DIY zipper belt

i don't think i was alone when miss stylish wanderer posted this outfit a couple weeks ago and i gasped at how chic and clever her homemade belt was! a simple idea well-executed.
and that is how this DIY was inspired. here is my little tutorial if anyone is interested. excuse the sickly yellow lighting of my bedroom.

what you'll need:

• several zippers, depending on how much hardware you want (i used 3 double ended 26" black zippers)
• a band of 2-3" wide elastic measured around your waist
• wide hook&eye closures or some other way of fastening the belt... snap buttons would probably work well too

arrange the zippers along the elastic band and pin to hold


sew 'em down. as you can see the foot on my sewing machine fixs EXACTLY between the space between two zippers... but sometimes (when you hit the ends of the zippers, where the metal pieces are a bit wider) it helps to keep the foot up as you sew through.


hand sew on your fasteners


DONE!
oh, i also used a few pieces of scrap fabric to line the edge of the elastic to keep it from looking too sloppy.

cutoffs: Old Navy, random flowy top, sandals Urban Outfitters, handmade belt

not athletic

...and ive got white embroidery, tulle, and sequins to prove it.



this shirt i got a couple years ago for free (along with a bunch of mostly unflattering things) when i was doing some promotional work for adidas. it's made out of this really stiff cotton and originally had sweatband-ish linings on the sleeves and collar... ick. i never really got rid of it though... pretty sure i was just hanging on to the red, yellow, and green (gotta have some rasta in my closet, haha, you know?) i recently finally got around to tailoring it down and adding some black sequins along the stripes to jazz it up.

reworked adidas shirt, old old F21 dress worn as a skirt, H&M flats, F21 belt

i feel like i've been kinda absent lately from the blog world lately... my apologies, been knee deep in vocab words, quantitative comparisons, caffeine, and DIY projects. i have today off work though, so i thought i'd squeeze a post in =)

bold prints

my crowded necklace rack and a new pair of peeptoe pumps ($25!! thank you marshalls)
an editorial from an old UK Vogue (via fotodecadent via nothing but a pack of cards)
another lovely Sartorialist shot
cool image from the UC Berkeley walkout that took place yesterday morning

also, thank you to Maria for putting me on Chicisimo =)

it's friday afternoon!!! hello weekend, i welcome you with open arms

blue and gold, baby

i am dead tired... much less sleep + sitting at a desk and typing for 8 hours + looking at the long list of things i still need to get done today = exhaustion.
at least the sun is out today! real quick, here was my sunday outfit --

sunglasses and gold sequined top: F21, skirt: Express, peeptoe booties: Jeffery Campbell, purse: thrifted

unconsciously channeling some Cal spirit in my outfit =) also- just finalized my plans to be back up in Berkeley over Homecoming weekend for the USC football game and Lovevolution in San Francisco! (haha, i really miss the Bay, if you couldn't already tell)

future love

i know right? who the heck wears velvet out in 90 degree weather??
this skirt is actually converted from an old, maybe vintage, pair of baggy pj shorts i found lol. i needed some new textures in my closet so i kept it, snipped the crotch, and made it into a skirt! (i sort of feel like a figure skater, haha) most of my memories of velvet clothing were of conservative concert dresses i used to wear for piano recitals, eek. but i can see myself wearing this with some tights and boots once it gets chilly.
oh yea, and i loveeee this necklace

the lighting in the first photo was a complete accident, but i sort of like how it washes everything out and all you end up seeing is the velvet...

tank top and sandals: Old Navy, necklace from a street fair in New Orleans, skirt: secondhand reworked

i have re-fallen in love with Pride and Prejudice. i've been just playing it in the background as i work on sewing/DIY projects if anything just for the beautiful music and pausing to watch the scenes when Darcy pronounces his love for her. ahhh, i'm such a closet sap.

happy weekend!!

i'm blue, da ba de

so i've been going a little sewing machine happy lately. found this fabulous/heinous thing while killing time at the goodwill in woodland hills last weekend.

...chopped off the legs, arms, removed the shoulder pads and the matchy-matchy belt and now have i have a new romper! although it's bordering on a being little too blue, i love the silky, shiny print makes me feel like i'm wearing a fancy version of some pj's =)

and as much as i'm looking forward to full on fall being here, i kind of wish the sun would stick around for it too. i know... you can never have it all.

that's all. have a fabulous day.

thrifted romper, F21 belt

last days in taiwan...

these are way overdue... at first i just never got around to it w/ the busy-ness of going to Hong Kong and then coming back to California... then i actually just forgot. and then my dear Taiwan friend Beverly left a video on my facebook wall =) and got me thinking of and missing Taiwan all over again.
anyways, i thought i'd share some photos from my last few days in Taiwan aka how to tour Taipei in 48 hours or less (sorry some of these are blurry)


Taipei 101 at night -tallest building in the world (although soon to be beat by Dubai) -in Chinese it basically says go taiwan! lol, so much national pride




lunch at the original Ding Tai Fung, basically the best little buns in the world


imitating Monsters Inc at the Pixar exhibit at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum


C.K.S. Memorial Hall




the Valentine's Bridge in Danshui

MRT subway bridge over Jiantan

bugaboo

casual day, quick post. wore this out to run errands around town.
oh yea, and check out the new header... although i can't figure out how to get rid of that outline...

yesterday i came across this word and subsequent definition in my GRE book:

bugaboo n. bugbear

what??? (apparently though, a bugbear is an 'object of baseless terror') um, i kind of love it, sounds so goofy. i'm gonna try to incorporate it into my vocab as much as possible now, just to hear myself say "bugaboo" and know it's not another word i made up

tank: Zara, jeans: secondhand DIY (if you can call unartistic slashing a DIY), booties: H&M, headband: sister's

stop this train

so i just got back to socal from a lovely long weekend in the Bay... i am exhausted and still a bit sick, but mostly guilty that it's been 6 days since i've posted on this thing. in my defense, i've been busy and sick, sometimes just one or the other but mostly both. anyways, here's my weekend in a photographic nutshell!













seeing old friends and classmates -- beat the clock -- BART prices going up -- pho at Oakland koreatown -- hitting up the Berkeley Big Four (bars) in two nights (yep that’s really all there is) -- 21st birthdays -- brunch at Sunshine Café -- game day tailgating -- beating Maryland’s ass 52-13 -- chocolate dipped churros and other little tapas at Cesars -- Tahoe sun -- more California fires -- airborne, fever, aspirin -- not fishing =( -- driving through Labor Day traffic -- grooving to John and India -- quoting Doug from Up

sand crabs

spent yesterday playing with sand crabs on a little beach in Santa Barbara, and today playing with tadpoles while hiking through Point Mugu. funny how these little critters can hold so much fascination for us.
had some Creole for lunch in Santa Barbara at this cute little place by State Street -made me miss New Orleans =)


flash fried crawfish poboys

caftan: vintage, DIY zipper fringe necklace, sandals: Urban Outfitters