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Velvet and Bows

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October 3, 2011




Another monochromatic look for your perusal. This is clearly not today, because today was a balmy 72 earlier in the afternoon. When I wore this it didn’t even break 60 and I wanted so badly to not wear tights that I got out my over the knee boots.

I was just admiring the pretty leaves on Caitlin’s blog Re-Mix-Her. We don’t have any yet, probably because it’s been so warm. That’s nice but the leaves are falling without changing colors! Hopefully I can get to Central Park when they’ve turned and are not yet all over the ground. I think I have to actually request a permit too, so if anyone else wants their outfit photos done in Central Park I’ll take them. Might as well get use out of the permit and dragging the tripod around.

I’m attending a TJX event tomorrow at the store on 6th Ave. Lydia will be there too. Let me know if you’re going!

March Summer

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18 March 2011

There was a random heat wave day before Black and White week… when the temperature skyrocketed to 78 degrees.  I planned to wear tights (it was only supposed to hit 70) but as soon as I stepped outside I went right back in to change.  I got this dress last year at the end of summer so I’ve sort of been anxious to wear it more.  It was a really good deal from one of Rue La La’s Sunday Night Styleathons.  The only thing I don’t like about this dress is the waistband’s tendency to collapse if I don’t constantly pull it straight.  I guess that’s what belts are for!

I sort of feel like I should be going to a music festival in this outfit… maybe I actually will this summer?

Last Minute Change

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25 March 2011

I’m wearing most of this, I swear, I just switched out the skirt last minute for a new one I got at J.Crew for $19.99 during the ice storm on Wednesday (seriously, I had to seek shelter).  The new skirt is a washed black cargo, similar to this but chino instead of denim.  It also looks a little less ragged and grey than my old Urban Outfitters skirt, which is a definite improvement.

This is the same scarf necklace that I wore here.  It looks very different depending on the way I tie it and I really enjoyed the versatility.  I may borrow it again for the weekend!

This week has made me want to revisit the idea of turning this into a black and white photography only blog.  I really really like black and white photos.

Join us for the last day?  Yesterday Lydia wore another fab skirt she made!

ken + dana Jewelry and Alexander Wang Sweater

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22 March 2011

This is one of my favorite sweaters because it’s loose and comfortable… and it can double as a dress with a good slip dress under it! It’s also one of my only sweaters. I always tend to think they’re itchy, so I hardly ever purchase any. But I have to admit, Alexander Wang does a pretty good knit. This one has such a beautiful finish in person.

Trying to get some close up photos of my bracelet.  Definitely failed in the close department, but I liked how this one turned out!  I get to pick free jewelry from my internship and this bracelet is a strong contender.  I like its darkly romantic vibe.  It’s also called the Dream Weaver bracelet which you know… just sounds cool.  What do you think?  See it in color on flickr.

Alexander Wang sweater dress, H&M dress underneath, Assets by Sara Blakely tights, Jeffrey Campbell boots, ken + dana necklace and bracelet.

FBFF & Winter Outerwear: Belted Coat

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This week for FBFF Katy says:
Finding the balance – I think this is one of the hardest things for us as bloggers to deal with. How do you do it all and still live, work and play as you should?
1. When it comes to prioritizing your life, in what place does blogging fall?
Blogging is important to me but I do occasionally skip posting if I’m really pressed for time.  I like to keep up with blogs and social media because I do digital media (sales & marketing dept.) for a jewelry company.  It’s important for me to be on the cutting edge of what’s happening on the web, so I feel like I can sometimes push off other things in order to do blog things.

2. We all wish we had more free time to dedicate to blogging and all it entails. What are your tricks for taking advantage of the time you do have to be as productive as possible?
I do multiple things at once whenever I’m on a computer… which actually isn’t the case when I’m not doing work on a computer.  When I’m writing posts for my blog I’m usually also reading other blogs, editing photos, online shopping, gchatting people, responding to emails, playing Tiny Wings on my phone, watching Bones, cooking, eating…

3. Have you discovered any short-cuts that makes blogging easier or more time efficient?
I always queue posts for the next day, usually for 10am.  I also try to reply to comments on my phone when I have a little time.  I’ve tried to reply with email but I don’t think it works.  That would probably help me though so I should try it again!

4. Do you have an editorial calendar or something similar that helps you plan ahead?
I have a rough schedule that I’m trying out, posting Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday.  Before I joined FBFF I used to post Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, which is still my favorite schedule.  Although I do have a rough idea of when I’ll post photos

5. If time wasn’t an issue what you would be doing on your blog/for your blog that you aren’t doing now?
I would probably read more blogs actually, not do anything more with my blog.  I’m always lamenting that I don’t even have enough time for the blogs I read now and I think I only follow between 100 and 150 blogs total.  There are so many great blogs I wish I had time to read daily or even weekly!

Interested in joining FBFF by ModlyChic?

Email katy_rose1@yahoo.com or join the FBFF Google Group!

26 Feb 2011

I don’t have a lot of photos from this day because I was running out somewhere and it was a little dark and cloudy.  These are from so long ago that snow was on the ground.  Sorry, time management and all (that’s why this post is a two-for-one!).  I’ve been less good with posting on my schedule lately.

I’ve been very into black and navy lately, not exactly sure why.  This is one of my lightest winter coats and I actually wear it most in October and March… not exactly the dead of winter!  My other winter outwear posts are Vintage, Snow Falling, Three Old Favorites, Snowstorm of the Week, and Black and White.  Soon hopefully I’ll be posting about spring outerwear?  If the rain lets up!

P.S. I Don’t Like This Outfit

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Tuesday 25 Jan 2011

Okay: first, two questions.

  1. Is my page loading annoyingly slow?
  2. Is my favicon working for you?

I think my theme is too fussy as well, I’m going to try to streamline so again, beware the possible CSS throwing up all over the page.

Also, Lyddie from Chic on the Cheap has declared it yellow week.  (But I’m wearing red on Friday to raise awareness for heart disease for a style blogger Go Red For Women, organized by Andie.)  I’m totally wearing yellow tomorrow, I would have today except I never actually got dressed.  Ice storms and all, you know.  If we get enough ice tonight I might really skate on the street tomorrow, I haven’t done that in years.

So I really really don’t like this outfit, I almost didn’t post it.  I just… don’t like it.  I don’t know if the proportions are off, or I don’t really like the colors… it’s just… eh.  Okay, not great, not even really styled, just…  I don’t even know why I don’t like it, just that I really really really don’t.  They liked it at the endodontist though, told me I should go into fashion.  I wish I was still living in Japan, dental work is so much more affordable there.    I kind of want to fly back to get a crown, it would only be marginally more expensive and I would get a trip out of it.  If I didn’t go shopping I would just about break even, maybe $100 more.  Or I could just forego the crown and never use my left teeth again?

If you haven’t noticed I’ve been in a bit of a style slump lately (at least I feel like it) for practically all of January.  Inspire me?  What has been inspiring you lately?

I wish you more inspiration than I have as you finish out the week!

Love,

Alex

Moth (Anthropologie) open cardigan, Free People dress (super cheapie from Rue La La, the FP sales are amazing when the good stuff isn’t already sold out), HUE tights, Jeffrey Campbell boots.

Sunlight Through the Trees

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Worn on Thursday 23 Dec 2010 – Christmas Eve Eve

So I forgot about these photos from a few days before Christmas.  I was at the airport at 5am… blah.  Not the earliest flight I’d ever taken but definitely the earliest in a long time.  Usually if I’m up at 4am it means I never went to sleep, it was a bit odd getting up without the sun!  Soo sooooo dark!

For a different look I folded down the top of the my over the knee boots.  And also to make getting through airport security easier, shoe removal in the US ugh.  Scarf removal too, I forgot about my tiny little scarf and I had to go back and send it through to be X-rayed!

Anthropologie sweater, Old Navy shirt (under there somewhere), BGD/Urban Outfitters skirt, Assets tights, Jeffrey Campbell boots.

Christmas Eve Dramatic in Alexander Wang

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Worn on Friday 24 Dec 2010

Christmas Eve is always a casual, jeans kind of affair… for everyone but me, of course!  I usually wear a dress and some sky high heels or something.  I tried to keep it a little more casual this year by wearing boots.  I really wanted to wear my new dress and I thought really, why not?  You can do it!

I got this dress at the Alexander Wang sample sale last week, which wasn’t nearly as chaotic as expected.  Maybe the news about no shoes and bags made it less of a must-go affair.  There were some fabulously good deals though, especially on T!  I wanted more dresses but sadly all the others would have been impossible to take in in the chest due to the ruching/draping.  And let me tell you that they definitely would have had to be taken in at least two inches on me.  They were all so lovely too.  Sigh.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday full of your favorite things!  I’m hoping I’ll be able to get back, so many airports are closed/closing, but I do love a good blizzard!!

Alexander Wang dress, LOFT belt, Assets tights, Jeffrey Campbell boots.

Serious Shopping

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Worn on Saturday 18 Dec 2010

Last Saturday I went on a grand adventure!  I was doing some really serious shopping, so I dressed for comfort and ease.  In the winter if I know I’ll be really shopping my favorite thing to wear is a silk shirt (breathable and good at any temperature) and a light sweater for warmth.  And I always wear separates and a skirt if I’m going to a sample sale (Alexander Wang!!!) because I’ll be trying on clothes and a dress/pants aren’t that practical. 

I even put the cross-body strap on my bag so I could carry it hands- (arms-?)free if I needed to.  It always flips over in the front when it’s too heavy, I guess I had too much stuff in it! 

This shirt is actually an early Christmas present from my cousins, thank you, I love it!!! 

This is the little scarf I always have on my bag.  It’s an ancient (and by ancient I mean circa 2006/2007) Coach scarf that I used to wear in my hair all the time.  It’s been living on one bag or another for about the past year though. 

I also visited Le Labo in Nolita and got a freshly blended perfume!  I got a sample from Lucky Scent and adored it so I went to get a 1.7 oz from the New York store.  I would have loved to get photos of the inside of the store, very cool and old school apothecary style!  I leave you with a few photos of Vetiver 46:

Help: Wide Angle Lens Distortion

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I don’t know about you, but wide angle lens distortion is a frequent issue for me.  In fact, it’s probably the #1 problem I have with photos and very difficult to see on an LCD.  So what is wide angle lens distortion?  It’s a form of perception distortion and I think Wikipedia does a better job explaining than me, but essentially it’s caused by the distance and angle at which an image is captured.  If you’re shooting with a normal lens (generally 50 mm for digital SLR) lens distortion will be a lot less of a problem.  I adore my 50 mm, it produces much sharper and better focused images… but it isn’t practical for my style blog photos because I have to be so far away from the camera to get a head-to-toe shot.  So I use my kit standard telephoto lens.  It’s not that good, I know, but I think most of us use these because better glass is so cost prohibitive.

The above photos have thankfully been corrected, but let’s see the original second photo (it’s been cropped and the exposure corrected (experiment with automatic settings gone wrong) but is otherwise untouched):

Whoaaaa.  Yikes.  See the distortion?  It’s my own fault really, I should be more careful not to place the camera badly.  Then I wouldn’t have a tiny little head and a huuuuuge body.  The lens was definitely tilting up toward me when I took this photo, accounting for the majority of of the tiny-head-huge-body problem.  And I was using the 18-55mm at 28 mm, which is definitely at the low end and also contributing to the distortion.

So how do we fix this?

I recently discovered PTLens after downloading and messing around with a bunch of other plugins I didn’t really like.  PTLens is a $25 standalone app (trial version for 10 photos is free!) and plugin for Aperture/Photoshop/iPhoto.  I’ve been using it with Aperture, it pops up nicely within the application.  It’s way worth the money for me, I take a lot of photos of buildings when I’m traveling and distortion is very evident on all those straight lines.  If you take photos indoors and your walls/windows/doors ever look crooked PTLens will save you there too.  PTLens has a database of lenses and their correction calibrations, all you have to do is select your lens and hit OK:

It’ll pick up the camera make and model, and the lens focal length for you.

Just a note: it’s better to work off an uncropped image.  I worked off the original but forgot to get a screenshot, so I reopened the cropped finished image in PTLens and fine-tuned the rotation, giving you the above screenshot.  The grid function in PTLens is far superior than Aperture’s straighten grid (at least to me), so that’s another point for PTLens.

So thankful for this app!  If you frequently have issues with distortion too then PTLens is way worth it!