seconds later at the U of M

 

I had to run from the last shot to catch up with yet another really confident dresser, fluent in menswear. She makes it look so easy. Here's what made me (once again) look the total tool to get this shot: the take-no-prisoners whoop-ass boots with a narrow buckle over the forefoot, the soft and girly butter yellow skirt and loose hair.  Big Red, the bag, makes the scene -- soft, worn in and effortless. How did she do that?  When I try for nonchalance,  passersby press a dollar in my hand with a pitying expression.

again with the U of M

Wow, I saw this woman striding along and just every little thing was right -- the sassy t-shirt with faux tie, baggy man-pants not so big they overwhelm her small frame, the high-heeled lace-ups. Love the shoes. Everything she's wearing winks at menswear but of course it's anything but. Also love her tiny skull-emblazoned bag. Real macabre. Design student, you guess? Dead wrong my friends. Easily the most styling statistics scholar in the class.

University of Minnesota

Sneakasins?  Mockers?  Wait, there's a bit of saddle shoe in there too.  Whatever you want to call them, these canvas and buckskin softshoes did it for me. And they're easy to come by -- Urban Outfitters.

University of Minnesota

She's a freshman, thinking of a film/psychology course of study, but one thing for sure, she's got an eye for color.

Kokoon

So I mistakenly had the camera on night mode or some such but the incredibleness of these boots shines through. They're Moschino, and she got them as a gift (!) when she worked in LA. I once got a junior Swiss army knife (so maybe a German army knife) for working five years at the U.  It now resides with airport security at Terminal #1.

Kokoon again

Meet Shoes, I mean, Sarah. I'm a sucker for extremes so naturally her super-wide ankle wrap shoes worn with shorts and an expanse of leg drew my attention like free cheese. The tonal black/gray quietness kept it on the good side of the tracks. She made her own necklace out of a quarter, which may or may not be illegal (tampering with federal stuff?), and she applied the lavender color to what is hands-down the best haircut I've seen in a long time -- right on Aveda stylist, whoever you are.  Sarah is a PR Journalism student at the U of M and hopes to combine that with fashion resulting in a tasty career styling runway shows.

Kokoon show, Mpls

Surprise! This blog is not about photography!  (Those of you who are now disillusioned may quietly leave, though I'm taking names). Yes, I'm all about self-improvement, and there's little discussion that my camera skills need a total overhaul, but what I really want is to share what I see and am inspired by with regard to attire. Example A above: Lovely lurvely textures. Nevermind that I made one of the ladies blink and was too impatient to take another photo. What's relevant is the vintage sheer blouse (left) with rich rich raw silk raw-edged skirt and patina'd Steve Madden boots.  There's this great progression from airy and sheer to woven and bumpy to earthy worn leather -- jump around, little rods and cones.  They're both thrift store masters. She took a "school teacher" skirt and cut it off. The edge ravels a bit more with each wearing. Her friend on the right was rocking the most sumptuous scarf, pierced belt and delish cognac-colored slouchy boots. Again with the deft use of textures, all the more apparent against the simple black dress. Thanks ladies, and sorry about the blink and subsequent beheading.

University of Minnesota

Mmmmm, pattern. Plaid + lace. The dust on her shoe is from a recent pottery class.

Nieman Marcus Fashion Night Out, Mpls

I went down to Niemans Friday night for the Fashion Night Out goings on, and absolutely not for the free and cheap pink wine.  I was pretty sure they'd bust me as a card-carrying rag picker, knowing full well I've never bought so much as a compliment from that Prada parking lot. But they let me in along with a bunch of people whose looks screamed of effort, and who apparently hadn't eaten in three weeks -- the full-on assault on snacks was disconcerting. Three of my raisons d'etre, above. On the left, she wore Phillip Lim and significant attitude, making up some fabulish words. Manning it up, he's got on some kind of shirt (i get cheap wine, the shirt gets no credits) and True Religion (maybe) jeans and wingtips. The hot tot on the right is doing justice to a bespoke dressette by Kerry Riley.

Summit Ave., St. Paul

I'm partial to people biking in a skirt because I'm usually one of them. Of course she took the precaution of wearing tights which was strictly a thermal consideration. When she passed me on her awesome white-is-right-tired bike I had about a nanosecond to take in and assess her look and decide if and how I could get this shot.  Shame and looking like a foo' or a stalker are not even considerations for me anymore,  which made it a lot easier to simply zoom after her on my wicked witch of the west bike hollering out, "Hey you biker up there."  Well this is Minnesota -- instead of flipping me off, she stopped and chatted and was just so nice. Guess what is my favorite thing about her ensemble? Trick question, because it's a toss-up between the plaid hoodie vest with waistcoat hem that she got at a church rummage sale because she happened to be freezing that day, and the new Durango boots she got for a mere $100 in Wisconsin, where they presumably don't know you can get a lot more for those bad boys. 

MNFashion preview

When you are taking part of a pair of pants from behind, it's time to go home. But here's the surreal part -- I insisted on documenting these pants because they were wonderfully 70s gold brocade. Where did the pink come from? I'm perplexed, and not in a good way. Is this the sort of thing that happens when you go out on a Tuesday night? No matter what color they appear, I like the textures of the coat she's holding and the pants.  And now I'm going to close my eyes, and when I open them tomorrow I hope gold looks gold and not pink.

MNFashion preview

The people of MNFashion were merely whetting our appetites for MNFashionWeek which is Sept. 20 - 26, so they trotted out a few of the locally made designs you'll see more of during that storied week. It was dark and somewhat crowded in the underground atelier that is Honey but I applied myself to the situation and managed to miss most of the models completely and at the same time creep out some guests across the way who thought I was stalking them. As if.  By some accident I mostly captured this look. The thing I liked about it was the vintage platter hat with tattered veil and vintage-inspired boots.

MNFashion preview at Honey

Nice and graphic and sparkly, this dress put me in a Mondrian state of mind, also 1920s Art Deco. So that was good.

trader joe's hippy chick

When I first saw her searching for bread on the lower shelf, her tie-dyed wrap skirt was puddled on the floor in the coolest way.  I tried to recreate it and the skirt didn't cooperate but I still like and appreciate the time-intensive double dye process, and the way she looks right at home next to the colorful produce. The skirt is rayon which holds color better than often-used cotton. She got it years ago at a shop in Grand Marais.

we are the world, Grand Ave., St. Paul

She's from Belarus and he's from Mexico City but the international flavor doesn't end there. These two well-traveled people bring color from all over the world: He's wearing pieces from Canada, Spain, Italy and a truly want-it Ben Sherman bag from London.  She said the fedora attracts a lot of attention but my feeling is it's not just the fedora. Look how awesomely she's styled jeans and a t-shirt. Her scarf is Versace, borrowed from her mom. And of course her long locks are really head-turning.