the fashion void that is DC

I may seem like I've been living under a rock, but yes, I have been on the gravy trains that are Fashion Week starting (and... NY ending) and Project Runway. Admittedly, I'm no longer refreshing the page the minute Marc's show begins and am watching episodes of PR from the DVR and not *gasp* live, but hey.

My condensed feelings (courtesy of style.com link abuse): Marc was good, Preen was good, Rodarte was good repetitiveness as usual, Calvin Klein was appealing, Toni Maticevski was purdy, everyone and their dog had my hairstyle (or rather, Tao's hairstyle), threeasfour was a good Balmain ripoff, everyone else was a bad Balmain ripoff. And except for the last challenge last episode, all the PR judges are smoking crack.

Whew. Moving on.



On the subject of Rodarte, it feels good to pull out this ripoff knit again. I've definitely worn variations of this in the past, but this time it includes faux fur!



Extremely faux: small tufts resembling hair plugs kept falling off. Well worth the $13 at H&M.



Aaand that's all I have to say on this matter.

H&M faux fur stole, Camdenlock sweater, secondhand shorts, DIY leggings, secondhand Corsina shoes

Those that have been reading me for a loooong time will know that once upon a time, I failingly tried to panel some denim. And so, because I just couldn't get enough fail last time, I attempted it again at the Weardrobe Conference.

Pacsun sponsored a "DIY denim challenge" at a nondescript studio location. We were given stacks of Bullhead skinny jeans in various washes, studs, grommets and other embellishments, a needle and thread and an extremely crappy pair of scissors.

Now, Pacsun is a chain that I had most fondly associated with my middle school days, aka "The Dark Ages". However, I was pleasantly surprised by some of their offerings.



I chose to work with these "Future Favorites" bleached and ripped jeans.

And this time, I actually got to cut 'em up! I chose a dark grey pair for the "panels":



Hence the sewing process began. By hand. It was arduous.



Of course, two hours later when the event wrapped up I hadn't even half finished. However, because I was on a roll, I did something I almost never do: continued working at home. Good thing too, because the two hours' work I did at the DIY session I achieved with better results with a sewing machine in 15 minutes.



Yep. Sloppy results again, but perhaps almost -- dare I say -- wearable? At the very least, I can bend my knees.



Also wore them for a test spin at Target, where I simultaneously checked out the Anna Sui for Target line and got recognized by a reader. Holla!



Happy ending!

Frig. I think I lost the blazer I was wearing today.



Noooooo!!! I've been losing a shit ton of things recently, from wallets to accessories to expensive electronics... I guess it's about time it moved on to clothes. Just got this blazer over the NYC weekend, too. Arrgghhhhh. The frustration.



At the very least, I have pictorial evidence of what was. Speaking of which, yeah, kinda went swap-color patriotism today. It's been many moons since I belted things around the waist, but I liked the peplum effect it had on the blazer. Ooh, the blazer...

Sunglasses: need to stop wearing in every picture. Heels: part of the Weardrobe goodies! From Seychelles (the shoe brand, not the charming islands off the eastern coast of Africa).

Of course, afterward I got senile again and unbelted and de-heeled. I'm slacking in more ways than one, really.

Secondhand (lost!?) blazer, secondhand Rickie Freeman polka dot vest, Zara belt, Tripp NYC pants, Seychelles heels

Arg, too many things in limbo right now. Time to get cracking!

But first, an outfit post.



I'm not really fond of "looks like pajamas" outfits anymore, but I pulled this one out because I wanted to pile on the neutrals with neon. Still stuck on neon and neutrals. I know the sunglasses are the only thing keeping it from going too frou-frou. Should've also worn heels too, but I was feeling senile.



The layers in the middle are comprised of a crop top, a neon yellow tank top tied up, and a crochet scarf from Shop Ruche, one of the sponsors from the Weardrobe Conference! I dunno, I still find tying random bits around me entertaining.

Ann Taylor Loft jacket, secondhand nude crochet crop top, F21 yellow tank top, Shop Ruche white crochet scarf thingy, secondhand slip, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, Payless sandals

Time to get back into the swing of things! Eventually.

I swear, my hand is only near my face because my hair was sticking up!


Us Weardrobe peeps didn't get to do much shopping in New York, but one of the days we headed over to Brooklyn for some secondhand shop perusin'. These pants are one of my yieldings.



I like the heavy, muted gold brocade fabric and the big 'ol flare. Because of that I somehow remind myself of an intergral symbol (∫) in this picture. Yes!? I seem to be on a math-roll recently. This is the only nature in which I think about math these days.



I dunno, whenever I wear a different sort of pants, I feel new again. Not really in the mood to go crazy.

Norma Kamali for Walmart blazer, secondhand Roebucks shirt, secondhand Shrine pants, secondhand Corsina shoes

As an aside, to continuously remind myself to do that Weardrobe recap, here are some pics of the other stuff I bought in Brooklyn. Striped linen blazer (the patriotic kick continues), ruffled plaid skirt dress thing.





As another aside, on the first day of the conference, a new street style photographer who called himself Mr. Newton shot us for his blog. He made us jump in a group shot, which kind of had an unintentionally hilarious effect on my hair and sunglasses. Everyone else looked really good though!

Here is a simple equation to describe what I wore today:

[4 days(Weardrobe NYC activities + thinking what to wear + sleep deprivation) + damning amount of schoolwork] * lack of showering =



Hello everyone, I have crashed and burned. Half the things here I stole begged for borrowed, the other half I wore to sleep the night before.

Still too scatterbrained to write a coherent recap post, but here was generally the way I saw the Weardrobe Conference... It was as if each of us were plucked out of the context of day to day goings on and into a bubble where suddenly your blog is your self and everyone has a similar understanding of each other. Amazing and surreal, to say the least.

For lack of anything else substantial to talk about at the moment, here's a "look what I got!" post. The Weardrobe team (consisting of Suz and Rich, ya'll were so sweet ♥) painstakingly planned out every detail of the conference, and while some of the plans fell through the cracks, they wrasseled up a group of sponsors who were kind enough to host events and hand out free swag.



Some kewlio t-shirts (including the Cheap Monday one I'm wearing in the first pic), tights, fabric necklace thingys, sunglasses, gift cards, book(s), nail polish, thongs (...)



Shoooooes. And a big 'ol candle.



And this amazing ring. Thanks, sponsors!



Of particular interest: Knock Out Cosmetics gave us some "Flatte" nail polish, which is what it sounds like: polish with a matte finish. I applied some Flatte Top, which is a matte-inducing topcoat to my preexisting Sephora by OPI glinty aqua nails -- now instead of super shiny, they are a dull sheen. Tons of potential with this!

Anyways, enough about me. Recap about other bloggers and events in the upcoming days!

Final night of da Weardrobe Conference WE ARE SO TIRED UHHHHHHHHHHHHH BRAINS

(Above sentence by Belle.) Once again, these pictures either ganked from her or from the NYC Weardrobe blog.



Sequins + stripes. I think most people were thankful the weather was cool. Walked our soles off in Soho.



Literally! Hahahahah. The sole came off these children's patent red booties, which was fun. Here we're styling mannequins at eryn brinie, which is a shop I will not link because the site "may harm your computer"!



The sequins-sunglasses-stripes brigade.

Ann Taylor Loft short sleeved jacket, H&M sequin dress, secondhand fishnet top and Limited Too striped dress, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, DIY harness, H&M fishnet tights, secondhand patent red boots

I know ya'lls are probably more interested of the goings on of the folks at the Weardrobe Conference right now. Sorry, for now you still just get my boring daily outfit posts. Go here for an actual, pictoral count of what's going down! Including my frustrations with paneling denim... it is well documented there.



All pictures by Belle, still, 'cuz I'm a lazy bastard. Outfit mainly for shopping purposes, tied the sleeves of the leopard print dress around my waist to keep the batwing hoody in.



Kept dropping sunglasses.



This picture stolen from the Weardrobe blog.

Gap batwing hoody, H&M leopard print dress and belt, Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses, Black Milk leggings, secondhand Corsina shoes

Overly vague and short recap: Ate at Eat, shopped til we almost literally dropped in Brooklyn, did stuff with denim, ate more, took the night.

Alright, here is one picture I took. Just proving other bloggers' existences. Check the reflection!

Live from New York! I'm sitting in a room at the Gramercy Park Hotel with Tavi and Arabelle on a bed nearby. Take that for what you will.

Hah, just kidding! It's night one of the Weardrobe Conference. Unfortunately, you will get a crappy recap from me since I wittingly only brought a 32mb memory card on me, but I'm sure all the other girls will have much more relevant recollections. For now, here's just a daily wear:



Pictures by Arabelle. Read her post there!

So we did lotsa meetin' and greetin', got kicked out of parks for attempting street style photos, ate pizza and then crashed due to exhaustion. These Slow and Steady Wins the Race sunglasses I got very recently was a big hit among photographers, bloggers and hoboes alike.



Srs photo.



More info later!

Zara sequin cardigan, secondhand nude fishnet top, F21 neon green tank top, Millard Fillmore houndstooth skirt, secondhand skull ring, Nokia watch, We Love Colors tights, Seychelles heels

Today, a bus driver told me that I looked like Rihanna. You be the judge!



I think it was the jeans. It's always the jeans!! It's been a while.



The thing is, I only wore them today because I had run out of other pant options. Moving away from jeans, uuum, I call this patriotic and pirate-y.



I will end this discussion by noting that I only cropped this photo this way because my facial expression was horrible.

Secondhand lace-sleeved jacket, white hole-y top from Handmade Mart, secondhand H&M red striped top, Subversive for Target necklace, secondhand leopard print scarf, DIY'd bleached Express jeans, Seychelles ankle boots