Nov 17, 2010 | Fashion
Viscose turtleneck: Forever 21. Crocheted chain necklace: handmade by me. Rope belt: Gap. Skirt made from 3 men’s shirts: handmade by me. Reversible Black Tights: Hue. Colin Stuart Devon Convertible Boots (in Cordovan): Victoria’s Secret.
Day 15 in my 30 Days of Outfits Challenge: November 15. Now past the two-week mark!
Today was not the best of days. Lil Tot’s fever went up to 105.2 and I took him to the doctor.
She suspected it was stemming from his sinus infection that he had even before we left for Paris in mid- October, and despite a 2-week course of antibiotics it had either gotten worse or he had come down with something else on top of it.
So she prescribed a new, extremely strong antibiotic that costs $147 a bottle (WITH insurance – or, rather, with our crappy insurance that is a short-term policy and the only insurance that will cover children now thanks to all Oregon insurance carriers refusing to insure children under the age of 19 until January 1, 2011 – which is a lovely loophole all companies enacted beginning September 1 so they can get out of complying with Obama’s health insurance reform bill). Um, sorry. Slightly ticked off at insurance companies right now.
Yes, $147 a bottle. (It’s $218 without insurance, so I guess it’s good we have something, even if it only covers the generic prescription at 67%. WTH???)
And this medication is so strong, Lil Tot spent the rest of the day in the bathroom experiencing its…um…side effects. But at least the fever responded and headed down to 102.1 degrees.
105.2 was a little scary.
By evening he was a bit better and even ate some dinner. Thank goodness for small favors!
I love Arielle de Pinto‘s crocheted chain necklaces, so I attempted to make one too. I can’t crochet very well, but I liked the jumbly look I ended up with.
The skirt I made from 3 men’s button-down shirts. I used the instructions in the Japanese book Kakkoii Couture Remake, which were awfully vague and mistaken in some places. I managed to figure it out and cobbled this together. It can be worn hanging down as a maxi-skirt or in a bubble-shape by buttoning the buttons up to the placket. Or as a dress. Or as a top. I’ll be sharing my revised how-to with all of you soon!
Ugh, I can’t wait for this week to be over. Hopefully my poor baby will be on the mend soon. (And go figure, he got sick after his birthday party last year as well – from the neighbor’s child who brought H1N1 to the party!!)
xoxox
Carly
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Nov 16, 2010 | DIY, Fashion
Silver Horseshoe Necklace: won in a sweepstakes from Lucky Magazine. Ice-Cream Applique T-shirt: DIY. Sweatpants: Victoria’s Secret. Slippers: Who cares?
Day 14 in my 30 Days of Outfits Challenge: November 14. Yes, I am adhering to this challenge so faithfully that I’m even posting my lolling-around-at-home-in-sweatpants outfit!
Lil Tot is very sick.
He suddenly woke this morning at 4:30 AM with a temp of 101.7. I gave him some ibuprofen and he went back to sleep. By 8 AM his temp was around 102. Throughout the day, though I kept giving him ibuprofen every 6 hours, put him in a lukewarm bath, placed a compress on his forehead and an ice-wrap around his neck, his temperature kept rising and the medicine wasn’t bringing it down.
He finally fell asleep at 6 PM with a temp. of 103.9 degrees Farenheit. He woke up 45 minutes later and puked up the few grapes he’d eaten during the day, along with most of the juice he’d drank that afternoon and the Bendryl I’d just given him to ease his dribbly nose from his sinus infection (which he’s had for 6 weeks!!). Of course.
He spent most of the afternoon prior to this lying in a heap, crying and unresponsive. Of course he always gets sick on Sunday, when the doctors’ aren’t open!!
I know I may look relaxed here, but believe me, this day was anything but relaxing.
So when your child is sick, all bets are off when it comes to fashion.
The shirt was a fun DIY using fusible web and quilting fabric. It’s actually a similar design to a Wildfox Couture t-shirt I saw awhile back and for the life of me can’t locate the inspiration photo. (If anyone’s seen it before, please let me know!! I think they manufactured both a yellow and a pink version.) Ohwell. You’ll have to trust me on that one.;-) Tutorial coming soon!
And yes, my hair is in pigtails. I never wore it in pigtails as a kid. I figure I better do it before I’m like 80 and I’m officially not allowed to by The Fashion Police (or other Concerned Citizens).
Hope all of you enjoyed a better Sunday than we did! (Especially poor Lil Tot) 🙁
xoxox
Carly
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Nov 14, 2010 | DIY, Fashion
Band Jacket: DIY. Whipped Cream Heart Necklace: handmade by me. Cowl-Neck Sweater Vest: Old Navy. LS White Tee: Forever 21. Rabbit Ring Set: mocha (Tokyo). Scrunch-Leg Leggings: handmade by me. Wedge-Heel Boots: Metro7 (Wal-Mart).
Day 13 in my 30 Days of Outfits Challenge: November 13.
I put his name on the front side in fondant letters, though I blurred it out above.
Lil Tot’s 5th birthday party! I finally finished up the cake. My first time using pre-made rolled fondant – I think it turned out pretty well!
Today’s was a bit of a throwaway outfit. I had to wear something appropriate for a kid’s birthday party; something that allowed a lot of movement since I would be running around after the kids, doing set-up and clean-up; and something that was easily washable if when I get cake on it.
The jacket I made last year for a weekly challenge in America’s Most Stylish Blogger Competition. That was the week my ranking in the challenge finally jumped two spots ahead – so maybe a lot of people liked the jacket?? 😉 (My tutorial on how to make it is here, BTW.)
The leggings I made by doing a ruboff of a pair I already owned; I’ve also bought Easy MCCall’s M6173 pattern and can’t wait to see if a pair made from a store-bought pattern fits better.
The necklace I made: a heart-shaped pendant with little rosettes of faux “whipped cream” and Swarovski crystals. Unfortunately the chain makes the whipped cream dirty so I have to figure out a solution before I can sell these.
The birthday party was a success; the kids all had fun and Lil Tot was so happy to spend a non-school-day afternoon with his friends. The cake was a hit too!
We had a visitor in the evening who ate all the cat food Hub left outside. He’s getting bolder and now comes right up to the window to eat the food (the visitor, not Hub). We’ve had many arguments about not leaving cat food outside for the neighbor’s cat since it is, well…the neighbor’s cat. And there are two raccoons who come together to steal the food, and it’s obviously encouraging them to get increasingly familiar with our home. (The other one is just outside of the frame.)
I don’t know what I am doing here.
In other news, Lil Tot has a 103-degree fever today (Sunday), so I’m not sure how my outfit will turn out for today, or even if I’ll be able to wear something nice with all the worry and running around. We’ll have to see! 🙂
xoxox
Carly
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Nov 13, 2010 | DIY, Fashion
Mongolian Fur Vest: LB-03 (Shibuya-109, Tokyo); Plaid Shirt: DIY’ed Mossimo (Target). White Scribble Tee: DIY. Zip-leg Skinny Jeans: Alloy. Suedette Slouch Boots: GoJane.com
A low-key day. I wanted to give my face a break from the daily makeup routine, so I went without makeup, and left my hair undone. But I still pulled items from the back of my wardrobe out to wear!
The scribble tee I did a DIY of here. Just one of Hub’s old undershirts with fabric paint “scribbled” all over it to hide the pilling and thinning of the fabric.
The plaid top I actually altered from a shirt I found in the men’s section at Target. If you’re willing to alter shirts to a more fitted, feminine shape – then the men’s section is a great place to shop! (It’s usually cheaper than the women’s for say, plaid shirts – since there are usually fewer design details and the pattern for the pieces is simpler. And female consumers will pay a little more for their clothes without questioning it, where men usually buy for value.) For this shirt, since I just wanted to make it fitted, I sewed a line just inside the side seams.
The jeans I added ankle-zips to since I also like wearing them unzipped over ankle boots – and the skinny jean thus becomes a flare-leg. So easy and versatile to do this DIY! Threadbanger has the how-to vid.
The MarioKart cake is half-finished but I’ve now run out of frosting, so I have to complete it tomorrow morning once the stores open. Little bit low on sleep – will be signing off now…
See y’all tomorrow – hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend!;-)
xoxox
Carly
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Nov 12, 2010 | DIY, Fashion
Rhinestone necklaces: DIY. Pyramid Stone Necklace: Ann Taylor. Organza Over-Jacket: hanmade by me. White LS Top: Forever 21. Oxidized Twisted Branch& Flower Rings: mocha (Shibuya, Japan). Enamel Ring: unknown. Pleat-Front Pegged Trousers: DIY. Trouser Socks: Target. White Perforated Orfords: 10 W Rue – thrifted.
Day 11 of my 30 Days of Outfits Challenge: November 11.
Veteran’s Day…and the day H&M finally opened in Portland!! Yay!
So I went down there, thinking I might get a good spot in line 3 and a half hours before they were going to open.
Nope! There were people in tents who had slept out on the sidewalk since the night before.
It was insane!! It was bitterly cold and the two lines stretched outside around the block, even at 8:30 AM when I stopped by.
I snapped a couple photos and then went to the fabric store instead, and then browsed YesStyle for a couple hours, filling my virtual shopping basket with pretty things from Asia, and then emptying it again. It was somewhat of a pointless day.;-)
The necklaces I DIY’ed from some Forever 21 jewelry to make them look like some $89 necklaces from J. Crew’s catalog. My tutorial is here.
The peach-colored top with shoulder pads I made and brought with me to last NYFW, as part of a mini-collection. I was just trying to sound out the possibilities of developing the collection and selling to the publis. I came to the conclusion that it was just too risky to go back into clothing production at this point in the economy. I’m feeling a slight shift in consumer attitudes – and I’m not sure a brand-new clothing line with stuff made the same old way that we’ve always done it is the way to go. I think things have to be different – manufacturers have to go about producing things a different way – in order to find success as a start-up in this post-consumer economy. I’m not sure we can continue sourcing fabrics and materials, creating patterns, producing offshore in large numbers, and then pushing the finished items onto the American consumer as the New! thing, or Best! thing, or Hot! thing. I’m not sure it’s really responsible to keep doing things the same way that’s gotten the whole industry in trouble.
At least, that’s my 2cents.
So until I figure out a better way to produce pretty clothes not utilizing brand-new fabrics, offshore labor, and manufacturing policies that cut unnecessary corners in order to squeeze out the last penny of profit, my clothing line will still remain a pipe dream. On the one hand, I want more control over design – and virgin fabrics straight off the bolt can be fashioned into anything imagineable. And they’re clean, available usually in large quantity, and unchanging quality. On the other hand, fabric from the bolt is very expensive. Using stuff that already exists (the excess clothing at the Goodwill Outlet, for example) – is far cheaper. However, design of the final product is severely limited by what you find. And even if you find something that works for you it’s not an item that’s in abundant, unlimited supply, either – you may find a fabulous shirt made out of lovely material at the Bins one day that you can repurpose for a bag or something – but that’s just it: ONE bag. You can’t make a line of them, and once you sell that ONE BAG that’s it. All that work put into producing the pattern, making a muslin, producing a sample, sourcing the notions etc. is now for naught since you can’t make the exact same thing again. You also have to sell that one-off for an incredibly high price to justify all the work that went into it. Or you produce a motley “line” of items that are all one-offs, made from different fabrics, that can’t be sold in multiple pieces anywhere or for low enough price points that many people can buy them. That’s why Raquel Allegra‘s shredding work on her line using t-shirts from the LA County Jail was so ingenious – there was so much of that material available, in almost unlimited supply, and her handiwork on them imbued them with so much value the price points were easily justifiable.
Sorry – little tangent there. It’s a very difficult balance: design innovation & high-quality materials (but with ecological and consumer waste) vs. design limitations & iffy, irreplaceable materials (but eco-friendly). I’m open to any suggestions!
I also love looking for pleat-front trousers at thrift stores – there are so many ugly ones from the 80’s! Just crop them and stitch the side-seams a little closer together near the ankle to taper them into the style that’s so popular now (and that I’m sure we’ll all hate come Fall of 2011).
Shoes were another fab Goodwill find…but the soles are so thin, they’re a little painful to walk in. I keep forgetting to buy Dr. Scholl’s for them.
Tomorrow I begin work on the massive MarioKart cake for Lil Tot! Wish me luck on the chomping flowers!;-)
xoxox
Carly
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