Sponsor BLD

I'm now accepting sponsors for fall! All sponsorships can be tailored to small-businesses (Etsy sellers, you know you want to!), and I'm happy to accommodate various types of sponsorships (reviews, giveaways, etc., as well as more traditional sponsorship). If you're interested, send me an email.

That's What We Came 4

White tunic: Sears, remixed * Pleated cuffed pants: Old Navy * Vest: thrifted, remixed * Shoes: Target * Belt: from Joe's closet, remixed

Hey guys! I forgot to tell you that I'll be incommunicado this weekend! Joe and I are in Minnesota for a wedding right now, and we're blissfully without internet. I talked him into taking me to a coffeeshop (with a very attractive "free wi-fi" sign in the window) so that I could give you the explanation you're owed.

So yeah, I'm out of touch for now. I have a post set up for tomorrow, and another on Monday, and then I'll be back in action for realsies on Tuesday. We'll have a lot to catch up on, as there are a few pretty exciting things going on this weekend (I'm hoping that my camera battery lasts long enough for me to take a few snaps at the wedding, but there will be other fun stuff to share as well)! Happy Friday!

The winner of the Designer Apparel giveaway is Dip-Tea! Congrats, lady, I'll be sending you an email shortly!

Title song: Prince, "Vikings Song (Purple and Gold)"

Follow the Bright Lights

Striped t-shirt: Old Navy, remixed * Skirt: Target, remixed as dress * Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens, remixed * Belt: Target, remixed * Purse: vintage Kenneth Cole, remixed

For awhile now I've been feeling stylistically stymied (Emily, there's that alliteration for ya). I think it's probably due to the oppressive heat and goopy humidity, but I've been absolutely stumped when deciding what to wear. I'm apathetic about the things that I have, and nothing seems right. It doesn't help that I walk to and from work each day, which means I have to pick something that will withstand the high temperature during my walk but transition into a work - and A/C! - appropriate outfit once I'm at the office. Part of my strategy this summer has been to wear light single layers - sundresses, tank dresses, other dresses - and layer a light cardigan over them once I'm at work. But there are only so many dresses, and I'm starting to get sick of each and every one. I'm definitely more of an autumn dresser, but we have at least a month left of this heat, so I better figure out a way to deal.

Anyway, my intense frustration has led to a bit more creativity lately than I perhaps normally add to my stylistic choices. This Target dress was picked out by Joe last fall, and I've worn it a few times as a dress, and once, tucked into wide-leg pants, as a boho blouse. So when I was rummaging through my stuff trying to find an acceptable outfit, I was so drawn to the sheer, light, breezy fabric and cozy autumnal colors. It took a bit of creativity to rig it up as a skirt (and, as Joe can attest to, a decent amount of cursing), but I adore the final product! Now I can't stop thinking about what other dresses I can wear as skirts, skirts I can wear as tops, and tops I can wear as dresses (okay, maybe not that last one, but in this heat, who can blame me?).

Title song: Young Love, "Find a New Way"

Girls in the Men's Room

Striped polo shirt: Old Navy * Skirt: Forever 21, remixed * Two-tone brogues: UO, remixed * Belt: Target, remixed

Thanks for all your awesome comments about my hair yesterday! I'm pretty excited about going for a slightly more tousled pixie next, which will consequently be perfectly timed with the arrival of autumn and cooler temps. For now, though, I'm going to embrace the super-short, clean, almost geometric look of this cut. I wear less makeup and almost no jewelry when my hair is this short, to let my face be the focus of attention. I start to look oddly off-balance with metallic baubles and dark eyeshadow, so I keep it simple at this stage.

I've found myself looking to Mia Farrow (a la Rosemary's Baby), Natalie Portman (post- V for Vendetta, as she grew out her hair), and Jean Seberg (a la Breathless) for inspiration these days, because I think they perfectly captured the look of the 60s ingenue. And while I'm nowhere near as sprite-like as any of them, their styles give me a good idea of what works with this kind of more extreme haircut. It helps that stripes look good with any hairstyle, since I seem to be borderline obsessed with them this summer. I really love the interplay of androgyny and femininity in fashion and style, so I'm very drawn to looks that are a bit more ambiguous. To me, the short hair highlights my femininity in an interesting way, drawing attention to my bone structure, my eyes, my mouth, in a way that is more obscured when my hair is longer. So I actually tend to lean towards more menswear-inspired clothing when my hair is really short, because, oddly, "girly" clothing starts to feel like a femininity overload.*

*To disclaim, I use the terms androgynous, feminine, menswear-inspired, girly, and ambiguous with a major grain of salt. I have written before about the gendered division of fashion and style, and I really dislike the idea that certain things make you more or less of a woman, or man, than you feel to be. However, I find it very difficult to find terms that fit what I'm really trying to convey, simply because the vocabulary of style is inherently gendered. I don't really want to get into all of this now, but if you're interested in it, you can read my post here and Chelsea's interview here, which both deal with the idea of gender in fashion and style.

Title song: Garbage, "Androgyny"

Got Hair in a Girl

Oxford shirt: Banana Republic, thrifted and remixed * Cutoffs: DIY, originally Gap jeans * Shoes: Kmart, remixed * Belt: thrifted, remixed * Jade necklace: heirloom from my grandmother * Orb necklace: gift from college roomie

I typically don't post on the weekends. It's actually not a conscious decision, and I don't have any kind of official blogging schedule, but I just never seem to have the motivation to upload pictures and write a post on Saturday or Sunday. I actually used to, but at some point I just stopped doing it. Which is kind of too bad, because I adore my weekend wardrobe. I've always been a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal, and while I love my work wardrobe and really feel like I have a good handle on my personal style in my professional setting, there's something magically liberating about jean shorts, higher hemlines, and shoulder-baring tank tops. I often take at least one set of outfit pictures each weekend, but the results don't always get published until the following week. This is the case with these pictures, from a Sunday outfit that I particularly adored. I've worn this shirt tucked into a fun black skirt for work, but I wanted to let its slouchy, un-fitted-ness shine, too, so I paired it with my favorite DIY jean shorts.

It actually wasn't the ideal outfit for the day's activities, though. I went to get my hairs trimmed in this, and I really should know better than to wear a collared shirt when there will be tiny little hairs finding their way into my clothes for the rest of the day! I loved the haircut, though (I always do...I'm easy to please when it comes to my coif), but I'm starting to get inspired for new ways to rock the pixie. I've stuck with the same basic cut for a little over a year now, and I've been getting way inspired by other pixies, especially ones that embrace wavy hair (mine is naturally very wavy/curly, but when it's this short it's hard to tell). I think I'll ask my stylist to play up the Audrey Tautou pixie next time, instead of going for the super short cut (though I do adore the Jean Seberg inspiration when I have my hair this short). What do you think? Do you prefer the cleaner, shorter look, or do you like it when it gets a bit more unkempt?

Title song: The Pixies, "Number 13 Baby"

Giveaway: DesignerApparel Elizabeth & James Ring!

Okay guys, it's Friday. Wait, I don't think I really communicated that properly...IT'S FLIPPIN' FRIIIDAAAAYYY!!! Whew. Anyway, I'm way excited about this week's giveaway, and really quite jealous of all of you, because you get the chance to win this awesome Elizabeth and James Double Chevron Ring from DesignerApparel.com. I've seen a couple of other blogs host giveaways with Designer Apparel, and after checking them out, I'm sold. It's a search engine that carries tons of brands and designer lines, from Isabel Marant to Badgley Mischka to Carmen Marc Valvo (if you don't recognize each of these immediately, no worries! I didn't either, but their website can serve to educate us on our designers, as well as window shop - or actual shop! - to our little hearts' content!).

Anyway, to enter this giveaway, just leave a comment, on this post, with a valid email address (this part is important, people! Entries without an email address will be removed). Since this ring reminds me of superheroes (I imagine bolts of lightning going back and forth between the chevrons), tell me what superpower you'd like to have in your comment! I'll announce a winner on Friday, August 13.

Good Luck!!

...and the winner of the Misikko giveaway is PDuffey! Congrats, lady! I'll send you an email shortly!

I'm off to Brazil very soon.

Mr. Nextel Logo at the beach, serenading his sweetheart.

I've never been before. I've been a few places, but never to South America, so I'm excited. An agency in Sao Paulo got in touch and asked if I would help bring some characters to life in several images, then come down and talk about my work and the experience of helping with this job (not a bad gig!).

So here's the site where all the images are collected.  You'll have to be a little patient as the site loads (no whining, please), but it's very nicely done. It's in Portuguese, but you'll find your way around.

 I created the theme and characters for the opening animation, then photographed them in the form of individual images which they then did a fantastic job of animating.  There is then a page showing the images that I created for them, as well as behind-the-scenes photos.

One of the special things about this was that I knew that the agency was going to be animating some of the things in the images to make them look more interesting in video form, but the spirit of my work was left intact. And the amount of work they were able to do in such a short time-frame is nothing less than incredible. Hat's off to the crew down there who worked on this.