...And yes, I am drinking wine out of a coffee mug. Because I keep it classy like that.
My under-$150 gift solution #2: Not all designer items are that expensive, and if this person on your list is anything like mine and therefore currently stuck in the treacherous ugliness that only bitterly cold weather brings, a couple of not-knit-by-grandma outerwear accessories may be your first-class ticket to having the coolest gift under the tree for them this holiday season. Be it Miu Miu or Missoni, your Manolo-lover is sure to appreciate a cozy, functional beanie that doesn't make her look like a cross between the Abominable Snowman and a creepy cat burglar. Missoni beanie, $75, Miu Miu beanie, $60. More selection and matching accessories can be found at net-a-porter.com
I now present to you what is perhaps my second DIY success ever (the first being the studded boots in yesterday's post of course). While bleaching a pair of old, cheap jeans is admittedly not the most difficult DIY in the world to complete, I am nonetheless proud of myself for actually doing it without entirely ruining them...then again, the point was for them to be entirely ruined, so perhaps I succeeded in that? I don't know, and moreover don't feel like playing semantics with myself this morning.
These jeans (which I am now madly in love with and want to wear all the time) are the result of spending Saturday night at home with a cheese grater, jug of liquid laundry bleach, bucket and and a sponge. And before you ask: yes, I actually do enjoy Saturday night 'arts and crafts for a 3 year old' as G likes to call it, regardless of the fact that I've reminded him time and time again that a 3 year old shouldn't really be handling a two litre bucket of bleach.
I've had this Keith Richards t-shirt for ages, but unfortunately rarely wear it as a result of it being from what I like to call the Toronto version of Hot Topic...a shop called Black Market, located on Queen Street West. While Black Market does sell a certain amount of proper vintage clothing, the rest of their wares consist of mass-printed 'punk rock' tees which are, by way of their very creation and place of origin, not punk rock at all. So it's kind of a lame t-shirt by all means, but from time to time I certainly cannot resist the appeal of a young Keith Richards' face staring up at me from my t-shirt drawer.
In other news, I've determined that I do not own enough winter-appropriate clothing. I can't keep wearing tank tops and tiny, thin sweaters under wool coats and expect to not freeze. A thirfting trip for a pile of chunky knit sweaters and various sweater dresses and whatnot is definitely in order. Because yes, it's still cold here. And yes, it will continue to be for approximately forever, or rather, until it's not anymore. Getting more specific than that is just depressing for the time being.
Wearing
Today's photo set was taken yesterday on my first excursion out of domestic comforts all weekend. If I wanted to get all pretentious and philosophical about things I would say that I'm wearing all grey to represent the middling state of my health at this point in time, as I am feeling neither black nor white and instead residing, emotionally and physically, in an ambivalent and undecided state. Alas, I am not pretentious or [generally] philosophical when it comes to clothes, so what I'm wearing basically comes down to the fact that layering is necessary in the cold/these clothes are comfortable for a walk about town/I like the colour grey - and there you have it, my outfit inspiration happily has essentially nothing to do with anything at all!
To expand upon the subject of clothing a little bit further, as it is, for all intensive purposes, the driving force behind this blog, I completed a couple of wicked cool DIY projects this weekend while bored and couch-ridden. One of them will definitely make its appearance on here tomorrow, so stay tuned for that...I'm generally not so good at DIY, but this one turned out particularly awesome if I do say so myself. I'm still unsure as to how I feel about the other one I completed (it involved a bunch of silver paint and way too much time on my hands), but I'm certain it will make its way onto me at some point or another, wherein you can either laugh at my kindergarten-level painting skills or be impressed by my ingenuity....I'm somewhere between the two at the moment.
Wearing
This photo set is real-life as opposed to fashion in the sense that what I am wearing has far more to do with practicality than anything else. As you can see, many of the streets here in Toronto are currently sheeted in ice, making creative footwear choices next to impossible unless I'm taking a cab to somewhere indoors or, similarly, carry my 'good shoes' in my bag until I reach my indoor destination; this brings me to my justification of the Ugg monstrosities currently residing on my feet - they're warm, I don't slip and fall in them and the fact that I dislike them on an aesthetic level results in me not getting upset when they're damaged by various outdoor elements. And I walk basically everywhere I go, so these are all entirely necessary qualities in a shoe for me. So before ya'll go and judge me for wearing them, please take a moment to think about my struggle.
My plans for this weekend consist of nothing more and nothing less than getting tons of rest, acquiring new outfits for my poppit on Little Big Planet, and drinking as much hot lemon water as humanly possible (not only is it good for me, it's also the most delicious warm drink in the world). And I'm looking forward to it more than I have any weekend in quite a while, because I know that it's exactly what I need right now. I hope each and every one of you goes and has the weekend you want and need as well, and I look forward to coming back on Monday and catching up with you!
Wearing
So I've determined that this dress is, without a doubt, the best thing I have ever found on a Club Monaco sale rack, and unknowingly so at the time of purchase. When it was bought by yours truly two years ago I merely liked the drop-waist 1920's Gothic ballerina style of it (do those terms even make sense together?) and the sale price, as I remember desperately needing a party dress that day for a reason which escapes me now. I didn't even try it on, but then again I rarely do when shopping.
Two years later, and this dress continues to be one of my favourite things in my closet. The crumply crepe-like bubble skirt (you can seriously manipulate it into whatever shape you want it to be!), the various shoulder straps, the sheer overlay...there's a lot about this riff on the LBD that pretty much shouldn't work under any circumstances, but somehow it does and it's fabulous...or at the very least I feel fabulous in it.
As you've no doubt noticed, there has been an increasing amount of indoor photos recently, due to the fact that it looks like this outside:
Not only is this causing a lack of outdoor daily outfit photos, it's also making me congested and unable to breathe through my nose properly. My, my, how horribly jealous I am of all of you Australians right now, what with the beginning of glorious summer and whatnot.
This is one of the dresses that I briefly alluded to acquiring last week, and of which the only slightly problematic thing is the length; it skims my ankles but does not quite cover them, making shoe choices, at least in terms of the shoes I own, extremely difficult for the time being. I feel like a pair of brown leather riding boots would work semi well, but since I don't own anything even remotely akin to riding boots as it stands, I merely have my imagination (and potentially really useless and bad sketches of what I'm visualizing) to count on when attempting to make such decisions.
I'm currently reading Patti Boyd's autobiography, which is not only insanely inspiring on the fashion end of things (between her, Anita and Marianne, it's impossible to decide who had the best wardrobe), but it's also the stuff that rock n' roll fantasy is made of and for that reason alone I love it. I will admit that I was not a normal child in the sense of having had posters of boy bands on my bedroom walls...I was far more into cut-out photos of young Eric Clapton from magazines.
This unfortunately did not do wonders for my early social life, but regardless, my long-standing crush on Cream-era Clapton has stood the test of time, and the fact that Patti married both George Harrison and E.C. is a fact that I have always, always been insanely jealous of in a weird, nostalgic kind of way. Naturally I missed the boat on pretty much everything I am jealous of Patti for having...so if I can't live it, I can live through it vicariously, right? And this is the reason this book of hers is perhaps my new favourite thing ever.
Wearing
First and foremost, my seemingly-useless trip to H&M to check out the Commes de Garcons pieces last Friday afternoon (how I even thought it remotely possible for there to be anything left, I don't know) turned out to be extraordinarily fruitful for me. The insanely tall black patent wedge platforms that I'm wearing in these photos were just dying to be bought by yours truly, and I haven't really taken them off for any extended period of time since. Regardless of the fact that they're open-toed and not necessarily what one would call winter-appropriate footwear, I can definitely feel a new shoe obsession coming on...for one, they elevate my feet enough that any precipitation on the ground becomes completely irrelevant, which is nice.
The acquisition of the wedge platform awesomeness contributed to the wholly wonderful weekend had, which was busy, busy, busy and cold, cold, cold as all of you Torontonians out there are surely well aware of. One of the significant highlights of the weekend was seeing the first snowfall of the year on Saturday evening while at a party a.k.a. the only snowfall that is magical and gorgeous...after that they just become restrictive and depressing.
In the spirit of being honest and transparent, I will put it out there that today's photos are not entirely accurate, as they were actually taken on Sunday morning, hence my gigantic hair and even more gigantic sunglasses - remember how I mentioned we were at a party on Saturday night? Yeah, so this is one of my most comfortable go-to outfits, and since I haven't been feeling all that creative recently in the spectrum of dressing, it's basically what I've been wearing in some form or another for the past few days, add/minus blazer, hat, t-shirt, shoes, etc. I definitely blame my full-of-stuff-but-empty-of-inspiration-closet for this state of affairs, and am therefore in the process of DIY-ing as much as humanly possible for shake things up a little bit.
Fringed Balmain (or Balmain-esque) high-heeled boots. Seriously, how well would these go with my luxe-bohemian Winter 2008 plans? Very, very, superbly well is the correct answer! I'm hoping that this 'want' will become a 'have' faster than you can say Christophe Decarnin.
More faux and/or vintage fur. I currently have one vest, two coats, and six hats. While this may seem already excessive to some, in my opinion I still require a bolero/shrug and long-fitting vest. Obviously the above Jenni Kayne would be preferable, but since that's not exactly within my current budget I'm hoping that Toronto's thrift shops provide me with some wonderful surprises.
A Venti, soy, one pump sugar-free vanilla latte. Stat. (Though I'm pretty sure no one at my local Starbucks is capable - or willing - to make latte art as pretty as what's in the photo). 
That I'm a bit of an idiot sometimes and hence burned a bit of my hair with a recently purchased professional flat iron which I stupidly put to the highest setting upon first use. It's nothing that a little trim won't fix up, but I nonetheless cannot stop touching this little bit of fried hair on my head and it's killing me.
The fact that it 'lightly snowed' yesterday evening. That is all.
Cozy evenings like the one I had last night, which only seem possible throughout the winter months when outdoor activity becomes virtually impossible. A bottle of Merlot, a great book, a blanket and a homemade meal are sometimes all it takes for me to be superbly thrilled with life. n.b. the fireplace has just been thrown into the above photo for dramatic effect, as I don't actually have a fireplace in my apartment...I wish I did, though, come to think of it.
Gossip Girl. Is it just me or has Serena really stepped it up this season fashion-wise? Maybe I'm just feeling her look more now than I was before, but last season I was all about Team Blair and things are slowly but surely changing in favour of Camp Serena, making my Monday night guilty pleasure more enjoyable than ever.
The top-secret, very exciting project that G and I are tirelessly working away at. Expect the results of it to be up and live on Modern-Guilt at some point this weekend or early next week - I really think you guys are going to be just as thrilled with it as we are, and I'm so excited to share it with you!
So I've decided to steal G's plaid shirt for good after mucking about in it all day long today and hence realizing it to be the most comfortable, warm, lightweight and awesome article of clothing I've ever worn. I'm unsure as to how he's going to feel about this considering he probably likes it too, but then again what's the point of having a boyfriend with a majorly extensive collection of plaid shirts if not to take them out for yourself every once and a while?
This morning I woke up asking "is it still cold outside?" completely forgetting for a brief but wonderful moment that it will in fact STILL be this cold and colder for months and months to come. Does anyone have any good suggestions for tropical vacation destinations? The first time of the year I hear on the radio that it will be "minus-whatever temperature" is always a sad day, and this year I also plan for it to be the day I book a plane ticket off to someplace warm for a short while.
G and I are off to pick up a bunch of new furniture we impulsively bought over the weekend and, as far as impulse buys go, I suppose nice furniture is better than yet another dress of pair of boots that I don't need. Or not. I haven't purchased anything even remotely clothes related in about two weeks now and I'll be the first to admit that it sucks.
Speaking of holding onto things long past their expiration: last night G and I finally did something about the volcanic mess which is technically referred to as our shoe closet. It was surprisingly difficult for me to part with many of the shoes I've accumulated (and destroyed) over the years, regardless of their often ratty condition and hopelessness of repair potential. In my skewed perception of the world, however, expunging the old from my life and/or shoe closet is merely an excuse to bring in the new, and goodness knows there's a lot of new out there that I am lusting over right now.
It's imperative that I come to a place of acceptance with the fact that I'm not going to be back in jean shorts and my beloved gladiator sandals in what basically amounts to another eight months. This morning I had to pull my winter wool pea coat out of the depths of my closet...while this isn't so bad today, I trust that it will become endlessly annoying as the biting cold wears on.
Thankfully I have a wonderful weekend planned to cheer me out of any kind of pre-winter misery I may be experiencing: a sushi lunch with my best girlfriend in the world, independent thrift shop wandering, and perhaps even the acquisition of some furniture for the annoyingly bare bones apartment in which G and I currently reside. It's the little things like this which make me happy and, while it may be trite, there's truth in cliche sometimes, isn't there?
Wearing
I've been wearing a properly massive amount of black in recent history, as I seem to do from time to time. But as it gets more and more chilly with each passing day here, I expect that the black clothing is an early indication of what to expect from me throughout the winter months. While I quite obviously go really eccentrically bohemian with my taste in the summertime, but for me it just feels like poor taste to do so in the winter unless, of course, you're Rachel Zoe and possess gigantic and warm vintage Dior furs and the like.
With no histrionics or exaggeration I can firmly state that I loathe winter with a fiery passion in my heart. But at the same time I see no reason why it should result in anyone dressing really infinitely poorly. Of course there will be the occasional day of taking no heed of form and instead focusing entirely on the function of not freezing to death or getting slush in your socks - one would have to be insane to not take such things into consideration...which, come to think of it, means I have seen a veritable ton of insane people in this city.
Nonetheless, a slip on the sidewalk ice here or there is a small price to pay to not look like the Michelin Man (seriously, what is up with those ridiculous floor-length puffer coats that people wear?! Can they really even be that warm?!)
Okay, I've officially gone off on a tangent, and as such I'm certain that those of my readers who live in wonderful perpetual sunny and warm places have no idea what I'm on about...and for that I sorely envy them. And, since there's no use in getting preemptively upset about the inevitable, I suppose I should just enjoy light-jacket-and-boots weather while we still have it.
So on another note, in regards to the recent nail polish inquiries I've received: it's called Just Groovy, made by O.P.I., and I'm seriously considering making it my signature colour. It's weirdly awesome because it's obviously quite distinctive, but at the same time seems to match and/or clash in an interesting way with most everything I own.
