my friend tim always knows about good music i've never heard of before. thanks, teayum!

if you aint got the do-re-mi

in honor of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, today's Fresh Air Freedom Riders segment, and all things just, right, and good left in this country... here is a little Woody Guthrie for your day.

Ruby Slipper Journeys: easter sunday, and the tyranny of vintage

Ruby Slipper Journeys: easter sunday, and the tyranny of vintage

excellent points made here by Emily if anyone is interested...

pretty delicious

i mocked; i made fun of her horrible make-up and overuse of sexual innuendos in every recipe, but i give up... the videos are laughable but the recipes all look amazing. and okay, her kitchen is really cute.

JAM IT OUT YO- MAKIN' HOMEMADE JAM XXO from Candice Kumai on Vimeo.


PRETTY DELICIOUS - BLUEBERRY LIME MUFFINS from Candice Kumai on Vimeo.


PRETTY DELICIOUS - BRUNCH WITH THE GIRLS from Candice Kumai on Vimeo.


all videos from Candic Kumai http://www.stilettochef.com/

pick your jaw up off the floor

oh holy moly cow. how gorgeous are these?

had a comment from the coolest 13 year old ever from the Netherlands! oh how that made my day. this savy little teenage fashion queen, carlijn, shared these amazing summer collection photos from the Australian clothing shop minkpink. (interesting fact: summer is ending and fall is heading in for the Ausis now.) oh yeah, seriously, watch this video. it's an accompanying video for the collection.

crazy 100 mph winds last night did quite a number all over my area of the country. woke up to huge, ancient(not really, but old) trees uprooted all over everywhere, no power, and the realization that today was...sort of like a day off! 

power is back on now and i'm just sitting at the shop feeling very inspired and conjuring up how I want to put together some vintage beauties for my next look book...

home...

a beautiful mess.

boy's club

My lovely friend Sarah and I were talking the other day (over the telephone, which we do frequently since she lives in Forbach, France) about a particular lookbooker's style whom I absolutely adore. Sarah noted that it had a very "masculine" element to it, which prompted me to realize, again, how much menswear always creeps its way into my style, no matter what i'm wearing. In 2007 I took a fashion marketing course for which we had to choose a trend and cover it all semester in our trend report. Then, a newly 20 year old still trying to find my style, I sort of chose menswear on a whim. Now, nearly four years later, I realize over and over again how much I love the classic and timeless look for both sexes. I do love a nice high waist skirt or a good dress now and again, but I always go back to my favorite basics. Blazers, cardigans, button downs, trousers...

After our talk, Sarah shared Paul Smith's collection with me, which I have not stopped looking at since. Thanks, Sar.

and thanks AJ, the blogger who inspired our whole menswear conversation. found on lookbook while searching for stylish folks in Richmond, VA. how can you not love her look? it's so classic and funky at the same time, which can be really difficult to pull off. all her posted looks appear effortless.

you don't just have to groove on saturday

whole lotta new

so, jeez, i don't even know where to begin. has everyone recovered from the boob post? a bit too much? whatever. it's my blog--i do what i want! but really, i do do what i want. i'm very lucky and very spoiled. my little shop has probably left me at a loss for any sense of reality. i pretty much do as i please. successes are successes and failures are failures and no one seems to be dying or living by any of this. with all of that vague babble said, i will tell you what this is all really about.

i believe i have decided to move at the end of the summer with my boyfriend to Richmond, Virginia. he will be going to VCU (a graduate student and teaching assistant) and i will be....going. i haven't made plans or really done much searching for jobs there. while i do have a college degree(in english lit and creative writing), i'm not sure what i want to do, so i'm in no huge rush to hit the 9 to 5 scene just yet. it would be ridiculously amazing to be able to run another shop, but i don't know how feasible that idea actually is. i've been scoping out the scene in Richmond and there only appears to be one vintage esque boutique. so we shall see.

anyway, i know this is huge news, but lets get back to the here and now. this past weekend, i stocked up on so much vintage! good lord, so much vintage. very excited to get that all photographed and up in the etsy shop. also, took some great photos last week for a little store lookbook, very excited to share those, too.

oo lalala

ooo la la

vintage dresses being reworked 

amazingly cute boots for the shop

vintage bling 

adorable collars and a 50s hat

me and my bebe store

new tags

 

Sally, my beautiful model, was a complete natural! And she has such a model body. This girl needs to be working it all over the runway!

Well, happy monday, folks.

boobs

images via theskeletonofme tumblr and spit shine by Cheyenne Elvis, who both always have great pretty neked lady pictures.

normally, i don't often post about things of an intimate-ish nature on this blog. however, today, i am feeling in such a mood that i will share a lifelong issue of mine that may be a bit more than anyone cares to read about.

i will not say that i hate having small breasts. actually, in many ways it has been nice to not have to worry with a lot of things that most big boobied girls may have to deal with. usually, clothes hang sort of nicely on my small chested frame. since i was about 17, i pretty much stopped wearing a bra unless there was some occasion that i felt it was just completely inappropriate and noticeable to free boob it. let me note that not wearing a bra is not a purposeful statement or even a desired choice, really. it all comes down to the fact that i simply can never find a bra that actually fits. If bras were made for people like myself (i am not a small girl, i simply have small breasts) then i would wear something like a 36A. i can never, ever find this size though, EVER. when i look to sales associates for help, they simply shrug and say sorry, we're out of those, or we don't carry them. it has been explained to me that if they do carry that size, they usually only order one of it because it is so abnormal. (same with my size 10 feet. most stores only order one or two size tens. what an affliction, small boobs and big feet!) even if i do find the particular size, it still doesn't actually fit right.

so, i have recently begun trying bandeau styles(still having similar issues, but a bit more luck) and searching online and handmade to find something that works. still little success. anyhow, i felt it fine and a bit funny to share this frustration. anyone who knows where to find a custom fit brazier let a girl know!

watch who yer callin curvy!

 

So, if any of you saw the Sartorialist post a week or so ago,  you know that the never too politically correct Scott Schuman certainly ruffled the feathers of a whole lots of folks! Near 2000 or so, by describing this young french girl as part of the "new generation of bigger bloggers" and saying she was "sturdy; bigger; curvier", people were going nuts!

This prompted Scott to launch a conversation "to help him understand" a better way to describe this woman. He said using the word normal would be incorrect as well. I think Scott seems like a really cool, down to earth guy, despite all his success and fame, and I like the way he handled the whole situation. And oh yeah, the only person who didn't seem to mind? The french girl herself! She seemed quite flattered. I'm sure her blog has gotten non-stop attention since the incident anyhow, so it really seemed to work out. I think she's absolutely stunning and a real sweetheart from the way she addressed the situation. So describe her any way you want, she doesn't seem to mind. I think i'll use "babe".

 

 

 

she's really more of a street style photographer, anyhow, but i love seeing her own style and how she works around that "curvy" figure or hers.

happy monday, yall. cheers!