At home.

dress // Sugarlips Apparel (similar look here)

jacket // Bernardo

boots // Steve Madden "Repo"

switchblade necklace // NastyGal (on super sale by the way.)

bag // Steve Madden

hat // H&M

Today I got to hang out with the ladies behind some of my favorite blogs, Brooklyn Blonde, Keiko Lynn and My Style Pill at T.J Maxx in Manhattan and talk fall fashion. I picked up this bag and leather bomber jacket while I was there- notice how un-black they are. Some recent photos of myself made it appear that I was perpetually on my way to a funeral and funerals are not sexy. Usually.

Not pictured: a Pleione cable-knit pullover which I purchased and thought, "too bad it's 90 degrees out and I cannot wear this. My life is hard". Fortunately my disgruntled cab driver cranked the air conditioning to subzero temperatures and I got to put it on. Because he knew.

Happy thirsty Thursday!

Lu & Crazypants.

pants, rings & shirt // Forever 21

shoes & hat // thrifted

Welcome to my bedroom in Brooklyn, where I stand on my bed with shoes on thanks to a tendency toward sheer impulsiveness. I was hibernating in said air-conditioned room to get respite from the heat, but as you can see I still bear a prominent sheen on my Jay Leno chin. Also, can I just take a Lu moment? She is the best little fuzzy, t-rex armed baby ever, and she has totally turned me into one of those dog parents who, like, wants to take her to get massages and hand-make her own organic vegan dog food. I won't, though. Probably. 

So I'm heading off to work and my one other friend, the tv, is telling me that Kate Middleton has gone into labor. Who cares? I absolutely do. I'm a sucker for ceremony and all things British. I'm pretty sure they just said there will be a "royal tweet" following the birth, which is pretty hilarious if you're like me and you imagine Prince Charles in a high-backed chair struggling to figure out how to send a tweet with his iPhone, which is held upside-down. 

...I've actually said crazier things due to a lack of caffeine. Bye for now, Monday Funday babes.

Dear Creatures

dress //dear creatures "dresden"

jewelry // F21

shoes // senso

dress and shoes via the amazingly generous Keiko Lynn.

So hi, NYC heat wave. I had flakes of rust attached to the backs of my knees with sweat at the end of this fire escape session, and I had to edit out varying degrees of my bangs melting. This is scaling levels of femme that I am altogether inexperienced and uncomfortable with, but the dress itself makes up for it. This sailor-esque neckline detail contrasting with the hard chain necklace makes a "nice" (read: not $20) dress more my style. Note to self: acquire nicer stuff, do not ruin with rust trying to look cool on some old stairs.

I was told there'd be summer.

jeans, floral blouse, square rings and M tote: F21

boots: vintage

cardigan and midi ring: UO

jacket and spike necklace: H&M

I know I look like a floating torso 99% of the time but I promise I do own more than just that one pair of black pants. I'll have you know I own two.

I was actually pretty festive (from the waist up) when I left the house, but the weather turned into a schizophrenic extreme sun/cold wind hybrid and on went the jacket. I don't even remember where I went or what I did that day but I'm pretty certain I looked crabby whilst doing it. It's the wind that does it- I leave the house with every hair in place, feeling moderately cute, and I arrive at my destination looking like Professor Snape with flippy ends and a scowl. I have to stuff what little hair I have left into a micro-ponytail and carry on.

Next post: It just wouldn't be me unless I was whining about the outdoors, but one out of 1,000 photos of me contains an actual smile. For you, my tens of readers. I'll do it for you.

City beach

blouse & shoes: vintage

jacket: thrifted (Gap)

pants: Forever 21

pins: ???

sunglasses: UO

I'm super not into the outdoors, but last week I was dragged spent a lovely day off in the sun exploring the city. After walking the entire perimeter of the Jackie O Reservoir in Central Park, then sitting on the East River beach and staring for an extended period, here is what I learned:

1. Water is nice

2. Geese do not care what you think

Learn with me next time, as I explore the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo and hashtag what I'm eating for dinner with reckless abandon.

I never say much.

jacket: Forever 21

tank, shoes and bag: UO

skirt: Remalon at Awoke Vintage

necklace: street vendor

On Wednesday evening I had been drinking in Williamsburg decided to pop into Awoke Vintage in Brooklyn for some tasty impulse shopping. They happened to be hosting a little party and though I don't have any photos of my own from the event, rest assured I am actually capable of being some iteration of social. I died six times over this micro accordion-pleated skirt, downed a glass of "event" champagne (i.e. tan pop) and bailed. That's all she wrote.

No one's got it all

dress: Forever 21

cardigan: pretty sure I stole this from my sister's apartment, sorry Amy

bag, midi rings and shoes: Urban Outfitters

bracelet: gift

For round 2 of Post Titles Inspired By Emotional Songs, I was putting this together and thinking of all of the different ways that I should've merchandised my outfit better, stood with better posture, adjusted the lighting, used a real camera (maybe with a tripod, WHOA) and used a hundred filters to make my wine-bloated face less offensive to your precious eyes. I tend to really over-analyze what I throw out there and it tends to lead to overall anxiety and self-consciousness (even though, let's be honest, having a personal fashion blog is a totally blatant exercise in some degree of ego-stroking). 

And though the less insane part of me just wants to show you something pretty, with the limited resources I have available, I just want it all.

Mary

P.S. The song is "Hero" by Regina Spektor.

I've got a land mine in my blood line

Jacket, tank and pants all Forever 21

necklace: vintage

shoes: Target

bag: UO

The post title isn't really relevant to anything, I've just been listening to the Old 97's lately.

Let me just say that this jacket is itchy as all hell on the insides of the sleeves and I can't EVEN really complain about it because it was probably stitched together in a sweatshop for six cents and purchased for just slightly above that. 

What I WILL bitch about is the fact that I ordered cute business cards for this blog (RIGHT?) and the post office lost them. That was me storming down Broadway through Brooklyn this afternoon throwing the adult equivalent of a walking-tantrum. I don't know how else I'm supposed to quadruple my monthly readership to 24 without a little bit of print exposure. Plus giving away a card with your name on it just looks cool. Like holding a clipboard. 

In other news, my 25th birthday is approaching at an alarming rate, and I would like to thoughtfully plan out my quarter-life crisis meltdown. I'm going to move to Portland and start keeping indoor terrariums and eat food only if it was sourced no further than ten blocks away. I should also probably start dating someone in a band.

Crying into my wine,

Mary

Bellavance FW 2013, Milk Studios

Nolan Bellavance and Ava Hama debuted their first collection earlier last month and I managed to elbow my way to the front of the room (stopping briefly to pluck an unidentified hors d'oeuvre off of a tray) to get to the gothy goodness. The patent-leather trimmed jacket made me all happy and the floral dresses looked super modern and sleek paired with boots and dark red lipstick (which I'm seeking out today).

In other news, I have consumed nothing but juice in the last 36 hours (you know, for science) and I'm feeling slightly less crappy than last night. I was told that today, day 2 of 3,  might be a good day to stay in bed, but I think I would just end up feeling worse. Lethargy and hunger are not something I want to lay in bed with for the next 12 hours so I'm going to do...something. ACTIVITIES. Headache be damned.

NYFW: Christian Siriano FW 2012/2013

On Saturday I was able to attend the Christian Siriano Fall/Winter 13/14 fashion show in Chelsea. I've been following his collections since kicking ass on Project Runway and it's crazy how much his aesthetic has matured from his feathers-and-ruffles days of 2008.

This collection was heavily Baroque architecture-inspired, and Siriano stated post-show that his girl this season was "headed to the Russian opera".

He also had a "mourning widow" thing going on. There were many more black dress/head scarf combos similar to the look above.

The image quality here is sketch but this was his finishing piece for good reason. This chick looked like she was wearing liquid gold.

The full collection.

Also, I'm reading that versions of the shoes from this collection are already being sold at Payless?! I'll just leave this right here and remind my dozen readers that my birthday is in six weeks. 

Mary

Calla Fall/Winter 2013/2014

I visited NYC's legendary Milk Studios this evening to view several up-and-coming fashion designer presentations for Fall & Winter of 2013/2014 (crazy right? I can't even decide what I want to wear to work TOMORROW). It was an event. There were so many beautiful people and media photographers I temporarily short-circuited and took to just staring at everyone for upwards of sixty seconds at a time before being reminded that I was indeed in public. 

I'm starting the next slew of posts with Calla, a Canadian-born designer who produces via Paris and claims her collection was inspired by all kinds of awesome nerdy stuff like Zelda, Tetris and Tron. I needn't say more.

A massive thank you to Keiko Lynn for allowing me the opportunity to attend!

Mary