halloweekend day 3

my own version of belle du jour.

halloweekend day 2

going to lamon's birthday party, and then...

a werewolf bar mitzvah.

my yarmulke isn't going to fit.

halloweekend day 1

thea and kyra (as mf doom!)

tselaine (fox) rita and sam

my last-minute argus costume

jody's farm

probably my last visit for a while. for any family member, really. hopefully, before another two years pass, i'll get a cousin to do a sojourn. it's so beautiful.

chocolate, going up the mountain

zoe, jumping a creek. overdoing it much?

heading back towards the farm

crow

if i had my act a little more together, i could build this for my halloween costume. but i won't. no idea what i'll be, but there are a bunch of parties this year. i don't really feel the need to impress anyone. 

white flowers

so this is me being not-classy. can i say ghetto? as a shopgirl, i'm always irked by 'customers' that take pictures of the products on display. people don't shoot items and then buy them. it's not that i stand to lose pay, but they're essentially taking the idea, even if they can't display it on their bodies or shelves.

my irritation notwithstanding, i've been taking pictures in fitting rooms since long before camera-phones. total hypocrisy. i was a teenager, trying on lela rose* or giambattista valli at filene's basement. (r.i.p. filene's) great dresses that have been lost to time, or ebay. 

anyway, here i am at h&m, trying on their "conscious collection." that means they're using organic cotton and recycled polyester, with a nod to sustainability. the pieces were romantically embroidered and largely white. the sweater with the long-stemmed flowers, and the leaves climbing the sleeve; i fell in love with it. i went back and bought it the next day.

because my income is basically nil, i couldn't also buy this frock, which had great details in 360°. it's a little too bohemian for what i'm doing right now, anyway.

*this is the gold brocade lela rose dress i tried on back in the day. the photo i took is gone, but the back had a lovely cut-out. (it wasn't a trendy detail yet.) the body in this pic belongs to stupid rachel bilson.

windy city social club

went to big star for kyra's birthday. i never would have gone here of my own accord -- so yuppie -- but the tacos turned out to be decent. i tried to play 'desert island' with my kyra's friends, to very limited success.

sort of my signature look for the season. it's the easy, masculine, serge gainsbourg-inspired look that i'd wanted to achieve. i'd never accuse the man of sparkly sweater vests or russian army hats, but there's a mens' chambray shirt under this; skinny pants; he did a leather jacket. my face is appropriately boyish/weird.

at the empty bottle for windy city social club. i can pick out a lot of friends in this shot: myself, kyra, brenda, cassandra, ashley, 'shua, jake, and ray. noah is in there somewhere.

before, obv.

taken october 29th

twerking for the weekend

spent decent-sized chucks of thursday, friday, and saturday running around with lab rat. while engaging in his raison d'etre, he put me on the list at two parties, but we also got in some just-us quality time. we barbecued it up joy yee's in chinatown and judged people at the 18th street pilsen open studios artwalk.

cut my hair. not feeling so good about it. too long or too short, i'm not sure. not edgy or glam enough? it's kind of a long prince valiant pageboy instead of a bedhead-y shag. i think i look like ramona quimby, and i never even read those books.

on a less vapid track, my saturday and sunday largely took place at the design harvest festival, where i hustled goodies for swim cafe, my favorite spot in the city for chai, sandwiches, and soup. it was wonderful to work with karen and her team, and both days were super-sunny. (actually, i kind of got a sunburn on my face.) there were lots of beautiful babies and happy dogs. you get a shot of pride from representing a restaurant that believes in fair trade, organic, veg/vegan, and fresh-healthy options. after hours, karen let me help her bake. this was my first time working in food service, and i loved it.

belle&sebastian night at darkroom

 w/ max at chromeo

white lines

right now it would seem that zara, above any other "affordable" shop on michigan avenue, has their finger on the pulse of what i'm looking for in fashion. modern, sleek lines, with a decent weight to their fabric.

there seems to be a confidence to their vision, which is sadly lacking at most retailers, that try to play for every taste, but end up having no point of view. the actual designer that is probably getting bit the most right now is celine or stella mccartney. usually i wouldn't name-check either of those as my favorite designer, but in terms of what can be copied well for a low price-point.... couture details never translate well. convicted tailoring, on the other hand...

in terms of zara's tailoring, i will admit that they cut for a slim figure. i can't fit into their smallest size. several of their items were produced in one size only - M. i know they don't have garments for bigger girls.