Let's Get Poetic

 I'm writing haiku again and thought I'd turn it into a linkup party.

Here's today's a recent effort:

I've been thinking about an old project that went nowhere fizzled out, the Haiku To My Closet.

My 2019 SpyGirl post included a call for poetry link-up and it's time to revive both!

Composing haiku are kind of addictive - they're a structure of 3 lines with 5/7/5 syllables.
I recently did TWO art collaborations with haiku included in the presentations.

They're traditionally about nature, I just follow the 5/7/5 format.

You will find me walking around muttering to myself and counting down syllables on my fingers.

For now, I'm keeping this link-up open until Labor Day (9/1/25), it may extend longer.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Linking up with

Shelbee On the Edge

Marsha In the Middle

Bad Ass Lumberjack

I wore my Fluevog Tates on Saturday for the last on-campus session of my Digital Design for Fashion class at Otis:

The campus is now closed and we're transitioning to eLearning over Spring Break.

This is the Bad Ass Lumberjack look.

Or is this? I saw this guy in Rumford, Maine

As I stomped around in my boots, I thought of my friend Shelbee and I thought "What would Shelbee wear?"

Shelbee has been blogging "inspired by" posts, and a while back I challenged her to do me.
She came up with a great SpyGirl outfit [she'll give us the link in the comments, I'm sure. I don't have the patience to look for it. #sorrynotsorry].
Anyhow, my boots inspired me to return the favor:

Link to Shelbee's post about her look

I couldn't find her wearing all the elements that I chose in one outfit.
This is my compilation of the Shelbeest of Shelbee. UrShelbee, if you will.
Flannel shirt, band/graphic tee, denim cutoffs, tights, bad ass boots, beanie, pose.
BTW, I totally forgot I had the blue beanie. I found it in the hat drawer. Shelbee, do you want it? It's new!

Stay healthy everyone!

Linking up with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

It's Gingham Party Time!

Welcome to a new month of Link-up fun!
This month's theme is GINGHAM.
In a couple of weeks, I'll get all technical about gingham.
(Because I'm a professor and a textile geek and I can't help myself).
(Oh wait. I already did that here. Hey, I'll do it again!)

One is gingham, the other not. Can you tell which?

For now, give me your best shot!

Add your GINGHAM looks here:






This month's theme was inspired by Nancy and Shelbee's The Good Bye/Good-Buy Book series. They are accepting GINGHAM submissions still. See the link for more information.

SpyGirl Shenanigans

Friday.
LOOK! 52 Bloggers on a SCARF!!!!!

Available here on Redbubble. [I get a small commission]

It's VERY VERY large!
It's a nice soft polyester (never thought I'd be saying those words when I was a 100% natural fiber gal in my youth). I haven't put it to a thorough static cling test yet, so far, not too terrible.

Saturday.
Dug out a relic:

Wore it like this:

Opted out of this outerwear:

You can call me Green Riding Hood

Made this plaid from a photo during a class demo:

Met up with Lani in Venice after class at the Charles Garabedian  retrospective at LA Louver.
(We both took classes with Chaz in the 70s at College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara).
Saw this:

Peter Voulkos, Anasazi (Stack S13), 2010, bronze, 75 1/4 x 36 x 38"

And this:

Venice Beach Sunset

Sunday.
I turned into a domestic dervish and made two batches of jam: Rose Petal and Seville Marmalade.

Rose Petal Jam recipe | Seville Orange Marmalade recipe

Mr Lou was not impressed.

I watched a little bit of the Grammys telecast and was able to catch (and sketch) Beyoncé's extravaganza.

Yowza.

Severo arrived home from his gig in Illinois and we were both hungry, so that was it for my Grammy viewing, though we got home in time to catch Adele receiving her fourth and fifth awards. Maybe I'll sketch her today [check my IG to see if I do] -- I decided to take a sick day from work. Too exhausted!

Linking with Patti's Visible Monday, Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike, Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week

52 Pick-me-up: Ink Blue / Bittersweet / Poignancy

••• 

Ready for seven weeks of blue hues? Here they all are, in case you like to plan ahead:
••• 31. (1/31) Ink Blue / Bittersweet / Poignancy 
••• 32. (2/7) Sapphire / Isolation  
••• 33. (2/14) Blueberry / Workaholic / Talent 
••• 34. (2/21) Aqua / Vanity / Transformation 
••• 35. (2/28) Sky / Expansion / Connection 
••• 36. (3/6) Electric Blue / Impatience 
••• 37. (3/13) Navy / Quest 

This is the week for Ink Blue. How is that different from Navy?
Good question, for which I have no answer.
Here is my take, combined with red:

I'm linking up with Patti's Visible Monday, she has a giveaway this week.

Ink Blue / Bittersweet / Poignancy -- link and tell!

Rain Check

I wanted to test out a piece of vintage 60's tubular nylon knit to see if it worked as a skirt.

It was cold enough to wear leggings (finally!) and then I went for checks on every garment that I could:

When Severo saw my outfit, he said, "Wear the Maury jacket!"
[Part of his costume from King Leisure, a film Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens made in 2004].

Haha

"What about the rain?" you ask.
Dramatic clouds during my lunch break:

Turned into a dark, dark sky:

And the rain commenced.
As I walked back into the building, there was even a double rainbow:

Did not locate the pot of gold.

Here's Severo as Maury:

Hey! Different jacket!
We should do a Halloween couple costume as Check Mates

Linking up with Fashion Should Be Fun
and Patti's Visible Monday

52 Pick-me-up: Sun / Miracle / Reward

••• 

Ah, forgive me while I have a yellow meltdown.

[see more of this mess on The Glutton, where I'm still documenting my decluttering process] 

It's the start of seven weeks of yellow tones here on 52 Pick-me-up.
The colors are named by Tori Hartman for her Chakra Wisdom Oracle. [links here]
The interpretations are my own.
Here's what I decided back in June:

Sun, Topaz, Sunflower, Lemonade, Canary, Bronze, Gold  

This week our prompt is Sun Yellow. How is that different from Canary?
Here's what Tori says: Sun Yellow is the brightest and boldest. Canary Yellow is yellow in its purest form.

OK, so I still have four weeks to get something sewn up in my 90's yellow, black, and red plaids:

The item on top is a sweater that I'm going to turn into a skirt.

The other two are both woven yardage, the middle has spandex added.

That leaves me with the Sun Yellow jingle jangle skirt, which I still haven't decided what to do with.
Here it is, as a skirt, in days of yore:

With the famous Traveling Yellow Skirt!

"It makes a lovely bed"

"But I like the plaids more."

Yes, Mel's "Miracle" Traveling Freak Show Skirt is Sun Yellow.
Have you taken a spin with it?
Leave your link below, if you have.
If you haven't, contact Melanie. [The instructions are over on this page]. It is SO REWARDING!

Sun / Miracle / Reward -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Plaid

CREATED/ PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ LINKS/ 

This coming Friday, October 3, is Plaidurday, a day to celebrate wearing plaid.
Why not wear it all week?
Here, I'm wearing a summer plaid, printed on cotton. It's still too hot in Southern CA to wear flannel or wool.

Have some plaid in your closet? Link and tell!

Plaid Ur Day

CREATED/ LINKS/ 

My blogging friend Señora Allnut is hosting a plaid party today on her blog. Rather than me in one of my plaid outfits, I'm sharing a photo of my desk at work from earlier in the week:

Yes, I design plaids for mens underwear and lounge pants! Yes, it's fun!

52 Pick-me-up: Match Your Scarf

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/

On to a new week! Do you like how I start the week on Wednesday? Or does it confuse you?
If you follow me at all, you know that I will have no problem rising to this week's challenge:
choose a scarf first, then match your outfit to it.

My scarf is a striped vintage silk rectangle that I bought from a boutique on a schoolbus in Portland.
This photo shows 1/2 of it:

Fortuitously, it matches my new plaid boyfriend shirt that I've been wearing a lot.

I tied it ala Diane Keaton-at-the-Golden-Globes:

Even got my outerwear to play along:

Looking forward to seeing your combos!

52 Pick-me-up: Pantone Party

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ LINKS/

It's Pantone Color of the Year (COTY) week here at SpyGirl HQ. That doesn't mean I'm asking you to dress only in this year's Radiant Orchid. Pantone has been decreeing the COTY since 2000, which means you have 15 colors to choose from:

[source: Pantone]

Here is Radiant Orchid:

[source: Pantone]

This color looks very familiar!

But do I have any of it to wear now? I don't think so.
Instead, Here I am in my new plaid shirt. 
We'll pretend it is made up of 2007 Chile Pepper, 2008 Blue Iris, and 2013 Emerald.

Which COTY strikes your fancy? Do you have it in your closet?


 

Know Your Plaid

Time for some education! No pop quiz, I promise.

items from my fabric stash and sewing pile

Woven plaids are created by striped bands of yarns intersecting on the warp (length) and weft (width), causing a grid pattern. Plaid can be found on variety of weave structures (plain, twill, herringbone, etc) as well as used in a knit or printed.

Gingham

is a balanced design, with equal sized bands

Check

is like gingham, but the squares are larger
also a balanced design, with equal sized bands, in twill weave

 Houndstooth

is like gingham, but using a twill weave

Windowpane

is a balanced design, with very narrow bands alternating with wider bands

Tattersall

is windowpane with more than two colors

Tartan

(the official CA tartan)

is a name given to plaids associated with Scottish clans. There are now tartans for countries, US States, brands (like Burberry) and so on. My favorite site for finding tartans is Tartans of Scotland, where you can also read more about them.

Glen

is short for Glenurquhart, a region in Scotland. Also known as Prince of Wales check, it is a houndstooth woven with various sized bands, sometimes with more than two colors.

Madras

is cotton cloth originally from Madras, India (now called Chennai). It typically has irregular bands in bright colors. Read more here.

Notes:
I created all the plaid repeat images above.
I was greatly helped by this post by Alexander West (which has additional information), and Wikipedia.

[12/26 addition] This post is part of IFB's Links a la Mode: December 26

Attire Club: The Best-Dressed Men of 2013
A la Modest: Your Guide to: Cheap,Used, and Unique Holiday Dresses
Al Balsam Life: Affordable & Cute Prom Dresses
Awaking Bohemia: Artist Spotlight Ashley Camper
Beauty and Sass: Three Trends That Need to Go Away in 2014
Cat Eyes and Skinny Jeans: What to Wear on New Year’s Eve
Head to Heels: Aztec Pencil Skirt 5 Ways
Healthy Fashionista: Hues of the Harvest
Keily’s Fashion Pics: Introducing Catwalk Chic Boutique
Kremb de la Kremb: Winter Tan
Les Assorties: Nailberry Got Us On Our Toes
Miss Monet: The Fashionable Ladies of 2013
Purushu Arie: 25 Reasons Why Tablets are a Better Way to Fashion Blogging
Spy Girl: Know Your Plaid
Style Bizzare: Love Me, I’m a Woman: Why Good Sexism is Bad
Style Curated: Dover Street Market Hits NY in Style
The Lifestyle Project: The Battle of The Mascaras
The Golden Girl Blog: 8 Entertaining Tricks Every Hostess Should Know!
Trend Survivor: PS Oneone Neoprene Jacket
We Are Ready Made: Marc and His Showgirls

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