The Tiny Closet

So I've been wearing a lot of mid rift tops lately.  Partly because of the stupendous weather, a little because I'm lightening up a bit - 

but mostly because I'm neck deep in mid-drift culture now...

Eh, when in Rome!

Though in the past I've proven to be quite experimental and courageous with clothing (yes, I was the girl in high school changing in the bathroom into platform heels and a shorter skirt before class), I've still always dialed it way back when it comes to showing tummy.  You gotta leave a little mystery right?  A bare mid-drift's place should be purely beach or poolside but all well, some thoughts need to be changed, you know?  Cropped tops are cool. modern, edgy, sexy, playful AND classy!  

And btw, yes, I know I'm like the only woman who is just now getting hip to this "cropped" concept, please be patient with me :)

top: Tiny Closet Collection / skirt: H&M / wedges: Et Fiancees / earrings: Francesca's Closet 

So, I have decided to finally add them to my closet.  And this cropped Tiny Closet Collection piece is fitting right in!

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Oh!  And I finally found a moment to add more photos of my new Chevron print dress! 

 Scroll down to view or just clicky here!

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Looking forward to the weekend!  

Lots of sewing, maybe catching a movie and definitely going out to try a new restaurant :)

Keep up with me and my to dos on Twitter and Instagram!

But you don't understand.  I am obsessed with chevron print!

Ever since I moved to Los Angeles, my mind has been riddled with interior decor ideas.  The aesthetic of my Tiny Closet really spans all corners of my life, needless to say I go simple and minimal. But I love pops of color and well-opportuned spaces for amazing print!

While at the fabric store looking through upholstery fabric, I spotted an incredible collection of chevron prints.  I knew I would have to give time for Theo to mull it over with his man brain (severely doubting his end answer would be "yes" to kelly green jumbo chevron striping for our couch *sniff*) so I chose to skip the inevitable compromise and headed to apparel fabrics to buy a cute and zany chevron print all to myself.

But what would I make??

This:

 I rarely wear skirts.  Come to think of it, the only skirt I do wear more often than not is a piece I actually made for myself.  I am quite short and skirts never hit me right - plus I think I just don't like skirts so that's the end of that buuuut I adore this multi colored, chevron print skirt.  

I adore it to pieces!!!

It was a bit too short, but I couldn't help the width of the fabric.  No matter - I am wearing lil shorts underneath :)  And speaking of playful, I decided to wear a lil bandeau under my denim jacket.  Very Summery!


denim jacket: American Eagle / skirt: Tiny Closet Collection / bandeau: F&F / shoes: CMG

This is a fabulous Spring/Summer item and, because it has gone over so well with my closet and was nearly a sinch to make, I will be making a couple more in equally playful prints.

After a few months of intensive people watching here in L.A., it's clear that I am not the only chick in town that craves comfortable, easy, sultry ensembles.  I am loving the beachy, loose and loungy styles I keep coming across.  It's like a perpetual Coachella - very bohemian indeed.

And normally, I steer clear of bohemian styles.  Taste-wise it's just never been my bag of tricks.  But bohemian looks have definitely evolved past the saturated gypsy/70s vibe and into an eclectic mix of looks that I very much enjoy currently.  People like Sienna Miller and Halle Berry are actually a great inspiration to me when branching out to find more sexy, comfy looks.

So on Taco Tuesday, while walking through downtown choosing which taco place to hole up in, I tried my hand at an eclectic bohemian mix.  Check it out!

It's about that time again (in California anyway) for sunny, carefree dresses and skirts.  During the Winter months, I use my Summer dresses as nightgowns - like here.  But since Summers in Seattle are a mere dot in the space time continuum, this skirt has mainly been nightwear.  

While getting dressed, Theo asked me why I was wearing my pajamas...  

They're not pj's anymore!

My bohemian mixture was a bit Southern with my fedora and tassled oxfords - mixed with a bit of Western with my prairie skirt and beach top.  Overall, a very easy bohemian brew.

I also did my hair :)

 top: Tiny Closet Collection / oxfords: CMG / 

necklace, skirt & fedora were bought at stands in the Philippines

It's actually not that Tiny now that I think about it...  

In fact, I spend a lot more time and energy on my face care and makeup than I do with my hair.

So for those of you who have asked me about my regimen or have commented that my skin tone is very similar to yours, this lil routine may be worthwhile.  At the least, you can see what products and colors I go to everyday to achieve my particular look.  So without further adieu, I'll give you the diet coke version first:  3 steps!

1. concealer

3.  mascara

One thing is for certain, California women definitely love to dress up on a Saturday night.  Unlike the Northwest, the come-as-you-are states, the no-frills-no-gimmicks attitude, as much as that was a nice change of pace from the more traditional state of mind of what a woman wears to go out on a weekend evening, I much like the fancier option.  

Don't you?

I am just loving prancing around in a tight skirt and heels, showin a little skin and not sticking out like a frilly, overdone thumb becauuuuuuse the difference here is that.... 

every other woman is doing THE EXACT SAME THING!  Ahhhhh :)

Saturday night, while dressing to go out for drinks with Theo, I decided to take my trusty white tube dress and wear it as a skirt.  The front of the tube dress is higher than the back, which made for a more interesting look when worn as a skirt and paired with my black tied up button up.  I just loved the dip in the back!

People ask me how I achieve such a full bun with my curls.  The truth is, my hair isn't long enough to put it into this kind of a huge bun soooo 

I put it up in a tall ponytail and then take a sheer hair net and wrap it around all the hair and mold and form it into a bun!  Tada.

To get an even better look at it in daylight, I wore it also here.

shirt: T by Alexander Wang / skirt: tube dress H&M / sandals: Nine West / bag: Rebecca Minkoff MAB / necklace: Heavently Couture

So yes, in my own Tiny Closet style I still kept it simple but, as always, changed it up a bit to get yet another different look.   Oh, the possibilities!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend :)

Theo was way to close and the flash went off and made me blind for an hour.

I thought this pose may be okay.  Theo told me it wasn't.  It so wasn't.

 Sometimes I wonder why Theo isn't always laughing at me with all the goof ball expressions I'm always making when I'm not busy posing.  Eh, that's the ABC's of me I suppose!  I will have more for you later.  You thought this was all?  Hahaaaaa!  No way.  I'm just too vain to show any more.  Just goes to show he is one heck of a photographer.
Thanks for making me look good, babe.

There's been a lot going on lately as I'm bringing more designs together for Spring.  I took a break from  all the sewing and planning to see a dear friend perform at a Bobby McFerrin concert last night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The concert was amazing and truly special because for one, I absolutely adore Bobby McFerrin and two, my friend played drums and sang backgrounds.  Singing backgrounds for Bobby of all people!  I died.

Before our evening stroll to the concert hall, we took some shots of my highly improvised outfit.  Leggings, a waterfall skirt worn to the side and a maxi tee.
Casual with a bit of modern evening formality...  But mainly casual.

top: Tiny Closet Collection / leggings: F&F / skirt: Forver21 / heels: Zara / cuff: RiaRia

Thanks for visiting!

There's something about a crisp white tee with jeans on a woman.  So American.  Classic American.  Jeans and a white tee is one of the few American fashions I favor and feel great wearing.  There's an effortless, rugged, natural beauty about this style.  So I guess it's no surprise that I love it.

I snatched up these Dr. Suess-like sandals instantly while in Zara last Summer.  I don't think I'll ever let them go.  These sandals are such a nice surprise to any ensemble and I also wore them with a denim dress here.

And a side note...

I've been getting a lot of questions on how I style my hair.  Some of you already know my thoughts on natural hair: 

I wash it, I dry it, I go.  Nothing more really.  It's hair, you know?  I let it do its thing.  I don't twist, braid, set or do anything to my hair other than wash it.  But I do make sure to detangle it every other day while washing.   

On that note, I do want to say, my hair had recently become near to impossible to detangle and felt overall, rough and stiff.  Yikes!  As I scrambled to figure out the problem, I quickly realized my Tangle Teezer brush that I'd been using for months was wreaking major havoc on my curls.  I stopped using it immediately, picked a restructuring conditioner by Dove at Target and literally, in a day, my hair was back to normal.

So, while I don't have the most involved hair routine, I have discovered some pretty cool secrets:

1.    Do not use the Tangle Teezer 

I guarantee it works for no kind of curly hair

&
2.    Dove Hair Therapy: Intensive Repair Conditioner works.like.magic.
on the bottle it says "95% fewer split ends" and "hair renewal within first use".... they are frickin right.  All the heaping damage my Tangle Teezer caused (as well as my neglect) was practically reversed within one wash.  Now my hair is shinier and more curly than it was originally.



So now that my hair is healthy and back to it usual tricks, I can get back to what really matters... clothes!  Ahhhhhhh.

And these pink voluminous pants I got for $3 at Value Village - they have managed to stay refreshingly relevant in my Tiny Closet and shine particularly bright every Spring.  

This Spring though, I'm pairing them with a bandeau and showing a little skin!

While mid-drift baring is a sport in which my participation has always been minimal, I think this year I'm going to be joining all those flashy L.A. girls and showing off a bit more of that sexy lower rib area... yeah!

Over the weekend, while trying to figure out what artsy craftsy things I wanted to do for Easter Sunday, I fell into a heavy case of whimsy.  During a trip to the fabric store, 

I forgot everything I had planned to get and returned home with a tutu.  

Yes, a tutu.

Amidst all the pastel silk ribbon and dupioni and frou frou eyelet, I just exploded with inspiration and joy and snatched this thing up.  

I had been eyeing tutus for a some time and finally, I just got one.

I then proceeded to paint my nails a cool pastel green color, leaving one finger on each hand a sequiny pink.

I decided it was best to dress the tutu down.  Way down.  I planned my top to be a polar opposite.  Since I'd thrown out my old Metallica tee years ago, 

I threw on a comfy heather gray long sleeve tee from my Tiny Closet Collection instead and.... 

as I was putting on my oxfords and denim jacket, preparing to go out, I got super nervous and self conscious (am I really about to go out wearing a frickin tutu??)  aaaaand opted to stay in.

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

why did I have to feel like that?

When I began chronicling my Tiny Closet affairs, the first lesson I had to learn in rebuilding my closet into a collection that I would adore was focusing completely and only on things I love.  Surprisingly, it was very difficult.  You've got hundreds of professionals in magazines, tv shows, and blogs saying "do" and "don't" and "every woman should own.." not to mention friends, boyfriends, and family saying, "really? you're going to wear that?"  For me, it was easier to follow the rules and just buy what people told me to buy.   

If you've never had this problem, you're my hero.  I'm only recently in the last year getting the courage to wear what I really really love.  And you know what? I love this tutu.

And you know what else?  

I'm gonna wearrrrrr this tutu!  

So while I had a blast wearing it around my apartment, I do plan to wear it out soon.  And when I do, I'll remember why I got it in the first place:
because it's funny and cool, it makes me smile and it's me.

Happy Monday :)