hot pink is punchy

Two things I learned today:

Get ready earlier and take pictures in the sunshine, when my makeup is still fresh and I'm not frazzled from an eight-hour alterations shift.

Patrick is no longer allowed to take my pictures for me. Case in point:

Tee: Target
Skirt: Old Navy
Shoes: American Eagle (a gift from the hubster)
Purse: Target
Necklace: Handmade by a friend (although her Etsy shop is currently on hiatus)

Scent: Bath and Body Works Pink Grapefruit

Gah. P is NOT ALLOWED to take my pictures anymore!

But on the upside, I just remembered there's a tripod at my parents' house. Perfectly aligned photos will soon be mine!

fashionably late and baby steps

I'm late to the fashion party, so to speak.

I have never really been considered fashionable. My childhood was spent in whatever my mother dressed me in- it wasn't until middle school that I realized that my high-waisted straight-leg jeans and tucked-in polo shirts were dorky. I have always been self-conscious, so I spent the next few years trying vainly to dress like my peers.

In the middle of my freshman year of high school we moved to northern Kentucky, right on the border of Ohio, and I entered a new school for the first time since kindergarten. And this new school required uniforms. The next two and a half years were fun for me- collecting neutral-colored but exciting shoes, wearing mismatching socks and crazy earrings, and dolling up my incredibly long hair.

However, we moved to Tennessee two weeks before my senior year of high school started. Now I had to follow a strict dress code...I would have preferred to have a uniform. I wore dress pants and collared shirts day in and day out for that entire year.

When college hit, I was attacked by the freshman...well, thirty-five or so, and launched into an up-and-down weight battle that is still going on. I wore ill-fitting jeans (even short lengths are too long on me) and lots of knit tops from the junior's department.

Yes, I wanted pretty clothes, but I didn't know what I was looking for. In fact, I still don't.

All I know for sure is that I want a wardrobe that I can mix-and-match, and I want it to be primarily dresses. I discovered in my last year of school that I was much more comfortable and felt more like myself when I wore dresses instead of pants, and I've only worn jeans three times so far this year.

Unfortunately, my wardrobe isn't very well planned. I need to design outfits that can go together from the beginning, and then start mixing and matching from there. The thing is, I don't know what I want.

A lot of people can define their style: preppy, punk, rocker chic, trendy, vintage. What's mine? Eclectic, I guess, which is a nice way of saying that nothing I own goes together.

I have to embark on a planned journey towards a real style. And believe me, I've read the books about "what fashion staples every woman needs." But what do I need with khaki slacks and oxfords?

I've found a starting point...but I hope it's not too creepy. I've just been a huge fan of The Clothes Horse for about a year now, and I've realized that her style is the closest to what I'd like to wear. I've been rereading her blog archives and studying the pieces that she has, trying to figure out what pieces I need to look for.

Like I said...it's kind of stalkerish. But I'm really fashionably desperate. And I love her style.

Baby steps towards dressing better, that's all it is. It's going to be a long process...I hope everything works out in the end!

spendthrift?

I will be the first to admit that I have been indulging my shopping desires a little too much lately.

The big thing is that I NEED TO AVOID EBAY. Plain and simple. If I go on ebay, I bid. "What harm is one bid?" I think to myself.

And then I've placed bid after bid after bid...and I win them. Then I must pay. Gah.

Plus, I succumbed to the siren song of JoAnn's. This is the first time I've gone to the one in Madison, and I am completely impressed. Their fabric selection is wider and has better quality cuts than the one in Cool Springs. I think it's because the Cool Springs one is busier.

I went in with a list...and came out with a completely different list of projects to be made. I'm actually happier with these fabrics than my original plan, but still.

I think I need to plan my shopping trips better, rather than constantly changing what I'm looking for. I've created a list of basics that I need to look for...maybe that will help me create outfits that look pretty and cohesive.

In the meantime, I'm going to plan my outfit for tomorrow. I'm working an afternoon-to-close shift...and it's probably going to be hot. So...skirt and tee shirt? Yes, skirt and tee shirt.

But in the meantime, I'm terribly in love with this pattern:

Gorgeous and versatile.

(and I've had it for a month or two already...)

High School Drama Queen

It's my very first Wardrobe Remix post! I'm a little nervous, because my fashion is still in its nascent stages, but I think it's pretty cute.

I have to dress rather conservatively for my job at the bridal shop. That dress has seen better days- I wore it a lot to work on sets and in the shop- but the cobalt color is just so bright and punchy. Pairing it with a lot of black makes me feel like a high school drama queen- the star of every production who takes herself too seriously.

Do I look at bit frazzled? I had finished an eight-hour shift in alterations, then went fabric shopping for some new projects, then wrestled with post-flood traffic...a lot of Nashville roads are still closed.

Tank: Thrifted
Dress: Old Navy
Leggings: Claire's
Cardigan: Thrifted
Beads: Thrifted
Plaid flats: Target
Purse: Japan pavilion in Epcot

Scent: Abercrombie & Fitch

What do you think of my first remix post? Questions, comments, complaints? Toasters?

in which we learn that both I and my camera are dumb

Ready for YET ANOTHER round of good news and bad news?

Good news: Turns out my crappy camera does have a timer. It was a present for my nineteenth birthday, and I just now realized that.

(item: I am twenty-three years old right now.)

Bad news: My camera promptly died whilst taking a picture, and didn't save the file properly. And I have to leave for work.

Ergo, no outfit picture until this evening.

In the meantime, please enjoy this video of a man getting hit in the face by a water balloon.

good news...bad news

Good news: My outfit is decent...so I think I might post for the very first time on Wardrobe Remix.

Bad news: My husband is asleep, and my camera doesn't have a timer. So this might have to wait until this evening, after eight hours at work and a trip to JoAnn's (I'm out of machine needles).

In the meantime, please enjoy this video of a rabbit opening an envelope.

Clothes for Tomorrow

I haven't purposefully laid out my outfit the night before since I was in fourth grade and my mother would nag at me to do it. Thank God for high school when I got to wear a uniform!

In any case, our apartment is rather small and there isn't much space for me to lay out an outfit. Luckily, I found the perfect spot.

I got an adjustable dressform for my college graduation in December, and I don't know how I lived without it. Sewing is so much easier without trying to pin darts on your own back. Her name is Giselle, and she's one of the most amazing things ever.

In any case, there's my outfit for tomorrow. If it's good enough, I might even post it on Wardrobe Remix.

Or I might chicken out.

Also, that's totally Whose Line Is It Anyway? on the television in the background. It's still one of my favorite shows...but I can't watch it with my best friend anymore. She's seen all the episodes and can (and will) quote along.

New Shoes: Gray Victorian Boots

I've been searching for a pair of inexpensive Victorian-style boots, and lo and behold, I found them! It's the Briana boots, on clearance at Forever 21.

Purchased for $23.97

make 'n' shop

What am I thinking about right now?


I've dabbled with owning an Etsy shop, but it's never been very successful. I'd really like to sell things I've made and offer commissioned costumes...I just don't know what I'm going to call it.

If I ever design an original line of clothing, I have a name for it. But should I go ahead and make a new Etsy shop for it, while the current (meager) shop languishes? Or should I just spruce up the current one?

Decisions, decisions...

Caitlin comes in many different sizes

If you've known for any period of time, you know that my weight runs up and down. Currently, I'm right about here:

This was taken two months ago...I'm somewhere in the 140s. I really don't want to weigh myself...because I know that I've gained some happy newlywed weight recently.

My lightest weight was the summer of 2009, when I was around 137.

I was working at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the time, which meant that I spent all day walking. Walking walking walking. Pair that with a steady diet of applesauce and Lean Cuisine frozen meals, plus about three or four bottles of water a day, and you can betcha the weight just slipped off.

But I have a history of gaining weight. I was in the 160s as a freshman in college, then dropped about 20-30 pounds. It slowly crept back up during sophomore year, so I spent junior year losing about ten of those new pounds. Senior year was full of waffling- I ranged between the 140s and the 150s, on average.

Now consider these numbers with the fact that I'm only five feet tall. Yeah. It's pretty ridiculous.

I showed this picture of me at my heaviest weight to my friend Erin, and she said, "Wow...Caitlin comes in many different sizes."

I vowed I would never get to that point again, and I haven't. But I do know that if I'm not careful, I could get there. Especially since P and I are thinking about having children in a few years. I'd like to be slim and healthy before I pack on the baby weight...hopefully that would make losing the weight even easier.

My goal weight is 115 lbs. My doctor recommended that I should be between 100-120, and I think that with my build I should stay somewhere in the middle. So it's time to bust out the exercise DVDs.

I also suspect that I'm developing an intolerance for lactose. It runs in my family, so I'm not surprised, but maybe cutting down on rich dairy products will help the weight drop off.

And once I reach my goal weight...I think I'll get myself a tattoo. I think that'll be a nice reward.

New Dress: Vintage Black Pinstripes

New purchase on its way: a black bloused-sleeve pinstripe dress. Possibly vintage...the seller was vague.

Purchased for $9.94.

Dreams of being a queen

I think I might have to make a chemise a la reine for myself.

You see, it all began back in November of 2009, when I was designing a flotilla of colonial gowns for my university's Lighting of the Green. I watched one of my favorite Georgian films, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, for inspiration.

Most colonial gowns are depicted as either simple work frocks with a rounded or squared collar, or elaborate gowns with a triangular piece in the bodice front called a stomacher. A lot of them- particularly in Marie Antoinette- looked like this.


But I got a little tired and a little overwhelmed at the idea of making a dozen dresses like that. Not only are they elaborately decorated, but it meant that I would have create an overdress with a stomacher that snapped in and out (authentic dresses were tied or pinned), plus a petticoat. Daunting to draft, and daunting to fit.

However, when these dresses came onscreen, I rejoiced.

Following the birth of her children, Marie Antoinette's husband gave her a manor called Petit Trianon. The young queen spent a great deal of time there playing country maiden, and she introduced a whole new style of dressing.

Court dresses were usually silk, velvet, or satin; they required stays (the precursor to corsets), hoops and panniers, and layers of petticoats. The new fashions were simple loose dresses with long full skirts and stays were optional. This style was called "la chemise a la reine" (the queen's dress) and paved the way for the empire dresses of Jane Austen fame.

I sewed a chemise a la reine for one of the Lighting of the Green girls. It was just a simple white muslin dress with ruffles on the collar and sleeves, but I absolutely loved it. In fact, I was terribly jealous.

I based the style off of the dress pictured above, but took a hint from this costume used in the movie as well:

I love the barest hint of pastel blue in the gown. For the gown I sewed, I used a pink cotton to line the skirt and add some volume, and tied a double-faced satin ribbon as a sash. Simple but elegant.

The actress loved the gown. She said it was incredibly comfortable, and she was able to layer underneath it (Lighting of the Green is an outdoor event that takes place in December). It was very flattering on her, and while I was sad to see it go, I'm glad that it has entered the university costume shop.

My friend Rose is a tremendous fan of Jane Austen, particularly of the BBC adaptations of her books. We've been planning some sort of Jane Austen event, where we dress up in regency-era gowns, have a picnic, and watch several of the movies during a sleepover. I have a plain white muslin dress that I made to play Jane Austen for a project, but I think a new gown may very well be in order.

My only question: should I use pink again? I like blue, but I have far too many blue costumes already. Apple green? Pale yellow or cream?

Maybe I'll just use the pink again.