What I Wore Today

I've been participating in the Wardrobe Remix flickr pool pretty regularly for six months now, and I've found it to be a very rewarding experience. Not only have I found a new way to infuse a little creativity into my day by coming up with exciting outfits for the group, but I've also made friends and gained awareness of a habit I'm trying to change (new clothes shopping). The folks in the group are all so supportive and offer some terrific advice and inspiration to one another through their creative wardrobe mixing. A few months ago I was approached by Graffito publishing about a book they were putting together about how real women dress- What I Wore Today. They wanted to use a couple of images from my W_R flickr set, and I said it was okay. How excited was I to see it mentioned on one of my favorite blogs just now? Very! I wonder if I actually made it in to the pages of the published product.... Ha. Anyway, I'll be sure to be picking this book up once it's available- I see that one of the most inspiring Wardrobe Remixers, sjwhidden, is featured on the cover! Can't wait to see who else appears inside.

Found via Into the Fray:

100% Hapa

Just 'cause

Here's my version of the Flickr Meme everyone's doing...

a. type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search

b. using only the first page, pick an image.

c. copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

What is your first name? Daphne
What is your favorite food? Greek salads
What high school did you attend? Burlingame High School
What is your favorite color? green
Who is your celebrity crush? Edward Norton
Favorite drink? Bloody Mary
Dream vacation? Greece
Favorite dessert? Ice Cream mochis
What do you want to be when you grow up? a world traveler
What do you love most in life? my quiet thoughts
One word to describe you. questioning
Your Flickr name. Jean C'est Quoi

1. Daphne odora, 2. Greek salad, 3. Burlingame High School (BHS), 4. Green Tea Sunset, 5. I LIKE MYSELF!, 6. bloody_mary_glass_3667.jpg, 7. OIA, handmade houses, 8. kitty's strawberry mochi ice cream treat (i), 9. Balancing on the rooftop of Europe, 10. The Pool, 11. Mirror On The Lake Revamp, 12. Sur les ponts de Paris

Happiness is...a looong weekend

I planned ahead this year and took off an extra 2 days around the 4th of July weekend. Yep- 5 blissful days away from the office!

Views from my weekend:

Independence Day recap

Yesterday was a nice, easy day finished off with celebrations with friends and neighbors on my rooftop. I live in a terrific building- everyone is so talented, open and sharing. One brought out a huge stereo system and djayed the party; one brought homemade jerk chicken; another brought tons of cheeses, beer, olives, bread and etc.; many brought friends and family. Just as the fireworks started it also started to rain, but it didn't dampen anyone's spirit.

summertime eats and drinks

Corn tortillas filled with refried beans- sharp cheddar and lemon wedges on the side

My homemade salsa: tomatoes, onion, tons of garlic, sea salt and hot yellow bonnet peppers

Fresh chopped cilantro

Fresh romaine lettuce ribbons

A Michelada Cubana makes it go down smooth....

Lusting after...

Nova Paul & Joe sneakers by eco-friendly brand, Terra Plana

Thrifty Thursday

I do it myself...

worn out Levi's

It's no secret that I'm a jeans girl. Before challenging myself to join the Wardrobe Remix community on flickr, my standard weekend uniform was jeans and a tee or tank- and it's still a favorite solution for me. I often feel my most comfortable and confident in jeans. In college, I'd wear the same pair of jeans most days of the year: freshman year was a pair of Earl slim dark rinse jeans; sophomore year was a pair of classic stone wash button-fly Helmut Langs; junior year was a pair of wide leg sailor jeans from the Gap; senior year was a pair of worn Levi's '69 reissues. The idea of wearing a pair of jeans to threadbare is still very appealing to me- I love the aesthetic of a pair perfectly worn-in. I hardly consider jeans an article of clothing as much as I consider them an extension of the person wearing them, a fingerprint or a wearable diary. Of course, I own probably 50 pairs of jeans, given that I never throw anything out. In my stash I have everything running the gamut from $200 pairs from the latest labels to timeless denim from American standard brands to thrifted pairs of busted, oil stained, ripped and mended 501s. Out of them all, the most highly-revered are those falling into the latter category. There's something romantic to me about a pair of jeans who've lived so much life and look as stylish as they do anti-fashion. Having said that, I just read this blurb about A.P.C.'s new "Butler" line of pre-loved denim. Part of me totally gets it, but a bigger part of me is repulsed by the idea of paying big bucks for someone else's denim memories- especially when you could achieve the same effects by either wearing out your denim all by yourself, or at the least picking up a cheaper pair from a thrift shop. Ah, but I guess this reflects my general love/hate relationship with A.P.C.- LOVE their classic, simple style but despise their elitist attitude.

A.P.C.'s "real thing"

On my mind...

I've been thinking a lot about these Rodarte tights ever since watching the fashion show on Full Frontal Fashion in February.... They look simple enough to make, right? Just loosely-knit, uneven gauge stockinette in the round, with maybe a secured dropped stitch or eyelet every now and again.

SwoC: One Month and then some!

I've officially made it through my first month of SwoC, plus an additional week to make up for my little retail hiccup at the Rogan sample sale. How do I feel?
-I'm happy I was able to do this and exercise restraint in the area where I usually exercise indulgence.
-I'm also shocked that a month is reeeaaaallllly that long! Cutting off one of my favorite activities made this block of time stand out from the rest.
-I also feel invigorated- in recent weeks, I've gotten some great encouraging comments from readers and friends, and several have said that they've been inspired to cut out shopping for a month or more as well! Independent of my little blog, it seems excessive shopping is on a lot of people's consciouses, and others are also deciding to cut out the habit for a while. Several fashion/style bloggers I read have mentioned it lately.
-And I must admit, now that I've reached my planned stopping place for this project, I'm really ACHING to go shopping!

What this past month has shown me is how completely consumption has become ingrained in my life- I don't like that or want to continue that way. I've found that my interest in caring for the clothing items currently in my closet increased- I took stuff to the cleaners for the first time in months, realizing I'd have to wear them again, and I mended a few little things too. I've got really excited to come up with new ways of wearing the same stuff- a new creative outlet! I've found that I CAN (mostly) keep to a promise I make to myself, even when it means "hardship".

Today I'm celebrating the close of my month of SwoC by making a donation to offset my household's carbon for the year. Thanks to the wonders of matching gifts, this will stretch even further.

Will I continue down this path of Style without Consuming? Stay tuned to find out!