What I'm Sproutin': Sorbet Noir

Vintage dress: easystreetvintage @ Etsy, cardigan: American Apparel, scarf: Muji, belt: J. Crew outlet, vintage necklace and tights: night market, shoes: Aldo, purse: Hayden Harnett for Target, earrings: Target

Today the sun came out and the temperature went up a bit (it was 8 to 10 degrees Celsius yesterday in Taipei), so I decided to celebrate by breaking out my rainbow dress.

I dressed to match Mr. Dragonfly behind me.

I also wore a pair of giant white filigree earrings, but the hooks started bothering me after a few minutes. I have to swap them out for sterling silver ones. I've been getting more sensitive to nickel and other base metals since hitting my mid-twenties. Does anyone else have this problem?

My dress is handmade, from the 1980s (I think) and has HUGE puffy sleeves. Here is a picture from the seller:

I thought I might be able to get away with them, but I think I'll have to cut them off or otherwise alter them into ordinary short sleeves or maybe flutter sleeves (though that might also be too much). I was also thinking I should shorten the dress (by removing the bottom horizontal rows, shortening the main skirt and then reattaching the self-trim), but I actually like this length with heels. I often do this with dresses in my "to alter" pile. Instead of working on them, I drag them out, shake out the wrinkles and just wear it as is. Sometimes laziness works out!

What I'm Sproutin': Ruby Re-mix

Dress: Urban Lotus Boutique at Etsy, shoes: Re-Mix Vintage shoes, belt: Forever 21

I am very excited because I just bought a new flash for my camera from Big Camera (相機王), my favorite photography equipment store in Taipei, and can now take indoor photos on cloudy days. Woohoo! Now all I need to do is figure out how to take good indoor photos. My dress is from Urban Lotus Boutique on Etsy. I'm not sure how old it is, but it has a very cool print and a Peter Pan collar. Here's a close-up from the seller:


The hem looks uneven in the photo above, but it isn't. Here's another view. You can also see how much my cat loves me.

My shoes are the highlight of my outfit -- they are from Re-Mix Vintage Shoes and are reproductions of 1940s wedges. I bought them at The Bee's Knees on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland when we were in California for our wedding last May.

They are very comfortable, but I keep falling off of them when I walk because of my over-pronated feet (they roll inwards). I bought motion stabilizing New Balance running shoes that are made specifically for over-pronators, but I still get shin splints in the inner front of my calves when I run, so I have to watch my gait. I guess I just have to learn how to walk/run correctly!

What I'm Sproutin': Gingham to me

*Reposted with photos you can actually see. Thanks to Elaine for pointing that out to me!

Vintage shirt dress: bvikki vintage, tights: Urban Outfitters, shoes: Aldo, cardigan: Muji, belt: Forever 21?, squirrel necklace: Haoshi (close-up photo here)

These photos were taken before Lunar New Year! It seems so long ago. I can't believe it's already March. I'll have to start planning my summer wardrobe soon. It get so hot and humid in Taiwan during the summer that dressing becomes an art. The hard part is that I don't like sleeveless tops or t-shirts and I'm not a big fan of shorts or short skirts. So that pretty much knocks out 90% of my options. I might just have to buy more vintage shirt dresses.

This will have to be short post because our cat, Taroko George, is playing a game called "knocking stuff off of stuff," but I just want to add that my dress is from bvikki vintage. Becca also keeps an amazing blog of the same name that compiles images from vintage African-American publications.

What I'm Sproutin': Paisley Me Be

Jacket: Modcloth, dress: Oh My God (store in Taipei, yes, it always confuses people when I tell them I'm going there), tights: night market, shoes: Aldo, bag: Hayden-Harnett for Target, headband: Accessorize

Today was another one of those days in Taipei where the sun put in an appearance for an hour or so in the late morning, and then disappeared. These photos are fuzzier than I'm happy with, but I wanted to post them because they show off my latest obsession -- gray tights. Gray: the perfect compromise between black and white! I got the idea to pair them with bone-colored shoes from Anja at Clever Nettle.

I love the paisley print on this dress. It's so loud. I would also like to point out that this is the second outfit in a row I've posted without any black in it! Wow! I'm on a roll here. When I was in high school and college, I was known as the girl in black and my Mom wondered why I always dressed in such somber colors. I told her I was in mourning for my lost youth. Well, now I'm 28 and over my lost youth. Time to embrace the rainbow!

Unlikely Sources of Inspiration: "Eastern Promises"

It's been a while since I did an Unlikely Sources of (style) Inspiration post. In fact, I think the last one, about "The Orphan" was also my first one. I like finding ideas in costumes from films that aren't thought of as "costume films," especially if the outfits say things about each character that you can't necessarily glean from the dialogue.

Directed by David Cronenberg, "Eastern Promises" is about the Russian mafia in London and is known for its infamous naked knife fight scene, which involves Viggo Mortenson's character, Nikolai, and two other gangsters (though, technically, only Mortenson was naked and the knives were linoleum cutters, but I digress). The plot revolves around Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a large London hospital who becomes obsessed with finding the family of a Russian teenager who died giving birth.

Throughout the course of the movie, we find out that Anna is motivated by several highly emotional experiences, including a miscarriage and the recent death of her Russian-born father. Her uncle Stepan spends a lot of time with Anna and her mom and I loved the family's interactions because they reminded me of the dynamics between the first- and second-generation Taiwanese-Americans in the community I grew up in.

When she isn't in hospital scrubs, Anna's wardrobe consists mainly of jeans and heavy knits (the movie takes place entirely between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve) in neutral hues, but they have little details like unusual closures and intricate stitch patterns. Her character is warm, practical, intelligent and hard-headed -- but at the same time very vulnerable. I think those traits are well-represented by her wardrobe.

In several scenes, she wears a motorcycle jacket to ride her father's old motorcycle, which he brought over from Russia. The jacket and helmet serve as a sort of armor, while at the same time tying Anna to her late father and, in turn, her Russian heritage. In fact, all of her jackets and overcoats are black and sharply-tailored, which links her visually to the gangsters, including Nikolai, that she becomes increasingly involved with.

The set detail in the movie is also great. Most of "Eastern Promises" takes place in Anna's mother's apartment, which is filled with the kind of knick-knacks you'd expect to see in a multicultural family's apartment (an embroidered wall hanging contrasts with Laura Ashley-ish curtains and a large collection of porcelain cows in the kitchen) or an upscale Russian restaurant that is a front for Nikolai's gang. The restaurant is grand and decorated in dark colors (pine green, dark varnished wood, crimson) that look festive or ominous depending on the scene.

I highly recommend "Eastern Promises," but it's a very violent film, so don't see it if gore freaks you out!