It's why you never tell me heaven's on your mind...*

photos by Tom b.

pea coat: H&M
skirt: vintage
top: H&M
tights: thrifted
shoes: vintage brogues from Ebay
hat: vintage wool beret
purse: vintage Bond Street bag from Etsy
* listening to: Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue "A Looking In View"

Yesterday Tom and I spent all morning researching the history of our house at the Lancaster Historical Society. Can I just say that place is history nerd heaven?! Old maps, ancient books, drawers full of old records! Displays of late 1800's needlework, doctor's handbags (oooh, I wanted to take a couple of those home with me), apothecary kits, pieces of Thaddeus Stevens' furniture! I really didn't want to leave, even after hours of trying to decipher 19th century handwriting left me a bit cross-eyed. We're trying to find out who originally built our house but those old records can sometimes be a bit hard to follow. We've found a lot of information and we're still trying to piece it all together. Once we've figured it out, we're going to write up a little history of the people that lived here and I'll be sure to share it with you!

Afterwards, we stepped outside to snap a couple of photographs. The Historical Society is located right next door to one of the most famous houses in Lancaster, Wheatland; the home of James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States. We didn't want to pay for tour tickets so we just snuck around the outer edge of the property for a bit. While it seems like a beautiful estate, having Buchanan as a Lancaster native is hardly something to brag about since he has been officially ranked as one of the worst presidents of all time! His presidential term led directly into the Civil War. Even though he's not exactly a great historical figure I can't believe I've lived here this long and haven't done a proper tour of the house. They even do a candlelit tour at night! I'm putting this on my list of things to do.

Third Time's A Charm

A line I really like that I haven't written about here before is Wren. I'm not quite sure how it's slipped through the cracks until now. Sometimes I think it takes a while for me to be 100% convinced to follow a designer from season to season. A lot of times I'll like one collection, perhaps a second, but then they sort of lose me by the third one and then I'm out. I think I do the same thing with bands. If I like the first record, I'll check out the second one but if that doesn't stick with me, I'll likely never listen to the third one and so on... But this is the third collection in a row from Wren that has struck my fancy. I love looking at the F/W looks whenever I'm stumped for ways to layer on cold days. The holidays has perfect little party looks with short black dresses and polka dot tights. And now the S/S collection has me looking forward to more chambray skirts and nautical stripes.

Wren Fall/Winter 2009...





Wren Holiday 2009...





Wren Spring/Summer 2010...

Fall Street Style

There's nothing like moving to make you take inventory of your closet. I've heard the term "shop your closet" thrown around a lot in the past year or so, since the economy has taken a down turn. I'm finding it to be quite true! Things tend to get buried in the back of my closet, not seeing the light of day for some time. Rediscovering these pieces has been just like buying new things, only with the added benefit of being free this time around.

I certainly don't feel the need to be buying anything new right now with all of these newly rediscovered gems in my own closet. It's a nice feeling! Here are some of my favorite street style shots of the moment that are inspiring me to try new combinations with my own clothes.

• The always adorable Filippa sporting a favorite color combination. I love this black and orange combo but whenever I try to wear it, I always start to feel sort of Halloweeny. After seeing this photos, I'm determined to actually leave the house wearing orange and black.
• One of the areas of dressing that I'm always lacking in is putting together super comfy outfits that still look stylish. I think this girl has nailed it. I want to try wearing a big, oversized sweater with a dress and flat boots.
• I recently found a few of the most wonderful 100% cashmere pleated skirts. Two out of three will certainly make their way into the shop, but I'm sure to hold onto one of them. I thought I would take it to have it altered to a shorter length (it hits just below the knee), but seeing this photo makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better to leave it as is.
• I love this sort of gothy-romantic look with the soft upswept hair. I know I've got lots of black in my closet and there are a couple of lacy collars lying around as well. This shouldn't been too hard to replicate.

photo credits: Filippa's blog, Vanessa Jackman, AltimiraNYC, Cafe Mode

Dainty June

I've just discovered Dainty June and have fallen in love with its Heidi-meets-the-Von-Trapps-German-folklore style. With names like the "Edelweiss" dress and the "Do Re Mi" skirt they're sort of impossible to resist. I think I like them most of all because they seem infinitely wearable. As much as I go on about looooving Lyell (and I do), the clothes almost seem too delicate for everyday life. The Dainty June collection on the other hand, seems perfect for real life every day sort of activities. You know... hanging out with friends, going to a show, Sunday morning flea markets, yodeling from mountain tops. The usual.

Random Things

A teaser from the Lyell Fall Lookbook, which I've been obsessively checking back to see more

If you can believe it, I've been quite sick again for the past three days, explaining my blog absence. For some reason I always had it in my head that I could really only get sick once a season, the first round giving me some sort of immunity for the next few months. Not to worry - it's nothing serious. Just a good old fashioned cold that makes unpacking even more of a chore than it usually is. Since my head's been buried in a box of Kleenex for the past few days I've got nothing fashion related to talk about. So... I figured it would be a good time to finally get around to responding to a tag I've been hit with a few times. I forget the exact rules, but it was something like "seven random things" or "ten embarrassing things" about yourself. With no further ado here is a list of sevenish random things about me...

• Even on my happiest of days, I really prefer listening to dark, sort of depressing (in a good way) music. I think I like music that makes me feel nostalgic. Among my favorites: Leonard Cohen, Joy Division, The National.
• One of my pet peeves is, after stating that I'm a vegetarian, people instantly ask if I eat fish. No, I don't. By definition a vegetarian does not eat fish. In the same vein, it irks me when someone says they are a vegetarian but they eat fish. If you eat fish, you are not a vegetarian. You are, however, a pescetarian.
• For some reason or another, from my photos, people have the impression that I'm quite tall. I'm actually quite average in height. On a good day, if I stand up very, very straight, I clock in at 5'6". Not short, but not tall either. I wouldn't mind being 5'8". I think that's the perfect height.
• I have no tolerance for any sort of finger nail maintenance. It makes my skin crawl to hear someone filing their nails. I never paint my nails (well, my toes sometimes) and have only had one manicure in my whole life - a gift from a friend.
• I wish I made more time for reading. I love to read and always have. Unfortunately I think I read myself to sleep one too many times and now, like Pavlov's dog, have trained myself to become sleepy at the mere cracking of the cover.
• Whenever I eat ice cream, I stir the whole bowl until it becomes half-melted-ice-cream-soup. Only then can I devour every last tasty drop.
• I haven't stepped into a salon for a proper haircut since... hmmm, November of 2007? I know it was when we were still living in LA. Since then I've just trimmed away at the ends and bangs myself. But I think it's getting high time I let a professional step in.

Remembering you standing quiet in the rain...*

photos by Tom b.

dress: 50s cotton day dress
boots: UO
purse: vintage Coach
hat: vintage wool beret
listening to: The Cure - Disintegration "Pictures of You"

A quick thank you, thank you, thank you to all of your encouraging comments over the past couple of days. It's so uplifting to read all of your notes after a long day. Tom and I have been through two complete cross-country moves (with three cats in the car!) and neither have been as stressful as this moving seven blocks. We're still living amongst contractors and construction and boxes piled to the ceiling. I'll put it this way... the bath tub is still sitting in the living room. But, it's all coming together and we're loving every minute as much as it's making us a little bit crazy.

Here are a few photos from a week or so ago outside the abandoned silk mill down the road from us. I'm pointing out that these are old photos because there is no way I could pull an outfit together right now! I'm living in old sweatshirts and my painting overalls. Plus it's downright cold outside!

Ralph Lauren

I have a terrible habit of only looking at the collections of the few usual suspects come Fashion Week. You know the ones... Marc, Luella, Chloe, et al. I just can't muster the energy to dig through all of the collections season after season. Who has the time!? But by doing this, I'm always afraid I'll miss out on something great. Such is the case with this Ralph Lauren collection (at least the first half - he loses me around the time the baby-blue-shiny-satiny concoctions make their appearance). It's not a collection that I would usually check out but I'm so glad I stumbled across it.

I guess since he's the all-American designer it makes sense that he would pull inspiration from one of the hallmarks of American history - The Great Depression. I love all the feedsack florals and white socks with oxfords. Not to mention a lot of the looks are topped off with adorable cloche hats. It's not enough to make me wish it was still summer, but I'm sure I'll be happy to look back on these looks once the hot weather does roll back around.