Saturday, April 26, 2014

April 25, 2014

http://www.californiamarketcenter.com/faq/samplesale.php

It's Friday and the field trip was to the 
Last Friday of the Month Sample Sales at the California Mart in LA.
Incredible deals on thirteen floors of designer showrooms.


What I Bought to Wear
One pair of shoes
One blue cloth jacket
One pair of print pants
Two black & white sweaters
and 13 unique, cool tops

total cost: $145
Sometimes I love LA

April 23, 2014


Every time I wear this free form vest from the ISDA & Co. outlet in San Francisco 
I feel like a groovy chick.
Wasn't even sure I liked the vest when I spied it on their $10 rack.
Now I love it.


Accessory Close up
Blue canvas espadrilles by Aerosole
Silver bracelet from my Grandma's Arizona Indian jewelry purchased in the 1960's
Funky, chunky necklaces picked up from resale stores over the years

April 22, 2014


I cannot remember the last time I've worn a dress to work.
It's so easy!


Accessory Close up
Three color leather sandals that I keep forgetting I love.
Gold bangle blitz
Teensy gold ball earrings

Happy Easter; April 20, 2014



With nobody to see, nowhere to go and nothing to do on a beautiful Easter Sunday,
 Hubster and I took a leisurely drive to Solana Beach.


Where everything was closed but, 
we did stumble upon some bunnies free to a good home...


so I took Mr. Yellow Fellow home anyways :)

Hope your Easter was a good one.

April 18, 2014; American Apparel


If it's Friday it's a field trip 
and today was a really GREAT one to the American Apparel factory in LA.
Two giant buildings and a dozen floors of manufacturing.


I loaded my my gang of fearless fashion students into a 12 passenger Saddleback athletic van and drove everyone to LA.
 Our tour was given by the hilarious, informative American Apparel employee extraordinaire; 
Jonny Syzmanski ( in the lavender sweater )


American Apparel is the Charlie Chocolate factory for fashion.


Hundreds of employees designing, promoting, manufacturing hundreds of items.
Truly a vast complicated vertical business.

Plastic injection machine making plastic sandals.

And now American Apparel is selling shoes so they are also now manufacturing shoes.

Shoes assembled from raw goods


This was taken at the end of a loooong day.
And OMG: thought my sweater was black stripe but, it's navy blue strip!!!
Good thing mixing colors is popular right now :)


At the end of the tour we were given a 35% discount at the factory " Flea Market ". 
I got all this ( mostly for my girlies ) for $109.

Everyone agreed it was a great day.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

April 16, 2014


Finally figured out a look to go with my striped skinny pants.
And nothing like a triple wrapped circle scarf to hide a blossoming turkey neck.


Accessory Close up
New scarf ( probably my 510th one ) that I sewed into a circle from Nordstrom Rack
Gold bangle blitz
Faux leather Beatle boots from Zara ( love! )


And as much as I wanted to stay funky, I had to change it up for my evening meeting at the City Council Chambers. 
Tried to look serious, artsy and not too corporate...


for an artists roundtable on how to make the arts relevant in Dana Point.

Great ideas that will probably be ignored by our City Council :(

April 15, 2014


Went to my closet determined to wear boots and a skirt but, it just looked so dated.
So rekindled my love affair with pointy toe sling backs 
( they're suppose to make legs look longer ).


Accessory Close up
Patent leather black shiny sling backs with perilous kitten heels
Kate Spade bracelets
Vintage brooch from favorite online resale store

April 12, 2014


Made a new friend today :)
This guy made his entire costume, down to the texture detailing on his doublet.
Quite impressive if you care what he wears.


And he isn't nuts ( well maybe  a little )…
He was participating in a 3 day, HUGE creative event at the Orange County Fairgrounds
that had the giant hangars at the fairgrounds full of creative activities for students of all ages.

The calm before the storm

And since I seem unable to say no ( sorry Nancy Reagan ), of course I volunteered to work the Saddleback Fashion table on the very busy Saturday of the event.


Over 100 kids and families stopped by and participated in our activities.



One of the Saddleback fashion activities was coloring and creating fashions on a croquis


And the other very popular activity was hot gluing a fabric flower clip.

The students were a little on the young side for college information but, 
little kids are actually  alot more fun than college kids.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

April 11, 2014


If it's Friday I am off on a field trip adventure!
Always trying to walk the fine line of professional and fashionable.
I'm actually wearing slacks...
this outfit gets a C-


I whine about working on Fridays but, some of the destinations are really interesting.
This is Fox Head headquarters in Irvine. 
Fox makes everything for riding a motorcycle and is branching out into all areas of fashion. 
It was as hip on the inside as it is on the outside.


Accessory Close up
Sensible blue leather loafers I've owned for decades
Gold bangle by Kate Spade
Favorite circle scarf from J Crew ( pretty sure I sewed it into a circle )

April 9, 2014


Is that Spring I feel in the air?
Bright weather leads to bright clothing :)


Accessory Close up
Orange leather shoes by BCBG bought at Marshals ( love the heel and color )
Gold bangles with orange one from somewhere
Little gold ball earrings had forever

April 8, 2014


These are NOT leggings!
There are skinny jeans with stretch and a cool leather strip down each side.
The pants are suppose to reach the ankle but, not on my 5'11" frame,
 so am letting down the tiny 1" hem. Wish it was 2 inches…


Accessory Close up
Black leather pointy slip-ons from Nordstrom Rack ( I seriously LOVE these shoes )
Silver bangle explosion
Tiny mystery red stone earrings bought from street vendor in Mexico decades ago.
Bolo tie with enameled art work


I am on a one woman quest to 
bring back the bolo!!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

April 5, 2014


Tonight I supported the Saddleback Fashion Department by attending the first ( and hopefully annual ) 
collaboration with the four community colleges in the OC that have fashion programs.
Each school had a few designers represented and these two from Saddleback are outstanding.


There was a rather chaotic fashion show with high energy 


and a month long gallery exhibit of the fashions.


And it happened on the first Saturday which is also the date of the monthly arts festival in Santa Ana.
There was lots to do and see in addition to the fashion show.

April 4, 2014


I.F.F.T. 
It's Friday Field Trip
Trying to look like fashionable as I lead my students fearlessly into the fashion industry.


Today's field trip was an extremely interesting boutique manufacturer with a unique business model.


Accessory Close up
Leather ankle booties from DSW ( love the color )
Scarf from Nordstrom that was purchased in circle ( I didn't sew it into one )
Brillant blue leather bracelet from Bellevue WA fashion show
Gold bracelet bling and gold knot earrings by Kate Spade

Thursday, April 10, 2014

April 2, 2014


Trying to rock the new "boyfriend" pant silhouette. 
Low on the waist, semi-baggy through the hips, and tapered ( but NOT skinny ) legs.
This is a tough look if you weigh more than 95 lbs and have any hips.


Accessory Close-up
Cole Haan leather loafers with orange stitching ( LOVE )
Gold bracelet bling
Fringed striped scarf that I did not sew into a circle ( ! )

Sunday, April 6, 2014

April 1, 2014


No joke: after 10 days off it was time to go back to the class room.
Ate and ate and ate way too much on my Spring Break :(


Accessory Close up
New weird faux leather boots from resale store in Ojai ( not sure if I like them or not… )
Cameo brooch from Burbank resale store
Gold bling bracelets ( arm party )
Tiny pearl earrings

March 30, 2014

 230 Forest Avenue,  Laguna Beach CA 

Had a lovely spontaneous mid-day Happy Birthday celebration for my friend in Laguna Beach.


Cocktails and amazing appetizers followed by…


an equally amazing molten, bubbling chocolate desert masterpiece!

Cocktails + cake = 6pm bedtime
but so worth it :)