Photo Friday: Summer Heat Waves and Underwater Fun

Oh boy, it's in the hundreds today and guess what friends? My car does not have air conditioning. Yup. It's pretty, pretty miserable especially since I commute about an hour (if I'm lucky) in the car each way to work every day. Somehow, I did it last year, but I don't think I'm going to make it through this year.

In the meantime, I'm daydreaming of cool pools and breezy summer evenings. This photography series from Jill Greenburg captures just that. I love how you can see the lighting through the glass ceiling of the water and it looks like a beautiful purple summer sunset. There's also something about these photos that feels very vintage, but I'm not sure what. Maybe I just keep thinking of those vintage photos of girls in bathing caps on synchronized swimming teams. Either way, they're pretty gorgeous and make me want to just into a pool right away, heels on and all.

Side note: I had to try out Google+ hang outs for work last week. I discovered that their facial recognition software is amazing! This beard never left my face.

Have a great weekend!

Vintage Summer Lovin'

'Vintage Summer Lovin'' by StrangerThanVintage

It's hot out there! Pick up some sizzling vintage summer pieces to help keep you looking cool.

vintage rust summer pleated ... holymess $20.00	LULI Jewelry Set - Multi Str... JuliLescano $186.00	Vintage Bright Summer Floral... BtchcraftTradi... $15.00	Oh-so-70s Floral Dress StrangerThanVi... $28.00
Red Romper Summer Outfit Med... GoodTimeIsland $25.00	Jennifer Lilly Handmade Beau... jenniferlillyd... $40.00	Vintage Polyester Floral Pri... newagegypsy $20.00	70s Style Orange Floral Tuni... StrangerThanVi... $10.00
Seafoam Green Pastel Spring ... BadJamesVintag... $38.00	vintage 1950s dress / 50s su... ManicVintage $58.00	Vintage summer dress in latt... renewvintage $34.00	vintage 1950's Miami Gui... ChiffreHuit $230.00
SHIRT, vintage clothing, sum... zasra $25.00	Size S and M Yellow Floral S... blessthatdress $20.00	summer 1940s linen heels // ... AnatomyVintage $98.00	PDF Pattern - 70s Crocheted ... KinsieWoolShop $3.20

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Oh yea, of course I needed to create a vintage summer themed Etsy treasury. Nothing makes me feel more like it's summer than breezy dresses and retro swimsuits. So I pulled together a collection of easy, breezy, and fun vintage pieces from all around the Etsy sphere. New clothes are fun, but when you buy vintage you can almost guarantee that you'll be the only girl on the street wearing that outfit and that can be a really accomplished feeling. Plus, I just like supporting other vintage Etsy sellers too. We gotta stick together! Anyway, enjoy! And if you pick anything up, let them know you found it on here. ;)

What I Wore: The Mixing Eras Edition

Just a quickie today. This outfit post is one that's been sitting on my desktop for a few weeks now. I call it my "confused vintage" style. This happens to me all the time, because I love several conflicting eras in fashion. I started out with some very 50s high waisted shorts and then add a little lacy cardigan and threw on a cameo necklace. Before I realized it, I was mixing 50s style with victorian accents. Say what? I don't know if I love this outfit, but it was a really fun alternative to shorts and a tank on a very, very hot day.

So why would I post an outfit that I'm not totally in love with you ask? Great question! This blog is a learning experience for me. I love clothes, always have, always will, but I'm not perfect or an expert by any means. Sometimes I throw something together and think the outfit looks fantastic at first and then grow to hate it. Do you guys have that happen to you too? This outfit was fun, but there are a few things I'd change about it for next time. If I were to do a lace top with these shorts again I would want it to be closed and long enough to tuck into the high-waisted shorts. I would also probably add some more stand out accessories to give the outfit more pop. However, for spending the day running around at a Chicago street festival, this outfit was breezy and great!

I think critiquing your own style is one of the best ways to grow and develop it. Don't be mean to yourself, you did a great job! But maybe you noticed some things that could be done better next time? Great! It's called growing and I'm all about it! So anyway, enough jibber-jabber, here's the outfit!

Blue high waisted shorts - local boutique (similar) 

Lacy cardigan - Forever 21 (similar)

Basic black tank

Black and white heels - T.U.K. 

Mixing eras can definitely work when done the right way. However, I think it's a thin line to cross when coming up with outfits and I don't think I've perfected it quite yet. 

What do you think about mixing different vintage styles into one outfit?

Monday Design: Aix-En-Provence

I, like many other students I know of, studied abroad in France my last year in college and, like I'm sure many people would tell you, it was a magical, life-changing experience. So much so that I'm constantly plotting ways of getting back there. Every once in a while when I miss it too much I like to do some house hunting just for fun. Well, among all of the castels that are for sale in France, there are some gorgeous 10 million dollar homes. That'll probably never be a place I will be in life, but it's fun to pretend isn't it? I found this gorgeous home in the city that I studied in, Aix-En-Provence, which is a little college town in the south of France that's got all the Mediterranean charm you can imagine. Now who wants to loan me 10 mill? I swear, you can stay on the couch whenever you want ;)

 Where's your dream future home?

Happy Birthday to ME!

As I alluded in my last outfit post...

It's my Birthday!

To celebrate, I'm having a sale in the Stranger Than Vintage shop! 

So celebrate with me by shopping! Which is exactly what I'm going to do as soon as I'm done writing this. I mean hey, it's my birthday and I'll buy if I want to, I'll buy if I want to. 

:D

Photo Friday: The Lyrical Alexandra Valenti

I just spent the last hour looking through every single photo on Alexandra Valenti's site and there are more on the blog that I haven't even gotten to yet. Alexandra is an incredibly talented independent photographer from Los Angeles that I just stumbled across. I adore photography (in case you haven't noticed) and I love finding new photographers whose work I can oogle, so I was very happy to find Valenti's work. Every shot is dreamy and like a fairy tail, yet dirty and gritty at the same time. I love that juxtaposition of the soft focus and washed out colors with the darker more intimidating subject matter. A big thumbs up.

Valenti takes pictures the way I wish I could capture life. They're lyrical. They convey movement while being still and tell a story while saying nothing at all. Do you see how much I love these little contradictory juxtapositions? Now if I could get something like this for one of my outfit posts, I'd be one happy little lady.

I think the reason that I get so enamored with photographers is because I wish I had the eye or the talent. I think I would love taking pictures all day long, I mean I already have quite the collection. Although, I guess it's never too late to change our place in life. Some food for thought for the weekend I guess.

Have a good one guys!