extending the olive branch

After an oh-too-long hiatus, one of my favorite vintage eBay destinations has re-emerged and transformed into a fully fledged webstore! The Olive Shoppe, originally based in California, has gone nomadic and set up business in Beijing. In addition to her signature pyrotechnic styling and top notch vintage goodies, owner and operator Elaine has added a tightly edited selection of avant garde and of-the-nanosecond new clothes as well. As a testament to the devotion of her hardcore followers, a significant amount of her stock has already been sold within a few days! Never fear, though, as new items will be added weekly. I tell ya...if the photos aren't enough to draw you in, this surely will: Code "GRATITUDE" gets you 20% off through June 1.

i'm dreamecho...

Wow! Out of 75 entries, my spotty duds have been selected as one of four finalists in The Glamourai's polka dot outfit contest. The winner gets a $150 gift certificate to shop at Kelly's webshop. If you think I deserve to win, please cast your vote for me in the comments here, by tomorrow, Friday at 12 noon EST. I'm kind of late on posting on this, but thanks to all who have voted for me thus far!

Image source: ddpool on Flickr.

circular logic

Eons ago, I went balls to the wall with my penchant for limiting ensembles to a single print—stripes, fauna, space-dye and plaid all got their moment in the spotlight. It's only now, though, that I have enough polka dotted pieces to round out a full look, and yet I've been mildly resisting a full-on explosion of globes. I think it's because I viewed the act as one of being stuck in a rut, the repeated pairing of like with like. To be sure, it's not a bad groove to travel in—it's just that I prefer to challenge myself whenever possible.

Subconsciously, I must've wanted to hit repeat, because when Kelly from The Glamourai put out a call just such behavior, I took the bait. Clearly, it takes very little persuasion to send me trotting in circles for just a bit longer. I threw on a number of orb-ed printed garments and, for the first time this year, came out of hibernation to bust some moves.



Outfit: Club Monaco bow blouse, vintage Liz Claiborne dress from Mother's Daughter, vintage sheer pants, No.6 clogs, brooch on "loan" from Mom, H&M studded belt.

sir mix-a-lot

It's taken me a while to observe this, but when I take photos on my deck, I'm less inclined to pose dramatically. The photos tend to come out looking goofy and sad otherwise, and the environs are not conducive to the necessarily fantasy-esque aspects of modeling theatrics. In a fit of rebellion during the past winter (hence the sparse branches), I decided to make do with what I had and flexed those rusty limbs anyway. Lemonade and all that, right?


Outfit: H&M striped top, Triple 5 Soul jacket, vintage floral pants, We Love Colors socks, LD Tuttle boots, F21 necklace.

awakened from a blackout

This work ensemble hails from just last month. (I'm catching up to realtime ever, ever so slowly.) The skirt was purchased circa 1998, for performing with my school's concert band. With the current, interminable 90s and accompanying maxi skirt revivals, I felt it was an appropriate moment to pull this piece out from the dreamecho wardrobe archives

Over the past few years, a number of readers have remarked on my being an engineer while maintaining my style. To you cheerleaders out there, let me just say that I greatly appreciate the kind words. I get the sense, though, that there's some misunderstanding that I actually wear, say, sequin capelets plus stripes plus gingham to the office. The fact of the matter is, I do nothing of the sort! I'm a die-hard denim and classics devotee. It's an atypical day when I get really gussied up. So, you can probably understand why I've been wanting to figure out an efficient way to make distinct what's workwear and what's "NSFW"—the latter, obviously, being tongue-in-cheek for play clothes. Until I settle those issues, along with other possible minor organizational changes that continue to nag at me, I'll keep trucking on as I have been, describing the circumstances of the outfit in meandering verbiage such as this.


Outfit: H&M ruffle top, H&M tuxedo jacket, Gap parka, Club Monaco scarf, Evolution not Revolution skirt, Bass patent leather loafers, Unearthen x Alexandra Cassaniti vial necklace.