Tag: style

I Finally Own Yarn Hair Ribbons and Now I Feel Like I Can Take on Anything in Life

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Yarn hair ribbons…where do I even begin here? All I know is that I have been a fan of these super-cute retro hair accessories for as long as I can remember. They were actually kind of hard to find (I eventually found a pack on Amazon) because I specifically wanted thick ones, like back in the day. After some research, it seems they were most popular to wear during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Have I ever worn them myself? Nope – not until now, that is!! At last, it is my turn to wear these badges of retro honor.

A simple pack of bright yarn made me all kinds of happy; I’ll be wearing these incessantly, I’m betting. A new signature style for me, perhaps? I think yes!

So I’m bringing back yarn, and not for crafting, but for wearing proudly in my hair in all of its retro-quirky glory. Because I love to bring back old school things you’d see in a retro sitcom, like waving at my neighbors, smiling at strangers I pass by, and wearing hair yarn like I’m Cindy from The Brady Bunch. ❤️

Although, I’m like an extreme Cindy Brady with a creepy vibe who discovered heavy eye makeup and chokers.

I’m excited to wear all this brightly-colored yarn, honestly. I feel like it gives me superpowers (the superpower being confidence).

See ya next time!!!

One for the Books; Wearing a Cool Apron

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✨ Happy start of the new year! ✨

I love, love, love my new apron (a vintage find!), and it’s actually not a kitchen apron. It’s an accessory to an old USSR school uniform, in which a black apron was commonly worn over the standard brown dress. And now I styled it in my own fun way, with a floral pin from The Tote Trove! 😄

I reeeeally do love hunting for vintage items and giving them a new life!

I carefully planned out what I want to read for the year, and it caused me to go to Barnes & Noble for the first time since before the pandemic. I was soooooooooooo freaking excited to go!!!! I even took a picture of the store I was so happy, LOL. For me, knowledge is a girl’s best friend, so I love bookstores. 😎💕

My first read of the year – I know, I know, I’m pretty much obsessed with this man. 😍 I just really admire him.

I’m happy with my book line-up for this year!!! I want to learn about the early beginnings and formation of the United States, hence the three books on the right. 🇺🇸❤️ And of course, I needed a WWII book. 😋 Y’all just knew one would be a war book!

See ya next time!! 📚☕️

Uniform Nostalgia

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The other day, my friend and I got coffee to-go and walked around the beautiful Fresno High School campus, and I came across this sign, in which I wanted a photo of me with it just because of the irony that I was holding a Frappucino.

Walking around a high school campus got me thinking about my own high school days. The black neckerchief I’m wearing in this outfit was actually part of my U.S. Naval Sea Cadet uniform! I was in the program for 3 years in high school. I decided to pull out the neckerchief from my closet and let it out for air, but this time with a more fashionable spin on it.

Here’s evidence that I was in Sea Cadets (and there’s the neckerchief, too). This was taken at Naval Air Station Lemoore in 2004! I was sixteen! The certificate I was receiving was my completion of Airman Training, which was two weeks of learning about jets, hands-on. I spent a lot of time around jet mechanics and even got to sit in the cockpit of a jet! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one of the biggest highlights of my life.

So I’ve always had a soft spot for uniforms, because of the nostalgia factor. It brings back good memories of my days in Sea Cadets. ❤️

Which leads me to my next neckerchief, which was also once part of a uniform. I found another vintage gem from the former USSR, and this time it’s a red neckerchief worn by the Young Pioneers organization. This one was unissued from 1990!

Reference Photo of the Young Pioneers Uniform

So here’s to bringing old things back to life. Two neckerchiefs that each served as part of a uniform at one point, are now living a new life as a fashion accessory. ❤️

Also, like my new tights?!?!?!?!?! I’m in love with them! They’re each from Amazon and you can find the cat ones here and the heart ones here!

See ya next time!!!

Thirty-three

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Weeeeeee! I am finally my favorite age number!!! 💜🎉 33🎉💜

Check out my 1980’s Barbie themed cake! Those are original figurines I’ve had from 1989. Aren’t they cute?!?! 😍

Funny fact: this year, the weekday my birthday falls on is accurate. My mom was on her way to go Black Friday shopping when she went into labor with me. LOL!

THESE GIFTS from my mom and sister…* squeals high-pitched like a little girl in a Barbie store * I have been wanting to read this book for so long!!! Finally I get to dive into it! The CD is Nena’s 1984 album (which has on it the famous 99 Red Balloons song); I absolutely love this album in its entirety and I’m excited I can finally play it in my car!

It’s been an AMAZING birthday and I am so happy to be 33!!! Now, to go get my free Starbucks drink…☕️

Coffee Date with Myself and Enjoying My Last Week of Being 32

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Howdy doooo! 💜

Today I took myself to The Axis Coffee Bar ☕️, a beautiful café in Madera, CA! I’ve been here many times and absolutely love it. It’s right outside of Fresno and is surrounded by foothills and vineyards.

I parked outside the entrance long enough to snap a photo with my mini-tripod placed on the hood of my car, haha. I want to make it a point to use my little tripod more often when I’m out and about! 😄

THIS PLACE HAS THE BEST VIEWS. I love their patio furniture and there is even a water fountain where you can hear the water gently splashing during your stay. And how about the food… 😍

AMAZING! This is the blended mocha and an autumn sprinkled sugar cookie. ❤️

My birthday is approaching on Friday and I’m happy about that!! My plans are to eat some cake, get Indian food takeout, get my free Starbucks drink and open a couple of gifts from my mom and sister. I’ll be turning my favorite age (33), and I have no idea why that is my favorite age but I’ve always looked forward to turning 33. 💜

A few nights ago I went for an evening walk, but I went too late and missed the sun. Booooo. However, the bonus was that I took some great shots of street lights! (I love street lights).

See ya Friday for the birthday blog post!!

Butterfly Migration Onto My Head

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Hi folksssssssssss! 💕

I realized this past month I have been wearing mainly neutral tones, WHICH IS GREAT, TOO. But I feel like I really needed a color splash into my outfits. And thus you have THIS LOOK with an array of colors! Yeah!

I also feel like I haven’t been utilizing all the hair clips I own, which is a lot. So I doubled it up with butterflies! I actually am really happy I did this, because I didn’t realize how awesome it would turn out. 😄

I’m not sure how I slipped out of wearing brighter colors, but I’m happy I’m back at it. It just felt GOOD to be wearing brighter colors again! Sometimes I slip into habits and look back and realize, wait, when did I stop wearing bright colors? Then I lasso myself back into it again.

Once again, Mikhail Gorbachev, the host with the most glasnost, graces my blog post! I finished reading Perestroika and then discovered he wrote a new book this year! (Did you know he’s 89 years old!?) This one is really cool because it deals with current international affairs. So I’m learning a lot about the “state of the world”.

I love Gorbachev’s writing style. He provides that informative guidance; he’s like a father figure, but rather than guiding me through life choices, he’s guiding me on why nuclear weapons are bad.

Know the social/political commentary comic, Doonesbury? That was mainly all I read during my childhood years! My earliest memory of Doonesbury was reading commentary on the Gulf War. Kinda dark stuff for a kid. Imagine me reading that in Beauty and the Beast pajamas as I downed a pouch of Capri Sun. The visual is accurate.

But, looping it back to my outfit in this post, regardless of my heavy reading choices, I’m still all about the rainbows and butterflies when it comes right down to it! 💖 And on an ending note, here’s a cool photo I took of my car with lots of pretty colors:

Bye-bye for now!!! 📚

My Vintage Dress That’s Actually a Soviet School Uniform

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Woohooo!!! The dress I’ve been waiting so long for finally arrived in the mail! 😍

It came from one of my favorite Etsy shops based in Ukraine that specializes in vintage USSR items, that I mentioned in my last post. When I first saw this lovely dress (I’ve been wanting a brown dress for a really long time, especially for fall), I was amazed to find out it was a 1980’s-era school uniform. All that was missing from it was the white apron and collar/cuffs, but the foundation of the uniform dress remained! And it’s in great shape, to boot!!! ❤️

I’ve always thought Soviet school uniforms were so cute! I found a great photo on Google for reference:

I’ve been fascinated (okay, obsessed) with The Cold War/US and USSR relations/the Eastern Bloc/the collapse of the Soviet Union since I was really young. I have no idea how or when it started; it’s just always been an interest of mine, it seems! So the dress is an absolute gem in my eyes, since it encapsulates both my passion for fashion and history.

Check out the old tags on the inside of the dress, written in Ukrainian:

It makes me wonder what student(s) previously owned this 30+ years ago. If only a dress could talk! And then I think of how awe-inspiring it is that it made its way to me from so far away. I’ll definitely take good care of it and I’m so happy it found a new home with me! ❤️

Lastly, my current read (because it goes sooooooo well with the content of this post and you already know I’m a history nerd), Perestroika by Mikhail Gorbachev (the former president of the Soviet Union).

I’ve been wanting to read this book, written in 1987 (the year I was born, haha), to see how Gorbachev intended to restructure and reform the USSR, which ultimately collapsed in 1991. Had the Soviet Union not fallen apart, would his reform policies have worked in the long run? We’ll never know…but now I have a piece of this collapsed, now non-existent part of history, in the form of a dress. In a lot of ways, I think the dress found me.

See ya!!! ❤️

Letterman Style

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Hello folks!! ❤️ I’ve always liked the whole old-school letterman style cardigans from way back in the day. I decided to pick up my sewing needle while I was watching NASCAR last Sunday (I was so happy Joey Logano won!!!) and attempt to make my own kind of letterman-style cardigan equipped with the letter of my first name (Samantha) and elbow patches (made from scraps of fabric I had lying around!).

Overall I totally love it and it’s definitely a garment I’ll be wearing frequently during the chillier fall months ahead! It’s fun and can easily go with anything.

The scarf is vintage from the 1980’s, made in the USSR. I bought it from an Etsy seller who lives in Ukraine, and her shop specializes in vintage items from the former Soviet Union. I have one more garment I’m waiting so badly to blog about, which also came from her shop, but it hasn’t arrived in the mail just yet. 😓

BUT IN THE MEANTIME ENJOY SOME MORE PHOTOS AND CHECK OUT MY NEW KITTY SHOES…

MEOW MEOW MEOWWWWWW

I have finally broke into these shoes. It took many a blister and pain to do so, but I did it. I was like, SHOES, YOU ARE GOING TO FIT COMFORTABLY AND BECOME GOOD WALKING SHOES. Eventually, they listened to me and now I can walk a long ways in them with no pain! 🐱

See ya next time!!

Cake Pop Magic, a Prairie Blouse and a Glimpse of Graphic Design from the DPRK

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Have you seen the new Starbucks commercial where the lady touches a hologram-like screen in the air and takes out a pink cake pop from it to go along with her drink, and then smiles before carrying on with her day??? I feel that commercial in my soul. I got this cake pop for free with my Starbucks Rewards, to go with my iced mocha. 😉 I actually had forgotten how yummy these are, and when I took that first bite, I thought: I FEEL LIKE THAT LADY. (Starbucks, your marketing is working like magic!) ✨💜

Recently, I modified another blouse I own, and with the added lace it has a prairie look to it now. I’m really happy with the final outcome! I love the mix of really feminine pieces (the blouse) with a darker accessory (the choker).

On Sunday evening, I found myself flipping through a photo book called Made in North Korea: Graphics From Everyday Life in the DPRK by Nicholas Bonner. This is definitely one of the most interesting books I own, I can honestly say! It’s not every day one gets to see what graphic design/product design is like in this mysterious country, or get a look at North Korean propaganda.

Me being in the graphic design field, I was highly fascinated by this book, and there’s also the side of me that is fascinated by countries shrouded in mystery. Another example are the countries that were previously part of the Eastern bloc (my next blog post will be dedicated to this very topic, as I’m patiently waiting for a vintage garment to arrive in the mail that…*hint*…has to do with the Eastern bloc!)

The massive history nerd that I am, I found myself wondering as I flipped through the pages, whether there will ever be a chance that North and South Korea will someday reunite, like when East and West Germany reunited in 1990?

Here’s a look at just a few photos featured in the book – some are postcards, posters, product labels and stationary. I thought it’d make for a great blog post, since this is not something most of us will ever get to see…

See ya next time!!

Red Lace Trim for the Win

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Hey there!! ❤️ I am quite ecstatic about this dress I re-vamped; it’s an old lace dress I had crammed in my closet, not being worn in like a year, and I decided to give it a makeover. In walks in, the red lace trim!

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

I am so happy with this dress, I can’t even express it enough. It was a roll-of-the-dice when I was sewing the lace onto it; I didn’t know how it would look once I had it on, but I went with it. I DID NOT THINK IT WOULD TURN OUT THIS COOL!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ I always feel a little boost of confidence when I’m wearing an original design of my own doing. ☺️

I went and got myself some delicious Yellow Mug Coffee and went for a long walk. The weather was just too beautiful not to be out enjoying it. I spotted some early signs of fall foliage and a very intricately-spun spider web…

SERIOUSLY, LOOK AT THAT WEB!!! 🕷

Ahhhh…I love my nature walks. I feel they are only going to get better as the season transitions gradually into fall. Yaaaaaaaay!💕

See ya!!