my style, then & now

then

now

Recently I started using tumblr again (as one does when finals come around), and I've realized how my style has evolved since I started it a few years ago.  I started it as a pursuit to encapsulate all that is "sweet, pastel & lovely" which eventually evolved into a place with more obsessive things like Darren Criss, Harry Potter, and Glee.  Now it's become more like my true style--colorful and classy, with a sense of humor and handmade-ness.  This is a pretty pointless post, but it's something I noticed and it makes me happy to see that my style is evolving into something I now recognize is more me.

That's all.  It's summer and I'm going to post pointless things because...

it's summer.

WHATCHA GONNA DO ABOUT IT?

Okay, bye now.

take back the past: regency era

As a lover of fashion and history, I decided to start a new series about looking to the past for fashion inspiration.  First up:  Regency Era Fashion (1795-1837) 

Above: Dress, shoes, hair comb, shawl, clutch, illustration.

Here are a few distinctions from this time (found here and here):

• hoop skirts were shed for more delicate silhouettes in plain cottons
• high hair and hair powder were abandoned for more natural hairstyles 
• extravagant jewelry and general extravagance were now garish
• the Empire waist became the most popular style
• usually made from white lawn, muslin or batiste, Empire-style dresses were named after their influence from flowing Grecian robes
• white evening gowns were a sign of social status, while pastels were reserved for daytime
• Grecian and Egyptian-like trim patterns
• popular accessories were shawls, caps, bonnets, hair combs, reticule handbags, muffs, gloves, cloaks, and flat footwear sometimes adorned with bows

Inspiring at all?  In my book, a little romance while getting dressed is never a bad idea, so I love getting inspiration from films like Pride & Prejudice and Bright Star.  

youngest old lady ever: the daily goings of a nineteen year old

Let me introduce you to THE BEST THING EVER -- AVOCADO FRIES!!!!!!!!

Make them ASAP if you love avocados and you love yourself.  I made them twice this past week.  I have to pace myself, you guys....  BUT THEY ARE SO GOOD.

Last Sunday I helped out my grandma with her new garden box she got for Mother's day.  My cousin Nate knew what he was doing, so he helped us out.  I need more gardening in my life!

I'm really enjoying being home and being able to spend quality time with my family, whether it means gardening, knitting, going out to eat, or watching The Bachelorette!  Love all of you lots!

This summer has been the summer of sewing.  I have been doing a ton of sewing at work, but I am just starting to get into some personal projects.  I bought some cheap fabric the other day and found a use for it that night.  The pattern I used was from 1968.  Of course, I made a few adjustments:  Smaller fit, two fabrics instead of one, and no ruffles around the top wrap.  I still need to make a proper belt for it--the one shown above is one I own, but works really well with the dress!

Next I am going to start working on this dress (version B) for Erin!  I can't find an exact year, but I'm assuming it's from the mid-to-late 50's.  We picked out an adorable grayish baby blue for the dress and a mustard yellow (aka Erin's signature color) pattern for the accents.  Can't wait to start this one!

Between all the cooking, gardening, sewing, and knitting, I am either an old lady with nothing else better to do or a very busy housewife.  Either way, I'm a happy Kaylie.

summer lovin', lovin' summer

Coffee with Erin. (I obviously chose my caramel machiatto to match her.)  So happy to be home and sitting at our usual table at Starbucks.  What would I do without this girl?  Take two years to knit a miniature cactus, for starters.

Pittsburg Willy's with my grandma and papa.  That is the Big Willy Mac n' Chili.  This place is such a guys place, but I love it so much.  Only downside was that they didn't have pirogues left when we got there.  Sadface.  I need to make some pirogues soon too!  

Next my grandma and I antiqued at Merchant Square!

Here are some of my favorite finds.  Obsessed with brooches, 50's/60's dresses, girly finds, and state memorabilia. 

Oh, and this ridiculous shell suit!  To my excitement, they expanded their outside space to what they now call the "Picker's Alley"....  I could have roamed this alley of rusty treasures for hours if it weren't 106 degrees here already.

And finally...my favorite finds.  These two pieces are everything I believe in style-wise.

Erin found this somewhere and said it was me and Ted.  When I edited it to black and white, I realized that it is obviously the opening sequence of our children's cartoon series from the 50's....  Of course!

It's summertime when the fruit sorbet from Costco is in the freezer.  I enjoy sculpting it as I slowly eat it with one of the gloriously small plastic spoons that they come with.  And yeah, I am starting to really miss that cuddly bearded guy...

But don't worry, I have been keeping busy with my internship/job working for a local costumer.  Right now we are working on Beauty & the Beast.  It has been a lot of fun and I have been learning a ton!  I have gotten used to industrial sewing machines (I don't know why I was so afraid of them in the shop at school) and have been doing a lot of crafty things, mostly including a glue gun.  Today involved a lot of gold ribbon and trim, which is fine with me!

Enjoying the heat (for now) on the patio, getting excited for the Glee season finale (Tuesday's two hour episode was so beautiful), finally reading Mockingjay, and watching Mad Men (almost completely caught up!)...  Life is good.

only just the best thing ever

In which I make fun of my fourteen-year-old self.

#WhenIWas13

Sometimes Twitter is really cool and entices you to break out your embarrassing journal from when you were 13.  And sometimes, said journal makes you laugh so hard and loudly that you are gasping for air at how ridiculously (more) immature you used to be.  

Here are some real gems (I give you full permission to laugh hysterically) from seventh-grade me:

"If I am going to get into Harvard, I need some rest.  Night."  Haaaaaaaaaah!

"Girls are feroshus (haha can't spell) beasts."  I've never been a good speller, you guys.  But yeah, sometimes they are, especially when they are emotional thirteen year olds who can't spell.

"Eww!  Boys!  Eww!  NO!"  Wiser words have never been written.

"I painted a heart.  My heart.  It's light, but surrounded by darkness closing in."  I CAN'T.  I JUST CAN'T.  THIS IS TOO MUCH.

"We'd fix this.  You know, like at Disneyland?  They renovate rides all the time.  It's the same ride it's always been, but hey, it's getting fixed--bettered.  Like...Pimp My Ride?" What was I wanting to fix, you ask?  A stain on the carpet?  A tear in my favorite skirt?  Nope, my "love life".  Pssh!

"Lately I haven't been thinking about you all that much, but..."  But...I was thinking about you enough to write you a letter that I would never send to you.  But seriously, I never think about you.  Except for this one time I'm spilling my heart out to you in a letter.

"Okay, so now I know why teachers give us so much homework.  To keep us sane."  Ah, junior high drama.  Ah, how I don't miss it.

Although some things never change, embarrassing as I can get:

"What to wear?!!??  Hmm.  I wanna wear my new (old) brooch.  I'll get my whole überchic nerdy glam girl going on.  I'm thinking my lavendar top that is a little tighter at the waist.  Hmm.  For bottoms?  A skirt obviously.  But which one?  

Scratch that.  Something totally new." SO THAT IS WHAT MY STYLE IS! It's "überchic nerdy glam".  Finally, I can put a name to it.

"I love old stuff.  Old stuff makes me happy.  You know what else makes me happy?  Sleep."  A thousand times yes.

"Ok, so all I needed was a little Starbucks and Arcade Fire and I'm as good as new."  Amen to that.

Alright, now that I've sufficiently humiliated myself for the night, I will say my farewell for now.  I just couldn't help but share how silly I was then.  I mean, I'm still silly, but not in the same ways.  Middle school was just the weirdest situation ever, let me tell you...  I try to block it out of my memory most of the time, but it's good for a few (dozen) laughs.  

favorite tv costume design

Glee - Lou Eyrich (2010 Emmy nominee)

Boardwalk Empire - John Dunn

Gossip Girl - Eric Daman

Sex & the City - Patricia Field (2000-2004 Emmy nominee, 2002 Emmy winner)

The wonderful thing about television costume design is that it follows the transformation of the characters in a way that is more in-depth and gradual.  In movies, a character's style usually remains stagnant or is sped up to signify a passage of time, but in television each season gradually brings something new to a character depending on the character's progression.  Someone like Carrie Bradshaw, for instance, is known for her madcap style.  However, her unique brand of fashion certainly evolved and matured over six seasons of Sex & the City as she evolved and matured.  The cool thing is that throughout this change, the essence of Carrie is always evident.  Much like a cartoon character wears the same thing every single day, a TV character develops an everyday style that is unique to them.  My favorite thing in the world is to be out shopping and pick up a piece of clothing and say with confidence, "This is so Blair!" or "I could totally see Santana wearing this."  Even if the item is something I wouldn't dream of wearing myself, it awes me to think how much thought is put into these characters' wardrobe to express their personalities week after week.  How magical is that?  Not to mention that shows like Sex & the City, Gossip Girl, and Mad Men inspire new trends in fashion.  (Disclaimer:  Mad Men would certainly be on this list if I watched it.  I need to start season one ASAP.)  Don't even get me started on period dramas!  HBO gives me such heartache with its epic TV shows and miniseries.  I love Boardwalk Empire, but it leaves a hole in my heart that only the twenties sending me its wardrobe can fill...

Forever in lust, 

Kaylie

Let them eat cake!

Her life may have sucked, but the woman had style!  I thought I was obsessed with Marie Antoinette in the past, but I think it's reached a peak now that I've been learning more about her life.  I'm loving the pretty Marie Antoinette things from Tokyo Milk. 

some days I think too much about not thinking enough

So, I am transfering Word documents to my flash drive (killer essay going down here), when I find myself distracted by old documents.  So, I am reading them now.

And they make me a little sad.  Because, two-three-four years ago, I had a lot more time to think about things.  I questioned everything.  Every.  Single.  Thing.  And I genuinely cared about finding a conclusion.  I was really stuck on forming opinions on everything and stringing lines together in my head for poems.  Geez Louise, I'm making it sound like I was a really pretentious middle-schooler.  Maybe I was.  Maybe that's why I haven't written poetry for so long.  Maybe I can't take myself seriously anymore, because it embarresses me to see others take themselves so seriously. Could it just be that I am content with not having an answer for everything?  Perhaps. 

I blame it all on homework.

But hey, at least it's got me thinking.


Pretentious 7th-grade thoughts:

"You know when you're little and everything is just so simple? All you want is everyone to be nice and share their toys and not pull your hair right off your head like a wig. Now it seems like all you can really ask of anyone is for them to be happy. But what happens when they aren't happy? I don't know; I guess you can't ask anything of anyone but yourself."


 "I always regret not doing what I may regret."  I literally have this saved as a document...This kills me!

And what would middle school be without writing poetry during class?

"we search
to discover
empty thoughts
waiting to turn to more
hidden beneath
another time
in the bottom drawer
yet when we find
a simple scrap
it's only but
a memory
stripped of fact
nothing
more than before"

Well...enough about self-discovery.  I need some sleep.

this is what i ultimately aim for

Clara Bow via flickr

what goes around, comes around

There's no denying the past.

(click for info)

The only thing that hasn't carried into my present that is a bit disappointing is my love of homevideo-making. Whatever happened to that? I used to whip up weather reports of slushie flash floods and interview family members. Maybe that is better left behind though, like my Spice Girl dance routines.

Nonetheless, it's nice to remember the magic of my first Harry Potter book, the delight of an Otter Pop and the surprise of Pop Rocks, the satisfaction of pairing my sequin belt with every outfit I owned, and my Spongebob CD player...and camera...and flip flops. The cat eyes and big bow headbands have especially survived the test of time, as with metallic flats. Life was good, and continues to be to this day--provided the use of the word "coolio" is left comfortably in the past.

it is quite apparent what era I long for

(click for info)

the original "It" girl

Starring in a silent film named It in 1927, Clara Bow became the first to be dubbed an It girl. I've always thought that this was an interesting bit of information. (Truthfully, I snagged it from a long ago-read Nylon.) Now, in the midst of my 1920's obsession, I googled her, and I have to say that I adore this picture.

my love for 20's style deepens...

With school coming to a close, reading The Great Gatsby is not a realistic (aka sane) option for our English class. Instead, we are getting our taste of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel via a 1974 film adaption! Not quite the same, but it works. I can always read it on my own time this SUMMER, which is ever so NEAR of which I will have HOURS at end to read.

This is an especially good accommodation, as I am in love with the 20's. (It's where I get the whole short hair/short bangs thing, btw Mom...) It's so glamorous and I love the fact that short hair and "rising hemlines" were so risque at the time.

The glamour... I need flapper-esque dresses and sequined headbands pronto. I have one hat that does the trick, and a black velvet vintage shrug, but I need MORE.

Summer=time=antiquing=more hats=more glamour=happy Kaylie

But first, school. Ugh.

Summer, I need you.

I would wear this black and white ensemble to the beach hands down, no questions asked. In fact, I do own the bathing suit. It's a start.