Lines

The lines are like whoa.
The pantsuit too.

merci fotodecadent

Repeat

My new Keds have made me adventurous. Maybe it's the discount I got because of a stain (that I didn't notice until the saleslady apologized for, since it was the same colour as my shoes) but they made me feel kiddish and cool. Gave me a craving for digging in the dirt searching for Egyptian artifacts like I used to do.
I've worn this outfit every day since Friday.
I know that there is probably some rule against that somewhere in "the great book of general fashion knowledge" (or hygiene) but I also know that other people have done the same. So it can't possibly be as bad as I think, right (in my defence I did change my pants)?
Well when is it okay? Because, I figure, every once in awhile you find an outfit that is multi-functional and you are going through a lazy spell. And when those two come together there's no telling what you will do. You might find yourself mysteriously drawn to sweatpants or velour or suddenly craving that ratty t-shirt and the destroyed jeans.
Isn't it better to trade that for a mildly acceptable outfit that you "recycle" over a few days?

It's the green alternative to a crappy day.

Ow

These are amazing, but OWs felt around the world for the model.










Kudos to anyone who can handle that for ___ hours.


images from foto decadent

*ahem* A Po-em.

INTERNET SHOP
Jane sits at home and glues her eyes
To the screen when she decides
That she's off to the internet shop.

She navigates her mouse
and leaves her house
Without ever getting up from her chair.
(but leaving Jack in utter despair)

She'll stay and spend without an end
Exclaiming "free shipping!"
but not once quitting
until she claims her prize

For weeks on end Jane sits and waits,
bidding and winning (and gaining some weight)
Until her packages start to arrive.
"oh boy" she says, and off she hops
Back to her chair and the internet shops.

La Garconne for her "petit francophone",
then net-a-porter for Jaqueline Dey.
Some Esty for Betsy
Ebay for Faye,
and a special order (from favourite fodder)
For Janey it's done in a day.

She'd addicted you see,
in every which way,
And we cannot forsee the end.
Jane, we're afraid, will fall once again,
a victim of the internet shop.
--------------------------------

The end.

unless I did something wrong, the images should link back to their sources

Stealth

I felt very stealth today (see below).

First I got some news that made me.....perturbed. So I decided I would do two things a) go to Steve's music store to find the Korg Kaossilator and see how much of a dent it would make in my bank account and then b) to go shoe shopping. Hey, I need new sneakers and shoes fix everything (really, they do, try it sometime. I used to use a shoe to fix the chain on my bike, and my old converse were quite adept at saying just the right thing when I needed them to).

Steve's music store intimidates me, so I dressed to shield myself from feeling inadequate.
I've wanted a pair of "corset" jeans ever since I figured out what they were, and that they can trick other human beings into thinking my legs start a few inches higher than they actually do.
So i went looking for a pair, but gave up since all of the ones I saw cost a pretty fancy penny.
But then I found these at Forever 21 of all places, and they only cost me a pretty penny so I scooped them up. I've worn them a few times now, once in a copycat form of this person from facehunter.
Sadly no pictures of that. However it was awesome. Seriously, high-waisted jeans are the only way to go when wearing a t-shirt from now on for me. It's the only way I feel in my own skin while wearing something as un-dressy as a t-shirt (which I find really odd).

So anyway, I went and found out that the Korg Kaossilator will cost me a pretty fancy penny and then walked around downtown, and found a few nice looking shoes (no sneakers though).
Lately I've been strangely drawn to heels. I guess I'm becoming more used to wearing them or something. But whenever I went into a store I immediately went for the heels rather than the flats. A nice kitten heel here, a larger/taller one there, even the sneakers I looked at had a bit of a heel (a very sly one at that). I was a little surprised, not gonna lie.

My gait started to be a little chicken-esque though. I should find a way to correct that.

PS: I'm STEALTHY! as a superhero

The Persephone

I've always wanted to play the Theremin, but this takes years to master and I'm sure that anyone who has one won't let my grubby hands anywhere near it.
It's impossible to control the pitch seeing as all you're really doing is waving your hands in front of a metal antennae to create sound (which is exactly why I want one sooooo freakin' bad)

And then while perusing wikipedia I found the Persephone:
A similar instrument (it still is an electric type synthesizing instrument) that is easier to control and probably a lot easier to wrap my head around. The technicalities are still a little fuzzy (not unlike most, when someone starts talking/writing about voltage I tune out) but as far as I can tell, it works as an midi controller, it tweaks sound, and has a 10 octave range, which can produce a variety of tones and pitches.

Now all I need is the 900 Euros it costs.........and whatever that is in Canadian dollars might probably be good too.

This renewed interest in synthesizing musical instruments comes because my friend's cousin pulled out the coolest toy-that-is-in-no-way-a-toy. A Korg Kaossilator

Which works as a hand-held, keyboardless synthesizer. It has the essentially the same features as a regular synth (drum sounds, special effects, blah blah blah) and also allows for loop recording (record something, loop it, record something else overtop) and various drum/beat patters. and control for those things. Through playing with it I figured out that the four sections of the touch pad produce four different tones and using the knob you can tune it to different pitches and subsequently change the sound effect completely. Also, since the four tones vary in pitch themselves, you end up with the ability to play two at once, as if you had been playing a chord on a keyboard, however since it's not a keyboard at all, the sound is really malleable and you can create slide-type effects or just random bursts of sound. It's also easier to hear what you're doing, I find.

That is my extremely un-technical description of two technical/musical instruments that I really want. For no real reason, I just really want them.
If I really need a reason, I'll say it's because I am part of the iGeneration and all we want is to spend our money, party, and be as materialistic as possible.

Question

Why is this style of shoe called the "spectator shoe"?
Is it some fashion/history/class thing?
Just a wee curious, because it seems like an odd name for a two-tone shoe.

images found via google image search

Geek-age

Ever since comics became popular, I find i go back and forth between feeling a: really cool, hip, now, with-it (as the young-uns say) and b: slightly inadequate. Like I'm not geeky enough, and that other, more put-together people are better at pulling off geek than I am.

Or at least, better off at interpreting geek and make it look like the most amazing, complicated style ever. I am in awe at how much effort some people put into looking like a total dork. Honestly, it's very simple. You roll out of bed, you commit to a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. They are clean, so you put them on. You pull on some sneakers and then you leave your place of residence (t-shirt can be substituted for a collared shirt/blouse/sweater vest/cardigan).

This however, is in a geek league of its own:

From the new issue of Vogue US (which I will actually buy, only because of this photo spread). They chose a great selection of well-known superheroes who have a basic uniform (wow, redundant? A little) that can be interpreted any which way. Poison ivy could be wearing the long flowing gown, but if you had given that task to say......Dolce and Gabbana (who I believe designed/put together the outfit for Catwoman, above) it would probably have come out at the other end of the supervillain spectrum.

The Silver Surfer was expletive-inducing amazing too.

This sort of thing makes me want to call up Paul Pope (who created/drew Batman: Year 100) and ask what he thinks of all this. Or any other member of the DC/Marvel creative universe. I'm sure they'd understand that it was all interpretation, but would they get it, is the question.

Imagine if all of a sudden, your geeky sidekick opened up his latest issue of Batman, and all of a sudden, the above version of catwoman/batman/poison ivy made an appearance.

these images come from here, The Fashion Spot

Dunno Day

"I dunno" is/was my motto for the day.

I was also feeling a little cartoonish. Why?
I dunno.

Let's Jet

So I was watching Tank Girl on Teletoon today, and I was thinking;

If I lived in a dystopian future where Malcolm Mcdowell was in control of the water supply, I would dress like Jet Girl.

Functional and 90's.
Perfect for running around the desert with your crazy feminist friend.

If My Bag Could Talk

Today on the subway someone asked me if I knew someone named Sarah Cullen.
Of course, I said no (because I'd be lying if I said I did and that's the kind of question you usually don't want to lie about), and she informed me that she was the designer of my bag.
My trusty tote bag that I've had for almost a year, which has endured so much abuse. I've dropped it in water, gotten it caught in many a car door, and stuffed it to its breaking point so often that it really should be in tattered pieces by now and yet, it's still a-ok.
Notice the lovely water and salt stains, the various pen stains and a mysterious orange thing at the bottom. All this and the print hasn't even worn off yet.

Anyhow, up until now I thought it was a mysterious line called "Hands Talking" which doesn't come up no matter how many times I google it. Now that I'm finally paying attention to the name behind it I see that one can find other canvas bags of hers at Art Metropole. And I suspect that those will also take as much abuse as you can throw at them.

There's also the t-shirt with the same little design as is on my bag.

Spat At It

Oh my lordy I want these so bad:
They are by Posso The Spat called The Pupil .

Not only is the name amazing considering the shoe....accessory, they're just brilliant. Because I have shoes (lots of shoes) that are relatively flat with little embellishment and this doesn't propel you into a seizure yet fancies them up all the same.

Something like The Subject would be awesome as well:

I would seriously consider breaking out the plastic for something as frivolous (and yet still eternally functional) as these.

Purple Day

I really should get around to doing my laundry. I mean, it's nice that I'm exploring the recesses of my wardrobe, but seriously.

I'm almost at my Halloween costume.

As part of this little project, I've been looking/perusing/reading other style blogs (I can't remember where I read it but someone said "it seems like if you can work a self timer, you can have a style blog which, I realise, is the reason why I have one. hehe). A lot of you have really great style (durr) but I never feel that any of it makes sense to me.

Writers: you're funky, and I admire that. I wish I could think like you do at 8 in the morning or whenever it is you wake up. But I've yet to see people whose style is.....close to mine?
No, that's not quite what I mean.

Not so far away from what I consider everyday wear. (? well it's as close I'm going to get).
I see a lot of skinny jeans and a lot of frills. I see skirts and I see heels and a lot of tights. Not to say these are bad, just that I don't quite get how you walk around every day in these. I see the skinny jeans and boots and frankly, I did that every day of the winter so I can't handle staying on that path.

I'm lazy. Really lazy. The only reason I wake up in the morning is because I'm late. I either underthink or I overthink and I was really curious as to how you ( the universe) strike a balance between the two. Because all these outfits that I see, on blogs and such like that, are Outfits. They seem to require thought - not necessarily a lot of thought but some.
More than I can muster at 8am.

Hm...how do I remedy this?
(A spoonful of sugar and a trip to the laundromat maybe?)

Agony

I might as well go ahead and say it since where, if not here, will I?

I happen to have the privilege of going to class in the distillery district.
All week long I have been seeing people coming and going at the distillery district,
all to set up for FAT (Toronto Alternative Fashion) week.
At the beginnning of the week I put "get tickets to Thursday" on my to-do list.
And then on Tuesday I saw $1.54 in my bank account.

therefore: I get to watch them go in, I get to see them leave, and I get to be the girl on her tiptoes trying to see through the crack in the door, all the while analyzing a script outside.

there's always next year (where the temptation to go scuttling around borrowing money from various sources maybe won't be so great).

SPRING!

I still can't get over the fact that spring is here. Today, while walking home from class, I took off my jacket. I walked home wearing this: and was fine and dandy and actually quite content. I mean it was still windy. But hey, I walked down College St. eating my felafel, grinning and giggling.

Spring makes me a tad schizophrenic.


I was honestly considering making a bird screenprint after my post yesterday, but it seems like the kind of project that I would need a lot of space and preparation for. Not something to pick up one night for an outfit the next morning (at least not for me).
So I was rummaging around looking for something bird-like and I found this brown silk scarf from a bajillion years ago. From Freedom Collective I believe.
It has TWO birds printed on it, if you can believe it (I know I was surprised. Then again, I didn't even realise that I owned this scarf so....it could just be me) the white one you see here, and a red one that you can kind of see behind it.
Also, because of SPRING, I get to take pictures outside, in non-fluorescent lighting (yay!)
I hope it lasts. Knock on wood (OUTSIDE, ON ONE OF THEM TREES!)

Black on a Bright Day

I'm actually wearing one of the few not-ink-black pairs of jeans that I own but you can't really see that.
Note to self: Find a better place to take these catalogue-esque self portraits.

Birds

SPRING!

IT HAPPENED! LIKE, FOR REAL!

I woke up the other morning and it was beautiful. The air was clean and the sun was out and the temperature was nice, and...and.....ack!
IT'S SPRING!

So this made me think about (spring) and birds. Because the birds are back, they're out of hiding, and slowly will be making their way into my closet.
REASON #1: Oddbird
This jewelry line that I found a year or so ago. Specifically the painted dominoes. I found them at Freedom clothing collective and then again at the Distill gallery.
They do a lot more than birds. The website has all of the different designs but these are both from their spring domino peak which includes their usual variations of flora and fauna, from foxes, to Alices (in wonderland), a bracelet with a few gorgeous green parrots and this:

Um, I love it. With all my heart. I may even end up ordering this one just because I'm not really up to looking for it. Their style of illustration is what I really love about this company/line. The colours are bright, and kind of remind me of the same illustration you would find in old children's books like the old versions of Winnie the Pooh. One of these pendants on a simple silver chain over a plain dark shirt can make it so much cleaner and classier. It ties stuff together. And is a really interesting piece, they're painted on the backs of dominoes for freakin' sake.

REASON #2: Dwell linens
How good would a bed look with this on it:

You get to wake up and fall asleep with the birds twittering about!
Up close it looks like this:
Sleeping in an actual tree is probably not a great idea seeing as the temperature in April is still dropping into the single digits at night, but until you can go back to the ol' tree house, you could pretend with something like these.

Oooh, wouldn't it be nice to screen print one of these bird illustrations onto a pillowcase.
Or to go with the general theme of "fashion" onto a shirt. A small thing on the shoulder of a plain white shirt or on the top near the waist of a pair of high-waisted jeans?
hmmm..........I wasn't planning this but:
REASON #3: Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities
I saw this book on sale at indigo once and fell in love with the pictures of seashells and other crustaceans. Albertus Seba was a pharmacist who lived in Amsterdam in the 1700s and collected various specimen of snakes, birds and sea creatures. Taschen published his "Thesaurus," which was a collection of his plates/illustrations.I find all of them beautiful in this hyper-real, hyper-coloured way. Sort of reminds me of a colouring book that has already been coloured in.


Okay, that's enough inspiration babbling for now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of our first taste of SPRING(!!!)

........eh?

It's raining, it's pouring,
and not only is the old man snoring, he's pissed because it was snowing.

So Phase 1 of experiment 1 began: I integrated my love of science fiction and cheese into my wardrobe.

Yes, this was a bit of a cop out because I was feeling bad about how it looked outside.

Inspiration: Space Oddity.

I am so odd.
I wear this badge proudly on any sleeve; I am an odd little thing. I have very eclectic taste, and seem to contradict them at all times. I love and at the same time hate most of what I am obsessed with. But I think it's only because when I become passionately obsessed with something I have to find out every minuscule detail about it. I have to know it forwards, backwards, sideways whatever.

So it is with science fiction. I love most science fiction but admit that a lot of of it is either general shit or doesn't know what to do with itself and therefore turns into shit. Dystopic, futuristic, sci-fi is the worst because I find that a lot of it tries too hard to "predict our horrifying end" rather than let the present show us its cracks and speculate in those cracks (kudos to whomever can make sense of that).

All this is just filler, really. To explain that I'm inspired by sci-fi. Space. The future. All that stuff that fills our heads when we're little and make us feel altogether too small when we're grown up. I found a few great 50's (from Plan 59), space-race era ads that renewed this "spacial wandering" the other day. They're sort of what made me go back to
thinking in this vein. And also how to (for lack of better phrasing) incorporate it into my wardrobe. I'm not about to go wandering around in metallics and go-go boots (as flattering as bright, mirrored fabrics may be) so how do I work this into something that is wearable, or workable?

Shingai Shoniwa wears (my idea of) space best.

Something about her outfits in her performances
is really.....out of our time. I love that she manages to pull this off onstage, and yet still retains that "I just sort of fell into 2008, I hope no one notices" quality to what she wears when she's not hopping around with her bass strung around her neck.

But again, what she ends up doing is creating a costume; which is fine, she's a performer, an amazing musician, it's what she does. Karen O as well. But is it possible to translate this to day-to-day? To a person who is not about to pick up an instrument and start playing it on the street at any given moment?
Hmm.......

"Billy get out the safety goggles, I think Jimmy's gonna do another one of his experiments!"

(um...this last one really has nothing to do with anything. I just feel like this is where she's trying desperately to explain to her bandmates how to pass themselves off as early 21st century citizens, and the two guys just don't get it).

Mellow Yellow

(close up)

I woke up so late today.

But I feel that this was/is suitable considering I chose it based on what I could reach.