Chanel Little Black Dress

Some of my favorite things...

Outfits Inspired by Music: From October

(make sure to click the song names for YouTube links!)

1. Philosophy by Ben Folds Five

black t-shirt, black hoodie, scarf from TJ Maxx, necklace from Philippines, Old Navy shorts, black tights, H&M boots

2. Levi Johnston's Blues by Ben Folds

blue plaid shirt, Macy's ripped skinny jeans, Gap leggings, gray heels

3. Alejandro by Lady Gaga

I <3 NY t-shirt, studded belt, Forever 21 robot necklace, black jacket w/silver zipper, black Old Navy skort, black tights, black Payless heels

4. Together by Demi Lovato feat. Jason Derulo

floral shirt, turquoise H&M cardigan, 7 for all mankind jeans, pink converses, purple headband from CVS

5. Super Bass by Nicki Minaj
purple floral American Eagle dress, blue Old Navy button up top, blue converse high tops, rainbow socks from Costco

Project Runway Season 9 Episode 2 Review

Well, first off, let me say that I love the unconventional challenges. I'm always so excited to see what designers can come up with, and as they're shopping, I love looking around and seeing what I would buy if I had to complete the challenge. I'm surprised nobody picked up some chew toys to make a more wearable version of Lady Gaga's Kermit the Frog dress, but Nina Garcia did mention something like that to Fallene, and Fallene said that she thought she would be more likely to be eliminated. I also thought, what if someone got a snake to wear as a scarf? And then Bert asked if live animals were off limits, and Tim Gunn said they were. Aww...

I loved watching the finished designs, but there was one design that never made it to the runway: Laura's puppy cone dress. That was very interesting, and it reminded me of my own idea for a hardware store challenge where you make a skirt out of a lampshade...

The puppy cone skirt was very interesting, and I felt bad when it was too short... But why did Laura just throw it away altogether? Did she not have anymore cones to add to make it longer? Well, there was the possibility that she didn't, so couldn't she have added some of the cat scratch cardboard underneath? I guess it might have looked a little tacky, but the puppy cones would've added more than just the cardboard dress she did end up sending down the runway. I thought she might have been in the bottom three, and then she wouldn't be able to defend it, while the puppy cones may have given her a little credit for using unconventional materials. But alas, she did not end up in the bottom.

And who else didn't end up in the bottom? Well, Julie didn't after her dog food packaging dress. That was horrible. Not only did it look bad, but she probably used the most conventional materials of all. I remember somebody saying that if that was out of the box, then he wanted to be in the box. And I can't help wondering... what did she do with the dog food inside the packaging? Did she just throw it away? Or maybe she donated it to Cecilia, who made another horrid dress by hot gluing dog food to muslin. That's gross.

And then Fallene, Josh C, and Bryce end up in the bottom.

I really like Fallene, and her design was not that bad. It was a bit boring, but the color was not off, her styling wasn't off. I see nothing wrong with it. Josh C wasn't that bad either. Although I did feel that he should've gone home in the come as you are challenge, he put together a much nicer look this week. And I didn't even notice that he put "the puppies on the puppies." He talked about how he died it and turned it inside out to give it a tie dye look, and that's exactly what I saw. It was a little more understandable how he was in the bottom three than Fallene, but I think they should've replaced Julie and Cecilia in the middle.

And, well, Bryce was pretty bad. I think he had good ideas, and if he had more time to execute them, it could've been a better look, but they only had a day to work, which I think is ridiculous. If he had more time and if he was in the bottom three with Julie and Cecilia, he might have been saved.

Now, moving on the some of the better middle designs:

Bert was not that bad. No, he didn't use unconventional materials, but he knew he had immunity, so he just slid by but still made a decent dress. Of course he was lucky he had immunity like Heidi Klum pointed out. He was aware of that immunity, so he didn't try, and I think people should be more understanding of that. He's through because he made an awesome dress last week, so let's see what he can do next week.

I liked Becky's idea with the plants for the aquarium. I just don't think it was executed well. I have no problem with all the colors. In fact, it's the colors that I do like. I just don't like the feathers coming out on top, or the shape of the dress.

I loved the net top that Danielle made, but the entire outfit didn't really show much creativity, so it's understandable how she was just in the middle. Hopefully next week she can take the creativity she put into the net top and transfer that to the entire outfit so she can reach the top.

Anya's dog leash top was pretty amazing. I got worried during the episode, though, because she didn't have anything for a long time, but then she comes up with that top, and I'm like, whoa! But again, kind of understandable that she was in the middle. It's probably one of the better designs in the middle, but still not a top design.

Kimberly had a really interesting top with the blue aquarium rope things. It's similar to Anya's, except not as much color, which is not usually my favorite thing, so in my book, Anya's design was a tad better, but then again, they were similar and both good.

And I loved Viktor's dress! I loved how he died the pads and then layered them on top of each other, and then it had a tie dye effect. As soon as I saw it in the workroom, I thought, "That's why I'll never be that good... I would never think of something like that." He should've been in the top. What he did was what the entire challenge was about: manipulating the unconventional products to make something beautiful. It was really good, and I think he should've replaced Olivier.

Even though Olivier won, I didn't feel he was the best. I didn't like his skirt. Hamster bedding? It sure looked like it. And then to glue it to the eyebrows... reasonable touch to a horrible outfit. I didn't have as much a problem with the top, and it worked well with everything else, but it was made out of cloth. They gave Josh C such a hard time about using cloth, but they don't care that Olivier did. Are the judges playing favorites?

Anthony Ryan's bird seed dress was pretty, and it definitely deserved to be in the top. It must've taken forever for him to glue the seeds to the muslin, longer than gluing dog food, hamster bedding, or aquarium foliage. But it was worth it, because it looked nice, like beading, as he put it. And he definitely stepped away from boring when he made that design on the neckline with the darker bird seeds. And I loved how the neckline went into a bit of a turtleneck.

But the winner for me Josh M! Those aquarium crystals were glued beautifully, and again, those must've taken ages to glue on, and then he made them into a design, too! And the top was a beautiful shape, and it fit so well with the circle skirt. Did the judges really have to mention that it was an odd pairing? It's not an odd pairing! It's a great pairing! Do baggy tops really always have to be paired with a pencil skirt or skinny jeans? No! And Josh M proved that! And I loved how he had the mirror. Why did Nina Garcia complain about that? Does she always complain about new and interesting things? I seem to recall her making a complaint about Mondo's polka dot dress in last season's finale... Well, I think her decision to crown Gretchen as Project Runway's winner last season is making her all the more annoyed with her this season...

I'm excited for next week... I remember seeing pictures from the outside runway show on Facebook, and Kim Kardashian seems about to take charge as a judge... that should be interesting. ;)

Film Stilling - Pretty Math Geek

Film stilling was introduced to me by The Style Rookie. I might do this more often...

But my outfit of the day:

And my "film still" :

New hat, new creation

My beautiful hat that I tried all day yesterday to start making, but the ear flaps kept on getting messed up... I finally got it right this morning... early this morning (like one o' clock this morning, mhmm) and I finished it tonight. I know you probably can't see it, but there are braided tassels coming down from the ear flaps. And I know for sure that you cannot see the black pom pom on top. But it seriously is a freaking awesome pom pom.

Oh, and by the way, I'm really excited to wear this hat with another creation I'm making. Not going to say anything, except that it's coming from this shirt:

And another by the way... these pictures were taken while I was watching Dancing with the Stars, thus the brightly lit TV behind me. Woohoo! Jennifer and Derek! I would've preferred Brandy and Maks in the finals up there with them, maybe even beating them... but I'm happy with them winning! Derek Hough is hawt.

No heels.

As I said in yesterdays post, I didn't exactly trust myself wearing my new heels to school, so I brought along my trust Mickey Mouse Flats that I bought at D-land two years ago, Mickey Mouse flats that you can see me paint here. And yeah, I unfortunately actually did have to change. But first of all, as I was walking down the hall, I passed by my physics teacher who is super conservative, but she for some reason likes me. You get that? Me... and she smiled at me, like always. I kind of smiled back as I was walking, and she was all, like, "Oh, whoa," looking down at my feet. It felt like an insult. =( Scary. Anyway, I went to Spanish club at lunch, and my friend said we could each have three of his M&M cookies. And I had three, and had a stomach ache afterwards, and I could barely walk in my flats, let alone in heels. So I stuck with my flats for the rest of the day...
Except, it started to rain, and I threw on a raincoat because my 'rents and I were off to SF...
And I put converses on, instead of flats that would expose my feet to the water falling from the sky.

Transformation

Before: yeah, yeah, I know, just another ugly t-shirt that's too big for you. And it says something about 1993 on it? The year I was born in? Ugh. It looks like I'm wearing a pajama shirt. =PAfter: I cinched it in a bit and lowered the neckline a bit, and I drew a design on it.

And I sewed some beads on, too.

And that is where the weird design used to be... I cut it out and sewed it back together.

And these are the shoes I will wear with it... I haven't worn this outfit, yet... I'm wearing it tomorrow, so I still haven't experienced wearing these heels to school. I just got them last night from my neighbor. She was so nice to give them to me, because she bought them and didn't want them anymore. This is a good thing from being neighbors with rich people =)
And today in drama, my friend drew hearts on my hand with pink pen (sorry, kind of hard to see.) Anyway, I like how the hearts match my nails. =)

Fashion Lusts.

Today I wore quite a few pieces of clothing that I have lusted over one time or another. Most of them are relatively recent. But let us go on, shall we? Oh, gosh, I feel like a creepy teacher when I say that...

First we have my I Heart Oz t-shirt that I got when I went to see Wicked. Wicked ftw! And, of course, my frog sweatshirt. Ya'll know the story.
And my jean jacket. And I especially got a lot of compliments on it today. We were playing a circle game in drama where we had to go into the center of the circle. You were supposed to not laugh. Of course, I laughed, and when people told me I was out, some other said "No, it's all right, because she has a cool jacket." And as I walked back to the outside of the circle, they asked if I made it myself... Yes, ya'll, yes I did.
Skinny khakis. I made these from some old khakis I already had that had a flair.
Pink converses! I spent all summer searching for pink shoes and stores like Ross and Marshalls and TJ Maxx... and I finally found these at Ross. I love pink!
Ah, and si. I have fallen for the silly band trend.

Murals

music note shirt with my "I'm a Gleek" sweatshirt... I thought they paired pretty nicely.

This outfit was worn on a Spanish field trip to the Mission District in San Francisco. We passed by Mission Dolores, but we spent the majority of the day looking at inspiring murals. Here are some of the favorite pictures that I took... I will post sketches inspired by these pictures soon.

Skinny Jeans.

I've been unhealthily obsessed with sewing lately... so much that I've been slacking on schoolwork and NaNoWriMo. I changed some flared jeans into skinny jeans, which I admit to preferring. When I sew things, though, I need to remember to take a before picture, too. Am I right? Am I right?

Polka dots...

Denim skirt, Polka Dot tights

Denim Jacket VIDEO!

My new video about the denim jacket I made! Which outfit do you think I should wear tomorrow?

Halloween Post!

Happy Halloween!!!

Anyway, I was Dorothy for Halloween... made my costume myself.

If I could go back in time, I would make a few alterations... I think I'm still going to make a few alterations, anyway, because I'm crazy and actually like to sew.

And I did buy ruby slippers at Target, but they ended up being to small, so I just returned them today and wore my pink converses, instead... it kind of worked, I think. But funny story when I was at Target, returning... the lady was trying so hard to not let me return it, by saying it wasn't on the receipt, and that I had the wrong size. Eventually, she just had to let me return it. And I paid for them with a gift card, originally, and she gave me cash back! Yay! I made some money!!

And besides the ruby slippers being too small, I don't like Target clothes that much, anyway. I have a pair of flats from there that I bought in, like, middle school... it didn't feel like a mistake back then, but it really was. They're my ugliest pair of shoes... I rarely even wear them, and when I do, I feel soooo uncomfortable.

Anyways, here's a pick of when I was actually trick-or-treating. (Yes, I still trick-or-treat. I'm preserving the teeth of little kids by taking the candy before they get it.)

Denim Jacket

What on earth will I do with this pair of jeans that I cut a huge slit in the front of??!!

Why, make a jacket, of course! By the way, this is far from the finished product. I'll post updates as they come.

But right now, can I just rant about how mad I am about that last episode of Project Runway? Wtf! Gretchen should not have won... her clothes were boring and drab and ugly... and, seriously, who would wear that underwear she showed? Mondo definitely should have won! His clothes were interesting and colorful, and full of inspiration! I still have stomach aches just thinking about Gretchen winning.

Sweatshirts

This is my favorite pullover... I love it because it is a pullover, but without a hood.

And now I'll turn the other way... this is my new favorite hoodie. I had been looking for a green striped hoodie, and I found this one at Plato's Closet for just eight dollars. And then I bought the googly eyes at Joanne's and taped them on. I might get around to attaching them better, but I make no commitments.

Outfit of the Day - October 26

Men's shirt, black tights, belt

and a charm bracelet.

Funny story: I was at the orthodontist, and for once she was being kind of sort of friendly to me, getting excited about how she used to have a belt like mine. And my mom went on to share that it used to be her belt. What a nice conversation, huh? And since my orthodontist was in a good mood, I thought it would be a good time to ask when I would get my braces off... I'll have an appointment in three weeks, another one three weeks after that, and then we'll be able to talk about taking off my braces. After four years with them on, six weeks doesn't sound like an eternity, anymore!

Plato's Closet: Halloween and Homecoming

I went shopping at Plato's Closet today in search of Halloween and Homecoming things. One of my friends stole my ID card today and bought a ticket to the homecoming dance for me... so I kind of have to go, now. I found this dress thinking I might wear it to the dance, and I styled it just so (and please ignore the mess that is my room):

Messy bun, dainty necklace, simple black heels, pearl earrings, winged eyeliner, pink lipstick (Viva Glam Gaga from Mac), pink "blush" (also Viva Glam Gaga from Mac...)

Although I found nothing for Halloween, I did find something else that I was super super happy about... but I'm going to wait for another day and another blog post to devote to worship to this item.

And by the way, I decided just to return this dress... and wear something else for homecoming. Hopefully, my friends won't mind taking pictures tomorrow, and I might be able to post some pictures of my outfit.

Color and Makeup

Some praise for this eyeshadow trio from Clinique... it saved my life this morning. Sure, I just got it this weekend, but I needed some makeup, and I was able to do this really quickly on the way to school. And I realized I forgot my handheld mirror... this worked wonders to admire myself in! ;)

And by the way, these are my nails right now... red, and kind of chipped... and some white nail polish on the tip of my right hand. That's because I bought a white nail art pen at Rite Aid, and I needed somewhere to test it out on before I bought it. But what's your stand on chipped nail polish? I don't really mind it... just as long as you have some COLOR, the lack of polish on some parts don't matter as much... it's not as if you're totally drab, right? It might be a little bit trashy, but you can always fix it...

Macy's Sales Rack.

I spontaneously bought two things off of the sales rack at Macy's today... each were ten dollars. I'm a big fan of one, but not so much the other. Ironically, when I bought them based on just what I saw on the hanger (not trying them on), I thought my likes would be the other way around. But now that I got home and actually put them on... these are my thoughts:

1. "I'm a gleek" sweatshirt. This is the one that I am a big fan of. Obviously, I was a fan when I saw it at the store... my sister was making fun of it since she doesn't watch Glee, but I am a hardcore fan. Right now, actually, I am listening to the song "One of Us" from the show. But anyway, as I walked out of the store, I was thinking that I was probably going to return one of the things I got, and I assumed it would be the sweatshirt. I have as many sweatshirts as I need, but none of them are as coolio as this Glee sweatshirt! And I know that you can't see it on this picture, but it's not a pullover, which I appreciate... even though I spent an entire shopping spree one time looking for a pullover... nice pullovers are so hard to come by, so I'm still always just as happy finding sweaters that zip or button up.

2. A dress that kind of looks like a button up shirt tucked into a pencil skirt. I fell in love at first sight... or so I thought. Nah... The neckline is way to low. The skirt is way too long (it goes past my knees... I'm all for calf length skirts, but they have to fit better than this). The back is awkward, and it's hard to get on/off. Even though I don't take PE, anymore, I still prefer clothes that are pretty simple to take off and put on... at least, when I buy them. But, so, yeah... I'm probably going to return this dress.