loved and lost

top: thrifted
skirt: thrifted
belt: thrifted
shoes: winners
ring: avon via ebay
nail colour: essie lollipop
Hi, this is my kitchen. I think I've managed to strategically crop out (most of) the mess. I get really bored of taking photos in the same places all the time (and I think the photos suffer as a result) so I'm scouting out new locations in my little apartment. I'm thinking of getting a cheapy tripod and remote to make this easier. Maybe I'll even take photos outside!! The remote should at least get rid of the blank "waiting for the self-timer to go off" face I have in like every photo.



This ring may look familiar. I lost the original a month or two ago and feel a little lost myself without it. I don't usually get super attached to inanimate objects (you how quickly I cleared out my closet) but I wore this ring every day and I really missed the little thing! Luckily they were common as hell and I had no trouble finding one on eBay for $7.50, shipping in. 50 cents less than what I paid for the original at a flea market a few years ago! This one is shinier and a size smaller but it's successfully healed that little hole in my heart.


I've been pincurling my hair a lot lately. I don't really know HOW to do it, I just kinda roll it up mindlessly while I'm watching TV and hope it turns out ok in the morning. For some reason my hair has decided to stop curling on it's own any more. Annoying!!

I'm getting a wisdom tooth yanked out tomorrow and I'm oddly kind of excited for it. At least I'm excited for the comfy naps and babying that comes along with it.

it's all mine

cardigan: old navy
top: thrifted
skirt: thrifted
belt: thrifted
bag: thrifted dooney & bourke
shoes: aldo (circa 2008)
socks: joe fresh


The posts on IFB typically bother me, but I still go back check it every so often when I'm bored. At first I was really happy to read the headline - MAN-FLUENCE: A SINGLE GIRL’S GUIDE TO BLOGGING. So many fashion bloggers have boyfriends who take and edit their photos, code their blog, deal with the business side of things... I don't think this is WRONG by any means but it can be a little alienating to single girls, girls who aren't straight, girls who want to be single, girls who don't want their significant others to be involved with their blog (sup), and so on. So I thought, how NICE it is to have an article telling you that, hey, you can do it! You don't need a boyfriend with a fancy camera to take your blog photos! I was expecting something really empowering, you know?

Instead it's a post about writing to impress some imaginary dingus so that they'll want to bang you. Oh, cool!!

OK I get what the article is trying to say. That if you want your blog to succeed you need to make sure it's a confident and accurate representation of yourself. I get it! But what's with the weird heteronormative analogy they're using here to make you understand that? Proofread your entries and "be funny," just in case Mr. Right is watching. Bleh.

Keeping this blog as a means to impress a guy is the TOTAL OPPOSITE of what I'm doing here. The community that exists around style blogging is a cool womens safe-space to me. We're talking about style and fashion as it relates to ourselves, without taking male gaze into consideration. I'd rather keep that kind of attitude in Cosmo where it can go fester and die, thanks.

closet purge

The last time I did a clearout of my wardrobe was in January. I ended up with a big garbage bag and never donated it out of laziness. Today, I sucked it up and sorted through everything. EVERYTHING:



in this photo is every piece of clothing I own. Well, except for what I was wearing at the time and a small pile of stragglers left at my boyfriend's house. The closet and dresser were packed pretty full, the plastic bag contains all that stuff I said I was gonna donate in January, and the rest is pure dirty laundry. Oh and the white thing hanging out of the laundry basket is the handle to my Dust Buster, I thought that was a good place for it for some reason???

So fueled by my Ice Capp (also pictured above) I went through everything, starting with the dresser. I sorted things with these criteria in mind:

Things I wear often, that I like, that fit me: Keep pile
Things that are unique, things I loved that don't fit me anymore: Sell pile
Things I just wanted out of my house as soon as possible: Donate pile
Things missing buttons or shoes that need resoling: Mend pile
Things full of stains and holes beyond repair: Straight to the waste bin



So this is my dresser after sorting through everything, drawer by drawer. I also organized it slightly: Top drawer is for underwear and such, second is for pants and shorts (and some t-shirts), third is t-shirts, fourth is sweaters.



Lately when I do laundry I've found myself running out of hangers to put things on. When I went through everything in my closet, I was left with ALL OF THESE!



This is three huge garbage bags filled with clothes and shoes to donate. Instead of letting them sit around my room until I could con someone with a car into driving me to Value Village, I sucked it up and called a cab. These bags are gone now. Gone! seeya later, nice knowing ya.



My mending pile is on the chair, and the stuff on the bed is laundry I need to do. SO MUCH LAUNDRY.



My closet now. I also sorted through a huge basket of scarves I had on the shelf in here. I never wore ANY of them because they were up there out of sight. Now I have the ones I like tied on that bar where I can easily see them. I keep my belts on that bar as well. Note that I've also found a better home for my Dust Buster, HA.



And now I'm left with this: My sell pile. Local swap groups are full of flaky people and Canada Post is so overpriced that I don't know if selling online will be viable. Since the weather is so nice, I'm thinking a yard sale would be a good idea. Any Charlottetown ladies want to have one?

This whole process didn't take as long as I thought it would: about 2.5 hours, snack breaks included. Maybe it's because most of my clothes are from thrift stores (cheap), but I didn't find it hard to get rid of anything either. I also rediscovered lots of things I'd forgotten I owned, and I found my headphones which have been missing for MONTHS.

If you've been thinking of doing some closet-related spring cleaning, DO IT. It's easy! It doesn't take very long! It makes you feel real good afterwards!

sunnies and stuff

I've worn glasses since I was 8 and haven't owned a single pair of sunglasses in that time (save for one grim summer where I had those ugly clip-on ones). I actually have permanent, deep wrinkles on my forehead from squinting all the time. I figure it was time I sucked it up and bought these frames from Clearly Contacts with prescription sunglasses lenses. I feel so weird in them but I guess I'll get used to them. I also wanna know: is it rude to wear sunglasses indoors? Like, when you're picking up takeout or grocery shopping or something like that. I've gotten responses ranging from "nah who cares" to "yes but I do it anyway" to "it's douchey and sketchy" but idk how many times a day I can stand to fumble through my purse to switch to my regular glasses.

I also have to share this because it's the best thing I've seen lately: Birds attack Ottawa joggers Having a blackbird nest in your ponytail is absolutely the most twee and whimsical thing I can think of so I dunno why those women are swatting them away. I have personally been practicing for this to happen to me for YEARS.


This is how I dressed up for my Lady Gaga themed birthday party back in 2010.

Other stuff that caught my eye recently:



Last weekend I was watching the episode of the Simpson's where Otto drives up in the poolmobile and it got me thinkin' about pools that move. I googled "pools in trucks" and apparently this is a thing people do. I'm deadset on hanging out in a truck pool this summer. I made a pinboard of my faves.


I can't find the source of this picture for the LIFE of me, so if you know it, let ME know! Because I wanna give proper credit and I also want to get to know this chick.

Translating the printemps érable is a tumblr that translates French media about the student protests in Quebec right now. Canadian English media coverage hasn't been great, and I don't think US media has been covering it at all. Worth a read!


I had a hankering for some Pretty in Pink the other day so I watched in on Netflix. I hadn't seen it for years and !!!SPOILER ALERT!!! I am SO GLAD Molly Ringwalk stuck her nose in the script and made it so that Andie DIDN'T end up with Duckie in the end! On this viewing it was clear from the start that Duckie is your classic Nice Guy who thinks he's stuck in the friend zone. Gross! I still can't hate him though, his wardrobe and dance moves are still so good. And Andie's prom dress at the end is still so, so bad.

and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom

thrifted sandals, skirt and belt, gap striped top

Lately I've been looking at Swedish Hasbeens and Saltwater Sandals and entering every B.A.I.T. footwear giveaway I can find in search of a pair of vintage-inspired sandals with a low heel. Thrifting always pays off though, because I found exactly what I wanted and for a fraction of what I'd have paid for the other ones I was looking at. Now I have the perfect pair of little shoes for all my summer dresses and skirts. Thrifting, guys! Try it!

PS: I know you're gonna run to YouTube and look this up anyway so I'll spare you the trip:

kitty bum

old navy dress and shoes, thrifted belt, denim jacket, dooney & bourke bag and fishbowl necklace, gifted hat
when I was putting this post together my cat walked over my keyboard and did this so I'm just gonna leave this here because it's way better than anything I could write this evening.

b nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn`1wefbn

be my baby

gap jeans, old navy sweater and shoes, thrifted button down shirt and scalloped pearl necklaces, gifted hat

I have been obsessed with this song all weekend



then I spent a whole afternoon looking up girl band covers on youtube






and then I learned it on guitar and swooned all over this olympia le tan jacket for a bit:



GOOD SONG EH?

queen victoria

joe fresh dress, thrifted denim jacket and sandals, mod accessories pin, aldo accessories hat
Happy Victoria day to my fellow Canadians. This day always manages to be beautiful and sunny and this year is no exception. I'm gonna keep this short and head out in a minute to enjoy the day.

This dress was one of my favourite finds last summer (19 bucks, not even on sale or anything!) but I didn't wear it much since the weather was never nice enough for it. Hopefully this year will be different.

I also dyed my hair a couple days ago. This was my go-to hair colour when I was in high school, it's fun to revisit it!

she comes in colours

Yesterday I woke up and saw a yard sale happening across the street. I got up, got dressed and went to check it out. I saw this photo floral skirt poking out from a bin and immediately handed over the change at the bottom of my purse for it. Never mind that it was too big for me, and a maxi skirt, and went completely against the idea I had in my head lately of what I want my style to be. I was thinking I should move to more "classic" pieces and maybe grow up a bit and stop being so weird. But I couldn't shake my gut reaction that said "I need that thing" when I saw this print.

Isn't that what I should go for when I'm getting dressed? My gut reaction to things? Why do I need to "grow up" with regards to my style and what does that even MEAN? I'm only 23, I have a job that gives me the same amount of money every two weeks and aside from paying my rent and putting a little away in savings I have no real responsibilities! What's grown up about that? Why not have fun and spend my money on weird things now, when I have the chance? I may still be young but I'm old enough to have learned not to give a fuck if someone gets judgy over me wearing a giant 70s maxi skirt.

Unfortunately this revelation came AFTER I spend 100 bucks at the Gap outlet. KIDDING, kinda. I still like the things I got, as grown up and neutral as they are.



It's probably overdone and cliche to say that the best way out of a style rut is to shake things up and try wearing something out of your comfort zone. But it's true! I haven't worn flared jeans since high school and even months ago I wouldn't have dreamed about getting another pair. But I gave it a try and found that I really like 'em. Same with the maxi skirt. Last night I safety-pinned the waistband to fit me and wore it with a denim jacket and sandals. I felt like a tall friggin goddess. See: this crappy iPhone pic



So maybe my style rut is over. I'm glad! I'm really excited for this summer and I want my clothing choices to reflect all the weird fun I'm gonna have.

To end off this abnormally long and disjointed post I wanna share this lil thing Arabelle ( http://catladysoul.tumblr.com/ ) wrote on her tumblr which resonated with me.

I want ridiculousness in fashion. I want ugly. I want destruction, I want imperfection, flaws, ripped seams, extra armholes, mutated glory that when people walk by me they whisper that they just don’t get it. I want to confuse you. I don’t want timelessness. I want everything, right here, right now, no regard for looking regal or rich or calm and collected. Why do I have to be classy anyway? Why do I need to impress you? When I slip on something I love I’m not doing it for you, I am doing it to feel good about myself, I am doing it to be transported into a place in my mind where I am safe and powerful and the cracks in my existence are filled with gold and diamonds and chocolate and goodness. I want to be able to change what I’m wearing mid walk — flip my jacket inside out, upside down, endless options, I want to tear apart what I’m wearing and what I represent and build back up again. I want you to have to think about what I represent, the space I take up. I want you running scared because you don’t understand and I don’t want you to. Every fucking seam of my jacket represents something you can’t have because I don’t want you to. This is mine. All mine. You can’t have it.

heavy spring

thrifted everything, except for old navy rockstar jeggings

I wore this sweater a lot this past winter, but never blogged it because it was the kind of thing I schlubbed around in on weekends and lazy days. Surprisingly enough, it makes for a nice spring "jacket" for a cloudy spring day.

olive

dynamite blazer, thrifted floral skirt, tassel necklace and braided belt, joe fresh tee, old navy loafers
I feel like I strolled out of a 2009 Livejournal fashion community today. The old skirt+vneck+belt combo has been my go-to outfit since the dawn of time and I'm getting a little tired of it. I almost wore a cardigan with this but I was just overcome with boredom about the MONOTONY of the whole thing that I grabbed this weird blazer I spent too much money on in the fall and wore exactly twice instead.
I've been taking blog pictures every few days as usual but not posting them because I'm not happy with them. I don't know if the weather is making it harder to dress myself or if I'm just now realizing that all my clothes suck. How do you ~shake up~ your style when you're stuck in a gross rut like this?

tomorrowland

thrifted floral dress, peter pan collar blouse and sweater, old navy loafers, joe fresh socks


More socks! I feel sort of like Sally Draper in this outfit.



(I was at my parents' house when this episode was on, and my mom said she had a plaid dress just like this when she was a kid... jealous)



All these screencaps are from the Mad Style series on Tom and Lorenzo - I HIGHLY recommend it if you're a fan of Mad Men or vintage clothing (or both). The costuming in this series is impeccably researched and executed and deserves recognition.

super moon

old navy top, thrifted skirt, shoes and belt, joe fresh socks

I introduce to you: my forehead. Seriously. I've had straight-across bangs for most of my life so it feels a little weird to air it out. hello world! I'm in dire need of a bang trim, but since I promised not to cut them myself again I have to get creative. I kinda dig the way they look here, in a little poof with day-old pin curls.