i basically haven’t changed at all.
same tricia, different year.
always completely out of date & stuck in my ways.

-vintage goldtone hoops with orange, pink and purple beads: 25th street flea market, NYC
-pink fluorescent 3/4 length sleeve tee: j crew
-pink mexican embroidered dress: flea market in east village NYC about half a decade ago
-lace leggings: UO
-embroidered belt: thrifted in jacksonville, florida
-men’s gold digital watch: casio, baby!
-brown boots that literally go with everything: madewell

yup, it’s been a while again.

went to the salvo in the town over from mine saturday, by myself (aka, without le bebe poppy or husband in tow). it was bliss; some much needed shopping time all to myself. they went sledding in my absence…whee! sounded like fun.

-black 80s sweater dress with multicolored yoke: salvation army, port chester
-hand dyed alpaca feather and fan scarf: knit by me
-black leggings: old ones from newport news
-red patent ankle boots: from nordstrom’s rack in chicago (state street), last winter
-yellow plastic calculator watch: jc penney, an xmas gift from my mom
-red resin ring: dinosaur designs
-multicolored plastic donut shaped earrings: thrifted @ thrift town, SF.

trying out wearing some red lipstick, good old revlon “fire and ice”. i pretty much never wear lipstick…can’t remember the last time i really did. i know for certain that the last time i wore red lipstick was high school…and that was…a long time ago. early 1990s. ancient times! anyway, it’s fun. want to maybe find a more orangey-red shade though, to play around with.

-anyone have any favorite (red) shades/brands?

-mind suggesting any good beauty/makeup blogs?

-are there any on the offbeat side? or any for ladies of advanced age (haha!) like me?

shown here sportin’ a denim jumper i whipped up friday/saturday, from some new denim and a vintage simplicity pattern (circa 70s). this pattern to be exact (simplicity 5021):

sometimes people ask me where i get my inspiration from…
my best answer?
musty old patterns like this one. i especially love those that hail from the 1970s and 80s. those two versions on the right of the above pattern are so killer; i’d wear the outfits shown in a heartbeat.

because i’m curious: does anyone know if there’s a site for reviewing old sewing patterns, kind of like patternreview.com but something that’s for older patterns/out of date patterns and the crazy people who like to sew them (aka, people like yours truly)?

my final take? this particular pattern would probably be more suitable for a gal with a mile long torso and minimal boobage (like the drawings, haha!) (aka not me!), but i like it anyway.

been obsessing over aprons/pinafores/jumpers/overalls lately, esp. in denims or colored denims. another permutation of my workwear love, rearing it’s head, surely. i’ve been scouring etsy and ebay for old, interesting apron/apron jumper/overalls patterns like mad over the past couple months. have been amassing quite a little collection of said patterns.

other pertinent info:

-black and white striped tee: ralph lauren. thrifted in chicago
-apron: see above
-black and white polka dot leggings: uniqlo
-black shorty cowboy boots: frye
-brass fulani earrings: beads of paradise in manhattan
-goldtone cloud ring: adelineaffre.com

catching up again…there’s a lot going on personally and with family and we’ve been pretty overwhelmed.

anyway…

seen here getting ready to go get brunch, and then groceries, etc, back on the 7th.

i just finished this sweater, it’s the “swing pullover/bell sleeve turtleneck sweater” from knit simple’s fall 2010 issue (ravelry link). i’ve been crazy obsessed with garter stitch for a while. and the color yellow. so i pretty much did this one exactly as shown on the cover/in the mag.

this was a ridiculously fun and easy knit, but their instructions for finishing the neck area (in my opinion) are incomplete in the pattern as written. wrote them. unsurprisingly, got no reply. finished it my own way. whatever.

i’m calling it my “ronald mc big bird sweater”. that said i love it so. might make it in say, gray someday. it’s crazy cozy and comfortable but does weigh half a squillion pounds.

other deets:

-yellow thermal long sleeve tee: old navy, thrifted
-vintage levi’s 501’s: etsy
-red resin ring: dinosaur designs
-striped bag: from a vendor at the BAM africa festival summer 2010.
-red patent ankle boots: nordstrom’s rack in chicago
-acid yellow hat: crocheted by moi
-red acrylic earrings: UO
-crocheted scrumble pin: made in a freeform crochet class linda p. and i took years ago.
-star pin: thrifted in SF

on miss p.:

-hat: handknit by her great aunt patty (thought i lost it when she was around 6-7 months, found it in an old purse yesterday and almost cried!)
-red plaid windbreaker: polarn o. pyret
-pleated jeans: baby gap
-moto boots: target

off to run a few errands. need to get ingredients to make spaghetti and meatballs (using the family recipe!).

aren’t the leaves looking lovely here in new england? it’s pretty frickin’ awesome.

also: i am calling these my “superhero boots”. heh, heh, heh.

-1970s vintage yellow blazer: thrifted @ salvation army, port chester, ny
-gray sweater dress: thrifted in SF
-black acid wash skinny jeans: UO
-gold/chalcedony ring: handmade, somewhere down in soho (not sure if the place is there anymore)
-yellow cotton scarf: shop on haight st., SF
-metallic gold boots: everybody, via endless.com
-mismatched earrings: thrifted
-red-orange nylon tote: marc by marc jacobs

p.s. i started using twitter again. on a whim. last time i tweeted? i was waiting for poppy to be born. she’s now two.

in soho, manhattan. spending the day walking around in the city. my favorite way to spend a weekend day, hands down.

all about the orange & blue contrast today, oh yes.

-gap orange denim jacket: thrifted, altered by me (ohio star block added to back, made with thrifted fabrics)
-orange canvas dress: handmade by me from a 1970s pattern
-orange splatter painted tee (unseen): thrifted
-dark denim jeggings (haha!): h&m
-blue cowboy boots: frye, from nordstroms rack in chicago
-silver animal pin: thrifted @ thrift town in SF
-orange tote: marc by marc jacobs
-gold digital watch: timex
-tortoiseshell glasses: some random shop in the jacksonville, florida airport

catching up…

happy belated birthday, wardrobe_remix! it turned FIVE september 13th.

in honor of that anniversary, i thought i’d start coming out of my hidey hole a little more (with the photo-documentation of outfits thing).

here i’m getting ready to take poppy to preschool…and trying on the top of a basket as a hat. it’s a popular pastime around this house, actually…

-red and white cardi with ruffly sleeve caps: h&m
-blue tee: gap
-yellow cotton scarf: some shop on haight st., SF
-gold digital men’s watch: timex
-jeans: vintage levi’s 501’s, etsy.com
-red patent leather ankle boots: nordstrom’s rack, chicago
-red socks with pompons: target

wow, chictopia/teen vogue, couldn’t come up with a more original name for your contest?

nice.

*sigh*

yet another one of my patented, perfected “better late than never” announcements:

my latest looks column interview is out, in the april/may 2010 issue of BUST. should be on newstands now. go get it!

this one’s all about the lovely, creative izzy hayes, who hails from montreal, quebec, canada. check her blog out here! she’s been on wardrobe_remix since almost the beginning (i think?), and was absolutely a dear…we could have talked for hours.

which is the case with pretty much everyone i’ve chatted with so far…such fascinating women, with such imitable style, and a plethora of intelligent, interesting things to say about fashion and so much more. such an honor to do this! i find it incredibly fun.

as always, thanks BUST! and thanks izzy!

yes, it’s been a while, longer than i expected. not sure if anyone’s still out there, if anyone’s bothered to stop by. but it’s ok really, if no one did.

i’ve been spending the last month or so moving in, getting settled, reassessing my life, this blog, where i want to go with it and with just everything in general. i’ve been spending time making things and enjoying my husband and daughter and the fact that i feel happy again after not feeling happy at all for a good long time.

i have had a hellish year. really, a hellish two years. the end of my pregnancy was complicated (breech baby, blood pressure issues, seriously late baby, complicated birth), and after she was born i was depressed and had some major adjustment issues. nothing felt the same. p. was an awful napper and sleeper, until well after her first birthday. 20-30 minute naps, if she even took them. wakeups every hour or two through the night, every single night. it was soul-sucking. i was on the verge of insanity. we all were, really…my marriage was on the verge, it all seemed to be going, as the brits say, a bit pear-shaped.

about 7 months after p. was born we packed up and moved from SF to NYC, chasing some weird dream. a dream to go back to the fantasy NY we thought would make us happy. but our recent experience there was pretty hellish. our apartment was completely horrific and overpriced, our neighbors were loud and obnoxious, playing music until all hours (see also, related: baby who didn’t really sleep).

fate smiled on us six months into the lease: we we were able to find a legal way out of the apartment situation, just as my husband found a new job, one that would take us temporarily to chicago for about six months, and then permanently to CT, just north of NYC.

i am not sure if it’s the fact that i am in a new town, in a great apartment, the fact that my daughter has become an awesome person and a better sleeper, or that it’s spring (and it’s GORGEOUS!!), but i’m finally starting to feel like i am coming out of a long, dark, and impenetrable fog. i’m finally starting to feel happy again.

thank you, universe.

what does this mean for blogging stuffs?

well, i’m still figuring it all out…where i want this blog to go.

i’m not sure if i like where it’s gone the past couple years while i idled along, just trying to make it through each day. i feel like i’ve gotten away from what means something to me (making things, thinking deep thoughts/asking deep questions), and i want to get back to those things in earnest here, if i can find a way to do so.

i’m not sure if i want to call this a “fashion blog,” if at all. i don’t feel like it suits me, or what i am about, though i suppose that most of what i do, think and write about is clearly “fashion-related”. i know that makes no sense. but am i doing a “typical” fashion blog? what does that mean these days anyhow? i am leery of pigeonholing myself or putting myself in a category that i don’t deserve to be placed in (as there are people in the genre doing a much better job matching the definition than i).

i have a lot of questions i am asking myself. a lot of soul-searching i (still) need to do. there are answers i need to find before i can really go forward here in earnest. as such, i’m going to take my time and just check in when i can. it’s the best i can do until i can find a way to interface with the world in a way that feels real and comfortable for me.

one thing i do know: i want to give wardrobe_remix it’s own bloggy home. it’s probably crazy late for such things (w_r will be FIVE years old this september) but better late than never? stay tuned for more info on that front as i get my act together.