Another TDW Vintage Sale

The best place to find top quality vintage: a theater’s costume closet. The Drama Workshop has an enormous collection of vintage in its costume stores. The collection is a bit too enormous for our new home in the Glenmore Bowl. We’ll be offering menswear, outerwear, shoes, and ladies wear for sale this Saturday, 10/22, from 11 – 3. (Just in time for Halloween!)

The sale will be located at our warehouse in Northside: 4015 Cherry Street. Cash and checks are accepted.

Last July, we held a similar sale (just ladies wear, though). The goods were priced very low and went quickly. Come early and then head over to The City Flea in the American Can Lofts!

Here are some of my scores from TDW’s costume closet:


80's dress that looks like a 30's dress, the dog skirt that Beefy hates, and my favorite coat ever.
See you there! (And, of course, I’ll be signing autographs all day. Natch.)

Fifth Blogoversary

It’s my fifth blogoversary and I’m not in Cincinnati. To celebrate the beginning of the sixth year of WhatIWore2Day, I went to Disney World!


Jacket, Charlotte Russe (overdyed). Blouse, Newport News. Skirt, Talbot’s. Shoes, Fioni.

The fact that I devoted suitcase space to an outfit I wore for only 30 minutes is a measure of my dedication to this blog. You don’t get to year six of an outfit diary without some serious commitment.

I braved strange looks and noonday heat in a wool skirt to bring you today’s photo. I also may have endangered my health; I was sprayed three times by the auto-flush toilet while dressing. See? Dedication.


The sweater from my first five posts on October 6th has been retired. I replaced it with this little jacket, overdyed twice. For the rest of the month of October, I’ll revisit the outfits from 2006 and let you know, “where are they now?” Stay tuned to learn the fate of that tired, green sweater.

Please stay tuned beyond October as well! Your continued readership inspires me to keep on blogging. I don’t know what could top the Magic Kingdom, but each year is worth celebrating with something special.

Today’s photo by Beefy Muchacho

4th Street Boutique Back Room Sale

I usually spend my lunchtime at the gym, but sometimes I give myself a break and treat myself to a little shopping in Cincinnati’s downtown. I’ll usually hit the clearance rack at Macy’s and browse a bit at TJ Maxx, but my secret treasure trove is 4th Street Boutique. I’ve found some great bargains on secondhand items:


Banana Republic dress, $12. Scarf, $6. Dress, $1.30. Talbot’s skirt, $.40 (yes, forty cents).
Upstairs, the prices are on par, or a little under, traditional consignment stores. Downstairs, in the Bargain Basement, clothing is heavily discounted. (I bought the last two pictured items in the Bargain Basement, during a sale.)

I’ve debated highlighting 4th Street Boutique on my blog because I want to hoard all of its goodies for myself. My sense of duty has finally overwhelmed my selfish nature. If you haven’t checked out 4th Street, yet, be sure to visit for the Back Room Sale…

4th Street Boutique Back Room Sale Shopping Event Benefits Dress for Success Cincinnati
Semi-annual Sale Offers High-end Designer Clothing and Accessories for Less
April 6, 2011 – CINCINNATI, OH Dress for Success 4th Street Boutique is proud to announce their semi-annual Back Room Sale takes place at 135 W. 4th Street April 13 – 16, 2011. The Back Room Sale is a major shopping event that is extremely important to Dress for Success Cincinnati because sales of 4th Street Boutique merchandise directly support the non-profit organization.

The Back Room Sale will carry high end merchandise from designers such as Armani, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and St. John, all donated by supporters of Dress for Success Cincinnati. For the April event, luxury bags and clothing will take center stage. Prices range from $25 for a belt to $500 for a designer leather jacket.

The Back Room Sale is named such because the high end merchandise is traditionally held in the back room of the 4th Street Boutique. Twice each year, the meeting tables and chairs are moved out and replaced by attractively arranged merchandise including clothing, bags, jewelry, shoes, belts, hats, and scarves, then opened to the public. The event is the ultimate sale for Cincinnati-area fashion lovers and bargainistas.

“They always have such good stuff,” says 4th Street Boutique shopper Susi Grady. “The back room sale is not to be missed--favorite finds include a pale blue Armani sheath dress, an Oscar de la Renta painterly coat and matching dress, and a beautiful grey Marc Jacobs circle skirt.”

The 4th Street Boutique Back Room Sale will be open Wednesday April 13 and Friday April 15 from 10am – 3pm, Thursday April 14 from 10am – 6pm, and Saturday April 16 from 10am – 2pm. Those interested may visit 4th Street Boutique’s Facebook page (facebook.com/4thstreetboutique) for regular updates and more information about the sale.

About 4th Street Boutique
Opened in 2002, 4th Street Boutique is a sophisticated thrift store that sells surplus Dress for Success Cincinnati clothing to low-income and budget-conscious women. All proceeds are donated to Dress for Success Cincinnati. The mission of the Boutique is to help sustain Dress for Success Cincinnati and to serve disadvantaged women throughout the region. For more information, visit www.4thstreetboutique.org.

About Dress for Success
Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Since starting operations in 1996, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 100 cities in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the UK and the West Indies. Visit www.dfscincy.org to learn more.

Contact
For more information about Dress for Success and 4th Street Boutique, please contact Tracey Zwick at 513.651.3372 or development@dfscincy.org.

Bringing Lunch

During the week, I eat 90% of my daily food at work. I usually eat breakfast, lunch, and an early, light dinner at my desk. I also eat a large volume of food. I’m (mostly) vegetarian, so I consume a lot of bulky items. Every morning, I haul a few pounds of meals and snacks to work:


Last Thursday’s “lunch:” oatmeal, protein powder, banana, apple, two hard-boiled eggs, potato chips, cranberry-apricot-orange bread, curried beet and squash soup, croutons, Odwalla bar, apricots, almonds, peanut butter sandwich, cheese sandwich, roasted potatoes. And I bought milk at work.


I included Walter for scale…but instead of illustrating the huge size of my lunch, he looks giant.
As I assemble my smorgasboard on the counter each day, I wrestle with how to get it all to work. Believe it or not, it doesn't fit in my everyday bag (pictured at right). That’s probably because it’s already crammed full with my laptop, paperwork, running clothes, and spare shoes. I also worry about the liquid lunch items leaking. I’ve worn a curry-stained (and smelling!) tee to Zumba courtesy of a faulty lid. I shudder to think of what beet soup would do to my favorite white running shirt.

Because of the sheer volume of food and danger of leakage, I often end up carrying my lunch like this:


Earth-friendly, but so NOT chic.
I’m curious. Do you take a big “lunch” each day? How do you carry it? Is there a stylish substitute for the grocery sack? I’ve seen plenty of cute, reuseable lunchbags on the market, but never one big enough for my lunch!

Tight Layers

With the prevalence of segmented worm syndrome, why, why, why would anyone wear two pairs of tights at once?

1. Get a super opaque look. You can spend $30 on a pair of absolutely opaque tights (and risk snagging them the first time you put them on) or you can layer two pairs of inexpensive tights for the same look.


This works well with two pairs of black tights – or try a black pair under another dark (but a little too sheer) color like maroon, purple, or evergreen.

2. Add textural interest. Layer an openweave pair of tights over a solid pair for three-dimensional legwear.


3. Tone down a bright color. Perhaps you’re a bit leery of bright purple legs. The visual impact is lessened by layering a neutral-colored, openweave stocking over the bright tights:


Or create an entirely new color by layering sheer, cream-colored hosiery on top. Cream/Purple = Lavender:


4. Weatherproof openweave tights. I love the patterns of open-weave tights – chevrons, florals, stripes, diamonds – but they can leave your legs a bit chilly. I’ve had success with layering a solid tight beneath the open-weave tight.



You can be really sneaky and wear a pair of flesh-toned tights underneath an open-weave pair and be both warm and "exposed."

As long as both pair of tights are well-fitting, I’ve never found it uncomfortable to double up on hosiery. It's warm, stylish, and fun.

My Name Is

…Kasmira. I blog under my actual name. If I had it to do all over again, I might use a pseudonym, for privacy and safety reasons, but that ship has sailed.

I was my parent’s firstborn, in the mid-70’s, and they liked Star Trek. In fact, they liked it so much that they intended to name my Mira, after Lt. Mira Romaine in The Lights of Zetar episode. However, before the big day arrived, they found Kasmira in a book of baby names and liked that better, Star Trek or not.

According to that much thumbed book of names, Kasmira means “commands peace.” I’ve found similar definitions on the internet and have also found the opposite meaning, “destroyer of peace,” listed. It is perhaps appropriate that I left the Marine Corps because I could not stomach our actions overseas. Kasmira also means “demands peace.”

Most people assume that my name is Indian because of its similarity to the word Kashmir. However, that tattered book of names (and the always reliable internet) list the name’s origin as Slavic. That narrows down the name’s location of origin to anywhere in Eastern Europe.

Kasmira is a big name to live up to. I remember the disappointment of my highschool guidance counselor upon meeting me. “I thought you’d be Indian,” she said. I was a let-down with my blue eyes, blond hair, and freckles.

Maybe it’s the name that inspired me to find my own path after becoming an adult. I was definitely weird as a kid (mostly due to growing up in a cult), but I got a lot weirder as an adult. I pursued interests because I was curious, not because my friends did it. I started ballet, I hunted mushrooms, I lived out of my car, I joined the Marine Corps. And finally, I started a style blog.

I don’t think people are disappointed anymore when they meet me.

Fourth Blogoversary

On my fourth blogoversary, I did not go to work, but I did don my annual outfit. Can you guess where I am?


Cardigan, Moda International. Blouse, Newport News. Skirt, Talbot’s. Shoes, Linea Paolo.


It’s gorgeous out here!


Today’s photos by Beefy Muchacho

Resize a Too-Big Elastic Belt

I have a fairly small waist and often find that elastic belts are too loose. If the elastic pulls free of the buckle, it is simple enough to cut the elastic, seal the ends with a flame, and rethread it through the buckle. However, that solution doesn’t work when the elastic is fused to the buckle.

When I ordered a tunic from Wet Seal, it came with an elastic and faux leather belt. The belt was cute, but too big and I couldn’t do my usual cutting trick since the elastic was sewn to the rest of the belt. I came up with another solution:

1. I tried the belt on and figured out how much length I needed to lose in the elastic.

2. I laid the belt flat, found the center, and pinched a section into an inverted pleat. I made the pleat big enough to reduce the belt's circumference by the desired amount.

3. I held the pleat shut with binder clips while I hand-sewed two rows of stitches – one on either side of the fold.


Detail of the fold (pleat).


View of the back of the belt. This is the part that shows when the belt is worn.


View of the inside of the belt.
So far, the stitches have held for numerous wearings. Here are a few outfits with the modified belt:

Machine Dyeing with Rit

The first thing I ever dyed was a pair of white jeans. I was following the instructions in Seventeen magazine to get a pair of chili-red pants. My mom helped me dye the jeans in a big pot on our stove, using the combination of Rit dyes the magazine suggested. Instead of a saturated red, though, I got a color closer to that of a barely ripe tomato. I wore the pants, but the disappointment put me off dyeing for years.

When I spotted Dylon dye in my Hancock Fabrics a few years ago, I gave dyeing another go. I successfully overdyed many denim items – jeans, skirts, and a jacket – using the bucket method. I grew disenchanted with the brand, though, because it had no instructions for dyeing in a washer, was not readily available (Hancock is the only source I’ve found), and my store carried a limited number of colors.

On the recommendation of readers, I turned to Rit again. I can buy it at drugstores, grocery stores, craft stores, and online. It comes in oodles of colors. And you can use it in the washing machine. I’ve (mostly) successfully dyed at least ten items. This is what I’ve learned:

1. Read the instructions and follow them.

2. Wash the garment with detergent before dyeing. I suspect this was my problem with the white jeans. They were brand new and likely still had sizing in the fabric, which prevented the dye from fully penetrating.

This is the best picture I have of those dyed-to-red jeans. Unfortunately, it is not the best picture of my ass.

3. Add a cup of salt to your dye bath. (The instructions say this…but it is in fine print and hard to find.)

4. For vibrant colors, over-estimate the amount of dye to use. The Rit instructions direct one box of powder dye per pound of fabric (or one bottle of liquid for 2 lbs), more for deeper shades. They aren’t kidding. I used one bottle of yellow dye for the skirt on the left and one box of denim blue dye for the skirt on the right (plus a hand towel I threw in the washer.)

Both skirts are 100% cotton, but the first turned out a vibrant color and the second rather pale. I theorize that the shorter skirt didn’t get the color I wanted because that silly towel soaked up some of the dye I would have rather had absorbed into the skirt.

5. Synthetic fabrics will not absorb dye and synthetic/natural blends will yield a lighter color. I dyed a pair of white cotton/poly pants with black dye and got gray. The trim (almost 100% synthetic) tuned out an even paler gray.

Click on the picture for the blog entry and before pics
The thread used for stitching garments and most trim is synthetic or a synthetic blend. Expect that these components will not dye or come out a paler color.

6. If a garment comes out of the dye bath looking patchy, try sending it through a wash cycle with soap. I’ve found that the spots are just excess dye and a wash removes them. I thought this khaki jacket was ruined when it came out splotchy. A second wash remedied the problem.

Again, click the photo for a before picture (but not one of the splotchy in-between state).

7. Rit gives instructions for blending dyes to make any of 500 colors, but results are not always as expected. I followed the instructions to dye a white tee to a color Rit called “bittersweet.” (I called it “mustard.”) I got orange.

Rit has revamped their color-mixer since my experiment, so the formulas might be a little more accurate now.

8. Be sure the garment remains in the dye bath for the recommended time (30 minutes). While dyeing an off-white vest in a dark green bath, the washer drained early. The result: a light blue vest instead of dark green.


9. Be prepared for the unexpected. Little things can throw off the process and yield a result you didn’t anticipate. Maybe the fabric content was incorrectly listed. Maybe the washer drained too soon. Maybe the garment shrank in the hot dye bath (and the liner didn’t!) Maybe the fabric weighed more than you thought it did. But the surprise is part of the fun.

A Successful Style Diary

This isn’t the only style blog on the internet. The style diary phenomenon has taken off and, like styles of dress, there are many different approaches to the blogs. I’m not a fan of them all, but I have my favorites and I’m happy to share the elements that I find make a successful style blog.

A few recommendations:

DO. . . Post good pictures. This usually requires good lighting, an actual camera (instead of a phone), and a tripod and timer/remote or a partner. You don’t need a professional photographer, exotic backgrounds, or creative poses. Simply, your readers should be able to clearly see your outfits (and accessories). Everything else is just gravy.

DO. . . Update regularly. Blog is short for “web log,” and the very nature of a log is that it is updated with some regularity. I recommend posting to a style diary at least three times a week. If you are looking for regular visitors, you must reward them with new content.

DO. . . Keep text to a minimum. This is my personal preference. I best enjoy style blogs with no more than 250 words per outfit post. Say a few words about your outfit. Share a funny anecdote. But keep it short and sweet.

DO. . . Participate in the online style community. Visit other style blogs and leave meaningful comments. Participate in a fashion message board. Post your outfits to community forums (like Wardrobe Remix).

DO. . . Take fashion risks. Why do you look at style blogs? To be inspired? To see what’s new? To learn new mixing tricks? Assume your readers are looking for the same. We don’t get online to look at the status quo. So, be extraordinary and we will watch.

And some watch-outs:

DON’T. . .Use a ton of big pictures. I recommend using one or two big pictures (big = 500 pixels along the longest side) per post and many smaller sized images (240 pixels along the longest side) for detail photos or repeat full body photos. I hate scrolling through posts with multiple, large pictures of essentially the same shot. Unless your reader is using a big-screen tv to view blogs, the larger pictures can only be viewed in sections anyway. Be choiceful for greater impact.

DON’T. . .Cram a week’s worth of photos into one entry. Again, keeping with the diary concept, create one post per day and fill it with only that day’s outfit(s). If you get behind…backdate and publish a few posts a day until you are caught up. I find multiple outfit posts overwhelming, unless there is a common theme, like a vacation or special trip.

DON’T. . .Complain. Everyone has a bad day and you’ll certainly find sympathy from the internet. But if you make a habit of whining in your posts, people will stop visiting.

DON’T. . .Be unsafe. Google yourself. How much of your personal information is already out on the internet…your last name, your address, your place of employment? On your blog, do you reveal your daily routine or plans to go out of town? With that information, you could easily become the victim of a crime: burglary, fraud, stalking or worse. Be smart about what you reveal and when.

DON’T. . .Blog for money or popularity. Blog because you love it. If you’re blogging for sponsorship or fame, your readers can tell. You’ll come across as false instead of genuine. I’ve dropped a few blogs from my blogroll that turned into nothing but giveaways and product “reviews” or attempts to be noticed by the fashion greats. Blog because you have passion for your subject and people will respond.

What do you look for in a style blog?

Purdy at Second Sunday

If you live in the Cincinnati area and liked the Purdy bags I wore last weekend, you can ogle the goods in person at Second Sunday in Over the Rhine on July 11th. The event is a monthly street fair with food and craft vendors. I am so there…for not only the shopping, but also the bellydancing class.

12pm-5pm Street Fair on Main, craft and food vendors, and live DJ’s (Main St. closed from 13th to Liberty)

12pm-5pm Neon’s Unplugged- Beer Garden with live music
(208 E. 12th Street)
Bands at Neon’s:
Toca Madera (Nuevo Flamenco trio) 12-1:15
Bachannal Steel Band (Carribean) 1:45-3:00
Laignappe (gypsy new orleans jazz) 3:30-5:00pm

12:30pm Free yoga session, hosted by You Do Yoga, (Main at Woodward)

1:00pm Bellydancing demo by Anaya Gypsy Tribal Bellydance (Main at Woodward)

1:30pm Bellydancing demo & class by Habeeba’s Dance of the Arts (Main at Woodward)

2:30pm Celebrity Chef Demo featuring Daniel Wright from Senate (1419 Main St., Falling Wall Condo)

To All the Blogs I've Loved Before

Great new style blogs pop up so often that I’m afraid to check them out for fear that I’ll like them and feel compelled to add them to my already bloated Google Reader list. I can’t handle my “daily” reading as it is! And, yet, with a backlog of 500 posts (again) in my reader, I can’t help but miss a few of the style blogs that have been abandoned.

I miss…

Just My Style
Dormant since January 2010
I think this Alaskan mother must absorb the endless summer sunshine like some sort of solar battery because she shines all year long. You can always count on a cheery smile and an upbeat attitude from her. She brings this same sense of fun to her wardrobe. She experiments with trends and style chains with gusto. Her looks are light-hearted, quirky, and cute, but still practical.

Roseate Spoonbill
Dormant since September 2009
This lady is a tall, cool, drink of water. I have serious hair envy, too. She’s tall, but thin, so she can squeeze into all those vintage finds that the rest of us are forced to leave at the thrift store. Her outfit pictures are an endless parade of spectacular vintage dresses and hats. The backgrounds in her photos (front porch and yard) are chronologically ambiguous. She really could be wearing that ‘50s day dress in 1953 for all I can tell.

The Vintage Society
Dormant since January 2010
I should be clear that Beth didn’t abandon this blog without notice, but moved to a new site (B Jones Style) and away from daily style files. Her Vintage Society focus, though, was the sort of daily outfit journal that I favor. She could have stepped from the pages of Lucky every morning. She is always a little bit ahead of the trends in that way that makes you want to copy her the next day. On top of her great style, she has an amazing mane of blond waves that she styles endless ways. She’s started including outfit posts on the B Jones Style site and I couldn’t be more enthusiastic. (Well, I could be if she did it every day!)

What dormant style blogs do you miss?

U•Swap

Londyn and I have been tossing around the idea of coordinating a live, Cincinnati-area clothing swap. It’s an event I’d love to participate in, but maybe not plan. (I detest event planning, but end up doing a lot of it.) I was just starting to tackle the incredible logistics of a clothing swap when I was notified that someone else had planned one for the end of July. Hallelujah!

Won’t you join me?

As part of U•turn's July schedule we have concocted some special events as sudden excuses for drinking in the sunlight and expressing our own happy sense of community.

The haze of Cincinnati summer is upon us, the humidity is making us wander out looking for adventures, but what to wear?! To help with your summer wardrobe doldrums U.turn has partnered with the wondrous Chicken Lays an Egg to bring you U.swap on Saturday July 24 from 7-10 pm. We invite you to bring up to 10 items of clothing (washed please), including shoes and accessories. A suggested donation of $5.00 gets you in the door where you will have the opportunity to "swap" your gently used items for new to you pieces. All remaining clothing will be donated to GoodWill.

A summer soundtrack will be provided by the always stylish SuperMandy & Sidekar while you swap.

To complete the midsummer night's festivities Whirly Girl and Kitchenette will be on hand offering espresso based beverages, iced concoctions and elixirs for sale, along with tasty treats including their pastel pièce de résistance, the Kitchenette Macaron!

Join us for this one night celebration of community, art, fashion, food, and sustainable shopping.

Owl Patches

I seem to be collecting owl appliqués, but don’t have a plan for incorporating them into my wardrobe. Help me get these cuties out of my sewing box!

Should I attach a patch to a skirt? Emblazon a blazer? Convert them to brooches?


I studded an owl onto a skirt and one of my owl brooches is permanently attached to my Dex jacket.


I glued brooch backs to this appliqué so that I didn’t have to commit.
What do you suggest?