Fun with Summer Dressing

I wore this on Monday and just loved it. I'd picked up this white blouse at the dollar-a-pound a few weeks ago (when it started getting hot and I realized that I ought to own much more white clothing). However, I hadn't figured out a way to wear it that didn't look fairly unflattering on me; a high round neck is not usually my best style, and the big sleeves and space in the torso could easily read as a baggy t-shirt. But when I tried it with this high-waisted skirt on Saturday evening while cleaning up my closet, then added a patterned belt, it worked for me.


I don't think it photographed quite as well as I would have liked, but I still really enjoyed wearing it. I've mostly been at the lab this week, working on code for the show, so it helps my energy levels to be a little bit dressy.


Shirt: Jack McQueen, thrifted. Skirt, Ann Taylor, thrifted. Belt, thrifted. Necklace, handmade from vintage pin and chain. Shoes: Naturalizers, thrifted.


A gratuitous dinner picture, too! Chicken with tomatoes, olives, and feta, plus roasted potatoes (from the farm share) with rosemary and garlic. SO good.


And this is actually what I wore today, for a long day of coding and interaction design work at the lab. I got a little portable tripod on a whim last weekend, making it much easier to take pictures outside! I still have to get used to the blogger thing of self-portraits in what could potentially be public areas. This may be why my photos from Monday were taken by a wall at the back of a building, near a dumpster.


Dress, thrifted and hemmed. Skirt (as petticoat), Forever21. Shoes, Nordstrom, thrifted.

Hope everyone's week has been going well so far!

Random outfits!

We are full swing into tech on this show! We finally moved everything into the theater on Thursday; it's amazing seeing the set that we've seen drawings/renderings/models of for years be put up in real physical space, in an actual theater! And I absolutely love being in theaters. I feel that theaters are places that are designed and made for storytelling, for the construction of other worlds, other universes. For intimacy and for entertainment and for virtuosity and for emotions. There's not just the actual physical space (which is generally really interesting), there's also the traces of the spaces that have been created inside that space, and the anticipation of those that are yet to be created. (Every time I end up in a theater, I know I'm doing the work I should be doing...)


Oh, right. I wear things, too.


I wore this outfit sometime last week. These pictures were taken in the warehouse space we've been renting for all the exciting robot-building and such. The top is Ann Taylor (thrifted), the skirt is INC (also thrifted), and I'm not sure what the shoes are (thrifted, again). I'm really interested by how I've begun to wear a majority of outfits that are mostly/entirely thrifted. I think this is because my shifting style has been helped along by thrifted clothing, especially the dollar-a-pound...

Also interesting: since I've been reading style blogs/paying more attention to my daily style/blogging myself, I've been much more aware of what I see people around me wearing. I ride the T or walk down the street and am just amazed at all of the beautiful, stylish, creative people I see expressing themselves through their clothing. I love seeing how the details of their outfits show me who they are, or who they're trying to be, or who they want to be, or who they accidentally/purposefully are portraying.


And this outfit was yesterday, actually. I keep trying to find things to handle the heat waves we've been having. The shirt is thrifted BCBG, the skirt is thrifted, and the shoes are thrifted Chinese Laundry. The earrings were a gift from my college roommate a few years ago.

Hope everyone has had a nice weekend, without too much work to do! (did I mention I was at the lab/theater most of the day?)

Fireworks and a heat wave!

Wow, has it been hot this week. I feel sorry for everyone else on the East Coast...up over 100 degrees (at one point the weather report claimed 106!) on Tuesday, and in the 90's the rest of the week. Thus, dressing has been for attempting to stay cool (as I'm working in our opera space away from the lab this week, with more limited air conditioning) and as comfortable as possible, and yet stay at a socially-appropriate amount of clothing. All we can talk about this week is how much we want to leave behind opera responsibilities and go to the beach or something. Anyone have tips for how to dress when the weather is scorching and you're going to be really sweaty?


This was my Monday outfit, which worked fairly well but photographed poorly (apparently, this shirt is more see-through with a camera flash. This may have been the only appropriate picture I took). All pieces are thrifted (including the Goodwill black strappy sandals that you can't see but that I've been wearing a few times a week since I got them).


And, since I promised you pictures of the Boston fireworks celebration... here's a few! It really was a lovely evening; it's great to be out with the crowds, seeing the fireworks up close with tons of people similarly excited. My group got to the riverbank around 6:30, and it was already pretty packed. Mind you, the fireworks don't start until 10:30...


I also love how every year the show tends to have new kinds of fireworks...new shapes, new movement. I can't believe it's possible to keep inventing more variations on fireworks! My favorite were a series of small ones that started low to the river and propelled their way upwards in an undulating pattern that reminded me of jellyfish. Just beautiful.


So yes. A busy week, with the next set of opera rehearsals on the horizon. We have design meetings (and review of content) tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. I really love this stuff, though.


Hope everyone is keeping relatively cool and looking forward to a good weekend!

Updates

Has this summer been FLYING by for anyone else? With rehearsals and working on things for the show and our impending next rehearsal period where all the technology has to be finished and working and good, it seems like time has been progressing much too rapidly for my taste. We finished the first rehearsal period a week ago, with basic blocking completed, but still to fully integrate the performance sensing systems I'm working on, the interactive visuals, or the robots (lots of rehearsals with people carrying around music stands and pretending to be robots, though...) The technical elements had just started being worked in. So...in a week and a half we load into the theater where we're rehearsing in Boston, we have a week+ there for tech before the performers come back, and then we have a week more of rehearsals and an open dress rehearsal. Then we pack up everything up and ship it to Monaco, where the opera will have its premiere, and meet it in September for setup and the show. It's going to be exciting/terrifying.

Just for fun, a blurry picture of me with some of our robots (taken by a coworker with my camera):


The big bad news from last week: I'd left my work laptop in our rehearsal space at the lab over the weekend, and when I got back it was no longer there, nor was the not-recently-backed-up opera code that I had been writing. Fortunately none of the other gear in the space had been touched, but unfortunately I then had to spend most of last week recreating my code. But now I seem to have everything back up to speed, I think...but wow. Back up your code, everyone. Or, you know, whatever else it is you work on.

Some good news: the lovely Tieka of Selective Potential re centlyhosted a giveaway by Annie of Time Enough for Drums, who has a great Etsy shop, Timely Vintage. I was the lucky winner of a Timely Vintage gift certificate! I picked out a couple of items from Annie's shop, and she sent them immediately. Everything was carefully wrapped and beautifully packaged!


I got a beautiful pink vintage eelskin purse...the texture is amazing! (I wasn't sure I liked the idea of eelskin, but this is such a great piece...)


And this vintage owl brooch, which I had my eye on since I saw it in the shop. He's got so much character! So, thank you, Annie and Tieka!


And why not an outfit from last weekend. I wore this for running by a couple of garage sales and a brunch production meeting (though I'm not sure that "brunch" is the appropriate title for a meeting that runs till 4PM...).


Details:
Skirt: INC, thrifted.
Sandals: Naturalizers, thrifted.
Shirt: thrifted.
Bag: thrifted.

Hope everyone had a nice Independence Day weekend! I'll post some pictures of the Boston fireworks later...

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!