The Times Be A-Changin'

Dear friends. I sincerely apologize for the distinct lack of posts, however, I have been studying for the GRE, and thus my time has been consumed with words such as "trenchant" (vigorous or incisive in expression or style) and "scurrilous" (vulgarly abusive). Shoot me now. But! I will be done with all this nonsense on Thursday (otherwise known as August 30th), and the blog posts will resume. Don't give up on me yet.

In the meantime, please enjoy this GIF of a dancing zebra.

Also, remember that boot season is upon us, so you clearly need to go out and take full advantage of that. YOU MUST BE PREPARED.

#YOLO, XOXOXO

Jeans! Of the Dry Variety.

I haven't washed my jeans in a little under a year. Well, that's a lie. I have washed my jeans, just not a certain pair: my dry denim Nudie Slim Kims. I do have a post on my personal blog from December documenting the lovelies--see here.

Dry denim is denim that has never been washed or chemically treated. For example, when you purchase "normal" jeans, they already have a fade pattern and distressing>>>>>>>

Dry denim, on the other hand, comes in one color--unadulterated, deep indigo blue. You typically wear dry denim for at least 6 months before you wash them, to allow time for fading to take place. In my case, I have chosen to wait about a year. Slim Kims are stretch dry denim, so they have taken longer to fade than just a normal pair of dry denim jeans. 

In addition, the "stretch" part made it a little bit harder to buy a pair that fit; I bought the jeans tight, and within about a month, they had loosened considerably. I'm hoping that they will shrink (at least a little) when I wash them. 

Pictures (taken in April 2012):

I will be getting some awesome butt fade,
as well as some cool whiskering on the back
of the legs

You can see the fading on the pockets!

As you can see, they aren't quite the skinny jeans that I was hoping for, but it's all good!

Those lines be all up on my jeans.
I'm hoping that I get some hip fade as well.

You may be wondering why I would want to wear the same jeans everyday. I don't, as a matter of fact, I just usually wear them every other day, or 5 days a week, depending on the weather and if I have to go into work. For the summer, I have been wearing them cuffed to about mid-calf. The resulting fade will be interesting to see....

THE LOOK:

Photo courtesy of Chad Stephenson Photography

I usually style with flip flops or wedges (depending on what I'll be doing) and a looser top, though I am a fan of tank tops in the summer.  In the winter, you'll see me wearing them with tall boots, and some sort of long-sleeved apparatus. Throw on some funky earrings and some bangles (love bangles), and you're good to go!

If you want completely unique jeans that are perfectly attuned to how you move, dry denim is the way to go. This is only my first pair of dry denim, and I'm definitely planning on buying more. I've already done some looking... 

If you're interested in learning more about dry denim (since I've barely told you anything), the Nudie website is a great resource. You can also visit their webshop from their home page. The price range on their dry denim is generally $179 and upwards, but it's an investment! Nudie's are not the only brand of dry denim--Nudie is just one of the largest retailers. So take a look around. You'll probably get hooked. 

The Wash Video, essential to every dry denim owner:

Here's some useful denim-related blogs to add to the blog roll:

DenimBlog

Denim Therapy

Denimology

#YOLO XOXO

My Weekend Escapades

I promise that I have not abandoned you, readers. I was laptop-less for some time and unable to provide you with the normal epic reading experience. Thus, we have a couple weekends to catch up on, outfit-wise.

My first weekend back in the wonderful city of Chicago, I met the Tony McGuinness from Above and Beyond (he was small and British, and pretty awesome) and Nikki Reed, who happens to be Rosalie from Twilight. The place: Studio Paris. The event: Samsung SIII Launch Party. You can check out photos from the event here. The only picture of me is highly unflattering, so I'll just let you peruse at your leisure.

What I wore:

This blue oriental off the shoulder dress is one of the softest, silkiest things that I have ever worn. This makes it good to go braless (in addition, it's loose fitting, so the boys won't notice if you happen to get a little cold). I grabbed it off the clearance rack at Maurices for $12 (!). If you live in a big city, you're not as likely to find one of these boutiques, as they are trying to stay in smaller towns.

These are my booties from Chinese Laundry (thanks, DSW!). >>>>>>>

This is what my feet looked like after wearing them for hours:

But no worries, I was back in heels again in a couple days. My feet just have to get used to it :)

Last Weekend in July. 

Sequin Top by Express
Skirt by Audrey 3+1
Belt by Express

This past weekend, there were shenanigans on shenanigans. I chose to wear wedges for both. Friday night was Release Fridays at Sound-Bar. I put on some killer wedges and headed out with the BF for some house music and wubs. See how happy my face is? >

<<What I wore (still working on getting a photographer)

Wedges by De Blossom Collection

Bartender Niki (check out her Twitter) was wearing a super hot pink bandage dress, and guided me to http://www.greatglam.com/. They have some awesome club wear at great prices--definitely check it out, and let me know what you get! 

Saturday night was a birthday blur as I headed to Wicker Park to celebrate a friend's birthday. I must have walked 3-4 miles in these wedges. My feet did not thank me, but they made my legs look awesome.
The full ensemble:

I snagged both the body-con skirt and the tube top from Rue 21. If you have a Rue near you, definitely check it out. You might think that they have nothing but neon, but they have excellent deals on cute tops and fantastic clearance racks. The shirts are not of the best quality, but I don't expect a shirt that I bought for $4 to last more than a summer. They are also currently running a "Win Free Jeans" promotion if you own a pair of Rue jeans--check out the link.

We hit up Wicker Park Fest (total hipster-fest), Standard Bar & Grill, and finally Evil Olive, which happens to be home to Porn and Chicken on Mondays. Don't Google that at work.  

All in all, it's been a good couple weekends back home. Now that I have a functioning laptop, I'll be posting #likeaboss. Omg, just click on it, it's the best.

#YOLO XOXO