Tuesday, December 11, 2012

15 minutes of Sartorial Fame

As I raced to my room after dinner, 20 minutes before The Sartorialist was scheduled to speak, my mind jumped to what I could throw on that wouldn't be completely socially unacceptable to wear to a talk by a well known fashion blogger and photographer. I settled for swapping my layers of polar fleece for my latest vintage thrifted piece; a black silk, sequined and beaded top which I paired with the bottoms I was already wearing, my dark green military pants tucked into black bogs (rain...). In case I felt totally ridiculous, I slipped on my shamrock green pea coat that I could hide under.

Chatting with a friend and fellow Sartorialist fan on the way over to his talk, I remembered his more recent posts about peacoats and day sequins (though, as my friend reminded me, it was no longer daytime) and felt more confident in my fashion choices. And honestly, when am I not thinking about day sequins and peacoats.

I have to say, I really enjoyed his talk. It was so interesting to hear about his process (or sometimes lack of process) of shooting people and what he aims to achieve in his photos. He said he doesn't travel or shoot people to report on upcoming trends, but essentially he tries to capture images of an individual's style. I could appreciate his great attention to detail as he described a recent shot of a student who drew him in at the Art Institute of Chicago, from her energy down to the slight shimmer of her makeup.

The people-watching at the event was almost as great as Scott's talk. It was so wonderful to see the range of people and styles that his blog appeals to, from a nearly shirtless flamboyant man in a white furry vest, to chic women in little black dresses, to that one girl I had talked to a million times and never heard express an interest in clothing who stood in line to get her book signed in cutoff shorts and lime green shutter-shades. 

With a great lecture, and nearly equally as fabulous people-watching, how could my experience possibly have gotten better, you ask? Scott Schuman instagrammed me (or rather my beautifully knit mittens by my lovely mother). Holla! 1643 likes and counting.

check it out for yourself: http://instagram.com/p/TG59G-lANi/


-An adorable student at Wellesley

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Dating (Procrastination) Efforts

As the semester nears its end and the holiday season grows closer many of us find ourselves yearning for companionship, or perhaps looking for new and creative ways to put off our obscene amounts of work for the last two weeks of the semester.

The other night I went speed dating for the first time. I went with zero expectations which was smart because it was a hot mess. While the room where it was being held was full, the general population was severely lacking in Y chromosomes. I ended up going on a few "dates" with close friends and classmates who did not identify with the gender that I was hoping to meet. I also met some really weird guys. There was one guy who I thought was kind of attractive and we had a fairly normal conversation (as normal as two people can have in a loud, cramped space, with a two minute time limit). I would definitely go on a date with him but won't find out if he was also interested until I receive an email with the contact information of people who I approved and approved me (which I know I will get because my friends and I all checked each other).

I also met a pretty cool kid, not interested in dating him, but interested in being his friend. A fellow foodie from the area, into being active, and knowledge of good food in the area.

And tonight I created an online dating profile with a dating website for college students. I actually filled out my profile this time and put a picture where I'm not wearing my sunglasses.

We'll see if either of these actions go anywhere, but for the meantime they have/had a great humor factor. And if anything were to happen it would have to wait until I return to school for the spring semester because I have so much work to do in the next two weeks!!!!!!!!!

Any good speed dating or online dating stories or profiles to share? I'll leave you all with a nerdy pickup line I read on someone's profile: What's your sine? It must be pi/2 because you're the one. <-- math humor

Sunday, November 25, 2012

We Give Thanks for H-Rod

This week as my sister and I dressed for Thanksgiving dinner with somewhat distant relatives (2nd cousins, with a possible removal), NPR in the background, we gave thanks for H-Rod, or rather Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was mentioned in all of the articles, and announcements we heard about the ceasefire on the Gaza strip and surrounding area and showed up in many photos on the agreement.

At 3PM we gathered around a long thanksgiving table, positioned on the diagonal to accommodate for the numerous distant family members gathered at my father's cousin's house. We enjoyed the return of the green beans and pomegranate seeds, as well as the traditional turkey and a few other goodies.


That evening we gave thanks for Ben Affleck as we joined other happy families and friends at the local movie theatre for a viewing of Argo. In addition to prolonged periods of intensity (i.e. most of the movie) and a creative escape from a volatile political situation, there was some great 1979 facial hair in that film.

Happy Sunday!


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Election Map: Can't Handle the Excitement

Here's the map I'm currently watching. It automatically refreshes every 30 seconds. I actually can't handle the excitement: http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results

Maybe I would be able to handle it better if I wasn't trying to study for a physics exam and write a genetics lab paper... My professors obviously don't think I should be aware of the goings on in our country. Or maybe they thought I would already be done with my work...

Exercise your right to vote!

I wasn't planning on posting about the election but when this showed up as an ad on Pandora, I couldn't resist.

But actually, please vote! Only a few more hours left!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sartorialist Favorites

Just a few seconds ago, as I was snuggled under the flannel sheets of my TwinXL holed up in my cozy little dorm room  in anticipation of the arrival of hurricane Sandy, I stumbled upon one of my favorite Sartorialist photographs and figured it was about time I posted about The Sartorialist.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Scott Schuman's blog, The Sartorialist, you can read his biography here. All you really need to know is that he obviously has a nice camera, and takes pictures of cool people in exciting places.

When I originally downloaded this image on my computer, I labeled it as"sparkles, different textures, braids and ballerina skirt."

In more detail, here's what I love about the her outfit:
I love her textured crew-neck sweater because it's, like, really interesting texture, you know? Zig-zags, stripes, other patterns that I'm sure a knitter would better be able to define. I'm also a huge fan of dance clothes in and outside the studio so I love the pairing with this tulle skirt; the length of it helps make it more day-to-day wearable (as opposed to a teensy short tutu).  The white (and pink? is her skirt pinkish?)color scheme really allows her to standout among the grey and black background of the car and motorcycle. Those sunglasses just make her look really cool and that messy french-braid adds an air of "This cool look is so natural for me" as well as adding an interesting complexity to her hair, like the patterns in her sweater. Her blue bracelet provides a nice pop of color, as do her lips (is that weird that I think that?). Do you think she's wearing a tinted lip-balm, gloss, or lipstick of some sort?

I think the rhinestones on her shoes are cool but the rest of her look is more exciting to me. 

Thoughts? Anyone love her look as much as I do?

Here's a link to the original post where you can read other people's comments on the outfit, and procrastinate the work that you should really be doing by looking through the archives or "Random Posts."

Stay safe, Frankenstorm is on the prowl!

P.S. I'm still sitting in my bed.