Magnetic Millinery Machinations

I love millinery. No, really love. There are few things in life that make me happier than hat decorating. Perhaps tea. Maybe the perfect macaroon. But I digress . . . hats!

I have a number of hats of the Victorian persuasion that I have attacked with a hot glue gun and way too many feathers and ribbons over the years. They survived my attacks and I wore them with a smile. Yes, I have a bit of the Ivy Hisselpenny in me. Well, maybe more than a bit. (Here's a blog on doing it steampunk style.)

But what troubled me was ~ how to trim a neutral colored hat to match several different outfits? I wanted to be able to switch out the trim depending on the dress. Inspired by the magnetic badges at Literary Orange 2011, I sourced some strong rare-earth magnets and Got Creative.

The magnet off of my Literary Orange badge. The metal going into place on a hat band.

My weapon of choice, the hot glue gun,. The metal in place on my wide straw hat.

The magnet in place on the straw topper. Make sure you "line up" your magnets positive to negative.

The hats and trim awaiting action.

Blue/green hat trim ~ used a strip of binding tape glued over the magnet. The blue flowers were sourced from a thrift store $0.50 and the metal flowers were off of an old pair of shoes.

The trim on the two hats. Magnet to magnet seems to work better and be more secure than magnet to metal.

The cream trim. Cannibalized an old decorated hair elastic (my hair is now too short).

The double magnets made it stick out a bit so I added some extra flowers behind, adhered to the side of the magnet.

The final cream flower.

Pink flower off of a hairband from Ross, $2.50. Has the advantage of being already curved.

The finished pink in place.

The finished product!

So excited. I now have plans to make more to go with other dresses. I'm a magnetic hat flower maniac! Be assured, Fashionable Reader, I will tell you all about it here.

Dresses and Calamari in New Orleans

I have returned from New Orleans, Fashionable Reader, I what I lost in water weight due to the heat I regained in fat from all the fried food. Orbit put me up at the Sheraton on Canal Street and here's the view from the bedroom window, such a  beautiful city!

On Friday evening, after recovering from a rather hectic plane ride, the AB and I headed out for nibbles. Following instructions from a fan, we sourced Maspero's fried calamari, which was indeed delicious. The AB was also favorably impressed with the draft beer.

New Orleans if full of the nicest people! I often get compliments on this red dress, which suits well enough but I feel is rather basic. However, never before have so many lovely ladies said how much they liked it. The AB suggested this was the Marilyn effect, as the top is quite boobilicious.

On Saturday for speeches, panels, and a publisher dinner I chose something a bit more conservative. It turned out to be a fortuitous choice for that was the "coolest day" and it was the warmest of my three dresses.

 I did learn, however, that stilettos and humidity are mutually exclusive with blisters popping up instantaneously. Sadly, I consigned my peep toes back into the suitcase.

I ended up wearing my oxfords the entire rest of the trip. For these first two outfits, which involved a lot of walking around in the sun I also wore a white straw hat as well. I had alternating flowers for the hat to match each outfit (expect immanent blog on the subject).

Oxfords are BP from Nordstrom and they are very light-weight and great for travel. I think a shelled out good money for them, $60. It was worth it. I like them so much I bought the second pair in a darker mushroom color which I am going to stain to be brown two tones (again, expect a future blog).I LOVE millinery ~ one of my favorite hobbies. The hat is from my usual Bon Mar Thrift store, $10. I did entirely redecorate it, though.

I know, I know, white and cream, but sometimes a girl's just gotta protect her skin. For Sunday, however, I was inside all day, so I switched hats to a cream mini topper. It was the hottest day and luckily I wore my lightest dress. Still, because of the AC, I regretted not packing a light shawl.

Note that the bra straps are invisible? Success! Although, the hat kept falling off (when I talk I get very animated and gesticulate wildly and wiggle around a lot). I had a nice hat pin but it broke, time to invest in another stronger one.

I paired all three outfits with crocheted gloves (from Bon Mar Thrift Store Sonoma, CA ~ $2) and a vintage cream purse (from Moon Zoon in Santa Cruz, CA ~ $20) with added octopus bling (gift).

So, coping with humidity and avoiding sweat blisters. Any advice or thoughts, ladies?

National Recovery Act of 2012

MOST AMERICANS WERE FOOLED BY THE "HOPE AND CHANGE" OF 2008, BUT THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN AND THE ELECTION OF 2012 WILL  BRING A END TO THE DARK DAYS OF OBAMAISM AND MARK A REBIRTH OF INDIVIDUALISM AND AN END TO COLLECTIVE MADNESS!!!

Texas Justice

Three armed felons crossed the US Border and tried to rob an off-duty El Paso, Texas police officer dressed in civilian clothes, while he stood in front of a bank.The plan was for two of them to grab his backpack and toss it to an accomplice on a stolen motorcycle. However, the well prepared police officer shot all of them, managing to kill two immediately. The third one was shot in both arms and bled to death before help arrived.

This is how much the US taxpayer would have had to pay to prosecute these thugs:

Arrest and detention for 1 night = $6,000

Transportation for deportation back to Mexico the next day = $1,000

Air time for Obama to apologize in 30 min speech $25,007,000

What it actually cost:

Four .40 cal rounds = $1.00
Taxpayer savings = $25,006,999.00

They Picked The Wrong Man to Rob - only in TEXAS !

THE AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME FOR A 911 CALL IS FOUR MINUTES.

THE AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME FOR A .40 S&W ROUND IS ABOUT 1,225 FEET PER SECOND

GUNS AND BIBLES

WHEN GEORGE ALLEN USED THE WORD "MACACA" HE WAS DAMMED AND TOSSED FROM THE POLITICAL SCENE BY THE LEFT AND THE MSM, BUT WHEN OBAMA SAID  THOSE ON THE RIGHT CLING TO THEIR "GUNS AND BIBLES" HE WAS GIVEN A PASS BY THE SAME CROWD.  SOMETHING STINKS!!!! COULD IT BE THAT THE AMERICAN LEFT HAS LITTLE USE FOR "GUNS AND BIBLES"---CERTAINLY OUR CURRENT PRESIDENT DOES NOT!!!!

Don't Mess With Texas!!!

THE NEW SANTA ANNA IS AT THE GATES AND TRYING TO OVERTHROW THOSE WHO STAND FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE, THE TEXAS WAY OF LIFE AND THE ALIEN DICTATOR MUST BE STOPPED!  WHO IS THIS NEW SANTA ANNA----WELL NO OTHER BUT THE MAN FROM HAWAII OR WHERE EVERY!

TYRANNY FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OR FROM THE DISTRICT OF CORTEZ WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

AND GOD BLESS SAM HOUSTON!!!

AND THOSE WHO WILL NOT YIELD TO TYRANNY!!!

The Ostrich, Friday Humor

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him.
The waitress asks them for their orders.
The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke," and turns to
the ostrich, "What's yours?"
"I'll have the same," says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order. "That will
be $9.40 please." The man reaches into his pocket and
pulls out the exact change for payment.
The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man
says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke."

The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again. "The usual?"
asks the waitress.
"No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and
a salad," says the man.

"Same," says the ostrich.
Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62."

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and
places it on the table.

The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me,
sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change
in your pocket every time?"

"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and
found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered
me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything,
I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money
would always be there."

"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a
million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want
for as long as you live!"

"That's right..Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact
money is always there," says the man.
The waitress asks, "What's with the ostrich?"


The man sighs, pauses and answers, "My second wish was for a tall chick
with a big ass and long legs who agrees with everything I say.."

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!

New Orleans in a Pink Dress

I've been wanting to wear this dress for a while. It's a bit vavavoom for book events, in a Marilyn Munroe on the beach kind of way. But it is very light, cool, and pink, so it was the first one I chose for the New Orleans trip. I'll be wearing it Sunday for a signing at the ALA Hachette booth from 11 AM ~ noon and for my Books A Million in Baton Rouge event at 3 PM (Facebook event page).

This 1950s dress is very lightweight cotton with a faux wrap look to the bottom that ties to one side. I purchased it at Bon Mar Thriftstore for $5. I added the lace to the spaghetti straps to hide bra straps, as I am not one of those girls who can go anywhere without a bra. Before you ask, no one over a certain size can wear a strapless bra, period. They simply don't work. Even if I managed, through some miracle, to find one in 30H, and it managed to stay up, I'd spend the whole day selfconsciously tugging because I'd feel like it shouldn't!

1950s dresses via Timeless Vixen Vintage

That said, I do have a nice corset I could wear under it, but who buys a beach dress and wears it with a corset? I haven't seen any dresses of this type on the runway or in urban snapshots, but that won't stop me from wearing it this summer. Perhaps I will do a blog on how to make it street chic.

Look at it this way, Fashionable Reader, at least we aren't confined to wearing something like this in this in the summer heat!

Left 1878-1880 English & right 1880-1882, both summer day dresses

Nevertheless, I am curious. What's your solution to the bra problem paired with lightweight summer clothing? Do you end up widening all your straps like me, or opt primarily for short sleeves? How about the fated white muslin peasant top? Or do you sweat it out with a cardigan?