Chicago, early 80's

Fall Fall Fall

Yesterday I busted out the penny loafers. I wore them with a black dress and tights; I looked like I was either a week early for Halloween or like I attended a funeral. All I did though was go to my piano lesson, drop by the baseball card shop, and play Animal Crossing which as usual ended up in a nap. At night we went to see UFC 104 in Jonny's basement, so in case someone died, I was prepared to mourn right away. I've seen a man convulse as a result of not the breathing kind of choking, but the blocking-blood-flow-in-a-major-artery kind of choking. I forgot who he was, but I think it was the guy with a gigantic samurai tattooed on his back. Other UFC banter: Lyoto Machida looks like a manga character. I like how he shifts and twists his hips, like he's dancing, but really, he's preparing to kick his opponent. He was the one receiving most of the leg-beat downs yesterday, but whatever, I didn't have to mourn his or Shogun's surprise death.

Also, there's Mordecai locking his door in a new coat from Zara. He seems to be a fan of the epaulets. Why does he have more luck at Zara than I do?

These photos were taken on my iPhone with an app called Toy Camera. Sometimes I walk around with my Canon G9 and/or Sony W300, but end up taking pictures with my iPhone most of the time because of convenience. This is sad, but perhaps it's a sign that some giant companies need to start getting beyond-Toy-Camera creative.

Happy #Glee Day!

Wednesdays are my "day off." I have nowhere to be except in front of reading material and a computer, presumably typing away at something. But today...the weather was so nice, and the forecast predicts plunging temperature later this week, and my mom called me to play. Outdoor suburban mall, OLD ORCHARD, IT IS!

As usual, I made my Zara rounds, found things I liked and decided not to buy them. Astute. I wanted to see if there were any G.H. Bass penny loafers at Nordstrom, originally a shoe store. I have been eyeing penny loafers for about a year now, but was worried about what to wear with them. I have no such problems now with the spirit of Rachel Berry and Emma Pillsbury following me everywhere I go, whether it is my own closet or Forever 21 or J. Crew. The problem with the Zappos and the G.H. Bass website is that the black patent leather ones are "coming soon." Well, how soon? Today's high was 70F, but we are facing the impending doom that is late fall and early winter weather. All of a sudden, we will find ourselves in a snowstorm like the Patriots did last weekend against the Terrible Tennessee Titans, but we will not be victorious like Tom Brady & Co. (59-0? FIVE TOUCHDOWNS IN ONE QUARTER? Really?)

Instead of classic Bass loafers, I came across these black patent loafers by Cole Haan, featuring some of that comfy Nike Air, ON SALE! Like, almost 50% off! My mom egged me on to get these. And so, penny loafers and I are reunited for the first time since about 1991. I used to put pennies IN the shoe, not in that little slit at the tongue. Now I can dress like Rachel Berry as a 25.5 year old! HAPPY GLEE DAY!

(If you can't tell, I wrote this soon after episode 9 of Glee aired.)

Creatures

I got this "Cute Creatures Dotted Dress" at Forever 21 the other day. There are rabbits, unicorns, cats, mushrooms, and an unidentified blobby creature (not pictured) wearing a hat on it. I like to think that Emma or Rachel would wear something like this. I also discovered warm, soft, striped knee-high socks made by Hunter to wear with my wellies at Akira on State Street.

At the Water Tower, there was an ad for Glee by the bathrooms. Yay, Glee!

#GLEE: Rachel Berry

"You might laugh because every time I sign my name I put a gold star after it. But it's a metaphor. And metaphors are important. My gold star is a metaphor for me being a star."

Next, I'd like to catalog Rachel Berry's wardrobe. Even though she gets good grades and is the best singer in the state of Ohio (assuming April Rhodes is on Broadway or in Branson), everyone hates her. Rachel is "that girl." You probably knew someone like her in high school, except that the person you knew probably did not have pipes like Rachel's. Her voice, its strength and inflections remind me of the singing female vocals in Disney movies. I kind of fell in love with her when she said with absolute conviction, "And metaphors are important." I never really fully understood the discussions of metaphor in the philosophy of literature, but I feel like they should always commence with Rachel's line above about her gold stars.

Initially, I didn't really pay much attention to Rachel's clothes. They made her look kind of frumpy in the first couple of episodes, perhaps to enhance the "that girl" personality. In the first shot above, she sits with Mr. Schuster (hereafter referred to as "Mr.Shoo"), frustrated with Glee Club's lack of a male vocal who can "keep up" with her. In the second frame, she attends a Celibacy Club meeting to be with Finn. She is disgusted by having to pair up with Jacob for the "Immaculate Affection." ("If the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry.") In the third picture, Rachel doesn't get the female lead vocal for "Gold Digger," and her barfy argyle shows why. On the far right, she's about to "kick [Mr. Shoo] in the nads" by telling him that the choreography sucks. Her shirt and skirt are improvements, but her vest is still...meh.


She might be best known for her traditional school-girl look, by which I mean, her plaid. On the left, New Directions sans Finn and Mr. Shoo go to see Mt. Carmel's Vocal Adrenaline rehearse to ask if Dakota Stanley will choreograph for New Directions. She is about to fire Dakota Stanley in the second frame as she realizes that New Directions doesn't need him. The third shot shows Rachel with a huge plaid bow on her shirt as she waits to see what Sue Sylvester is going to do to the Glee Club. The bow is kind of ridiculous, but somehow forgivable. In the final frame, Rachel shows off one of her other skills, storming out, because Mr. Shoo gave the lead vocal to the West Side Story song to Tina instead of to Rachel.


Here is Rachel in horizontal stripes. The pink and yellow striped shirts look like they are variations of the same shirt, but the pink one has many more buttons and is ruched at both the shoulders and the ends of the sleeves. On the far left, Rachel is standing with her famous sugar cookies that spell out "I'm sorry" for Mr. Shoo for insulting his choreography skills. In the yellow stripes, she is waiting to hear who New Directions is up against at sectionals (a school described as "a halfway house for juvie girls" and a school for deaf kids). In the middle, in red and black stripes embellished with gold buttons, Rachel stands in the hallway as she watches Finn console Quinn, as it had just been revealed that Sue Sylvester knows about Quinn's pregnancy. (I think Sue was hurt that she was one of the last to know before Jacob blogged about it. Sue hurt?! In Glee, anything is possible.)


I knew Rachel was going to be blog-worthy when I saw these prints. On the far left, Rachel sings Rihanna's "Take A Bow" in a diamond-print blouse under a navy sweater vest. In the middle, she is getting yelled at by Sandy Ryerson ("YOU SUCK!") and Rachel cries in the bathroom only to have a confrontation with April Rhodes. Some of the stars on her orange shirt clash, in pink! How edgy. On the far right, she has just refused to show her over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders to Jacob, who threatened to write a scathing review on his blog about her musical if she didn't get her "sweater puppies out of their cashmere cage." Puppies aside, her sweater is so adorable!


Here are some other good outfits. On the left, Rachel auditions for the musical with Celine Dion's "Taking Chances" in a blue cotton shirt-dress. It looks like something you could buy at Rugby during the spring for $200. In the next frame, she looks longingly at Finn in an argyle sweater vest over a gingham-check shirt. I love her hair there. In the third shot, she tries to get the girls to take rehearsals seriously for the mashup competition in a magenta vest with a little bit of ruffles over what appears to be the same purple shirt she wore under the sweater vest I called "meh" earlier. In the last frame, she accuses Quinn of being a mole for Sue Sylvester, dressed in a green shirt with more flamboyant ruffles. She wears another cute ruffled shirt with a plaid skirt when she sings "No Air" with Finn; that frame didn't fit neatly into my outfit-photo-series so you can see that shot here.


This outfit deserves its own time in the limelight. Finn and Rachel go bowling to relieve stress, but his intentions seem mixed. He wants to spend more time with Rachel, but the larger goal is to get her to rejoin Glee Club. Otherwise, New Directions won't win regionals and Finn will be less likely to get a music scholarship for college. Rachel picked the best date outfit! No wonder he pushed thoughts of Quinn aside after the kiss and said "I don't know what's gonna happen in the future, I just know that I wanna spend more time with you now." Her sweater looks like a handkerchief was knitted into it. I'm not sure whether to say it looks nautical- or sailor-themed, or that it just looks French in some way. The blue skirt is apparently by Kimchi & Blue, whose overpriced clothes I often see at Urban Outfitters. I also like her socks. I even sacrificed Finn's head to make sure they were in the picture! When I saw this outfit in the episode "Rhodes Not Taken," I knew Rachel Berry was a fashionista in her own right.

Many of Rachel's outfits are simple: a matching top and skirt. But I find matching a skirt and top difficult sometimes. Forever 21 and H&M have millions of simple skirts that can be paired with a variety of tops, but I never trust my judgment and end up abandoning skirts for dresses I can wear rather casually. But I will say that taking over 30 screen caps of Rachel's outfits in every episode influenced my perception of clothes. I went to Forever 21 yesterday and so many outfits spoke to me. They were like, "Look at me, I cost close to nothing and will probably fall apart soon, but Rachel would totally wear me!" or "Look, this sweater vest is kind of frumpy looking , but it's on the path towards the sailor/French date outfit!" I ended up with a dress that I like to tell myself is something that either Rachel or Emma would wear. I'll share pics in another post, as I think about which Glee character's closet to survey next.

#GLEE: Emma Pillsbury

If you don't know by now, I am obsessed with the Fox show "Glee." My biggest fear is that, as with all good shows, it will get canceled. But it seems I am not alone in loving "Glee," so instead of fussing about unwarranted cancellation and buying all things "Glee"-related on iTunes, I can worry about when T-T-T-T-Tina C. is going to get her real solo, or when characters in the show will find out what the audience knows, or what random song/performance will surprise me next. And so on.

One of the things I really like about the show is the use of color, especially in clothes. Almost every character has a uniform of some sort. The cheerleaders wear their uniforms; Finn Hudson is a Hollister/Abercrombie model; Sue Sylvester appears to be sponsored by Adidas; Ken Tanaka always has bold colored polo shirts, short shorts, a fanny pack, and knee-high socks; Principal Figgins looks sharp in his tweed suits; Will Schuster wears sweaters that Dan likes a lot; Terri Schuster wears lots of low-cut Charlotte Russe-esque tops; Rachel Berry has classic schoolgirl outfits; Tina C. shops at Hot Topic; Mercedes is fly; and Kurt "Mr. Cellophane" Hummel seems to find inspiration in Men's Vogue and probably the regular Vogue as well.

Today, I want to present Emma Pillsbury, the guidance counselor, a "real floozy and a man-eater...a mentally ill ginger pygmy with eyes like a bush baby." OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER HAS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD!

Emma loves Will. Here she is on the left lamenting over Will's resignation, in a beautiful blue blouse embellished with gold buttons and a cute, slick woven skirt. She's so skinny, but her clothes look so good on her! And on the right, she shares her clean PB&J sandwich with Will. Plaid and ribbons haven't looked this good since Nodame Cantabile! She had a good matching bag, but I couldn't get a good screen grab of it.


Emma has problems with the messy things in life. On the left, she steps in freshly-chewed gum; you get a good look at her yellow and silver Mary Jane pumps. In the middle, she enthusiastically cheers for Will as he performs in the group, "Acafellas." On the right, she has just wiped mustard off of Will's "cute Kirk Douglas chin dimple," but then Sue called her "Ellen" and told her that her blouse was "just insane."


The green sweater with the exposed green stitching is great. You can hear the crisp crunchy sounds of her eating the green grapes after cleaning them with disinfectant wipes. On the right, she is greeting a plastered Kurt. Not long after this screen grab moment, Kurt vomits all over her feet and she has to be taken to the ER for four decontamination showers.

Here is Emma in all her coral glory. To the left, she carefully doesn't touch anything in the public bathroom. Here, she catches Rachel failing at bulimia. In the middle, things get a little more serious as she goes to see Ken in the boys' locker room to settle the conditions of their secret marriage. Her blouse has weird salamander-like creatures on it. Where can I get this!? On the right, things get even more serious as she has just told Will that she said "yes" to Ken's marriage proposal. They look at each other longingly and go on their separate ways.

Notice her accessories, too. What is that collar chain? Where can I get them!? The first one has clips of owls! It has eyes just like hers! The second one has flower clips. She's tending to her flowers as Will complains about how he never performed after high school. In the far right green cardigan photo above, there is a similar chain connecting her cardigan, with cute little leaf clips. Sue describes Emma as wearing the kind of brooches that Sue's nana was buried in; here's a good example on the right that she wore on the night New Directions performed "Last Name" and "Somebody to Love."

I am finding out that many of the items in Emma's closet are available to the masses through J. Crew and the likes of Anthropologie. Every time I go into that latter store, I feel like I'm lost in a weird forest and all I want to do is find my way out. Maybe I'll give it another chance.

Stay tuned for my obsessive screen caps of Rachel Berry's wardrobe!

Snuggie Love x 2

Everyone is enamored with the leopard print Snuggie, whether they are conscious of it or not.

An Expensive Callgirl

Purchased a sweet knife from W&S as a wedding gift. Jack was with us again for a few days. He's like, "Where's Joe, my new BFF!"

Leopard print seems to be everywhere this fall. I was going through the latest issue of ViVi, a Japanese women's fashion magazine, and on about every 10 pages, there would be a model in leopard print something, or there would be a bunch of leopard print coats laid out for comparison. I'm not really sure why I got into it myself, or if I got into it because it's so ubiquitous now, but anyway, I'm a big fan.

Do you ever have those moments when shopping where you come across something so wonderful that you gasp out loud? That happened with this coat. I was looking for a different faux fur coat at H&M, a longer and solid colored one, but instead came across this short jacket. I like that it's snow leopard, like my new operating system (many thanks to DJ Price). When I tried it on, Mordecai started laughing and said I looked like an expensive callgirl. I said, "I'll take it."

I'm also proud of my outfits that vary in color. I happen to have pink and blue oxford shirts from Target and matching knee high socks for each shirt. The weather has cooled off a lot, but it's hard to gauge how cold I'm going to be outside. I imagine that 55 degrees is insanely cold, but then I get out there looking like an expensive callgirl and it turns out I'm fine.

Snuggie Acquisition!

A random trip to Walgreens was my solution to the search for the leopard print Snuggie. I really like the font they use:

Jade emailed me about wanting a Snuggie for herself because she studies in a cold med school building. The Snuggie commercial is all about using the Snuggie for leisurely activities, like going to sporting events, or lying on a couch reading or watching TV. I should have realized that Snuggies are perfect for studying at a desk. Your digits and limbs are the first to go when it gets too cold. I imagine that with cold toes, feet, fingers, and hands, studying efficiency goes down. Or reading/writing/grading efficiency, for those who no longer deal with exams.

One question that both Mordecai and my mother had was whether the Snuggie is actually a warm blanket. It's basically made of a kind-of-thin fleece fabric, and it's entirely plausible that with a sewing machine, one could easily DIY a Snuggie with a thicker fabric. Now, I'm someone who gets cold and stays cold. But so far, the Snuggie has not failed me. That's basically to say, any blanket will keep warmth from leaving your body if you cover up a good surface area of your body. But if it has sleeves?! Oh snap!

Anyway, I go to sleep in this thing, watch TV in it, even get some work done in it. When warmth is your goal, you shouldn't care about how you look and just pick a color or print you wouldn't mind being seen enveloped in. It may not be enough for people who get frigid easily, like me or my mom, so keeping a personal heater nearby might be a good idea. But for $15 or so? I'm not sewing a "blanket that has sleeves!" I want that label with the awesome font.

Photo of the Moment

"We're smart."