Do The Bustle!

So for the first part of my spring break I was invited to spend a few days at my lovely aunt Colleen’s and hysterical uncle Ridge’s olive farm near Santa Rosa. My aunt is known in my family for her amazing seamstress skills. I expressed my interests to her in making a skirt modeled off of a Vivienne Westwood skirt I had seen with a bustle on it. She was more then willing to help.

Here are a few pictures from their home, which is stunning and so much fun to explore.

Well after I settled in I sifted through a few of Colleens old patterns most of which were from the 80’s. I found a lovely skirt pattern that we based our basic design off of. First we kind of fumbled around with some extra fabric and made a mock skirt, which turned out great and only fuelled my excitement for the real thing even more.

Once we started the actual skirt it went by pretty fast until the hand sewing part came up. Since we didn’t want my hemline to show, I had to do an invisible stitch all across the hem which became very tedious very fast.

I also had to tack the bustle on by hand, which didn’t take all that long but since I was so excited for it to be done it felt like an eternity.

When I was finished I was very happy with the verdict. I am excited to wear this skirt a bunch. I wore it today and my the end of the day the bustle had sort of a deflated look which I have to remember next time I wear it. Fluffing will be key with this item!

I had such a fantastic time making this skirt. It looks really good in person and I am very happy with it. I've sewn for years but haven't much recently. Maybe this will encourage me to bring out the good 'ol sew machine.

Next time maybe I'll even take orders! I don't want to get to cocky though. :)

Until next time!

-Katy

Trades, trades, trades!

So remember a few posts back I told you guys a little about Empire Vintage?

Well, I went in there the other day to do some trades with Tiffney. I had a mass amount of vintage clothes that didn’t fit me any more because of my weight loss and decided I could use this to my advantage. I took a giant pile of clothes into the store and smacked them down on the counter.

I gave her about 6 items and she gave me 2 dresses a sweater and a pair of fabulous boots. I

wanted to share one of the dresses I got with you guys as well as the boots. I plan on putting the other stuff up as well, I’m just a tad bit

hurried right now and must get ready for work soon.

The boots are from the 1970’s while the dress was from the early, early 1960’s.

the photo was taken by Sophia Singleton.

Wearing: The dress from Empire Vintage

The glasses from Laurel Street Antiques

The shoes are Michael Kors from the Michael Kors store

The belt came from Wet Seal

Isn't the back just great? I love the bit of skin popping out. I also think that backs can be one of the most sexy parts on the body.

I love all my new clothes I got and I cant wait to show the rest to you guys later!

Hope you all are doing well!

-Katy

Please Let Me Atone For Getting Drool On The Silk

I was re-watching Atonement the other day and even though this is my third time watching this film, Keira Knightly’s emerald green dress still makes me gasp for air. The dress was made specifically for Keira to wear.
They had to make a few different copies of it because the dress was so delicate. (Or so I hear) The costume designer Jacqueline Durran was nominated for an Academy Award for costume design. They have now made a mass amount of duplicates of this dress because every one went absolutely nuts for it. Although nothing can come close to the lavishness of the original dress. It was the talk of 2007. The fabric just falls off Keira’s lanky body, hugging her in all the right places and elongating the others. This dress is truly stunning. The cut, color and fabric all come together like a dream.

What a truly breath taking color. I really can not get over the fact that the color literally makes my mouth salivate.

I must make something similar before I turn green with envy.

Cecilia Tallis: I love you. I'll wait for you. Come back. Come back to me.

Do you think Keira Knightly is talking about James McAvoy or the dress she had to give up after filming?

You all know my choice.

-Katy

Let's Party Like It's 1968.

This past week very exciting news hit! My two very wonderful friends were coming home! Peter had been away touring all over the country with his band The Atom Age. (http://www.myspace.com/theatomage) While Melanie had been on a trip. It had been weeks since I had seen either of them and was ecstatic to learn we were going to have a welcome back party for the both of them.

You know what that means, I need to find something to wear ASAP. A little while a go I went this wonderful little vintage store in Oakland called Mercy Vintage. (Mercy Vintage) The woman who was working couldn’t have been more helpful and they had a pretty damn great selection if I do say so myself. I highly recommend this store if you’re in the Oakland area.

Surprisingly everything was very well priced as well. I didn’t feel like I had to pay an arm and a leg to get one great thing. Instead I got a few magnificent items and they were all at a great price.

I hadn’t had a chance to wear one of the dresses I had gotten there yet so I figured this was a perfect opportunity to do so.

I am really not supposed to be spending money right now at all so shopping is so hard for me. I

just need to remind myself over and over again to say no. So when I took my friend Mary (http://journeyintoelderhood.blogspot.com/) shopping with me the day of the party I had a very hard time just putting things down and walking away. I had a lovely time with Mary though, and took her to this fabulous little vintage store called Empire Vintage (Empire Vintage)that just opened about three months ago in Palo Alto right off of University. This store has such excellent stuff I find myself drooling a lot of the time. The dress selection is to die for while the jewelry section is out of this world. My friend Mary had just gotten this little black Laundry dress and needed some sort of jewelry to go with it.

We were scanning and I fell head over heals in love with this fabulous poodle necklace from the 60’s. Oh how I loved it, and it would be a great accent to my dress I was wearing to the party. The owner’s mom said it was from her own collection and she would be happy to give me a discount. She was really trying to help a poor college student like myself out. Too bad I had no money and had to walk away from it with my head hung and tail in between my legs. Mary was buying some great pins and stuff which she looked great in while I was having a good time just melting over their clothes and talking to the owner of the store Tiffany, who is just the sweetest woman you could imagine and is right there and eager to help the entire time. She for sure knows what she is talking about. We went on our way. While driving Mary home from the fun day of shopping she slipped a bag into my pocket. I open it and there was the necklace. I could have died I was so happy.

So at the end of the night my outfit came together quite nicely with the black and white 60’s dress and my black and white 50’s saddle shoes to match. Then I had the over the top 60’s gold poodle necklace for a marvelous accent.

<-- photo by: Lauren Stoller

The party was a smash hit. It was terrific to see my two great friends Melanie and Peter who everyone at work missed dearly.

It was such a nifty, groovy night.

From the help of my two new favorite vintage store, I felt like a real gone cat.

-Katy

Ah, Is That Spring Weather I Feel? You Know What That Means!

Want to un-clutter your life? I sure do.

How about a bit of SPRING CLEANING.

Surprisingly un-cluttering really helps you feel more at ease. I was shocked to find this out after I have spent the last week re-arranging my room. I have always been a very messy person with (according to my parents) to many items of clothing as well as shoes to go along with them. I kind of consider myself kind of a hoarder when it comes to clothes and shoes. Even if I do not like the item I feel like I need it, just in case one day it is a do or die situation and thank god I kept that discussing t-shit that says SUCURITY on the front, I would have been dead with out it.

Anyway, my point is I am constantly trying to make room for more things. I have always had ginormous piles all over my room of just crap.

My shoes have always been scattered all over my closet floor. My hats, scarves and belts have always been draped over my light to the point you cant even tell it’s a light any more. I decided that I would display my prized possessions …my shoes and hats … and keep my piles out of sight in the closet. This change has made such a difference in my opinion. Its way easier to get ready in the morning now, I can just grab what ever I need and book it before I’m late to my first class.

The next thing I think I want is to install is a rotating closet with a computer to pick out my outfits, just like in the opening scene of Clueless. Ah to be young and rich with a credit card, if only my life was exactly like Cher Horowitz. (Of course, with out the part about falling in love with your stepbrother, um am I the only one who happened to find that incestual and gross?)

Well a girl can dream at least.

-Katy

Top ten songs for spring cleaning:

1. James Brown - Get Up Offa That Thing

2. Devo - Whip It

3. Bob Seger - Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight

4. The B-52's - Love Shack

5. Dead Eye Dick - New Age Girl

6. Smash Mouth - I'm a Believer

7. The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

8. Aretha Franklin - Think

9. The Blues Brothers - Shake Your Tailfeather

10. Yello - Oh Yeah

( http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1577868/top_10_songs_for_spring_cleaning.html)

Old Butter Stains Don't Look Good Without Accessories.

I’m late! I’m late, for a very important date! By date I really mean work.

Where I work we have a very bland work uniform. Black bottoms, white button down shirt and black shoes.

I am not a fan of this uniform at all, although there is a little flexibility here and there. (please excuse the picture with the butter stains on the shirt, haha.)

There are days when I have to rush straight to work from school to get there on time. For those of you who have to wear work uniforms I’m sure you will agree you don’t exactly love wearing them to school.

Well here is my quick fix.

I almost always keep a white button down shirt in my car just in case I get called in at the last minuet or something along those lines. Well sometimes I don’t if my parents have been harassing me about my “filthy car that is a privilege not a right.” Then it is clean with out any clothes in it.

Anyway, when I’m heading to school I will usually slip on a black skirt, the only one I have at the moment is my Euro 60’s one. Instead of wearing just bland black tights I try to always pick some out with a pattern on them of some kind. It just adds extra “umpf.”

I wear a bright colored shirt (usually from American Apparel) and some sort of accessory. Today I wore another American Apparel yellow belt.

When you get to work slip on the work shirt and slap the belt on over it.

WALAH! You now look like you have put a little extra effort in.

It's also always nice to have a little color pop from underneath your dress shirt.

Although try not to dress it up to much, the work place can be very messy and inconvenient to pull out your fine wear.

I had to learn that the hard way.

Come see a movie sometime! Wear something fun!

"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye."

-Katy

Animal Instincts

I became interested in Christopher Kane about a year ago when I saw his famous Gorilla dress. My interest has just grown. I absolutely love his two pieces with the animal prints on them and just wanted to share them with you guys.

When I told my family and a few friends I was getting this dress they all just kind of rolled their eyes as if to say “uhh, ok Katy. You’re a tad bit nuts.” I have to say though, I just can’t stop wearing my new crocodile dress.

If I could I would wear it every day! Tell me what you guys think. Are you a fan of these in your face dresses? If these dresses aren’t going to make you stand out then I don’t know what will!

Please excuse the IPhone picture, I had my old art teacher Anna take a picture but you couldn't really see the dress because it was dark.

Wearing:

Christopher Kane Crocodile dress

American Apparel zip up belt

Knee high socks stolen from my father Rick

1950's hat bought in Reedsberg Wisconsin

Well I suppose thats it for now.

Later Gator!

-Katy