Gypsy Living: a Sunday Shoe Story

She's the kind of girl who never leaves home without her music. Earbuds in, she walks the streets of the city until she finds a piece of green that retains a heart of wildness. Cat Stevens' "The Wind" shuffles on and her bare feet tangle with the grass as she spins and spins, grinning upwards at the sun. Spotted light through branches and bundles of leaves shadows the sun-freckles on her cheeks and shoulders.

Bladed with innocence she listens to the wind and the past, thinking of past and present and future spiralling into a single second. She looks closely at a speck of pollen but still sees the field of flowers without thinking of anything at all. All are one and the same. 

Her time will come. 

Shoes: Chinese Laundry "Gypsy"

The Hermit

It's funny how we change and grow over the years isn't it? The quiet nerdy chick who we were in highschool morphs into a still nerdy but less quiet 20-something. Things were a bit more social for a few years - all of our friends' parents said we were a bad influence - but once we settle down our old habits come roaring back. Reading piles of books in our spare time, being happy in solitude, and the snappy retorts that gave us our name as the come-back queen become the word of the day once again.

image from here

Our group of friends is still small, but they're strange enough to have enough personality for 3, and that's why you like them. We've chosen carefully once again, and weeded out those who only used and abused us down to a select few worthy of our mutual adoration. What's the point in amassing acquaintences when you'd rather hold court? The masses can look in on your life, but they can keep their distance behind your mirrored lenses and stop-right-there hand gesture. Earn your place and be welcomed, but beware the journey; it's not for the weak of heart.

China Glaze "Platinum" nail polish

A Darkness of Light

To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us give the devil his due. 

~ Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Season of Mists

In the old age black was not counted fair,
Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name;
But now is black beauty's successive heir,
And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:
For since each hand hath put on Nature's power,
Fairing the foul with Art's false borrowed face,
Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,
But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black,
Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem
At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,
Sland'ring creation with a false esteem:
Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,
That every tongue says beauty should look so.

~William Shakespeare, Sonnet CXXVII

None of us really changes over time. We only become more fully what we are.

~Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat

Death: the Vertigo Tarot deck by Dave McKean
image from Comic Art Community

Song tank top, Seductions jeans, Converse shoes. Photos taken at Camp Hill Cemetary, Halifax. 

The Cards

Your past was filled with harmony and contentment, but you made the choice to seek adventure elsewhere. Your spirit craves answers to questions that cannot be answered by complacency, and while you will always look back on this time as a happy one your new life outside the walls of the Garden is what you really need. 

An unexpected gift from a close friend changes your relationship in a positive way. Your view of the past changes with this revelation and the world takes on a new light. Your happy past is reincarnated in the present, and your childhood feelings of contentment and freedom return. 

The future holds choices, but the present keeps any fears static. Rational thought, balance, and the right choices will come with time and contemplation. You may be frivolous in the present, but you are planning passively for the future through constant discussion. 

The Legend of the Dragon Lady: a Sunday Shoe Story

When a classmate of mine recently announced in class that she had made the decision to be a Dragon Lady I couldn't help but laugh. Dragon Ladies aren't made; Dragon Ladies are born.

We're few and far between, and we generally don't feel the need to announce it to our classmates. They should be able to tell who we are by our actions, or by the don't-fuck-with-me-pheremones that we exude. It's our natural instinct to go for the throat when threatened, but the general rule is to use the silence to our advantage. We may wear skirts in feminine colours, but the scales on our shoes betray our true nature.

Shirt by Ralph Lauren, cropped blazer by To the Max, skirt by Kensie, tights by Betsey Johnson, shoes by Dollhouse.

Flying Dragon

"Flying Dragon (neon)" from China Glaze is one of the stranger matte polishes I've tried. It's a really deep orchid purple, with tonnes of blue glitter flecks, but the consistency is super watery! Normally matte polishes are stickier than regular ones, so the second coat builds up perfectly, but in this case a third coat is definitely needed if you don't want it to look too pink. Because of the glitter flecks the polish is pretty gritty, which means that your nails are going to catch on things (and the manicure is likely to get ruined quite quickly). The orchid colour totally pops with a shiny topcoat though, so that's the way that I'll be wearing this polish in the future. Sidenote: why the heck does China Glaze specify their matte-finish polishes by calling them neons? Why not say that they're matte finish instead of using a word that doesn't even relate?

You can totally see the grainy texture of the glitter.
I think that happens because the base is a bit thin to support the glitter properly.

See how pink this looks with only two coats?

With topcoat, in the shade. Finally the orchid I wanted!

Glitterglitterglitter!

Dragons All

There are fabulous people everywhere, but I'm happy to discover that some of the best dressers are born in the year(s) of the dragon! Who's your style-spiration? I know I'll be borrowing some of these looks for sure!

Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 2012.
Image from Editorial Modnique

Adrian Grenier's regular look might be the t-shirt and jeans staple, but he still has Fashion Fridays.
Image from his G+

Alicia Silverstone's alter-ego Cher sure knows how to stop,  and boy does she love her prints.
Imagr from Mamamia

Ryan Reynold's street style.
Image from Meet me on the Catwalk

Aandy Warhol rocks the classic striped shirt. Maybe that's why stripes are my favourite print!
Image from EvieScarlett

Liam Neeson might be our favourite Jedi Knight, but those brown robes are nothing less than atrocious. He cleans up nice though, doesn't he?
Image from Gentleman's Standard

Georgina Chapman, of Marchesa and Project Runway fame. I kind of want ALL of her dresses!
Image from Ruby Mines. 

Imagine, without John Lennon, Harry Potter might not have had round glasses!
Image from David Holmes

Sandra Bullock wears the dragon's signature colour on the red carpet.
Image from Fanpop

Metal music's mother of the house, Sharon Osbourne, glams it up for the red carpet.
Image from Democratic Underground 

Adele's all-black look paired with big hair is classic perfection.
Image from Just Push Play

When he's not playing everyone's favourite bad boy vampire on True Blood, Alexander Skarsgard moonlights as a Film Noir gentleman for Vogue.
Image from Fashion Oulala

She may have some frightening fashion moments, but Courtney Love's style is nothing if not unique.
Image (and more) from To the Nines

Benedict Cumberbatch be warned: I may be coming for your coat! Absolutely fabulous.
Image from Modern Destiny

Keanu Reeves looks much better sans leather trenchcoat, no?
Image from Gorgeous Footsteps

Maybe it's his chill attitude, but I'm pretty sure that Lenny Kravitz could make any outfit look good.
Image from People.

Nina Dobrev dog-walks in style. (no wonder Ian Somerhalder loves her #jealousy).
Image from Daily Planet

From the red carpet to the streets, Reese Witherspoon always knows how to style it up.
Image from Just Jared

Some uber-glam looks from Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2012
Image from Vogue Italia

Rupert Grint trades in his Hogwarts robes for a chilled suit.
Image from The Guardian

Emma Stone as the epitome of fashion, Carrie Bradshaw - love it!
Image from Emitations

Like father like daughter, Zoe Kravitz rocks the hippy-chic look.
Image from All Carito Fashion

Year of the Dragon, or Things to Do Before I'm 36

image from here

According to the Chinese Zodiac, life is divided into 12 year cycles. Having reached the ripe old age of 24 it's once again the Year of the Dragon, and I'm feeling like big prophetic changes are on the horizon. I don't remember exactly what the year I turned 12 looked like, but Y2K was the Millenium, the year before I was back in public school, and grade 6 is when I knew I wanted to be a librarian. It was a time of change, transition, anticipation, and a good dose of fear (since I am rather resistant to change sometimes).

Since the dragon is awake again, my brain has been overly active; planning, plotting, scheming, and overthinking absolutely everything. Forget sleep, I have a future to organize! To make my mind shut up so that I can sleep I make lists of things to do. Lots and lots of lists of lots and lots of things to do. Most of them don't really qualify as important (go to the dentist, file student loan papers, take books back to the library on time), but there are some big things that need to happen before the next dragon year comes up. 

I want a proper job; a 9 to 5 job, an intellectually stimulating job, a job where the management team aren't jerks, a job where we have cake once a month just because we're that awesome. I want a gorgeous condo; a condo on a tree-lined street, a condo that's only a few blocks from downtown, a condo that allows puppies, a condo with a really really large closet. I want all my books moved out of my parent's house, into my gorgeous condo and onto custom bookshelves, with all the holes in the collection filled. I want to take a trip across the ocean to somewhere classic; London, Paris, Venice, Mallorca/Ibiza. And I want to have an RRSP plan, so that my parents will stop complaining when I tell them about the ridiculous amounts of money I'm paying for the gorgeous condo, and the book-shipping, and the overseas trip. 

That's your Horoscope for Today: a Sunday Shoe Story

Aries: Your addiction to spending money will rear its ugly head once again. Refrain from feeling any guilt and you'll get through it just fine. Paying off the minimum balance of your credit card is acceptable (just this once).

Taurus: The alignment of the stars predicts movement, so take a dance class. They say spinning in a circle will clear your head of anything but dizziness, and you're natural confidence will keep you from feeling like you're making a fool of yourself in public. 

Gemini: You'll butt heads with someone with just as much personality as you this month. If you play the situation right, you may just come out on top. Or maybe it'll be your other side that wins this time. 

Cancer: Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, or in your case just keep crab-walking. The end of the drama you've been dealing with lately will finally come, and you'll get to spend a week relaxing on the beach. 

Leo: Let the lion's pride roar this month. Speak your mind, and someone who's ear you've been trying to catch will finally listen, whether it's your boss, your best friend, or your crush. 

Virgo: Balancing your many responsibilities is becoming a bit much, so maybe it's time that you stopped juggling and straightened out your priorities. Once you let a few of those obligations drop you'll stop feeling so stretched. A margarita never hurt anyone either ;).

Libra: You'll take a trip this month. Regardless of whether you go across the street or across the seas new discoveries fill your psyche. Explore, learn, and make sure to bring your best friend back a present.

Scorpio: The god Apollo must have you in his eye this month, because you have an insatiable urge to create. You'll finally sit down to hammer out that song that's been ringing in your ear or that novel that's been kicking around your mind for years. Harness the god's influence and be inspired by whatever is your Muse!

Sagittarius: You've been in a rut lately, and feeling inspid about everything, but nothing can motivate you better than yourself. Have a spa day, go see a movie, or make a batch of triple chocolate brownies and see if you start feeling back to your old self.

Capricorn: Trust your instincts and don't go out with that guy who asks you out when you're taking the bus home from work. He might offer to pay for your coffee, but you'll end up paying in the long run. Invest in your relationships with your friends instead, since you know how to track them down if they try to steal your social insurance number.

Aquarius: You want change, and your stylist may go along with you, but think twice before you dye your hair fuschia. Your flightly nature will only regret it in a few days. 

Pisces: Now is the time for conversation, Pisces. Your dual nature wants you to examine both sides of every story, and to discover every detail behind a decision before you accept it. Just remember to examine your own mind as well as others', or you might be seen as judgmental. 

Fiery Fingertips

I’ve run out of straight up reds, oranges, and yellows to swatch, so I decided to try my hand at a more complicated manicure to fit the Aries/astrology/fire theme I have going this week. Thankfully I’m pretty good with a paintbrush already, or creating flames on my nails would have been really difficult. Though doing this pretty much killed one of my good paintbrushes, since nail polish does NOT come out of natural fibers like acrylic, tempera, or oil paint does… Next time: plastic fiber paintbrush! Besides the brush issues, creating this manicure was pretty easy. I just chose 3 complimentary shades of nail polish (in this case China Glaze “China Rouge,” “Life Preserver,” and “Happy Go Lucky”), did a double coat of the yellow as a base, then a layer of orange flames, then a layer of red flames, and a coat of Seche Vite topcoat to seal it all up. Starting with the lightest colour is necessary because lighter colours are obviously not going to show up as well over darker colours of polish (just like with normal paints), but either than that it’s a pretty straightforward manicure to do. Because I suck at painting with my left hand I only did my accent nail with flames on my right hand, but it still looked really neat breaking up the straight up yellow nails!

Burn Baby, Burn

We Aries like to stand out in a crowd, and since fire is our element of choice, what better style-spiration could we get?

The superhero trend is huge this summer (Loki is totally my summer crush), so showing your comic book nerd pride has never been cooler. Pairing a tshirt with a pair of stand-out patterned pants or coloured denim (sorry kids, leggings don't qualify) brings the outfit to a whole other level, and you can never go wrong with a pair of Jeffery Campbell Litas. Top it all off with a pair of too-cool-for-school Aviator shades, some bright nail polish and you're set. Don't bother with doing your hair, because the wilder it looks the better!

Even the red-carpet is feeling the heat with red being a hot hot hot colour that never really goes out of style. Dripping in gold sequins and studs is all the rage in lines like Balmain and Versace, who are never too shy to go bold. I have a feeling gold jewelry is coming back, since we're seeing more and more lines turn to it as a softer counterpoint to the extremes of black and silver punk-esque studs/spikes that were seen at Burberry last fall. And of course we have Prada's classic-car inspired shoes that feature flames of every colour. They might be a bit too hot to handle for some, but I'm sure my feet could handle the attention ;)

Burn Baby, Burn by riella03 featuring a coral nail polish

Roberto Cavalli twist dress, $3,754
T shirt, $17
Balmain skinny pants, $587
Balmain long silk skirt, $4,679
Jeffrey Campbell high heels, $198
Giuseppe Zanotti bracelet, $670
TOMS white shades, $139
RGB coral nail polish, $16

You Want Fireworks? I'll Show You Fireworks!

Some people say I have a temper. I’ve always said that I have a low-bullshit tolerance, and when that fails to convince people, I blame it on being born a typical fiery Aries. We Aries are dynamic characters; we’re the ones who will start the fires, whether it’s the destructive kind that burn down relationships or the kindling sparks of inspiration behind a brilliant project. I tend to try to channel my fires for good, but occasionally someone gets in my way, and they have to be dealt with accordingly. Like forest fires, my wrath can start with a single spark, and a single comment. The flames may lie waiting as simmering embers for years before I let the flames rage to consume everything in my path, even after you think that the forest has been saved. When we’re wronged we tend not to forgive easily, and like some forest fires, it’s better just to let us burn ourselves out or risk unforeseen collateral damage. Back away from the flames, roast some marshmallows, and let us run our course. You can’t truly control us, but sometimes we’ll decide to keep the fire to a single flame instead of an inferno. After all, the flickering lights and danger of the flame is what keeps the moths coming back for more.

*In no way do I condone actual arson. Destroy emotionally, not physically. It lasts longer!