insta nails

You can find more of my left-handed nail art and weathered cuticles if you follow me on Instagram (@jewanna)

sustained

wearing: vintage sweater and thrifted silk top, Gap jeans (old), thrifted shoes, cheapo sunglasses, handmade necklaces, thrifted bag

Thanks for the thoughtful comments on my last post. It seems that lots of people share a mix of extreme alarm and a "but what can I do about it?" attitude when it comes to exploitation in the textile and apparel industry. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my ambivalence. I'm not kidding though, I don't plan on shopping at any chain stores with a penchant for slave labor. This list includes but is not limited to: eff 21, H&M, Zara, Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. To the thrift stores I go! And once in awhile, if I'm lucky, a Barney's Warehouse sale. Although as some of you correctly pointed out, expensive does not necessarily mean the clothing was made under any less exploitative circumstances. So let's just say my aim is to be a more informed consumer.

Speaking of vintage, here I am in pictures from this past weekend just lolling about in a drop-dead amazing vintage sweater that I found in Sacramento last summer. It's so fantastically blue blood I feel a little bit richer just for having worn it.

the cautionary tale

wearing Zara waxed jeans, Mossimo turtleneck, D&G leopard print top, Acne jacket, vintage bag, Chanel shoes, DIY manicure with Martha Stewart glitter

I was somehow able to cram the highest number of designer labels into this look as possible given their scarcity in my closet. But here they are, working together. I can't remember if I've ever actually shown these shoes before, but I rarely wear them because they're soooooo speshul. And perhaps, if you look closely, slightly too small, but who's looking closely?!

And I have to share the sad tale of the Barney's intern. On Tuesday morning, I woke up, checked my Facebook, and saw the following status update in my newsfeed from the official Barney's NY account:

Poor girl flunked an accounting test and may have lost her (highly coveted) internship in the same day. While some of the later comments said something to the effect of, "This is why you don't get an intern to run your social media," anyone who works in social media knows this is an easy mistake to make, especially from a mobile device. If you're the admin of a fan page on Facebook, it's not like you sign out of your account and sign in to the fan page--you simply write updates on the fan page while signed in to your own account. I know people who have done something similar, including a friend who accidentally tweeted the sex of his unborn child from a company account. I guess this is the price we pay for blurring of the personal/professional line. And for the fact that writing on Facebook is like, a real job now.

Either way, I will be pouring one out for Barney's girl this weekend. I don't like to witness human tragedy, especially when it falls so close to home.

got green?

wearing T by Alexander Wang sweater, Madewell blouse

Digging this painterly rendition of an ombre nail. It's like a Picasso*--from far away it looks pretty cool but up close it's a big 'ol mess.

Ed. note: Thanks to a commenter who is smarter than me (and has a better memory) I now stand corrected that I actually meant a MONET. No, I didn't take any art history classes in college. And no, that's not an excuse. I should at least have Clueless memorized by now.

'ween

images via mymodernmet.com, refinery29, Thisisnailporn, Oystermag.com

It is with a heavy heart that I write no Halloween festivities were had this weekend, thanks to a wedding in Louisiana that sadly, was not Halloween themed. It just doesn't even seem like fall yet because I haven't spent countless hours researching, creating, and applying my costume (past years have necessitated a wide range of preparations, including fake tattoos, sculpting an ass out of travel pillows, and applying an artistically accurate face painting with Kryolan cosmetics). Because I'm feeling nostalgic as fuck, let's have a look back at some costumes of years' past:

2010 - Day of the Dead Bride





2009 - Lady Gaga





2008 - Kim Kardashian





2007 was Amy Winehouse (pre-mortem) and I'd sure love to get my hands on a picture but it has long since been relegated to some forgotten external hard drive and I can't quite conjure up the willpower to unearth it.

IF I had been blessed with the opportunity to dress up this year, I would have gone as the Black Swan. Not because I fancy myself to be as svelte or as pretty as Natalie Portman but because I've always had a hard-on for ballet and it would be super fun to do the makeup. And my first position isn't too shabby either.

OR I might have just canned all my plans and worn this dress, which surely would have gotten me at least an honorable mention at my company's annual Halloween contest:





$100 seems a little steep to wear Steve Buschemi's face, but it's a chance I probably would have been willing to take.

So tell me dawls, what were your Halloween plans this year? Just don't make them sound too fun, or I'll have an even harder time getting over my loss.

THE grandma couch print pants

wearing vintage pants, H&M sweater, thrifted jean jacket, Minnetonka moccasins
These are the kind of pants that could literally stand in for birth control. I didn't even realize how true that is until I saw them photographed in all their resplendent polyester high-waisted glory. No self-respecting individual would wear these and think they look halfway decent, but I did, so apparently my opposite body dysmorphic disorder has struck again (wherein I think I look better than I really do). Ah, the power of denial is quite something, isn't it?
And fuck if I don't say so myself, but this week's manicure is killing it. Wrinkly knuckles and all.

stalked

wearing thrifted Elie Tahari skirt, vintage blouse, J. Crew sweater, BDG jacket, Dolce Vita boots, vintage ring (belonged to my Aunt), Stella & Dot necklace, and Butter London nail polish in "Wallis."

It's Monday, it was already dark when I get home from work, and it's raining (hence sour face in above photos). My only weapon for combatting the sudden dreariness of Fall was this metallic skirt I found at one of my favorite consignment stores. Bonus that it ended up matching my Chanel Peridot wannabe from Butter London, which is totally going to be one of my go-to fall polish colors.

Also, this hilarious bit of fuckery:




Yes, that's me walking in front of my office with my 10am Cappuccino in hand. Google Maps totally stalked me. 

nail swag

From top left: Illamasqua campaign, Ben Trovato Blog, Nailside, Fuckyeahprettynails, Fleury Rose (I think?)

Just a few of the nail designs that have been catching my eye in the blogosphere lately. I'm especially fond of variations on the half-moon manicure. And all those tribal/Native American designs that there's no way in hell I'd be able to emulate.

For Fall, I'll probably need a few new polishes in my arsenal.





And finally, just because I'm an asshole, an image that you'll be trying to erase from your memory for the better part of a week.



image via Nail PornNAIL PORN! Lit-rally. Har har.

technicolor dreamscape

"Deliverance from Envy" by Jackson Zhao via Ben Trovato

Love everything about this: the nails (of course), the makeup, the light, the hair, the pained expression on the model's face...it's all pretty much perfect.

please turn up the heat again

Signs of the coming summer: beer on the beach, Frankie looking fat and happy in an impossibly lush pasture, orange ranunculus, neon colors, weekend walks in the city, and picnics in the park.

Unfortunately, it's back to a windy, cold-as-fuck 61 degrees. But when it DOES warm up again, I'll know what to do.

fuck yeah royal wedding!

Some of you might find it hard to believe that I am UN-ironically excited about the Royal Wedding, but I assure you my excitement is genuine. Case in point: I am about to power nap for a few hours before heading back to work to live tweet the entire event. I will be up from 1am to 6am on nothing but adrenaline (and 5 hour energy). Shit is going to be balls-to-the-walls crazy. I can't wait.

If you're up for some reason, you can watch the event live on Ustream. I'll be the one frantically pulling different feeds into the player on the homepage. See you there!

easter bunny

Easter egg-colored nail polishes in my basket this year. Thanks, Mom!

Also, this:




No friends, your eyes do not deceive you. That is a Peep dipped in dark chocolate. That little Peep swam through a lake of creamy chocolate all the way into my hungry belly and it was good. Must. Find. More.

in absentia

images from top: Shai Yehezkel photography (via unknown), back tassels at Mara Hoffman, Sergio Rossi lookbook, Alexander McQueen backstage, Jak & Kill

Sorry for the lack of posting (because I'm so sure you're at home right now clutching a bottle of wine in one hand and a box of tissues in the other, wailing to the heavens now that MY MAGNIFICENT VOICE is no longer echoing across the internets).  Unfortunately outside forces have conspired to keep me on long, profanity laced phone calls with Comcast because my internet and cable don't work. Oh, and my computer is out of memory and cannot handle one more picture, so I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of an external hard drive. Things are malfunctioning. We should be back to regular irregularly scheduled programming shortly.