Links

Home     About     Contact     Press     Yellow Skirt     SKETCHES
Showing posts with label wraparound skirt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wraparound skirt. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 October 2015

Silk wrap, satin, and sequins. And Hat Attack!

I can't tell you how long I spent on this first piece of artwork below. Well, I can, but I won't. The vintage satin and sequin Chinese padded vest needed to be immortalized. As did those stretch caramel leather booties. And the hair, well, see paragraph below.


Remember when I said in the previous post, if you don't know what SEO is (search engine optimization) you might as well scrap your blog and stick your head in the toilet? Clearly, I'm as bad as it gets - the hair don't lie.
Connie summed it up with such erudition in her comment: "schblah-glunge-schwoop." 

But therein lies my genius. I am expecting correspondence from Liquid Plumber drain cleaner any day now with a glamorous sponsorship offer that will have all tip-top fashonistas clamouring for similar deals. Who better to sell that shite than someone with a swirly? Especially middle-aged with a swirly. And imagine the fun I'd have making videos to pitch their products.

Next I'll have automotive and electrical parts companies beating down my electronic door. And I shall be living on Cloud 9 where everything is at my beck and call. Hurrah. Flush

Mel Kobayashi in patchwork silk wrap, Bag and a Beret

Onto the fashion:
Above is a couture look that says, wow, looks like that lady got tangled up in a wraparound skirt. Astute! It is indeed a maxi wraparound skirt, but one that's too precious, I felt, to be trapped within the rubric of the granola-cruncher set - not that that's a bad thing. Some of my favourite mammals eat granola.

No, this silk piece cried out for romantic fluttering closer to my heart, an intense infusion of incense, Shinto shrines, Lawrence of Arabia and Marrakesh night markets, paper lanterns, Paris runways, bordellos and bourbon. A whirlwind in my closet! In a word - a silk body wrap.


To add to the romance, under the wrap I am wearing my farked tank dress backwards. The script I painted on it, "I Surrender to the Chaos," seemed much more fitting positioned under my ass than my boobs, the latter of which never put up a fight to begin with making surrender a rather moot point. Plus, with this wrap the words were only legible from the back, at least when I left home, and both shirt sleeves were fully covered as well. All the best couture is slidey, don't you find? 

Bag and a Beret, Mel wears flesh-eating booties

I am also wearing black jeggings, and on my feet thrifted lace-up booties and colourful Harlequin socks with black athletic socks underneath to prevent scraping of my ankles. Yes, cute shoes, but even without a tongue they give me quite a nasty lashing.

I may have only paid five dollars for this swath of processed caterpillar spit, but it looked and felt like a million bucks when I sashayed through Nordstrom, yesh. Cloud 9. Royal flush

Bag and a Beret, Mel wait for the train to adventure

And a parting photo of the sequin satin vest. I would have enjoyed acting in silent movies; maybe in a previous (still ongoing?) life I did. In this photo I see a young (heh), small-town woman clutching her bags, waiting for the train to carry her off to the big city where I suspect she would take up smoking, drinking gin, and scandalously rolling down her stockings. 

Which favourite automotive part would you like as a sponsor?
On Sunday I'll hook this up with Patti, hostess of one of the longest-running link-up parties ever - Visible Monday - at Not Dead Yet Style. Have you seen her new place? Schpetacular!
___________________________________________________________________
HAAAT  ATTAAACK!!! (27) 
Hi Judith and everyone! See you at the meetup at Style Crone.
Unexpectedly feeling like a cowboy in this hat, a plain blue cotton cloche worn 
high with the brim turned up. Chanel sunglasses.
Jacquard "Mad Hatter" jacket that feels
like furniture. Mmm.
Get the cards ready. It's going to be an all-nighter.
Who's bringing the pie?
Thanks, Judith!


Thursday, 25 October 2012

My Olive Oyl army boots

This is what I wore on Monday, an outfit that made me feel oh so Pepe Le Pew, the animated romanticizing French skunk, although the footwear was decidedly more Olive Oyl from the Popeye cartoons. That's a whole lot of Looney Tunes for someone wearing just, um, black.


The pieces:
- quilted cotton biker jacket with anti-cold turned-up collar, sample sale
- wool wraparound skirt, thrifted
- black riding pant jeggings, sample sale
- black army boots, thrifted, a score for $10
- lurex diamond-patterned thigh-high socks, Hue brand, retail
- fingerless gloves, upcycled from the Canadian Tire automotive store
- wool indigo beret, thrifted

The photo came out a bit dark so I had to boost the brightness, but it turned out okay because now you can see all the colourful scuffmarks on the wood rail behind me from the grating of the garbage bins. Oh, the romantic life...

And...

Hit Us With Your Floral Stick! Floral Week Update

This is what I wore TODAY pictured with my new friends, a couple of raucous, fabulously attired dames out on the town for the day. They've been pals for 40 years and their smiles and laughter were contagious. This is one of my favourite filmy dresses, last worn here.

This photo is doing double-duty: it's here and over at my street style blog, which is a first. When I see me in the photo it looks like I'm wearing a brown bra over my blouse because the blouse colour is so similar to the dress bodice. Bwa-ha-ha. That makes me love it even more.

Sarah at Misfits Vintage said it's arbitrary Floral Week, so I naturally joined in, see last post.
Other bloggers that of know of who have worn florals this week include:

Ariane at Style Sud-Est
Dylan at Dylan's Dress
Lynne at Practical Paralegalism
Krista at Petee's Palace
Helga at Helga von Trollop for a mighty double whammy!
And keep your eyes open for Jean's flower power at Dross Into Gold

If I've missed anyone, my apologies. Do let me know.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Sometimes simple is best on a trip to fake Paris

No shagariffic boots or bright colours here, but I feel just as visible in this black and white outfit as I do in my most brilliant plumage. This is exactly what I needed to wear on my stroll to my favourite cafe in fake Paris, or maybe fake Italy - does it really matter where? It's all in my head anyway. I'm putting this in Patty's wonderful Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style (even though it's already Tuesday). I've also put this up at Everybody, Everywear, which coincidentally has a monochromatic theme right now.


I'm looking rather dazed here, like a cat that has suddenly gone rang-y for no apparent reason. In fact, I'm feeling rather rang-y myself. 

TOO MUCH NOISE IN THE CITY!!! 
CAN YOU HEAR ME ABOVE THE DIN?? 
YES? 
THEN LET ME TURN UP MY FREAKING CAR STEREO OR 
RIP THE MUFFLER OFF MY HARLEY!!! 
Sorry, just venting here...effing, yeah! (heavy metal side effect)

The black things hanging down the front the outfit are the ties of the skirt. I carry a straw bag with this demure outfit and wear my other camera slung across my torso for style scouting. They're not in this photo because I needed to unburden myself as soon as I got home, which is when I snapped this. 

The Outfit
  • wide-brimmed black hat, retail
  • wraparound circle skirt, retail many years ago 
  • flats, Geox, retail many years ago
  • light cotton boat neck, three-quarter-sleeve top, thrifted, Value Village


This is the cartoon I drew of me in this outfit on my way to fake Paris (or Italy) with two of my favourite feline friends.

I'm including another outfit cartoon below. O and I had seen a marmalade cat hunting a dragonfly one night which I mentioned the next day when I saw Lisa at Dreamz n Wishz wearing fabulous firefly earrings, plus she had gone out for dinner at Firefly restaurant. She suggested that the cat might make a good cartoon. 


I was wearing Steven Madden slim trousers with ankle zips, and a shirt-dress, which Joni at Walking Colors had reminded me of, pointed black shoes, and my beret.

It has been hot here. By that I mean mid-20s tops. Compared to some places I should not be complaining, but I have been wilting terribly. No amount of watering is able to revive me. I have TREMENDOUS respect for all those bloggers weathering greater heat who manage to look so cool and fabulous, even in light jackets! I sleep sometimes with an icepack wrapped in a towel at my feet or under my neck, which helps. I hope it's not hot this week because I want to wear tights, but the odds are against me...

Other Housekeeping...

I drew this cartoon based on an incident that Curtise at The Secondhand Years had with Ms. Grabby Hands at a thrift sale. In the real story, Ms. Grabby TOOK Curtise's treasure. I could write a not-so-sweet heavy metal song about that too!


I sketched the cartoon below a while ago; it made me think of Robin at her blog a little sewing.


Okay, that's all. Whew. 
I hope you have a tremendous week! I've only been managing to post once a week lately, but I still make the rounds even if I'm not commenting as much as usual. You guys are all ROCK STARS!!!

Friday, 23 March 2012

Rainbow-striped flamenco sausage

Surprise - me again, dorkily smiling into nowhere... dum-dee-dum-dee-dum. I should have done The Clean Line! I love how this skirt flares out flamenco-style under the rainbow-striped, alien-fabric sausage dress on top. The purple heels again got nixed at the last moment in favour of my boots - my feet said demurely, "TODAY?! Are you out of your Freaking MIND?!!!..."


And here I am outside. My friend took these. Look how I am breathing! My expression is a bit demented in the second one - I did a little tap-dancy thing and had just landed, plus I don't have a clue how to tap dance. 


The look:
  • circle wrap-around cotton skirt reminiscent of a table cloth, about $15 a couple of years ago
  • rainbow-striped, alien-fabric sausage dress, Value Village, an "I-dare-you-to-buy that" purchase (or maybe it was more like "If you buy that, I'll buy this..." I wear this baby by itself in the summer when I'm feeling daring, but I tug it down more so it's not so short and often wear tights with it.
  • long-sleeved black T under the dress, purchased new from an athletic store
  • beret, coat, bag, all thrifted, all loved
  • booties, thrifted, $6
  • cashmere gloves, gift
Happy weekend, everyone!





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...