Dancing cheek to cheek.

Today marks the second ballroom dance lesson we've taken together. I've taken dance before, where I learned to love the tango, but my Sweets is brand new to it (but doing just lovely)! My father and brother are professional musicians; my father is a guitarist, and my brother, a violinist and together they're going to play a little snip from Carmen. I am so excited-- this, to me is the most romantic component of a wedding. Below is a clip from The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle that truly solidified my desire to tango:

That dress! So irrepressibly 1930's (as is the popularity of the Tango, and the theme of the wedding). And Fred's cummerbund! Can those please come back into style?

A chill's rushed in, and with it, my debut of The Leather Jacket, a fortuitous find at Marshall's for $19.99. Now, being leather and being $19.99, you might think it's a piece of PVC garbage (which I would think, too) but it is soft and pliable and chestnutty brown and smells nice, too. In fact, I consider it lucky-- I smashed the opposing foosball team 10-3 in it.

Cackling a victory cackle in Bomber: Marshall's. Blue Oxford: Target. Jeans: NY&Co. Flats: Etienne Aigner. Photo by Wanda_Petunia.

Tomorrow I get the keys to our new place, and I'm thinking I may as well drop on by with a few cans of paint and roll up my sleeves before we get all of the furniture in.

Yours,

Elissa.

All you gotta do is Mask.

Prepare to freak out, because I am. On a random stroll through Etsy-land, I found these sexy, delicate and bizarre leather masks by Tom Banwell.

First up, this black bird mask. I wish I lived a more macabre reality, so I could whip this one out on my moonlight strolls to the abandoned insane asylum.



So incredibly beautiful, whether you'd like to go as a tree for Halloween, or King Midas. Bonus? I think this Maple Leaf Mask could make a very lovely fascinator if tilted up a bit.


Hearts can be so corny, can't they? But I'm attracted to the idea of going as a rather racy Queen of Hearts in the Cut-Out Hearts Mask. Or, you know what? People of Columbus, I'm grabbing this mask and throwing one hell of a Valentine's party. You've been warned. And Invited.



But my ultimate favorite is this Unicorn Mask. Not only does it match the Unicorn Heels I'm wearing for my Halloween wedding, but it also negates the need to change out of the dress-- I mean, when will I ever get to wear it again?


Get a load of those eyelashes! Ooh lala!

Yours,

Elissa.

Rain.

Still raining, ya'lls. It's making me itch to have you listen to this...



I love the sparks-as-rain, and Tina is hotness as usual.

Enjoy,

Elissa.

What you should really be doing.

It never fails; as soon as August fades, the 70-degree, drizzly days begin. Thankfully not heavy enough to alter one's outfit plans or keep you inside, but enough to flatten even the most robust of hairdo's.

Scarf: Anthropologie. Vest: Thrifted. Dress: Banana Republic. Frye boots: vintage. Umbrella: broken!

The scarf is from Anthropologie and is a lesson in wearing one's colors... everytime I break it out my sweetay asks if I've put makeup on. The boots are vintage Fryes and I actually got them for free from another girl who wanted to trade me for a pair of grey, heeled Dingo boots that I had. I walked away from that trade chuckling evilly.

Speaking of vintage, I went to an interview today and-- during the course of discussing my employment history, mentioned lots of vintage (square peg, square hole). This job had nothing to do with vintage, but something to do with clothes, and in the middle of my story about a rabbit fur coat, they said to me, "Now that's what you should really be doing. Why aren't you doing that?" Touche', ladies. I don't know. I am a bit set on the "have some conventional work experience before you entrepreneurialize" thing. Also, 2009 is not the year for new ventures, if ya know what I'm sayin'! I think you do.

I did enjoy having my Etsy store, but had to "put it on hiatus" due to my move to a place with less storage. But next week I'm moving to a place that has more. We'll see... I get the feeling that the vintage climate is not especially friendly at this moment, as though people are less interested and buying less.

What do you think? Are you as into vintage clothing as you were, let's say-- a year ago? When you do buy clothes, are you thinking more about long-term, quality new pieces, or are you just as interested in getting a piece of vintage clothing?

Mulling it over,

Elissa.

My friends are the best...

I just got this in the mail from my friends... and I can't wait! On the "menu" of activities there includes "ziplining, horseback-riding, hot-tubbing, boozing". Oh. My. G-d.

My dad expressed concern about us ladies being alone in the woods, to which I replied that we already had a rather repellant banner made up to hang, swag-style across the front of the cabin: Vagina Dentata Sufferers' Convention.

Takin' a bite outta crime!!

Yours,

Elissa.

Sexy Old Car Magnets.

I'm managing to keep much busier than I anticipated... our move is next week, there's still ton of wedding stuff that needs taken care of and today was an interview day. Here's the outfit that carried me through it all.

Blazer: thrifted. Flannel: Forever 21. Leggings: Newport News. Boots: Jeffrey Campbell.

As you can tell from my pose, I smacked that interview DOWN. I go back for another this Friday.

I also banged out the rest of my art project. After growing weary of the "cigarette" concept, I felt stymied. What could I make in less than a week that would be the greatest art thing ever vended from a cigarette machine, ever!?!? After rejecting this failure-inducing aspiration, I settled on just doing something I liked. No pithy message, no ground-breaking composition, no minds blown. Instead, I decided to use a series of photos I'd taken at a classic car show. For those who don't know, I love classic cars... and I decided that that makes them good enough to stick in a box and share with somebody else.


I gave my ten favorite images the Photoshop treatment, then printed them out all tiny-small and put them in a plastic, magnetic frame. The organizers provided box templates. I put my business card on the front, and a message on the back (the official name of this series is "Sexy Old Car Magnets").


Then I cut them out and folded them into boxy realization. The Sexy Old Car Magnets were wrapped in hot pink or gold tissue paper and stuffed inside, awaiting their new life as fridge-borne captors of grocery receipts or children's artwork.


And here, the finished result, all boxed up and ready to be put inside a cigarette vending machine. Stella, the odd-eyed cat, was loving the smell of the ModPodge I used to hold the boxes together.


Although I didn't go with the original concept, I did want to thank all of my Twitter followers for offering me their blurbs. A drawing was had, and the Twitterite known as 10bagspacking gets the $20 prize. Thanks for being such a big help!

Yours,

Elissa.

Restoration

image via Superstock.com

This weekend was a much-needed dose of "aw, hell yes". Ten of us went to the rural-est town in creation and shacked up in a cabin. We found a Jenga set, and wrote "truths" or "dares" on the blocks, to be completed upon pulling. Lots of oil-eating and mooning ensued. The cookin'-est one of us made hot apple-rum cider, which we took on a midnight hike through the woods to visit an 18th century cemetery. We stayed up til 5 making music, playing pranks and watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We ate at the most amazing diner, visited The Serpent Mound, and (some of us) got haircuts. I stopped by afterward to visit with the family for dinner and dog-wrangling. Then, my sweets introduced me to The Easy Star All-Stars on our drive back home, and I literally got chills from their rendition of "Paranoid Android", which you'll love even if you don't much care for reggae:






Enjoy!,

Elissa.

Chaser

Let's have a little Peter Som chaser, shall we? I'm loving his newest pattern-mixing, hair-scarfing, complex-colorwaying collection.


I love the big, structured bows on the fronts of skirts and dresses. And, even as a hot-pants eschewer, I love the way he styled them with boxy jackets and loads of necklaces.


I can never resist anything ballet-inspired, and judging by the sweet, puffy skirts that could almost be shorts, I get the feeling that culottes may come around the bend in the next couple of seasons...


I love the mixing of the muted, lighter shades in the top and skirt with the flashes of bright cobalt blue.


Now this is how round-framed sunglasses should be done. Very "check out my flying machine".


The most perfect shade of teal! I love all of these heavy 1960's-style brocades and jacquards and what-nots.

Thanks, everybody for your comments on my last post. I'm lucky to have so very many kind-hearted readers.

Yours,

Elissa.

[images via Style.com]

Home and Away.

When it rains it pours, no? We finally decided to leave our "dream apartment", where if "The Money Pit" is art, then life is imitating it. Thankfully, my talent with letter-writing is such that we're not only getting our deposit back but we get October's rent free. We just found a little Arts & Crafts style house all to itself... and while living in a house is an unfamiliar step up, it seems apropos to start married life (6 weeks and counting til zero hour!) in one.

Blouse: Thrifted. Scarf: Thrifted. Jeans: NY&Co. Shoes: Simple.

The last few days I've spent in my hometown visiting with my Mom in the hospital. The breast cancer has become lung cancer, stage IV-style. In a phrase, no bueno. I'm distracting myself with my job-hunt, mulling paint colors and launching myself back into my little project which no longer has to do with cigarettes. I can't stand to think about them right now. Even though the whole "cigarette" thing was mostly to do with the cigarette boxes the art is to be packaged in (see, the concept is unified!), I really can't take it right now.



I'm going for something lighter, no pun intended.

Yours,

Elissa.

Hot tips!

For all of you wondering what's next in scarves, I dug up this Youtube clip that makes me desire a scarf clip like never before.



Stay glamorous!,

Elissa.

Contest! OR, how tweeting can earn you $20.

image via FashionIndie

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been invited to be part of this art thing; but I have only 4 days to put it together. I know what I want to do, but I NEED YOUR HELP!-- and there's $20 in it for you if you win!

These people bought a cigarette vending machine, and they're inviting artists to make tiny works of art that fit inside cigarette boxes so that people can vend art! I'm doing a series of 10 photographs on smoking.

Here's where you come in:

I'm asking a series of questions about smoking on Twitter. You don't have to smoke to play. You just have to have an opinion! I will then put the Q&A tweets on the back of each corresponding photo, so that whomever gets my box will see how Twitter influenced my photos.

So... follow me on Twitter, and start looking for my questions! I've already posted 2, it's never to late to join in!

To get entered to win the $20, all you need to do is:

tweet @spandexpony your replies to my questions.
RT @spandexpony for an extra entry and so that all your friends can chime in, too! Leave a comment on this post with a link to your RT.
Mention this contest on your blog for 2 extra entries, then leave a comment on this post.

The contest ends at Midnight EST, September 14th, 2009. A winner will be drawn and will receive $20 via Paypal!

So let's do the damn thing!

Yours,

Elissa.

Nomads, the two of us.

We're looking at apartments again... gawwwwdddd... turns out our lovely apartment is suffering from years of neglect resulting in ceilings that pour when it rains, mold, crumbling floorboards... it's so sad to see a beautiful historic building die like this, but the owners of the property supposedly "don't have the money" to fix it. Rriiighht. We are trying to stay in the same neighborhood. One of my favorite features is this book store with this lovely garden out front:

Sweater: thrifted. Shoes: thrifted. Jeans: NY&Co. Belt: thrifted.

You won't get books here cheap, but people in the neighborhood have a lot of pride in their little shop so I find myself buying books here quite often.



I looked at an apartment today whose front porch was completely caved in (definitely not an "amenity" listed on their Craigslist ad). What the hell is going on??? Take care of your stuff! The other one was nice enough but, but I walked through while the couple living there was around, so I didn't get much of a chance to explore, and I was off-put by the landlord's "So... yawannagetit? Wannagetit? Wannagetit?" attitude.


On the upside, I've been invited to participate in an art project around town... I have 4 days to produce 10 pieces. Gulp. It can be anything, as long as it fits inside a cigarette box (as in, a pack of cigarettes). But first, I need your help! I'm going to be posting a series of questions to my followers on Twitter. I will incorporate your answers into my art project! In the meantime, what would you make and put in my cigarette box???

Thanks for your help!

Elissa.

Come on down to my creepy abasement, I've got candy...

I've always been a big believer in the phrase "pride goeth before a fall" (I also subscribe to its opposite, "Lack of dignity leadeth to public pajama wearing".) Therefore, it could only be so, that every time I try to photograph myself in the below-pictured skirt, something goes wrong with the execution. You see, I've developed a tiny, tingling urge to become ModCloth's Blogger of the Moment-- a lovely lass posts photos of themselves in ModCloth garb, emails them a link to that post as proof, and somebody mulls it over a bag of Veggie Booty and comes up with a winner.

I wonder if it's the expectation of reward that jeopardizes my portraitry-- as you can see:

And too bad! It was a rather successful outfit that day. Blouse (actually a dress): vintage, thrifted. Skirt: Modcloth's Paddington Skirt. Shoes: JC Penney. Bag: thrifted. Jewelz: thrifted.

In the words of Steve Albini vis a vis his experience producing Bush's album Razorblade Suitcase, "You can't polish a turd." I've sincerely tried, but I do feel rather like I'm entering a half-breed into the AKC Show.

Diffidence goeth before a solid begging, so here goes: Modcloth, I love this skirt! Can I get some love for my Photoshop finesse?? I mean, it's all tape-y and vintage-y and err-thang! The goldendoodle has bows in its hair for chrissakes!


Not sure if I can properly enjoy anything that comes out of abasing myself, but-- hey, try something new every day, right? We'll see what happens...

Speaking of seeing what happens, Grizzly Bear's video for their beautiful driving-through-the-woods song "Two Weeks" is the ultimate experiment in delayed gratification:



Getting a little grizzly myself,

Elissa.

Hot-cha!

Hope you all are enjoying the long weekend... trust that I used mine to great effect. Every first Saturday of the month is Columbus' Gallery Hop. And, while the grizzled of us will moan and groan about it, eventually we get out there and have a helluva good time.

Here, I fawn over a 1953 Buick in a hat: Urban Outfitters. Scarf: Valvoline. Tank: Target. Belt: Thrift. Skirt: NY&Co. Shoes: MIA.

We also went on a tour of the city's oldest cemetery. At the end of the tour, the guide announced that there is a photo contest going on; one of 12 winners get their photo into their widely-collected calender... so I expect you may be seeing the Greenlawn Cemetery for yourselves, here, pretty soon! That, plus a wedding dress fitting, a party and a marathon snooze-fest have made for a pretty excellent 3 days. Here, the song that's been stuck in my head:

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream


Have a great week,

Elissa.

Blue-muu.

Photo via Pbase.

Orange is hands-down my favorite color, and probably my most-worn color as well. Strange that its complement has never been! The nineties and early 2000's were beset with washed out, grayed and powdered blues that always looked bad on me. Since discovering the land of teal and honey, I can't resist the way that certain blues and greens evoke Greece, or better yet... Florida.

Dress: thrifted. Shoes: nine west. Jacket: thrifted.

There's also no funner way to evoke Floridian-ness than by donning a dip-dye muumuu that gets some shape from super-high heels and a cropped denim jacket. Swish! Hide!

Photo by romadden84.

Photo via designrelated.

Photo by nica*



Photo by romadden84.

Now I'm feeling inspired to paint my office/aka blog-den some bright, retro-beachy color so I can hang onto that summer feeling come fall.

Yours,

Elissa.

P.S.-- Speaking of something blue, have you checked out Tulle Box yet?

Helmet Lang.

Today I broke down and finally bought a bike helmet. Long-fearing drawing comparison to Calvin's dad, I simply told myself that my fixed-gear cuz-it's-actually-broken mountain bike couldn't go fast enough to warrant wearing one.

Shirt: Gap, same as here. Shorts: Cut-off Levis. Shoes: thrifted. Jewelry: All thrifted. There's also a belt that you can't see but has a black, white and red Nordic woven pattern on it. Lurvely.

But a few weeks ago, my future pa-in-law got in a serious accident that would've been ten times so had he not been wearing a helmet. Lesson learned. Also, eventually, I'd like to be going faster. I got a road bike off Craigslist that has yet to be debuted, all because of my reluctance to helmetize.


I went to the bike shop today after much procrastination at the antique store next door browsing the rings. Like carbo-loading before a marathon, I took in as much camphor glass/baguette rhinestone/ cabachon delight as I could before I had to perjure my head with a frickin' helmet. But, it is as cool as could possibly be expected... it kinda looks like Speed Racer's. But I'm not taking any pictures of it quite yet.

I love this little part of the park across my street. The Umbrella Girl always looks so disconnected.

Speaking of photographs, I've lately been extra-endeavoring to improve upon mine. I really badly want to take the next step up in cameras and finally get a DSLR. I mentioned this to someone who has read this blog, and they said, "Yeah, but why spend the money? You're not really a photographer."

Well, right-- I don't earn a living taking photos. I don't see myself buying a light umbrella any time soon. And I definitely am not some kind of diamond-in-the-rough photo genius. But I certainly do take more photos per day than the average person (even that person), and I enjoy it! Getting better equipment is the next step to getting better at something I enjoy.


Not trying because you'll never be the best is just a way to rob yourself of joy. You don't have to be the best at something-- or even great at something to make pursuing it worthwhile. But you can always get better, and improving is something you can always feel good about. Unless you're getting better at robbing old ladies, or upper-decking your best friend's toilet.

Speaking of upper-decking, do you smell that? Yes! The sweet-stench of a winner is in our midst!

Will Entrant #11, aka "Damsels" please step up? You're the lucky winner of the Dr. Perricone Acai Berry Supplement drawing! Congratulations! Just email your mailing address to spandexpony@gmail.com and I'll get you all set up!

Thanks to all who entered-- your suggestions were fantastic!

Yours,

Elissa.

Clothes Made Man

If anyone's looking for an opportunity in fashion design, it's men's big and tall. I went with my sweets today to adjust his wardrobe, and, let's just say it was a rather painful experience for him (as he says it always is). Nearly every pair of pants is pleated and tapered, the dressing rooms are carelessly designed (no hooks, no shelves); the selection, sorely lacking; and the sales people, indignant. One salesman actually told us that if my sweets would wear his pants at his waist like he's "supposed to", then pleats would actually flatter. I expected him to follow this statement with "...NOT!", but he didn't and we left the store.

Blazer: thrifted. Tank: Target. Jeans: Gap. Shoes: Vintage, thrifted.

Speaking of things not fitting right, let's talk about jeans. Hardly wear 'em. Typically I favor the skinnies as I feel they're lengthening to my just-shy-of-petite frame, but occasionally I bust out a wider-cut-- the man finds 'em flattering. And, this pair happens to be one of the very few I've encountered in life that are neither too low, too incredibly long or too waist-pinchy, some of the reasons why I typically avoid pants and go for the skirts.

Necklaces: gift from Granny.

These are two of my favorite necklaces. When my granny left her home for an assisted living facility, she sent me a package full of jewelry. The keys are in regular rotation, and the camel is one of my all-time favorites. I accidentally left it on while swimming at Coney Island once and when I sat back down on the beach, discovered that the salty ocean water had completely scrubbed my camel clean. As you can see, it's since regained its patina.

Bag: thrifted.

This is one of my favorite bags, thrifted for me by Sweets. As you can see, the man has extraordinary taste. Speaking of him (in a roundabout kind of way...)

They came!!!


The shoes I was dying to wear for my lil wedding arrived today! Hooray!!! Previously sold out all over the internets, I decided to follow every single shoe-seller on Twitter for news of restocking. Solestruck made the announcement first and I pounced on it like a tweaked out teen on a fresh can of butane. Raw.

And while we're on the topic of things that are fresh, raw, and possibly addictive, I've started a brand new blog called "Tulle Box". It's wedding-themed, filled with inspiration and great, sparkly finds. It's just a wee babeh now, but I'll be dressing it up with its own little header and sidebar goodies in the coming days.

With bells on,

Elissa.

P.S.!

Have you entered the contest??? There's one more day left to enter and win a 30-day supply of Dr. Perricone's Acai Berry supplement. After a couple of weeks of drinking it daily-- and in concert with near-complete removal of all white carbs from my diet, I have to say that I definitely feel better and more in control. Loading up on protein definitely keeps the hunger swings at bay. Can't say that I've lost weight necessarily, but I notice that my skin has a bit more clarity, probably because I'm eating a lot more fish and walnuts. Om nom.