It’s definitely been a hot minute or two since I posted here. But I’ve found myself in that magical, nebulous period in between Christmas and New Year’s. You know what I mean – where we all seem content to turn into piles of goo and have a collective agreement to get nothing done. You can browse the sales, rewatch cute cat videos in your pajamas, hand sew a hem or two, and feel apathy towards anything productive.
Have you ever had a weird obsession you just can’t explain? For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been completely charmed by clothing masquerading as fruit. Heels adored with lemon slices? Yes please! A necklace with a rhinestone apple? Sign me up! So when one of my favorite handbag companies Vendula London came out with their La Petite Creperie range, my eyes scanned the adorable shopfronts and zeroed in immediately on the bag approximating a strawberry tart.
There is something sincerely magical about crossing the threshold into Spring. I suddenly find a new bounce in my step, an extra twirl in my skirt. The scent of the air is somehow better, and the birds chirp merrily as I make my way towards the end of the semester. And for whatever reason, that extra bit of sun shines a new perspective on things, reminding me of the many things I have to be grateful for.
Truth be told, I’ve always been a little intimidated by hats. For years I’ve struggled to find ones that suited me (and I still say I have an abnormally large head). When I do venture into the Land of the Great Chapeau, I tend more towards fascinators and headbands, which feel like the perfect mix of whimsey and glam (especially if they involve glitter).
I was a full-on theatre girl growing up (and why am I speaking in the past tense? I still am VERY much a theatre girl now). But, while these days my world is full of schedules and students and all of the science, I spent so much of my teen years and early 20’s on a stage. There is still something about the smell of a costume closet, or fresh paint and plywood, or the whooshing sound of a heavy velvet curtain that brings me right back. As strange as it may seem, I really found myself in the act…
If you’ve been following for awhile, you know I tend to avoid things that are trending. Usually if something appears on a tv show (hello Carrie Bradshaw blue wedding heels) or is on every Influencer (ie, whatever the new It Girl handbag is), I avoid it like the plague. Perhaps it’s some form of reverse snobbery, but I definitely have an aversion to anything even slightly approaching popular, so deep is my commitment to an original style.
I know what you’re thinking: “What?? An actual blog post?!?” Needless to say, it’s been more than a little quiet around here. So, why am I gracing these cyber pages with a splash of color, you ask? (or didn’t ask. But I have the microphone so….) Because I am officially on Spring Break! When you’re a professor, this doesn’t mean you and your 20 closest friends piling into a clown car headed for Daytona Beach. But it does mean time to breathe, time to sew, time to write a bit. A time where the endless demands blessedly cease and the…
Some fabrics are just destined to be pleated. It’s almost as if the print is one thing on its own, but she takes off her glasses and shakes out her pony tail, and becomes something entirely new once she’s pleated. I’ve decided to look at 2024 the same way. You might think it’s yet another year, but just fold and crease and press a bit, and it could turn into something unexpected.
There is no rhyme or reason for it, but I have been ALL about the separates lately. Not that making skirts is necessarily a new thing for me, but I’ve been completely enamored with making skirts and a matching top that can masquerade as a dress, but can also be split to mix and match to my heart’s content. With time at a premium these days, I am all for tricks that make my wardrobe serve double duty…
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way, but I swear summer days move more quickly than winter days. And I don’t just mean in a daylight savings type of way, but more a blink-and-you-miss-it-because-summer-is-much-more-fun type of way. Summer afternoons zip happily by in a fiery swirl of lazy cocktails, BBQs, and travel, without a care in the world. On the other hand, winter days crawl forward inch by frozen inch, reaching for a tomorrow that always feels just out of reach.
