In the key of Ursa Minor

Without a real income and a very disciplined approach to buying clothes, shipping and customs charges hurt much more deeply than I remember. So I am quite happy to have recently become obsessed with a Canadian designer, as I can then buy fantastic pieces that do not bring an unpleasant surprise when they arrive at my doorstep. I had bought and posted about the Ursa Minor Victorine blouse a bit back (also seen in the photo above), and, after it proved itself to be a most invaluable layer not only for the classroom but also on our European excursion, I came back home wanting a second one. And, lo and behold, the black one was on for half price. The problem now is that I just found out about a (dangerous) Seattle-based website called craft & culture that curates and sells artisan pieces from a great crop of designers including Ursa Minor. Which is great in and of itself (as everyone should own at least one Ursa Minor piece, even non-Canadians), but they have an Ursa Minor piece on sale that Elizabeth has never posted in the Ursa Minor Etsy shop. And 'Seattle-based' means customs fees and increased shipping rates, which means I can't have it. I never even knew I'd want a cream-colored silk duster, but now that I do, I can't. Sigh.

Anuschka Hoevener, S/S 13

Simple and perfect pieces from kOs favorite Anuschka Hoevener. It may prove to be dangerous that some of them are already in Anuschka's online shop. Particularly as the dip-dyed tee is a lightweight cotton/silk blend, the 3/4-length sleeve sweatshirt also comes in black, and the jacket is a linen/cotton blend. And I can't help but label the season's look as a slightly more Euro mydearthing. Sigh.

(Photos by Katia Wik, found via NJAL)

Mimesis

Yesterday I sat down to officially begin writing my Masters thesis, and instead I came up with a topic for a PhD thesis. I don't even know if I'll be able to do a PhD in the near future. Sigh. Also, I can't seem to come up with a first sentence other than "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...", so the writing has come to an abrupt halt before it even began. I keep kicking around this idea in my head that I'd prefer to curate an exhibit on various designers' takes on Sulpicia: who they think she is, if she's a he, how would he dress to perform the poetry, etc. Of course, though my program is pretty awesome in that I can take any course I want and take a totally interdisciplinary approach to my topic, I do not think it allows for a creative project such as a costume exhibit. Also, I doubt anyone outside of those I've talked to about my thesis and the select few that also write about her know who Sulpicia is (warning: don't believe everything Wikipedia tells you). Aside from those two obstacles, such a project would be so much fun! If anyone is interested in sketching/sewing something up based on a few poems that may or may not be written by someone who may or may not have existed 2000 years ago, let me know and we can put something together here to post. In the meantime, here is a poem (by Sulpicia or 'Sulpicia', translated by me), as well as some looks by Portuguese designer Lara Torres, looks which represent what's going on in my head in various largely unexplainable ways.

At last love has come, of such a kind that the reputation of having hidden it 

   would be more a cause for shame to me than would that of having laid it bare to someone. 

Venus, having been won over by my Muses, 

   has brought him and deposited him into my lap. 

Venus has fulfilled her promises: let one recount my joys,  

   if someone is said to have not had his own. 

I do not wish to entrust anything to stamped pages, 

   so that no one reads me before my love,  

but it delights me to make a slip of the tongue, it irks me to put on false 

   appearances of tradition: may I be reported worthy to have been with a worthy man. 

Jet-lagged

My first experience with having to deal with Euro jet lag has been made more interesting with the onset of a killer cold and the need to pound out one last attempt for a scholarship to cover my 2nd and last year of this degree. All I really want to do is find the perfect t-shirt and then sleep in it until my body resets. The latter is self-explanatory, given the 8-hour difference between home and where I was for a week and a half (and wish I was still). The former stems from the realization that I have only managed to accumulate 2 perfect t-shirts in the last 4 years of this blog (I slept through kOs' 4th anniversary, which was a couple days ago!), though truly the wool content of those 2 (identical) t-shirts make them imperfect for the summer. I seem to have come up dry on good affordable basics labels with local/ethical production, now that complexgeometries has moved their production to Japan (*tear*) and the ridiculous customs fees incurred by my first kowtow purchase means I simply cannot buy another piece from them. I'm quite intrigued by the above pool-side worthy t-shirt by JACQUEMUS (found via Fashion156), a label which reminds me (as did being in France and Belgium) that I need to brush up on my French. Though, I'll admit, the trompe l'oeil effect does come across better in the two-piece look. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, Queen Elizabeth, please give me money so I can learn all of the things, and someone please direct me to the perfect t-shirt store. Also, if you go to Bruges, stay at the Hotel Van Eyck. This is the staircase you'll climb every night.

It's not easy being green

The first thing I noticed before even touching down on European soil is that at least the parts of Europe we saw are much much greener than it ever gets here. Of course, things here are just starting to bud/flower, but the difference in humidity makes such a huge difference even in just the colour of the grass that has managed to grow here. So, back at home with a flat of greenhouse-grown herbs in front of me waiting to be potted, I'm imagining that I'm back where it's proper green. And you'd think that with green being my favorite non-black colour, I'd have a green dress (that isn't my wedding dress). But I don't, so here are some green looks from the A/W 12/13 collection of Berlin-based Polish designer Dawid Tomaszewski. I'll have to also take some photos later of the prized possession I brought back from this trip, being my very own green spring jacket from kOs favorite Dusturbance. A spring jacket! I'm a real adult now. Also, I got to touch that wonderous Dusturbance piece (which is green, of course) that led me to meet the wonderful kindred spirit who is Dust. Life makes sense again.

(Photos via NJAL)