my stars

THIS post by Elizabeth of White Lightning is incredible. Read it, ogle the pictures, and die a million little deaths from all the awe and jealousy and inspiration coursing through your veins. And note the variety of ages, genders, races, and aesthetics amalgamated in that little room...the times they are a changin'.

insight.

I'm not sure when the people around me will realize that when I get up in the morning and pick out my outfit and do my makeup and blowdry my hair, it is solely for my own benefit. I'm not even attempting to attract or impress anyone with the way I present myself. My chosen form of expression is my style. I wear "weird" things sometimes. So what?

the view from where i sit is rather grey

In drear-nighted December,

Too happy, happy tree,

Thy branches ne'er remember

Their green felicity:

The north cannot undo them

With a sleety whistle through them;

Nor frozen thawings glue them

From budding at the prime.

In drear-nighted December,

Too happy, happy brook,

Thy bubblings ne'er remember

Apollo's summer look;

But with a sweet forgetting,

They stay their crystal fretting,

Never, never petting

About the frozen time.

Ah! would 'twere so with many

A gentle girl and boy!

But were there ever any

Writhed not at passed joy?

The feel of not to feel it,

When there is none to heal it

Nor numbed sense to steel it,

Was never said in rhyme.

Seattle winters could crush you with their interminable grey-ness. Poem: In drear-nighted December, John Keats. Photos: vi.sualize, Pringle of Scotland Pre-Fall, Rag and Bone.

proserpina

I just LOVE a good holiday gift guide. Around this time of year, I comb retail websites for present-giving advice and then fantasize about being the kind of girl who winkingly gives Proenza Schouler wallets and Mongolian lambswool tippets to her bffs. Perhaps the day will come when that is actually feasible, but until then, here is my FANTASY HOLIDAY WISH LIST/GIFT GUIDE FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GIVE A PRESENT TO A DESIGN/ART OBSESSED (NEARLY EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD) GIRL:

1. THIS incredible J.Crew skirt, but in a magical looks-like-the-real-deal fake leather, in keeping with my veganism. It is perfect. PERFECT.

2. The dress Eliza wears to the Embassy Ball in My Fair Lady, so I can save it and wear it for my wedding. Obviously.

3. THOSE floral Docs. Because I still do not own them, and that is a cause for great distress. They are apparently unavailable for purchase anywhere in the whole universe because believe me, I've tried.

4. An original Miranda July. Ha.

5. A singing voice like Pricilla Ahn's.

6. A purple Proenza Schouler PS1. I'm not even a bag person. The PS1 is just flawless.

7. THIS ring.

8. For my fringe to look like Alix's (The Cherry Blossom Girl)

In reality, I'll probably be asking for donations to the Central Asia Institute and a book of Keats poetry for Christmas. But a girl can dream...

baby

Oops...I missed my blogiversary! Idyll turned 1 year old on November 24th. I'm proud of my baby. Here's to another year of style evolution and extracurricular musings!

wicked

Pamela Love from The Milk Group on Vimeo.

I LOVE Pamela Love. I will admit that my clothing choices often fall closer to the cutesy, vintage side of the spectrum than the devil-may-care fashionista club kid side...but I love weird jewelry. What strikes me about this collection is the witchy, cult-y, strangely tribal vibe that runs through it (and by "tribal", I don't mean "vaguely ethnic" in the offensive way that adjective is often used today; rather, this jewelry makes me think that the girl who wears it is literally a paleolithic huntress who wears tiger skins and paints cave pictographs in her spare time). I'm not sure if I'm cool enough to wear pentagram bracelets and ribcage necklaces and intricate pieces of metal clamped to awkward parts of my arm...but I sure would like to be someday!

upon the mountains and the moors

I just can't get the snow out of my head! It's incredible how much influence the weather has over my mood; sunny summers make me effusive and magnanimous, crisp autumns awaken my inner high-strung prepster, and rainy winters turn me pensive and somber...but I think I like my snowy personality best. Looking out the window at a frosted landscape seems to endow me with an innate sense of tranquility and restfulness, as if one dusting of snow has put the world in order. Everything shines. These drifts gloss over the dirty pavement and the dead tree branches and the dark patches of the world until every last corner is filled with light. I know the snow will melt and I know that all too soon I'll be waxing poetic about a rapturous spring, but until then I'll let these silverquiet days linger on like a silent breath hanging in thin air.

drifts

I've decided to start posting outfit pictures on Idyll! I'm starting partially because many people have asked me to, and partially because I like the way I dress, but mostly because Refinery29 says outfit posts are a key step to achieving style blog fame and fortune.
Today was the very first snow day of the year! Snow is a very big deal to me and to my sister...it's probably our very favorite weather. Naturally, a photoshoot ensued.

Ellen is so gorgeous.

Mia Girl shoes, Silence + Noise dress, cardigan stolen from boyfriend, vintage L.L. Bean belt, vintage Ralph Lauren scarf, J. Crew python headband. Awkward poses, 100% original.

I just bought these boots and I absolutely adore them; they're the perfect everyday shoe and I've been wearing them...well, every day.

belle epoque

I've always thought that if I was to live in another decade, I would have been a 1970's bohemian or a late-19th-century Gibson Girl. I love Gibson Girls.

The "Gibson Girl" look was actually a satirization of the "perfect woman" by the artist Charles Dana Gibson...but it's just so charming! These girls are feminine without being submissive, beautiful without being emaciated, and well-dressed while still maintaining a little quirky originality.

If anyone can teach me how to do that pouf, I would be much obliged.

ribbonfall

I just had to post this - everyone needs more late-60's Twiggy in their life.

thank you for existing

The internet has answered my prayers. For so long, I believed that I was condemned to wade through hundreds of narcissistic, melodramatic self-portraits of skinny hipsters (whose style of dress, by the way, is simply a passe retreading of ancient trends that have been categorized as "edgy") on Lookbook in order to find really inspiring personal style shots. But now! Now I have discovered stylelikeu.com and my world has been rocked. Originality reigns supreme once again. Thanks, stylelikeu, for restoring my faith in the fashionable.

How beautiful and fabulous is this woman? I aspire to grow old irreverently.

All shapes, sizes, genders, and aesthetics welcome.

escapism

"She wiped away the memory of Florentino Ariza, she erased him completely, and in the space that he had occupied in her memory she allowed a field of poppies to bloom"
- Love in the Time of Cholera

merci!

Just to reiterate: I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT LANVIN FOR H&M. I've been stalking pictures of the collection all day, and the line really is living up to all the hype. It combines everything I love about Lanvin (like vibrant jewel tones, interesting silhouettes, a sense of humor and potential for creative wearability) into one neat, under $200 package. Thanks Alber.

The only thing I'm concerned about is that black waistband...I really really really hope it's not too cheesy in person.

i want lanvin not flowers!

This is it, kids. The one we've all been waiting for.

SEE THE LATEST VIDEO ABOUT THE H&M DESIGNER COLLABORATION.

And it's completely amazing.
The clothes are gorgeous (obviously a rehashing of the last few seasons, especially the S/S 2009 show, but a good rehashing!) and I will be buying 1. the shoes 2. the sunglasses 3. the chartreuse dress 4. everything else, most likely.
I also adore the video...it reminds me of the Eloise stories a little bit if Eloise was on fabulous pills and hung around with supermodels.

Get In My Closet Now

A.k.a. Shoes I Found Online While I Was Supposed To Be Doing My Math Homework:

Jeffrey Campbell Two Timer Wedge

Jeffrey Campbell Thread Platform

Deserted Wedge Boot

Clearly, I am over skinny pencil heels by about a million percent. My soul will always and forever belong to the 1970's. Chunky, clunky and slightly awkward shoes rule my head and my heart. Viva autumn-appropriate footwear!
All shoes from Nasty Gal.

gathering dust

This is terrible, I've never neglected this blog for so long without a good reason...I've just been so busy with school, volleyball, college applications, a million and one extracurriculars (all while trying to maintain some semblance of a social life) that I've left Idyll by the wayside for a little while. And during fashion week, too...such a travesty. Until I find time to post again, have some inspiration:












Garance Dore, Dutch tulips, the Milky Way, Lissy Elle photography, a reading rainbow, more Lissy Elle, a Paul Poiret sketch, random amazing photo, Dior 2010, Dior New Look, The Wizard of Oz, and my imaginary namesake.