There are some dresses that you just feel absolutely smashing in. That you know you can always reach for and appreciate for their perfect fit and ease. For me, Trashy Diva dresses always fall into this category. I’m building quite a collection (coming onto 10 now) and they’re always the dresses I slip into my suitcase or pull on when I need a bit of extra oomph.
Like any good vintage-loving girl, I can’t help but romanticize the past. I fully acknowledge we have the luxury of looking back with rose colored glasses, and gazing at historical paintings or imagining the romance of the Renaissance and a life lived on horseback is very likely not all it’s cracked up to be (I mean, they didn’t even have indoor plumbing. Or wifi). But, in the crazy, fast paced world we live in, there is something so appealing about a simpler time.
Although many of you know me as the Shark Girl, at heart I really am a neuroscientist (just a shark neuroscientist. You know, normal). The brain absolutely fascinates me – particularly the brain of species we know so little about. No matter what an animal does or how it perceives its environment or reacts to it, it’s all controlled and modulated by the brain (in short: brains rock).
One of my favorite dressmaking adventures ever, The Counterdanse, was featured on the website Cut Out + Keep! You can head over to see my step by step tutorial on embellishing the skirt of my dress. They also interviewed me for the site, to get my thoughts on my style, my fashion icons, and some of my favorite blogs.
Some dresses feel like Christmas morning and Mardis Gras and my birthday presents all wrapped up into one. And then in certain other dresses, I AM the present. This beauty from SwaneeGRACE Vintage, with her border print of puffy bows hinting at secrets within, manages to be both at the same time.
I’m the kind of person who doesn’t shy away from whimsy. Romantic and dreamy? Sign me up. Quirky and eye catching? I’m so in. Due to my penchant for quirk, I have a collection starting to reach critical mass of handbags approximating food items and shoes with ears and a dress (or 12) in a novelty whimsical print. I’m not sorry….
There’s nothing quite like a vintage novelty print. Though I admittedly love a good rose or gingham print, novelty prints somehow manage to feel like they go a bit against the grain. You know the ones I mean – the prints that were the rebels in school, with a healthy disrespect for authority, who marched to their own drum. They stood on the outskirts, removed from the plaids and the ditsy florals, listening to bands you had never heard of. So confident and cool, less entrenched in the opinions of others.
I’m a huge fan of mixing prints and rather enjoy trying to push the boundaries of fashionably acceptable on a daily basis. A lot of ladies ask about the basics of combining two seemingly disparate prints, which can be intimidating if you don’t do it often. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to mixing prints, but I have the best success with a few basic guidelines.
One of the best aspects of living abroad while still maintaining a blog is the opportunity for my family to get a glimpse into my daily life. And though it’ll never be the same as interacting daily, even something as simple as seeing what I wear on a daily basis or knowing the random thoughts in my head from a cross-campus encounter makes us feel a little bit more connected. It also has the added bonus of allowing them to gain insight into the various items around the web I’m lusting after…
Heading back home after another whirlwind trip, staring blearily into the screen as I recover from the the 30+ hour flight path. As glamorous as travel sounds (and truthfully, can sometimes be), nothing sounds better to me right now than my own bed, a glass of single malt, and a husband to laugh with. Perhaps that is my personal version of a fairy tale – no White Knight needed for this gal (though I can get behind the bejeweled footwear aspect). And despite the allure of pumpkins and the ballgowns and the woodland creatures helping me get dressed, all I really need…