crimson and clover

Bobby and I have been very busy, and the past couple of weeks have been no exception. He's working two jobs (seriously, he's always working!), while I'm sewing way too many dresses, helping with my sister's wedding planning, making her wedding dress and generally taking care of business. We found some time to take little Miku to the dog park, where she befriended a baby pug and got extremely dirty. We let her play until it got dark and all of the puppies went home. I obviously decided to dress like I was Joan Jett; I was probably listening to Crimson and Clover while getting dressed that day. I've actually been wearing jeans a lot in the past two weeks. It's like I all of a sudden realized how convenient they are.

Outfit Details:
tyler moto jacket - courtesy of Coach
favorite vintage shirt - thrifted a million years ago (at least that many)
jeans - courtesy of Hudson jeans
Senso shoes - courtesy of Solestruck

Love love,
Keiko Lynn

I'm a mess.

Yesterday's outfit was a happy accident. I actually planned on wearing a completely different outfit (I'm now saving it for the weekend). I had this newly thrifted and laundered dress, shoes and bag laid out, which I almost never do. I was so proud of myself for planning an outfit in advance. Naturally, because I'm such a mess, everything went awry when I ended up running super late. I couldn't find the right belt; I forgot to lay out that one key piece. I quickly threw this outfit on - most of which was conveniently laying in packages by my door. I showered, got dressed and did my makeup in record time - under fifteen minutes! Let's just go with ten, because it sounds more impressive.  While we're at it, let's reward my poor planning skills. Yay, me!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a lucky gal. My budget is so tight, I have little wiggle room for shopping. I put all of my money toward bills, debt, and more vet bills. I just get resourceful - I alter old clothes and make them new again, borrow from my friends' closets and make stuff from scratch. But on top of all that, I get amazing gifts from friends, family and companies who like my blog. I never forget that this is largely because of my amazing readers; you all have kept my blog going. This week was extra special, because I got an influx of new things and decided to wear them all at once...oops. Let me tell you about a few of my new goodies:

The jeans: I was invited to Tory Burch's boutique to style a look for her newly launched denim line. In return, I received this great pair of jeans! Please ignore my very temporary hem; I promise to give it a proper one. I was hesitant and only hemmed it a teeny tiny bit, but it needs more. These are the first pair of jeans I have ever gotten that needed to be hemmed. I usually have the opposite problem! I wear a 34" inseam - these are a 35. I applaud them for making jeans with a longer inseam, and for making these roomy enough for the behind. I hate when jeans flatten my bum.

The necklace: Lori Goldstein sent me this great necklace and I liked that it almost looked like a part of my shirt. Into the outfit it went! I'm trying to accessorize more. This is a tiny step, but today I went all out! I found my jewelry box - tucked in the back of a high shelf, which should tell you something - and decided I need to wear my jewelry more often.

The shoes: Oh, these shoes. Solestruck, one of my previous sponsors, sent me these amazing new shoes from Senso. I'm in love. I walked a little like Bambi at first, but I am going to wear these to death. They're actually pretty comfortable, but I'm still going to carry my flats in my bag for emergencies;)

Outfit Details:
sheer jacket thingy: Beacon's? Thrifted? I can't remember. I rolled and stitched the sleeves
vintage sequin blouse: Beacon's Closet
Coach Cambridge bag (still kitty scratched, but I love it anyway): courtesy of Coach
Super Skinny Saturated Jean - courtesy of Tory Burch
Crystal Swirl Necklace in Smoke - courtesy of LOGO by Lori Goldstein
Senso Tina shoes - courtesy of Solestruck

Love love,
Keiko Lynn

Young Hearts, Be Free Tonight

Outfit Details:
Foley + Corinna tunic - Gilt
fringe skirt - c/o Shop Mamie (early last year)
Senso Wilma shoes - c/o Solestruck
MAC clutch - c/o Rebecca Minkoffglasses - Ray-Ban  rings - Forever 21 and Beacon's Closetbracelet - Forever 21lipstick - Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Crush (c/o Urban Decay - see more in this post)

Last week, I had a lovely evening out with a bunch of my favorite girls - which doesn't happen nearly enough (let's remedy that). I grew up in a family full of girls but went through this stage in my youth where I decided I was just one of the boys. Why? Because teenage girls can be pretty cruel, and the boys always treated me like a little sister - or maybe even a little brother (I think everyone thought I was a lesbian, even my great grandma [she was cool with it]). I soon realized that not all girls are alike and the catty ones should be viewed as an exception to the rule - because really, most of us are not that stereotype. I still love my guy friends, but there's nothing like an evening out with the ladies. Here's to never having to decide whether you're a guys' gal or girls' girl!

You must be my lucky star

Outfit Details:
Tyler Moto Jacket - courtesy of Coach
tangle ballchain frame bag - borrowed from Coach
vintage slip - thrifted
80s necklace - from my mom's shop
socks and tights - Target
Senso Tina shoes - courtesy of Solestruck
skirt - self made


I'm inadvertently taking you through a tour of the decades this week, am I not? A little 70s, a glimpse of the 90s and now a brief stint in the 80s. Maybe not quite Madonna 80s, which is such a shame because that would have been another childhood dream achieved (along with the velvet acquisition). When I was a toddler, I used to go around singing "True luh, oh bay-beh, true luh, oh bay-beh" and even dressed as her for Halloween. I was a little too young and never quite cool enough to pull off the entire look; I had to settle for the more age appropriate Punky Brewster and Debbie Gibson. It's probably best that way; you can't touch the original. Plus, I learned so many important lessons from Punky, like how you should never hide in the fridge.

True story.




p.s. Don't forget to enter to win this bag - see the post below for more info!

Sunday morning is every day for all I care.

Outfit Details:
velvet jacket - Postlapsaria
black jersey dress (worn as top) - H&M
tuxedo jeans with lots of stretch (perfect for brunch;)) - courtesy of Jessica Simpson Collection
Senso shoes - courtesy of Solestruck
MAC clutch - courtesy of Rebecca Minkoffhat - thrifted? I've had it foreverleopard print scarf - thrifted


Sunday morning brunch is possibly one of my favorite things in the world. Breakfast food and good company = best combination. On this particular day, I asked Bobby what the weather was like (since he walked Miku). "Not too cold; it's actually really nice out." He told me I would be fine without a coat, in fact, because it was that nice out.

LIAR.

It was freezing and windy and I could have used not one but three or five coats. Luckily for me, the scarf I wore is approximately the size of a large blanket, so I wore it wrapped around me as such. Plus, Benchmark had lobster bisque. The moral of this story: Always check the temperature yourself and go to restaurants whose chefs understand the importance of hot soup on a cold day.

Unrelated, but I would like to apologize to all of the people with aversions to velvet (and I know there are many). I grew up in the 90s; velvet was practically a way of life. Nirvana lyrics fit all aspects of this post, so that worked out beautifully - a 90s miracle, if you will!





p.s. I made a small run of these velvet jackets for the site, and variants in other fabrics for Emerging Thoughts - just waiting to get my computer back!

Dress yourself up tonight

Outfit Details:
jacket - self made
dress - thrifted and altered sequin skirt
belt - from another dress
socks - Forever 21
tights - Walmart
Senso shoes - courtesy of Solestruck
Ginger Leather Satchel - courtesy of Coach
hat - thrifted years ago, or from my mom...I never remember


Want to know the level of my lameness? I recreated this outfit for the blog. I forgot to take pictures the day of the Coach party and only managed to get a couple of non-outfit photos from the party itself. When awesomeness happens and you forget to document, lameness follows. That means waking up Bobby and saying "Can you take a picture of my outfit from yesterday and then I'll get changed and we can go to the dog park?"

Normally, I wouldn't care about missing a day of outfit photos (I forget all the time) but I put a lot of work into this stupid outfit. I made the jacket and altered the skirt dress the day of the event. I was working on it until the last possible minute. The skirt was easy - I just replaced the elastic in the band and stitched up the slits, added a belt and it was a dress. The jacket, however...that took awhile. I made it from vintage peach crepe, gave it a couple of layered panels and trimmed it in black.

I hope I'll be able to borrow some photos from the event photographer and do a more in depth post but in the meantime, here is a sneak peek at my campaign photo:



Vanessa is unimpressed. Yeah right, she probably saved a space to hang it - right next to her cat calendar.




p.s. Consider these the after shots of my newly defined brows:)