happy bbq day..yesterday

hope everyone had a lovely day off yesterday, bbqing or just relaxing or what have you. my day was spent half arguing with myself over whether i should just let myself enjoy the day or getting much needed work done (i did get all those dresses from a few posts back up in the new swanky store that i finally finished!!). i did a little of both and think i struck a happy medium in edition to nursing my ouchy sunburn with aloe. anyway, this is what I wore, sunburn and all.

sunnies: h&m
sundress: f21
shoes: uo

I'm like, for real

Yesterday, I made my debut. A very exciting occasion for My Brown Eyes, but for me too. I sold at the Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene, which on opening day, had 20,000 shoppers. And I can say without a doubt that it was a highlight in my notforrealjobbutjobthatiwishwasmyrealjob career. I sold vintage dresses, handbags, shoes, and various other little things as well as a line of hand-crafted headbands that i've been working on. A shopper who apparently has a boutique in SoHo even asked me if I would consider selling wholesale to her shop. Ummm, yes! It was a really, really great day besides getting completely scorched by the sun (paying for that today)...but I met some really awesome people and watching gals walk away from my table wearing my stuff made the totally hurty sunburn worth it. Can't wait to do it again in 2 weeks! And hopefully as many Sundays as I can throughout the summer. If you live in or around Brooklyn, please stop by and say hi next time! And, of course, I would remiss to not mention my lovely outfit furnished by no other than miss Effie!

brown paper packages tied with a bow..

Saturday morning was perhaps one of the best. Not sure about anyone else, but there isn't anything quite like the feeling you get in the instant you've discovered there is a package waiting for you. what is it about the unknowing of what's inside that box that excites me so? either way, Saturday morning there were 3 packages (yes! triple excitement!) waiting for me at the post office and among them was the cutest little box wrapped all up in nice paper with the magical touch of my new insta-BFF, the snail and the cyclops aka effie. Miss thing is not only like the nicest person evs, but you know if you have a package with her name on it, whatever it contains inside is going to be, like, everything you ever wanted. Right? Well, you can only imagine that upon opening it, my dreams came true. She sent me the cutest, most perfect vintage dress (of course, in pristine condition) and this little clip she found at a flea market whose little box was equally as adorable, with a really nice hand-written note that made me melt into a puddle. Everything that girl touches is magic. I sound really gushy and almost like i'm talking about a guy I have a crush on or something...but this is so much better because instead of an awkward makeout and a non-phonecall..i actually get to keep these amazing things. SO much better. Thanks so much Effie!

hateration.

: (
this is the face of a sad blogger. i just received the following comment on a picture i posted on stylemob:

please do not mix these colors again =) vintage doesn't fit you AT ALL. try maybe another look, please..

my blogger feelings are hurt. granted, it was probs not my best attempt at an outfit. but really? do we have to resort to such nastiness? and the kicker...miss nastycommmenterpants doesn't have any pictures of herself to comment on. lotta balls you've got missy!

See ya later stimulus check...

Dear Miss Samanta Pleet,
Please let go of my balls (if i had them)...I praise you for making the most beautiful garments i've ever seen in my life, over and over and over, but it's really starting to kill me. If loving you is wrong, i don't want to be right.
Yours truly,
Tara
p.s. If i could just have either of the above, my life would be complete.

in my pants

i've been a bit remiss about posting outfit shots as of late. i blame it on poor weather and the fact that all i can muster wearing is sweatpants. however, i have been wearing clothes, i assure you. a while back, i posted about struggling with pants, and i have to admit, i still kind of am. i really hate wearing jeans, but cold weather + a lack of shaving = the need to cover said unshaven and cold legs with some sort of garment. i do own several pairs of jeans, so i decided to give them a whirl again. i called upon the adorable bobonaiaa of flickr awesomeness to inspire me, cause let's face it, she can do no wrong. i'm channeling her incredible style sense today..er, at least trying to.

blouse: vintage
sweater vest: h&m
jeans: bdg
shoes: wanted
headband: f21
bag: vintage

cold feet

alright, already! i've had quite enough of this cold, wet, rainy weather for the endo of May! Cut us a damn break mother nature!!! i'm starting to fear global-colding. But more than the cold, wet, rainy weather, i'm sick of cold, wet feet. Screw trying to walk around in this mess with cute, peep-toe sling-backs. forget it. but more than cold, wet feet, i'm sick of slushing around in the disgusting grime on the street and in the subway with bare toes. i can't even bring myself to think about what filth i'm wading through. so...i bought these guys. though the rain boots with floral patterns and other eccentric decoration are cute on others, they just aren't my cup 'o tea. and these weren't on the lower end of the spectrum in matters of price, but they are really well-made and figured they'll last forever.

in with the new..

exciting news alert! i will be a regular vendor at the Brooklyn Flea Market this summer! for those of you lucky enough to live in BK, stop by and say hi. any way this means that at least for the summer, i am keeping all the items in the store hand-crafted, and i will be selling all vintage at the flea. that being said, here is the first installment of summery, smock dresses that have all been made by me! they should be up in the store very very soon!

leather is better.

so i've been riding my bike to work lately (yay for warm weather!), and sometimes i need to bring stuff with me that warrants a bigger carrying device than my little purse, aka, my laptop or different shoes to change into once i get to work. in an effort to NOT have to add any additional biking paraphernalia , i.e. baskets, etc., i decided to start wearing a backpack. let me first start by saying that i i haven't worn a backpack since 6th grade i think. even in high school, i always carried a messenger bag or tote. but those types of bags make for unsatisfactory riding conditions, as they tend to fall forward and either throw me off balance, get stuck in the wheels, get knocked around between my knees, or all of the above. but when i asked callie, our office manager and the gal in charge of all the product request at BUST, if we had any backpacks around the office (yay for free stuff) she gave me a Jansport. Now, in junior high, I remember Jansport bags being the epitome of cool. but i have to be honest and say that now, at 24, i feel kind of douchy wearing it. And on top of feeling like i'm a pre-pubescent teen...lisa and i went to the opening the NY Photo festival i Dumbo, which was packed, and ii hazard a guess that i knocked one too many cocktails out of people's hands while i was trying to squeeze by with my bundle. it really felt like i had a second person on my back and i couldn't help but feel like everyone was looking at me thinking, who's the weirdo with the backpack. i don't know, maybe i'm over-reacting, but it moved me to look for a, say, more sophisticated backpack and settled on this vintage, leather one on ebay. if i have to carry things on my back, maybe i can do it with a bit more style ?

Me for President.

Vote for me now or forever hold your peace....
I gots to have that $1000 shopping spree : ) I really should seek professional help for my spending habit, but since I probs won't, free money to burn would certainly help me sleep at night.

	Vote On My Photo! Sea foam dream by tmarks1056

so square.

i see so many lovely people wear those oh-so-funky (nerdy) black frames and i wish it could be me. even though i know it's nothing more than a passing trend not unlike door knocker earrings, but still. though i'm a believer in not trying to shove a sqare peg in a round hole, i bought a pair on ebay for 10 bucks (basically free, right?) hoping and wishing i could somehow make the look work.

'fraid not. boooo.

think pink

i've had tremendous luck with thrifting adorable spring dresses lately. what is it about vintage dresses that are so much more beautiful , or should i say, make you feel so much more beautiful-er? they just don't make 'em like they used to. that's for sure.

dress: vintage
shoes: jeffrey campbell

*Addendum: not sure how beautiful that face is in this picture. squinting never really suits anyone.

to the gala..

my creative director at BUST and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a black-tie (yeah, i said it) gala at Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday evening for the Society of Publication Designers because we received an award for our Dark Shadows fashion story in the Oct/Nov issue (remember that one, it was fab)...woo whoo! So anyway, Laurie and Danielle St. Laurent, the photog that shot the story, went and had a delish dinner and cocktails and watched the award ceremony like we were at the Oscars. It was very swanky and it ruled for 2 reasons besides being super prestigious:
a) i got to debut my new hair 'do (thanks for all the lovely compliments btw!), i'm starting to get more used to it now.

b) gala=smokin hot boys in ties (H.O.T.) and a chance to buy a new dress and get all dolled up.

i decided the best way to go was vintage (duh!) so i went to stella dallas, a super duper awesome vintage store in williamsburg and allowed myself to peruse the nice, expensive stuff in the back (it was a special occasion after all!). And I found this sea foam beauty, not dissimilar from this one in the store this week that I almost cried when it didn't fit me. I'm not sure if I've ever been more in love with a dress than this. Amazing 50s silhouette, classy details, amazing color. To me, it was perfection. Annnnd, though it was tucked in the pricey back room (which means they probably scored it from some rich lady's estate sale in pristine condition), it was a mere $75. Score! Totes worth it. Paired with my new fave Jeffrey Campbell t-straps and a vintage handbag (that I'm actually selling in the brand spanking new store this week), it was a dream.

the new me..

this is me at 10 o'clock this morning...


this is me now...

several hours later, some copper red highlights, and approx. 7 inches of hair removed. i must say, changing your hair this drastically is like getting a new face. it takes a bit of time to get used to, and i'm not quite there yet, but i'm well on my way. i just worry it looks like i'm wearing a wig..no? i assure you, i'm not. but i did start experimenting with headbands and i discovered i quite prefer headbands on shorter hair..bonus!

New Dresses!

as previously promised....new dresses in the store! more to come really soon, promise! i'm quickly learning it's hard work being an ebay maven : )

what's to come...

a little sneak peek: new dresses in the store posting soon!

New shoes...

So..i've been incredibly busy (as i'm sure you noticed by my non-posts for the past week or so), but one of the many things keeping me crazed is my ebay store, which i'm trying really hard to get going. i've decided to make that store a one-stop shop for both vintage and hand-made goods. so it's a work in progress, but in lieu of my efforts to make sundays my "store update" days, i added some new shoes to the store and wanted to share..i especially adore the pink wedges!