One of my goals for 2013 (which I will post more about soon!) is to watch at least one movie that was made before 1980 every week. I’m pleasantly surprised to have discovered that watching one a week has lead to, well, watching more than one movie a week. I recently cancelled my Netflix subscription so I could instead either borrow movies or rediscover ones I already own, and most importantly, to support my local independent video store Video Wave, which I have already visited more times this month than all of last year. I love that place!
Today I wanted to shed a little blog light on kind of a kooky film that I actually watched when I was at home for the holidays via Roku (I think it was streaming for free on Amazon with my sister’s Amazon Prime membership) — The Long, Long Trailer (1953). My mom loves everything Lucille Ball, so she talked me into watching this silly comedy about Tacy and Nicky (ahem, Lucy and Ricky, essentially), who decide that instead of buying a traditional home it would be more cost effective to purchase an oh-so-chic trailer. Hilarity ensues.
My takeaway from this film: 1.) I forgot how much I love Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s dynamic. They have undeniable comedic chemistry and the movie is really funny. 2.) I WANT ALL OF TACY’S OUTFITS! Credit goes to costume designer Helen Rose who was also responsible for costuming memorable films such as On the Town (1949), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and Silk Stockings (1957) (amongst many, many more) and won two Oscars for her costume work.
I threw this last photo in for fun. Isn’t Lucille Ball just an absolute beauty?
Last week, in both an attempt to save a few bills and make my hair color a little easier to maintain, I decided to ask my friend to help me “ombré” my hair (if that’s even a verb!).
$40 and a blog tutorial later, we were able to get the look I wanted! My friend did a really great job. Here’s the tutorial we used: http://www.thehollywoodheels.com/2012/04/ombre-hair-diy-how-to-step-by-step.html. I slightly modified it because I a.) have a LOT of hair, and b.) my hair is a lot lighter than the girl’s in the tutorial.
Before and after
We started by dying my hair back to my natural color – I used Clairol’s Dark Rich Neutral Blonde (I bought 2 bottles & a bottle of 10 Volume Creme Developer). We waited a few days to give my hair a break, and then dove in with the blue bleach + 30 Volume Creme Developer. I wish I’d purchased 3 packs of bleach, but I only bought two. In the end it worked out because the blonde is a little streaked, and blended a little better. I was trying to avoid a harsh line of blonde. We bleached my hair twice. I think next time I’d like the bleach to go up a little higher. My friend was adamant about going higher but I was too scared! I should have just trusted her.
Anyway, I would recommend doing this on your own at home. If you’re only doing the bleach (plus blue shampoo or additional blonde hair dye to remove brassiness) this will only cost you around $20 at Sally Beauty Supply… and about 2-3 hours of your time (and a friend’s time, if you’re like me and can’t dye your hair yourself because there’s too much of it). It’s well worth it considering I would have paid at LEAST $160 at my local salon for everything I needed done (a friend of mine paid around $200 for the same thing). Beauty/hair experiments can be painful (for your wallet) but it doesn’t have to be that way if you get a little creative (and ballsy)!
Have you heard of Tavi Gevinson? I heard about this fashion-blogging wunderkind a few years ago, but never took the time to check out her blog (or new online magazine!) until today. She started a fashion blog at the ripe age of 11 and has done great great things to make the internet a cooler place for girls, in my opinion.
I don’t know about you, but here in San Francisco it’s getting a little warmer, pale girls like me are getting a little more color, and lots and lots of festivals are coming up which can only mean one thing – it’s time to revamp my dreary winter wardrobe. [click to continue…]
A super fun outtake photo from last month’s shoot! I ended up using this for a fun hang tag.
I know, I know… this photo shoot happened well over a month ago, but who’s keeping track? The great Evan Hayden shot the photos and I couldn’t be happier with them. A big thank you to Evan and my lovely models! I just wanted to share a few of my favorite shots.
As you may have noticed, there are two items in the above photo that are not yet in my shop! They’ll be up soon, for sure. And lastly, I had to include the following photo in this recap, because as I mentioned in my last post this shoot was a great learning experience… to NOT wear work out clothing and no makeup on the day of a photo shoot, because then fun group photos are inevitably taken and I look like a sloppy Sally.
But whatever. Until the next photo shoot! Also, I recently surpassed 100 fans on Facebook! In celebration of this milestone (I’m almost to 150!) I’m offering up the coupon code BABSLOVESU in my Etsy Shop for 15% off of your order. Thanks for all of the Facebook love! And the support in general. :)
As many of you know by now (since I won’t stop talking about it) Babushka Designs will be a part of Unique LA next month! Click here for more details, and to RSVP.
Aside from crocheting and knitting like crazy to get ready for the show, I decided to re-shoot everything to make the shop and my marketing materials a little nicer (the camera on my iPhone is no longer cutting it!). My friend Evan shot the photos at my apartment this past weekend – it was SO MUCH FUN! (Click here to check out his work) I should have them sometime within the next week, but for now here are some behind the scenes shots I took.
As you can see above (photo by Jane), I was still in my workout clothes (I went to pilates that morning). Important lesson learned – always look photo-ready, but that’s ok. I’m keeping it real. I love how Marissa (the model) is looking at me like I’m crazy in this photo. And that’s Evan doing his thang on the right.
Every good photo shoot needs fun music to pump everyone up. About 10 minutes after taking this photo, I came to realize that the music I thought was fun, wasn’t what everyone else considered fun. We soon switched over to Party Favorites, and later, hip hop.
Last but not least, everyone knows models love popcorn chicken, fried cheese, and mini pizzas. So of course we had that handy.
That’s a wrap! Will be sharing the photos as soon as I get them. Yay!
A coworker of mine was telling me a story about his weekend. He was out in San Francisco riding one of our iconic cable cars with a friend of his who was visiting. My coworker pointed out to his friend that he could tell the difference between local San Franciscans and those who were visiting by their attire and accessories. One woman overheard him and said, “You’re right! How did you know I was a tourist?” He did the diplomatic thing and said that he “just knew.”
I’m always complaining about going out to fashion events by myself – I just don’t have many friends that are into fashion. While some people think fashion is frivolous and contributes nothing to the world, others are curating museum exhibits featuring 20th century clothing. This week’s links made me think about the love/hate camps in fashion. Starting with Grit and Glamour’s post on bloggers getting backlash from fashion insiders, Houndstooth + Tortoiseshell’s refreshingly funny admission of Tavi envy, or Fab Lab’s hate of people who hate. But there is some love in sight – British Style Bloggers reminds us to look in the mirror and love ourselves. Enjoy!
Links à la Mode: February 4th
A Dress & A Bike – Why breaking the love of one particular brand has been good for my personal style
I watched this documentary last night called Notebook on Cities and Clothes. It’s a film about Japanese fashion designerYohji Yamamoto directed and filmed by Wim Wenders.
Notebook on Cities and Clothes is a slow paced, relaxed look at an industry that often moves at a mile a minute. Filmed in 35mm, Wenders helps audiences see through the window of this man’s world. We get a lot of one on one time with Yamamoto. We see what inspires him, and are privy to his idea of what he does. He is not a fashion designer. That is not his goal. His inspiration comes from photos from the 19th century working class and the garments they had to wear to live their lives. He is the opposite of what his native Tokyo seems to promote: excessive consumption. He explains that Tokyo encourages over-consumption. Buy everything, be more fulfilled. He shares that his worst nightmare would be to design clothing that people cannot wear and function in on a day to day basis. Yamamoto is a quiet, yet mesmerizing man.
A few pieces from his A/W 09/10 collection. (Photo Credit)
The film as a whole was not as exciting as some of the other fashion documentaries I have seen. At times it was quite boring. But I think that is what makes it stand out from other depictions of the “fashion” world. In a way, Wenders was able to tell the story of an artist and philosopher than that of a fashion designer.
Today my roommate and I are off to Goodwill in the Mission to scope out the furniture scene. Hopefully we’ll find something cute and comfy for our living room… but secretly I have another, more exciting quest. Faux. Fur. Coat.
