Shoe of the Day: West Dreams of East

Words to Live By...

Tie One On

The art, and I am calling it an art, of tying a scarf is one I have not yet mastered. It is kind of the accessory equivalent of mastering the sexy bed-head hair. Too done- and the whole thing looks overly planned and uptight...to loose and the scarf looks sloppy, like an after thought. But when done right- it looks so effortlessly cool and it makes an average coat/t-shirt/sweater look one-of-a-kind chic. I have collected one two many scarves over the years...and the thing I have come to realize is that length is key. I like an oversized rectangular scarf to do a loose double wrap...or a little trick is to make yourself a snood (hood/scarf combo) by knotting the two opposite corners and looping it twice around your neck. If the scarf is slightly stiff - you get great shape and character when you do this. Still working on the head-wrapping (see number 4)...not sure it translates when you have a white girl fro- such as I . Probably not going to stop me from continuing to try!

Spring You Better Watch Out, I've Been Crushing on You all Winter

As much as I love layering, are you not soooooooo tired of the process of winter dressing? Coat, gloves, scarf, boots...and inevitably there is always the salt stains and ring around the ankle that betray you. Who has already lost two gloves this season? Hands up. To keep my spirits up...I like to take a little inspiration here and there and stick it in my cap (or toque) of the what the future me will be wearing. This lady is rocking my future spring vibe. The elements include an easy no brainer vintage dress (comfortable yet sassy) in a fresh hue, practical oxfords (because I will walk everywhere...just because the cold won't dictate!!), a great topper (I have just the one waiting from late fall for its debut) and some simple pendant necklaces layered. Oh yeah Spring- our first date is going to be special.

Queen of Clubs

Rock Steady

Some gals (and gents too) have a thing for diamonds but give me some good old costume jewelry and I am a happy, happy woman. The late forties and early fifties had it down...simplicity of form and pops of colour up the chic factor, giving pieces weight and drama in a look. Take the examples here. Kenneth Jay Lane has some wonderful costume jewelry pieces - that gravitate toward an old school aesthetic. Erickson Beamon has some really incredible pieces that are an innovative bridge of classic and edgy. I think they will be collectors pieces one day. I am starting a piggy bank now and my earlobes are very excited.

Sole Mates

I love how you get such a sense of intimacy from this photo and yet we see nothing of the couple's faces. We gather so much of their personalities and the dynamic of their relationship through the details of their clothing and the positioning of their feet. She is a creative, free spirit with a penchant for being dramatic...he is a bookish type, more of an introvert but an independent thinker - confident in his choices, sartorial and otherwise. They are in love.

Garden Party

Speaking of Inspiration...

Isn't funny how things make an impression on us and show up in other areas of our life...sometimes in weird and unpredictable ways...sometimes years later. Case and point, the image that is in the header for this blog. I chose it for no other reason than it struck my fancy A couple weeks ago going through old school work from 2005 I found a painting that I had done from a contemporary portrait- that was basically a copy of this picture from the late 1960's. I must really want to glue sequins to my face. Or above, these amazing are deco style earrings - faboosh banana republic- that I wanted so badly are pretty much the earring equivalent of this picture of Anne Hathaway from Vogue that I had archived on my laptop weeks earlier. Does this happen to you?

Small Spaces contain the Biggest Dreams

So a couple of months have passed and I don't feel like a total imposter in my surroundings anymore. First off, my new apartment finally doesn't look like an episode of Hoarders - which scarily it did for the first 3 weeks. After the paint had dried (some in my hair, some on the walls) and the endless boxes were unpacked I started to get inspired. I have always been more partial to small spaces. I had a really small room growing up but I took a lot of pride in it. It was were I exercised my first creative independence. I covered one whole wall with a collage of images that were a window for me to another world, another life. It was such an inspiration- I would spend hours adding to it- and staring at it. And now, as an adult (cough)- I am so excited to begin again. My newest addition is an amazing poster by Jack Dylan of a mob of people looking up in awe. That's it for me too- looking up, beyond and seeing something new.