#MeMadeMay '18 Week 1 -- Buttons

I blame Pao of Project Minima. She tempted me into this.
Last week, I signed an intention statement over on So, Zo's page:

[Now that I reread my statement, I might not be exactly following it this week. Oops].

This week I tackled the pile of shirts that need buttons replaced.

First, this shirt of Severo's:

Os are missing buttons, Xs are extras that I can move.

I really like the print on this. Even though it's made up of squares, it looks like dots.

Fixed! It only took ten minutes! And how long was it sitting in a To-Do pile?

I won't say!

Totally pretend outfit. Perhaps will wear tomorrow!

Next up, the African explosion shirt:

I gave this to Severo, then took it back.
I'm holding it closed where the button is missing because I haven't fixed it yet.

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday

and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

We're still on the Dots Month Linkup. Let's see those dots, new, old, whatever!

My skirt has dots, don't give me any grief.

Ambulatory Portfolio at a College Reunion

Yesterday I attended a 50th year celebration of the first college I attended,
the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

[reactment of outfit, one day later -- forgot to ask someone to take my picture -- 

what kind of fashion blogger am I?] 

IF I had stayed in school, it would have been my 40th reunion.
But at age 20, I was too much of a smartass, and moved to NYC instead.
However, I think it all worked out in the end!

I planned my outfit deliberately -- for starters, I wanted to wear one of my custom prints and my 52 Blogger scarf.
Genius idea: wear the repeat I made from a piece I did AT SCHOOL!

"Reflection", Lithograph, silkscreen, watercolor on paper, 1976

The scribble leggings and silkscreened bag were last minute additions.
While chatting with someone, I realized I was wearing an example of every Print on Demand site that I use!
I was a walking advertisement for myself!

Spoonflower fabric
Redbubble scarf
Society6 leggings
[I get a small commission on all sales]

I had a good laugh at that!

Here I am, with my reunion carpool buddies and classmates Lani and Stanley:

I'll be writing up more about the reunion itself over on my newly fresh art website that, yes, has a blog. (Blog #8?)

Meanwhile, linking up with Patti's Visible Monday
and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Harlequin Rainbow

Did you see it on Instagram? The $6 silk Ungaro shirt that I got last Sunday?
I wore it on Wednesday:

Ommmmmm. Taste the rainbow.

I wore it on Thursday:

Glowing in afternoon light.
I must walk around with my arms extended at all times.

It's beautifully made. French seams inside:

Perfectly aligned pocket and center front:

Covered buttons.

All I can say is Ooh La La!

Tomorrow my mission is obtaining the Hula Pie plate. (See last week's post)
Hula Pie is A Thing, BTW. A Kimo's of Lahaina Town, Maui thing.

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Fantasy Tights

This is what I wore on Thursday for my teaching gig [Digital Fashion at Otis].

I lack decent legwear to coordinate with the burgundy/navy dress and had to resort to boring black tights. Despite that fact, I got my Fluevog Enthusiasts captured by the roving Otis Instagrammer @designschoolshoes Woohoo!

I coordinate so nicely with the wall.

I recently made a print for this week's Spoonflower design challenge that would work perfectly:

Alas, custom tights have yet to appear on either Redbubble or Society6, so they are only a Photoshopped fantasy. (Yes, I've had custom tights made before, but there's a minimum order of 6 pairs and I still have inventory left from that endeavor. Not something worth repeating).

The print IS available on all the Redbubble things in the original Black/Red colorway [I get a commission]. 

AND the Navy/Burgundy up for voting in the Spoonflower Challenge. May I solicit your vote? Voting is open until 2/20, 3pm EST. Keep scrolling until you find my submission!

Linking up with 

Patti's Visible Monday

Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

What to Wear To an Art Show

If you are the artist, instead of tried and true black, how about matching the art?

[in-phone collage with screen capture from video] 

This is me, "wafting":

This is the art, wafting:

#mycommute
July 11 - August 5, 2017

TAG Gallery
5458 Wilshire Blvd, LA, CA 90036

Reception: Saturday, July 15, 5-8pm
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, August 5, 4pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, August 5, 6-9pm

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week
Rena's In Real Life

Super Easy Skirt DIY

Where was I when they issued the "How To" on making a tube skirt out of a tee?
Wool-gathering, no doubt.

Find the too-tight tee/tank/cami:

Cut straight across just under the sleeves/armholes:

Wear!

So easy! Why didn't I think of this sooner!

By the way, I got a new camera.
It has WiFi. I no longer have to email my outfit pix to myself. I can use the WiFi!
Oh the possibilities...

Here's a side-by-side comparison of unedited photos (aside from cropping)
from the old Panasonic Lumix (left) and the new Nikon Coolpix L840 (right):

No more adjusting the Levels in Photoshop every single time!
[Does happy dance].

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday (oops, she's on vacation!)
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Colors of the Day Style Challenge #COTDstyle

This week, I discovered a fun Instagram Challenge hosted by @COTDstyle:

Every weekday, Mercedes posts two colors or a color and a pattern for outfit inspiration.

Tuesday was yellow and purple:

I wore purple and green:

One of my favorite aspects of the challenge is finding my lunchtime muse to sketch. 

(I got tired of sketching myself).

On Tuesday, I sketched @wookie_the_wonder_dog

And on Thursday I went to the art supply store and got some colors that I was lacking, including a decent Royal Purple!

Linking with Patti's Visible Monday, Shelbee's Spread the Kindness, Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like

Summer Travel -- Packing Light

Last week I bombarded my Instagram with my week-long whirlwind adventure on the East Coast.

Fun times! 

I did not want to pay for inflight checked luggage, was traveling by various modes of transportation (plane, ferry, bus, subway, train), and needed to keep my load streamlined. I required a range of garments to take me from the city (Providence and Manhattan) to casual 4th of July activities (and inactivity) at my Mom's. Not to mention a Smithereens concert in the Hamptons. 

All packed and ready to go, with a Züca roll-aboard and Fabletics tote.
This is before I realized that I could use the tote's yoga mat straps to anchor my pillow.

For packing, I've been using an ever-changing Excel doc for years.

Both a hand-written list and my Excel chart. 

The Monday before I left, I came up with a perfect travel outfit:

I added black modal lounge pants and clogs and wore this on three (maybe four) days of my trip, including my day in Manhattan with Ally (see Ally's writeup here). Perfect fabrications for summer in the East (cotton, rayon modal) and the knits gave comfortable stretch.

The Züca roll-aboard comes with a set of six zippered pouches, which helps compartmentalize one's packing.
Here are the socks that I packed:

I only wore the two pairs in the foreground. The weather was too hot.

Another item that I didn't wear was what I call my "Paris" tunic,
so called because the print reminds me of a 50's French illustration style:

I just wasn't feeling it.

To be more efficient, I now save my packing charts and notate which garments did not get worn. This can save me from packing them again. With the above tunic, I remember thinking "If only this were 4" longer." I have more of the fabric, so it has been sent to the Sewing Mountain for rehab.

Linking up with My Refined Style
and
Patti's Visible Monday

Do you ever pack the same thing over and over and never wear it?

52 Pick-me-up: Silver / Confusion / Clarity

••• 

This week's 52 Pick-me-up neutral is my favorite metal for self-adornment: Silver.

My rings --I wear them 24/7, they all hold memories.
Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday. 

I featured my rings on my (sort of) new WordPress blog, where I'm doing a June Challenge in order to get more comfortable working with the platform. I want to create an e-commerce site on it (Blogger's search is terrible and I can't add a shopping cart). It's true, if you do something every day, you get more proficient -- unless it's cleaning up clutter. I fail at that one!

Full outfit:

Roxanne gave me the top -- I've gotta admit, it's one of the more uncomfortable things I've put on my body. Metallic yarns ITCH! As you can see, I put it on over a tunic -- still the THOUGHT of it made me itchy. I'm selling it on Poshmark for $10, if you're interested. It has holes and snags. Don't I make it sound ENTICING?

Disintegration seems to be The Thing for all the silver garments here. 

My Union Bay "fauxkenstocks" are falling apart too. [Sad face]. All of a sudden, all the glue is failing -- on the straps, on the sole. Do Birkenstock's last longer than a year? Maybe it's time to upgrade to the real thing.

On a happier note, how about those leggings?

They're my own pattern, recolored from a silkscreen print that I made in the 70s. (Read more here).

Society6 had one of their better sales ($5 off, free shipping), so I pounced.
Available here, if you want to be twinsies. (Disclosure: I will get about $2.50 commission).

Time to add your neutrals!

Silver / Confusion / Clarity -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Black & White / Destiny

••• 

What's in the cards for me as I turn 60? 

My year, according to the Destiny Cards app
Seems accurate, so far. 

I wore this Black & White ensemble on May 15, for International Fluevog Day,
John Fluevog's self-proclaimed day to celebrate his oeuvre.

Starring Fluevog Creepx that I got on deep sale in San Francisco.
Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.

As part of the celebration, all the Fluevog stores had sales and special giveaways.
I ventured over to the Abbot Kinney branch in Venice. 
What a party!

Shoe frenzy!

Shiny! The Sparkler, released 2016
(All links are for your shopping pleasure, not affiliate).

Red Liz on left, can anyone ID the pale pink ones?

Meteor on left, Black Opposition in middle

Men's Granville

No shoes for man's best friend. Sad face.

I got into the fun and tried on dotty Propel

Lots of fab shoes, all beyond my budget.

Back home, I DID manage to get a pack of Fluevog playing cards online. With the Day's free shipping, I avoided the $8 shipping usually slapped onto $10 cards. 52 Pick-me-up, indeed!
...

But then on Friday my luck turned.
I was all set to photograph a Royal Flush with the Heart suit, but much to my dismay, the Queen and Jack were missing!

Oh noooooo!

I immediately did a live chat with Fluevog's online customer service.
Megan from Minneapolis was ever so helpful and a replacement deck is making it's way home.
Whew! Crisis averted!
Megan told me to use my partial deck for "craft projects".
I have the perfect idea and it involves the December 40+ Blogger Meetup. In the cards, my friends, in the cards.

Will it be my Destiny to see you in December?
Black & White / Destiny -- Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: White / Instinct

••• 

GASP! 
White shoes before Memorial Day! Issue me a Fashion Citation!

I call them my stompin' clompin' clogs. They combine flavors of Western, Moto, and I think a whisper of Dutch. Made by Fiorina, obtained in Hong Kong in 2004, I only recently discovered that they stay on my feet if I wear them without socks (much to the chagrin of my co-workers. These babies CLOMP).

Lets move slowly up the outfit, shall we?

My "skirt" and my leg.

Double houndstooth. Score!
The skirt is a tube of horrible 60's nylon jacquard. It's sticky and VERY synthetic feeling. I will not allow it to touch my skin. It plays nicely with my $2.99 polyester leggings obtained last summer at Jack's in NYC. 

I'm a walking symphony syntheticony.

The big picture:

Yes, I'm holding up my stomach. Ho ho ho!
No, I'm not pregnant. I'm way beyond that possibility.
I'm linking this up with Patti's Visible Monday.

Die Laughing was a store in Pasadena, from the time before Pasadena had Old Towne.
This tee saw the light of day strictly for this post. I then changed into a black tee with a message about crying. You'll have to wait until the next edition of VOGOFF to see that.
Unless you saw my #selfiesketch on various social media, that is. No, I'm not going to help you find it. 

Use your Instinct!
Bwahahahaha.

White / Instinct -- link and tell!