All Opera, All the Time

We've finally started rehearsals for this opera my group is doing. Thus, for the last two weeks, I've been going back and forth between watching rehearsals, working on my part of the technology (coding, soldering, brainstorming interaction design), production meetings, etc. Lots of fun, but also means my time to do non-work things has been significantly limited (particularly with rehearsals/work 7 days a week). It's amazing to see the performers in our rehearsal space, to see the scenes coming together at last for this show that has been in the working for years (a number of years even before I joined the lab two years ago). Everything is finally happening! Though we do have a lot of the tech to still integrate (and by "integrate" I mean "get working") And it looks good... And it reminds me how much I love being part of the theater, how I'm doing exactly what I should be doing right now.

As a tiny bit of background about the part I'm working on...in the story of this opera, the main character attempts to avoid dying by uploading his mind into a computer system built throughout his house. This happens in the end of the first scene...which means the performer goes offstage and the theatrical set has to embody that character through visuals on the walls, movement, lighting, sound. You could have all of that just be pre-programmed (a challenging enough task). However, we want the performer to be giving a live performance, to measure aspects of that expressive performance, and have that expression shape the visualizations in significant ways. My research includes measuring the live performance and working with a coworker on the interaction between the performance and the visual system. Interesting as both a technical problem and an artistic problem, I think.

So. In the rehearsal-every-day thing, it's been harder for me to take the time to a) come up with outfits I really like, b) document what I wear at all. On the plus side, I feel like the act of having taken much more care about what I wear means my outfits when I just grab something are much more dressy than my old default of jeans and a fitted t-shirt. On the other hand, I'm now aware of what I feel like when I really like what I'm wearing, and thus am aware when I'm not getting to that point. I have a couple of outfits I got pictures of, though!


This was last Friday's outfit, for rehearsals and an opera-people BBQ. It's also interesting to try to dress for weather where it's been 85-90+ degrees outside and freezing cold in the lab...layering time!

Details:
Dress: Ann Taylor, thrifted.
Belt: thrifted.
Sandals: Chinese Laundry, thrifted.


I wore this dress yesterday, inspired by a handful of bloggers whom I've seen with similar beautiful embroidered pieces (which I believe are Mexican/Mexican-inspired). My dress appears to have been handmade and hand-embroidered (you can still see some placement marks under the embroidery). I wanted to play against the style and color of the dress with some more dressy black accessories, so I wore my recently thrifted wedge sandals. I think I got them last week (after I'd made a bad shoe choice and had to run into the local Goodwill and try to find something to replace the sandals that were already giving me blisters) and have already worn them three times since. I really felt good in this outfit...summery, comfortable, fun.


Details:
Dress: thrifted
Belt: Forever21
Shoes: Nordstrom, thrifted.

Hope everyone's having a good week! Getting close to the weekend...though I spend that in more rehearsals...

A variety of outfits

This was my outfit on Tuesday, the first day after Me-Made May. It was definitely strange not to be trying to choose from a more limited wardrobe...makes me want to keep refashioning things all summer! I definitely enjoyed the challenge of Me-Made May. Zoe has plans already for a Self-Stitched September, which I really wish I could participate in...however, I'll have to take a pass this year, as I'll be traveling to Europe for two weeks in September working on the opera, and I already am going to have a lot of trouble figuring out appropriate clothes to cover both backstage work, performances, and whatever dressy events I have to go to.


Wednesday's outfit was a combination I'd been wanting to wear since my mother gave me this thrifted tunic early in May...but as it didn't have a me-made component, went on the back burner till now.



In other exciting news, I purchased a small community farm share for the summer, meaning I get a load of fresh veggies every week! This will, I hope, a) increase my vegetable consumption, and b) get me cooking more. See, if I have a pile of fresh vegetables that needs to be eaten within a week, then I have to make sure they get eaten!


The results of my first week's share included spinach, red Russian kale, two types of lettuce, pea tendrils...


as well as endive, Japanese mustard greens, and bok choy.


Thursday's outfit was fairly simple; a little cream tunic, sweater (inside the lab, at least!), and sandals.


Friday's outfit was inspired by the Victor/Victoria challenge from Jessica of What I Wore. She set a challenge of wearing either a very ladylike outfit or a menswear inspired outfit. I had some work/school related receptions to go to, as it was graduation (technically, I am now officially a Ph.D. student!) so I went with the ladylike look.


Details:
Dress: Nine West, thrifted.
Belt: thrifted.
Shoes: Predictions, thrifted
Jewelry: handmade

On a related note, I ought to see Victor/Victoria sometime. Sometime when I'm not busy with an opera!

Opera rehearsals start later today, with at least two rehearsals with the cast + technical meetings just about every day, so it's going to be a very, very busy summer...

End-of-May Wanderings

Yesterday was Memorial Day, so I had the day off work...it seemed that an adventure was in order! I met up with a friend/coworker around 1:30 with the goal of an adventure; however, we had no particular plans, so decided to walk into Boston and just go wherever seemed interesting. This led to a free-form 8-mile walk through the Commons, Beacon Hill, the South End, Northeastern, Roxbury, Mission Hill, Harvard Medical School, Coolidge Corner, and Brookline. (I think that's close to the order we went through areas!) Then we took the T back to Cambridge. It was especially interesting because I know these little areas of Boston, but normally get there by T, so don't have much of a sense of how things are geographically related to one another. This walk felt like I was stitching together a variety of different areas in my mind.


We first walked from Cambridge to the Boston Commons, where they had a display of flags for the holiday, each representing one serviceman killed in war.


The day took on a strange, mythical tone because the entire city was filled with smoke -- apparently from several large forest fires up in Quebec. So everything was hazy and unusual (and smelled like a forest fire for the first number of hours). Can you see the buildings in that picture (taken from Roxbury Station looking back towards Boston proper)? They're much closer than they seem!


One of the highlights of the day was stumbling upon this minaret near Northeastern. See, from the upper stories of the lab, if you stand at the right angle, you can see a faint spire in the distance, visible between two buildings...it's been a mystery exactly what the tower was, a mystery that we hadn't been able to solve. But this minaret was at EXACTLY the right angle from the lab...we found our secret tower!


The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Mission Hill. Just beautiful.


After we crossed through the medical district, we started heading up Brookline Ave, intending to go to Brookline. And then, suddenly, there was a small stream and a green park and a path, and it looked absolutely nothing like Boston. So of course we had to walk along the river for as long as we could. (Interesting detail: this path ran parallel to the Green Line B train. We didn't see the train till we were almost out of the park, and then didn't know which it was. But when we took the B train back from Brookline later, we went right along the park!)


Did I mention that the weather today was pretty perfect? In the low 70's, a bit hot when passing by lots of concrete and glass, but saved by an amazing cool breeze. And in wooded areas, absolutely ideal.


We crossed a bridge over the river and came down in the middle of an outdoor sculpture installation.


All of these surprises...every corner we turned, more interesting things.


Oh yes, and here's me. A fairly simple outfit for the last day of Me-Made May, with the same old jean skirt and a pair of handmade earrings. I'll talk more about the end of Me-Made May later, though, as this has become quite a long entry already.
Shirt: H&M, thrifted
Skirt: refashioned from a pair of Joe's Jeans
Shoes: Naturalizers, thrifted (Can I just note my amazement that I walked 8 miles in these shoes and only have a little sore spot on one heel?)
Earrings: handmade


A few other moments of note:
Tiny goslings in the park.
Walking from Coolidge Corner to Brookline, and actually finding the way pretty easily.
Dinner at a Chinese place in Brookline.
Continually stumbling upon new areas, and on areas that we knew.
The piano factory that used to be the second-largest building in the US.


This was a day to stop and smell the roses...around 4 1/2 hours of exploring the city, going wherever the urge took us. Really, a beautiful day. One of the best adventures I've had in a long time...and I'd say it definitely counts as an adventure by the percentage of time neither of us quite knew where we we were! I really love this city, which I hadn't anticipated when I moved to the area two years ago. But now...I'm so glad I'm here.

I'll end the giant post now...hope everyone had a nice Monday holiday, or a good start to the week!

Day 30, with a new refashion!

For Day 30 of Me-Made May Lite, I actually put together a new refashioned dress, so I wasn't just wearing the same jean skirt I've worn again and again this month.

It started out as this floral, lacy dress...is it early 90's, that had this style? Sometime in the 80's? Anyway. Not something I'd be comfortable wearing as is.


I hemmed it 10 inches. Took out the giant shoulderpads...really, we're talking much larger than my hand! Cut off the sleeves (starting with just part of the sleeves, then going for the whole sleeve)). This left large, gaping armholes...luckily, there was enough room in the bust for me to just take in the sides a little bit from the armhole down to the waist. Then I tied some pieces of lace around the top of each sleeve area (this is one part I may modify, and just gather it with a few stitches instead.) And now...


Wow, this looks even shorter in pictures than it did on. I think I probably hemmed it too much in retrospect, especially as it winds up looking even shorter in the back, thanks to having to fit over my rear. Look at that asymmetrical hem action! I swear I cut the same amount off all around...


I'm never entirely sure what to make of short skirts like this. I don't know that I'm totally comfortable with something this short, but I'm also not sure why that is...I see plenty of girls walking around with shorter things, so it's not like I'd be standing out in an uncomfortable way. Am I uncomfortable with my thighs? I don't really think so. Maybe I just don't think someone who doesn't have very slender thighs is "supposed" to have them bare? Eh, who knows what's going on in my mind. So, normally I'd layer a dress this length over something that was around knee-length, but it was so hot, particularly in my place, which (according to a digital thermometer) had been hovering around 85-90 degrees for the past week or so, even when it was more like 70 degrees outside. This may be a long summer.


Hope everyone has a lovely Memorial Day (and three-day weekend, if you have it)!

The time flies by...

Basically, this past week has been very, very busy. We had our twice-yearly sponsor week at the lab, which is always a major event. This week is when all of the companies that give money to the lab get to come and see everything exciting and cool that we've been doing recently. Which generally translates to a lot of work the week/weekend/days beforehand, making sure there ARE new exciting and cool things. It was a good, busy week, and I got the opportunity to have some interesting conversations about my work and possible future directions. A few people specifically sought me out to talk about my work after my adviser gave a presentation on different work that our group was doing...so that was pretty exciting.

I did all right with my Me-Made May pledge this week, but primarily through wearing handmade jewelry. I hadn't planned ahead for the lack of business casual clothing in my me-made/refashioned wardrobe! (granted, other students don't always dress up for sponsor week, but I tend to. Feels easier to talk with sponsors, somehow, when I look fairly professional.) Also, I definitely skimped on the taking pictures/blogging part of this week. But here are a couple of things (trying to take places in a different part of my place, as it's quite a mess right now...didn't quite work out as well)!

Monday, the last day of sponsor week preparation:


Details:
Blouse: Ann Taylor, thrifted
Skirt: refashioned from jeans
Shoes: Capezio, very old
Necklace: craft fair

Tuesday, the first day of sponsor week, so trying to do "business casual":


Details:
Shirt: H&M, thrifted
Skirt: I.N.C., thrifted
Earrings: handmade
Shoes: Liz Claiborne, thrifted

And Wednesday, I don't have a picture of my own outfit, but I do have a couple of pictures from the Imogen Heap concert that I went to right after the sponsor week dinner. It was a really beautiful show...she's an amazing performer, and it's always really interesting to see how she translates songs that are quite studio-produced on the album into a piece she can perform live. I hadn't known if I would go because of the busy-ness at the lab, but a friend who is working with Imogen got a few of us tickets. So I of course went, and stayed out till 1AM in the middle of the week when I had to be back at the lab early the next morning. It was a good decision, though!







Other things on days I didn't get pictures of-- going to the North End for dinner and enormous Italian pastries with a friend/coworker last Sunday (after spending much of the day in the lab); a picnic with a few Lab people Friday evening, on a dock on the Charles; several days this week helping my mother move (resulting in a lot of additional stuff accumulating in my place); opera design/technology meetings happening along with sponsor week meetings. Did I mention we start rehearsals for this opera in a WEEK? This summer is going to be crazy!

Me-Made May 19 and 20

For Day 19, I went pretty simple. This was another day when I had to get by with just me-made jewelry, mostly because it was cold and raining and I really wanted to wear some warm clothing. This implies that I need to do some more sewing this weekend!


Details:
Jeans: Seven, thrifted.
Jewelry: me-made
Top: Banana Republic, thrifted.
Shoes: thrifted.


I've been finding it interesting to see how thrifting has allowed me to have some more "grown-up" brands in my closet... For example, I tend to really like things now from stores like Banana Republic and Ann Taylor. Back when I was doing my clothing shopping at the malls, I would only buy clothing from those stores on rare super-sale occasions, generally turning to Forever21 and Wet Seal instead (sometimes Express as well). At the dollar-a-pound I shop at now, I run into a fair amount of Banana Republic/Ann Taylor/various other more tailored/polished/adult-seeming brands...so my closet has gradually shifted. Anybody else experience this with thrift-store shopping?

Day 20: polka dots!


So there's a bit of a reason for this outfit... one of my favorite style bloggers, The Glamourai, (actually, she was one of the first style blogs I started following...) had a week of wearing multiple polka-dotted items, and encouraged others to try it as well and send her pictures. Thus, the dotted skirt paired with the tiny dots on the blouse collar and cuffs. (and I wore my trench coat with the pink/brown polka dot trim, but that was completely unintentional, I swear!)


Details:
Dotted skirt: Liz Claiborne, thrifted and refashioned.
White skirt: Forever21.
Black top with built in collar: Voice, thrifted.
Shoes: Steve Madden, thrifted.
Belt and bag: thrifted.

Anybody else glad it's almost the weekend?

Another pillowcase refashion

Me-Made May Lite, Day 18 (we're already more than halfway through the month? Crazy!)


Yesterday, I decided to do the ridiculously easy pillowcase-to-top refashion that I'd been thinking about on Monday, before I detoured into skirt-making territory. I can't remember where I just read about this refashion (it's basically the same concept here, though I didn't do any of the clever measuring steps). You take your pillowcase, cut a hole in the top for your neck, cut holes in the sides for your arms, and you have a shirt/dress. Shirt, in my case, as this barely came over my thighs (and required the addition of a couple of slits up the sides in order to do so). I think this looks a little cuter in real life than in the picture...I don't think it reads quite so baggy around the waist. Maybe next time I'll put in a couple of darts, too. I also should probably finish off the neck and arms with bias tape or something.


Top: refashioned from garage-sale pillowcase.
Skirt: INC, thrifted.
Sandals: Target (I think), a million years ago.
Necklace and earrings: Ebay jewelry lots.

And...more playing catchup! Day 11:

I finally wore this skirt covered in layers of lace that I'd made last year and not quite dared to wear out of the house. I had seen some images of dresses constructed in a similar manner, with lace scraps over vintage slips, and was really inspired (in fact, I have a drawer full of pieces of lacy things for making others like this). The base to this skirt is a thrifted satin pillowcase, as I hadn't yet started to track down slips at the dollar-a-pound. But then I was a bit uncomfortable with the whiteness and lacy-ness of it (not helped by the fact that it fit like a pillowcase) and never wore it. Sad! I consider this out a Me-Made-May success in getting me to actually wear the things I make...

Here's a closeup of the skirt detail:


Skirt: me-made from upcycled components.
Top: thrifted.
Sandals: Naturalizers, thrifted.
Earrings: me-made.

Day 12 seems to have vanished into the undocumented aether, thanks to a final project due that day that required staying up till 2 replacing transistors the night before. Word to the wise: test your circuits early and often! Especially if they're being incorporated into clothing...it may be crafting, but it's still a circuit. And lack of a resistive load on the control pin of your transistors will cause them to short-circuit, overheat, burn you when you touch them, and stop working completely. I'll stop my circuitry ramblings, now...