Zaara released a wonderful three-part outfit at Collabor88 this month. I always prefer it when designers release their outfits as separates. This allows us to wear the tops with other skirts, shorts, or jeans. We can wear different tops, even sweaters, with the skirt. To top it all off, there is this beautiful belt that is a perfect complement to the skirt, but I can picture looking fabulous on a sweater or body-con dress.
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Peacocks are glorious creatures, peahens are so dowdy by their side. Aren’t we lucky that both the male and the female of our species can, if they choose, be as gaudy as a peacock or as subtle as a peahen? I am going for the gaudy side today with this gloriously embellished butterfly “Glasswings” dress from Reverie for The Arcade.
“Every lake belongs to the quietness desired by the swans.” Mania Khan must know swans, they do love the quiet, the lee side of an island lake, where the wind does not ruffle the water. I thought of that quote when I saw the {anc.} swans at The Arcade and decided to rez them on a quiet eddy of water with some flowers (also from anc) and trees from HPMD.
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Growing up on a resort lake with twenty-one year round residents, but thousands of weekenders who flood the lake and live in the more the hundreds of lakefront cabins that are empty most of the year, I am very familiar with A-frames. Lots of people bought A-Frame kits or pre-made A-Frames, much faster than the old-fashioned bungalow style cabins that signal older homes on the lake. This A-Frame from Barnesworth Anubis has an advantage over many of the lake front cabins as the ceiling rests on a short bit of vertical wall. The A-frames on the lake often did not have that bonus, which often meant a lot of space behind the couch when it was shoved against the wall and sometimes a clunk on your head. A-frame weekenders almost never came for winter ice-fishing, their cabins hard to heat with what heat they had rising to the ceiling and escaping from the lakefront windows. But they sure are pretty when you’re out in the canoe late at night, all the light from their wall of windows facing the lake, so bright and illuminated in contrast to the smaller windows on the bungalows. Kind of like big jewels in a necklace of smaller stones.
A-frame homes are very open plan. After all, walls interfere with the loft of those high ceilings. Here a rug and the Scarlet Creative Venice couch back serve to mark space for dining from space for lounging. Lots of plants along the windows are a requirement when you have that kind of window exposure. Otherwise, you would be wasting the sunshine, wouldn’t you?
I am loving the new jumpsuit from Baiastice for Collabor88. It comes in two versions for each of the twelve colors it comes in, with a plain, solid bodice or with a lace bodice. I chose the lace bodice because I was feeling frisky.
The veggie tray, apple pie, salt and pepper shakers and waffle iron can all be found at The Arcade.
The uncertainties of life are manifest every day. Some uncertainties are harder than others. My sister has Stage IV lung cancer. But her future is still uncertain, it’s quite possible the chemo will kill her long before the cancer can. She’s been in the hospital for two weeks now as a mold has developed in her lungs, thanks to chemo bringing her white blood cell count down to zero. On Thursday, I learned she has developed VRE, a anti-biotic resistant bacteria similar but much more rare than MRSA, the OMG of countless House episodes. Of course, because when you are going to ER three times a day for 90 minute infusions of antibiotics, you develop anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I think it is time for her to eat a lot of dessert. Ice cream, apple pie, chocolate cake, brownies and coffee nips. Go for it!
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I recently finished a book my sister gave me, “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. I really like one of the things Pausch said, “The size of your audience doesn’t matter. What’s important is that your audience is listening.” It’s interesting, I think, what draws people in. However, with events like Collabor88, they can not only boast about the size of their audience, but also that they audience listens (shops).
August is the anniversary month for Collabor88 and they always invite all the guests from the entire year for a blowout showcase. Collabor88 will continue until the 6th, so while you are waiting for an opening at The Arcade, don’t forget that there is an other event, a real extravaganza happening at the same time. I will be blogging more about the Arcade soon, but really could not pass up featuring this lovely Angelic dress from Blueberry. With the HUD, there were so many options that I sort of drifted into the meditative haze of changing the dress, the upper feathers, the lower feathers, and then changing them again and again and again. I might still be doing it, but someone knocked on my door.
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This fun dress from SPIRIT is a winner in my book. There is a HUD that allows you to change the top and the skirt independently, so this could be all print, all solid, and mixed as you see here. The gap on the midriff is echoed on the back. I like the retro sensibility of the print.
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Dorothy Parker always knew exactly what to say and her wit sparkled. I love her quip about lingerie even more than I love this lingerie which is quite a lot.
It’s covered up by the sheer Reva cover-up from Zaara, though bits peek through. Just keeping the front page SFW. This was released at June’s Collabor88 so will be at the store now. The fairy lights are from Floorplan and can be found at Collabor88 for three more days.
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My mother always told me to dress up when I felt tired, to dress happy when I was sad, and to recognize that sometimes clothing is more than something to safeguard modesty, provide warmth and protection from the elements, solicit attention, or display personal style and taste. Sometimes it is also a therapeutic carapace, a shell that hides our weaknesses and counters our grief and sorrow with defiant counterpoint.
Joy Sewing of the Houston Chronicle wrote a fun article called Why a yellow dress is more than a yellow dress. Could anyone who is feeling low find a more perfect carapace to project power, strength and joy than this bold, yet minimalist, sheath from Thalia Heckroth™?