Dress A Day Day

If you haven't heard, it's Dress a Day day! Time to bring out those frocks, take pictures, and add them to the flickr group. If public photos of you aren't your thing, you can still participate by wearing a dress. And if you missed the memo and weren't able to proudly sport your dress on Monday, the rest of the week is fair game too. A sort of roaming-extended dress a day day. Naturally, I had to wear my ivy dress. Click the Read More Link! to hear more about it.

I've always had a niggling feeling of the dress resembling another. In the photo above, it hit me. The dress is like a modern interpretation of Scarlett O'Hara's picnic dress.

I've always found Scarlett to be a bit of a bitch. My mother tries to defend her as a strong woman, but there's a difference between being strong and being a total jerk. She could have been strong without trampling everyone around her. To me, the people are more important than the plantation, whereas Scarlett believed the oppossite.

My mom finds it interesting that I feel that way, since Scarlet and I share more than a few similarities. However, my personality is more like if Scarlet and Melanie did DBZ fusion. While I can take charge, be harsh, and lead if need be, I generally favor a quieter approach than Ms. Scarlett. And, as mentioned, I favor the people around me more than my material possessions. Happiness for all is my goal, which can occur with or without such things. I think some people, Miss Scalett included, think that happiness can only occur with certain material things, while I believe happiness can be achieved infinite ways if you're open to it.

Despite my distaste of her, I think we're of one mind when it comes to dresses. I can't find a single one of hers that I wouldn't wear myself. She wears several iconic gowns in the film. My absolute favorite has got to be the drapery dress, which is mocked often.

I don't understand why people mock the drapery dress. I mean, curtains are just fabric. There's not some special "only for curtains" fabric. I love using home decor fabrics for my clothes since they come in wider widths making them perfect for huge skirts. They also often have fabulous prints and designs.

As for the itself, it is fabulous. One of the few things I like about Mizzzz Scarlett is her quick thinking and resourcfullness, and that dress has certainly been burned in my mind. Perhaps it is an early influence on me, since the film is one of my mother's favorites.

Note the tassels... I plan to bring them back in the fall and winter since they need rich, bold colors.

For those of you unfamiliar with the film, I'll leave you with the movie in a nutshell.

Part 1:

And part 2:

Gone, gone with the wind,
Ivy Frozen

Vanitas

Do you believe in magic?

In a young girl's heart?

how the music can free her...

Whenever It Starts

and it's MAGIC

if the Music is Groovy

it makes you feel Happy like an old time Movie

I'll tell you 'bout the magic

It'll free your soul

But it's like trying to tell a stranger

about Rock and Roll...

These are two outfits that were ispired by previous outfits of mine that used some of the same pieces. This is one reason I like taking pictures of my outfits. When I'm having diffuculty with wearing a piece or I don't know what to wear one day, I can click through my old outfits and be inspired anew. It's especially usefull for the pieces you find more difficult to wear in your wardrobe.

These photos also act as a visual diary. I use them to recall details such as where I was at what date, what I did, how I was feeling, what day I mailed that, ect. I can analyze my outfits like I can a story or novel and get quite a bit of information back from them that has proved useful on several occasions. I'm not the type of person to be able to keep up a written diary. Stating the obvious to me eveyday just doesn't hold my interest; I've never been good at small talk. But a picture diary, so much packed into such a little thing, that I can do. It's different and engages me satisfactorily.

Vain is it? An interest in myself? I've noticed bloggers and people dropping out of groups like W_R because they get self-conscious and feel like they're being vain. There are those who don't even get started because they can't get over such feelings. And of course there are always those who who point their finger at those of us that do and proclaim us vain and narcissistic, despite numerous evidence supporting otherwise. It's just like the song I quoted above. Trying to explain everything that's behind these pictures is somewhat useless to someone who doesn't understand what it is. These pictures aren't "look upon my hotness/beauty/vast superiority and revel." It's about sharing, not pride or vanity. Sharing what I wore today. Sharing and accepting my curvy thighs and that they don't make me some freakish mutant who should be thrown off a cliff for not starving/medicating/carving/excessively exercising them down to half their size as fashion magazines suggest. And of course, having others share such things back with me. So we get ideas, a community, and friendship. For some, it might be about "look upon my hotness and weap for you shall never achieve it." But for the majority, it's sharing, being part of the community. Sure, it feel snice to get complements. Of course, a vain, narcissistic person would not value those complements...

Go out. Take photos of yourself and post them on the web in appropriate places. There will always be those people who just don't understand and will write the practice off as vain while simultaneously at least intimating that they are better than us, which is incidently kinda vain itself. To that, Ivy says you know why you do it and you know you're not vain. And if you were vain, than vain can't possibly be such a terrible thing to be-- don't you think?-- considering you know some pretty awesome vain people including yourself. Be vain. Be not vain. Take pictures of yourself and post them on the web. (Please no bad porn though!) Or don't. Do what's right for you!

I believe in magic, do you?

Ivy Frozen

P.S. Like my new floor? Never know that it's vinyl. And now that the floor is finally in, I can return to my sewing and hopefully actually progress. Look for the promised dress most likely this weekend to next week. & that tutorial and maybe some mini one's too.

Update and Shoes

Woo... I'm exhausted. I had hoped to spend labor day weekend sewing for you. Unfortunately, I had to work on my computer. It only had 12% of it's storage space left; not good for someone who's an applied computer graphics major. I also had to go out seeking supplies for those dresses. I picked up some awesome vintage buttons, which you'll see soon on a garment. I also found fabric to make my perfect coat. Well, it'll be inspired by that one anyways. I did manage to get three dresses in the works. One that should come out medium-large, as promised, derived from my cloud dress. It's a green and pink floral print that reminds me of Dr. Seuss and Where the Wild Things Are. I accidentally ended up with a lot more of the fabric than I thought, so I can make more of those in different sizes or use the fabric on another design. The other two are more experimental and thus smalls, so I can fully test them out. Sorry guys! Working on my fall sorta-collection, which when stabalized, will include more larger sized dresses. I'll probably still put out summer dresses though since they're so versatile. And speaking of summer, I managed to form a tutorial out of my video for the romper. I'll get it uploaded to youtube soon. So, what shall we talk about today? How about shoes. Click the Read More! link if you love shoes.

I'm so happy I managed to snag these for a dollar at what is now known as and shall be for all time (or until they raise their prices) known as the GOOD Salvation Army. My town has three or four separate storefronts of this secondhand chain, each of them unique. But I'm happy I found these shoes, not only because they are the comfort, mid-heeled sort of sandle I adore, but because I've been drooling over these:



Hard to beleive they're renaissance fair shoes. They'd be awesome over tights. On the other hand,



Argyle! I mean err, there are these. I love how these shoes lace up the front. They'd be magnificent over a pair of tights. Oh, how I wish I wasn't reduced to the most abject poverty by school fees and supplies. I better get sewing...

Buy a dress and feed an overly-dramatic Ivy,

Ivy Frozen

Trend Alert!

We interupt your regular programming to bring you breaking news of fashion's next big thing. This video is borderline work safe. View at your own discretion.

Wait! There's more! Click the Read More Link! to see what other find products they have come up with.

Not bowed by the world's plan to starve her to death,
Ivy Frozen

Breaking All the Rules

I watched the movie Legends of the Fall the other day. It basically chronicles the life of three brothers living in the west in the early 1900s. Towards the end of the movie, the eldest brother Alfred observes to the middle brother Tristan that Alfred lived his life following all the rules known to man and God. Tristan followed none of them, yet everyone loved Tristan more than Alfred. It's ironic, since we set up these rules as a sort of ideal, yet who do we tend to worship but those that defy them. In the movie, Alfred is a nice guy, nicer and more responsible than Tristan, but Tristan's just so much more exciting, even if he is a total jerk sometimes. Tristan also happens to be played by Brad Pitt; more injustice for poor Alfred. Those who follow the rules kind of fall into the cracks; they blend in but don't stand out. This is true in fashion as well. You've got to break some rules if you want to be more than just a nice guy. To find out how, click the Read More! link.

Fashion has rules too, rules you'll be familiar with if you watch What Not to Wear or pick up fashion magazines. Following these rules will lead you to a nice outfit, and that's it. Your outfit will be nice. Sometimes. If you really want an outfit that will knock everyone dead, you've got to break a rule or two. Now, breaking rules does not guarentee a good wow! factor. The people we hate the most are the people who can't seem to follow the rules. The key is balance. You've got to know which rules to follow and which to break and when. To help us out, I've found two ladies who chronicle their wears on the net. Both of them have taken items that would traditionally be used in insults on other items and turned them into covetable things.

First up, we have the lovely Nadine over at Strawberry Kitten. Her magic with diffucult to wear items has been mentioned here before. But today, or rather a few days ago, she managed to wear an actual garbage bag and made it look good. Granted, it was for a school event, but when it looks that good, do we care? That little tie detail on the skirt is what takes it from trash to high fashion. Also note how she keeps the outfit simple, allowing the garbage bag to shine. And the bag is also monochrome black/grey, which is the safest color to experiment with crazy details. It's a fairly boring color, so it can handle a little jazzing up.


And now, making her debut on this blog, I''d like to present the lovely Double-Speak, from The Life and Times of Archy and Mehitabel. She also has her own website here, and her own etsy here. We'll talk more about her etsy in a future post; she has some fubulously cheeky slips. For now, take a look at her shoes. Closely. Do you know what those are?


Why they're crocs of course. One of the most hated enemies of the fashion world. When you consider such things as the open-toe shoe boot, you do wonder why crocs and uggs are so rejected by the fashion set. Perhaps shoes such as these, which don't even have comfort going for them, are more well loved because at least they have a sort of cool factor to them. Crocs and uggs do not. Yet Double-Speak has managed to make these atrocities of human manufacturing, look, well, good. While she is working with the less offensive mary jane version of the shoe in black-- the best color to refine a crazy design-- she makes me want to run out a grab a pair, especially when she couples them with dark socks. Then I pinch myself and come to my senses.

While in the first two looks, she downplays the crocs with monochromality, here she manages to rock them with color, but she sticks to classic pieces and silhouette.

And finally, for the guys; I have not forgotton about you. May I present Frank Sinatra in Guys and Dolls?


While Guys and Dolls was not the best movie ever, I'm still orgasming over this stripes and dots combo. Stripes and dots are traditionally clashing patterns that will make an outfit "too busy". There's a lot of movement with all the lines in the coat, Sinatra--or should I say Nathan-- manages to keep his outfit cool by using the nuetral black and white. The proportion of the black and white in each pattern is also similar, making the patterns go together and not against each other. You really can't comprehend this combos assumness from the tiny bit visible in this picture. I reccomend seeing the movie for this and other outfits.

Once again, Ivy Frozen encourages you to break the rules and form your own. An outfit works if it accomplishes the goal YOU set for it. Go crazy, experiment. I feel like my style is settling down now that I've done a lot of experimenting to figure out what exactly my style is. That doesn't mean I don't still experiment a bit though.

Oush the Limits!
Ivy Frozen

Hiding My Face Around Here

School has started for me, meaning things are going to be a little wonky while I figure out my new schedule and adjust my diet to support the new activity. Food and I don't get along as well as I'd like. I have a very sensitive stomach prone to stomach aches, and I'm a picky eater, partially due to the sensitive stomach. My stomach is so sensitive that I can't watch Nightmare Before Christmas without throwing up. You see, the first time I saw the film, I ate a bunch of gummy bears and hurled. Gummy candy has been on the outlawed list since that day. My stomach also growls in warning whenever the bad guy from that movie comes on, which is my cue that I still cannot handle the movie. If I could give up one necessary function and still survive, I'd give up eating. I'd be very happy to never have to eat again. I hate the feeling of a full stomach (weighs me down), and for the most part eat about as little as I can and still survive. Accordingly, remember when Heather from America's Next Top Model went down at the Enrique video shoot because she needed to eat? That would be me at the moment.

I've complained about this to my doctor(s), but I have Kaiser, and Kaiser does not care. It might seem nice to maintain your weight without specific effort like going to the gym, but it's trying emotionally when your family doesn't understand and think that you're just being difficult. It's also annoying when you have to ruin your friends' fun because you need to eat and/or you can't eat anything there. And, being a woman, I get the added bonus of having to balance my diet for my period or else I get really bad PMS. PMS where I'll be in a good mood and mean to say soemthing nice to someone, but somewhere between the thought of the action and the action itself, it gets warped by rage and will come out pretty damn mean. Uncontrollable for me since I never thought the mean thought. Where'd it come from? Was by body taken over by some unseen invader? I'm Spock, dammit, part of the reason Ivy Frozen stuck around as my internet name. It is terribly disconcerting.

So, there you get a lovely explantion for my difficulties with school and why I will likely slack over here on Mondays, when I'm in class all day. When I'm sick, it's usually this; I never really get colds anymore. Looks like I will need to talk to some of my teachers about being able to take a roaming snack break.

Eating disordered,
Ivy Frozen

P.S. Watch out. I might just do a post on Star Trek Fashion.

P.P.S. Gotta love the dramatic music in the Spock video I linked. Imagine that playing behind my post.

Worken Like A Dog

'ello lovlies. I'm around. Just really busy now getting ready for classes which start next week. I'm truly a child of the spring and summer, yet fall is just the one season I look forward to the most. I just love fall colors, and all the changing leaves. So, click the Read More! link to see the images that are inspiring my fall fashion.





Artfully jumbled letters as an adornment. Curtesy marc Jacobs Fall '08.



Collars on socks. Curtesy Emilio Cavallini on mytights.com and the Queens



Rich monochrome starting with the hair. Curtesy of Tori Amos from her Beekeeper album.

Did I mention I love Princess Jasmine, and that she sparked my love of harem pants? However, in this image of Princess Jasmine in her spacesuit, it's all about the bodice. Expect it. This is curtesy of streetrat.net, where they cover quite a few of Jasmine's different outfits.

This sweater. Guy diy. This image is from the Facehunter.

Did I mention I love harem pants? I like this sleeker version of them. Unfortunately, I can't remember where this image came from. It was on another blog. If you know its origins, please share.

An Edwardian coat that I'm obsessed with. It's just the perfect coat in every way. One day, I shall recreate thee, my love. One day. I can't find the link for it right now, but I shall update when I do.


I know. Pants aren't my thing, but these ladies make the whole oversize thing look so good. And I found a pair of vintage jeans of my mom's that I like, probably because they're too big... These two ladies were spotted by Garence Dore.



And I have these. I want to wear them. Now. from Sock dreams.



Spats. They're on my to-do list.



Did I mention I made a romper? It has ladybugs on it. It and the hat I'm wearing are both intended for the shop. I plan to make rompers into fall because I love the look of this sexy, fitted kind with tights, a belt, and a cropped jacket, though I have some much more Fall types on my to do list. Keep an eye out for them.

Considering marrying her sewing machine,

Ivy Frozen