outfit: madeline

calivintage: madeline

the other day i was thinking about how often i dress in outfits that evoke the comment: “oh my! you look like madeline!” this is never actually intentional. perhaps it has something to do with the fact that i went to catholic school for 9 years of my life and had to wear a uniform to school every day. i always say that i deeply resent my parents for it, but perhaps i have developed some sort of deep and twisted relationship with the school uniform. or else maybe i just really like hot dogs. ketchup and mustard? har har.

now let’s discuss this dress: i’m very excited to be working with the lovely dierdre of curator boutique in san francisco. we got in touch by means of the internet and met for coffee one afternoon to discuss fashion and blogs and life and whatnot. she told me about her label and invited me into her lovely shop to play dress up and pick out a few pieces from her latest collection. this is exactly the type of partnership that i dream of! all of their clothes are made in san francisco of beautiful, soft and sturdy garment-dyed cotton. they do their best to limit waste during production and use organic fabrics whenever possible. the result? very high quality and relatively affordable locally made dresses that you can basically live in. i was immediately drawn to this easy sheath dress and immediately knew that i would layer it over some of my favorite button-up shirts this fall for yet another 60s schoolgirl-inspired outfit.

hat: vintage wool hat from mars mecantile in berkeley
coat: asos from last year
dress: the sadie sheath dress c/o curator
top: thrifted vintage silk blouse
tights: sheer reflections sheer tights c/o hanes
shoes: vintage salvatore ferragamo vara flats
bag: waverly three way bag c/o stella and dot

photos by kristin cofer.

calivintage: madeline
calivintage: madeline
calivintage: madeline
calivintage: madeline
calivintage: madeline

outfit: school girl

calivintage: school girl

remember the other day when i was dreaming about laying around the house in my pajamas, drinking hot cocoa, and taking naps? well, i finally got some well-needed rest both on thanksgiving day itself, and this past weekend. while the rest of the world was out shopping, i was taking it easy. this is not to say that i did nothing, but it was nice to chill out without any particular plans or obligations. on saturday, i was still craving mashed potatoes, so me and the boy took a little stroll to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for a shepherd’s pie, which we promptly enjoyed with a glass of wine watching television on the couch.

as far as getting dressed was concerned, i decided to continue on with my fall color palette and pulled out this old vintage skirt from the depths of my closet. the wide pleats and front pockets were giving me some serious schoolgirl vibes, so i decided to run with it and add a button-up shirt, my new toggle coat, and over the knee socks. it made me feel like a 1960s school girl on the set of some creepy horror film.

coat: tulle toggle coat c/o lulu’s
top: thrifted vintage silk blouse
skirt: vintage pleated skirt
socks: ribbed otk c/o tabbisocks
shoes: vintage oxfords
tote: family affairs

calivintage: school girl

calivintage: school girl
calivintage: school girl

outfit: fall

calivintage: fall

dude. is anyone else super stoked about the fact that tomorrow is basically a day that you get off work so you can eat a bunch and chill out? i know i am. it’s been a super stressful past couple of weeks for me, and i need to decompress! badly. i seriously just want to lay around in my pajamas for like a week straight and just drink hot cocoa and take naps and read a book or something. i’m sure you know the feeling!

top: j.crew blythe blouse in silk
pants: j brand city year denim
shoes: vintage, gift from my pal annie
bag: j.w. hulme mini legacy bag
coat: ralph lauren denim & supply pea coat
sunglasses: norma kamali square cat eye zyl sunglasses

calivintage: fall
calivintage: fall
calivintage: fall
calivintage: fall
calivintage: fall
calivintage: fall

outfit: toot your horn

calivintage: toot your horn

nope! your eyes are not deceiving you! my dress is indeed covered in teeny tiny trombones. it’s one of three rachel antonoff dresses i recently purchased. this one is especially fun because it is cut in a super mini length with a little layer of tulle beneath the skirt. the clean white silk is so pretty and perfect that it makes me feel a bit like a little doll, and the matching self belt is the perfect type of details that makes it feel more like something vintage. that coupled with the fact that it is made in the usa by a very awesome new york designer, makes this dress feel like something extra special. when i pulled it on to wear this weekend, i couldn’t help but think of it as my sunday best.

dress: rachel antonoff from modcloth
tights: tabbisocks 80 denier tights
shoes: vintage salvatore ferragamo flats
bag: rebecca minkoff covet satchel
lipstick: nars fire down below
bracelet: handmade by giantlion on etsy
bracelet: jewelmint mesh marvel bracelet

calivintage: toot your horn
calivintage: toot your horn
calivintage: toot your horn
calivintage: toot your horn
calivintage: toot your horn
calivintage: toot your horn

outfit: kitty pocket

calivintage: kitty pocket

counting the number of items in my closet featuring my favorite little feline friends, it looks as though i may have officially achieved crazy cat lady status. from my leah goren cat print dress to my new olivia mew persian kitty scarf, to my kitty iphone case, and a host of other cat-related accoutrements (from brooches and figurines to wall art and kitchen towels), is it really any surprise that i recently acquired this pretty little rachel antonoff dress? not only because it has the perfect silhouette with darling puff sleeves in a pretty plaid, but because it has a little kitty pocket! mew mew mew!

yes, it is possible that i am suffering from cute overload. but it really is in the best way possible. this dress is a new favorite and i can only imagine that it will go into heavy rotation in my fall wardrobe layered up with cozy sweaters, colored tights, and various coats, depending on the weather.

dress: rachel antonoff kitty pocket dress from modcloth
sweater: chloe sevigny for opening ceremony sweater
coat: modcloth from last year
tights: tabbisocks tights in wine
shoes: vintage salvatore ferragamo vera flats
bag: rebecca minkoff covet satchel

calivintage: kitty pocket
calivintage: kitty pocket
calivintage: kitty pocket
calivintage: kitty pocket
calivintage: kitty pocket
calivintage: kitty pocket

outfit: weekend wear

calivintage: weekend wear

a few weeks back, i mentioned that my fall uniform had already taken shape in the form of endless combinations of pinafores and jumpers with an assortment of different blouses. while i have been sporting that particular look quite frequently, this combination of jeans with a button up shirt, sweater, and coat, has also become an important standby in my wardrobe, especially as the weather gets chilly. i’m certainly not giving up on my habit of collecting cute little dresses, but this type of look is just so classic and easy to wear that i can already see myself coming back to it on lazy weekend days or during the week when i get a late start and don’t feel like going to the trouble of getting ‘all dolled up.’

in other news, i finally got my hairs trimmed! not sure if you noticed, but my bangs were starting to obstruct my view, so i finally got off my lazy ass and made a visit to see shannon at revamp salon in sf. he undercut the bob to add a bit of texture, which is especially nice because my hair is so pin straight that it’s usually kinda hard to get it to do anything other than lay completely flat. so yay for bed-head and lazy weekend days!

top: j.crew boy shirt
sweater: h&m
jeans: j brand maria
coat: bb dakota trench
shoes: bass wayfarer
bag: j.w. hulme mini legacy bag
sunglasses: rayban rounded wayfarer
lipstick: ysl rouge pur couture in le rouge

photos by brendan.

calivintage: weekend wear
calivintage: weekend wear
calivintage: weekend wear
calivintage: weekend wear
calivintage: weekend wear

shop for a cure

calivintage: loft bcrf

it’s the last day of october, which means that breast cancer awareness month is drawing to a close, but it certainly doesn’t mean that it’s too late to support the cause! this month, loft partnered up with a group of bloggers to help raise funds for the breast cancer research foundation by developing a series of limited edition t-shirts and bracelets to symbolize inspiration, strength, and support for the cause while donating $5 of the proceeds from each sale towards breast cancer research. so naturally, when they asked me to spread the news, i jumped at the chance to model this pretty friendship bracelet in solidarity with those who have been affected by breast cancer and in hope of finding a cure. please head over to the loft facebook page to find out how you can help!

bracelet: loft friendship bracelet designed by jessica quirk benefiting the breast cancer research foundation

enter to win a pair of swedish hasbeens!

calivintage: swedish hasbeens

oh, so many fun things to share today! first i will address the obvious: look who is making his first full-fledged appearance on the blog! it’s my partner in crime and patient photographer, brendan. he is actually quite the fashionable male, but generally prefers to stay out of the limelight over here at calivintage. but when swedish hasbeens contacted me to share the news about their new contest, the mister got excited and offered to model his very own pair of unisex swedish hasbeens from their fall 2011 collection.

and now onto the part where you can win stuff: swedish hasbeens is hosting a fun contest to celebrate their new unisex collection, and to support the idea of equality between men and women. simply snap a creative photo of you and a friend (could be your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your brother, whoever) that represents your version of unisex and you’ll be entered to win a pair of swedish hasbeens from their fall 2011 collection for yourself and your friend! one winner will be chosen based on the number of votes they receive and another winner will be chosen by the swedish hasbeens team based on creativity! you can enter and read all of the rules here! so get to it!

i’m wearing
shoes: swedish hasbeens tassel loafer sky high
blouse: j. crew
shirt: edith r. miller
jeans: j brand
bag: j.w. hulme
sunglasses: raybans

and on brendan
shoes: swedish hasbeens unisex chelsea boot
shirt: vintage reyn spooner
cardigan: pendleton
jeans: levi’s 513
watch: timex for j.crew military watch
glasses: warby parker

calivintage: swedish hasbeens
calivintage: swedish hasbeens
calivintage: swedish hasbeens

calivintage: swedish hasbeens

calivintage: swedish hasbeens

four eyes

ok, you guys. i know many of you saw me in video form for the first time last week, and now i guess i’m on a roll, because today i have yet another video to share. i recently acquired a small collection of new glasses and thought it would be fun to record a little video featuring them all. it’s been a long while since i’ve made my own video… well, to be honest, this is like the third video i’ve ever made. but i was in a silly mood and thought it might be fun to show you what my silly mug looks like in motion, and to highlight some of my favorite new frames from bonlook! i think it’s so funny how i look rather serious in many of my outfit photos when in real life i’m generally contorting my face into all number of strange faces in hopes of generating a comic effect. so enjoy!

if you’d like to snatch up a pair yourself, they are quite affordable at $99 total for the frame and the prescription (or you can get them made into sunglasses or simply fill them with non-prescription lenses), and they arrive in their own little case with a soft little cloth, lens cleaner, and a mini screwdriver in case of lost screws! but that’s not all, haha! you can get $10 off with the code, “cali10” now through november 4!

i am wearing: j’adore in goldjungle chic in tortoisejungle chic sunglasses in havana & purple, and the simply fabulous in brown. oh, and perhaps a pair of silly novelty birthday glasses made their way in as well… and the dress is handmade by leah goren!

outfit: think pink

calivintage: wear pink

if you’ve been following me for a while, then you may have noticed that i don’t have a ton of pink in my wardrobe. maybe a piece or two, and that’s about it. but today i am wearing this bubble gum pink dress in partnership with the lucky style collective in honor of national breast cancer awareness month. the color may just be a little thing, but it stands as a big reminder that you can get involved to help fund treatment and research!

i stand among the millions of people who have been affected by breast cancer, as i’m sure many of you are, too. i lost a very dear and very close great aunt to breast cancer some years back, and i understand the pain of losing a loved one to such treatable condition. i even had my own scare a couple of years back and went through a pretty terrifying few months of x-rays and exams and surgery… i now have a little scar on my left breast where they removed the tumor that thankfully turned out to be benign. both of these experiences are a reminder to me of how delicate life really is. and i stand in solidarity with every woman who has experienced loss, experienced a scare, or who has fought and survived.

i strongly urge to to check out these three sites to learn more about how you can get involved:
the american cancer society
susan g. komen
the national breast cancer foundation

dress: vintage, gift from mom
shoes: swedish hasbeens braided sky high
bag: j.w. hulme mini legacy bag
lipstick: ysl rouge pur couture in le fuchsia

calivintage: wear pink
calivintage: wear pink
calivintage: wear pink
calivintage: wear pink
calivintage: wear pink
calivintage: wear pink
calivintage: wear pink