OOTD: Solstice

(I'm a few days late posting, ah well.)

Pretty much everything in this outfit is cheapy-cheap, old, or both.

Tee & shorts are some generic brand from those chintzy, dirt-cheap, most-likely-made-in-China stores. I don't love buying that kinda junk-food clothing, but I looked EVERYWHERE for a perfect pair of black shorts that actually fit me, and lo and behold, these are the only ones I could find. I also stocked up on basic tees at one of those places years ago, and they're still going strong- holding up a lot better than the ones I bought at UO around the same time, actually.

Boots are second-hand Mossimo

Hat and sunglasses are from garage sales. Good deals both, though the hat needs a little reshaping with the ole steamer. (I took a millinery class years ago, I should get back into that...)

The tights are similar to these, but I've had them for at least ten years now (um, wow) so who knows. (Proof- note the date in the address bar!)

The necklace, which you can see better here, is made of crystals and comes from a seller at the Rust Belt Market called Precious Hardware- unfortunately I can't find a website for her stuff.

Fashion Icon: Marceline the Vampire Queen

I feel like Marceline's style really resonates with me- simple, comfortable, darkish but not exactly goth. Lots of gray and red, and boots. I guess after 1000 years you pretty much get your schtick down pat. And can we take a moment to applaud the creators of Adventure Time for actually having characters wear different clothes sometimes? (Not so much Finn, but hey. At least he's got a nice hat.)

The boots are the wrong color, I know, but I couldn't believe I actually found heeled boots with tiny bows!

Inspired by: Dark Crystals

Source 

(click through to read about this particular stone, it's kind of interesting.)

Source

Source

Source

Source

I was going to put that last one in as a joke but actually that's a pretty nice poster. 

Peonies and Off-Blacks

Peony Gardens/Nichols Arboretum

I love peonies, they're so darn fluffy. I found this hat at a garage sale for $1 the other day- it is measurably improving the quality of my life (and cutting down on my anxiety about burning the top of my head- I've done it before, and would rather not repeat the experience.)

OOTD: April 22nd

Shirt: James Perse

Pentagram Cage Bra: DIY, here

Leggings: From GoJane, but weirdly unlabeled

Shoes: Modesta (similar to these)

Black velvet photographs so strangely- it doesn't seem to reflect any light, so it just turns your legs into black holes, haha. Good to know, I guess, if you ever wanted a really rich (and probably expensive) black background for photography...

These shoes are pretty but they're almost unwearable. They're from Modcloth, but not the ones I linked above- maybe those are better. 

NYC Snapshots: AKA Dogs, Mirror-Selfies, and Shit I Bought

I've really got to try and take more relevant pictures. I don't like to play tourist and stand outside taking photos of tall buildings and junk...but there's probably a happy medium between that and.... this. But nevertheless...

Hometown Barbeque in Red Hook. I don't know if it was actually amazing, or if it was just really, really good and I was really, really hungry, but either way I recommend it. I do have a picture of the food but I don't think the suave city boys making gross chewing faces in it would appreciate my posting it. So instead, here is their rather charming bathroom.

I met an excitable Boston Terrier named Liam who lived in a curiously long apartment with his two dogfathers. He is the source of the aforementioned dog drool, btw.

I decided at some point that it would be funny to text pictures of dogs to my husband all weekend, just to be annoying. I will spare you most of them. This dude was cute though. Travis suggested I start a tumblr called "Dogs of New York".... I assured him that that must already exist.

Last time I was in NYC I went to Purl Soho, which is a gorgeous shop, but I thought this time I'd mix it up and go to Downtown Yarns. In my light-packing frenzy I hadn't brought any yarn or needles which was obviously foolish. I purchased both. This is Madelinetosh DK in the rather amazing Cosmos colorway.

I also bought this necklace and a random-ish gift shop- I'm fairly sure it's not a real porcupine quill, I think it's burnt wood. Pretty, though.

This is what I look like hiding in the dressing room at Urban Outfitters so I can sit down without being cold or spending money- not an easy thing to do in Manhattan.

An amazing elderberry-lime soda, the best of a great many drinks I purchased in order to use various coffee-shop restrooms. Notice the self-defeating-ness of this strategy. Regardless, I now have the drive to learn to make "mocktails" even though I can't say that word without gagging on the tweeness a little.

On Tuesday I had some time to kill around the garment district so I stopped into Kinokuniya, a huge English/Japanese bookstore with an amazing English-language fashion section (because duh) and a fabulous Japanese-language craft section, including these obscenely adorable needlefelting kits. I didn't buy one...but it took a lot of willpower. (There's another Kinokuniya just outside of Portland, in a big Asian grocery store, but I'd only ever made it over there once or twice and I think it was almost exclusively Japanese.)

This is Vinegar Hill House, which was literally across the street from the apartment my friend and I were renting (which is remarkable because there is NOTHING else in that part of town, heh.) It's hard to see, but above that weird wheel thing is a window made of agate slices. I am completely obsessed with it. Definitely having a pretty rock phase, lately. Also, amazing cornbread.

Plane pup! A satisfying end to my dog-pic-texting (poor Travis.) And no, I don't know why he was allowed to fly all free like that- maybe an anxiety dog? But he behaved like a total champ and deserved that seat to himself.

Packing List: 3 nights in NYC

I have to admit, I am absolute crap at packing light. This is mostly because I'm a klutz, and by the time I take an item of clothing off, there's a pretty good chance it's not fit for another day's wear. So even though I fawn over other blogger's "capsule wardrobes" and what-have-you... there's just no chance I'm going to manage a 3-day trip with one pair of pants and two shirts.

But still, I love peeking into other people's suitcases, and as long as it still fits in the carry-on.... hey!

The list:
- Comfy jeans (for the plane)
- Black jeans
- Blue jeans
- 3 tees
- 1 tank
- 1 flannel shirt
- 2 sweaters
- 1 hoodie (for the plane)
- Leggings (for sleeping)
- Leather jacket
- Water resistant jacket (for the day(s) it was supposed to rain)
- Knee-high boots
- Black flats, just in case
- Scarf
- Hat (I ended up bringing a yellow one and a brown one, rather than black)
- All the requisite socks & underthings

If I'd wanted to pack lighter I could've reworn more of the clothes and only brought one jacket, but even so all of this fit into a carry-on easily.

Other tips for hopefully-not-having-to-check-a-bag:
- Hoard bath & body samples like it's your job. A lot of natural-ish food stores will occasionally have them (one of the shops near me periodically does a "spa day" even where they give out a ton) and they are so great for short trips when even a little bottle full of shampoo is too much. Also hoard tiny bottles- anything that you don't have a sample size of, stick it in a tiny bottle. I even brought about 1/2 a square centimeter of liquid foundation in a tiny plastic container that once held a lotion sample.
- Bring the smallest device you can get by with. In my case, my phone was fine. It would've been nice having my laptop, but not worth the trouble.
- Leave space in your suitcase, or bring an extra bag just in case. You're probably gonna buy stuff, c'mon.


Here's how the outfits played out:

= 

Sunday night: insanely good BBQ with friends

Jacket: Theory
Shirt: OP
Jeans: Grane
Boots: Franco Sarto
Tee: BDG
Hat: a modified Bivouac

=

Monday: Checking out shops, lunch with a friend. Notice the room around me getting messier as I go.

Jacket: Green with Envy (it was supposed to rain this day, though it barely did. Old coat, can't find a website.)
Sweater: Roxy
Jeans: Hollister (I can't go within 100 feet of their stores because they reek of perfume, but I found this pair used and it turns out they're crazy comfortable around the waist while still being good 'n tight. Score.)
Boots: same as above
Glasses: no clue
Hat: Corone

=

Tuesday: Meetings of a secret and covert nature in the fashion district. You can't tell, but there is a small amount of dog slobber on the jeans- I TOLD you I can't be trusted to wear things twice! Luckily it wasn't very noticeable.

Sweater: ABound
Jeans: Grane again
Scarf: Collection 18
Hat: same
Boots: same
Ended up wearing the waterproof jacket again as it was lookin' mighty misty.


I'll spare you my flying outfit- let's just say I prioritize comfort, heh.

I didn't take a ton of pictures during the trip (as you may have surmised from the shitty mirror selfies, the only camera I brought was my phone- packing light, see?) but I did take a few- I'll post 'em up tomorrow :-)