severe depression and 55 extra pounds which I couldn't seem to shed no matter how much I exercised and dieted.

By 2013, I was down to 170 and still didn't like what I saw in the mirror. So I went back to my three goals. I started to branch out in my fashion choices, thanks to my best friend Josie, who taught me the miracle of leggings under dresses and the beauty of floral prints. I discovered Polyvore, and spent half the summer cataloguing my closet and creating outfits. And I learned how to dress for my new body shape. This all helped me to gain back a little self-confidence.

2013

So, what can you expect from this blog? My ongoing journey as I discover new things about fashion, hair, makeup, and nails. Outfit pictures. Polyvore sets. Pictures of my nail art. Rants about fat days and cheers when I feel good about myself. Thoughts on body image and Photoshop. DIY fashion and beauty projects I want to try. My adventures in making my own clothes. And, since I'm a Language Arts teacher, a hockey fanatic, and a self-proclaimed nerd, you'll probably see a little of that sneak in here and there, too. :)

My aim is to do a post per day; some days they might be tiny, other days they might be long. It depends upon how many hockey games are going on and how many papers I have to grade. ;)

Welcome again; I hope you enjoy your stay!