Desira Pesta, Winter 09

Next up, I'm totally loving these new pieces by Desira Pesta. I do believe I've been bitten by the leggings bug, now being the proud owner of two whole pairs. And I would like these to be the third. The tunic is also quite awesome. I somehow quite frequently forget how much I like the colour royal blue, and yet I only own one super old t-shirt from my mom's work in that colour. Sigh.

Top 19 Finds of the Summer

With summer now officially gone, I thought I'd compile a list of my favorite 19(ish) finds as posted between July 21st and September 21st for those of you just joining us for some lovely fall blogging. Just click on the links to read the original posts and to see pretty photos.

1) Designer: Alexandra Groover - Okay, so I actually discovered her on June 19th which was technically still spring, but whatever.

2) Fashion grad student: Stacey Grant

3) Label: complexgeometries

4) Basic piece: Alexandra Groover 5-hooded Hoody

5) Future Purchase: ArtLab Oversized Revolutionary Jacket

6) Custom made piece (not for me): Norwegian Wood rib cage dress for Queen Michelle

7) Want: Alexandra Groover Shell Hooded Jacket

8) Convertible piece: Attila Design grey dress

9) Bought Accessory: Quillinan The Forgotten with Zip neckpiece

10) Wanted Accessory: Ditte Lerche knit neckpiece

11) Photos: FROG scarves

12) Band: Dead Man's Bones

13) Book: The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci

14) Movie: Moon

15) Website: Not Just a Label

16) Post: Interview with Patricia Ayres

17) Artwork: black-eyed suzie's Hamlet and Lady MacBeth dolls

18) Most worn piece(s): ArtLab Andromache Noir and Desira Pesta Letters to Paris dress

19) Most beautiful dress in the world: Stacey Grant's tulle and embroidered silk draped dress

You were expecting pictures to accompany each item? Yikes. Sorry, but my Wii Fit is calling.

Cut and Paste, Part 1

I truly hope that none of you are bored with my ArtLab obsession just yet. Because I saw a great ArtLab feature this morning and just wanted to share it with you. In today's Etsy Finds, titled "I Heard a Rumor", they dispel the "common fashion fallacy that it's uncouth to wear white after summer's end." And pictured right at the top of this article and list of alabaster beauties are ArtLab's Aphrodite white tank top, styled with her Clinical White Harness No. 1 (something I have yet to pick up - shame on me!), and the infamous Charlie Chaplin Couture Bib. Also featured is Desira Pesta's white Principe Dress with Sleeves, and Take Off Your Clothes' Inversion top (which is actually a light grey - oops!). Congrats everyone on the excellent feature, and long live white indeed! Until I spill something on it of course...

Oh, and if you aren't yet weary of my ArtLab praises, make sure that you stay tuned for a very exciting feature, scheduled to arrive on this very blog in the not so distant future.

Classic postmodernism

I love this Silent Era Jacket by Desira Pesta. There's just something about the look of a 3-piece (or 2-piece?) suit in hoody form (a 1-piece hoody that is - the vest in built into the overcoat). I know I could never convince my man to wear this, but I definitely would rock it! And, according to Desira, that would be just fine, as she describes it as both postmodern and androgynous. Which reminds me, I need to find an old suit jacket to do some DiY. I still regret missing out on those Layered Trousers. Sigh.

Layering against the cold

In case you were wondering who won the duel today between my Andromache and my Letters to Paris, the answer is both and neither. 'Both' because the cold weather triggered my layering reaction, so I ended up creating one of my most favorite outfits, with my Andromache over my Letters to Paris. Gorgeous. 'Neither', however, because I only managed to get my sorrowful bottom off of the bed/couch for a total of 45 minutes for my daily dose of caramel macchiato. So the pair did not get much air today. The 45 minutes were pretty good though. I brought my new book with me, Nino Ricci's The Origin of Species. I can't get over how well written it is. I find myself reading it much slower than my usual brisk pace just so I can re-read the beautiful and witty lines. And it's set in Montreal, where I need to live.

Which reminds me, I think it's time for me to pick up a Norwegian Wood cage skirt (seen above on the lovely Queen Michelle herself). I almost did months ago when I purchased my harness, but I made myself choose one piece. I think it would look quite lovely over my Letters to Paris, among other things. By the way, this dress is turning out to be quite multi-functional. I don't see it listed in Desira's shop anymore, so you may want to send her a convo if you feel you'd love it as much as I do.

Off to work the evening shift now. Sigh. I do not want to come back to an empty home at 1:30am...

I heart mail

Wowsers, my apartment is parcel central today. I just received 3 lovely packages addressed to moi, signaling the impending end to my affair with mail orders. Well, I've almost received everything I've recently ordered anyway.

First up is the lovely 'Letters to Paris', created by the equally lovely Desira Pesta. True, I did order this ages ago so that I would be all set for the hot weather with the perfect summer dress. But I was too picky and sent this beauty back for the super busy Desira to alter. It was well worth the wait though, seeing as we've only had a total of 3 summer days here anyway. And I think I should give my Andromache dress a bit of rest after 3 days of hard labour, so this is my uniform for today (and possibly the next 2 days after that). My only problem is figuring out how to accessorize it. The loose pull-on fit is uber comfortable, especially with the sideseam pockets. So I could stick with that. But my Norwegian Wood harness looks smashing over top and gives it a nice edgy look. But then my ArtLab bustle plays up the gathered bottom and looks quite adorable with the straps crossed a la Queen Michelle's styling...I'd love to take a picture of the options so someone could help me decide, but my man has taken the camera up the mountain. Please try to picture it in your head and get back to me with your choice, alright? Sigh. I'll probably just do all 3 options over the next 3 days...

Second up is Take Off Your Clothes' 'Double T-Shirt Dress'. And thank goodness they put a label inside, because I could not decipher which t-shirt was which in my sorry state. It was a lovely surprise that this dress reaches my knees (I'm 5' 9 1/2", so I'm used to things being shorter than they appear). Definitely will be wearing this whilst lounging and meandering the streets this week. Ooo, and the dress came with a delightful little pencil sketch/thank you note. Yay!

And lastly was my most awaited item, as it was free! You may remember that I had purchased a super sexy red and white pin-up bathing suit from polkadore last fall, and had a mishap with it when I wore it for the first time a couple of months ago. Claudia was a complete sweetheart and made me a whole new bathing suit at no charge. This one is all black and makes me feel like I'm channeling Bettie Page. I'm in love. Now I just need to find the nearest kiddie pool. Keep an eye out for this gal when she reopens her shop!!!