style icon number 2

Jessica Fletcher
And no I'm not joking. I am a child of the 80's and love almost all 80's fashion. But one of my favorites is the pussy bow blouse or secretary blouse. It was usually made out of polyester but was sometimes made of silk. It came in all sorts of prints and colors...and Jessica Fletcher has an amazing collection of these blouses and dresses. I've had a quite extensive collection of the blouses for about 15 years now. Mostly from charity and thrift shops, but some new ones whenever the high street jumped on my band wagon.

bow blouses by djalicat featuring Michael Kors tops

As I became a huge fan of Murder, She Wrote, after watching the repeats daily on daytime television, I realized that J.B. Fletcher actually had a pretty good dress sense. There's usually at least one outfit she wears in an episode that I would wear. I have moved on from just the blouses to what I call 'Jessica Fletcher' dresses.

Todd Oldham

Image by cameraartsblog via Flickr

One of my favorite designers is Todd Oldham. He doesn't really design anymore, he still has a jeans line but is more into photography right now. He did the photos for Amy Sedaris's book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. He's also involved with interior design, book publishing. And 'He's on the board of
Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), to work in partnership with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health and culture in Central America...and Aperture, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting photography.' (Wikipedia) So basically, Todd Rocks!
I love Todd! I even have a tattoo inspired by his logo.
I love Todd's designs because they were fun and had a sense of humor. He did a collection inspired by the 3 Stooges! The pockets had handles on them and the linings were a wood paneling print. Todd was also not afraid of color and prints...especially mixing up color and prints! His clothes were way more interesting to me than Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren or Donna Karen...which are all beige and boring!

(The suit to the left is Trompe L'oeil patchwork print silk.)
Todd's from Texas and embraces everything tacky, trashy and kitsch.
Todd was also on MTV...a lot. He was showing us girls how to customize and make our own clothes...how to use vintage and second hand clothes and re-style them. He was lovely and friendly and was like your Gay Best Friend before you even knew you needed one.

charming...

This was my friends Jeffrey, Michael and his sister Jennifer's band...Charming. We met at this Britpop night called Cafe Blue in L.A. They were going to play at this music industry festival in Las Vegas, so a bunch of us decided to go with them for support and general shenanigans. I filmed it for prosperity.
We were obsessed with Britpop and indie music and dressed as much like our favorite Britpop bands as we could. On the way to Vegas we made a list 'How to be Charming', copying the idea from one of our favorite bands Pulp. I will look for the Charming list and post it soon.

As you can see they were quite cool and glamorous but in a very British way. At the time all the girls in California and the U.S. wanted to look like Gwen Stefani from No Doubt. And I remember the boys all wearing wallet chains and wife beater tank tops and baggy shorts. Britpop was much more classy and romantic and looked really cool...It was literally 1,000 of miles away from what we thought was boring Southern California.

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style icon number 1

Image by melilab via Flickr

Audrey Hepburn has been one of my style icons since high school. Most of my hair styles have been inspired by hers. I even gave myself blonde streaks like Holly Golightly's in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I have like fifteen 'little black dresses' because of Audrey. She had a classic, simple style that was personified by her decades long collaboration and friendship with Hubert Givenchy. I feel like a lady when I dress like her.

"Why change? Everyone has his own style. When you have found it, you should stick to it."
— Audrey Hepburn

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• What Would Audrey Hepburn Wear? These 3 Little Black Dresses. (shefinds.com)

Mary Janes...

I love Mary Janes. At one point I had 15 different pairs. I had to get rid of most of them when I moved to London. I am now building up my collection again. I like to think that all my designs can be worn with Mary Janes.

Here's some I especially love...

 

 

 

 

I had a pair like these but they were from Payless Shoe Source and cost $9.99.

Jumpers

Here's some jumpers I'm planning on making...

Things that inspire me...

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Barbra Streisand
This is my fave Barbra film, it's completely mad! Here's the plot off Wikipedia:
At the behest of her ultra-conservative fiance Warren, scatter-brained five-pack-a-day chain smoker and clairvoyant Daisy Gamble attends a class taught by psychiatrist Marc Chabot for help in kicking her habit. While undergoing hypnosis, it is discovered she is the reincarnation of Lady Melinda Winifred Waine Tentrees, a seductive 19th century coquette who was born the illegitimate daughter of a kitchen maid.
Oh and Jack Nicholson plays her step-brother Tad.
This is my favorite scene in the movie. I love how her night gown is the same as the sheets and her dress is the same material as the chair! Love it!