Tiled Patterns

Patterns! I like ’em.

Patterns on patterns on tiles. (Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

I have a special fondness for tiles, too. And this building had some particularly lovely ones. Can you believe this is a public middle school?!?

Posing outside Everett Middle School. (Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

Pat and I were heading home from the Mission-Dolores area and happened across this beautiful building – Everett Middle School. Perhaps I risked pattern overload, with my geometric-print dress and black & white chevron shoes, but it seemed too good of a photo op to pass up. (Even if I only had a cell phone camera available – alas!)

(Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

Dress: Sugar Cubed Dress, Leota via ModCloth
Cardigan: The Dream of the Crop Cardigan in Black, Mak via ModCloth
Purse: Cole Haan
Shoes: High Hopes Wedge in Chevron, Seychelles via ModCloth

[Photos by Pat Zimmerman]

Decades of Oscar Dresses in One Awesome [Updated] Infographic!

Quick follow-up to yesterday’s reblog of ModCloth’s post… I noticed on the MediaRun site that they have an updated version of the Oscar dresses infographic.

Paul North of Mediarun says:

The original plan was always to release a second version of this infographic, adding the newest dress from Sunday’s Awards. The scale of the response has instead enabled us to find many more dress designer names (thanks, Bob Mackie for contacting us about Sally Field’s dress), correct a few minor errors and go to print.

Oscar Dresses: Every Dress Worn by Best Actress Academy Award Winners. Copyright Mediarun Digital 2014.

I’ll be keeping my eye out for the poster version to hang on my wall!

Decades of Oscar Dresses in One Awesome Infographic!

Just had to reblog this ModCloth post featuring a great infographic of Oscar dresses (created by MediaRun).

It’s fascinating seeing how the red-carpet styles evolved since 1929! And I knew Greek/Roman-inspired dresses have been around for a several years, but look at how they just DOMINATE the 2000s!

EDIT 3/6/2014: Check out an updated version of the infographic here!

A Little Bit of Inspiration

Howdy!

(Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

I’m starting this post out with a photo of my favorite comfy coat. It’s made out of sweatshirt material – really, it’s like a flirty, dress-friendly hoodie. I love that I can wear it around the house, on a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge (just did that last weekend!), and over a cute dress. :)

But this blog post is really about the outfit I’m wearing under the coat. See, when I got up in the morning I was at a loss for what to wear. And then I perused ModCloth’s Style Gallery (one of my fave places for outfit inspiration), and was inspired by some great looks from fabulous gals like . . .

Jana G. (left) of Small Town, Big Smile! who added spice to a mint dress with a red belt and cardigan. And Ashley R. (right) of Not Your Average Ashley, who paired a red polka dot dress with a sweet mint cardigan.

And THEN I looked into my closet . . . and found a shocking dearth of mint. :(

But some of the other outfits that caught my eye incorporated lovely shades of aqua instead. Like the outfit posted by Amanda L. (left) of Modern June Cleaver. And the one posted by Katie M. (right), a.k.a. Amelia Jetson.

And I happened to have bought a charming aqua dress recently – it was sitting in my closet, just waiting for the inspiration to wear it!

(Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

Though I am thinking that I need to get some mint-colored pieces for the future. :)

P.S. You can see more of my favorite Style Gallery photos here!

Coat: Soaring Comets Coat, Effie’s Heart via ModCloth (out of stock, but still available directly from Effie’s Heart)
Dress: Front Perch Swing Dress, Retrolicious via ModCloth
Cardigan: The Dream of the Crop Cardigan in Black, Mak via ModCloth
Belt: Calderon, thrifted
Tights: Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: DKNY

[Photos of me by Pat Zimmerman.]

Le Geek, C’est Chic!

I don’t talk much about my day-to-day job at ModCloth on this here blog. I guess my love of ModCloth’s clothes is obvious, and I love/hate that I have an employee discount that encourages me to fill my closet to the brim. But what I’m truly thankful for is that I’m doing work I enjoy, for a customer-centric company with a truly awesome community of customers.

Before ModCloth, I was a grad student studying psychology & behavioral decision research. Basically, I was looking into why people make the decisions they do and what affects their judgments. I’m still passionate about that area of study, but academia can be rather isolating, and I often felt like I was floundering with no real impact on the world around me. Fast-forward to today, and I’m still studying psychology & decision making – but in an applied way, with a collaborative team of coworkers.

And then, once or twice a year, I get to play in ModCloth’s hackathons. Our hackathons include a mix of people who work on website & app development, user experience, analytics & customer research, along with colleagues from other parts of the business (like marketing and buying/merchandising). We form small teams and spend 3 days building a new feature or proof of concept. The goal is to spark creativity and build something to enhance the ModCloth user experience. Last year, for example, a team developed a prototype that became “Fit for Me” – a feature on the ModCloth iPhone app that enables customers to browse products based on their measurements.

Alright, but this is a personal style blog, and you gotta know there’s an outfit in here somehow. At our most recent hackathon, we got these fab hoodies designed by Amy Luo and Steph Monette, user experience designers at ModCloth. Check out the sweet print:

ModCloth’s hackathon hoodie, designed by Amy Luo and Steph Monette. Yes, that’s a nyan pug!! (Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

And in the spirit of celebrating creativity, I paired it with a Harold and the Purple Crayon tee. Plus polka dots and fuchsia tights because I like ’em. :)

(Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

(Oh yeah, and I actually do wear glasses – they’re just for long-distance, which is why they don’t normally show up in my photos.)

As for my team’s hackathon project – we’re working on getting it implemented, so it’s still under wraps for now. But I’ll let y’all know if it goes live!

Top: Novel Tee in Harold, Out of Print via ModCloth (Out of stock, but also available on the Out of Print website)
Skirt: modified from a ModCloth dress
Hoodie: Print designed by Amy Luo and Steph Monette
Tights: Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: DKNY
Glasses: Eye’DC v837 in purple

[Photos by Pat Zimmerman]

Wintry Mix and Match

Happy 2014!

Well, hello there! (Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

For Christmas this year I visited my family in Pennsylvania. Yep, for 5 days I gave up the perfectly mild San Francisco weather for the bitter, blustery cold of the Northeast.

Except it wasn’t that bad. We got just a sprinkling of snow on Christmas eve and a light flurry on the day after Christmas. But still, I needed to bundle up a tiny bit with a merino wool cardigan (an old standby from Banana Republic) and super thick, fleece-lined tights that I picked up from Nordstrom Rack last year. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to wear the sweater dress that I recently picked up at ModCloth’s internal sample sale!

The dress was actually about 2 sizes too large, but after I cut about 8″ from the waist and sewed it back up it fit quite well. And it’s super-dooper comfy to boot!

(Photo by Pat Zimmerman)

Hope you all had lovely holidays, and best wishes for 2014!

Sweater Dress: Always Adorable Dress, Bea & Dot via ModCloth
Cardigan: Banana Republic
Belt: H&M
Tights: Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: Wonders

[Photos by Pat Zimmerman]

Black and white and dogs all over!

When Pat saw me take this sweater out of my latest ModCloth box, he said, “I can’t believe you bought that!” But how could he believe I wouldn’t buy it?! I mean, it’s covered in Boston Terriers!

And Rocky completely supported my decision.

(Of course, as long as it means he’s getting attention, Rocky supports any decision.) (Photo by Krystal St. Julien)

As I’m wont to do, I paired the sweater with one of my go-to skirts and my red Calderon belt. Black fishnets layered over red tights completed the ensemble. Perfect for a day at the ModCloth office, with Rocky by my side!

Rocky and I strike a pose (Photo by a helpful passerby!)

What I wore:
Sweater: Champion the Paws Sweater, Moon Collection via ModCloth
Skirt: Essential Elegance Skirt, Moon Collection via ModCloth
Belt: Calderon, thrifted
Tights: Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: DKNY

It wasn’t me!

(Alas.)

Apparently, someone stole $26,000 worth of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon.

Yes, I WAS in Kentucky last weekend. And yes, of course, I visited Buffalo Trace Distillery – the makers of Pappy Van Winkle. But I’m sad to report that I am not the proud owner of nearly 200 bottles of the bourbon. :(

What is Pappy Van Winkle, you ask? It’s a most excellent aged bourbon! Pat and I first came across it a few years ago in Pittsburgh when we went to the local Whiskey Fest. We were lucky enough to snag a bottle soon after from the local state store – at the time, we didn’t realize HOW lucky we were! It’s nearly impossible to get from stores – you have to sign up on waiting lists ages in advance to even have a hope of getting a bottle – and can cost over $1,000 from some resellers. Eep!

Any employee or others found in warehouse tampering with barrels will be subject to dismissal.

The dire warning on the “secret” library entrance to one of Buffalo Trace’s warehouses (see above) was obviously ineffective in preventing the theft. Le sigh.

An experimental cask at Buffalo Trace.

So now, my chances of getting a new bottle of Pappy Van Winkle are ever so slightly smaller than the slim chance I had before.

Which means now I’ve got to go drown my sorrows in a glass of Eagle Rare. Neat.

[All photos by me.]

Gaudy by Nature

Happy Wear Something Gaudy Day!

Maybe you weren’t aware that October 17th is Wear Something Gaudy Day, but it is. Teh interwebs say so.

I celebrated the day by tapping into my inner Liberace and donning a metallic copper floral skirt, sequined top, and Rainbow-Brite-inspired shoes. Not to mention sparkly earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Oh yeah, and a Ring Pop!

Gasp! How FABULOUS! (Photo by Julie Murrell.)

So what’s your favorite fashion item that verges on gaudiness? Or maybe one that blatantly crosses the line and is all out AWESOME?

What I wore:
Top: Nordstrom Rack
Skirt: Songs by the Fire Skirt, Bettie Page via ModCloth
Shoes: Rainbow Road Wedge, Poetic License via ModCloth
Belt: Calderon, thrifted

[Photo by Julie Murrell.]

Greetings from Kentucky!

Okay, it’s been awhile since I posted. A long while. Things were crazy busy at the beginning of the year, and then I got out of the blogging habit, and then I couldn’t figure out the right way to start a post again. Amazing how quickly 9 months can go by like that! :O

So, hello again! And now I’m just going to dive right into a new post. (I never did quite figure out the right way to get started again – please forgive the lame/nonexistent segue!)

Howdy! (Photo by Pat Zimmerman.)

This past weekend Pat and I headed to Kentucky for a friend’s wedding. And before the festivities started, we went bourbon tasting. The weather was absolutely perfect, and our visit to Four Roses Distillery provided the perfect backdrop for some outfit pics.

Photo by Pat Zimmerman.

This skirt is one of my recent faves – it’s got spaceships! And robots! What that has to do with bourbon, I don’t know – but the weather was nice and I just felt like wearing it.

Whiskey barrels make the perfect pedestals. (Photo by Pat Zimmerman.)

And since we were at Four Roses, we were surrounded by (you guessed it) roses. Of course I had to stop and smell them (alas, these weren’t the particularly fragrant kind).

Yes, I do take time to stop & smell the roses! (Photo by Pat Zimmerman.)

After taking photos outside, we went on the grand distillery tour – then I snagged a shot of Pat behind the tasting bar. He was wearing a wooden bow tie. Because it’s awesome. And totally fits with the bourbon theme.

Enjoying Four Roses bourbon.

Cheers!

Soon I’ll post the outfit I wore to my friend’s wedding. And I promise it won’t take me months to get around to!

What I wore:
Top: Stick with Knit Cardigan, Mak via ModCloth
Skirt: Outta This World Skirt, Rock Steady via ModCloth
Shoes: Turning Point Heel, Seychelles via ModCloth
Purse: Longchamp

[Photos of me by Pat Zimmerman. Photo of Pat by me.]