the drawbacks of being highly waisted

My apparel shapeshifting proclivities lay dormant these days. Whereas I previously reveled in transforming skirts into temporary capes and discovering multiple distinct ways to wear a parka, I've been merely wearing jeans as jeans of late. Maybe it's like doing too many hardcore drugs, and now I'm just a burnout with nary a mental pyrotechnic in sight.

Whatever the case, when I got this black skirt from H&M back in January, I was all like, "Yay! A high waist!" And, without another thought, I proceeded to prance my way around Boston as such for the next few months. Indeed, I thought the construction was a little unique. The pockets were unusually low down; there was that nifty tulip flare and exaggerated waistband. But then, recently, I noticed some other details: the wide ruched waistband in the back, the delicate, bra-like trimming on the inside of the waistband. And why were those pockets so low....

What the eff?

And suddenly it all came together. My high-waisted world came crashing down on me. Why is that, you query? Because, by golly, it's a dress. Yes, this black garment is a dress. It seems that I've done too many fashion psychedelics, conjuring up uses beyond designed function, and now I can't tell a waistband from a bust. Oh, how foolish I feel. H&M has pulled a fast one on me or, rather, my perception of garb has been altered and trashed by too many sartorial acid trips.

I could wrap up this tale on a high moral note by wearing the dress as a dress and declaring, "Now, kids, don't do fashion drugs." But, to be honest, donning it as a skirt remains my preferred means.

Take that as you will. Except! Not as an endorsement for drugs.

Outfit: H&M white/black check shirt, H&M black skirt/dress, Sperry-Topsider brown boatshoes, eBayed glasses.

nocturne

(1) Calvin Klein tank top, Tara Subkoff for Bebe dress, Ash boots, H&M mesh headpiece. (2) Gap camisole, DKNY Jeans mesh ruched top, H&M blazer, Cheap Monday jeans, Ash boots, Peeps fascinator, Twelve by Twelve necklace, Banana Republic belt. (3) Gap camisole, F21 blouse, Wet Seal tube top worn as skirt, Bronx sandals. (4) Express shirt, H&M cardigan, Era of Chaos shorts, Nine West sandals, grosgrain ribbon bowtie, UO belt.

let the sunshine in

Up here in the Northeast, spring sure does take its sweet ole' time to make its annual appearance. Now that it's finally here, I'm crossing my fingers that it's going to stay.

Meanwhile, I've been focusing on getting enough rest at night. The last month of scurrying around like a crackbrained, malnourished, fatigued engineer-cum-demi-blogger has taken its toll on me. I'm also putting something new together for this blog. It's been a long time in the making, sitting on the mental backburner for months, and now that I've gotten it going (in part due to the ever-improving weather), I CAN'T WAIT to wrap it up and share the project with you marvelous readers. Though I usually despise it when bloggers continuously and merely hint at events in an obnoxiously cryptic fashion, I'm doing just that. You'll simply have to sit tight for a few more days before I can reveal it.

White cami, DKNY Jeans white mesh ruched top, H&M oatmeal cardigan, UO black winged skirt, We Love Colors gold tights, Naturalizer brown suede flats, Peeps feather fascinator, Twelve by Twelve black ribbon necklace.

Background image: Closeup of the sun.

fashion + electrical engineering = ???

Last month, I got a question from reader Jamie, who was wondering how I reconcile my love of fashion with being an electrical engineer. I responded as a comment at the time, but thought I'd re-publish (and slightly edit) it as its own post.

ive been a loyal reader for a while now, and this is my first time commenting. i love your blog, and the reason im commenting is that i just saw that youre an electrical engineer. im studying to be an electrical engineer right now. i never thought that i could have an engineering job and maintain my love of fashion. but your blog has inspired me that maybe i can. if you dont mind me asking, where do you work and how do your superiors react to your outfits, that while gorgeous, arent normal work wear?

Another EE fashion lover? Who would've thunk! Well, I'm glad you've come out of your shell and that I could be of inspiration to you. To answer your question, you certainly can have an engineering job and maintain your love for fashion! Contrary to popular belief, the two aren't mutually exclusive. Everything in this world is connected. Creativity, after all, is the driving and most magnificent force behind fashion and engineering. If you love both, then you will surely find a way to transcend the seeming dichotomy.

Of course, it depends on the dress code/environment that you're working in and how much you're willing to simply not care what others think. I'd prefer not to reveal where I work, except to say it is in research, and there is a fair amount of flexibility in what one can wear there. Most of my coworkers dress on the conservative side – some wear suits and there's a lot of "business casual" – but jeans are also pretty common year round. During the summer, people will even start breaking out shorts and sandals. To be honest, my supervisors don't show much of a reaction to what I wear. As you've seen in some of my other posts, I do enjoy dressing in a simple way. Often I'll have a back-to-back run of more "normal" outfits and my coworkers and supervisors will get used to it. Then, out of the blue, I'll come in wearing something a little more unusual – it's in those instances where I'll sometimes catch them looking a little startled.

When it comes down to it, though, they hired me for my knowledge, talent, work ethic and desire to learn – and that's what they get from me, to the best of my abilities. I focus on doing my work and doing it well. So, ultimately, I think that they see beyond my clothes, to my contributions as an engineer. My time and energy are too valuable to spend worrying about how others perceive me based on what I wear. I respect others for doing high quality work and being true to themselves, therefore I conduct myself in expectation of the same respect.

If you believe in yourself and conduct yourself as such, people will likely accept you for who you are. They may even respect you all the more for having the courage to dress to please yourself and that you can simultaneously kick ass at the computer, in the lab and at making presentations! Even if you choose or have to tone it down, there are still tons of ways to have fun with getting dressed. Quirky accessories, peeks of a metallic top under a cardigan, sassy shoes...and blazers! A good fitting blazer instantly makes even my drapey dresses and ruffly tops look "pulled together" and professional (yet feminine :).

I hope that answered your questions! Feel free to ask more. Again, I really appreciate your speaking up – it's so very encouraging and invigorating to me to see other engineers (EE at that!) who love fashion.

band of horses

I'm in a brooch mood.

I'm also on a furious eBay streak. (And, apparently, I'm not the only one.) Hence, this herd of horses pin has ensnared my attention. Bringing to mind nobility and virility, such steeds could be showcased on everything from classic blazers to leather bags to -- for optimum incongruity -- wispy creme chiffon. With no bids at present, it's going for $7 ($3 starting offer, $4 S&H). I doubt there will be very much competition for this trio of galloping equi, so if it strikes your fancy....

strawberry shortcake

Look familiar? Aside from a lift in hair and a switch in shoes, this outfit is identical to one that I showed not all that long ago. Don't get me wrong, I love this outfit to threads. The blouse's frothy pinkness favorably lends itself to dessert -- in my mind, anyway. But, it's yet another prime example of how I've been wearing the same thing every day. (The same pair of jeans, in fact. Boy, those Cheap Mondays sure went the distance.) I'm almost done catching up on old outfits that got stuck in the posting queue during the last few brain- and heart-wrenching weeks.

(Notice that I'm looking down disapprovingly and disappointedly at my words. Oh, the shame of tardiness. The dreamechoes in the photo must be silently admonishing, "Girl, you got to get it to-ge-tha!")

H&M pale pink organic tank top, F21 pink ruffle blouse, Cheap Monday skinny blue jeans, Moda Spana taupe suede wedges, INHABITstructures necklace, Gap brown leather belt (I've worn this belt weekly, if not daily, for the majority of the past eight years....)

Background image: Strawberry shortcake

dansk with me

A good magazine is hard to find. In the US, the glossies are becoming increasingly homogenized, and I find myself looking to Japan and all over Europe for refreshment. Dansk, based in Denmark, just might be one of my saviors.

According to Denmark Fashion, the unisex-targeted Dansk "seeks to break down borders in the fields of photography, graphic design, styling and journalism." With issues entitled "Positivity," "Evilism," "Reinvention" and "But is it Art?", I already get the sense of a greater mission and cohesiveness that the mainstream mags fail to truly capture.

Iekeliene Stange makes an appearance in the Spring 2008 issue's "The Artist Formerly Known As." Phantasmagoric yet vulnerable, grotesque yet preppy -- all come together while alluding to heavyweight artists like Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Degas and Francis Bacon.





"Peak Performance," from the Winter 2007 issue, styled by Chloe Beeney and photographed by Justin Cooper, evokes an distant and uncomfortable enchantment. Tiered chiffon wavers between feathery and ponderous, while the allure of an awkward somberness beckons one into outlying horizons.





Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that Dansk is available at some Barnes & Nobles. (That's some B&Ns...certainly not the B&Ns I've been visiting, though....)

Image credit: Pedro, unipine and Faith Akiyama from tFS.

today's history lesson: vintage in cambridge

My propensity for concocting elaborate fantasies around garments dates back to childhood. Nowadays, my penchant for seeking sartorial materializations of my personal values and idiosyncrasies habitually makes its way onto this blog (see: ferocious shoes of substance and character, a Sherlock Holmes-ian cape). Similarly, an affinity for ascribing human traits to apparel goes equally far back (see: my lust for Ms. Bustier and my brush-off of Ms. Crepe Dress).

When, back in December 2006, I caught wind of a brand-new boutique featuring vintage clothes with a story, I therefore squeaked aloud with glee. History, located in Cambridge's Porter Square, is like the storefront version of my tale-telling tendencies. To accompany each piece, owner Rachel Hirsch imaginatively cooks up detailed anecdotes of the previous wearers and prints them out on hangtags. Hirsch is no stranger to the significance of the past; she was once a high school history teacher herself.

Despite the store's relative proximity to my usual stomping grounds, I had never visited it until last month. (Chalk it up to the usual dreamecho lagtime between "want" and "execution.") Finally, one rainy March Saturday after a haircut at nearby Judy Jetson, I crossed over History's threshold and was transported into a time capsule of apparel and accessories, lovingly organized by decade.

Capturing brief moments in time, the scintillating hangtag stories were nearly as covetable as the garments themselves. I found myself racing from rack to rack to soak up each piece of clothing's chronicle.

Last but not least, my favorite, both in garment and in story:

Reviews elsewhere may have claimed otherwise, but I found the prices quite affordable. Items ran as low as a few dollars for simpler items (the pink velour/velvet puff-shoulder top was $10) while the fur coat surprised me by being well under three digits.

After a quick initial look-through, I approached the sales assistant at the counter to request permission to take photos for my blog. To my surprise, the "sales assistant" was none other than the owner herself! The incredibly warm Rachel and I chatted away about hometowns, and she tipped me off to her favorite local ice cream store: Rancatore's in Belmont. (As I am on a mission to try all of the ice cream stores in the Boston area, this information has been duly noted in the elephant mini-notebook.) Meanwhile, Johnny Cash, Rachel's dog, sidled up to us and graced me with a photo op. Though I didn't buy anything that day – having reached the limit of my fun money budget for the month – I shall certainly be revisiting this piece of history in the future.

no losing louise du toit

As if I didn't get enough of her from La Garconne and the Face Hunter. From Refinery29's Street Seen comes more Louise du Toit! The photo on the right was taken at the Acne Studio opening celebration in NYC; the photo from the left hails from Saks Fifth Avenue and Acne Jeans' joint party. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks she's a fierce cutie: That dude in the second picture is totally eyeing her, is he not?

it is perfectly acceptable to have feathers on the mind

While I have expressed deep aversion to "fether-brains" (i.e., complacent, superficial females lacking in mental and moral substance), I take gladly to donning feather fascinators. My Peeps feather clip from the online boutique Bona Drag has been perpetually perched on my mane since I bought the hairpiece earlier this year.

Meanwhile, my Bona Drag obsession marches onward. (If you aren't familiar with my eternal adoration of the store, I simply insist you read this piece -- now). Proprietress Heather Rose has released new items in time for spring, and not the least of these are two additions to the feather clip menagerie.



In "plumage" and "brown iridescent," these hairclips are mystical manifest. I can only be thankful that I got my "pheasant" version when it was the only option -- heaven help me should I have had to decide between the three! As it is, I can't help but contemplate buying another in plumage. Just as I continue to be mesmerized by Bona Drag, I know I shall be wearing my feather clip for the long haul. So...perhaps I'm justified in wanting another? As a backup? Yes, I do have feathers on the mind....

cuckoo for kuku

I am so eyeing this striped bandage minidress by Cache. (Cache!) It's one of kukuvintage's amazing auctions that is about to end this evening. In my journeys across the eBay landscape over the past couple of years, I know I've come across kuku multiple times. Maybe this store has always had its game on, but it's only now that I recognize kuku's potential. And, apparently, so does everyone else. Quality photos, the young pretty model and fashion-fuh-fuh-fuh-forward styling lend themselves to high prices, as evidenced by the increasing number of bids.



Also delectable are this art deco dress, a bottle green asymmetrical leather jacket, and the purrrfect floral tulip miniskirt. (You have to click on the closeup of the skirt. The print is utterly undeniable. Trust.)

shift into automode

Last week, I got a "hickey" on my neck when trying to use a curling iron.



Naturally, that sentence has nothing to do with anything in this photo; I've hardly been able to think much less talk straight these days. This photo was taken neither last week, nor was my hair curled in it. For the record, this outfit was from the end of February. Inclement weather, grueling days of non-stop work and getting a little ill have put my style into autopilot. Since super skinny jeans are my wardrobe staple, I've been wearing iterations of this outfit for the past month. In fact, it's a good day if I manage to get out of the house in matching shoes and clothes outside-out.

I've been aching to get back to blogging. Panic attacks spring up at the most mundane of moments -- brushing my teeth, pulling on a pair of socks -- and I start to get anxious about how time is zooming by and I've accomplished nothing with regards to dreamecho. My collection of photos and list of topics both serious and footloose fancy free has been practically burning a whole in my notebook. (Surely you know the phrase about money burning a whole in one's wallet/pocket. Like money just "waiting" to be spent, my thoughts are clamoring to be blogged on.)

Expect things to be slow around these parts for at least another week; my partner and I are currently playing host to our beloved out-of-town visitor. As I patiently await the free time that looms on the horizon, I just wanted to thank you all again for your support. A special shoutout to goes to Neekoh from Live, Love, L.A. for sending some love my way just last night. I miss you guys, too!

Until then,
dreamecho

UO black/white stripe shirt, Michele Lau ruffle top, Uniqlo skinny blue jeans, vintage brown leather oxfords, Peeps feather fascinator, Linnea Pelle brown leather belt.

Background image: Green chainlink fence.