Friday at Frisco

Most of my family is still in town for the holidays, which means I feel overfed and lazy (and loved).  My family is all about going out to eat.  Our days are planned entirely around our meals and where we will eat them.  When outsiders spend time around my family I'm pretty sure they are incredibly confused about how we are all not obese.  Today's New Year's Eve lunch was spent at a restaurant my family has been frequenting ever since I can remember, Frisco.  They somewhat recently updated their menu and added some new items, so I actually like the place even more now.

I can't believe I can fit into this skirt right now, or that I can be wearing a skirt without tights on New Year's Eve.  I love crazy Texas weather!

Happy New Year's Eve! 

2010: A Year of Style Photos

It's crazy to think that I started this blog a little over a year ago.  2010 has been a fantastic year for me personally, and I have to attribute a big part of that to this little blog.  The last year has been a whirlwind of meeting new amazing people, going to new interesting places, and getting to do some pretty special things. I'm so glad that I live in the amazing town that is Austin, and on any given night I can go out and meet new creative souls.  To commemorate 2010 and a year of blogging, I put together a little video montage of all my personal style photo shoots (including some never before seen and un-edited photos) from the past year.  Hopefully y'all aren't sick of looking at me as much as I am.  But in case you are, you will be happy to know that I plan on doing more photo shoots next year with more models!

I don't know about you, but I plan on making 2011 an amazing year.  Happy New Year!

Joanna

keep austin stylish

Feathers Sale!

 

In addition to this awesome 25% off sale going on til Friday, Feathers also has right now two racks with items priced at just $10!

Hooray for end of the year sales!

Joanna

keep austin stylish

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Joanna

keep austin stylish

Wrapped

No, I'm not talking about Christmas presents (although they are also wrapped).  But what else is wrapped?  The movie that I spent the last month working on.  I never really explained on my blog what I have been doing for the past month.  I have been crazy busy working on a movie called "Beneath the Darkness" which is a thriller starring Dennis Quaid, Aimee Teegarden, and Tony Oller.  Let me back up here a bit to explain exactly how this all came about..

When I was around 9 I realized that a video camera was the best toy a kid could have.  Almost every day after school my friend and I would come home to make videos.  These mostly consisted of us parodying things we saw on tv such as Calvin Klein ads.  Remember how hilariously serious those were back in the 90s? Oh wait, they are still like that today (I'm laughing at you Zoe Saldana).  But anyway, around the same time I was having fun making my homemade mini movies, my Dad was starting to write movies of his own. At first this was just a hobby for my Dad, but at some point he realized he wanted to actually see his script made into a movie.

My Dad has worked for years to get his script "Beneath the Darkness" produced, and, what seemed like such a slow process all of a sudden turned into a whirlwind of action and progress with me hopping on board to be involved in this awesome project.  As someone who started off college as a fashion major, then switched to film, started a fashion blog, then worked in casting, costume design is something I have grown more and more interested in as it combines both my interests in film and fashion.  Thus the last month for me has been spent in the wardrobe trailer, on our movie set in the tiny Texas town of Smithivlle, bugging Randy at crafty and stealing food to take back to the wardrobe trailer, and in the hotel Hyatt Lost Pines ordering room service and sleeping (there wasn't a whole lot of sleep, but there was some).

Armadillo Christmas Bazaar

For some reason I couldn't convince any of my friends to go to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar with me.  I need to stop hanging out with lazy boys, because stuff like this is so much fun!  Yesterday was the first time I have ever been to The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, but it is an event that has taken place in Austin every December since 1976.  The Bazaar gives local artists a place to present and sell their one of a kind art.   The art this year included everything from toy metal whales to wax art to handmade soap.  This year they tried to add even more fashion oriented booths to the mix, with artists selling things such as hand knitted shawls, hand dyed scarves, handmade hats, handmade leather purses, and screen printed tees.  In the future it would be nice to see even more locally designed clothing and accessories.

A lot of the items sold at the Christmas Bazaar are pretty pricey (as one of a kind art usually is).  One of my favorite booths was the Flim Flam booth by a guy who works with metal to create animal "toys" that move around.  Some of his biggest works like the T-Rex dinosaur were priced up to $500!  But even if you don't buy anything, just going and looking at everything is a fun event.  The one thing I ended up buying is available at Parts and Labour year round, but I'm glad I went to check out all the other local art because I made some fun discoveries.   

North Loop Holiday Block Party

North Loop has been one of my favorite shopping districts for a long time.  I'm always surprised when people don't know about this area, especially since it houses some of my favorite stores in Austin.  Tomorrow North Loop is having a Holiday block party.  So if you haven't finished your holiday shopping, this is a great opportunity to get some shopping done.  There will be extended store hours, special sales, live music, and food!

Everything at Blackbird will be 25% off!  Blackbird already has awesome prices, so with 25% off I bet you can get some steals.

Do Not Feed The Bears

When I used to work at SoLa we sold these locally designed furry hats for a brief period of time and whenever there weren't any customers in the store I would sneak over and try on one of these playful Chia Hats and try to decide which color I liked the best.  These hats are so ridiculous that they are almost like wearing a costume.  But that's what makes them so great.

I finally bought a Chia Hat at Parts and Labour the other day.  I decided to go with this little brown one.  I had to get a size small which according to the Chia Hat website is meant for small children.  Even though I'm 25 years old I guess I'm still a child at heart (and head).

Fir is Murder

"What'd you kill?" Said my sister as she opened the door to my car to find my fur and suede coat strewn across the back seat.  No I have not been hunting lately.  Or ever really (except that time my dad taught me how to shoot prarie dogs at our ranch when I was like 12...)  I bought this vintage coat at Uptown Modern a few months ago back when it was nowhere near cold enough to wear.  But how could one resist the awesomeness of such a coat priced around $100 in perfect condition and that fits like a glove.  Plus, because this coat is made of real leather and fur, it's actually very warm.

Contrary to how it may appear from these photos, I'm not a supporter of real fur.  I mean, if I was a cave woman hunting for my food I wouldn't think twice about wearing the skin of the bear I just killed, but, I am not a cave woman.  However, because this coat is vintage, I don't really feel bad about wearing it.  It already exists so I might as well wear it, right?  Is that wrong?  I really hope I don't get P.E.T.A. people knocking on my door tomorrow (seriously, those people are crazy).

I wore this outfit the other night to pick out a Christmas tree with my family and then to the opening party of MOSS.  Fur was a big trend amongst the crowd at MOSS, but I'm pretty sure most of the fur wearers were sporting faux fur.  How do y'all feel about real fur?  What about real Christmas trees?  Seeing all those "murdered" trees next to my fur coat was an interesting parallel.  Is a fake tree better or worse for the environment? Hmmm...

Style Watch: MOSS Grand Opening Party

Where: MOSS

When: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010

The most stylishly dressed crowd I have seen in Austin so far.

Masha, co-owner of MOSS

MOSS Grand Opening Party

So stylish.  That's how everyone at the grand opening of the new clothing boutique MOSS looked Thursday night.  You could tell everyone in attendance was a fan of clothes.  If Masha and Emily (the owners of Feathers and now MOSS) had written a book on how to be stylish, last night it looked like everyone had read that book, studied it, and taken down notes.  I have never seen that many cool outfits in one room in Austin before.

It doesn't really surprise me that the opening of MOSS would have brought out so many stylish people.  Masha Harmeler and Emily Hoover have definitely made a name for themselves in the Austin Fashion world by opening up one of the best vintage boutiques in Austin, Feathers.  Feather's has not only won acclaim in Austin, but it has won acclaim nationally as well.  So when it was announced that they would be opening up a new store, it's no surprise that the stylish women in Austin would be excited and intrigued to see what MOSS has to offer.

MOSS is a designer consignment store which means they sell gently used designer brand clothing ( I saw brands such as Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, and Max Azria to name a few) at a discount.  Personally I am usually not a fan of consignment stores.  I sort of feel like consignment the same way I feel about outlets.  If someone else didn't want the clothes, then why would I?  But with Emily and Masha doing the picking, I figured MOSS would be a different story.  And I was right.  The selection at MOSS was pretty awesome.  Everything in the store could be worked into a modern and stylish wardrobe.  I saw a lot of things that I wanted to try on.  Unfortunately I was too overwhelmed during the party to try on anything.  There were a LOT of people packed into that space (sorry to the girl whose foot I stepped on with my clunky Steve Madden clog).

Fun Fashion Find: Marshmallow Necklace

Normally around this time I would be out and about shopping my booty off at all the fabulous local stores in Austin looking for presents for my family and friends (while secretly doing some shopping on the side for myself.)

But this year, unfortunately, I have had zero time to do this (and plus now I'm sick at home.)  Thus I have been doing some online shopping (which I normally actually kinda hate to do).  However, I have recently discovered that Austin has a LOT of great Etsy shops.  I came across this marshmallow necklace while browsing the Austin Etsy stores and I thought it was really funny.

Found online at alliteration Etsy store, $9

Not only does this necklace make me want to put on my reindeer antlers and sip on some homemade hot chocolate, but, it also reminds me of a few Christmases ago when my dad bought us "kids" a marshmallow gun.  My dad loves to buy my siblings and I toys so that he can play with them.


Joanna
keep austin stylish

Cypress Vanguard Launch

Back in October I talked to local lingerie designer Megan Summerville about her shop and she informed me that her space would be expanding in the future to include more local designers.  The goal of Megan and Launch787's Matt Swinney was to create a one stop shopping experience for people looking for locally designed clothing and accessories.

Megan and Matt's vision is now a reality as the Cypress Vanguard Fashion House is launching this Sunday with local designers such as Anslee Connelly of savannahred and Ross Bennett of the Ross Bennett Collection (to name a few) joining forces to bring you a power house of locally designed merchandise.

One of Many Ponchos

I actually took these photos about a month ago and never posted them for some reason.  Since I have been working as a costume assistant for a movie filming in Smithville, I haven't had much of any free time to take style photos lately (I'll go into that in more detail in a future post).  But even though these photos are a little old, this is a look I have been rocking a lot lately.

I got this vintage poncho from Room Service last year and it is one of my favorite vintage finds.  I actually own several ponchos and I'm a big fan.  They are comfy, roomy, and give an outfit an eclectic vibe.  I specifically remember feeling this day like I could live in a cottage and grow my own organic vegetables and attempt to craft jewelry while my husband chops wood for our fire (apparently I like to daydream about marrying a lumberjack).  It's funny how sometimes your outfit reflects your mood and sometimes your mood reflects your outfit.