The Year of Living Thriftily just had a birthday, and listed 27 things that she loves. And since my birthday is today, I thought I would steal the idea. But my cake has only 24 candles. Lucky for me, cos this is hard!

1. Duran Duran: my life, my heart, my favorite band, always and forever. And their fashion sense was clearly ahead of their time.


2. Jane Fonda as Barbarella, the most beautiful woman there ever was and ever will be. And hair so big they couldn't fit it all in the picture.


3. Elsa Schiaparelli's shoe hat. No more need be said.


4. J Brand 10" skinny jeans: there will come a time in my life when I am too old and too fluffy to wear these. Until then.


5. Louis Wain and his sublimely strange kittens


6. Helmut Newton's goddess women. My life's only regret is that I didn't get famous sooner, or that he would have died later, so I could have had a portrait by him.


7.Howard Devoto and his funny haircut


8. Gobstopper Heartbreakers candy. I am currently working my way through my second bag, and there will be more bags to follow. And the colors are so pretty, especially the pink ones.


9. Milani nail polish; you can find it at Walgreens, it costs $1.99 or less, and comes in sick colors like fluoro yellow and coral.


10. Cute, creepy old antique stores where everything smells like old newspaper, and there are a stack of depression glass plates teetering precariously on the corner of an ancient sideboard, and the proprietor is gruff yet wise and throws in an old pinback of Howdy Doody or something


11. Soft, warm, vintage cashmere sweaters. And they only get better with age.


12. Pucci's out of control classic, elegant, flattering prints


13. Dresses with 3/4 sleeves


14. rude boys and rude girls


15. My favorite movie of all time, Brazil


16. the fabulous ladies (and their fabulous clothes!) of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill


17. Lip Smackers, the only cosmetic I've used religiously since elementary school


18. Aveda tea


19. Sailor Moon; I'm always trying to hunt down pleated miniskirts and the appropriate hair bobbles for the meatball head look


20. Ferragamo flats


21. World's End


22. Cetaphil


23. gingham

24. Gothic

25. and of course, Preppy.

Recessionista Blues

I am using the word recessionista unabashedly, because I think it's funny how people have to give a name to everything, no matter how stupid or pointless. Shop Bop and Net-A-Porter are both having 20% off of previously reduced items, here's what I found poking around:



WANT these Alexander Wang pants, $90-some-odd dollars. But I would have to sell some of my own clothes first. Maybe I should have a Gothic Preppy garage sale.



I would wear them with this Marc by Marc top.

Then over to Net-a-Porter, where everything in my size is nearly sold out. Maybe you'll find something good, though.

Ugh Marc Jacobs dress from the future, ugh ugh ugh

Pretty printed Marc dress

Diane Von Furstenburg

But for those of us without birthday money to spend, I found the perfect pair of completely opaque black tights at Wal Mart (and I know, because I have every pair of supposedly opaque black tights known to man, from Hue to Nordstrom) for only $5. Later I decided I want to wear bobby socks with my ankle strap heels, and ended up at Wal Mart, where they had a 5 pack for, you guessed it, $5.

The nice part about having a birthday in January is that it is just far enough after Christmas that everyone forgets about Christmas and you get double presents. The bad part is that it is inevitably dark, cold, and gray, and you can't wear any of the cute clothes you got.



Like this shirt I won last night; I am embarrassed about how much I spent, but 1) it's my birthday, and 2) it has an embroidered zeppelin! (no comments from the peanut gallery about how I could just embroider a zeppelin on my own shirt)


I am trying to amass vintage tops of late; it's so hard to find novelty shirts that aren't long sleeved, pointy collared, and shiny, unbreathable polyester. But I am on the case.






dolphins!

Dogs and Decisions

My birthday is coming up here in just seven days. I'll be *cough24cough* (time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?) I wanted to buy myself a pair of knee high boots, but then I realized I can get by on stealth sexiness instead of having to resort to such cheap and tawdry trickery. So I think I am going to go with ankle boots instead. But which ones?


Justin Lacer boot

Pros:
-durable
-available in steel toe option for kicking ass (taking names optional)
-kind of look like these Christopher Kane Manolos that I will never have vis a vis kiltie toe

-cheap; can probably pick them up at any of the western stores around my house (living in Florida is a perfect storm of scenesters/goths, Spanish people, tourists, and hillbillies)

Cons:
-already have a pair of flat black boots

OR


Pennangalan Pixie Boot

Pros:
-beautiful quality
-pointy pointy toe

Cons:
-have to wait for them to get here from England
-coffin buckles might make overzealous Christians follow me around with Bibles


I'll leave you to ruminate over my doggy bookends (I think they must be 40s-ish) that I got at an antique store for $10, since the man running the place forgot to take the previous price tag off! He was going to charge me $25!

This is what I wore last night for hookah. This year I will be experimenting with unusual cuts and lengths, which is code-speak for I am too lazy to take anything to the tailor. This is one of the 30s dresses from the Parcel of Madness.

Today's inspiration is Chanel S/S 2009 RTW. Can you guess the theme?





This is how I want to dress when I grow up: like a rich grown-up. Seriously, though.

Long Time No See!

Well, New Years was uneventful. I drank too much South African champagne (yes, I know), wore shoes that left me in unspeakable pain, and saw 75% of some girl's nipple. Not much of interest, indeed.

I am making my New Years fashion resolutions, which are in no order:
-more cashmere
-more attention to how clothes fit and not the size on the label
-more novelty
-more asymmetry
-sell off the things I don't wear, as I have a nasty habit of thrifting clothes too big and too small, and tiny shoes from the 30s that will never ever fit me in a million years
-start my own clothing line (!)
-get clothing and shoes organized so I stop buying another black tank top when I already have four
-take more outfit pictures! This is the most important resolution!

Further inspiration:









Hello, 911? This is not the Black Flag 'TV Party' 12" single on white vinyl I ordered from ebay, etc



My birthday is in two weeks; I am planning on winning (aren't we all) this mourning dress from ebay to wear to my party:


O, the cleverness of me!