Chugging Along

I can promise you that I will never get myself on a permanent schedule. It is what it is, but at least I won't lie and say "I'll be better" or "I promise I will always post on...", so I think I deserve some credit for that. And in that vein I sit before my computer at five till eleven on Friday night drinking a glass of red wine and presenting you with an inspiration board.

It's bright, it's frilly, it's the circus! Fantastic timing since I've been looking at a bunch of House of Worth gowns from the late 1800's to the early 1900's and they have the same kind of whimsical feeling to them. Also, every time I look at this board I remember that the bride wants to put the groom in tails and then I think of is the ring leader. BRILLIANT!

Me MIA?

Yeah that happens a lot doesn't it. Whatever, I'm here now. By the way, so is fall. It was like the weather decided it wasn't going to gradually change with the seasons, but instead did a strange cartoon bit of going straight from one to the next. Next thing you know all the changing leaves will just drop off in a heap. Just like that. Oh well. I'm excited for the cooler weather, lord only knows my wardrobe tends to be more tailored to it.

But enough about the amazingness that is fall, you all want pictures and inspiration boards. So today I give you STEAMPUNK:

I don't know what it is that makes it so right for fall, but it might have something to do with the rustic nostalgia that is attached to it.

Have a good week everyone!

So The Scanner...

Yes it deserves to be capitalized, it has become an entity of of great villiany in my life. That is to say it is still having problems. I know how to fix it, thankfully, but in the end I have decided that I 'm going to wait on posting the actual designs I did, and instead post those all together at the end.

So for my next board I was able to find pictures from an actual chemistry themed wedding, which I know will tickle my friend's fancy (she loves chemistry - her dream kitchen would be a chemistry lab). On my end this should be interesting because it has no actual dresses as reference. I have a few details in mind from some dresses, but nothing substantial. So here we go:

I personally am a big fan of the candy table with all the periodic elements as labels. Enjoy!

I'm not dead?

I thought I was, Lord only knows my life is monotonous enough to make my a zombie. But then the clouds parted and the sun came out in the form of my friend getting engaged and then coming to see me. Ladies and gentle men, boys and girls, if you are ever in a depressive funk go hang out with friends and take a mini vacation and suddenly the world becomes a little brighter.

Because I saw my friend and asked her about her wedding I have been inspired enough to do something. You see, she knows nothing and told me to come up with ideas for her... for  her wedding. So, yeah. For the next couple of posts how ever many they may be will be full of ideas, inspiration boards and dress sketches for my friend for her wedding.

So without further ado, here is the first concept: Starry Night

This board was actually created by Snippet & Ink with the inspiration of a Constellation Wedding fueling it. Once I saw it, it made me think of my friend's love of architecture and cathedrals that have star covered ceilings, so I came up with this:

By next week I hope to show everyone at least one dress design using this board as inspiration. Wish me luck!

Long time no blog

But I'm sure that is rather preferable since I haven't done much. And since I neither enjoy reading, nor writing filler posts, I find it better to wait. Interesting things: I don't know if anyone that reads this blog remembers, I'm one of my sister's maids of honor (yes there's two, me and my baby sis) and as such, I am helping set up the bachlorette party. Not much to tell at the moment except that I created the invites and sent them out on Monday. I am rather proud of these beauties!

Yes it's blank, but you all don't need to know details! That's a surprise...

Also, every so often I enjoy attempting to feed myself real and interesting food. Oh, the horror stories my family could tell you. This time however, I actually made something to be proud of. After a little internet research (I bow at the alter of Google...) I was able to figure out how to bake bacon wrapped scallops. Now anyone who has ever tried to cook any seafood knows, it can either really good or really disastrous. Thankfully mine was the former. Personally, if anyone wants to try this amazingness, I would suggest looking at different recipes and figuring out what works best depending on what equipment and ingredients you have on hand. 

 I was even classy and had some white wine (Chardonnay to be exact) with my dinner. Also, it may look small, but boy does it fill you up.

Things to do

So when you find yourself doing nothing due to having your shift called off two days in a row you tend to get things that you've been putting off done. In this case it would be cleaning/organizing my new room (no where near don, but it's getting there), updating this blog, and trying to find the best place to sell my old text books. And when procrastinating I do things like cut my bangs (once again I did them a tad short, as has been my affliction since I could hold a pair of safety scissors in preschool) and come up with a theme board for my older sister's bachelorette party. Since I'm one of the two maids of honour (my baby sister is the other) I kind of have to help plan and throw it. Should be fun, terrifying, and interesting all at once. Thankfully my sister (the bride) has some guild lines for the whole thing. Also, she originally wanted something very Kate Spade for her wedding, but toned it down for the groom. So the wedding colors are emerald, gold, black and cream: lovely. The bacholorette colors? Kelley green, lemon yellow, black and white. I love it when things are easily transformed. Thankfully my summer classes are now done so all I'm focused on is work until September - let's just hope I don't get too many more called off shifts before then!

It's gunna be awesome!

It's the week before finals, and all through the house...

every creature is stirring, and it looks like a bomb went off. But that's what happens when you are doing things like final projects and trying to move out all at once.Great fun. But i didn't come here to talk about my life; I came to talk about the couple of the moment. Yes my analysis of Kate & Will's wedding is a little late in comparison to others, but I wanted to do some digging.
Now the reason for the digging is that I loved the dress, but my teacher from my product evaluation class hated it. He felt it was too plain, had no fashion forward originality, and don't even get him started on the "shroud like veil". His words not mine. Now granted, for the CATHEDRAL setting, the train was a bit of a let down. While I absolutely abhor Princess Diana's wedding dress (she was 18 and it was the 80's, so we'll let it slide), she at least understood that for the setting, you need a bit of theatrics.
As for the dress being overly conservative (everyone thought she'd go strapless), I gotta say, it was appropriate. If someone can tell me of a royal bride that wore a strapless gown within the past 50 years I'd be impressed. Unless you are doing a summer wedding, most people really shouldn't do strapless. Also, if you pay attention, more and more brides are going retro, and/or simplistic, and that often includes sleeves. Icing to the cake? There are many churches out there that ask the bride to be covered up for modesty reasons. Not all, but many.
Another reason Kate's choice of long sleeves was a good call: it's been kind of cold. Now granted the weather in England is probably a bit different than Chicago, but I'm sure she was preparing for whatever was thrown her way. Besides, that deep sweetheart neckline looked pretty sexy on her. Kinda nice to have curve, huh?!

Again, could probably use a bit more of a theatrical flare, but considering both the dress and the venue were all about simplicity (Trees in the cathedral? Yes please!), it was appropriate. She looked stunning, and like a fairy tale princess.

Remember how I said brides are going simplistic? Here is Princess Victoria of Sweden who was married on June 19th last year. Simple, modest, short sleeved. That's the way it works. Heck, one could say Kate's was more playful due to having a lace overlay.

And the main inspiration for the dress (as far as the world can see)? Grace Kelly. But hey, who isn't inspired by this dress. It's elegant, timeless, and both simplistic and done up all at once. Grace looks more conservative than Kate did though, so that says something about Kate being a modern woman, right?

I'm inclined to believe that Princess Margret's dress might have also been an inspiration for Kate's dress. Tight sleeves, a deep V-neck overlay and a shorter train. It's stunning, regal, and not over the top. And that is the problem with America today. When we think "Princess" we think "over the top and covered in shiny things" or "sexy conservative" (low necklines with ball gown silhouettes), when in reality a princess is a woman who can do over the top with a classy sense of RESTRAINT. Maybe it's not as fun of gasp inducing as some of the wedding dresses out there today, but that's what happens when you represent something. If I was to walk into a board meeting somewhere in a mini-skirt and a leather jacket, it would be considered so inappropriate that I would probably be fired on the spot. So to is the way of royalty. If Kate had shown up in a sleeveless ensemble or something tight fitting, I predict there would be such a ruckus made about the inappropriateness of the dress, she'd never live it down.

All in all though, the big thing is that during the entire event William and Kate looked happy. Happy about the fact that they were married and that they'd get to spend the rest of their lives together. As someone wrote it was "the day we began to believe in fairy tales again".

Although I must say, the best dressed the entire day was actually Prince Harry:

Now that's a man in uniform!

No I didn't forget you...

I just blatantly ignored you for two weeks. That's what happens when you have midterms followed by spring break. I know someone out there is saying "Boo hoo! I hold a full-time job, go to school, blah blah blah ..." trust me, I know. But I'm just not as talented as you. And before you point out that I could have written during spring break, I'm going to point out that I was busy sleeping. I admit it, I was guilty of the deadly sin known as sloth. I regret nothing!! There is just a point in your life when after a week of going day to day with three hours of sleep and an addiction to coffee requires you to recuperate with LOTS of sleep. That first night I think I got over 12 hours it...!


Moving along...
I can honestly say I was on a picture collecting kick during my time off. At first glance one would believe they have no relation due to color schemes, but then you give key words and it all makes sense: weddings (my sis is getting married), Disney princess, Lolita... Overly girly things trending in my picture folders? You bet ya! But I'm picky. I can't just like the picture, I have to love it. Whether due to the details that are shown, the movement of the subject, the composition, doesn't matter. If I'm going to bog down my computer's memory, I need to do it for justifiable reasons. Here are some of the best justifications:

This is the image I always get in my head whenever I listen to Michale Buble's Moondance.

Makes you wanna have a Disney Princess moment, huh?!

I would like these NOW, please and thank you.

Love this look!

OMG! The rich jewel tones are making me swoon!

Believe it or not, this is kind of what I look like. Not the bangs though. Haven't had any that thick since the sixth grade. Kind of want them back now...

One question before I end this post: Socks and heels? I'm wearing them today and I've had two responses so far. Two people have complimented me and my older sis told me I looked like an immigrant (German or Polish, you take your pick). I think there's a certain whimsy that goes with it. What do you think?