CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRL

+ Vintage letter jacket: my old man's!

+Vintage Lacoste sweater: Rockstar & Rogers, Manhattan, KS

+Ralph Lauren pleated plaid wrap skirt: Goodwill bins, Portland, OR

+Gray Doc Martens (knock-offs): Walmart

WRAP IT UP

Last minute shopping? (isn't that a given?) Last minute gift wrapping? Here are a few ideas to use things you may have or easy things that will give your gifts a little more personal feel.

Although this could look a little more festive, I'm happy to share this little idea with you to give your Christmas gifts a little homemade feel.  I've had a few of these "Christmas tree air-fresheners" in my car that have long-since lost much of their scent & i thought what better way than to use them as gift tags!  I took a blank mailing label and cut it to size to cover the original labels.  I never get anything other than the Black Ice scent but using the evergreen/pine ones would be more festive and along w/ looking nice it'll smell nice, too!

 It's always almost impossible to disguise a wine bottle--they're usually just sitting in a gift basket or have a ribbon tied around their necks.  For this I took an old cable knit glove (you could also get new ones to include w/ the gift) and put the "middle finger"of the glove over the top of the bottle. I then tied together the thumb and pinky and then the ring and index to create a braided/rosette look.  To make it more festive I ran outside and snagged a few sprigs off our cedar trees and added them to the bunch. voila!

This one is the simplest, and maybe the cutest.  Instead of using boring stickers or tags to identity who the gift is for...use a picture of them!  To unify, I decided to make my images black and white.  This can be a great way to bring up family memories and events by including old family photos.  Be creative-- cross out and circle people in group photos, or be specific and cover up everyone but the person getting the gift with bows!

HOLOGRAM

Look what I found....*_*, and what I could not pry myself from as I grazed around the rest of H&M this weekend-- A HOLOGRAPHIC PURSE.  If any of you are making your way to my blog from my personal tumblr, you already know the obsession I have for all things holographic.  It will definitely be my new going out carry-all and is the perfect size for such occasions!  Also thought I'd throw in an oldie-but-a-goodie with the fuzzy leopard chain purse.  Both are great to accessorize a sleek and simple or monochromatic look. 

LAYER LUST

Strongly influenced by the Man Repeller herself I took to my closet to recreate the look and revive my faith in the greatness that is LAYERING

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1. Look at this humongous flannel shirt. I am in a sea of shirt, and I am surely drowning. Steal your (hypothetical) boyfriend’s shirt for a day and curl up in his arms.

2. You can do pattern on pattern; do it, I dare you. Combining stripes with plaid is a safe bet for this fall, and are two things you’ll be sure to see a lot of in the coming months. Also think about the textures and thicknesses you’re working with...switch it up, just like your patterns!

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3. Two layers are for sissies, you didn’t think we weren’t going to half-ass this, did you? Throw on a loose T or a short sleeve sweater to add yet another layer of interest.

4. At this point you’re probably feeling a bit uncomfortable, wondering where your boobs have gone under all that fabric, and what you should do to take a few steps in the opposite direction of “I look like a little boy”.  Heels will automatically “fem” up the look. Bling yourself out with pearls and pink jewelry, or you can also go a little bolder with your makeup to offset the outfit.

MIX-MATCHED

I've been really into the idea of combining bold prints with bold prints and taking from what I have in my closet to do so. The mixing of prints was really big this spring/summer with floral so why not explore further...into the future?  I think it's great to throw the most ridiculous things together that don't really go at all...it creates a drastic push and pull and very unexpected look which I'm all for.
xx
Alex

Lace Leopard dress (Rodarte x Target)
Space Skirt (Homemade...thanks to my momma!)

WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET

I finally invested in a new wallet, in due time seeing that my last one had a velcro closure (I KID YOU NOT). 

 I love the size of this thing. Yes, it's a little on the "husky" side of things, but my philosophy is "the bigger it is the less likely I am to lose it".  The wrist strap is also another lifesaver- I hate lugging even the smallest of purses around so this little beauty is truly the perfect ratio.  The inside opens up accordion-style allowing you to sort your things and keep cards, receipts, and money separate and organized and easy to find (in theory).  I like that the tassels are easily detachable because tassels come and go...

I got mine at TJMaxx for about $20, I think you can get the latest model from Deux Lux here for $65.
(bottle opener keychain from a souvenir stand near Leicester Station in London...I bought about 5 or 6 and gave them out to friends...I should have gotten more!).

Au revoir,
Alex

CURRENCY CURRENTLY

If you know me in "the real world" you'll almost never see me in earrings, but lately I've hopped on the bandwagon and picked up some fabulous pieces. I don't know what it is about gold accessories but they make me feel powerful and like I've got all the $$$--so of course I couldn't resist those gold dollar signs.

Super pumped about this pink polish on my nails, too.  Pink polish is just about as hard to get right as pink lipstick, so picking up this cheap Wet n' Wild for 99 cents saved me from too much risky business and ended up being a dollar well spent.

Big Dollar Earrings

Cross Earrings- GoJane (sold out at the moment)

Wet n Wild in Tickled Pink (i picked mine up from the local Walgreens)

NEUTRAL(S)

A new combination of mostly old things, the battle with hair that desperately needs a trim, and bejeweled nails courtesy my grandma

Nails: my grandma bought me these nail rhinestones last christmas (maybe more than one Christmas ago, I can't remember, I just thank the lord she finally stopped giving me ugly toe socks). Anyway, I'm sure you can pick up some similar small stones at your local craft supply store.  

The trick is to wait up until the point your nail polish is still kind of tacky to put them on (you know, usually when you think you've waited long enough to do things and then make a mess of them). Then shellac the heck out of them with at least 2 layers of clear topcoat. Granted it didn't last more than 3 days on my grubby little paws, but yours will surely survive a little longer!

Blouse: Primark (of course a few buttons are loose..)
Skirt: Forever 21 (currently in stores!)
Boots: Kohls (for dirt cheap--I almost went back and bought a second pair)

<3

BUSINESS CLASS

     

As new additions into my wardrobe, I thought I would post.  I wore this jacket/shirt combo yesterday with dark skinny jeans cuffed and black chelsea boots- I definitely had that "strong woman" feeling pulsing through my veins. Amusingly, we talked about the whole "woman being objectified in advertisting" in my History of Design class that day.

 Both are from Forever 21. It's always a hassle trying to find things of decent quality there but this shear lime shirt shocked me, definitely the most well-made thing I've purchased there before.  The jacket is nice too (sans the really craptastic button). Since this jacket will probably be out of style in a week I figure the F21 price would be hard to beat and it fits so darn well!

<3

BAG LADY

I've been awaiting the arrival of my black leather (albeit, fake...) backpack

for weeks, and in all my giddy received it in the post today

after an afternoon of taking photos for my job in the pouring rain.  I am

obsessing over everything black leather & gold at the moment and 

couldn't resist the temptation...

The mesh backpack is one my oldest brother had...probably circa 2000(?).

It's fun to throw stuff in & take every once in a while

SOLID GOLD

          

Lovely new toys arrived on my doorstep this afternoon. I've been debating about getting double cuffs forever now and convinced myself they're simple enough I will probably get good use out of them-- now that they are in my possession I don't think I will ever take them off. May find myself purchasing a set of silver in the near future.

From ASOS: Cuffs, Ring

FOUR EYES

Makeup can be so boring, and i'm a real bore in my day-in-day-out routine of it.  I ran across the image of Lindsey Wixson a few days ago on tumblr, was really interested in the idea of a shaped shadow on the eye, and tried it out.
There is definitely something interesting in the 3-dimensionality of the eye and how the shadow is not really just a rectangle- I liked how it looked completely different when your eyes were closed vs. wide open it would almost look normal.
In my test i tried a bit of color, but to my dismay.  Maybe for night but even in a dark green the idea was too heavy of an eye for me. May try out in a super saturated hue- let me know if you give it a try and what color works best for you!

MESH SESH

printed mesh dress: Salvation Army (Lawrence, KS)

black tube skirt (underneath): H&M

+bandeau

I ran across this dress one day as I was browsing salvation. It was misplaced among all the other clothes and at first glance it was the ugliest of things but as i circled around the rest of the racks i couldn't help but come back. It's one of those "it's kinda so ugly that it works" type of things.

I would like to pattern from it to make a simple solid mesh dress- although i can only imagine how annoying sewing stretchy, thin mesh material would be. It's downside in wearing is that it stretches out so easy- especially in the sleeves.  I would accessorize this with tons of gold bangles and cuffs but as I'm sort of living in two places at the moment I don't have hardly any jewelry with me.

BOLD FLORAL

As you may notice, my posting has been a little non-existent these past couple weeks and it's been killing me!  I've been swamped with end of the school year projects and organizing plans and events for my summer.
Yesterday I had to be to my first class at 8:30, so I was up working on homework I hadn't done by 6:30 (I'm a morning person, for the most part). I'd showered right before zonking out for the night and woke up to the weirdest and most awkward, yet limp and not-wanting-to-do-anything-else hair.  So of course I decided it'd be a good idea to trim my bangs, something that's been needing done for months now.  Needless to say I did this at 7am.  The results were far from fabulous and I was running around my house  feeling more awkward than usual and with this tragedy now (literally) on my shoulders, I could not even focus on what to wear.  To salvage the day I put on one of my favorite outfits I put together when nothing else seems to work-

Floral Mod Dress: Thrifted, Wild Man Vintage (Lawrence, KS)

80's Belt: Thrifted, Lighthouse (Clay Center, KS)

Orange/Gold Glitter Flat: Primark