Soft Shell

vintage coat // 60s vintage dress // h+m bag // dolce vita brill mary jane

These pictures don't really capture how incredibly saturated the sunshine is right now. I apologize if all I talk about these days is how beautiful the weather is, but it is... it's Stupid Beautiful. I got this dress at the last Alameda Flea Market with Erin. It was awkwardly long, but I hemmed it myself and now I think its pretty darn cute.

I finished my last final at 10pm on Thursday, spent Friday running around ArtPadSF, and got to wine and dine with some of the wonderful people I work with at ArtSlant. I didn't get to decompress until Saturday, when the mister and I sat on the grass banks of Lake Merritt for the whole afternoon, reading and drinking and eating corn dogs. We are moving back to Los Angeles in July, and I could not be more happy to come home, but there are things I will sorely miss about the Bay Area—and Lake Merritt is not the least of them. Sterling said that being up here taught him how to just sit outside and enjoy himself. It's definitely done the same for me. When I first came up here in 2011, I visited and old friend in the city who invited me out for brunch and then to go to Dolores Park, and I thought it was the weirdest thing ever.

"What's going on at the park?" I asked.
"Nothing, you just go."
"What do you mean you just go? And do what?"
"You go and you sit and you hang out."
"For how long?"
"I don't know! Jesus, quit being an uptight LA person."

But she was right. I could not wrap my head around sitting in a park for no reason, without even a book.  I haven't quite been able to fully embrace doing absolutely nothing in the park, but reading a good book in the shade still gently pulls me out of the academic mode.

*p.s. You'll notice that I've started to use Amazon Affiliate links. I've heard great things about it, and I love that it's not limited to fashion. I consider it rather generous that bloggers link to items that recreate their looks—this was before I became aware of the whole affiliate links revenue model. I naïvely thought everyone was altruistically spreading the secrets of their style. I shop Amazon all the time, for everything from film to shoes to cooking supplies, so it seems like a good time to jump on that bandwagon. 

Writing

pencil ring by me&zena // images from my desktop, the tom gauld tumblr and paris review tumblr

Anyway I'm working on a li'l book. Hopefully I'll finish it by the end of the year. 

A Closer Look

I was so preoccupied with the flow of the pictures from Golden Gate fields that I didn't include a shot of the skirt I was so happy about. Luckily Diane took a very nice 35mm photograph. Reminds me that I need to stock up on film my damn self...

diy hat // asos top // thrifted bag // vintage skirt via WearItWell // UO sandals

A Day at the Races

On Saturday, Erin invited me out to Golden Gate Fields for Derby Day, a satellite celebration of the hallowed horse race of the same name that takes place every year in Kentucky. Once there, we met up with Diane and Leeane for a day of high-priced libations, low-stakes betting, and gut-shattering cuisine. I haven't been to a race track since the days my late grandfather took my brothers and me to Santa Anita, but its so much more fun when you can drink and bet and—let's face it—indulge in a little bit of Bukowsky / Hemmingway / Fante romanticism. We inspected the horses before each race, and though my method of selection was admittedly unscientific (I picked whichever horse looked the least cooperative), at the end of the day I came up three dollars and eighty cents.

The event page for the GGF derby stated that"Bowties, seersucker suits, fedoras, big hats, and sundresses are not required, but are greatly appreciated." Seeing as I don't own anything that really gives off a Kentucky Derby vibe, I focused my efforts on the hat, which I put together rather quickly by attaching a plastic lobster (formerly pinned to our kitchen wall) to this 1930s tilt hat I already owned. It's a rather jury-rigged thing; I passed some red string around the lobster's legs and through a pinback from a broken brooch and gingerly pinned it to the hat. The whole affair is literally held together by a thread, but I'm so happy with how it turned out I decided to keep it together for a while (though I have no idea when I'll have occasion to wear it again). Unfortunately, I missed the deadline for entering the hat contest, but several people stopped me to take a picture or comment on the hat, so that was some slight consolation. The skirt is a recent purchase from Wear it Well vintage. I hate thinking about clothes in the summer time, but I'm making an effort to buy loose warm-weather pieces, find comfortable sandals, get more pedicures, and negotiate a general armistice with the heat.

Jump Ship

sleeveless satin bomber/top thingy from BTMVintage // thrifted skirt // vintage pin // vintage shoes from WeAreTribe

Just when you think you've got your whole situation figured out—your go-to's, preferred cuts, details, references, and a nice little sound-byte descriptor to sum it all up—you stumble across an article that has no place in your closet, but somehow has a place in your heart (ew). Truthfully, I've always had a soft spot for sporty / utility looking garments, but I could not reconcile it with my love of mid-century fashion, especially after seeing poor Marty McFly mercilessly teased for his orange puffer vest in Back To The Future: "Hey kid! Whad'da do, jump ship?" Marty: "What?" Lou: "What's with the life preserver?" 

I spied this top during one of my usual jaunts into the black hole of Etsy searches, and didn't even give myself time to think before popping it into my cart. Looks a little bit more aviator than sailor, but I'm ready to jump that ship either way.

*fun fact: just a few weeks ago, this wall used to be this wall.