Takin' it Caj

Today's outfit solicited a compliment from not 1 but 2 mens, a rarity I'm sure in any girl's world. My fiance thinks that this is what I ought to be wearing to interviews, because the color and fit of the jeans gives them a more formal air. However, I still firmly believe that jeans at an interview will get you a swift "we'll call you". What do you think??

Blazer: thrifted. Shirt: F21. Jeans: Cheap Monday. Oxfords: thrifted.

The next few days are going to be filled with wedding-craft doing. I'm wrapping some pens with silver thread and topping them with white feathers (sounds a lot more Girl Scouts than it looks!), then it's on to creating the guest favors. Pictures to follow, I swear, but I don't want to spoil it... Speaking of "spoiling" and weddings, I've been thinking about what to do on here for the two weeks we'll be gone on the honeymoon-- we're going on a drive up the Pacific Coast!

Orange is my favorite color, and I love these earrings from World Market, esp. in concert with blue and khaki.

In other words, I want very much to not let the blogging go dry, but the thought of constantly tweeting and uploading photos throughout the trip seems neurotic to me. But I do want to prepare something special for all of you...

The shoes, oh, the shoes.... thrifted. I love anything woven and leather, and especially with cute little ties! Ivory to me seems very fresh for fall right now, as well.

I'm in love with "Secrets of a Happy Marriage" series that guest writers did for Cup of Jo while writer Joanna was off on her honeymoon. We'll see! We'll see... I've got a couple of ideas on the burners here.

Yours,

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.

Whatever happened to Saturday night?

Today, my sweets and I looked at eachother and said, "Well, what'll it be? I work out, you work out, we cook something and then we...ahh... zzzz....." So, rather abruptly, we decided to drop everything and run to the nearest amusement park. And at 70 degrees and breezy, it couldn't have been a better day.

Feelin' the groove with my backup skeleton choir. Jacket: thrifted. Dress: Urban Outfitters. Tank: Express. Boots: Urban Outfitters.

After, we checked out my friends' band, the Wet Darlings and had an all-around fun-ass time, listening to good music, drinking drinks (I endorse the vodka & soda with a lemon), dancing dances (I've been studying up on my Ciara moves). It's been awhile but I present to you one of my favorite songs about nights out.



Learning dances, brand new dances,


Elissa.

Workly woes.

Ai chihuahua! It's been a long time since I've been hornswaggled by computers, nonetheless Macs, but today seems to be the day for it. I'm trying to edit a video and between software, hardware and all of the other issues, the going is suh-low.

Luckily, my ensemble seems to be working. The jacket is a Forever 21 creation and it is one of my favorite pieces that I've had in awhile.

Jacket: F21. Tank: Urban Outfitters. Jeans: Cheap Monday. Shoes: Thrifted by my sweet! Necklace: Some India-centric store in NYC. Umbrella: Not sure!

Bracelet: thrifted.

I've been stuck to the following song the last few days, and luckily for me and my wish to have blog-relevant music, the video is about escaping work frustrations:



Powering through,

Elissa.

Long drives, noxious fumes.

I spent most of today driving around in the country for work, and chasing down a potential new opportunity. I also took some time out to make good on my promise to demonstrate exciting new frontiers in khaki-skirt wearing.

Shoes: Steve Madden. Skirt: Target. Shirt: Forever 21. Shades: vintage shop.

Unfortunately, a case of The Awkwards afflicted my shooting, and therefore my ability to properly demonstrate the awesome shape of this shirt, which is like a delicate, drapey, letter "A"-- longer on the sides and shorter in the center. I love it muchly.




The shades I picked up at a vintage store in town called Flower Child. It's operated by the guy that did the sets for "A Christmas Story". The original 1960's tag was still on them, and I love them for their mad-scientist/goggle properties and "squoval" shape.

Mmm... the sweet smell of biodiesel.

Metric, by the way, makes great driving music. Behold this video for "Help I'm Alive" which, while a fan video, is a particularly good one, appealing to my love of collage.



I'm positively chuffed by the number of entrants in The Contest! If you haven't yet entered, there's still 3 1/2 days left to enter this random drawing for an iPod Shuffle!

Good night and good luck,

Elissa.

On Me Today

The Kaiser Chief's "Never Miss a Beat" pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today...




I learned nothing. I did nothing. I didn't go to school. I want crisps. Didn't flash a referee, but sure wanted to.

Thermal: Target. Sweater: VintageTea on Etsy. Denim Mini: thrifted. Tights: Target. Boots: Gift, thanks Wendy!

In other news... my sweetness and I have potentially found our brand new place! It is, in a word, a fantasy. We put in the application yesterday, so we're still waiting to hear back. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures to share soon! My fingers are locked in cross formation!

This means, all extraneous items must go! Everything in my Etsy store is $5, yes $5 plus shipping. So many other tasty things I haven't had the chance to list, but I'll be working on it. I'll letcha know.

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Debut... on so many levels...

I think I've provisionally decided to take a photo of myself every day of this last quarter; maybe even the year. This is my year, for sure, and I'd like to remember myself in it!

Turtleneck: Victoria's Secret. Chain necklace: thrifted. Floral corduroy mini: thrifted. Black tights: Target. Lace-up granny boots: Dolce Vita. Suitcase: Vintage, Etsy.

Today was the first day of my last quarter as an undergraduate. Today was also the first day that I've used my vintage plaid suitcase for book-toting, the first time I've worn a black turtleneck since 3rd grade (then, to complement a sweatshirt with a sparkling, harlequin clown applique), and the first time I've taken a photo of my puss with one of my favorite Christmas presents, a Canon Powershot G10. Better (and brighter!) pictures to come! Hawt!

Speaking of "hawt" and college days, check out these photos of our own President-elect, mugging fashionably in 1980. He works that hat! These are part of a roll that then-student photographer Lisa Jack took for her portfolio; they never saw the light of day (and were even under lock and key!) until after the election.





You can read the whole story at Time Magazine's site.

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Redemption!

I think every girl likes to imagine that if, given the chance to get her likeness in print, the result would be glamorous. I was keeping this as a surprise to lay on you all today--- and after seeing the results, considered keeping it a surprise.

source
Lovely, lovely, lovely. If only it had turned out more like this!

I was recently interviewed by the style editor of the Columbus, OH version of Time Out New York, which was terribly flattering and exciting, especially so because the issue comes out today, on Christmas Eve! Let it be known that both the interviewer and the photographer were lovely people. Having taken a few photos of myself, I gave the photog a few fashion-y poses, before I was told that they wanted a picture of me responding to questions. I became worried. And frozen-- answering questions thoughtfully under hot lights while someone snaps all around you is uhh--- not the way to be photographed. Especially when the photographer is on her knees the entire time, photographing you from the --- dunh dunh dunh, dreaded below-angle.

I hope I'm not over-reacting, but when I went to their website this morning to see how it turned out, I died a little bit inside.

Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. That earthworm sure can work a short skirt. I believe my desire for radical plastic surgery has been rekindled.

This paper is going to be all over town. I felt like I was being punished by the gods for my self-importance. Or that, out of the hundreds of pictures they took, if this was the best one, I must be fooling myself like drunken Baby Jane, trying to revive her act.

Even though I'd like to report that I definitely didn't, I dissolved into tears (well, I got a touch of the PMS and I've been deathly ill for about a week now, too... sigh!). I gotta hand it to my sweety. He said to me, "Do you still have that oufit?" "Yes, --sob-- no, the tights ripped and I threw them away." "You've got other tights. C'mon. Get outta bed, put that outfit on, and we'll take a proper picture of you. Everyone knows you never photograph a woman from below." My darlin' sweety. I may not have a good, expensive camera, but I do have a wonderful man.

Sweater: thrifted. Skirt: actually a figure skating dress, thrifted. Scarf: thrifted. Peacock tights: Gift from my sweety. Shoes: BCBGirls.

The interview's pretty good, though-- pasted below!

"

OFF THE RACK

Elissa Marcus

Job: OSU student and salesperson at Buy Backs

Neighborhood: Victorian Village

Hometown: Cincinnati

Label your style: "Pre-posh-terous"

What's your favorite store?

I'd say about 90 percent of my clothes are from the thrift store. I just really don't see any point in spending a lot of money on clothes.

What's your favorite thrift store?

The Volunteers of America on Indianola.

What's your favorite non-thrift store?

Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie.

What are you loving right now?

I'm really into the '20s right now, so the short hair and the short skirts and the T-straps.

What about shoes?

I sell vintage shoes online on Etsy; that helps me get rid of some of them. Because I have about 78 pairs. Which is bad. I love BCBG and BCBGirls; I like Seychelles.

What inspires your style?

I do a blog, spandexpony.blogspot.com. When I'd just moved to Columbus, I wanted to scout street style, so I was taking out my camera and taking pictures of people. And even though it might not be in the same way or with the same loudness, people are always trying to do their own thing.

THE OUTFIT:

Skirt: actually a long-sleeve figure-skating dress from a Cincinnati thrift store. "It's a little ridiculous, but I was like, 'I'm going to find a way to make that work.'"

Tights: from Macy's. "I love colorful tights. I have them in every color. And the best way to show them off is with a short skirt."

Shoes: BCBGirls from Loehmann's in New York. "It's kind of like a TJ Maxx."

Sweater: from Volunteers of America

Scarf: thrift

Earrings: a wolf design handmade by MissChicBoutique, an Etsy vendor.

Ring: from Filene's Basement. "I wear it all the time. I like jewelry that's slightly ridiculous."

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Can you dig it?

So, the absence of "things to do" put me in a Cowboy Junkies/Red House Painters/Mazzy Star funk. I credit Lady Sovereign's new, "The Warriors"-inspired song and video for pulling me out of it:

If you've never seen "The Warriors" and you love fashion, you must watch-- the whole thing is on Youtube (the same way I caught Britney Spears' "Crossroads"-- ha!)



I especially love the purple-lame vested gang at 3:30, the American Apparel gang at 4:22, and the "Qui, moi?" gang at 8:08.

So... we're gonna have to bop if you don't enter the contest! (Some call me The Master of Segueways, but I'll settle for "A" Master).

Bomber: thrifted. Minnie Mouse tee: thrifted. Menacing Chain: thrifted. Headscarf: thrifted. Sweats: Target. Shoes: Miss Sixty.

It ends TOMORROW, December 19 at MIDNIGHT! All you have to do to enter is leave a little comment on the Contest Post about your favorite holiday doin' and one winner will be drawn at random to receive your very own keepsake copy of Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas, retailing used for $45 on Amazon, mailed just in time (I hope, but you never know this time of year) for you to enjoy it with the family (or probably not) come Kwanzaa.

Come out to plaayyyy!

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All finished up!

I'm finally done with the quarter. I thought I'd fall into a pillowy euphoria in the absence of things-to-do, but instead, I find myself a bit irritable and discombobulated from not having a fire under my ass, oddly enough!

Here now, I'll share with you a bit of the "smoke" from that fire-- my final group design project.


Here are a few of our sketches... each group member contributed 10 designs, then cut them down to 2 apiece. On the right of each grouping (named after songs in the "Anastasia" movie) are our Romanov-eagle styled color palettes.



We had to do a few Corel Painter renderings of our sketches; this purple dress with the ermine stole was one of my favorites. In addition, technical flats, sizing specs and construction details needed to be drawn up as well. Luckily, there are people in the world who, unlike me, love to do these. Even luckier, two of these talented people were in my group!



I devoted a big chunk of my time designing some accessories... I especially like the Maltese Cross Mary Janes and the Faberge Minauderie. You can't really tell, but the pattern I made for the luggage features little Romanov eagles inside of the argyle-style diamonds.


At the last minute, we decided we needed something to divide the artistic portion of the collection from the "nuts and bolts" portion of the project, so I searched for images of a Russian passport and emblazoned the front with "Czarina", the name of the collection. On the opposite page was the "inside" of the passport, complete with our Girl's name and job description-- a way of describing our target market. You might recognize the photo inside from our project's coverpage!

...And lastly of all, the outfit I wore to do the presentation:

Dress: thrifted. Belt: Abercrombie and Fitch. Capelet: thrifted. Tights: Target. Shoes: BCBGirls, from Loehmann's.

...next up... the contest!

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Three-ringed, even!

As soon as I saw Britney's "Circus" video, I immediately remembered a little red blazer I have in the back of my closet...

Red blazer: thrifted, Graphite Skating Dress: American Apparel, Crochet Tights: Target, Tall Dark and Handsome Boots: Vintage, thrifted. Oh yeah. Top hat: Photoshopped.

And now I'm wanting a giant, glitzy parure, jodhpurs, sexy gloves and a mustache.

Hot albino peacock corset: louiseblack@etsy. Sextastic gloves: onlygloves.com. Mirrored booties (ooh la la!): Giuseppe Zanotti. Winged Heels: Christian Louboutin. Dancing bear charm bracelet: vickisvintagelane@etsy. Pieced blazer: L.A.M.B. Giant amazing vintage gem necklace: purpledaisyjewelry@etsy. Groucho Marx Disguise Necklace: Mine, from paraphernalia@etsy.

This next week heralds the end of the quarter but the beginning of... dunh dunh dunh, exams! I'll probably make myself scarce, but I'll be back in due time to tell you all about the upcoming contest!

Snow.

Hooray! The first snow of the season came today, in big, fat, sloppy flakes falling fast and frenzied.

Effin' A. Ground Cover.

Usually winter is really not my bag, but I've got a wedding to plan and winter is the most -- bridal -- of seasons. I've always wanted to get married in the fall, but this spring, I worked this vintage wedding gown show at the Art Museum and fell in love with this gown from the 1970s--- full length, and instead of a veil or headpiece-type thing, it came with a long, hooded cape that was trimmed in white fur and designed to tie at the neck. Sigh!

My sugah and I want this wedding to be the first of many beautiful parties that we'll put on as a married twosome. I'd like to elope first (Vegas? Paris? Burning Man?), to take the pressure off of the day-- let it serve one purpose (multi-family gala) instead of too many.

Below, a collage I've put together of some of my wintry wedding inspirations...

Angular crystals, smoke, whitened branches, crisp stars, albino peacocks, cool Hitchcockian blondes with high contast, clean style; and faded into the background, enlarged subzero-tolerant bacteria.

And also, you have to hear this song (if you haven't yet) by the Fleet Foxes that I first heard a couple of days ago, and just about had a winter-gasm...

Analog

Just last week, I was asking a cat-owning friend whether cats could be good for hunting down the squirrels who, while cute, make a habit of staring me down while using my porch as an outhouse.

Growing up, all of our cats were fierce outdoor cats, and I figured it would be best for any potential cat of mine to be the same. Bowie Estelle, however, is the most domestic cat in the universe. I attempted to carry her outside for a photoshoot the other day and she yowled with terror upon sight of the opened door and scrambled away to the safety of under the bed.

'Stelle prefers the wild world of blankets, chiffarobe climbing, naps, toilets (a rather potent draw) and aping her human.

I wear a hipster scarf...

Dress: thrifted. Scarf: thrifted. Leggings: Gift. Shoes: thrifted. Belt: thrifted. Giant conch ring: World Market.

...Cat wears a hipster scarf.

Scarf: thrifted.

I wear some Sixties beads...

Beads: Mad for Mod. Tank: Urban Outfitters. Skirt: Thrifted. Shoes: Luichiny.

...Cat follows suit.




...I've officially gone cat-tarded.

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On Me Today -- literally and figuratively.

I like the idea of bows, but I like idea of ascots better; rather pidgeon powter-y no?

Blouse: thrifted. Shoes: Nine West. Skirt: Old Navy. Belt: thrifted. Ascot: found in the gutter in NYC.

In quite a few respects, I am one of the most impersonal people ever. I am a master of small-talk. Oh, I can go on and on about other things, too but always hedgingly. I enjoy speaking with people and writing, but I often find myself saying and writing things so that they are phrased in the "least incriminating" way possible.

Incriminating me, incriminating them... what I mean is that I don't like for anyone, myself included, to come away from a conversation feeling "wrong". While I may voice an opinion, I do it from the most cool, neutral place possible, and always with qualifiers. I think I've also trained myself, in a lot of cases, to not have an opinion. Not to get all teenaged on ya, but Goethe's quote "Every form correctly seen is beautiful" sums up how I feel about opinions. All opinions are valid if you can appreciate where they come from.

I feel like the negative corollary of Goethe's quote might be "Nothing really matters." I sometimes consider myself to be a very positive nihilist. Nothing matters, but it doesn't matter that it doesn't matter. In the meantime; do fun and constructive things to improve your experience (and others', if you care to). Sometimes I take this as far as to consider my own opinions as not mattering. Not because they are bad or wrong, but why bother? Everyone's got an opinion. I'll just live my life.

As an intensely private person, I strive to keep my preferences and experiences to myself as much as possible --- I feel that others have more at stake in having their opinions heard. So why do I blog? As a creative outlet; as a way of connecting with people who have a similar interest in fashion....

My brothers and I are quite close and one, Alex, said to me: "You're quite interesting in person (thanks bro!) but you can't get a good taste of who you are from your blog." According to him, and actually upon review of my favorite blogs I tend to agree, that having a sense of knowing the person doing the writing is a huge part of the appeal of reading a blog.

Do I really care to reveal more of myself on my blog? If I see it "correctly", will it be worth doing? Since it doesn't matter (wink), I'll give it a try. Anything's worth a try.

Oh-- and, speaking of things worth giving a try, thank you for all of your fabulous contest submissions! I'm slowly but surely looking through them all, and will announce a winner by this weekend!

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On Me Today

Here, a rare view of where I work...

Swing Jacket: Macy's. Ombre Dress: Thrifted. Tights: UO. Flats: Etienne Aigner.

Did you know that at the turn of the 20th century, there was a movement by the upper classes to pass a law that serving classes could only wear black? I used to work for a large department store, and the second day there, they announced that sales staff would have to adopt an all-black dress code. They claimed it was so customers could more easily identify staff, but whenever I visit that same department store, I find it difficult to spot staff because they fade into the background. I believed this to be the actual point of the dress code; so that the staff's appearance would not distract the shopper's eye from the merchandise.

I typically feel like more of a "brown" girl than a "black" girl, so being forced to wear naught but black day in and day out rather made me hate the color. Recently though, I feel like I'm reclaiming black and making it my own. I'm discovering that black is best worn when well-tailored, in striking shapes and unusual textures; and that the drama created by a few good black pieces is too good to completely exclude the color from one's wardrobe.

It really is the shortest-cielinged dressing room in the world! Don't make me sing "Trapped in a Box"!

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As Seen On...

Thankfully I was bright eyed and bushy tailed by the time Comfest and all its attendant parties rolled around this weekend. I caught up with this specimen of grayscale cuteness Friday night.


Eeek! I just want to sit next to her in art class and ask her if she looked at Boingboing last night...

Kara. Neil Avenue.

I loved the easy elegance of her jersey separates, made work-worthy with flashy sandals and substantial bag.

Suzi and John. High Street.

The owners/operators of Collier West (highlights: bauble-encrusted ice-bucket, gigantic horn chandeliers and a serving tray upholstered in cowhair complete with horn handles) made for the cutest summer-in-the-city pair. Suzi on her look: "Whenever I lose sight of myself, stylistically, I go right back to a white tee and jeans. I could wear it for six months, however long it takes until I'm ready to go in a new direction." I loved how she added interest with her wrapped sandals and eclectic jewelry. On her store: "People are either rock stars or movie stars. This is a store for rock stars."

Dress: vintage, thrifted, altered. Vest: H&M. Gladiator jellies: Old Navy. Earrings: Rag-o-rama.

Yours truly, Friday night. In summer, I could practically live in a long black dress. Breezy and elegant without being bohemian (save for my choice in vest).

What's one outfit you could (or do) live in all summer long?

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