Megawords

so Scott's BF, Melissa was having some "art show" or "architecture show" tonight...he obviously did get the details. After driving around various parts of the city for 45 minutes due to the amazingly inaccurate event flier, we arrived at the Megawords "storefront." Oh, I thought to myself, I think I read about this, but all i could remember was the concept reminded me of the Comme Des Garcons Guerilla storefront concept. As it turns out, MEGAWORDS is a "Philly based non-commercial magazine" that "explores the modern urban environment and the establishment of an open and active dialogue between the magazine and the community at large." The "storefront" (i quote because the store is also more or less non-commercial) is a month long project with rotating installations,etc. The collection of zines, which I think you CAN actually buy, was really nice to pick through. I also picked up the latest issue of Megawords with some really pretty pictures of Chincoteague.

The Rachel Zoe Project -and remember the "e" is silent

my friend turned me onto surfthechannel.com, where tons of TV shows are available for free download...not sure if its legal or not, but who cares, I can't afford cable. Anyway, I am loving the Rachel Zoe Project. Forget Rachel Zoe -her assistant "Tay" is the bitch. Rachel Zoe seems a lot smarter than perez ever made her out to be and her goofy husband is kind of growing on me too. Anyway, I loved this outfit she wore with wide leg jeans, a peasantly blouse with full sleeves, and a short sleeve fur jacket over top. Wish it was faux, though. PETA needs to give her a call. or a splash of red paint. or whatever it is they do. but please don't boycott the show, i need to see wether or not they fire Brad.

Rammed at the last second

I am going through an ebay phase right now with vintage costume jewelry. I was at a party, then an art opening, but made sure I came home to bid on this super cool faux-bone ram head thing pendant. I was super psyched to be the high bidder until at the very last second someone out bid me!!! I hope every time the new owner looks at this necklace, she is reminded that a ram is a symbol for an awful personality trait called stubborness, and maybe next time she will let the right person win.

Pure Goldette

I got turned on to costume jewelry from the Carole Tanenbaum pieces we carry at Petulia's Folly. I've scoured e-bay and found some choice pieces from Goldette, a well known costume jeweler from the 60's. This one I am particularly lusting after is a perfume compact pendant...as my Aunt Patty would say "ooh la la"

Cocquilletail Ring

This is the cocktail ring I bought the other day. To me, the gold part looks like it was cast from a shell. If you know your French, "cocquille" is french for shell. ...it took a few minutes, but once again i have thought of a wonderful pun as post heading.

Probst!

By the way, sorry I've been absent. I went to Europe for a while and didn't really know where to begin until today when I got excited about some rings. I am eventually going to upload some stuff from my travels to my sister blog, Becky's Tv Travels....that is if I can remember my password/\

Holy Trinity

I am obsessed with cocktail rings lately thanks to all the Pade Vavra we get at Petulia's Folly. Today I bought a vintage faux pearl ring from the Antiquarian in Philly. And two seconds ago I purchased three cocktail rings from old navy...they were super cheap! I can't wait to get them in the mail!

Thigh Rub

in honor of my friend, Heather, who is staying with me this week, I would like to post about one of my favorite products, Silky Underwear Dusting Powder from Lush. Chunky thighed girls know all about "chub rub" as Heather and I like to call it...where the bare skin of your inner thighs chafe when you wear a dress without any tights. It stings really bad and can really prevent you from enjoying a day of shopping. Thats why I love this powder. Although not long lasting, i dust this on my fatties to eliminate friction. This talc free powder has tiny granules of coco butter that somehow moisturizes and dries at the same time. Also great for smelly feet.

Studded with envy

A beautiful girl came into Petulia's Folly the other day donning this covetable Burberry studded Knight Bag. I swear she was the model Free People often uses for their catalog. Both the bag and the girl are more beautiful in person.

Score

the weirdest fashion moment happened today. Yesterday, I spent $277 at Anthropologie, but decided to take back the two items i bought b/c it seemed like too much. Before I left, i was browsing around Myspace, where my friend Laia posted about her blog, geometric sleep being featured on ELLE. I noticed some amazing pair of shoes she had on and was thinking to myself "I also need an amazing pair of shoes"
So, I left, returned my items, and then went to Joan Shepp where I scored by finding these amazing dries van noten lace up platforms for only $150...thats right...these suckers originally cost $795!!!!
Anyway, I just sat down to blog about my find and while prowling the web for a pic of them. The only pics I could find of the plum color which I purchased happened to be on Geometric Sleep! It turns out Laia has been pining after these shoes for months......she is going to be so jealous of my find!

Fashion Tribes

A few months ago, bloggers posted some pics of designers unknown to me, Stella Valentic & Julie Kéchichian from the Hyeres Festival. I was immediate drawn to their heavily beaded t-shirt dressings inspired by the african Ndebele people. Since EVERYBODY is doing ethnic these days, I kinda forced myself to forget about them.
However, I stumbled upon these Muany pillows at anthropologie a few weeks ago, and I kept visiting them, deciding wether or not I am really over the whole ethnic trend.
well, it turns out I am not. I decided they are actually going to be perfect for Scott's & My new apartment. My new purchase inspired me to go through stylebubble's archives and re-discover S&J's work.

Inferior Vena Cava

someone over at Old Navy was just as much a fan of Vena Cava's border print from their fall '07 collection as I was. Despite the obvious KO (knock-off), I bought the dress, because, hey, I only have to work one night at the art museum to pay for it, instead of like, two whole months for the original.

Punchy Pastels

i like these pastely prints from Spring '08 Dior and Fall '08 Mociun

Come Fly with Me

I've noticed a very interesting silhouette re-occurring on the runways. The belted dress with what I describe as fly-aways at the side. We carried the sawtooth belted dress from Rachel Comey at Petulia's Folly, where I first took notice. Of course, McQueen's butterfly dress has been getting a lot of blog press, but thought "hmmm...that shape looks very familiar". Then, while browsing Christian Dior's resort collection on style.com I found this similar version. I'm guessing this shape comes from something vintage, but I've never seen it before.

Model Dog

I wanted to show you the oversized studded faux wood cuff I bought from Banana Republic yesterday. I am always scouring their sale jewelry and usually find something cool and cheap. Scott said I looked like a "demented S&M" which is what our 8th grade science teacher called him when he wore a dog collar around his neck. And the fact that I made my dog, Finn, wear it in this pic instead of me has less to do with that statement than it does with the fact that I couldn't take a picture off the bracelet on me without my arm looking chubb.

Twin Power!

Just before Christmas, the cutest set of twin sisters came in to Petulia's Folly with their dad. They mentioned they had a jewelry line, and were of course wearing some of their pieces. I didn't particularly take notice that day. However, a few weeks later I was in Boston shopping in a store called Stel's on Newbury St and I immediately recognized some of the jewelry they carried as the twins'. It turns out the line is Lizzie Fortunato...designed by Lizzie, but the business end is handled by her twin sister, Kathryn. I love how Lizzie mixes textiles and tassels with found objects and beautiful semi-precious stones. Since January, I keep revisiting their site and one day hope to own a few pieces. And since I am a twin myself, I doubly support the collaboration!!

Perfumania

I have always been an avid fan of perfume. Up until a few years ago,when I discovered Commes des Garcons Odeur 53, I would by a different perfume every year and wear that scent daily. Now I ONLY wear Odeur 53, though I had such diffecult time finding a new bottle in January when my old bottle ran out. While window shopping at candystorecollective.com I came across Yosh a San Fransisco based perfume line by Yosh Han. I love her philosophy and also her lableless, minimalistic packaging. I found her Sweet Suite sampler set on luckyscent.com and i am so curious think I may just treat myself. Just in case I'm not happy with Yosh, I can always stick to old faithful, as it looks like luckyscents has plenty of Odeur 53 in stock.

new hair

i'm so tired of my long hair. for a while I've wanted the haircut that my brothers had in fourth grade...the skater cut i think they called it. I imagine i'd look like i had selma blair's haircut as pictured

forgetting sarah marshall

FYI my pade vavra shark tooth necklace is in the movie "forgetting sarah marshall"..... thats pretty much why i bought it

Elephants on Parade

i made this caftan dress thingie this weekend and I am really proud of it. I stenciled elephants along the border and they are so cute. However, my face in this photo looked fug, so I photoshopped Ashlee Simpson's onto mine. Now the photo looks like a becky-ashley hybrib; I'm sure Scott has a boner

Bling Bling my jewelry box is calling

I wanted to show you my new jewelry. I just bought this Pade Vavra shark tooth necklace that I've been wanting for a while. And then I found my leopard ring in the couch yesterday. Its vintage, but they have an even better leopard ring at Old Navy. I know these photos don't do any justice, but I couldn't find the cord to my camera or a picture on the ON website. So here is a picture of me taken on photobooth inspired by kimora lee.

Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons

I saw this "Claws for Alarm" neck piece at the blog.mode: addressing fashion exhibit at the Met a few months back. It was so much cooler in real life than in this picture. But anyway, it reminded me how fascinated I am with momento-mori type things especially of the Victorian era when they made jewelry from hair of the deceased.

Today i stumbled across the website for Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons. They have some really beautiful hand crafted momento-mori inspired jewelry. I especially love all the scrimshaw vintage piano key necklaces.

take note

one thing i love are notebooks. They're something I buy tons of whenever I travel because they are so cheap and cute and fit right in my purse. I recently bought this alice in wonderland, nancy drew, and wizard of oz notebooks while at strawberry jam in new hope. But I also wanted to mention my laughing elephant sketchbooks which are replicas of old french notebooks. And, I picked up some spiral bound sketchbooks whilst in LA last year; they are remade from old library books (later, i saw the same concept at several different craft fairs). My all time favorite notebooks are this Japanese kind.....I couldn't find a pic of them on the web, and was too lazy to scan a pic in.

I see a coffee table in my future

i went to New Hope, PA to my favorite shop, Strawberry Jam. I went to pay for some notebooks, and these Edward Gorey tarot cards were at the counter. I couldn't pass them up as I thought they would be great for my non-existent coffee table.

Fend for yourself, bitch

while I am experiencing some remorse over the $27 worth of food i just bought at Whole foods, i am at the same time remembering a young college age lady who came in the the boutique the other day who obviously had no remorse over anything she purchases. at least not the $1300 Fendi bag so nonchalantly slouched over her shoulder. it must be easy to live guilt free when you're obviously not the one footing the bill. or when you're not equating the cost of goods with the number of hours worked. all I can say is:
bitch.
i can spot these over indulged college girls a mile away....and i am obviously color blocked with envy

Good Leather Goods

Scott and I are saving to go to Europe this summer. So while my $20 old navy bag will have to suffice for a (long) while, I can at least do some window shopping for a nicer one (I've accepted the camoscio will never be mine). While doing some virtual window shopping this morning, I came across Knox, a line of handbags designed by a girl and her dad, who makes the custom hardware. I'm hoping the carriage bag will still be around next year which is how long it will take me to save enough money for it.
I also stopped by FreePeople.com, who has their new March catalog items up. I absolutely love these embossed leather belts. I love the ring closure on the floral one, but Scott was in a band called "and so it begins..." when he was in high school; I think I have to go with the embossed "so it goes" belt...

Ga-Ga for Galliano

A few weeks ago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (I work there) gave me some literature on their library at the new Perelman Building. The little brochure had a beautiful illustration of Paul Poiret's from the museums collection...it was really inspiring and I thought I had to get to the library to discover some more from Poiret. But, it looks like John Galliano beat me to it. I normally don't care for his over the top, gimicky fashion shows, but I was in awe of his latest collection for F'08. Obviously inspired by Paul Poirets 1910ish illustrations of woman donning some fine chinoiserie, the collection had some pieces I thought were actually very wearable, like the studded chiffon dress above. I loved everything from this collection from the color palatte to the prints, and also the jewelry and shoes. I totally love the look of the rabbit fur coat with the tiny ruffle detail, and I know it was a big thing in the 1910s-20s, but almost a century later, I wish he used a better alternative.

lieu-OW!

I just did my taxes and realized that in '07 I made half of what I made at my former job in '06, though my standard of living hasn't changed (if anything, its improved :) Strangely, my credit card debt has gone up significantly. And while I really think I'm at the point in my life where I should have my three favorite pieces from Emma Cook's f08 line and the Miu Miu Comoscio bag to go with it, most of the time I have to settle for some simpler things (and still manage to dig the financial hole deeper). The nice thing about working retail are the steep discounts (that i get way to carried away with). So, i recently splurged on this easy dress from Philip Lim with an exposed zipper...you can by it in the near future at petuliasfolly.com. Then we recieved some Rachel Comey shoes, which were amazing. Fate would have it that the company sent us one pair of shoes in the wrong color that just happened to be my size. Instead of hassling with sending them back, my boss said I could have them at cost. A girl can't argue with fate, so I bought those too. And, when I woke up this morning, Old Navy updated their website with new items, and they had this really cool tie-dyed canvas bag, so I went to the store and the visual merchandisers where just putting them out. This is what I have in lieu of my beloved Comoscio at an unbelievable 1.5% of the cost (seriously, you do the math). I also picked up this dress for a mere $25; I am completely in love with the ambiguously-ethnic print. Even though I swear I'm a smart shopper and only buy things at a discount, my bank account is still screamin' "ow!" with every transaction....

Fashion Weak

just when i need inspiration the most (sketching some ideas for my imaginary spring 2009 line) Fall 2008 fashion shows have left me more or less uninspired. so much blah blah black and not enough new. Now, some bloggers have been discussing the return of boho, and even my friend, Heather said to me last night on the phone "i'm not just imagining it, am I? the boho look is returning." Is it me, or has this ethnic meets boho meets whatever look never left?
While nothing involved was a new concept in my opinion, the only collection that left me absolutely lusting was Emma Cook's concoction of black and white tie-dyes mixed with frilly lace and latex leggings. I want I want I want.
see my next post for a list of things I bought in lieu of tie-died pretty things I can't afford

The Face of Influenza

did you know that the flu is deadly in .1% of those affected by it? For the past three days, I honestly believed I would be among that tenth of a percent. I have never felt this sick in my life. Make sure to get vaccinated..and thats all i have to say because I am far too weak to write anymore...