twentyten

Wishing everyone a beautiful and peaceful new year, each day filled with a new experience, a new story and a new reason to smile. Stay warm and safe lovelies and I'll be back tomorrow with a DIY giveaway to bring in the new year. xo.

voyeur 2

Just a heads up, two upcoming giveaways. Heck yeah x 2.

voyeur

Boy wearing the General Idea hoodie I got him from Oak. I've always loved watching the process of dressing. It's the voyeur in me.

bag lady

I'm beginning to understand why my boyfriend never has enough clothes to wear. I "borrow" his hoodies and t-shirts, lounge around them, and then return them to him all warm and toasty smelling of coconut lotion and other girlish scents. Speaking of the boy, we are currently tucked away in a warehouse loft somewhere in Brooklyn slaving away on a project that we've been meaning to complete for a while now. Today we settled down, did some groceries, and feasted at one of our favourite places here, Curly's. Their suna melt (soy imitation tuna = suna) topped off with melted provolone and sprouts on wheat hero with a side of curly fries is just unreal. I've also lugged some of my DIY supplies with me so I'm hoping to get my DIY on whenever I get sick of wire frames and mock ups. DIY projects also mean upcoming giveaways. I'm excited!

plaid & houndstooth

Yesterday I took my last exam and today I saw my last patient of the semester. To celebrate the two weeks of vacation ahead of me, I'm . . . wearing colour! In all seriousness, today was a day of much needed relaxation. I wrapped up the DIY giveaway item, booked a spacious loft in Williamsburg for a two week getaway with my boyfriend, finally wore my Sam Edelman Zoe boots (that I bought ages ago but never wore due to fear of breaking both my ankles walking in them), and am looking forward to trying yogurt soju tonight for the first time. Finally, I feel like my old self again without all the textbooks and notes bogging down on me. I can smile again! Don't worry though, black is still my favourite colour.

Now it's ready to be sent out!

and the winner is . . .

It's official. The winner of the DIY giveaway of this is Carolina of The Clothist! After throwing out repeat comments, deleted comments, and my personal responses, there was a total of 164 entries and #122 came out the victorious winner. I was going to wrap up the shirt and take a few snaps right now, but I'm completely sleep deprived and sleep-deprived Sophia is clumsy, disoriented and a bit crazy, so I'll leave that for tomorrow when I'm more coordinated. Congrats Carolina!

I've been brewing up a bunch of mini projects lately, so watch this space.

to the point

Black. Airy dresses. Jil Sanders. I'm all set. I could seriously limit my entire wardrobe to just a few key pieces: Black dresses of varying lengths (mini to maxi), architectural pumps and wedges, and black stockings. Adding frills and details just oftentimes feels fussy, itchy and contrived. I guess my mind and my heart are black black black. *wink*

By the way, there are still a few more days to enter the GIVEAWAY in the entry below. Do it, there's nothing to lose (except for your soul. I kid I kid)!


Wearing Zara shirt dress, vintage leather bag, vintage faux fur stole, Jil Sander pumps

GIVEAWAY // romanticism

There is one designer's collection that I re-watch over and over again each season, and that is Riccardo Tisci's collections for Givenchy. It's not only the clothes that inspire me, but it's the presentation that strikes a nerve within. Take for instance, when Sasha P marched down the runway in a rhinestone-encrusted dress to Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights," I was swept away. Or the petal-flooded runway from Couture Spring 2009 serving as the perfect backdrop to all the pieces, each one possessing a sort of untouchable sacredness. It's an obsession.

So I've been wanting to re-create something Givenchy-inspired for too long. In a sloppy blogger DIY kind of way. Crimes, I know. I bought a white shirt from H&M, a sheer white AA circle scarf, tons of feather trim to play around with, and went to work. The complete tutorial is in the entry below this one if you'd like to follow along and give it a try yourself. There are a few DIY pointers and detail shots as well. There's just way too much for me to learn still, but I gave it a go and am pretty pleased with the result. I'm still experimenting and have set my mind on a few more related DIYs, but in the meantime, I've giving this one away! The rules:

To enter, leave a comment on this entry. The giveaway ends in roughly a week on December 17 (Thursday) at 8pm. One comment will be picked at random and I'll be mailing this shirt out. If you're commenting anonymously or don't have a blog, please leave some sort of contact info so I can find you if you're selected. Good luck!

PS. Because I'm constantly on the hunt for means of procrastination, feel free to say hi to me on my Twitter! Big kisses.

tutorial // romanticism

What you'll need:

• Various feather trim (1-2 yards is sufficient) - I used white Ostrich feather and Chinchilla feather trim. I especially like this online store for their fumigated washed and impeccably packaged feather trims. I've experimented with cheaper feather trim with less than pretty results. The feathers tend to be held together with sticky adhesives and it rubs off when you're sewing the trim onto fabric. It gets really messy and frustrating. Consequently, I recommend feathers that are attached to thin cording.
  
• Long sleeve shirt - Mine was from H&M.
• Sheer white fabric - I actually used my American Apparel sheer circle scarf because I wasn't putting it to good use anyway. I recommend any sheer fabric from your local crafts store.
  
• Scissors
• Needle and matching thread

Steps:

1) There are countless ways to design and make a shirt like this, but here are some tips on how I went about this DIY just for a general idea. I decided that I wanted several layers of feather trim on the right shoulder for volume and asymmetry. Sew the chinchilla trim along the right shoulder seam of the shirt and bring it down diagonally across the left chest. Sewing along the seam is a good idea because it serves as an easy guideline and the fabric is stronger here, reducing the risk of ripping and tearing your shirt.

2) Take your AA circle scarf and cut it in half, so instead of a loop you have one long piece of fabric to work with.

3) With the first layer of feather trim sewn in place, take the AA scarf and drape it over the right shoulder so that one half of it drapes around to the back and the other to the front. Trace the edge of the feather trim with the scarf covering where you had sewn. You can get creative here and drape the fabric any way you wish. I draped it so it was covering the left chest.

4) You can add some gathers here and there by pinching off some fabric with your fingers and sewing a knot around it (this is what I did on the upper left of the shirt). Add a few stitches in regions where the fabric feels loose to keep it affixed to the shirt.

5) You'll now have some scarf fabric left hanging in the front. Take this excess material and drape it back to the right side and stitch into place at the right waist.

6) Now you can add some volume to your shoulder plumage. Take your ostrich trim and cut a few pieces of approximately 1 foot each. Pile the trim on top of the chinchilla trim and sew it down. Add as many layers of trim as you desire.

I hope this was helpful in visualizing and thinking out the steps. Perhaps video posts may be a possible option in the future, too. Anyway, for anyone who's considered DIYs in the past and haven't gone for it yet, I really encourage it. If there's anything I've learned from my silly projects it's that don't ever let feelings of lack of experience, confidence and knowledge get you down. You can always learn. Mistakes are your best friends.

Giveaway for this shirt in the entry above!

black milk

When I came back from Thanksgiving break, I had a little present waiting for me in the mail. James Lillis, the designer extraordinaire behind Black Milk, had sent me a pair of wet look leggings and a pair of my favourites, the Sheer Spartans (which I'm wearing above). I was both ecstatic and hesitant to try them on. I was ecstatic because the leggings combined aspects of flashy superhero chic but in a very minimal way, but I was also hesitant because I had just come back from 5 days of feasting on nothing but turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, ham, pies, and cakes. And the leggings were both in a teeny tiny XS. Oh life, you humour me.

I'm wearing the Sheer Spartans in the most minimalistic way possible here before I start experimenting too heavily with them. I'm also thinking of ways to wear these in a more subdued way, perhaps with more modest boots or flats. And since we're on the topic of leggings, I can't seem to take my mind off of these Gareth Pugh contrast PVC legging pants. I'm not being suggestive at all! *hint hint*

Wearing Black Milk leggings, H&M vest, thrifted silk tank, Alternative shirt, DIY spike hairband, shoes off eBay