tattoos

Monday, November 30, 2009

Sartorial Shifts

My boot challenge has caused me to reflect a bit on some changes in my personal style.  I have many boots, but they have been collected over a period of many years.  I don't still have any boots from high school, but I do have boots from college (my cowgirl boots), my early years of graduate school, and boots that I've acquired since I became ABD and started teaching my own classes a few years ago.  Perhaps I will buy another pair when I get my doctorate here in a couple of months (*fingers crossed*). 

I have to admit, though, that I don't wear some of my boots very much because they don't seem to translate particularly well into my evolving personal style.  For example, these are the boots that I wore yesterday for brunch and grading1:
 1. Shirt - SweaterWorks (Filene's Basement)
Skinny Jeans - Old Navy
Cardi - Target
Boots - ??? (DSW)
Headband - Target

I bought these boots in late 2004.   I'm not even completely sure what brand they are, but I do remember buying them on a shopping trip to Filene's/DSW with a friend.  At the time my personal style involved mainly jeans, sweaters, and heels or long skirts, sweaters, and big boots.  I still love all of these items, but in the past couple of years my style has shifted to incorporate more dresses than jeans, more cardigans than pullovers, more pencil skirts than long skirts, more whimsical accessories than chunky ones.  I don't feel like these boots go as well with that style, which is probably why this was only the second time that I'd worn them in over a year.

Have you undergone a sartorial shift or shifts recently?  What items in your closet seem to be going unworn lately and why?

Guest Post on The Glamorous Grad Student


The lovely and talented A. of The Glamorous Grad Student has a fabulous blog, which includes a series called City Chic.  I'm thrilled that she let me contribute to it.  Go check out my piece on Columbus!  If you haven't checked out her blog, it is well-worth reading.  In fact, it is one of my favorites!  She has a lovely sense of personal style and a wonderful writing style.  I really enjoyed her recent piece on breaking down Audrey Hepburn's style and how to translate it to find pieces of clothing that will look great on you.


Happy (cyber) Monday!

DIY! Pimp my bag

STUDLOVER: This weekends DIY-project: Pimp my bag!
My old grey leather bag got a new life when I added studds....
This is all you need...
My grey Rabeanco leather bag before I started to pimp it with studs. Bought it in London 3 years ago.

Latest Fashion News




 Look Like Perry


Katy Perry is a brilliant Gospel singer who rebelled big time and later gained fame with her song, ‘I Kissed a Girl.’ Her style perfectly matches her attitude but she holds little back when it comes to fashion. Because she is so relatable to the rebellious teens of today, there is a growing number of younger women who are aspiring to dress like Perry.

She seems to have to have an interest in two looks. One look is more of a vintage throw back look and the other is a darker attention grabbing look. Here is something you need to know if you want to dress like Perry:



Of her two looks,one seems to be more fun filled. Katy really likes dresses and is often seen wearing dresses that resemble a time in the past. When you choose your dresses go with ones that have fun patterns and that are very bright and cheery when it comes to colors. She likes all kinds of patterns and has been spotted in polka dots and stripes, and even paisleys. Footwear for this look should consist of big and bright high heels. To brighten up your look , You can accessorize yourself with lots of colorful bracelets and some colored rings if you like. Perry also uses a flower looking hair piece often that will match the dress she is wearing. Go vintage on the sunglasses as well and you will have the vintage look down to a science.







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Spring/Summer 2010 - a sock-wearing trend
 
Yes, that's right.With open toe sandals and polished legs you are already hitting the Jackpot in the upcoming Fashion. Take a closer look at the catwalk inspiration from Dior's girlish look. Those pop-socks add coquettish fun to Forties-style platforms is a matter to think of. Burberry Prorsum's clever all-in-one sock-sandals are given greater slouch with a co-ordinating fine sock worn underneath.



Christian Dior




Christian Dior

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Phantom of the Opera at the VMAs
 
Lady Gaga definitely likes to go over the top with her fashion choices. She always looks for attention, always wants to be seen. Wearing a mask is something that guarantees a noticeable look--and it's something other female performers aren't likely to copy, either," says Marissa Gold, Celebrity Style Editor of AOL StyleList. "Similar to Marilyn Manson, she's going for pure shock value and using her masks (like the full-coverage bondage-style one she wore to an MTV press conference, or the red-lace one she wore to the VMAs) to take her look one step further. Gaga definitely sees fashion as art, and for her, being innovative, bizzare, or ironic is how she expresses herself.




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British Fashion Awards 2009



The nominees for this year's British Fashion Awards has been finally unveiled.
There are Eleven categories and each will have its own winner to choose from. The Categories include: Best Designer of the Year, Model of the Year, Designer Brand of the Year, Menswear Designer of the Year, Collection of the Year and the Swarovski Emerging Talent Awards for ready-to-wear and accessories will each have one winner, to be unveiled at the event on 9th December. The Following Nominees are:





The British Fashion Awards 2009 shortlisted nominees are:


SWAROVSKI EMERGING TALENT AWARD - ACCESSORIES

An innovative and directional accessories designer who is emerging as an influential force in British fashion in the Accessories category.
Nominees: Camilla Skovgaard, Holly Fulton, Jessica McCormack, Maria Francesca Pepe

SWAROVSKI EMERGING TALENT AWARD - READY TO WEAR
An innovative and directional designer who is emerging as an influential force in British fashion in the Ready to Wear category
Nominees: Mark Fast, Meadham Kirchhoff, Peter Pilotto

DESIGNER BRAND

A leading British designer brand that has excelled and made an impact on the international stage over the past year.
Nominees: Burberry, Mulberry, Pringle of Scotland

MODEL OF THE YEAR

A British model who has emerged as a leading name in the modelling industry and is making a strong mark on the international fashion scene.
Nominees: Daisy Lowe, Georgia Jagger, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

ACCESSORY DESIGNER

The leading British designer of shoes, jewellery, millinery or accessories within the past year.
Nominees: Emma Hill for Mulberry, Katie Hillier, Nicholas Kirkwood

MENSWEAR DESIGNER

A leading British designer of ready-to-wear and bespoke tailoring who has been instrumental in enhancing men's fashion in the past year.
Nominees: Graeme Fidler for Aquascutum, Kim Jones for dunhill, Todd Lynn


BRITISH COLLECTION OF THE YEAR

A British based designer whose last two collections have directed the shape of fashion and helped them develop as an international force in the fashion industry.
Nominees: Christopher Kane, Erdem, Jonathan Saunders



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Celebrity Style Spotted- Beyonce

If you want to dress like Beyonce, it is important to know as much as you can about her style. By checking out House of Dereon or Dereon and you will be able to get a good overview of the type of clothing Beyonce favors and what you can expect to see her in this season. In addition both sites give you the option of finding retailers in your state which carry her family’s clothing lines. This makes finding actual Beyonce style clothing incredibly easy.




Beyonce favors deep cut v-necks on dresses and shirts. Heels are an absolute must. If you are going for a more casual Beyonce look, good-looking, tight, pressed jeans are a great place to start. Paired with some high heeled shoes and a cute top with the requisite décolletage, you will be ready for a high fashion look. Beyonce wears T-shirts often but always ones that have an interesting neckline. She is also not afraid of colors. You will notice that she loves bright colors and patterns and wears them well, but can also often be seen in elegant black or simple white.

Beyonce favors deep cut v-necks on dresses and shirts. Heels are an absolute must. If you are going for a more casual Beyonce look, good-looking, tight, pressed jeans are a great place to start. Paired with some high heeled shoes and a cute top with the requisite décolletage, you will be ready for a high fashion look. Beyonce wears T-shirts often but always ones that have an interesting neckline. She is also not afraid of colors. You will notice that she loves bright colors and patterns and wears them well, but can also often be seen in elegant black or simple white.



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LADY GAGA SHOCKS AGAIN


Lady GaGa made quite the fashion statement last night at the 13th Annual 2009 Ace Awards at Cipriani in New York City. Then again ... when does she not?

Whether she's splashing rumors with that hermaphrodite picture or staging her own murder on stage, this powerhouse performer always shakes things up. making every event more exciting.. in some way.

What do you think of her latest style? a dark, monster- funeral type of thing. Vintage Lady Gaga. Her face is fully covered just like at the funeral. And of coarse. she is making monster paws which clearly makes her evil :P







If you liked this post, then don't forget to check out my new Fashion Website, Nicola Fashion Games ( as in my name, Fashion and games:) )


Sunday, November 29, 2009

hippie, hippie-vintage TIGER 4 sale!

Denne tigeren har lyst til å bytte eier, og jeg selger tiger-smykket nå! gullfarget, godt brukt, og med en lenke på ca 30 centimeter. Send bud til celine@topp.no og merk mailen; Tiger-smykke. Sendes portofritt. Minstepris, kr 110. 1. BUD fra Maren, kr 150 2.BUD fra Dina, kr 160 3.BUD fra Silje, kr 200. 4.BUd fra Kristin på 220. 5.Bud fra Silje, kr 230 Budrunden er over

Hey you All

Hey you All,

We're Nicola and Bart and we are two young people interested in Fashion and the celebrity world. We will be posting the latest Fashion and celebrity trends. Hopefully you'll enjoy it! Yours, Nicola and Bart

Brunching Buddies

Yesterday my fiance and I bombarded our parents with fashionable academics.  We had several historians and a chemist -- thechemist-coture, to be specific -- over to meet our families.  We had a delicious brunch of pancakes, eggs, biscuits, fruit, bloody marys, and mimosas.  We tried to limit the shop talk, but we weren't entirely successful.  And the subjects of this blog and dressing for the classroom to set ourselves apart from our students did come up.  Of course, thechemist-coture1 and I2 are always interested in the subject of dress....

Thanks to an academic assistant, thechemist-coture and I also had an opportunity for a brief photo shoot:

1. Pants - Express
Shirt - Banana Republic
Tie - Tasso Elba
Cardigan - Thrifted
Shoes - Robert Wayne

2. Shirt - H&M
Cardi - Target
Skirt - H&M
Tights - HUE (Filene's Basement)
Boots - Blanco (super duper sale)
Belt - From another dress
Necklace - self-made from an earring

I hope you all had a great weekend!  For those of you in academia, how much longer until your winter holiday vacation begins?

Saturday, November 28, 2009

CFP: Academic Baggage

Most of us academics have items that we have to schlep around on a daily basis: laptop, a library book or two, a research file, car keys, etc.  What is your preferred method of carry?  Do you opt for a purse and a backpack or a briefcase or large tote?  Do you opt for a briefcase or a backpack?  Do you wheel around campus?
(Planet-Pink.co.uk)

If you are an academic on the job market this year, this is something worth giving some consideration.  Perhaps the MLA, the APA, the AHA, or other convention where job interviews take place is not the venue for your "I Heart NY" canvas tote bag or your Hello Kitty messenger bag (yes, I do own a Hello Kitty messenger bag).  You will want a briefcase or tote that is large enough to carry copies of CVs, sample syllabi, etc., but is not so cavernous or disorganized that you have to spend awkward moments digging in your bag for them.
  (Samsonite)

So, dear readers, please write in and let us know what you carry to classes and conferences, and feel free to send pictures!

Best Dressed at the Thanksgiving Table

La Historiadora de Moda knows me very well. Just as much as I love to dress myself in clothes that show off my since of style, I equally love to cook. I love to eat with my eyes and my mouth so I try very hard to make the food I cook look its very best. So, on Thanksgiving day she asked me to snap some shots of our dinner table to share with you, our readers.




Of course I couldn’t resist getting a few shots of the very stylish dinner guest that had joined us for the holiday meal.




























(from left to right: my husband in a Banana Republic shirt, tie and button down sweater; hostess Michelle's adorable deer earrings from Wholly Craft; myself in Banana Republic top and J. Crew checked chinos; Beth in a great party wrap dress.)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!



Lovemanii

All you need is LOVE!
Ready for christmas party wearing my new lovely heart tights from sassimanii, secret intimes by BikBok. So cute......

Friday, November 27, 2009

Black Friday, Black Boots

Since there is nothing that I needed to buy at the crazy Black Friday sales, I did not do any shopping today.  In fact, I spent most of the day inside looking at spreadsheets of wedding-related crap stuff with my fiance and in-laws and grading a pile of student essays.  Because my future mother-in-law is a very stylish lady, I felt compelled to put something on besides jeans.1  It paid off because I did manage to escape the history household for a couple of hours to go out for a lovely dinner at one of my favorite restaurants with my mom and my future family.  My beagle really wanted to come too....

1. Sweater - Old Navy (thrifted)
Skirt - J. Crew (thrifted)
Tights - Target
Cardi - Target
Boots - John Fluevog
Handbag - "Prada" (I haggled for this with a street vendor in Rome)

Although I'm still in the middle of my week-long boot challenge, I might have opted for a different pair of boots. But I wore my Bondgirls because my cobbler told me that I should wear them regularly.  He said that because Fluevogs are made of such a high quality leather that they will return to their original shape (which is too tight for my relatively normal sized calves) if I don't.  Again, I love boots, but I wish that the fashion industry would get a clue that we aren't all shaped like pencils.

Todays vintage outfit

Bought this animalprinted faux fur jacket at Fretex Unika last week. The jacket is oversized and with shoulderpads. Culd it be any better? Hooded scarf from bikbok & sunglasses from Paul Smith.
I never by clothes before I try them on. well, on ebay I do...but I really hate to come home with lots of stuff and then find out that nothing fit. My jacket is ready for fitting at Fretex Unika.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Far From Stepford

My mom is in town and my fiance's parents are arriving this evening for dinner.  The best part of the holiday is either mashed potatoes or guilt-free procrastination from grading my students' papers.  (Oh, my Friday will be Black, indeed, but it's not here yet.)  I finally got around to some long overdue domestic chores.  Truth: my fiance cooks, cleans, and washes dishes far more than I do lately.  I am a pretty good cook, but If he had been looking for a Stepford Wife, he would have been sorely disappointed.  Yesterday, we cleaned the house thoroughly.  Today, I've been cooking up a storm, and El Historiador has been cleaning up after me and waiting to put his brined turkey in the oven.  I have been doing these tasks in boots.  Yesterday I wore my cowgirl boots.1  My photographer snapped this of me.  Note how my feet are up because the floor is freshly mopped. 

1. Shirt - TJMaxx
Dress - Target
Tights - ???
Argyle socks - Target
Cowboy boots - gift
Earrings - Target
Today I dressed up a little bit in one of my favorite dresses from Zara.  I bought it around three years ago and couldn't wear it for about two years because of weight gain.  I'm so happy that I fit into again, although it's still a little unflattering in a couple of areas, so I decided to cover that up, playing with analogous colors and wearing my pink and wine Victorian style Fluevogs.2 I also have had an apron on most of the day, so I don't splatter myself with flour or mashed potatoes. This is the closest I get to Stepford.

Anyhow, see how scary Stepford is?

2. Dress - Zara (Mexico - glorious sale)
Tights - ???
Boots - John Fluevog
Cardi - Say What (Filene's Basement)
Necklace - Target (clearance)
Apron with cherries on it - gift


For those of you who are in the states, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?  I hope it's a happy one!

Monki business

MONKI in town! The Swedish brand opened their first conseptstore in Oslo yesterday evening, with a great party, but no shopping. Opens today at 12.00. Bogstadveien. Be there or be s...
nice price & nice clothes....
Stylish people & free drinks...
Eye candy: sweet macrons

new cravings; this knitted top and a funky headband...
Hillevi and Tinki at the store opening... Hillevi is proudly wearing her cute Mulberry bag...
Stylish Eva from Eger and behind wigerstil sporting a cool faux fur vest and leopard scarf
I was wearing my customized DIY leather jacket with shoulderpads and leopard details.( and yes- I sew it buy hand) Picture taken on my way out.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

i`m stoned

I`m totally in love with the new collection from Snö of Sweden, and lucky me got this beautiful stone necklace with the agat stone as a present today:) I`m stoned and superstoked.....weird what a new necklace can do with me...

Boot Challenge: Day 1

Yesterday morning after taking count of my boot collection, I decided that two pairs of my Fluevog boots had been having all the fun, and I challenged myself to wear a different pair of boots every day for the next week.  After my closet cleaning and a run (and a shower), I settled in for a day of working on my own research.  To be specific I was finishing up some article revisions.  I had had this article hanging over my head for far too long.  I could have just worn sweats all day, but I had just given myself this challenge and was also hoping to be able to go out to a movie with some girlfriend in the evening after I finished revisions.  So I got dressed.  I usually only cuff my jeans with my pink and wine Fluevogs, but I decided this look could work well for some of my other boots, as well.1 What do you think about the cuffed jeans look?

I did end up finishing the revisions and sending this article back out to an academic journal.  (Thank G-d!)  My movie plans didn't end up panning out, but my fiance and I did have Mexican food to celebrate me kicking that article out the door.

1. Jeans - Express
Tank - Thrifted
Blouse - H&M (sale)
Cardi - Target
Boots - Steve Madden (via DSW)
Earrings - Gift
Books - might actually go back to the University library :)

An anonymous reader commented on my post yesterday, reminding us that we should invest in taking care of our boots (and shoes).  S/he was exactly right!  Remember that boot trees, shoe polish, distressed leather conditioner, and especially your local cobbler are your friends.  I admit that I can get bad about caring for my boots properly especially at this point in the term, when time seems to shrink and every day I seem to fall more behind.  The boots that I wore yesterday are in need of a polishing.  I've had them for six years now, and I'd like to have them for at least six more.  I try to look at my boots as an investment.  They are something worth spending money on upfront and to maintain.  I wear boots almost exclusively to shlep from building to building on campus during the gross, Midwestern winters.  One of the reasons that I like Fluevogs so much is that I know they will hold up really well through lots of (over)use.  Sure, they cost more than boots I could buy at Urban Outfitters or Target, but I know they will last longer and that their cost per wear will actually be quite low.

Where do you buy your boots and how do you maintain them?    

Winter's Best Collection

Fashion has always been the first priority for men and woman both. Looking different from others is the best dream that any one can have for his personality, wearing denim jeans makes this so easy, Real woman jeans has given its customers the best in town to groom their personality from looking different among others.

 
 
 

Check out the latest winter collection of woman denim

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Boots, Boots, Boots!

The other day, one of my students (who also happens to be my neighbor) and I were talking at the bus stop.  She told me that she really loves my boots and asked me how many pairs I owned.  I guestimated 15.  Since my mom and in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving, I was cleaning out the closet in our front room, and I decided I should reorganize my boots.  (At this point in the semester they tend to land by the door or just get shoved in the closet when I get home.)  It offered the perfect opportunity to do a boot count.  I currently own 14 pairs of boots, although one pair needs to visit my shoe repair guy before they can be worn if there will be any walking involved.  I have been wearing my Fluevog boots a lot, so I decided that I should challenge myself to wear a different pair of boots every day for the next week.

Do you tend to wear a couple of items of clothing or footwear more than any others - to the point that you find things you forgot that you purchased in the dark recesses of your closet?  What factors besides comfort lead you to buy a pair of boots?

Denim Jeans


 



 

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