A Life Lived in Fear is A Life Half Lived

I thought I’d look for advice this week on two items in my closet that I have been wanting to wear but not quite sure how to pull them off.

The first is a skirt I got from Urban Outfitters. It’s white with adorable pleats and it’s knee length. I have no idea what to do for a top or how dressy to do shoes.

The second is a dress I loved from Cream Vintage that I had altered shorter to knee length and short sleeves. Those guys are great at alterations! I’m stuck with accessories on this dress (does it need any?) and what kind of shoes to wear.

Let me know what you think in the comments! I’ll be sure to post when I wear these items with your suggestions, so feel free to control my (fashion) life!

You may be missing my outfit posts, but this week you get to do something even better – make a decision for me!

That’s right, I’m crowdsourcing* my next haircut. I’ve found the following photos of celebs whose hair I really like, and you get to help me pick which one I’m going to do! It’s time for a change, and I have a fantastic stylist, so these are all great options.

*I’m not really crowdsourcing my hair, are you crazy? I’ll just see what everyone picks and then decide.

Cameron Diaz (from Knight and Day)

The one thing I really liked about this movie was Cameron’s hair. She has some major layering that works as bangs when pulled back, or choppy fun when down.

Emma Watson

This is 100% return to the pixie cut I had a few years back, but I think this is even shorter. When she cut her hair it reminded me how fun it is to go that short. Plus, I would probably get about 30 minutes more sleep because I wouldn’t have to do anything to style my hair.

Olivia Wilde

No, not the Tron: Legacy version (although that would be awesome). Olivia’s hair has been long lately with some great bangs that aren’t too heavy. I did bangs recently and seeing Olivia’s style makes me want to give it another go.

David Tennant

It seems that the more I think about it, the more I was serious about it. No, I wouldn’t have sideburns, but longish-short hair that is super spiky looks really fun. I think my stylist can make a girl version of it.

Trinity

I always think of my old stand-by hair style, Trinity from The Matrix, when I want to cut my hair off. I know it’s dated but it’s short, it can be bad ass slicked back, and I can grow it out easily.

So tell me what you think – vote!

It’s no secret that I adore Doctor Who. If you’d ask me who I would end up doing a Fashion Friday about, my first guess would be David Tennant. Not because he’s especially stylish, but I am kinda considering cutting my hair like his. And he’s a hottie.

Okay, so I think I’m in love with David Tennant. I got distracted for about an hour while looking through photos to post. And I do want to wear that suit. Moving on…

But I’m actually starting to fashion crush on Karen Gillan now that I’m caught up on the show. She is one fiery ginger who is the most stylish companion that has ever travelled with the Doctor. Don’t worry if you’re not a Who fan – although you should be – because I’m here to talk about her outfits. Karen Gillan plays Amy Pond, who is full of attitude and sass.

She wears a lot of short skirts and shorts, but often pairs tights with them. One of my favorite outfits is simply a red hoodie with a black skirt with some kick ass high top Converse, using the short skirt to really play up her legs. Now I want those Converse. I think I’ll just steal the entire outfit.

Karen is gorgeous off Who too. Her hair is beautiful and it takes a brave woman, redhead or not, to wear matte red lipstick. I can’t wait to see what she wears in the upcoming season!

This is probably the biggest Fashion Friday I’ll get to write, because I had the pleasure of being a model for the day!

I volunteered to be a part of the Texas 4000 Fashion Show charity event on March 31, 2011. They host it every year to raise money for their ride against cancer from Texas to Alaska. And that’s pretty far, y’all.

They partner with 2nd Street District stores, including BoConcept, Gallery D, and Plain Ivey Jane, to showcase fashion from each store and include silent auctions. A pretty good event all around.

It was a personal challenge for me to participate because the thought of being in a fashion show was pretty terrifying. I have no problem getting on stage now thanks to Thrill the World, but somehow the thought of walking in a square seemed much worse.

I visited Gallery D, where I’d get my outfit, about an hour before the show. The first few choices were very cute and fun just trying them on. We went through some selections and settled on a tank top and skirt combo. I really liked the outfit but I was nervous about the tank because it didn’t fit me very well.

I brought about four pairs of shoes with me in a bag (that I ended up babysitting all evening) because I wasn’t sure what my outfit would look like. When I picked the right shoes, though, it pulled the outfit together, and I was off to do hair and makeup.

The group of models I was with ended up being about 12 girls. There were many more coming later representing different stores. We walked down together and got our hair done at Suede Salon. We all had gorgeous braids and messy buns, which when I got home ended up being about 30 bobby pins to hold it together. We had expected to get our makeup done there but it didn’t work out, and through some quick thinking by the organizer we went to Evie Evan.

Photo by Adored Austin

When we got back to BoConcept to talk about our walking order, my group discovered that two of us, myself one of them, had the same outfit. We ran back to Gallery D and picked out something to wear. (It later turned out we did it again, and had another change, but everyone looked fabulous in the end!)

When it was time to walk, my nervousness was sky high. My legs were shaky, enough to where I was concerned it was visible! I changed how I stood and when it was my turn to walk I tried to go slowly, but it was probably a million miles an hour. I also tried to smile but I was having a hard time making eye contact with the crowd.

I was a little mad at myself for getting so nervous, so on the second walk I did a better job. I was determined to fake it, which does help, and I felt pretty good the second time around. We stopped for photos afterward and I sadly returned the dress to Gallery D.

Photo by Adored Austin

I heard the event brought in $17,000 for Texas 4000. I am so glad for the experience and the opportunity to help! Thanks to Adored Austin for organizing.

I was holding out. I know everyone else does it and I just wasn’t sold. But I finally gave in – I belted my cardigan. Thanks for the weird weather, Austin.

I love this skirt that I picked up at the Swap a couple of weeks ago. I’m on the hunt for great patterns and this skirt fit me perfectly. The length is a little longer than I’d usually pick, and I used the black in the tights so the cardigan didn’t stand out too much.

It was in the 60s so it was like March’s attempt at being a fall day. I appreciated it though so I could wear these boots one more time.

I had a great time last week at the TxSCC Clothing Swap that kicked off their style conference. I’m a big fan of swaps because it saves a lot of the work from thrifting, plus at the end of the night the organizers were kind enough to donate the leftover clothing.

The swap was held in the fantastic 2nd Street District, which is one of those Austin places I don’t want to tell anyone about so I can keep it all to myself. I dropped off my clothes to swap, got a drink from Jo’s, then noticed the line already re-forming to get back IN so I got in line.

While waiting in line, I was positioned at one of the windows where I could stare at the clothing that was brought in and sorted by (super cool) volunteers. I saw a black leather mini land on the skirt table and I kept willing everything to get piled on top of it.

I also stared at several fashion bloggers that I follow, thinking that I must look like a stalker peering at them through the window. I didn’t realize they were coming, so I would think, she looks like Jen! she looks like Kendi! and realized it WAS them.

I waited for about an hour, which wasn’t as killer as I expected. It was pretty fun watching all the clothes and knowing I’d have to go for that skirt first and then hopefully pick up some of the other items I saw too. When they let us in, I bee-lined and scored the mini, which was exactly my size.

Photo by swap.com

I spent a fair amount of time looking. The first thought at swaps might be a smash ‘n grab mentality, but I wanted to make sure to get things in my size. You can’t go to a swap with something super specific in mind, like “blue shirt with a flower applique,” because the odds are not in your favor. Instead I would pick up something interesting, dig for the size, and if it was right I put it in my bag and if not I put it down.

Photo by swap.com

At the end of the evening, my haul looked like this.

I was incredibly happy that all but two items fit beautifully, enough to make me giddy. Especially that leather skirt. I need a date to wear it on because I have a feeling it’s not appropriate for work.

The next day I visited Etsy who had an event as part of SXSW. They were featuring Etsy Austin, a collective of local artists, and I wanted everything on display.

They also had two craft areas set up. One was for drawing your own shot glasses, which I dutifully did and sucked at, and a sewing station from BurdaStyle. They were sponsors at the swap and I was thrilled to see them at Etsy. I think it’s a great site idea, especially since I sew* now, and I hope to use their stuff someday. I made a drawstring bag that took about two minutes.

I finished up the day, and my fashion weekend, by visiting the first birthday party of Plain Ivey Jane. I love the dresses and the handmade jewelry. Since I am over budget this month because of Seattle, I walked away empty handed, but I was excited to finally visit the store.

Man, I can’t wait to post a Fashion Friday wearing some of my finds!

* I’m still at tote bags with my sewing. I’ve tried hemming and it’s a disaster.

I thought I would cheat for this Fashion Friday by talking about one of my favorite characters, Kate Beckett. As the lead female character on Castle, Stana Katic does an amazing job of portraying a tough New York City cop without compromising beauty.

In the first season, I wasn’t happy with what they did with Stana’s hair. I think they were still trying to find her style, which is defined by her job as a detective. I love this vest with the open shirt to keep a little bit of sex appeal.

As a NYC cop, Kate wears a lot of coats for the outside crimes, and has great layering. She’s done both trench coats and leather jackets. Personally, if she wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket each episode, I’d be pretty happy.

Thankfully for the most recent season, they’ve let Stana grow out her hair. She has gorgeous curls which no cop, much less most women, have time to do before work. I wish I had time to do my hair like hers, or at least my own personal stylist!

The other thing about Stana is her dark eyeliner. She plays up her eyes and I have to admit that I’ve tried this because of her.

Kate Beckett can turn heads in formal wear too; check out this red dress she wore from Michael Kors.

I’ve read that men are put off by women who dress in masculine clothing. While the red dress is definitely sexy, I think it would be hard to deny that she looks great in her work clothes. Masculine, when done correctly, can enhance femininity and look striking. Since I’m partial to that look, I really love watching Stana as Kate for fashion ideas!

My outfit this week was outrighted copying the fabulous Kendi of Kendi Everyday. I’ve been following Kendi’s obsession with her tweed jacket (admitting the problem is the first step, girl!) and I got lucky and found one at Goodwill. I remembered this sharp outfit and re-created my own version.

I had a great time putting this outfit together. I worry about having too much of one color – in this case, blue – but it looks so wonderful on Kendi I wanted to give it a shot.

Sorry that the photo sucks, and will continue to suck until I figure a system out. I don’t have anyone to take the pictures for me, but a little independence and timer won’t slow me down.

I’d been thinking about the meet and greet event with Nicholas Brendon since I saw it posted weeks ago. Even though I thought it was expensive, it seemed like a chance to meet actors and treat them like normal people. Granted, I don’t like having to pay for it, but an event is a million times better than $80 for an autograph.

I decided I was going to go all out for this night. I wouldn’t be shy and I would ask Nicky to sing from “Once More With Feeling” with me. I figured that this is probably the only shot I’ll have, and even though I’ve never karaoked in public before I knew that I would do this.

Nicky and Clare Kramer arrived at the event at the Cedar Door looking great. I have never done one of these types of con events so I waited a little bit to see if anyone would go up and talk to them. No one really tried, so I did. I chatted with Clare (she has family in Texas) and talked to Nicky about his twin. We both have twins named Kelly. I love that.

I asked Nicky to sing “I’ll Never Tell” with me. I could tell it was taking some of the other guests some time to get brave enough to ask but I wanted to make sure I got to sing that song with him, especially if he was going to be asked by everyone there. He agreed and I tried to not get hyper. It didn’t work.

I don’t know who took the photos of us singing – they just ended up on my camera! The kindness of strangers. We had some technical difficulties, and Nicky wanted to start over, so I got to sing it three times. He said it’s the first time he’s sang it since the show. It was amazing to sing with him. He’s a great guy.

On Saturday, I went to the Austin Comic Con and wore the scarf that’s part of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Scarf from the Fab Finds Under $50 blog. I knew I couldn’t really glam it up because I would stick out like a sore thumb at a con dressed fancy, but I think I came up with a good compromise of geek chic. I like how the pattern in the scarf brings a lot more interest to the plain top.

I’m glad I got out of the house and I am so proud of myself for going and really doing something I’ve dreamed about doing. I have some tough times ahead of me but I’ll use this memory for strength!

My outfit was inspired by some of the color wheel challenge posts over at academichic. (Can you tell I’m addicted to those girls’ style?) I have a blue combination I want to try soon, but I thought I’d start with black. It felt like a bit depressing so I brought in some red to give it just a smidge of color.

I love those red shoes so much I bought two pairs, to replace the first pair whenever the metallic flakes off. I wore them to dance Thriller with the Mayor, which shows how comfortable they are! They came with lace up red ribbons which I am dying to wear.

And the Limited black skirt is hands down the best thrifted item I’ve bought. The fit is perfect, the only problem was a hook clasp which I fixed, and it is good as new.

Since I usually make Aaron my photographer, I snapped a picture of his work fashion too. He gave a presentation at work that day.

Almost everything he owns is Gap or Old Navy. He did get some good stuff from H&M though and I think those are the jeans he picked out. Regardless, he looks hot.