Chanel Pre-Fall 2010

Not my very favorite Chanel has to offer, but still some very elegant pieces.

My three favorites from the collection:

Love her black coat.
Red coat! And cute yellow purse! Love the contrasts.
This is just cool and confident. I'll always like cool and confident.

And big hair. I think big hair is just excellent.

Why am I in love with fashion?

So, might as well make the announcement, I love fashion. I love runway and I love modeling editorials.

I've heard it's shallow, vain or materialistic. I agreed, and I tried to not love it.

Didn't happen.

So then I tried to reconcile my love to myself. What appealed to me about the loveliness of mile-long trains, dramatic red lipstick, full ballroom tulle skirts and porcelain-white skin? What fascinated me about the bizarre feathered headpieces, wild green and neon blue eye paint, and heels unimaginable for walking?

And I have come to a conclusion.

My love of fashion and its lace trappings? There were many reasons.

Fashion is a controllable, creat-able way of making things surreal and heavenly. We can put a perfect looking model in a perfect looking environment, use perfect lighting, perfect photography, perfect hairstylists and makeup artists, to capture forever a moment of perfect beauty.

There is none of that in real life. Real life is messy and practical and things "must be." In fashion the doors are open wide to experimentation and fun and fantasy and beyond belief.

And so, I have contentedly reconciled myself to my love for this art, known to the world as the runway and Vogue.

And since this is ME running "Nothing But Lovely," be prepared for lots of runways and photoshoots. I'll choose only the lovliest.

You've had fair warning. There will be other lovely things, because there is a lot to enjoy in this world, but I'm just warning you what I love.

Do join me!

(:

I'm dreaming of a white sand christmas

So it's awfully cold here, and I guess I'm gettin' to dreaming...guess where I'd like to be??

Australia

Italy

Greece

Hawaii

Never been out of the country before. I dream about it every day. Someday I intend to, except I already know it won't be as wonderful as my imagination and I'll be dissapointed. Everything is that way, for me. Still, getting out of the country has got to be amazing. Just look at these photos!

Reminds me of a night here in DC. Me, my sister, and friend, were in this bar in Georgetown at 11:00 pm, in line to get our books autographed by the Sartorialist, Steven Schuman, himself. We were the youngest ones there by...oh, say, 15 years. Add to that, we're pretty and we know how to do chic! So people were obviously noticing us, a few spoke to us. These two guys came up, one in a pinstripe suit and pink shirt beneath, the other in all black with shaggy black hair over one eye. They began to speak to me, asking questions and looking so grown up I started to feel like I was three.

"In Paris last year, everyone was talking about Steve!" One said. I looked excited.

"you've been to Paris?"
"why of course. You haven't?"

"No, I've never been out of the country." I said shortly, feeling a little annoyed at his tone.

"Why darling, you must go. Paris is the dream of a lifetime. I lived there." Said the shaggy-haired one, and his companion nodded sagely. Are you TRYING to rub in how much younger I am? They began to talk to eachother, in some foreign language. I stared at them for a moment, then they looked at me expectantly.

"Wow, you speak German too?"

"Duetsch? Of course. I lived there." He says, and I flush at saying "German" instead of "Duetsch." He tells me a little more, and then asks how old we are. I tell him I'm the oldest, at eighteen, and they seem dissapointed.

"Well, off for more drinks. Pleasure, darling." Shaggy Hair says, and he leans foward and kisses my cheek. I'm surprised, and back up a bit. No, he leans foward again.

"My dear, it is both cheeks, that is what we do." he says, and kisses my other.

"Oh, the Germans?" I mumble. Somebody shoot me.

They wander off, looking just as European and hipster as possible. It is only minutes later that I collect myself enough to laugh.

"you really MUST go to Paris, DAHLING." My friend teases. We recovered our lameness in minutes.

Ah yes, I shall go to Paris, Shaggy Hair, Dear. But first To Greece, Italy, Australia, and Hawaii!!

Tiffany

Hello,

I'm Tiffany. I know who I am. My person is unquestionably me, and I am content with it. I am imperfect-yes, that is a popped pimple beneath my nose-but I am fully aware of my flaws and taking my daily steps to improve them.

I don't laugh that often, but it isn't because I'm often sad. I just like to save my laughs for something that really deserves it. I laughed when my little brother brought me hot tea in bed this morning. That deserved a laugh. I laughed when I finished watching Titanic. Maybe you think that doesn't deserve a laugh, but I laughed with relief and gratitude that I wasn't there. Then I cried a little, for the people who were there.

My mom had cancer last year, and I cut my hair, too. She's getting better. Our hair is growing out together. She's going to be fine. And I am going to be strong for the rest of my life.

Whatever happens, I am ready. I am Tiffany. I like fresh peaches and Doc Martens and there's a poster of Sting above my bed. Soon I'll have enough money for my trip to Ukraine. There's an orphanage I'd like to visit, and I think I'll laugh there, a lot.

Hello, world, here I am.

Everything's Lovlier With Dancing

What is it about dancing? Moving around to the beat of a fun song is the fastest, simplest, purest way to immediately feel happy. When I was little, I used to dance everywhere I went. Tip toes, arms swirling, hair flying. Always! Somewhere along the line I discovered not everybody danced, and I started to feel uncomfortable. I eventually stopped completely.

Recently, I have started again.

If there's a song on the radio (or just in my head), it is outrageous that I shouldn't enjoy it cuz nobody else wants to dance. Okay, some of my coworkers shake their head and think I'm a little nuts when I slide and twirl across the kitchen, but a couple of them join right in. Those are always the best moments of the day.

So here's a little song-and-dance routine by my very VERY favorite actress, Zooey Deschanel. The guy is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who's also quite adorable.

Its kind of strange, the bank heist and all, but the dancing is just phenomenal. Enjoy!

Bank Dance

You can even find lovely in a trash can

This morning I checked my Facebook to be introduced (by a lovely person) to an absolutely lovely video.

It is quirky and odd, but utterly joyous! Plus, the song is my new favorite. So catchy and cheerful!

This is a salute to finding beauty and bringing laughter to every corner of the little spaces we inhabit. Its strange how I seem to think we can only be happy in certain settings, or feel suppressed from letting whatever I was doing turn into fun.

I promise this will leave you smiling...and all of a sudden you will start drumming on random surfaces!

watch it:

Daylight

A moment

Here is my very first little piece of beauty. I'm not even exactly sure what about it is so lovely, except when I saw it, I smiled. That's my whole goal- to have something so purely and simply lovely that you just have to smile when you see it. They say smiling is very good for you, you know.

Anna is young, only 15. She lives in a little house above the city in a faraway land. She lives with her grandmother, who makes a living for them by knitting wonderfully warm and soft sweaters. Every morning, Anna gets up. Not because she has to, but because she loves the sun. Its her favorite moment to see that pure ball of warmth rise over her precious city, bringing light and life to the town. The people of the town love Anna, and her tiny petite beauty. She makes the sweaters look so good that all of the people of the city want them, and Anna and her grandmother live in happiness.

Her favorite part of every morning, however, is her moment with the sun.

No more darkness!

I was sitting watching a depressing movie the other day, and the thought occurred to me: I'm really tired of sadness.

We all spend so long going from place to place recounting our trials. We make complicated, deep, dark films of the deceit of the upper echelons of society, we write horrific revealing memoirs of our torturous parents, we sing screaming cursing songs about bad girlfriends.

All of a sudden I realized how sick I was of it all. All this overload of badness. One revealing movie, one sad memoir- these things make a point and have the possibility of inciting change. But floods of them? Now we're only assisting in the destruction of the world.

And so, to do my little part to combat all of this darkness, I have started a blog.

Welcome to Nothing But Lovely.