Inspiration Interlude: vintage nightgowns

MPA Photographics

While I’m hard at work preparing for some pretty cool blog posts to come, I wanted to fill the meantime with some outfit inspiration pictures that I took with Mac Moss of MPA Photographics. Usually on this blog, I post pictures of outfits that are more or less meant to be worn in a public sphere then follow with written advice and commentary on how I styled the look. But part of my focus is to incorporate aspirations of outfit goals and other things I could only dream of wearing. I believe that inspiration posts are absolutely necessary for helping create a certain vision or aesthetic. And hey, a girl can dream, right?

I have in my possession a secret drawer of gorgeous nightgowns I’ve accumulated, some vintage and new. I’m in love with the delicate details each gown has – the silky, fine fabric, the dainty lace, the soft colors. But like most things we hold in highest favor, I rarely ever use the gowns for fear of damaging them somehow. How is it that the more we love something, the less likely we are to wear it? My excuse for never wearing these nightgowns is the fact that when it comes to nightwear, all my pajamas are a minimum of five years old and are selected only for maximum coziness. Plus, I hardly feel like being fashionable when I’m drooling in my sleep.

If I could ever muster the talent to design fashion, I would totally take inspiration for daywear dresses from nightgowns. They are incredibly comfortable and to me, they are the epitome of sexy. When I came up with the name “Harlequin” for a fashion blog, I kind of had these kinds of images in mind. The name does seem to resonate with lingerie, but it also matched my ideal for Haute Couture/Runway wear.

I'm very excited to announce that I will be posting exclusive outtakes of my shoot with Mac on my Instagram - be sure to follow me there to check them out in the very near future!

I don’t want to tease too many details, but right now I am assembling my next blog series where I'll be incorporating a specific theme throughout - and there are some other things, other 'projects' that I can't wait to unveil. Stay tuned!

In and Out of Focus

top - banana republic (thrifted), skirt - j.crew factory, tights - new york & company, necklace - vintage

 You'll have to forgive me because I'm still learning the in's and out of my new birthday present, the tripod. These shots were mainly experimental on both the aspects of angling and camera settings. But I think I have a better grasp than what I started out with - somehow in my mind, I thought that since I now have my own camera and tripod the laws of science would bend for me but lighting is still the greatest foe of the photography world....I have not yet mastered that.

In happy news, I ended my insane six classes this semester with all A's and a B in Biology (I told you, science and I aren't friends...) and decided to regroup before I embarked on summer classes to finish up my degree. Plus, I thought this would be an opportune time to take this blog places where I would like to see it go, to grow exponentially and really have time to devote to these virtues.

It's wonderful to breathe again. But even more, it's wonderful to feel aspirations again. When we have countless obligations, what we really want to do for ourselves becomes tragically trampled - especially when what we want to do is better ourselves, or tend to our own happiness and well being. I get truly captivated by the ideas I come up with on a whim. It's a wonderful thing to feel like, "hey! I can do this and it would be cool!" 

I have tutorials upon tutorials to guide me through better portrait taking. This really reflects just how much emphasis I'm putting on myself these days - I can now fully rely on just myself to get what I need done and that's much safer. If I believe in myself, I should be able to rely on myself. It feels like for most of my journey in this blog, one or other element has been off balance in this scale where equilibrium is success. More proof that everything in life isn't handed to you, you have to build upon something to become greater. 

Being 20 feels strange. For the build up to my birthday, I did my best to avoid thinking of it for the duration. It's hard to express my feelings towards turning this age, but I struggle with age and numbers that determine maturity. 

Just waiting on the weather to improve before I experiment with the tripod and camera, i.e. the tools of my new trade.

-H. 

Sun & Moon

scarf, blouse, belt - thrifted, skirt - banana republic, earrings - vintage

So I recently wrote a story for one of my classes about a guy that sees butterflies

No seriously. This was my second story due for an assignment, my first one I was proud with, but didn't feel it was necessarily a "break through" - ie didn't really do what crazy things run through my mind on a daily basis much justice. Sometimes I humor myself and pretend I know what I'm doing, using intuition as my own critic.

So I wrote this story, right? It was about this crazy guy who hallucinates, written from his point of view. You really can't decipher what's real and what's not (or at least, I like to think.) I'm very drawn to psychedelic things thanks to my renewed obsession fascination with the Led Zeppelin film "The Song Remains the Same" and I decided to jump in head first. 

So the day it's due, and we're all critiquing each others stories (me with my pink pen of doom) and I see my story being passed around and I get to briefly take a glimpse...and I see it covered in writing from all different handwriting. Ugh. Fine then, I think to myself. Some things work and some don't. I made a mental note to scrap the idea entirely. I was incredibly worried this was too specific of a theme for a general audience - not everyone finds what weird things I find interesting. 

A day passes and I get my story back. Turns out the writing all over the page wasn't endless criticism, like I thought. It was actually praise! Everyone loved it! I was floating on cloud nine the rest of my day, even took the next class to reread the comments people made. If there's been one immediate affect this writing class has had on me, it's coming face to face with my worst demon, even more than writer's block - the fear of having my baby torn apart and ridiculed. This is yet another aspect I've fully emerged myself into, in hopes of breaking this habit - I practically throw my writing to anyone with eyes. I used to be so secretive. It's a great feeling. 

I tell this story not to "brag" of any writing skill I might possess, but rather, to update on a thought I posed a while ago. I opened up, honestly for the first time ever on this blog, about some rather personal feelings I was battling with - mostly about inadequacies and struggling with a real vision for my artistic endeavors. I'm nearing very important life deadlines, mostly regarding college and career choices. I'm at my absolute wit's end with decision making (god knows I'm horrible at it...I think I found a demon to challenge that other one...) and I'm telling you all this to explain the beauty of falling so low you can't fall any further. At this point, all you have is instinct and primal need. And I thought, what's my absolute most basic need? Writing. I want to do nothing more in life than write to my little heart's content. 

So not only is this a story of self discovery, but listening to your heart. It took me a while to find my own voice, especially with the "writing" medium. I took a lifeline and wrote about something uniquely inherent to myself and bit the bullet with my fear of criticism. I know I'm going to mess up in the future and write a less than perfect story, even to myself, but at least for now, I know what I'm capable of and have a steadier eye on the prize.

Oh, and the look today. SCARF. Love it. I love sun and moon things, saw this scarf, and have been planning a number of ways to wear it and show it off. Also, yellow colorblocking. Funnily enough, I dislike the color yellow on a regular basis, but the flow of colors and the spectrum I'm working with were appealing enough.

Thank goodness for swanky neighborhoods with fountains in the middle of the road.

-h.

Sometimes as I'm editing my photos, I feel like my cat is watching, so I let him do the decision making for me. He doesn't approve. 

Makeover!

 shirt - forever 21 (old), skirt - family vintage, belt - borrowed, scarf - borrowed, earrings - vintage buttons

Notice anything different? Unless your powers of observation are minimal, I CUTTED ALL MY HAIRSES OFF.

I've finally joined the ranks of Twiggy, 1950's Audrey Hepburn, Edie Sedgwick, Mia Farrow and other 60's mod era fashion icons and hacked off my follicles. I hate to use cliche words such as "empowering" but I really do feel so liberated with short hair. I donated that alarmingly heavy pony tail to Locks of Love so someone in need can have the hair I once babied.

I've always been in love with a woman who could pull off short hair (see list of style icons I adore listed above) I always worried I'd come off too manly, because of my large nose... 3 days later and I don't regret a thing except that I didn't do it sooner. It's changed my view of the beauty standards. I'm embracing it. I've been told time and time again (though the compliment never gets old) that I favor Emma Watson. I completely adored her makeover, and as we all know, every good artist copies, every great artist steals. How could you not love her with short hair?! Too many girls feel limited to having long hair because it's safe. That's been the reoccuring theme I've heard among reactions to my dramatic makeover: "Oh I wish I could pull off short hair!" YES YOU CAN! Just do your research, and try it! It'll always grow back. What was really helpful for me, and it might be a fun experience for anyone who wants to just play around, is this virtual makeover site from InStyle that allowed me to try out several pixie cuts. It's fun just to play around with!

My mom made me promise that when I have short hair, I must wear lots and lots of dangle-y earrings. I have no problems with this. (image: emma-watson.net)

Ok, enough about hair, let me tell you about the outfit: did it ring any bells? This was an impromptu look heading out the door... The inspiration is quite literal and taken from Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Remember when she hacked off all her hair? Yeah, that's exactly how I felt after I cut all mine off.  Roman Holiday is one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn films.

(image: en.wikipedia.org)

I hope to continue updating regularly again. Classes have taken over my life, and I thoroughly miss my "me time" that photoshoots provide. xx

-h.

My Inner Child

top - Urban Outfitters, tank - hand-me-down, pants - thrifted, shoes - urban outfitters, belt & necklace - vintage, ring - gifted

Much like the title implies, this shoot was meant to release my inner child. I wanted to capture a childlike sense of wonder, innocence, and a playful spirit. These were taken at a Children's Muriel in a part of town I'm particularly fond of. I grew up around this area, so there's a double meaning for invoking the kid in me. Who doesn't enjoy balloons and butterflies? While typically I tend to flock towards the darker things, sometimes you need to learn to laugh at yourself. Reminds me of a quote, in paraphrase "blessed is the man who laughs at himself, for he shall be forever amused."

It is no secret I have a predilection for butterflies, which tends to clash with my consuming bug-phobia (which a quick consultation of google search has taught me this condition is called "entomophobia"), which somehow excludes them. My mom gave me this ring for my birthday.

Releasing your inner child is an understated virtue that rarely receives attention or value - have you ever studied and watched a child play? They're so creative. I once babysat a little girl while I was in high school, she was absolutely adorable. While babysitting, she wanted to play barbies with me. I felt so inadequate - in my time growing up, I had forgotten how to play with toys, while she quickly invented personalities, background history, scenarios, and situations so easily. I made the doll talk how I would, react how I would, think how I would, while she acted with ease. It was a little tragic to me, realizing how much time and maturity had changed me.

I like to listen to songs while I'm getting dressed for a photo shoot to help channel me into the moment, songs that inspire a look. The song I listened to for this look I think makes for a good accompaniment, you've been warned, it's a nice flash back. Listen here if you'd like, embedding was disabled :)


Side note: that balloon is still lurking around my house! these foil balloons take weeks to deflate! I'm so used to the rubber ones that pop so easily...

-H.

Morning comes in paradise, morning comes in light

It's been a busy two weeks and my usual photographer was out busy. But luckily a friend offered to shoot me on a nice day in the park! Thanks to Heather Ferguson for these pictures, they're amazing! She has some amazing photography and it was so nice of her to do this for me. Her flickr is here, so check it out! Also, that squirrel picture is adorable, he was our little audience the whole time (I think I'm turning into Snow White.) There's a few more pictures over at her flickr as well, I didn't want to overload, but it's nice to have options for which picture to use, because they all turned out stunning.

Dress - Urban Outfitters, Socks - Urban Outfitters, Shoes - nine west (borrowed), Jewelry - vintage/family, hat - target
Photos copyright Heather Ferguson - http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherferguson/

Well, it seems I don't ever go without a piece of family jewelry - I actually made this necklace a long time ago. It was my great grandmother's beads and I didn't have enough so I strung the few I had and made the clasp the pendant.

The dress was actually my graduation dress in 2010. I lovelovelove the back though, and me + floral anything = best friends.

The shoes are actually borrowed and a size too big, thus why socks were involved to help keep them on my feet.

~

In other news, I just finished "Diary" - and um, wow. Not my favorite of his, but certainly a quick and fascinating read. Just started on "Brave New World" for my next summer reading! Anyone want to join me?

-H.

Look #5 - I stole Dorothy's ruby slippers

bustier - Urban Outfitters (gifted), skirt - gifted, tights - gifted, shoes - shoe carnival, jewelry - gifted, jcpenny's, hat - vintage, bag - t.j.maxx

So after finally coming down from my high of being on the front page of Chictopia (!!!!!!!), I bring you all another floral inspired, vintage look! The hat was my mother's. I've reflected on the past few looks recently and considered just how many things are vintage from my mother!

I know I exceeded the necessary amount of photos per look, but I was extremely excited about this look, and I hope you're all as pleased with it as I am. I'm a sucker for red lips & lace over eyes. Very seductive, no?

-h.