Shabby Apple Ain't Too Shabby & A Little Goodbye

Summer school is officially finished. Can I get a HoooRAY?! I spent the last 12 hours of my life pretending to be an alien and trying to understand the sex of Americans. When I wrote my paper I tried my best to have a British accent because then I could imagine my paper being some kind of documentary for the Discovery or History Channel.

I'm packing once again and getting ready for a month long adventure into the Eastern wonders of the world. However, my last post before I leave I must do a quick shout out to the lovely new clothing company that is Shabby Apple. As a supporter of indie fashion and new up and coming businesses I was quite intrigued by Shabby Apple's mission - "Shabby Apple is proud to offer you fantastic dresses that allow you to look fabulous, without having to compromise anything."

Shabby Apple sent over the Duck Beach dress for me and I must say it is absolutely adorable. I love the wrapped look and the fitted waistline. I love a good 50's silhouette because it is flattering on nearly all types of body types. I dressed up in this dress immediately I finished my paper and the theme was a jet setter. I can totally imagine myself hopping on a plain in this comfy and classic dress. Doesn't it just scream American Explorer? I actually remember doing a post almost a year ago with a photoshoot of the same jet setting theme when I was off for Europe. Oh the lovely memories.

I remember when i was younger I was quite self conscious of how much skin I was showing. I wouldn't wear spaghetti straps without putting a cardigan over it first. Shabby Apple is great because it caters to those people who want something feminine and sexy without revealing too much. They offer clothing for women, teens and even children as well as some wonderful accessories to match. I could find dresses for nearly every occassion. They have some beautiful simple black dresses as well as more colorful pieces.

What I loved even more about Shabby Apple was their sizing. Shabby Apple celebrates all shapes and sizes of women. In fashion is easy to forget that women are not models, we are not all stick thin and as tall as a baby giraffe. Sure I love interpreting the latest runway styles to flatter my own body but what I also love is when clothing is made to flatter the figure. It makes life simple and easy and that is what Shabby Apple does, creates simple and flattering dresses that real women would want to wear. Plus having a dress that states a size Small label makes me feel really happy. Even though sizing is arbitrary, it still makes me smile. A section on their website - the "Flatter to Figure" hand picks out dresses that made to enhance and flatter the body.

Off to packing now. Toodles poodles. I'll see if I can update from China but I'm not quite sure what my internet situation will be. Cross fingers.

The Beauty of Imagination

When I close my eyes, I don't see black.

I don't see the glaring afterglow of my desklight.

I don't see the tiny little dots scattering about.

My eyelids do not shield me from the world.

They transport me somewhere else;

somewhere new; somewhere beyond the Milky Way.

Without moving a limb,

without getting up from my chair.

Close your eyes, imagine,

think, where the wonders never cease

where the impossibilites are just myths.

Enjoy darlings

the beauty of imagination.

Dear friends and foe, I've just returned from the greatest place ever. My trip to DaliLand was quite nice. "Quite nice" actually just doesn't cut it. It was amazing, beyond amazing, it was absolutely breathtaking. It was breathstealing. There was hardly any tourists destroying up the place and the traffic was terrific. While there I got to attend a wonderful Masquerade Cocktail party and wear my red poofed-hip-tapestry-pattern-cocktail dress- with-pockets of a dress. I had just bought it from Loehmanns yesterday, and had no idea when or where to wear it to. Now I do have an idea. I also got to site see around the barren desserts and beaches. I was wearing my new plaid sack of a jumper and my lovely grey hat. This trip definately makes up for my missing of the Dali exhibit that showed at LACMA.

Now, I really don't want to start off another week again. I'm still feeling a bit of jet lag, but a goodnight's sleep should be the cure to it all.


I find it really funny how all my posts end with me going to sleep.

Cocktail Conundrum

Yet again I am stuck at another fashion quandry and this time it is formal wear - cocktail attire. I think my last fashion dilemma with business casual went fairly smoothly, I did get into the club and they did not, thankfully, have anything to say about my sunshine outfit. It so happens that this event is for the club that I got into. So yes, a cocktail dress for a charity event held in a club in Hollywood is required tomorrow night. I'm not actually "attending" this even, I'm more of a hostess/set up/ slave to rich white folks person. The charity event is of dinner, a dance, a silent and live auction and a casino night, Sounds exciting and I am excited, but once again finding something to wear poses the problem.

I was never and still not good with so called "dress codes". Things with labels just scare me. "Business casual" nearly gave me a panic attack and now this "cocktail" shindig might just induce my second stroke. Imagine what will happen to me when the words "semi-formal" appear!

Usually, I am confident in whatever wacky concoction I come up with for my "Style of the Day", but when it comes to a dress code I get all tense. I call it dresscodephobia. In order to help myself out a bit, I went on to good ole google and basically found things that did not help. Most sites said for women a dress, usually not floor length hem. Now this simply is not true. There are so many styles and variations of dresses out there that I would never think of as "Cocktail" attire. I eventually found an answer from above (or more like my Internet search engine) when I stumbled upon "California Cocktail" attire.

According to "Wiki Answers" :

California cocktail attire is a bit more relaxed than regular "cocktail attire". Generally cocktail attire would be considered a little black dress. However, California cocktail could be a pretty floral dress or a nice pants out fit. Since our weather is warmer and we spend more time outdoors all year around, we dress a little more casual than most.

For most people, the Little Black dress is the tried and true dress when it comes to any occasion, especially the Cocktail party. Now seeing as I don't have that perfect LBD, that was basically out of the question. I have nothing that formal in my college closet and I was planning on doing some shopping today but I picked sitting on my butt while talking to Bacne much more worth it. I also spent my time doing virtual shopping which is completely useless seeing as how this event is tomorrow.

I found these affordable gems over at Forever 21. $11 for that dress! Man, I should have just hit the nearest mall and got that.

If a little more creative and unique is what you are going for, these are some lovely pieces over at the overpriced hipster haven that is Urban Outfitters.

Browsing through my closet this afternoon as revealed a few things that I already knew.
A. I have a lot of clothing.

B. I have a lot of dresses.

C. But I have no "cocktail-esque" stuff.

I was basically left with three choices after analyzing what I did have. The first contender is a pink dress that I blogged about in a past post from St. Vinnies. Number two is a black bubble hemmed Polyester pilling fuzz ball of dress for way cheap from Kohls. And finally the last contestant is a polka dotted/floral dress I bought in a small boutique that doesn't quite feel very night time.

#1 with black tights

#1 without black tights

#2

#3 plus goofy smile.

I'm probably going to go with #1. Or maybe #2. Or I'll just go naked. I could always say that someone made my a special cocktail dress and if they look at me weird I can say that the person who made it for me also made the Emperors new dress so they must be good.

Man. I better get some free swag.