geek style · out & about

Dapper Day: Fairest of Them All

outfit details – cardigan + belt: Merona (found the belt at Goodwill for $2!) dress: BCX (buy here) // cowboy boots: Rampage (buy here) // purse: Coach // earrings & necklace: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (made by me!) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

Picking out an outfit for Dapper Day was extremely frustrating for me! I wasn’t sure whether to throw an outfit together inspired by  a Disney character a la Disneybound with whatever I had in my closet, or go out and find a new dress. Of course I went with the latter, especially since I had a loaded Macy’s gift card! I ended up getting a blue dress and red cowboy boots. I like calling them my ‘Mosbys’ like Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. And I know, cowboy boots on Dapper Day is kind of… um… not dapper. BUT, I was aiming for comfort! And it’s not like Dapper Day is strictly for “old fashioned” glamour — all kinds of fancy styles are encouraged! Plus I wasn’t about to walk around in heels or ballet flats. Wearing my Chucks to Disneyland sometimes leave my feet aching — imagine what a pair of heels would do. EEK!

And this is basically how I feel about going to Dapper Day with red cowboy boots:

Pulling. Them. Off.

With the blue and the red I figured I would just put together something inspired by Snow White and accessorized with a necklace featuring the Designer Disney version of Snow White that I made myself (see a similar one here)! And I threw together my Vinylmation prince earrings the night before Tim and I left for Disneyland! They’re actually keychains from the Snow White Vinylmation series — I got them on one of my many excursions to Disneyland and ended up getting doubles. That’s usually a bummer (getting duplicates from blind boxed toys), but I thought they were perfect for jewelry making purposes. 🙂

I was originally going to wear my hair down and curl it like I always do, but my dumb ass forgot to pack my Chi hair straightener! I went into panic attack mode once I realized I didn’t have it and thought, “I’m a fashion blogger going to a fashiony-event  and I’m going to want to take pictures for my blog but my hair is going to look like shit. DAMMIT!” I tried putting my hair into multiple buns to curl it, but it looked fug. Then I remembered this tutorial I saw on YouTube on how to make Milk Maid Braids. Click here if you want to watch it. I didn’t get to follow it to a tee, but whatever!

Dapper Day was so fun! I loved seeing so many people dressed up in their finest attire. Even though my annual pass is expiring this weekend (and I am so not renewing it because it is ‘spensive), I’d love to try and go to Dapper Day in the fall (whenever that is).

Oh, and sidenote — the skipper Tim and I had on the Jungle Cruise was a fuggin’ Nerdfighter! Some of you are probably like WTF is that? Go find the Vlogbrothers on YouTube or watch this video. He made a comment about puppy sized elephants (Nerdfighter inside joke) and I was like, “HE’S ONE OF US!” Afterwards I asked him if he was a Nerdfighter and replied with an enthusiastic “YES!” and we high fived and it was awesome, but then I realized Tim exited the boat, so I just waved bye at Kevin, the Nerdfighter skipper, and threw up the Nerdfighter gang sign and said, “DFTBA (don’t forget to be awesome)!” It would’ve been nice to nerd out about John Green and stuff, but I had to go!

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Dapper Day at Disneyland

courtesy of dapperday.com

With my annual pass expiring very soon (*cries infinite tears of sadness*), Tim and I decided to go to Disneyland for one last hurrah over the weekend and Dapper Day just so happened to be on Sunday!

Dapper Day isn’t an official Disney thing, but twice a year fancy ladies and gentlemen dress to the nines in their finest threads and head to both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort in style. This event was inspired by Disneyland’s concept art from the 1960s where visitors were depicted in dapper attire — think Mad Men.

photo courtesy of vintagedisneyparks.tumblr.com
photo courtesy of dapperday.com

Many folks were dressed in retro fashion, but I wanted to focus on snapping pictures of the fancy people that let Disney characters inspire their ensembles — this to many on the interwebz is known as “Disneybounding.” The term Disneybounding comes from the DisneyBound site in which its webmaster, Leslie Kay, uses Polyvore to create outfits inspired by Disney characters whether it be for casual or formal occasions. I’ve always let all things I nerd out about influence my outfits, so knowing that there’s this whole movement with devout followers about Disney inspired fashion is just spectacular!

I didn’t get to take as many photos as I would’ve liked to since I didn’t have my business cards handy during the first half of my day. It’d be super awkward if someone came up to you and asked to take your picture for a blog without some physical form of credibility, right? I thought so! But my first fabulous find of the day was this woman named Cindy who had a crazy awesome Mary Poppins outfit. Her hat, red coat, and parrot umbrella were spot on! And I wasn’t the only one enamored by her practically perfect ensemble (haa… see what I did there?) —  a little boy was super stoked to see her and asked to have his picture taken with her. 🙂

There was a DisneyBound meet-up and I read that it was at 3:30, but by the time I got there they were taking the huge group photo and I totally missed the part where people were mingling and whatnot. But after they dispersed I walked into the crowd and approached as many people as I could until it got too overwhelming. SO. MANY. PEOPLE. D:

These two ladies were dressed as Belle and the Queen of Hearts. I’m dumb and automatically assumed they were both Snow White (like me!) with the reds and yellows, but once they told me who they were I was like “Oh! Duh.” Mah bad.

This lovely couple are dressed as Prince Naveen and Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. I saw a picture of them on the Dapper Day Facebook page beforehand, so I was pretty stoked to see them in person! 🙂

I found myself rather envious of the card suite cardigan the girl in the middle was rockin’. Need I even say what characters inspired this trio’s spiffy outfits? I don’t think I need to.

I totally flipped out when I saw this woman’s Tiki Room inspired outfit, and then she went and busted out her parasol when I asked if I could take her picture (it’s just like the ones they put on the Dole Whip floats!)! And you can’t really see it, but she has a tiki god pendent on her necklace.

I’m not sure if this lady was Disneybounding per say, but I thought she looked quite stunning in her retro glam dress and hairstyle so I asked if I could take her picture 🙂

I spotted a dapper Peter Pan in a Newsie-esque outfit and Princess Tigerlily. They were too friggin’ adorable.

Lastly, I found these posh ladies in front of City Hall. I know for sure the girl in the lavender is wearing a Rapunzel inspired ensemble (loved the fact that she had Pascal attached to her shoulder!).

Cheers,
Nina

PS: Here’s a peek of my Snow White inspired outfit. I’ll be doing a separate post of my ensemble, you can expect to see that sometime tomorrow!

geek style · the biblio files

“Isn’t it pretty to think so.”

outfit details – shirt: Out of Print Clothing (buy here) // peter pan collar necklace: TJMaxx (doesn’t have a brand label) // cardigan: Kersh // belt: Mossimo // skirt: Xhileration (buy here) //boots: Steve Madden // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

On Friday I went to San Francisco with Jen and Shanice since I didn’t have to work in the morning. Yay four-day weekend (for me anyway)!!! While Jen went to school, Shanice and I window-shopped around the downtown area and I picked up a Glinda wand at the Disney Store! But all the walking around we did left us ridiculously tired and the burgers we ate for lunch didn’t pack much energy. And I spent effing $3.50 on orange juice because I was too tired and thirsty to find Jamba Juice (gift card yo!), but it just so happened to be right next to Jen’s school. *grumble* By the time we met up with Jen to take pictures in the studio I was feeling pretty loopy from being malnourished and dehydrated. I lept, danced, spun in the spinny chairs, and made stupid faces during and in between test shots. Lots of silliness occurred (see picture below).

I posed for a few photos for Jen’s digital photography class and did some for funsies. I found a beautiful typewriter on the props table and had to incorporate it into my shoot since it went perfectly with my The Sun Also Rises shirt from Out of Print Clothing! This might look familiar to you as it was on my Christmas Wish List post in December. Tim ended up getting it for me for Christmas 😀 I added a glitzy Peter Pan collar necklace to it that I found at TJMaxx last month. Fancy, yah? Ernest Hemingway probably wouldn’t be impressed, but that’s okay. Me likes it! I read The Sun Also Rises for a Modern American Novel class during my first semester as SFSU. It was the only book I thoroughly enjoyed from that course, which is kind of sad considering that we read five books. Well, I find it sad anyway.

You know what else is sad? I sent my camera off to Best Buy to get it checked out — it’s unfixable and the camera I had is no longer sold/available so now I have to go and look for another one! They gave me a list of cameras that are “comparable” to mine, but they were all regular point and shoots whereas mine was a DSLR. I don’t want to do camera homework! I just know that I’m looking to get another Canon. I’m kinda iffy of the G15, which is basically the upgraded version of my camera, just because it doesn’t have a swivel screen and the screen it does have is exposed. I need the swivel screen. I just do, okay? Okay.

If you happen to be into cameras, I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Cheers,
Nina

bloop

A Smorgasbord of Mushy Cute Stuff

Happy Valentine’s Day/Single’s Awareness Day/Thursday, everyone!

I don’t have any huge plans like I did last year, but Tim and I are going to stay in and eat pizza (I think…?) and watch movies this evening — we’re basically just doing what we usually do whenever we get to hangout over the weekend. Good times!

I just wanted to share some geeky and not so geeky Valentine greetings, including some I remember giving/receiving from the 90s, that I found on the interwebs!

Hope you all enjoy your day whether you happen to celebrate this Hallmark holiday or not 😀

Harry Potter valentines by Kjersti Faret. Click here to see more!

Doctor Who Valentines by Tom Kurzanski

Dalek valentine by Amy Liu

 

I actually got that Abu card from a boy I couldn’t stand in first grade!

Star Wars valentines by Katie Cook

via Tumblr

I’m pretty sure I handed these The Little Mermaid cards one year 🙂

Downton Abbey valentine by Hurricane Vanessa

Sherlock valentines by robbicide

Firefly valentine via Hypable

I can’t find the original creator for this Firefly greeting – HELP!

Scott Pilgrim valentines via Uproxx

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Da Na Na Na Na Na Na Na BATMAN!

outfit details – dress: Material Girl // cardigan & belt: Merona // earrings: H&M // watch: Disney x Timex // hair bow: upcycled from a broken headband // shoes: Target ballet flats I DIY’d with Batman fabric // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

Batman’s been my favorite superhero ever since I was an itty bitty thing. I didn’t necessarily read the comics, but I watched the old campy version with Adam West all the time with my grandpa, and of course I loved the Tim Burton movies that came out when I was around 5, and Batman: The Animated Series was an after-school staple! My sister and I even had hair ribbons and shoe laces adorned with Batman’s emblem — I guess I’ve been doing the geeky-girly thing since I was a little lady. Ha! Anywho, I attempted to do some color blocking and pattern mixing with this outfit by mixing my kelly green lace dress with royal blue and hints of yellow to compliment Batman’s logo on my shoes that I DIY’d myself! I made them in August by using acrylic paint, Mod Podge, and Batman fabric on an old pair of ballet flats that I  found a bit boring. They looked really awesome after they were done and I was extremely happy with the way they turned out, but after wearing them twice the paint and bits of fabric started falling off. NOOO! I still need to figure out how to salvage them. Are there any crafty folks that might be able to give me some sage advice? I did manage to salvage the hair bow I’m wearing though — it was originally on a headband that Jen and Shanice picked up for me in Japan Town, but when I found it behind my vanity it was broken! I ripped the bow off and attached it to a clip and voila — insta-accessory! And the polkadots are kind of comic bookish since the illustrations on some of them, particularly the really old ones, were pretty dotty. 🙂

 

Cheers,
Nina

geek style · the biblio files

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

The Raven

My Super Bowl Sunday was spent by shopping and watching Liberal Arts (which is basically like a super long episode of How I Met Your Mother) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Tim and I actually had a bit of a How I Met Your Mother/ Susan Sarandon movie weekend since we watched Jeff, Who Lives At Home which stars Jason Segel and co-stars Surandon as his mother, and then Liberal Arts was written and directed by Ted Mosby Josh Radnor, and we followed that with Rocky Horror in which Sarandon plays Janet Weiss.

I am so thankful that Tim has no interest in American football. Dudes like that are so hard to find — they’re basically unicorns! Um… I just called my boyfriend a unicorn. o,0

Anyhow, since the team that won the Super Bowl is named after an Edgar Allan Poe poem I thought it would be fun to make an outfit based around Out of Print Clothing’s “The Raven” long-sleeved shirt. And BTW, they’re having a little sale in honor of their 3rd anniversary and for being able to send 440,000 books to various literary causes (yay reading!!!). So until Feb. 7 you can take 20% off your purchase with the code BOOKSFORALL. Now I can finally get that The Great Gatsby pullover I’ve been drooling over for years (that thing has been on every wish list and I still have yet to get it)! 😀

Here are a few versions of “The Raven” recited by Vincent Price and James Earl Jones (he did the narration on The Simpsons one too):

Click here to watch The Simpsons’ version

Hope your Monday’s not too dreary (especially if you’re a Niners fan).

Cheers,
Nina

bloop

Geek of the Week at Chocolate & Cream Cake

‘ello again!I just wanted to make a quick little announcement to let you all know that I’m the “Geek of the Week” on Mandy’s blog Chocolate & Cream Cake! A few months ago I contributed to her “Fictional Fancies” series with my Prince Philip piece. If you’d like to learn more about me and read about my geeky antics and see who I listed as my style inspirations you can check it out here. And of course, be sure to check out the geeks that came before me on “Geek of the Week” and the rest of Mandy’s blog. Why? Because it’s AWESOME. Thanks again, Mandy!

Lemon Out,
Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Peachy Keen

outfit details – blouse: Perch by Blu Pepper // skirt: Vera Wang Princess (buy here) // belt: Mossimo // ring + bracelet: vintage  // watch: Disney x Timex // boots: Steve Madden // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

My DSLR has been on the fritz as of late. It just hasn’t been taking super awesome quality photos like it used to! I took it to Best Buy’s Geek Squad after work this morning since it’s under insurance, but they told me that it seems fine and that if I want it to get checked out, I would have to pay $35 for shipping if whoever looks at it says nothing is wrong with it. WTF, right?! Chuck Bartowski and the Nerd Herd would not put me through this! Well, maybe Jeff and Lester would. <– sorry if you’re scratching your head at my Chuck reference. Go watch Chuck. It’s awesome and Zachary Levi (voice of Flynn Rider from Tangled) who plays the titular character is adorkble! Anyway, what is the point of having insurance on something super ‘spensive if they’re going to make me pay for shipping and stuff? RUGH! I’m sorry, I’m just so frustrated because I rely on that camera for this blog and my Etsy store. But thankfully Tim has an even fancier DSLR and was in town yesterday (I helped him pick out glasses at his optometry appointment, weee!!!) so he offered to take pictures with it. I originally asked him if he could use my phone’s camera. Ha!

Some of you may recognize this skirt since this is its third appearance on my blog. Sorry I’m not sorry it’s been on here so many times, I love it too much and it happens to go with lots of things in my wardrobe! Don’t be surprised when it pops up in future posts 😉 I wore a burgundy blazer with this ensemble too and we took a picture of me in it, but I looked at it again and thought I looked kinda slouchy, so no blazer pic! Sorry. :/ At first I thought it would look weird with the peach pussy bow blouse (I basically got that blouse for free at TJ Maxx because my aunt gave me her TJ Maxx rewards thingy worth $30), but I tried it anyway and thought it worked. I passed by my BFF Shanice’s sister on my way to work and she said she liked my outfit, so yay! There’s proof that someone thought it looked alright too. I actually got quite a few compliments on this outfit yesterday which made me all kinds of happy 🙂

I got my ring with the 18th century looking couple at the flea market two weeks ago. There’s this vendor that my mom’s homies with (she frequents the flea market so much that vendors know her name) had a ziplock bag full of jewelry that was “broken” or “not that good” so I dug through it and found this ring and a bunch of other neat pieces that I deem “good enough.” I don’t know where that bracelet came from, but while trying to clean my room I found it! And my rad gold watch was purchased during my last Disneyland trip. Isn’t it glorious?! It has a bunch of tiny Mickey ears all over ❤

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a fabulous weekend! Who’s watching the Super Bowl on Sunday? I’m not! 😀

Cheers,
Nina