Tuesday Trendspotting: Midriff Madness!

Baby, it's hot outside. And humid and muggy outside. What better way to stay stylish and cool then to wear an adorable skirt and a cute midriff top? Now I talked about how I feel about showing off my midriff in one of the past outfit posts, but you have to admit it is a cute look. If only I was more comfortable wearing them more often. I own a couple midriff tops that have been sitting in my dresser for a few years actually. I've just never had to guts to put them on and flaunt around town with my beer belly hanging out. But hey, if you got it, flaunt it!

Long story short, just because I don't think that I can rock the midriff top look personally does not mean  that I don't think it's a cute trend for other people. So I picked out some of my favorites that I've found around the internet, all of which I would totally buy to let collect dust in my dresser.

on Etsy

Monday Design: A Dream Come True

I often talk about my versions of a dream home on this blog, in fact I also have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to finding drool worthy homes, so I spend a lot of free time looking at gorgeous homes. However, this one takes the cake for me. Open rolling hills and lots of outdoor sitting areas, a warmth within the interior design of the home cluttered with rustic elements, but lacking no modern amenities. Perfection.

Sunday Moment of Zen: Burberry Fall/Winter 2012

I know I'm jumping the gun again in talking about fall and winter already, but you know as well as I that the store are starting to stack up on sweaters, blazers, and all things pre-fall already. So there's no use ignoring it, it's time to get excited! The question is, which collection to be most excited about seeing ripped off in store like H&M and Forever21? For me it's the Autumn/Winter Burberry collection. And it has been since it debuted in early spring of this year, so you know I'm in love. I just adore the full bodied shape of the coats and that this fall collection is bringing back the belted coat. The collection of belts is adorable as well - big statement bows and animal heads. My goal for the winter is to find a similar elastic belt with a big wolf head buckle like in the picture below. How awesome would that be (inner squeeeeeeeee)?

via Style.com

Photo Friday: Vinyl Album Covers and The Streets

What a week! Sometimes being on vacation is more exhausting than a regular workweek. Although I have very much enjoyed hanging around the city and playing tourist. Soon it's back to the grind. In the meantime, I found this awesome photo editorial mixing famous album covers with a photo of the same location now. It took my eyes some adjustment time for some of them, but they are a fun photography project nonetheless.

 Simon & Garfunkel: Wednesday Morning, 3AM

What I Wore: The Shedd Aquarium Edition

I LOVE the aquarium. Period. Done. Love it. It is my favorite tourist trap in Chicago. I go to Shedd Aquarium every year around my birthday because it's the only time of year I can guilt people into going with me. Although I'm finally starting to realize that I'm not the only aquarium lover in the bunch and I probably don't have to guilt as hard as I have been.

These pictures were taken right along side the aquarium on the long winding path around it. It's days like this that make me love Chicago and never want to leave. But don't you worry, I'll be eating those words as soon as winter rolls around. Also the wind was kickin' that day and my hair looks nuts in absolutely every photo for this outfit, but I figured you could still see the outfit well enough so it shouldn't really matter. Let's face it, you're not here to see me, it's all about clothes! And you get to see a little backdrop of the city and Lake Michigan so that's nice. Oh lake, how I love your ecoli goodness.

Tuesday Trendspotting: Minimalist Chic

Every time I start browsing next season's collections, I feel a little weird since it's still so hot outside and I have't even worn all my summer dresses yet. But I can't help and get excited about fall's new looks. And by fashion standards I'm late in the game as it is, so I'll just start talking tweed, leopard print, and merino now without guilt.

I have always claimed that summer is my favorite season. Of course, growing up it was and for good reason. Summer equals no school, pool parties, and infinite ice cream. However, since my free and careless summers are a thing of the past, I'm starting to realize that fall is a much more accommodating season and it's definitely become my favorite season for fashion. Although that might also have something to do with the fact that I'm a tights and leggings kind of gal. It's harder to look presentable in a mini skirt and bare legs at the office. Which is one of the reasons I went ga-ga over this collection from Juliette Hogan. It's minimalist but gorgeous. All the pieces I would be able to wear to the office and then out to the bar once the weather started cooling down and I adore that. I've never been one that stuck to strict "office wear" so I think all of these piece are conservative enough to wear to a meeting, but don't drown your personal style.

Monday Design: Rustic Mill in Southern France

Will I ever get tired of these rustic homes in Southern France? I think not. This one is a 15th century  mill house converted into a million dollar modern property. Yea, it's pricey. As much as I love real estate stalking, it is also kind of heart breaking sometimes. Anyway, back to oogling this gorgeous villa. The rich warm color scheme and heavily ornate wall paper throughout the house are the perfect design touches for this rustic abode. And would you believe you can rent this lovely villa in Southern France for only $15,700 to $31,400 per week (insert heart breaking eye-roll here).

Sunday Moment of Zen: Love is Making It's Way Back Home

This song is cute all on it's own, but the video makes it great. The things that artists can do with laser cut paper never ceases to amaze me. I can't even comprehend the amount of planning and and time that went into setting up and filming this video. But I guess that's why I don't create brilliant things like this, I just enjoy them. And I want you to enjoy it too! So go ahead. Hope you're having a relaxing Sunday!


Josh Ritter - Love Is Making Its Way Back Home from Josh Ritter on Vimeo.

Photo Friday: Lanvin Fall 2012

If you haven't heard already, Lanvin's Fall/Winter 2012 ad campaign is exploding as big news in the fashion world. Why? Because they're not using models. Well, they ARE using models, just not professional models. Part of the Fall 2012 campaign feature real people - yup, you heard it, real people - to show you that photoshop can make anyone look gorgeous.

All of the people chosen for the campaign look gorgeous all dolled-up in Lanvin and shot professionally. There is no denying that. Paired with the over-crowded, dark, vintage-y backdrop, these models fit the scene perfectly. Honestly, had it not been pointed out to everyone in the fashion would that these were not profesional models, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. Well played, Lanvin, well played.

What I Wore: Summer Music Festival Edition

I don't know if you realize this about me, but I am a Twitter fiend. I'm on all day long talking to people and talking about craziness, so if you're into that you should definitely follow me ;) Anyway, thanks to my constant searching of Twitter, I found a contest being held by Whole Foods in Chicago to win a pair of tickets to one day of Pitchfork Music Festival and I won! It was probably the only thing I've ever won in my life, but it was very cool. So today's outfit post is my weekend music festival outfit! 

Disclosure: the motorcycle in the background is not mine or anyone's that I know. It just happened to be parked behind my building and I totally wanted to look like a badass. Of course, I was too scared to take any picture actually ON the bike, so it's entirely a backdrop. I'm so cool, right?

Monday Design: Honore Loft Chicago

I have gushed before about how much I adore exposed brick walls. I've always wanted to live in an apartment that had at least one exposed brick wall and when I was little growing up in Chicago, my dream apartment was a loft with high wood beam ceilings and exposed brick walls (yes, I dreamed about apartments at 11, believe it). When I saw this pretty Wicker Park loft, it was like it had been pulled from my fantasies. It's cozy and intimate, yet raw and exposed at the same time. I just adore juxtapositions like that. Probably because my sense of style is pretty eclectic all the time too. This loft is definitely laid out and designed how I always dreamed all lofts should look. The wood beams and vintage frosted glass doors are a perfect touch too. The designer took reclaimed and found pieces to build the aesthetic in this place, which fits perfectly with the design elements of the space itself. There are also some absolutely breathtaking details, like the hand painted headboard below. But I could stop blabbering and you could see it for yourself! First seen on More Design Please.

Photo Friday: Surf and Sun

Can you believe it's the middle of July and I STILL have not been to the beach. Not even once? I actually live about 5 blocks from the beach too and still nothing. I am a horrible example of a Chicagoan in the summer. Well I have some vacation time coming at the end of the month and I plan on rectifying this situation. I bought a new swim suit and haven't even used it. I'm pissed, and after all that talk about retro swimwear too. So I'm forcing myself to pull out all my cutest beach outfits and get my butt in the sand.

In the meantime, let's gather some sandy summer beach outfit inspiration together shall we? I always tend to lean towards the surfer style California girl beach look, which is why I loved this fashion editorial from this month's Vogue Paris featuring Magdalena Frackowiak. Her tousled hair and big sweaters thrown over tiny shorts and tinier bikinis is how I always imagined I would dress if I lived at the beach. Seems appropriate enough to me.

“Baignade Interdite” : Magdalena Frackowiak : Vogue Paris June/July 2012 : Knoepfel & Indlekoefer

Thursday Tutorials: Easy Summer DIYs

A little disclosure, I work for a little crafting site. I manage the social media for it as well as it's 13 other sister sites. Well working for a crafting site has its ups and its downs. The ups? I sometimes get some craft supplies for review and I've met lots of very cool wonderful people. The downs? I sometimes get some very cool craft supplies for review. Why is this a down you ask? I'll tell you why. It's because between work, the Etsy store (and the other smaller Etsy store), and this blog my time is very limited. And I realized at a meeting yesterday when we were asked what crafts we do at home that I'm less of a crafter and more of a craft supply hoarder. What do I make? Not a whole lot. What can I make? Everything!

So I've made a new mid-year resolution! Clean up my crafty crap! Now I've written some tutorials for this blog before, but I could write them way more often. Now, I'm actually going to try to (key word there is try, remember that).

Luckily, working in the craft industry I've come across a lot of cool tutorials and such. I've rounded some up for you (and me) today to get inspired and motivated! And most of all, to clear some space in my tiny, tiny apartment that is currently being overrun by fabric and yarn.

Easy Summer Tutorials

I've mentioned this before but some of you may not be familiar with my good friends over at CraftFoxes. I've written a couple articles for them and they did a little interview with me a while back, but besides being fun and awesome people, the site has a wonderful collection of tutorials.

What I Wore: The Summer Hats Edition

I already mentioned in yesterday's post that I am a fan of hats, I just don't think I can pull them off. Well, nothing has really changed since yesterday, but I found this hat for $3 at the thrift store and I thought I'd give it a shot. So this is me, giving it a shot. Alright, full disclosure time, I don't hate it. Didn't hate it. BUT wearing a hat is really, really, really annoying. I'm guessing it's one of those things that you have to get used to, like wearing heels or bracelets, but geez.

Anyway, straw hats make me feel very vintage, so most of the items from today's post are either thrifted or gifted. I guess that's the good part of looking like a hipster all the time, you can mix old items in with thrifted items, with new items. Also, I'm in my 20s and broke so buying new clothes all the time sometimes means I can't eat. Oops. The price of fashion I guess. Which is why I'm keeping it cheap! Nothing wrong with that right? Hope you like the look!

Tuesday Trendspotting: Hats, hats, hats!

Hats! Hats! Hats! Summer is the season for some of the cutest hats isn't it? Seems that way at least. Winter always brings about some knit and crochet hats, but nothing like the wide brimmed and structured goodies in the summer time. Or maybe hats just seems easier to wear when below zero degree winds are not blowing them off your head. Anyway, I've never really been a hat girl, just an admirer. I have the hats-look-totally-weird-on-me complex so I've always stayed away from buying them. As of last summer I've been trying to get over my hat-phobia and it's a slow process. In the meantime, I've been an admirer and it's been a great season to be that.

I've collected outfits and inspiration from some of my favorite fashion bloggers around the web to show you what I mean. I recently picked up a little hat from a thrift store in my neighborhood (pics to come in tomorrow's outfit post!) and I'm trying out the whole hat thing. I am not promising amazing things. However, I hope this collection of hat centered outfits inspires you to pick up a few new dome-toppers!

Mandi from Making Nice in the Midwest

Monday Design: Geometric Ombre Mirrors

Do you ever see something in a store or online and think "I want! I want! I want!"? Well that's what happened when I saw these Transcience Mirrors by David Derksen Design. They take the process of oxidizing mirrors and speed it up to create this fantastic ombre effect on the mirrors. Usually, mirrors do this naturally over time, but by adding sulfer into the mix you can speed up the process and create some really gorgeous design piece to add to your home. They are not the most practical pieces for checking out your outfit in the morning, but they would be great accent pieces in a living room or hallway. Don't you think? First seen here.

Sunday Moment of Zen: Melvin the Mini Postcard Making Machine

I've been holding on to this video for a while. A few months or so I'd say. I found it online then and knew I wanted to share it with you all because it's entirely absurd, but too cute. This design studio HEYHEYHEY build mini machines in their free time, apparently (what lucky jerks) and this was one they build a few months ago. "Conveniently" housed in two cute vintage suitcases, this Melvin is a self addressing postcard making machine! It only take about 5 minutes to set up and get a postcard made. Easy right? Well, granted it may not be the most practical machine in the world, it is portable and make for an adorable video.



Melvin the Mini Machine from HEYHEYHEY on Vimeo.

Would you ever use this machine?

Photo Friday: Dreamy Photography

I'm going to be honest with you all, it's been a rough couple of months over here at team Stranger Than Vintage. Everything has just seemed to have been falling apart around me and it's been a little difficult to deal. This is why I feel like I've been a pretty bad blogger - regurgitating information without really saying anything about it. That's not at all the type of blogger I want to be. So I'm getting it back together as of right now! Besides, I created this space not as a haven for Negative Nancy's, but as a place where I can share all the beautiful things that make me happy in the hopes that they'll make you happy too.

That's why today's photography loving post is full of dreamy images. These specific photos are from Etsy seller Eye Poetry and they are just gorgeous. I often spend time all over the internet looking for new photographers and beautiful images, but I always forget that there is a huge community of just that on Etsy and I can actually buy framed prints if I fall in love with them. This photographer has a specific eye for all things beautiful and dreamy. Just where my head needs to be for a while...

What I Wore: The Call Me Maybe Edition

Don't lie, you've heard it. We've all heard it. For a while you couldn't escape Carly Rea Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and even though it's died down here on the radio stations in Chicago, it's meme-ing with a ferociousness on the internet. And I have to admit, it was catchy enough to get tangled up in my head sometimes. So one day I decided to watch the video and I realized something, she was wearing the same sheer maxi cardigan that I bought a while back on sale at Urban Outfitters! Weird right?

source

Tuesday Trendspotting: Americana Love

The fourth is tomorrow and you know what that means! Lots of fireworks, beer, and BBQ. Does America know how to celebrate a birthday or what? Now I am by no means the most patriotic person in the world, but I enjoy getting time off, good food, and friends, so heck yea I am going to celebrate! Anyway, in honor of the 4th, I found this kind of fun collection from Free People that is definitely full of America Love. Some outfits I actually don't hate while others I would never wear, but they're still fun to look at. As a general rule, I try to avoid wearing red, white, and blue together because I never like looking like a flag, but Free People channeled that 70s vibe they love so much and really did a great job of putting together the "American Girl".

So get those bottle rockets in line and get the barbecue nice and hot, it's time to have some fun!

Monday Design: A Mediterranean Getaway

I guess I'm secretly dreaming about living by the Mediterranean with all this heat because this makes the third post in a row about gorgeous homes in sunny Mediterranean climates (the other two are here and here). But can you blame me? If I'm going to have to be dealing with intense heat, I'd at least rather be dealing with dry heat in insanely gorgeous locations. Well, who wouldn't right? Anyway, this little getaway is another Italian retreat surrounded by mountains, the sea, and nothing but breathtaking views. Forget taking a vacation here, can I just live in this fantastically designed home forever?

What struck me most about the Monaci Delle Terre Nere is how they combined the design elements to keep the interior of the home completely try to that rustic Mediterranean style, yet updated it at the same time to make it feel entirely fresh, modern, and luxurious. The incorporation or sleek modern furniture and the addition of glass walls really makes the home feel expensive. Leaving the walls bare and rough keeps the history of the building and adds a touch of that Mediterranean charm. Perfect for anyone looking to experience that charm without sacrificing even the slightest luxuries. Now I don't mind sacrificing some luxuries to live near the Mediterranean, but this place is definitely a dream.