Tumbleweeds Actually Exist

I'm wearing an American Rag vintage dress and some random cardigan I found at wasteland. I think these people forgot their boat in the middle of the desert.

Sunshine! :D

I was surrounded by Lion King-worthy rock formations.

Bonjour!
I just woke up after a lovely long cat nap! A long Thanksgiving break leaves lots of time for napping. It also leaves some time for me to go and visit my Dad out in the desert. We hunted through thrift stores but found absolutely nothing! I wasn't expecting such lonely stores to have been picked through so thoroughly. After our failed attempt at thrift shopping, we took a joy ride down this weird bumpy road littered with odd thingy-mabobbers: a boat, tires, boxes, more car parts. At one point of our expedition my dad stopped the car and let me drive. *gulp* I"m not very good at multitasking so it was definitely a little scary. I could tell my dad was trying to be calm but was actually really nervous. I turned a 3-point turn into a five point turn because I stepped the gas instead of the break. When I was little I used to steer the car as we drove through the festival of lights...I never remembered it being this difficult!

xoxo Valentine

Where Are my Toes?

This is a flower crown I made during English class when nobody was looking.

I'm wearing a plaid button up shirt underneath a Spirituali dress.

Just so you could see the full length of the skirt! I took a black belt and essentially threaded it through my old drapes.

My crown reminded of a Sleeping Beauty illustration from my childhood. I dug through my attic to find it. The title is "The Barefoot Book of Princesses," retold by Caitlin Matthews and illustrated by Olwyn Whelan.

There I was, sitting quietly in English minding my own business when the lovely Casey thrust a bouquet of flowers onto my desk and demanded I make her a crown. There just happened to be a few flowers left over so I went ahead and fashioned myself one, as well. My hair was particularly wispy that day and I looked a little bit like a fairy. When I saw my reflection in the mirror one of my favourite storybooks came to mind. The illustrations are beautifully done and Sleeping Beauty's flowers are similar to mine. I think I'll wear flower crowns more often, as I got a lot of compliments.

xoxo Valentine

Those Shoes are Too Big

My kitchen is currently under construction, and I couldn't resist a photo op.

Me, trying to fit a 5 year old kimono on top of my navy and white American Apparal dress.

Bonjour!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and made sure to stuff their faces with pie and turkey. Luckily, I took these picture before turkey day so you can't see my food baby ^.^ Also on the holiday front, I got the most amazing early christmas present! It's a nikon D200 camera that I'll be sure to show you on christmas day. My dad never was any good at keeping presents a secret. Oh so apparently yesterday was "Black Friday." I love clothes and all, but waking up at 5 am to wait in a line is a bit excessive, hence the reason I have a mother. She surprised me this morning with an adorable Ann Taylor suit! I have a speech and debate tournament next weekend so I'll take a bunch of pictures of it, promise!

xoxo Valentine

Sleeping Beauty

RIP Dawl Kim

xoxo Val

Geometry and Fashion Can Absolutely Mix

The first model is wearing a floral skirt with fabric draping across the front. It's pinned together with a doily and bound up with three shiny belts. Tucked into the skirt is a cashmere cardi, a t-shirt, and a thick pearl necklace. The second model is wearing a black blazer, a bog-standard blouse, and a plain skirt layered with a sheet of lace. The lace is scattered with a bunch of rebellious pins saying something along the lines of "PISS OFF!" The last model is wearing a light blue silk kimono over a lightning bolt skirt and a navy-and-white-striped dress, cinched at the waist with a bow tie. I actually tried this one myself by stuffing my knickers with socks. The resulting skirt was similar to a mini-crini so I was quite proud.

Think military coat with two circular pillows stuffed into the tails. I was experimenting with a "raggedy anne" meets "armed forces" look.

This is definitely my favourite out of this bunch. Again, I used a blue silk kimono and then attached stuffed animals all over it. An over-sized safety pin is replacing the regular obi. The sleeves are actually connected; forming a floor-length muff.

The second model is wearing a bunch of doilies on top of bright red and crimson stripy turtle neck. Yes, those are *GASP* boobs! The third model is wearing a black jumpsuit with a rope that pulls a little teddy bear. The last model is wearing a cardi and a puffy skirt. On top of the puffy skirt are many dark, wooden slats.

Bonjour!
So you know that Gatsby essay I told you about? Well, that took me until 5am to finish. The best part is that my teacher didn't even collect it. Just thinking about it makes my sleep deprived brain ache. As you can imagine, it was a very looong day. I spent geometry class drawing to avoid the temptation of a quick cat nap. And now, I think it's time I caught some Z's.
xoxo Val

5 Things That Inspire Me

Dr. Dolittle...the good one

Sand Garden

Crab Nebula

Lily Cole

Katherine Hepbhurn's trousers

Bonjour!
I know I promised to post again soon but the inevitable happened...I got grounded. I'm trying to scrounge up time to create those masks for my next shoot. Speaking of, I think I'm going to get a new camera soon, which means more pictures of things I actually see. I'm concerned about the lack of creativity in this blog. By integrating things I see on the streets I hope to spice it up a bit. Oh, so this saturday I went to a speech and debate tournament and won first place! I also bought a new dress! The French Club gave me a free cake! I've become obsessed with Tavi Genison! I want a snuggie! I have a Gatsby essay due tomorrow!
xoxo Valentine

No Use in Hiding

A couple of weeks ago, while waiting for the light to turn green, my mother and I spied, what we thought to be, a girl holding her hair up with a mask. After a couple of seconds we realized it was just an exotic headband but the idea stuck. My mind immediately jumped to a scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's, where Holly Golightly steals a crazed looking cat mask right off the shelf. She pushes the mask up out of her eyes as she goes in for the kiss, looking stunning as always. There aren't many women as gorgeous as Audrey Hepburn, but you don't have to look like a supermodel to try something new.
To avoid looking like a masquerade doll it may be a good idea to rough up your hair a little. Think "just-got-out-of-bed" hair and try back combing it first. Then, tie the ribbon around your hair rather then under it.




This vixen sits poised as the hazy afternoon light has her disguise glittering like gold. (Courtesy of Elle magazine)

Eric Fetherston sends a dainty littly lamb down the runway in a flouncy lilac frock and tilted silver mask. He has done a whole line of adorable little masks, one of which was recently featured in the November 2009 Teen Vogue issue.

Bonjour!
To all of those Halloween lovers out there, here is a way to make your favourite holiday last all year long. As soon as I get a second I'll make one for myself, but until then I have more important things to focus on. Right now, I'm sitting in my room munching on popcorn and thinking about the most recent additions to my family. On Saturday I adopted them from The Nordstrom shoe orphanage, however I'm not allowed to look at them again until Christmas. I have a lot to say but not a lot of time so I'll post again soon.
xoxo Valentine

Trick or Treat!

The night before Halloween all of my friends and I went rollerskating...in costume. It was a smashing success! We got a lot of stares but still had the most fun out of anyone there. Sherlock Holmes did fairly well for a newbie! Not a single tumble, but that's probably because she spent more time off the rink then on it.
(From Right to Left: Peacock, Rainbow Brite, Sherlock Holmes, Lindsay as Lindsay, Neon Ballerina, Max from Where the Wild Things Are, and, of course, Madonna)

This year I decided to be Rainbow Brite, the loveable 80's cartoon character. Unfortunately, Twink couldn't make it.

This is me in 6th grade as a box of Nerds...what? They said the theme for Welcome Day was nerds!

Last year, I was Wonder Woman, but not without grief from some of my teachers. "Wonder Woman is degrading towards woman!" Oh pleeease, Wonder Woman is the epitome of a woman. Luckily, my principle agreed, being an avid WW fan herself.

This is me as one of the girls from Beauty School Drop-Out in Grease. It took quite a bit of patience getting those rollers to behave but we managed. I'm pretty sure this was 7th grade Welcome Day at my school.

Of course, I couldn't forget my favourite costume of them all...Queen of Hearts! Make sure you note ye' royal converse trainers. (6th grade Halloween when I was still cute)

Bonjour!
Yes, I am fully aware that Halloween was three days ago, but I couldn't resist. My friends and I had quite a night. We went trick-or-treating, like mature young adults, then went back to someone's house for a slumber party. In true Halloween spirit, we watched the Grudge, needless to say my throat was hoarse by the end of it. Finally, at about 2 in the morning we all crashed on the sofas, only to wake up again 3 hours later to crash on the trampoline. My Sunday was spent napping and watching Milk as a form of rehab. I hope everyone else had a great night!
xoxo Valentine

P.S. All the costumes above were made by my supercalifragilistic mother.