Shibby is the new black.

So there was this email chain happening in my inbox last night... and the final 'reply to all' said "Shibby, man, thanks! :)"

I tend to think I'm a fairly hip, up-on-pop-culture kinda girl... however, it left me scratching my head, totally confused. I figured it was an inside joke of the last reply-er, and logged out and went to bed. This morning, again, i re-read the email, and couldn't help be bugged by the fact that I wasn't in on the joke and why it would be said on a reply to all of that particular nature.

So I googled... and I found this: Shibby

so there you go - pretty simple really....

But frankly I have a sinking feeling that this is the first step in a long path of 'losing my cool'... literally.

Fo'Shizzle.

NON-FASHION: Brilliance (UPDATE)

So maybe this blog ends up being about style and not about just plain fashion... and in that case today's winner for having huge "personal style" points (as opposed to wardrobe style - mostly because I simply don't know her, she might rock there too!), would be a girl called Moose. It makes me sad, since I visualize a large thick woman of questionable cute-ness, however! I did happen to catch a glimpse of her photo before she changed her icon to a 'moose' and she is actually super sassy!... I love her sense of humor and her writing style.

This post (note the time posted ! ha! yes I'm in 3rd grade) is one of two that I needed to share, and an idea which I fully plan to steal - no scratch that - *execute* because I get screwed all the time... I have a fun small car and those damn SUV-heads ... hear me now - I've got nothing against a pimped out Escalade, Escursion, Navigator, or LandRover - but really people - how does the word "compact" apply to a SUV? I'm not a prius driving hippy by any means, but i do drive the smallest car possible and when I get back to my car, and an SUV has slopped the lines of their 'compact' parking space over into *my* compact parking space... grrr.

thanx M!

maybe she IS stylie too!

Goth darn it! Not dressed up and somewhere to have gone...

San Francisco does love them some costumes. I am SO going to this next year. Anyone want to make great efforts to make sure we get in (people waited outside more than 2 hours this year...) and do fantastic costumes? And run around with me avoiding all of the freaks I used to know when i was goth and escaped from to toil in the real world?

Just let me know, and I'll put together your Edward Gorey 'primer' debriefing and we can go sip absinthe at Absinthe, brainstorm costumes (I'll sew), and discuss the finer points of the curstey (you girls), the tip of the hat (you boys) and when to drop one's lacey handkerchief (either).

PROJECT RUNWAY: Separated at Birth - part 5 of a series ("The Celebrity Math Edition")

Emmett (who as we know that in fashion he's is OUT and has been appropriately "Auf Wiedersehened") and Right Said Fred(the one on the left in the link)+ Brendan Fraser

Wrong Sad Emmett

PROJECT RUNWAY: Separated at Birth - part 4 of a series

Andre and Balkie Bartokomous

This is really why Andre shaved his head...."Don't be ridikalus!"
ha!
wonder if he can do that famous Balkie laugh.

oh Kohsin Lahhhry.....

all tucked in

ok. So I nearly forgot about this rant I was intending to make...

and in the meantime, I might have had a change of heart. hmmm....

Boots over the Jeans.

Let me see.... i think that the problem I was having with it is that no body I've seen in the real world has been doing it well.... then I saw this post (not too sure about the rest of this lady's blog - there's some random stuff there...) and the pictures (not what she has to say) were pretty good examples of "Glamour Do's" on the Jeans Tucked In front.

so. now .... what to do!

not going to roll this way, but it's nice to have a change of heart. I still think it looks a little BonJovi tho.

PROJECT RUNWAY: Separated at Birth - part 3 of a series

Daniel and Jesse Camp*




*winner of the first annual MTV's "I Want to be a VJ" contest and quite possibly the most freaked out waste of space since Macy Gray or more recently Crystal Parizanski contender for American Idol

If you don't have anything nice to say....

...put it in your blog! ha!

OK... So on the platform waiting for the train, it took all of my power not to scream out:

"Hey you - You, with the head-wrap... When you wear it with a business suit, it's no longer a 'do-rag, it's a DON'T rag!"

People, c'MON didn't anyone get cool clothes for Christmas? You couldn't have eaten so much over the holidays that you can't fit in the nice threads, really?

I'll try to hold my tongue and am definitely keeping my eye out for fun and interesting styles and threads to share with you - but the people gotta start wearing them first!

happy weekend!
and for heaven's sake - check the full length before you leave!

Mix and Mismatch

I am sorry I'm not able to be posting more about fantastic outfits lately... there hasn't been a lot to talk about!

(except that I've become a Camper shoe convert recently and happy to get a pair on post-holiday sale, but massively dissappointed that a fuller selection in my size won't be around until February).

So, I will send out another warning. Be careful with the mix and match! We know that mixing is bad when drinking even if you swear by the rhyme--

It's not just prints I'm speaking of, because if you do it wrong you just know... and if you do it really wrong, then you're channeling Bjork! (and likely look even cooler!)

The mixing and matching I'm talking about today is season mixing...

Examples of bad mixing..

lightweight print cotton shirt, tweed skirt, flip flop platform heels with rope soles
or
gloves, toasty wool turtleneck sweater, white cropped cotton pants and sandals
or
tank top, scarf, flowy gauchos and UGG (ugh!) boots

you get the idea.

Wear head to toe texture and thick warm fabrics in the winter and layers of light fabrics in the spring and summer (to avoid issues with 'see through' fabrics).

In the winter you can more likely get away with lighter weight fabrics for evening / formal dress, often chiffons, charmeuse, and various sheer and satiny looks, but it should always go with a winter friendly coat with a lot of coverage.

Have fun, Stay warm
...and Mix (your drinks, not your alcohols) very very carefully.

Wanderers of the Pampas - A call to arms and a fashion history lesson.

Names of my current 'favorite hated' look
....in order of kindness:

cropped pants (so generous)
split skirt
coulottes
knicker pants
and what they're commonly known as: gauchos

....in order to really communicate how I feel... I'm gonna have to use all caps.

ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE UGLY AND UNFLATTERING... THEY MAKE YOUR LEGS LOOK LIKE DUCK LEGS....!!!!!! UNLESS YOU ARE ENTERING THE 3RD-5TH GRADES OR ARE IN A PLAY ABOUT THE 70'S - PLEASE STOP WEARING GAUCHOS! NO SHOES MAKE THESE PANTS LOOK ANY BETTER THAN THEY ALREADY DON'T!

sheesh, even the name of them is bad sounding! I just feel that unless you are fairly slender with really long legs and wear exactly the right shoes (and frankly, I'm not sure what those are...) it's a look that I don't find to be particularly flattering. I mean really, they're styled after latin american rogue cowboys.

"....They've been called the wanderers of the Pampas. Gauchos have been known to wander the countryside as early as the 1600's, time in which the 'flatlands' were overpopulated by 'ci-marron' cattle, brought to South America by Pedro de Mendoza in 1538. The word 'gaucho' came into existence for the first time in 1790 to describe a very rough individual, with heavy manners, that would travel alone, so-metimes with a woman, having as his only baggage, a knife called 'facon'."

You can read more about the Gauchos and see pictures of their original garments here.

After polling friends, I seem to be a minority amongst them in my feeling about this trend, but this is my story and I'm sticking with it. I still take my original stand, and furthermore, I don't know if I want to look like a wandering cow herder....

I can't figure out what the draw is... Don't want to commit to a knee baring skirt? Seriously- if you want to wear something truly stylish that isn't showing your knees, how about a pleated knit skirt?

The lady/Gaucho wearing offender I saw on BART this morning was wearing a wool tweed pair - sort of a chestnut color with a cropped blazer jacket - making her look like she was fresh off the set of Oliver Twist, and on her feet (at the bottom of her bare skinny calves) were moccasins with small rubber wedge platforms and tassles. She went from potentially stylish to "70's librarian" in one easy step. A step that starts with Gauchos. I would probably find them somewhat stylish or appealing on a super-waif in a fashion magazine where costume-y is good and expected.... but as stylish as one can be, I think you would have to be quite the socialite, non-working, and all about posing...ahem I mean "lunching" to be able to pull of a successful look with gauchos.

Go ahead, call me a hater. meh.
I think I've wasted an appropriate amount of time on this.

hang in!
but watch that mirror!
happy weekend y'all

PROJECT RUNWAY: Separated at Birth - part 2 of a series

Nick and DJ Dimitri from Deee-lite.

I know it's true because Mere agrees!

Shooshing....

goggles
lifts
poles
boots
bindings
stocking hat
gloves.....

These are the things you should see around you if you are wearing a Ski Jacket.

So lady in the Gauchos and stiletto boots with the briefcase... look around. IF IT ISN'T SNOWING YOU SHOULDN'T BE WEARING A SKI JACKET.!!!!!!!!!!!!

PROJECT RUNWAY: Separated at Birth - part 1 of a series

Santino and General Zod (evil villain from Superman 2?)


thanks Mere!!

let's back up for a moment shall we?

I just realized with Mere's help that there was a BART moment that needs to be shared.

Dateline: 21:30pm - PST - December 31, 2005 - NYE 2K6

Went to a day party/open house on NYEve that ended up lasting until 9p then we got dropped at bart - which at first I thought would be mildly annoying, but OH MY GOD - that was the party! People were huffing on pot (doing a pretty good job of hotboxing the BART car), drinking straight from Champagne bottles as well as the requisite 'Big Gulps' you remember those - pour out 1/2 the soda and fill it with liquor...and lighting up the cancerstix right there on the train! So crazy, and that was all between Lafayette and Berkely - you should have seen what happed through the oakland stops! WOW. Those gangsta bitches with their bightly dyed/ironed hair and BOOTAY extroidinaire - throwing attitude I've never seen! SO CRAZY. That bart ride made my night. If only the commute to work could be so exciting...

It was amazing that none of the girls were wearing jackets when it was rainy and cold as f*&%!
There was mas glitter and tight tight tops, lots of slim designer denim and shoes destined to leave horrible blisters.

My favorite boys were a pair of faux badasses who'd shaved their heads for the night and sported some huge bling-esque CZ solitaires (2-3 carat size) earrings - in both ears. They had also donned some pretty good fake Gucci oversize shades. They wore designer jeans and light brown (suprisingly hip looking) square toe shoes and white striped or white based large checked shirts and menswear plaid sportcoats (god, i hate that word - it's better than blazer tho-). Over the top to be sure, but overall pretty great party gear.

Unfortunately, they must not have all gotten together to plan their ensembles, since their buddy was sadly sporting facial hair of the boy-band variety and a slighty better fitting suit than his friends - only it was burgundy... If I'm not mistaken, I think only Prince can get away with that. Thankfully, he didn't have any ruffles on or I might have had to introduce him to the 3rd rail at the next stop.

It was truly overwhelmingly fantastic and if I'd have had a camera, y'all would be looking at some fantastic pictures right now!! Hope you all had a stylish celebration and no shortage of libation, nicotine, and or your favorite hallucinogenic/psychotropic/narcotic pleasures!

Keep rollin' the way that you all do (stylin, of course!) right on through 2K6!!!

Really? 2K6 all ready!?!

Yes, the new year has snuck up on us leaving Christmas in the dust! I am not much for the holidays, frankly. I certainly make it a point to duck the whack-a-mole feeling that comes along every holiday season by just keeping the lowest profile possible. I tried this year by going to Mexico for the first half of December, which helped with all of the annoying materialistic 'shopping days' and holiday parties, which somehow seem to be SO much more fun for me when you just take away that word holiday or when the shopping is for myself!!

However, I am sad that I managed to miss December altogether - as far as the blog here was concerned... Ok - so enough with the bah-humbug re-cap. Let's talk about how I spend New Years day. Catching up on Project Runway - which started while in Mexico.

Wow. All I can say is - wow. If last years 'Project' was fantastic - this years is off to a PHENOMENAL start. It's easily as snarky now as it was in the final weeks last year. Santino is definitely this year's Jay. And that bawling on stage on live TV kid - Andrae? How is he still on there - he a) sucks and b) too much drama. If he were working for me and acted that way, he'd have been Auf Wiedersehen-ed long ago. And really, Tim Dunn? The chair of the Parson's school of design, could he have really gotten more uptight and disdainful of the stressed out pressured young 'designers'? Yes! apparently so. Tim.... tsk, tsk.

The 'designers' all seem to have pretty good fashion style - I do favor the outfits that Santino has been wearing so far, but his attitude kinda wrecks it for him. None of the girls really standout - fashion wise... (bitch factor wise, sure) except for maybe Lupe.

Definitely inspiring seeing some of the unique ensembles that the 'designers' are both wearing and creating. Worth the tube-time for sure!

Check out Project Runway online

and keep that attitude checked and that full length mirror in use!
have a fun, fashionable new year! This year will hopefully bring tales of a little more than the commute, but you'll definitely be kept apprised of the horrible and happening things we're seeing on the way to and from the 'salt mines' and much, much more!!