I wish everyday the sun would shine~ take me to another place in my mind...

How do I follow such an awesome post?! Stacey has set the bar high for awesome photos so I hope you don't mind my iPhone and Photo Booth pictures :o)

I had a nice lazy day yesterday watching movies and old episodes of Married with Children, but at one point I got bored and decided to play with my hair, which led to me playing with clothes. 

I sit in my closet occasionally and listen to music and kind of just put outfits together, some work, some don't, but I am constantly playing with what I can put together. Then sometimes I get some time to wear them or try them out. Since I was already all dressed up for Saturday night, we decided to go to Sushi too. I am not above getting dressed up to just stay at home, but it's always nice to get dressed up and go out!

Before I get into the clothes, I know our profile mentions our dogs, so I take this opportunity to introduce Dukes!

He always loves my outfits and likes to sneak his way into photos. He's like the Zoolander of dogs- if dogs could be male models, he would be the first :oD

this must be his Blue Steel

being a male model is very tiring- so he dozed off on the recliner while I was getting ready. 

If he were awake he'd be admiring my floral tights. 

I love floral prints but RARELY wear them, in fact, I think the only other floral printed thing I have is my L.A.M.B. ditsy graffiti bag. These tights seemed like something I could make work though, and I LOVE them! I got them at Target [I get a lot of things at Target, I love it :oD]

They go perfectly with my new shoes!

I am using more muted colors lately and more neutrals, I guess I am inspired by the weather (it's cold and icy and gray), and my MAC Tartan Tale makeup too! I spent most of the Spring and Summer with bright candy colors and pastels, so it's a fun and actually a little unexpected change for me. But I love color, so the more I can expand the palette in my wardrobe the better!

My purple gloves kept me nice and warm last night, it's getting colder by the day here! Good thing I have my HL Snow Bunnies perfume, it doesn't offer warmth but at least I smell good :o)

I absolutely adore religious artwork and this jewelry went well with my outfit last night, it's hard to see up close in some of the pictures, so I photographed it separately. It's kind of funny, but some of it I purchased at a flea market in San Jose, CA- and other pieces I purchased on a trip for work to Guatemala and Nicaragua. It's the exact same stuff but it was cheaper in CA! I can't get enough of this type of jewelry and it makes it's way into a lot of my outfits. The studded bracelet is from Forever 21. Oh, and the ring is from a super sweet lambie named Eden, who sent me one after I saw hers at the very first Bay Area lambie dinner.

enough with the accessories! I wore all of these beauties with my navy blue Tucker for Target dress. I got the dress for like $10 on 75% off clearance! (I can't resist a good deal!)

I wish I had gotten a good photo of the back!! it scoops down really low and has a pretty ruffle. I love everything about this dress! I love the longer sleeve length and the sort of shirt-tail hem... it went perfectly with the floral tights and forest green wedges!

this is where I wish I had a better photo! I am refusing to let myself use the self-taken iPhone photos in the mirror!

Hopefully the cuteness outfit comes across even though it's chopped up into pieces to show here!

I felt cute wearing it and I am so in love with my floral tights, that even though I RARELY wear an outfit the same way twice, I might just save this one for xmas eve at my sister's house. It will be in a different state, so it can be an exception!

and since you can never have too many studs- I topped the outfit with my Trouve studded leather jacket- it's butter soft and a new favorite of mine :o)

EuforiA Spiked Bracelet

A while ago, The Style Rawr featured the jewelry designer Amanda Eufer and her company EuforiA. 

Since The Bas Couture has never met a stud or spike we have not liked, we immediately fell in love with her designs. Edgy yet refined, there is ALOT to love when you browse her site. The pieces combine materials that make them not only a pleasure to wear but a feast for your senses. Be prepared be asked "Where did you get that?" multiple times when you wear these babies out. People really love the uniqueness of Amanda's designs! 

This is the Spiked bracelet. The combo of velvet, metal, spikes and gold chain woven together looks fantastic yet it is lightweight and easy to wear. It retails for $80.00

Perfect for Holiday presents! 

Check out the entire collection at

www.euforia.us

X- Stacey

a fatal attraction to cuteness!

it's about time I post about one of my favorite brands! Harajuku Lovers takes up a good portion of my closet and there's a good chance that if I am dressing casual and comfy, at least one of the items is probably HL.

I almost fell out of my chair when I just went to www.thegiantpeach.com to see if they had any new Super Kawaii goodies and I came across these jeans!

link to the most Super Kawaii jeans ever made!

I LOVE the knit waistband and the little tab at the mock fly actually has the image of a zipper pull on it! I absolutely ADORE the amount of detail that is going into Harajuku Lovers these days! It's the type of detail that went into the first several seasons of lamb, where there are little "Easter Eggs" in the garments and just as much cuteness is put into the inside of the garment as the outside!

one of my FAVORITE "Easter Eggs" in HL is the "made you look" on the back of the Country of Origin labels, a nod to the "with love" on the back of the older L.A.M.B. labels.

for a clothing nerd like me, those little things just send me over the edge! 

I won't buy these at the moment, because today I realized, I don't have to buy something just because I am posting about it, haha! but these will be mine, they HAVE to! Hopefully I can catch them on sale, but they've just moved to the top of my list, even past all the boots I am lusting over right now!

all images from the source

reread rewrite redo undo~ i'm stuck on this page

The wonderful Vivienne Westwood is releasing some beautiful paper goods! Even better, they are eco-friendly and bound in silk fabrics from the current season.

I have several empty notebooks and not much need for a yearly planner, but I am LOVING the 2011 Tartan Diary!

There is also a beautiful Union Jack Notebook,

and this adorable Squiggle Notebook!

Once I do the conversions from pounds to dollars (if they even ship to the US), I am sure I will be snapped out of the desire to purchase one of the notebooks, but any of these items would look gorgeous sitting on the table in front of me in a meeting at work!

all images from http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/

all products listed in this post can be found here- http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/shop/gifts/

idle hands

I can get lost for hours on Etsy, but I don't browse or go on there regularly, though every once in a while~ while I am bored or waiting on something~ I will do some browsing.

My usual searches are "skulls" "spikes" "tattoo inspired" and any other random things I think of as I am browsing. 

Today I came across these earrings from this super cute shop VivaGailBeads

Sugar Skulls and Red Rose Earrings

They are too cute and too reasonably priced to not snag up!

Once I receive them and see the quality (I am thinking they look like they will be pretty nice), 

I might end up coming back and doing some Holiday shopping :o)

I think my favorite part about these is that the skull has a huge smile :oD

cheap shoes

 I buy cheap shoes ~my philosophy on expensive shoes... shoes get worn out, I like to dance and they get scuffed up, they get totally messed up in bad weather, etc. etc. so I really don't mind buying cheap shoes if I find them in cute styles. Besides, all the most expensive glorious shoes I have, I never wear because I don't want to mess them up :o/

anyway! I just ordered myself these shoes. I don't normally shop www.alloy.com but I got their catalog in the mail for some reason, and checked it out. I knew I was going to buy the wedges the first look I got, haha... I am trying to get better at saving, but I busted my ass at work this week and the least I can do is buy myself a $32 pair of shoes, so I am ordering them :o)

they will look super cute with some textured or lace tights.

here's the link to the shoes

they remind me of these L.A.M.B. shoes I would love to buy 

~I'm hoping they end up on Gilt or at Saks Off 5th~

L.A.M.B. shoe image source 

fish out of water

I must be insane---or maybe just a free bitch afterall--- but I am compelled to post a pic of my swimsuit (with me in it), it's the first time I've worn it and I've been dying to wear it since I got it months ago!

I love anything 90s and Target had the CUTEST "Body Glove" style suits this year and I had to have one.

I am wearing it with a sports bra underneath because I'm headed out to the gym to swim as soon as I post this. I saw these girls layering their suits at the lake this Summer (they call it a beach, but I feel like you need an ocean to call it that) and anyway they looked so adorable so now I've started layering random bikini tops and sports bras under swimsuits, plus it's more comfortable for laps. These girls at the "beach" were also mixing and matching swim tops and bottoms a bunch and it was super cute. Totally love the idea of layering one piece suits with bikini tops underneath too.

Anyway here it is--- off to swim and chill in the sauna :o)

ooh, swish~

A friend posted this video on Facebook yesterday and it is too good not to share- perhaps the electric headlight is a primitive form of Disco Stick.

I don't know who Eve is, but she certainly is fashionable- and these prehistoric trend forecasters aren't too far off.

first things first

FINALLY making my first post!* - before I start, I just have to say thank you to Stacey for doing ALL the work thus far on this blog. I am so excited to be doing this, and I really want to devote enough time and energy to this to make it great--- but as anyone who knows me knows, I spread myself pretty thin. but here's the thing, this is pretty much something I already do- talk about clothes, think about clothes, wear clothes, develop clothes, take pictures of clothes, take pictures of myself in clothes, send links and pictures and clothes to my friends- so if I just post it here instead of FB or whatever, it will be more fun for everyone :o) 

so,  let's talk about my closet. it's pretty much my favorite room in my place, it's the only room that is really remotely decorated since we don't really know how long we want to stay at this place. It is really pretty much the best thing about this place though, it's huge. All other houses I look at from now on, will have their closets compared to this closet. I pretty much just need an extra room, I would LOVE to have an extra bedroom to have as a creative room/closet. I am working on that.

and then there is the other thing- I only keep my fun clothes in here, (yes here, I am posting from my closet, haha) I keep my work clothes in a separate closet downstairs. They are so boring- I don't want them mixing with my other awesome clothes. 

Anyhow, I just cleaned it out this weekend, normally I organize the clothes differently, but now they are kind of just wherever they ended up. It had been a mess for a few months, so I am stoked to have it clean again, and I kind of like how everything is just all mixed up together!

I have a bunch of other stuff in storage too, especially shoes, I can't wait until I have more room and a better way to organize stuff! I love to sit in here and just play with stuff and put outfits together. 

I also haven't figured out a good way to store my workout clothes or pajamas, I need a cute dresser or something, I don't like the one I use now. That can go in my design room/closet when I have it :oD

anyway- here I am, I will try to post more, work is pretty insane right now but this will be a nice escape.

*i promise to make future posts more images/less text ;o)

Lou Doillon for Vanessa Bruno "Day For Night"