Thursday, February 11, 2010

80's Night -- Again!

Yes, it was 80's Night once again. You might remember another 80's Night about this time last year, not to mention this one last spring. Now I don't want you to think I have any sort of great nostalgia for the 80's, though I was a teenager at the time. But the music was and is certainly fun, and more importantly this event was also about getting out and seeing our friend Tom's band's annual reunion gig, for which Jess and our friend Lisa came down from Seattle.

That's Lisa on the left; you've actually seen her once before, but she was cleverly disguised as a Mexican wrestling hero. Actually she's still sort of in disguise here, come to think of it. One of these days we'll get her on the blog as herself, I promise!
















As you can see, we all rocked a different 80's vibe, Lisa as Paula Abdul, Jess going goth, me as Pat Benatar, and Mark as Billy Idol.


My rhinestone-trimmed blazer was a Goodwill find, and what a find it was. It's actually a really good quality jacket and has barely been worn. The buttons are solid metal with enamel inlays and rhinestone accents; I may salvage them to use for trimming some hats; they would look beautiful with a spray of feathers coming out from behind.


By the way, you can click on any of these pictures and then click anywhere in the frame to zoom in and see the details of our outfits (as you can with any of my blog photos). We were authentic down to the last detail, I tell you! Oh, and in case you're wondering, I made Jess's headband/fascinator just for the event. She wore it home on the plane so as not to smash it.





Having grown up during the 80's I can assure you that 4 people dressed like us would NEVER have hung out with each other back then. The group you associated with was important business! I mean, just look at the difference in the partying vibe between Paula Abdul and a goth....




Our friend Tom, who of plays keyboards and sings, went all out, beginning the evening as George Michael...


...and shaving off his beard between sets for his change into a Devo costume. That is dedication!


Note: Tom is single, ladies of the Bay Area!

On a final and more serious note, I'd like to send out a public service announcement to college-age girls who go out drinking together. If your girlfriend is getting too drunk, it is your DUTY as a friend to sober up and take care of her. Sure it's a buzz-kill, and it may even put an early end to your night, but you do it for your friends because you can bet that one day you'll need them to do it for you. In the many years since I've been of age, I've been the one pouring my drunk friend into a cab, and I've been the one that my friends quietly ordered water for when I wanted another drink. It's called karma.

So please ladies, take your girlfriend home BEFORE she jumps up on stage, does a backbend, and flashes her crotch to the entire bar, okay? Nothing is sadder than seeing a group of attractive young women who all checked their dignity at the door and will surely wake up the next morning, none of them able to remember the humiliating things they did, and lucky if the worst thing that happened was that the whole incident got posted on YouTube. Party safe ladies, and party smart.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Audi and Jess

Well, this post sort of snuck up on me -- originally Jess was going to write it, but she got bogged down and couldn't get to it, so you get me again. I have good news, though; while Jess was in town we shot a bunch of outfit photos of her, plus I cropped and readied for posting some photos that I took the last time I was in Seattle (Jess doesn't have quite the right setup just yet for taking daily outfit photos). So, hopefully you'll be seeing (and reading) more from Jess very soon.


In the meantime, here we are after a day of work -- Jess at her conservative finance office, and me at my ultra-casual biotech one. I forgot to get Jess's outfit details, but I believe the jacket is by Noa Noa and is from Narcisse in Portland. I just love how that dramatic scooped neckline has the potential to be super sexy if worn with a low-cut top, but looks quite work-appropriate when paired with this demure black and white dress. The embroidery around the neckline and all the little buttons are great details. Jess kept the outfit simple by sticking to a black and white color scheme, letting the interesting pattern of the dress and the detailing on the jacket be the outfit's focal points.


Jess's shoes are by John Fluevog and are a great example of how a funky pair of shoes can jazz up a corporate-worthy outfit. Just look at those heels! Jess is great at putting little splashes of personality into her corporate wear, as well as working her fantastic figure without being overly suggestive.

Stop in tomorrow, for a recap of 80's Night!


Audi's outfit:
T-shirt: H&M
Dress: Red Dress Shoppe
Belt: Audra Jean
Skirt: Zara
Boots: from Scoop in Copenhagen

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

High Maintenance

Boy, was I out of it the day I wore this outfit. Jess called me up at work, talking about taking BART into San Francisco and something about a rental car, and I asked, "Wait... tomorrow?" to which she replied, "No, TODAY." Oops. I had completely forgotten that she was coming into town that night, but thankfully by the time she arrived I had regained most of my wits. So yeah, Jess was in town recently, for work and for our friend Tom's gig with his 80's cover band, The Ducks. You'll hear more about the gig, and see our 80's outfits, on Thursday.

For this outfit I started with a black turtleneck and skirt, over which I layered the denim dress and belt. This kept me warm, while still having the cheeky element of the short skirt peeking out underneath. I'll be honest though, this outfit was high maintenance, because the cotton skirt kept sticking to both the tights and the denim dress and getting all bunched up. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't wear such a full skirt, and I'd make sure to wear pettipants under it.

Turtleneck: H&M
Belt: Urban Outfitters
Skirt: F21
Denim dress: thrifted
Boots: All Black