First Time Failures

Moving Along

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:14:46 -0400

Hi all (2 of you……),

This blog was meant to be a year experiment and that year is up. I now have a new blog, which is a bit more personal and less fashion related. I just started grad school abroad so there’s a lot going on in my life and I can’t really live it the way I used to. Feel free to check it out, but if not thank you for spending this year with me.

New Blog:

Heart Full of Napalm

Love,

Crystal

I'm 19 years old and i have hardly any friends because i'm so socially inept. :( People easily get disinterested in me and i'm too shy to approach people because i fear that i'll make a fool out of myself. I have already in the past when i've tried socialising. :( Can you give me some advice on how i should go about with this problem?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:20:09 -0400

Hey A,

Sorry if this response took a long time. I’ve been out of the country and whoa, is this a big question. It kind of hits really close to home too. Let me preface any advice I give with this disclaimer: I used to be terribly shy. Like I was the girl who never spoke to other people and read a lot. Part of me will always be that girl and I don’t think I’ll ever be completely comfortable with the idea of meeting new people. Ok, here goes.

Being shy is a character trait, not a character flaw. If you’re shy, then that’s what you are, and that’s perfectly cool. Being shy doesn’t exclude you from being passionate about the things you’re interested in. It sucks to be in a situation where you meet someone new and you feel so desperate for them to like you, but you have no idea how to go about making that happen. Already having something in common goes a long way in making that first meeting a lot less stomach-churning, especially if that something in common is a mutual interest both of you are passionate about. Try to meet some people that are into the same things you are.

I have no idea what your personal situation is like so I can’t give you much advice, but that. Still, if you want to discuss it some more or want to discuss anything in general feel free to keep in touch!

Best,

Crystal

All Saints

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:29:41 -0400

So…..yeah I’ve been out of town. More on that later, but before I left a few friends and I went to New York and happened upon the All Saints store. I went into a bit of a frenzy…….fell fast and hard for sure. I’ve always adored All Saints, but have never seen any of their stuff up close. Getting to do so was intensely satisfying.

The light in the fitting room. I just thought it looked cool. Rustic industrial.

I was intrigued by the leather harness back going on here. You could get it as a top or as the back of a maxi dress.

The top portion of this dress had a corset built into it that had surprisingly heavy boning, but was deliciously flattering. I love corsets and have always had a strange obsession with them.

I am too short for this dress and probably need more boob-age in order to actually look good in it. Yeah….that is all.

It took me forever to get this dress on and to this day I’m reasonably sure I wasn’t wearing it correctly at all. But still I like how it looks. Kind of quirky and sexy at the same time.

LOOOOOOOOOOVE!!! The parachute dress. The volume! The draping! The way it looks like you’r emerging from a cloud! I put the dress on and felt like I was myself, but way more awesome.

There’s no wrong way to wear this. And there’s a ton of room for experimentation. All of the ropes can be done up in different ways. Think of the endless possibilities! If I were not broke, I would own this dress right now and probably be typing this entry in it at this very moment. And then I would hug myself and feel awesome.

Here’s J, who was not broke and actually bought something instead of just trying stuff on! The skirt she got was wonderfully voluminous and had a great dark print. I really wish I had a better picture of it.

These Past Few Weeks

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:27:00 -0400

Photos of stuff I’ve enjoyed in the aforementioned time frame

Really large birdhouse-type structure that took up an entire window of a Brooklyn antique store.

New shoes

Seeing Public Image Limited live

That is Johnny fucking Rotten people!

Sky, full of rays

Pizza from Benny’s in Hoboken. Not a record holder for the biggest slice in the world, but it’s the size of a placemat and that’s plenty big for me.

Chilling by the waterfront. Check out that skyline!

Seeing the Psychedelic Furs in concert for the 2nd time. Richard Butler may be the most awesome person ever. He just seems like he’d be so much fun to hang out with

Teacup cupcakes!

And lastly, some beautiful words from a senior art major’s final thesis

Shifting Sliding Swinging

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:09:18 -0400

Warning: rambling

I’ve kept a journal religiously since the 4th grade. My old ones get crammed in my bookshelf and stored away in boxes. I want them all burned when I die. I couldn’t bear if someone actually read them and thought them to be an accurate depiction of who I am. The truth is, they’re the worst of me. I’m neurotic. Aren’t we all? Writing is what I do in order to make sure the anxiety and paranoia don’t get the best of me. That’s why if someone else were to read my journals, they would believe me to be the most irrational, overly analytical, crazy psycho to ever walk this earth. I stopped minding years ago though because outside of my journals I’m perfectly rational and not at all psychotic seeming. I figured the trade-off was worth it.

It seems to me that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more and more comfortable with myself. Though not without a fight. Middle school was horrific and so were my early years in high school. I was strange and had trouble connecting with people. Then things changed. I became less socially inept, met some people, and they’ve been my closest friends ever since. I’m going away for most of this summer and then after that I’m going abroad for a year. I can’t help, but feel like everything is moving so quickly. And so am I.

I was originally going to tack on a string of photos of stuff I’ve enjoyed in the past few weeks to the bottom here, but I’ve now decided to post them immediately following this post. That way no one actually has to read this post. Is it a little sad that I feel weird about rambling on my own blog? To those of you who actually read this, well, thanks.

I Don't Go Here

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:09:42 -0400

Awhile ago I infiltrated my friend’s school and pretended to be a senior in her graduating class except it’s a small school so everybody knew I was an impostor. At least I’m an impostor with good shoes. And they were nice enough to still allow me into their Senior Week events.

Free People top, LA Made cardigan, UO jacket, Genetic jeans

Lakeside barbeque outfit. It can be pretty chilly where she goes to school. Even in June. There’s a bathing suit under there somewhere.

Phi shoes

I got these shoes at the Phi closing sale and they were the last matched pair in my size in this box of random $50 shoes. I wanted to change the circle thing at the front of the shoe, but haven’t gotten around to it. Was thinking about putting a rhino horn there in place of the circle.

There is absolutely no way that white leather is not going to get completely beat up on my feet, but at least there’s not much damage I can do to the riveted steel heel!

Interim

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:50:15 -0400

Saying goodbye to the apartment I lived in for 2 out of my 4 college years was pretty depressing. It’s hard to leave any place that you’ve formed so many sentimental attachments to. Plus the guys and I had some damn badass wall decor going on.

Doesn’t it just scream college? Never again will I have a beer label wall.

I didn’t go to my own senior week and didn’t technically have a traditional college experience since I graduated a semester early, but it’s my friend’s senior week now and I am feeling strangely introspective. College ended up doing more for me than I ever thought possible. I actually never wanted to come to college and honestly thought higher education wasn’t for me. People who know me now find it all pretty laughable. Looking back on the person I was in high school, I still find it completely incredulous that I’ve done what I’ve done and have an amazing academic opportunity/experience ahead of me. Still there is something bittersweet about moving on.

This is the truck of one of the guys I lived with. All packed up to move elsewhere. On top is the crowning jewel of our living room, George the giant beanbag. George, I’ll miss you.

At least I have fried foods to cheer me up.

Before you is a deep fried twinkie, snickers bar, and zero bar. One of those carnival/boardwalk food places opened up by my friend’s house and we couldn’t resist. I don’t usually like twinkies, but fried ones are amazing. The memory is actually making my mouth water a little…

Outfitting You No More

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:19:00 -0400

I worked my last shift at Urban Outfitters a couple days ago. It was an amazing place to work and I’m going to miss it. The kick-ass employee discount didn’t hurt either. Since I am now jobless I’ve been wearing pretty casual clothing everyday.

Green Envelope shirt, Citizens of Humanity jeans, Jeffrey Campbell floral boots, DIY studded bag

I really love the floral Doc Martens, but can’t afford them because they only ever seem to sell at exorbitant prices on ebay. These are a good substitute. They just make me happy when I look at them!

You know what else makes me happy? Ice cream sandwiches.

If you give a girl some cookies. These are oatmeal.

And she just bought some amazing ice cream

Well, expect this to happen. And it was so so goooooood. It’s been terribly humid lately so ice cream is a must.

Going to a concert later tonight. Psychedelic Furs, whooooo!!! I’m thinking a Chloe Sevigny inspired outfit. We’ll see.

Gallery Fun for Everyone!

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:08:13 -0400

Here are some photos of the art gallery opening I went to. I was really impressed by a lot of the students’ work. I’ll shut up now and just post the pics since they really do speak for themselves.

For some reason I didn’t have a shot of this from the day of. Only video footage, but this was a re-imagined peacock that had a sensor in it’s hand. If you squeezed it’s hand, it would start recording you and the image was then projected over other pre-recorded images.

The projection.

Go ahead. Lie in it. You know you want to

What could those things traversing the wall be???

Tiny painted cupcakes. Tons and tons of tiny cupcakes.

iiiiiiinnnnnteresting

Ooooooooh that kind of hooker

A pink crocheted udder thing.

Topshop shoes, Black Milk leggings, Urban Outfitters skirt, J’s DIY unicorn shirt

UO lace bandeau. I love this unicorn shirt. It’s ridiculously awesome.

Raw Creativity

Mon, 17 May 2010 02:15:15 -0400

This was supposed to be another post entirely about this student art gallery opening I went to. Well, I’ll get to that some other day. This post is now dedicated to my amazing friend J.

J, say hi!

This is J (in the Zac Posen for Target snap tape dress. She’s also wearing Emma Cook for Topshop ruffled heels). She is standing next to her absolutely astounding art installation.

She’s been experimenting with reflected color and from that she created this piece. She painted a ton of triangles and then I helped her attach them to the background using wall paint. I’m still so incredibly happy that I got to help make anything in an art gallery. These pictures don’t do the piece justice at all. It’s the first thing you see in the gallery and it’s breathtaking, arresting, positively majestic. I could go on. Anyway, it went over very well with all of the show-goers and she deserved every bit of praise she got.

And let’s heap on some more now! Ahoy sentimentality!

So lately I’ve put myself in a very tough emotional situation and have been determined not to back down because, damnit, I’m a grown woman and I have complete control over my emotions, thank you very much. Some might even say I have a stranglehold over them. The point is, I haven’t been in a particularly good place and for some reason lately my not being in a good place coincides with a trip to see J. Somehow these trips are always wonderful, and strange, and full of everything I love about being alive. Good art, good food, good music, good scenery, good people, and good youtube videos.

Thanks J, for turning some of the worst moments of my life into great memories simply by being you. For putting up with my moodiness. For being there despite everything I can’t and won’t talk about. And for letting me make some mistakes that we’re going to laugh about for years to come (because he couldn’t, you see, ahahaha! Ahem, excuse me). Here’s to you.

My homage in the book you bought for me. I knew the triangles were going to come back and get me.

Artistic Endeavors 1

Mon, 10 May 2010 15:21:16 -0400

I meant to post these a long time ago, but never got around to it. Now I’m back at my friend’s school where she and her fellow studio art majors (and some non-majors) create amazing things.

College whoooo!!! This is a kick ass pong table. Overlapping album covers painted on by the artist. If I had this pong table in my possession, I would pass it down to my child upon their entry into college and then everybody would want to be their friend because that is the power of this pong table.

Sculpture 2 class

It has full bouncing capability

Sculpture 1 class

Traditional Taiwanese hats, knit hats, cell phone charms, and...

Wed, 05 May 2010 02:07:21 -0400

Traditional Taiwanese hats, knit hats, cell phone charms, and me.

Taiwan: Scenery Edition

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:37:30 -0400

Beautiful places I saw

Banyan trees! How cool is it that they link up in the air?

Night view of Taipei from 89 stories up

Hey Dad!

Taiwan: Animals Edition

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:37:00 -0400

Taiwan has a lot of strays and a lot of non-strays who roam outside at all hours. And a lot of tiny purse dogs. And some non-purse dogs. Moving right along.

My cousin’s cat. He’s all white except this wishbone shaped bit of fur on his forehead. He’s also a rather clumsy cat, which was mind-boggling to me because I always thought cats were graceful by nature. This one consistently overestimates how hard he has to jump to land on things, thereby completely missing them. Like the back of the couch. He only ever manages to land on the last itty bitty 4th of it before tumbling to the floor and looking all surprised at the couch like it’s somehow the couch’s fault. Also he accidentally knocks shit off of counters regularly. If he wasn’t so damn adorable…..

A one-earred dog :( He looks sad here, but he was actually a pretty happy dog. He usually wandered around the market and let people pet him and was friends with a 2-earred dog. Nice to know the other dogs weren’t picking on him.

Cat that lives on the street my aunt lives on. Pretty green eyes

Outdoor aviary/bird shop

A stray dog watching passers-by

This appeared to be some sort of game where kids use tiny fishing rods with magnets at the end to magnetize up a turtle, which they then get to keep. I love that the tiny turtles are all trying to chill on top of each other. A turtle dog pile, so to speak.

Goats outside of hot baths in the mountains. But not mountain goats. It’s a strange conundrum, I know.

Someone’s pet pig. And it’s jumping! A jumping pet pig!

A really big dog in tiny, tiny shoes!

Taiwan: Dessert Edition

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:22:00 -0400

There’s going to be a bit of a fashion drought for awhile. I took so many pics in Taiwan that I want to put up here that it’ll take some time to get through all of them. So we’re up to desserts now. Animals and then scenery to follow, I think. Anyway, I think Taiwan has some of the most adorable and exquisitely made desserts of any place I’ve ever been. Even the corner cafe has really impressive looking stuff.

Bear tiramisu, for instance

Or a tiger cake

Eiffel tower made of macarons. Sorry about the pic. This bakery has a strict no cameras in their store policy. Which is why I had to buy some of their cakes to take home, shoot, and then eat.

Oh yes. It’s the combination of two of the hottest baked goods out there right now. A mini macaron sitting on top of a cupcake!

Mango peach mousse cake at a restaurant

Passion fruit ice cream over a brownie base, which for some reason had a spoon frozen inside it. So you could eat it lollipop style? I don’t know. What I do know is that I am obsessed with passion fruit. Completely freaking obsessed and annoyed that it’s so hard to come by on the east coast.

Strawberry mousse heart

Chocolate swirled cake-sicle. Why don’t these exist everywhere? First time I’ve ever wanted to praise a dessert for how convenient it is to eat

Matcha shaved ice with red bean sauce. It’s crazy how fine they can make shaved ice these days. I was told they put milk or cream in the ice now?

Cheesecake balls! Adorably brilliant

I’m calling this a green tea reinterpretation of the napoleon

Mini bread. Strawberry on the left. On the right is bread made with squid ink.

What could be in the box?

Oh! Tiny cakes and tarts!

A box of tiny macarons.

Ok, I officially need to go on a diet now.

(Un)Vegetarian

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:52:00 -0400

You know what I’ve failed at lately? Being a vegetarian. These pics are pretty self-explanatory. I took a pic of it. And then I proceeded to eat it. The end.

Lamb

Some traditional Taiwanese dishes

Squid

Something or other that was delicious

Full of bone marrow

Empty. They even give you straws to suck it out with.

Sausage. Wild hog sausage to be exact

Why must food be so delicious here?!?! Dessert edition of this post to come.

Unexpectedly Fashionable

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:41:52 -0400

I thought that by coming to Taiwan, I’d be taking a break from fashionable pursuits, but today definitely proved that to be false. My parents and I decided to wander around Hsinchu and partway through the day my mom complained that her shoes were uncomfortable. She wanted to get a new pair so we stepped into the first shoe store we saw. Turns out they sell Heavy Machine shoes!

Heavy Machine Schizophrenic

Heavy Machine Tadao’s Malachite

My mom saw me staring at the shoes all goggly-eyed and suggested I try on a pair, which I staunchly refused to do because I knew the minute I did I’d melt into a puddle of self-pitying goo at not being able to afford them.

After I said my goodbyes we went to check out a movie theater, but right outside of it was a fashion show! I can’t tell you much about what the show was for and who was showing. All I know is that it was a student show and we’d stumbled upon it during the accessories segment. Being that I’ve been a shitty blogger as of late I decided to diligently take some pictures. Strange accessories and insane makeup about sums this up.

This collection of pieces has some weird filigree and wire work. While the mushroom headpiece is cool, but strange, there was something even more bizarre in the collection…

Yep, a wire baby. Who wouldn’t want to accessorize by hanging a wire baby (organs included?) off of their neck? This girl certainly didn’t seem to mind.

I like the flow-y metal shawl collar thing. While it may get in the way of doing basic things like eat, at least it’d help you maintain a personal space bubble at all times.

Gigantically awesome wire flower necklace that partially obstructs the wearer’s vision!!!

J, DIY at jewelry studio can we can we please please please?

The Story of Balenciaga: Part I

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:38:00 -0400

I’m out of the country for family reasons so I have no way to get pictures to go with the little story I’m about to tell. Hence the “Part I”. Part II will come later in the month and include pics.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I decided to stop at Woodbury Commons on our way back to Jersey from upstate New York. A brilliant or awful idea depending on who you ask. Our shoe collections or bank accounts, respectively. Our main goal was Balenciaga. I tried on tons of insane, but amazingly designed clothes. No pics though because there are no mirrors in the fitting rooms. Le sigh. Eventually we drifted over to the shoe section. The selection was surprisingly good. They even had that sock hoof shoe! Not that we were going to buy anything. After all, we’re just lowly, poor students who can’t afford Balenciaga even at outlet prices. So out the door we were about to go when we spotted a little sign. What did it say? Nothing important, except that the shoes were freakin 50% off! That put them uncomfortably into the somewhat affordable range. This story ends with my friend getting a pair of patent black ankle boots and me getting shoes with mirrors on the fronts. Outfit shots to come eventually, I hope. Sometimes I look at my shoes and whisper “Oh, Nicolas Ghesquière” reverently.

The End

Oh Yes, YSL

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:27:08 -0400

This might seem weird, but YSl is one of those brands that I know exists (um….who doesn’t?), but don’t think about all that much. Until this happened. YSL, glorious YSL, ahead.

Funky luxe. This dress was a great mix of funky design with really luxurious fabrics. Love the velvet trim at the bottom.

Amazing quilted bar jacket.

Stunning, awesome, i-want-it-please-please-please jacket. The slanted pockets and laced rivets blow my mind.

My friend and I. We should never be allowed to go anywhere near designer goods together. Never. Ever. Ok…maybe like once a year. Biannually if we’re not broke??

The real lesson of the day was that I should pay more attention to YSl, which I promise to start doing immediately. So, until next time, where we’ll take a look at the emotional turmoil that was the Balenciaga outlet……..DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNN

Fish (Sorry, A!) and Stuff

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:43:01 -0400

Let’s take a trip to the pet shop!

Heeeeeeelllllooooooo

Don’t mind me. I is a rock….

Wow, stylish. Stripes and spots

How cool looking is this fish?

And this one!

The note on the glass says “Please do not antagonize us! We are breeding and very emotional right now.” Teehee.

You got a little something on your face….right there.

Stop giving me the evil eye, you.

Are you supposed to be out here?

I feel terrible for macaws that get stuck indoors. I hope they have something to keep this one occupied because bored macaws pluck out their own feathers, which is probably why this one has featherless patches on its back.

A bird. Chilling on its back. I didn’t even know they did that.