Sidewalk Chic

Twist me a crown of wind-flowers

2012-05-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Forenza, thrifted, vintage; Belt: Loft;

Floral wreath: diy (tutorial here); Shoes: Born Crown.

Twist me a crown of wind-flowers;
That I may fly away
To hear the singers at their song,
And players at their play.
Put on your crown of wind-flowers:
But whither would you go?
Beyond the surging of the sea
And the storms that blow.
Alas! your crown of wind-flowers
Can never make you fly:
I twist them in a crown to-day,
And to-night they die.

- Christina Georgina Rosetti, "Twist me a crown of wind-flowers"

Giveaway reminder

2012-05-28T11:22:00.000-04:00

There's still some time to enter my eShakti giveaway!

No whimpers, just bangs

2012-05-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sweater vest: Arizona Jeans Co., thrifted; Shorts: Walmart; Shoes: Born Crown;

Purse: vintage, thrifted on an epic thrift store haul in high school.

I've been feeling pretty brazen this week. Maybe it's all the change in my life lately (new internship, new summer class, exciting plans for the future), but things I normally wouldn't act on are suddenly getting done. I finally acted on my wish to have Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander hair and got my bangs cut two inches shorter than I had them. It's a very subtle change but one that makes me happy. I took these photos around campus as the sun was going down.

Happy Friday! What are your plans? I'm looking forward to catching up with friends.

---

To see more of my past thrift finds, click here.

Thoughts from the Sidewalk

2012-05-24T17:00:00.000-04:00

Listening to: Old Crow Medicine Show, "Evening Sun."

In the flickering light

2012-05-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

Blouse: Banana Republic - gift from ML; Shorts: Walmart;

Shoes: Born Crown; Bow tie: vintage, Agora.

Listening to: Jump Little Children, "B-13."

Many summers ago, I worked as a Boy Scout camp counselor, teaching aspiring Eagle Scouts how to tie knots, pitch tents, build campfires and navigate with a compass in the woods. I spent the majority of the summer hiking around camp in a uniform of khaki shirts, olive shorts, a broken-in baseball cap, and a Nalgene bottle full of water fastened around one of my belt loops. It was a very simple look, and one that was based on practicality and durability. My clothes had to be able to withstand tri-weekly campfires, singalongs and staff swims across the lake (in full uniform).

These days, my wardrobe no longer could fit inside a sleepaway trunk, and I spend more time in dresses and skirts. But on some summer days, when I'm missing the smells of campfire smoke and mountain pines, I reach for clothes that mimic my old uniform of khaki and green, and hum the old camp songs to myself.

You can read more about my camp adventures here.

I know I am but summer to your heart

2012-05-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Jennifer Moore, vintage, thrifted;

Bow tie as brooch: Vintage, from Minx; Shoes: Born Crown.

I know I am but summer to your heart,

And not the full four seasons of the year;

And you must welcome from another part

Such noble moods as are not mine, my dear...

... Wherefore I say: O love, as summer goes,

I must be gone, steal forth with silent drums,

That you may hail anew the bird and rose

When I come back to you, as summer comes ...

— Edna St. Vincent Millay,

"I know I am but summer to your heart"

Giveaway - Win any item from eShakti!

2012-05-22T16:00:00.000-04:00

I'm teaming up with eShakti this week to bring you an awesome giveaway: one lucky Sidewalk Chic winner can pick out any product from their online store (this includes custom-sized/custom-styled items, too)! eShakti offers a wide range of dresses, blouses and skirts that you can customize. You can read my review of one of their dresses here.

To enter for a chance to win:

- Required: Follow eShakti on Facebook and Pinteres t and leave a comment here with your email address to let me know if you've done so.

Other ways to enter:

- Visit eShakti and leave a comment on what you would choose if you win!

This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada residents only, and will run until 5/31. I'll notify the winner by email on 6/01.

Good luck!

To live that old life no more

2012-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Body Central;

Shoes: Born Crown; Bow tie: Vintage, from Minx.
Listening to: Old Crow Medicine Show, "Wagon Wheel."

Over the weekend, Jeremiah was out of town and I had a rare chance to visit one of my old photo locations: McDaniel Farm Park. I used to take all my outfit photos there before we moved from Gwinnett, and I relished the hour or so I had there this weekend to reminisce and to see how the park has changed. There were some differences -- new wood planks for fences, different crops planted in the fields -- but for the most part, I was grateful to see that this place that I had kept sacred in my heart was still recognizable to me.

Since it's gotten hotter, I haven't been doing much experimentation lately with my clothes. The most I've been mustering is wearing my bowties in ways they weren't initially intended, like as brooches.

To see my previous adventures at the farm park, click here. Stay tuned for a giveaway later today!

Lately: pieces of town

2012-05-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

Just a random selection of snapshots throughout my week. Some are from downtown, others are from my daily commute to class.

Since I've been doing a lot of design work for school projects recently, I've been drawn to finding interesting fonts and typography. Athens is a quirky little art town and so there's a ton of inspiration to be found in store signs and concert flyers ...

My ring and dress matched perfectly the other day ...

My daily commute to class involves a 10-minute walk through campus. I pass by centuries-old buildings and a cemetery everyday. Here's one of the headstones, which dates back to 1851.

And here's one of my favorite buildings on campus. I love the Greek-revival columns.

How all the changes came about my ways

2012-05-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Ariella; Shoes: Born Crown;

Floral wreath: Self-made (tutorial here).

Listening to: Nico, "These Days."

These photos by Jeremiah.

These days I've been catching up on things I've neglected -- laundry, blogging, writing, crafting. There wasn't much of a reprieve between finals and starting my May research class, but I am enjoying more free time now that I don't have a full load of classes, work, research and freelance projects. Jeremiah and I are both taking classes and working on research projects for most of this summer. I'm looking forward to June when I won't have anything on my schedule to tie me down to staying anywhere near campus.

It's been really hot lately, so I've been favoring very simple dresses like this one from Ariella. Because of its short length, I had relegated it to being a beach cover-up. Now, I've been wearing it around town because it still smells of sunscreen and sand, and it reminds me that there are oceans and beaches calling my name (hopefully soon!).

Vested

2012-05-08T09:37:00.001-04:00

Dress: Banana Republic; Vest: Old Navy;

Sandals: Miss Trish of Capri, Target; Bracelet: Gift.

The town red

2012-05-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Body Central; Sweater: Target; Shoes: Born Crown, Bag: Kohl's, gift.

Nothing like enjoying a little trivia Sunday nights downtown ... and making funny faces away from the camera.

Classes are wrapping up this week -- yippee!

Pantoned

2012-05-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Spense; Shoes: Born Crown;

Floral hair wreath: self-made (here's a tutorial); Bracelet: Kohls, gift.

So I've always been interested in how Pantone chooses which colors are the 'it' color for the year or season. It turns out, it's a much more intricate process than I had originally imagined (paint chips on a dartboard?) that draws upon different themes that have cropped up across cultural, geographic and economic patterns. This story from Slate goes straight to the palette source and the reporter sits in on a color committee meeting. The back-and-forth debate sounds interesting ("Everybody’s into white flowers at the moment ... there are definitely movements, even in flowers"), but slightly mystical to outsiders and subjective to those involved. Either way, it's intriguing to see which colors will dominate in retail decisions.

Here I am in a dress I've had for years, but the color is a close rendition of the on-trend color of the year: 17-1463, or Tangerine Tango. Of course, I didn't buy it intuiting that the color would be popular years later, but it remains interesting how colors and trends ebb and flow.

I took these photos at the park, knowing full well that the green foliage would make the dress's hue pop even more -- but didn't anticipate how naturally saturated it would all look. Hooray for playing with the color wheel ...

This place is the beat of my heart

2012-05-03T18:02:00.000-04:00

I've said it all before and I'll say it once more: Athens, Georgia, you are a damn fine town. Here are some shots from the past couple weeks from my ongoing love affair with this city.

I happened to eat lunch at Weaver D's with Jeremiah on the restaurant's 26th anniversary! I always get the fried chicken plate, and eat it so fast I hold my breath through the whole meal. It's kind of embarrassing to admit to inhaling food, but their macaroni and buttered potatoes are so good ...

I just wrapped up a semester-long group advertising project for a local art studio. It involved original, local photography (from yours truly!) and converting all the photos into paintings for the art part of our ads. My blog experience actually helped out a lot in this aspect of the project -- years of becoming comfortable with taking hundreds of photos, editing them and consulting tutorials made this part easy to handle (and fun for me). Here are some of the unfinished pieces we created:

It's empty in the valley of your heart

2012-05-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

Paisley dress: J. Crew; Shawl (as scarf): Burlington;

Belt: Banana Republic; Sandals: Miss Trish of Capri;

Ring: from mom, heirloom.

Listening to: "The Cave," Mumford and Sons.

I don't know how many times I've worn some iteration of this outfit, but this is definitely my favorite dress in my closet. Look how beautifully it matches the foliage of the park ...

I've been in a reflective mood lately. I spent some time hanging out with old friends who came into town for my mentor's memorial service last week. It was so good to hang out with people (co-workers at my college newspaper) that I haven't seen in years, and catch up on the many personal and professional ups and downs that happen after graduation. I almost didn't go — what if we're not the same? — but ultimately was so glad I did, realizing that I missed my ink-stained journalism pals.

Classes are wrapping up this week, and I can barely contain my excitement at being free from so many deadlines. I'll be free to roam around this area this summer, hopefully finding more awesome photo spots along the way.

I went to the woods to live deliberately

2012-04-19T13:19:00.000-04:00

Top: Banana Republic, gift from ML; Skirt: Thrift find;

Shoes: Born Crown; Bracelet: Loft.

Sometimes I look at these photos and wonder if people who skim this blog think I live in some Walden-esque oasis all the time. I spend just a little of my weekly time outdoors on these bridges and near these lakes, and yet, it's often all that's represented on this blog. I think this blog sometimes represents an ideal that I wish I could live out all the time — how I wish I could camp out on this bridge and call it my own.

But I doubt the rest of my life would be as picturesque. Would I dare to show you:

- How much of my life is played out through emails and Gchats?

- The bottle graveyard in my house, representing all the Coke Zeros I've consumed in a week?

- The to-do lists that are made in earnest at the beginning of each week, only to be scratched out and rewritten in Sharpies and highlighters?

Probably not. So I take photographs in the park instead.

I found this skirt at a thrift store sometime around St. Patrick's Day, but never got it drycleaned in time to wear during the holiday, so here it is. I've mentioned many times how much I love to dress to match my surroundings (something that Tom and Lorenzo dissect constantly on Mad Men), and here I've done it again.

Speaking of television, I'm back to blogging at Film Rascal. I'll be dissecting Mad Men and hopefully Game of Thrones this week!

All those days are gone

2012-04-16T17:00:00.013-04:00

I spent some time testing out my loaned Canon G-10 this weekend and went persuing through a vintage fairground near my apartment. Items are less expensive there than some of the stores downtown, and I spent a good hour marveling over old cameras, albums, and postcard fonts. The wedding cake topper was my favorite find, because it reminds me of the one my mother kept from her wedding 27 years ago! Not a bad way to spend a Saturday ...

Roamin' holiday

2012-04-16T09:00:00.054-04:00

Dress: Jason Wu for Target; Belt: Loft (from this dress);

Shoes: Born Crown; Bracelet: gift, from Destin.

These are the first outfit photos I've taken in nearly a month. With school and projects, I've been a really busy graduate student, but I'm happy nonetheless and am trying to incorporate more time for solitude into my schedule.

So, I'm using a new camera now. My college has a photo lab where you can check out camera equipment, so these photos are from a Canon Powershot G-10 on loan. I had fun playing with all the settings during this shoot, and I can't wait to try advanced DSLR equipment soon. I'm hoping some experimentation will help me figure out which DSLR to splurge on this summer.

I found this Jason Wu dress on a random Target run last week. My Target is pretty small, and doesn't carry much of the Go! International lines, so I wasn't expecting to find any of the popular soldout line when I perused the clearance racks. But lo and behold, the Jason Wu poplin dress, in my size for $11. I've already declared my love for red and blue wardrobe pieces, so I think this dress will fit in well with my closet. And with this dress and my new short bangs, I have been feeling very Audrey Hepburn all week.

Speaking of pretty dresses, there's still time to enter my Shabby Apple dress giveaway! I'll pick a winner tomorrow.

Online friendships & when favorite blogs end

2012-04-12T10:11:00.003-04:00

The passage of time is a funny thing in the blog world, and you can meter it through different means: the number of followers you have, or perhaps the number of posts you've written.

For me, if I need to look at a good measuring stick of my 2.5 years of fashion blogging, I only need to look at my blogroll to be reminded of how far I've come -- and who I've met along the way.

My blogroll is littered with links of dead blogs, and I mourn for them.

No, none of these bloggers have kicked the bucket, but they have passed on -- blogging, that is -- to pursue larger personal ambitions. Don't get me wrong -- I commend and respect them for doing what was best for their lives as they pursued other things. But I still miss their daily online presence in my dashboard.

There was Sara, of Orchids in Buttonholes, whose witty prose and well-chosen wardrobe made me envy her writer life in New York City. Clare, of Between Laundry Days, who championed simplicity in laidback outfits as she braved Chicago winters. And Tania, of What Would a Nerd Wear, whose self-proclaimed "vanilla" academic style was pitch-perfect advice as I too began to navigate the tricky sartorial waters in graduate school.

Their styles pulled me in as a reader, but I stayed for their stories about everyday life -- whether it related to travel plans or career switches, reading recommendations or recipes, I was along for the ride. And with comments and emails, it felt like a dialogue -- and later, a blog friendship -- began to emerge with each of them over the years.

I mentioned to a non-blogging friend recently that I was sad about What Would a Nerd Wear's end, and she couldn't understand my emotions over someone I had never met.

And I understand that confusion. To someone who doesn't blog or engage with an online community, it can seem silly, creepy and downright voyeuristic to read about another's life so thoroughly. It can also seem like intrusive and demanding behavior from readers, especially for those who feel they have ownership over reading a blog, as if a blogger may "owe" an audience life updates or explanations.

And to others, it can seem pointless to follow a blogger -- whose online image may be curated, positioned and edited so as to not reveal its real-life imperfections. In one of my media classes, we've debated whether anyone can really portray a true depiction of themselves online (the jury's still out). Even further, it can seem like frivolous grief, to lament over an online identity of a blogger who is still alive and well -- and is functioning without the constant gaze or comments of readers and followers.

Whether the bloggers I follow put up a realistic depiction of themselves is not the point, and unless I ever run into them in real life, I may never really know their full stories, and that's okay.

But what I do know is this: Over hundreds of comments, posts and emails exchanged over the years, a long distance friendship of sorts emerges between bloggers and their readers. When you count up the hours devoted to such communication, it's a lot. In many ways, it's surely possible to feel that you know a blogger you follow better than you know some of your real-life friends and family, or at least on a different depth level.

This is not a desperate plea for Sara or Clare or Tania or any other bloggers who have quit to start back up again. Nor is it meant to be a guilt trip to conflict with their decision to end blogging. But I suppose this opens up to a larger commentary on how our increasingly-technological society creates an over-reliance on online identities, and how that can fragment communication and relationships, and even reality itself. Or even further, perhaps it's existential grounds for exploring the lifespan of a blog.

I don't have a clear answer to any of these musings.

I do know, though, that my blogroll is littered with the dead, as I miss people who were not quite strangers, but not quite real-life companions, either.

And the Internet is a little lonelier without them.

Have any of your favorite blogs ended, and what were your reactions?

Shabby Apple giveaway

2012-04-09T16:00:00.009-04:00

Shabby Apple's known for its vintage-inspired, beautiful women's dresses in various styles, shapes and hemlines. Sidewalk Chic readers now have a chance to win the Waimea dress, a pretty frock from the South Pacific line.

To enter:

- 'Like' the Shabby Apple Facebook page. Leave a comment here saying that you did. Include an email address so I can get in touch in case you win!
- Extra entry: Leave a comment explaining how you'd style it or where you'd wear it.
- Open to U.S. readers only.

- Winner will be drawn next week on 4/16.

Good luck!

Watson Mill Bridge

2012-04-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Dress: Erika, thrifted, vintage;

Shoes: Born Crown.

Yikes, it's been way too long since my last post. School (particularly group projects and case studies) has kept me from my camera and tripod for far too long, and every time a pretty day came and went, I ached to capture it.

I took a recent trip to Watson Mill Bridge with Jeremiah during spring break. This park features the longest covered bridge in the state, and is not too far from my town. Last time I visited I went alone, playing on the rocks and taking photos here and there. It was fun to share it with Jeremiah this time, showing him my favorite spots like some kind of tour guide.

I'll be having a giveaway here soon to make up for my long absence --- stay tuned!

Sunny day

2012-03-12T18:20:00.000-04:00

Dress: Elie Tahari, hand-me-down from Aunt P.;

Sweater: Banana Republic; Shirt: American Eagle, Boots, tights: Target;

Pocketwatch necklace: Waltham, vintage.

Treasured: Thrifted satchel

2012-03-10T09:00:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since I've done these "Treasured" posts, but I've decided to start them back up and highlight some of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe and the stories behind them.

I've had this thrifted satchel for a couple years now, and it's been constantly featured on this blog ever since.
Back when I worked as a handbag sales associate at a department store, finding the perfect purse was an everyday goal for customers who came to my store. I saw so many purses, totes and satchels get returned for a variety of reasons, but the most common complaint was that some purses didn't fit certain lifestyles. A clutch doesn't work well for those who carry their whole lives around everyday, just as batchels don't work for those who dislike short straps.

This crossbody satchel, which I scored for $2 at Goodwill, fits my life: as a student, I can cram the essentials (wallet, camera, iPod, phone, pens) into it, and its long strap means the weight is distributed evenly across my body. It's traveled with me around town and around the world. And during my blog photo sessions, the purse can handle rough weather and conditions and still maintain its style. My only complaint is I've yet to find an affordable bigger version for my laptop.

For more of my thrift finds, look here.

I like the way you move

2012-03-08T09:00:00.036-05:00

Sweater: Target; Jeans: Old Navy;

Shirt: Arizona Jeans Co., thrifted; Shoes: Born Crown; Bow tie: vintage.

I've mentioned before how much I admire Outkast's Andre 3000 (a fellow Georgian!) and his sartorial style, particularly his use of bright vintage plaids, bow ties and boaters. His interpretation of the preppy look takes it up a notch, and is probably the reason I can't resist pairing plaids with bow ties lately.

Academic adaptation

2012-03-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

Sweater: Banana Republic; Blouse: Ralph Lauren, hand-me-down;

Jeans: Old Navy; Bow tie: Vintage.

I am one screenplay update and two hectic days away from spring break, so most of my outfits lately have been the same iteration of pants, sweater and some kind of button-down shirt. Before I started graduate school, I used to think this kind of outfit was staid and dull -- how could I give up my beloved vintage and ruffles? But I've since adapted to its usefulness -- it's easy to wear at school, work and impromptu department meetings. And adding in little details here and there -- like this vintage bowtie -- reminds me that there's more to life than being a slave to my books and Powerpoints all the time.