Man Style

GQ magazine just released it's Best Dressed Men list, and number one was Javier Bardem. Honestly, I can't picture him ever wearing anything remotely memorable, but I guess he's OK. In second place was Waris Ahluwalia! He's great. You might recognize him from his roles in a few movies, including some Wes Anderson flicks, or you might have heard of his jewelry line, House of Waris. Or you might have noticed how well dressed he is! I love his ability to experiment with colour and pattern, and his mix of hipster cool with classic elegance. Also, there's something about his unwillingness to smile in any photo that adds to his image.

Workaday

I brought my camera to work yesterday. I pretty much never do that, but it's been quiet this week, and one of my co-workers is still on holiday, so I had enough privacy in the work shop to take a couple outfit shots, which I'm usually embarrassed to do it there's anyone around.


Yikes, it looks messy in there! I was thinking I'd spend the week tidying, but then I got started on a little project...
And spent the whole week cutting strips of charmeuse, pleating them, pinning them into swirls...

...and hand-sewing them on to this skirt with tiny little beads. It was a little tedious to be honest, but I did get it done and up on display in the shop by the end of the day on Saturday.

I feel like I've forgotten how to dress for work.

Remember when I said I'd be looking for a coat like this at the thrift store?

This is the reasonable facsimile I found a couple of weeks later. I know it's totally different, but it has a lot of the features that I like in the one above, plus it's in a pretty plaid.

Yes, new heights of ugliness! I can't resist an aggressively ugly shoe, and then I can't resist wearing them with purple tights and mustard socks. Why does this make me happy?

Best of 2010, a short list. Very short.

I just watched the movie that gets my vote for best of 2010! It's creepy and intense, gives a look inside a rarely seen world, has amazing costumes and sets, and stars an amazing actress. No, not Black Swan. Winter's Bone. So good. It's set deep in the Ozark mountains, amidst drug labs, questionable family ties and bad dental hygiene, and it's totally absorbing. It was one of those movies that I was so drawn into and I didn't want it to end, even though it was unsettling and depressing. I couldn't get enough of the sets; they must have been real people's homes, and if you look it up on IMDB almost all of the actors have no info, they are totally authentic. The main actress in it is Jennifer Lawrence, and you probably haven't seen her before, but she is excellent. If there's any justice in Hollywood, she'll at least get some award nominations.

2011

That was kind of an extended holiday from my computer! I've had a nice long rest and indulged my indulgent side with plenty of delicious food and long afternoons of reading and napping. This is the time of year that I can actually take a break from work and it's been so great, even though I will be back on Tuesday. We had a wonderful visit with my parents which is the highlight of the year, and yesterday Karl made a traditional Danish smorgasbord for us and we invited friends and family and we're all crossing our fingers that it's a new New Years Day tradition.

Speaking of New Years, I'm not sure about resolutions yet. It often takes me a few days to think of some. As usual, less TV and shopping, more cleaning, outdoor activities, reading, writing, art: the usual. I'd love to paint the kitchen. How about you - any resolutions?

Cabin Fever

Maybe it's spending more time inside this time of year, but I'm feeling so annoyed with our house. Annoyed might be too strong; I'm just not inspired. I look at design blogs and I'm so inspired by people who do all these DIY projects and decorate on a budget and having amazing looking homes as a result. I think that part of my problem is not really knowing what I want or what we can do with what we've got (um, not high ceilings for one thing...), and I'm drawn to cluttery-ish interiors, but it just looks messy when we amass too much stuff. I know that eclecticism needs to be done artfully and maybe I'm not that disciplined.





Then I watch an episode of Hoarders and start panicking and running around trying to find things to throw out and decide that all I want is a clean, stark, minimal Scandinavian home with no little collections of thrift store finds. Thankfully the internet allows me to spend an hour or so looking at other people's places. Escapism is good!

The News Of The Day

I guess I'm old enough to come right out and say it: they just don't make music today like they did in the good old days.

Also, I'm pretty sure that eating peanuts gives me chest pains. Anyone else?

Seasonal

Today after work I was walking home in the dark, just about 5:30. It was windy and cold, the rain was threatening to turn to snow. I was thinking about the summer, and what that walk is like in August. Isn't it hard to convince yourself of a truth you can't feel, that you are experiencing the opposite of? It is so amazing to think of hot air, bright sun, wearing as little as possible and still being sweaty. Hurrying down that last stretch of alleyway, not because of icy hands and rain in my face, but due to the sun causing me to squint and the anticipation of a glass of ice water. Does that honestly exist? Of course rationally I know it does, but it's so hard to hold that thought in my head in December and really imagine that it could be true.

These are just a couple of pretty pictures to remind me that it is true.

If you were wondering...

what I wore to work on Saturday, here you go. Just one more work Saturday of festive-wear before Christmas. I got this little velvet French Connection dress at the thrift store, and although I love it, it's kind of a once-a-year garment. I felt kind of like a 1920's ragamuffin or something with the socks.

Festivities!

Last night my friends had a fantastic Christmas party, complete with lots of snacks, dancing, and even a hot-tub. It was so much fun! I didn't get a great picture of my red suede shorts, so you'll have to use your imagination. There was some elfishness, I guess.

I don't know what's going on with my face here. I think the picture was taken a quarter of a second before I actually got my smile on.

SS 2011

I filed these pictures away months ago, then promptly forgot to post them. Oh well, we've still got quite some time before Spring 2011 actually rolls around. What I actually liked about this Proenza Schouler collection was that it seemed relevant for the winter.

I love the shape of this coat and I can imagine coming across a reasonable facsimile at the thrift store. The fabric is beautiful too, and I like the idea that it's almost a suit when it's paired with the skirt. The concept of a suit is so vague now; do fashion women really wear "suits"? The options out there seem so limited. The suits that are offered are mostly very fitted jackets with either boot-cut trousers or a pencil skirt, available in black or grey, at pretty much any price point. And that's well and good, and appropriate for lots of women, but there's not much style going on. Anyway...

Loving these blouses! I wish I could find the fabric of the one below, it's so perfect. The pants are also a nice shape, that kind of mannish tailoring. My issue with this look though is that I feel like I can't do shapeless pieces on the top and bottom. Nice on a model, but isn't everything? On me it just feels a little droopy. I need boobs or a waist or hips - some emphasis or it's just not flattering. That's my consideration every day: will I go tight or baggy, top or bottom?

to do lists

This was an uncommonly productive weekend for me. I did almost all of my Christmas shopping and wrapping, did a major cleaning of the bathroom, and a re-organization under the bathroom sink, including the purchase of storage drawers. By the way, can anyone explain the advantage of glass shower doors instead of a shower curtain? I guess I can see some pros, but the major con is cleaning! All those little metal nooks and crannies accumulate grime and scum and it sucks to try to get in there and scrub, which is why it happens about once a year in our house.

And I made a wreath. I'm still not sure that we'll have a Christmas tree, since we'll be on Quadra for Christmas, but I do like getting one, if just for the smell. A wreath is totally necessary though. Making the wreath has long been one of my favorite holiday tasks, starting when I lived at home and would help my mom. Then we always had all the greenery we needed - cedar, pine, fir, holly, different berries... Our property here has nothing evergreen, and I didn't want to buy anything, so just like last year I used bamboo as the foundation. I greened it up with some euphorbia and vines and went heavy on the hops buds. I snagged some red berries from a street tree down the block for a little shot of colour.

Ta-da!

The big reveal, as they say in reality television. I got a real haircut! A real hair-style, I'd venture to say. It wasn't planned, on my part. When I made an appointment a couple of weeks ago, my hairdresser asked if I'd consider something a little different, and I said yes and didn't think much about it. So when I showed up on Monday and she proposed short, I just went with it. I'm glad I didn't have a long time to think about it, because I surely would have found a reason to talk myself out of it. But I love it! I haven't had hair this short since maybe grade eight. The reactions have been good, people say they like it. My friends, having known me since before grade eight, say it's kind of a flashback to pre-teen-hood, but everyone else says it's stylish and sophisticated. I feel like it's a more confident haircut and it's certainly easy to deal with! There are shades of my mom I think, which is a pleasant surprise.

What do you think?

Hint, hint!

I've got something new to show off soon. I haven't had a chance to take good photos yet, and I want my friends to see it in person first, but I have to say that by my standards it's pretty dramatic. Stay tuned...

Rings

Lately rings have been my favorite accessory. I haven't bought any new ones, I've just been switching my old ones up more often and wearing them in different combinations. It's amazing how much the size of my fingers change throughout the day: a ring that fits my ring finger in the morning fits my middle finger by dinnertime. I guess my hands are puffy in the morning.

l-r: turquoise, belonged to my Grandmommy, turquoise from flea market, silver from market in Hawaii in high school

l-r: wedding band from pawn shop, cameo from flea market, jade was my Gram's

I think my ring-spiration is coming from watching Sons of Anarchy constantly. I'm on the second season - it's a great show about a biker gang, er, motorcycle club, in California. They all wear awesome huge gold rings. Some of them probably have symbols that mean bad things I wouldn't want to say, but they look so cool. I'm sure I could never find any in small enough sizes for my baby fingers, but I'll keep an eye out.