Halloween Reminder and Announcement

This is an important reminder: Halloween is only two days away! If you haven't gotten a costume yet, you might want to get busy! If you are lacking inspiration, check out this amazing post over at Daddy Likey.

(image source)

If you end up with a super awesome costume, and decide that you really need to share it with the world, I am having a mini not contest, at the suggestion of my amazing friend M. I will post the pictures/descriptions of my top choices, and then I will have a poll. There will not be a prize for the over all winner, just fame and the knowledge that you had a genuinely awesome costume, in other words, I will have a post dedicated to your costume with pictures, and a link to your blog/website if you have one.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

A Shopping Ban: Week 3 and Tank Top: Underwear or Clothing

I have been having a very intense debate with myself all week: does a tank top count as underwear?

The reason I have been having this debate is that my favorite, and only good, black tank top is starting to disintegrate. Not exactly surprising, since I have had it for over two years. But it still leaves me with the possible need to buy a new one soon, and I don't think I will be able to thrift on in good condition, in black, in the right size.

Reasons why it would be underwear:

- I do wear it under other shirts all the time.

- It comes in very close contact with my skin

- Less than a hundred years ago, a woman wouldn't be caught dead in anything less than two layers of clothing more than the equivalent of a tank top.

Reasons why it would be clothing:

- I wear it without anything on top all the time too.

- Lots of clothing comes in close contact with my skin, and it is still considered clothing.

- In a few more years, a tank top may be the equivalent of a nun's dress.

What do you think, is a tank top underwear or clothing?

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Tutorial: One of My Signature Eye Make-Up Looks

Remember way back when I asked if anyone wanted me to do a tutorial for one of my favourite eye make up looks? Well, I decided to stop waiting around for time to take proper pictures, and just use the one I had.

The Materials:

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector (or your concealer of choice)

Maybelline Define-A-Lash Washable Lengthening Mascara (or your mascara of choice)

Cover Girl Outlast Smoothwear All-day Eyeliner (or your eyeliner of choice)

Any coloured eyeshadow, I prefer something quite bright.

The Steps:

1. Apply your concealer. I would give you more precise instructions, but I can barely apply my own, and everyone is different, so I'm just going to let you do what works for you.

2. Draw a thin line of black eyeliner from the inside end of your eyelashes all the way to the outside end of your upper lash line. The line should be as close to the lashes as possible, and subtle.

3. Line the inside of your lower lash line, pushing the pencil down onto your lashes. I hope that made sense.

4. Apply your eyeshadow. I like a sponge brush, I find that I have better control. Starting at the inner corner of your eyelid, bring the colour upwards, so that it reaches the crease over the center of your eye. Starting at the outer corner, curve the brush upwards, so that it ends just above the crease, then meet at the middle.

5. Add eyeshadow until you are satisfied with the colour.

6. Apply mascara. Give your upper eyelashes several coats, bottom lashes optional. If you have short eyelashes, stick on some falsies.

7. Bat those eyelashes, pout, and enjoy looking gorgeous!

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Just Your Everyday Kelly from St. Trinian's

A little while back, when I should have been doing homework, I watched the movie St. Trinian's. It was love at first sight, and I have been dreaming of attending a boarding school ever since, even though I doubt that real boarding schools are nearly as fun as this one. Anyways, I saw this skirt today, and it reminded my of the head girl, Kelly.

Just Your Everyday Kelly by RosieUnknown

I pretty much just took her usual costume, and made it into a polyvore set. I did add the head girl badge, because even if she doesn't wear one, you want people to know what you are dressed up as.

One of my favorite things about her look was how she took a long pencil skirt and button down top and made them incredibly sexy. I also adored her sleek black bob and red lipstick, but they are always sexy, no work required.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

350 Parts Per Million

I care very much about the state of our planet. Frankly, it depresses me at times. So I shop second hand. I don't turn on the heat. I eat local food. I reuse things. I pack litter free lunches.

And right now, I am spreading the word. Tomorrow, October 24th, is a world action day against climate change. Dubbed 350, this event is being celebrated world wide. Why 350?

Because 350 parts per million is the end of the safe zone of carbon dioxide we should have in the atmosphere. We currently have 390 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Why now? In December, the world's leading politicians will meet in Copenhagen to discuss climate change, and when they do, they will be shown a collage of photos of groups and people all over the world.

If you want to learn more and find an event near you, please, please visit 350.org.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

The French Teacher and the Leather Boots

You all met my boots for what may have been the first time yesterday, in my Stripes and Sparkles outfit post. Today, I was wearing them again, and they were the cause of a very awkward moment.

I was leaving French class, when the teacher asked my to stay for a moment. I panicked, since French is by far my worst subject, and the teacher is mildly terrifying. I walked back into the class, practically shaking in my boots, terrified that she was going to tell me that I had failed something.

Instead, she asked me where I bought my boots. I answered honestly, some store in Montreal two years ago. She looked slightly disappointed, then asked me what size I wore.

I told her I wore a size ten. Her response: "Are you interested in selling them?"

I was at a loss as to what I was suppose to answer, so I said sorry, but I loved them far too much to consider selling.

I can honestly say that it was the strangest thing that has happened to me in a very long time.

Have any of you ever had people offer to buy the clothing you were wearing, or other strange things happen because of your clothing?

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

What I Wore: Stripes and Sparkles

Shirt, Smart Set; skirt, ???; tights, American Apparel (they are really sparkly in real life); boots, ???.

I actually wore this on Monday, but an unfortunately large amount of homework and then yesterdays shopping ban update prevented me from posting it before today.

I like this shirt. I like this skirt. I like these tights, and I like these boots. I did not, however, really like this outfit.

It was just a bit too much, with the tight, slightly low cut shirt, that isn't too long and the short skirt that doesn't come up too high. It all led to me constantly tugging this outfit to make sure it all stayed in place. Not really a recipe for a successful outfit.

To add insult to injury, I realized once I was in first period, that tights really do not look good on me, since when I sit down they make me all section-y. I really need to invest in some thigh high tights.

I know this sounds like a post full of self loathing, but it isn't. It's a post full of my being a whiny brat about the fact that my clothing let me down.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

A Shopping Ban: Week 2 and I have a huge success

Two weeks in, and so far no slipping. That may be partially due to my awesome thrifting run last Wednesday though. I went into the local Salvation Army to get a t-shirt for an event at school, more on that later, and turns out it was half off all clothing. What could I do?

I left with:

A sweater from Smart Set, store price around 35$-50$;

A shirt from Smart Set, store price around 20$-30$;

A skirt from Reitmans, store price around 30$-50$;

A t-shirt from Reitmans (for my school thing), store price around 20$;

A dress from Rocket Candy, store price around ???, so lets guess around 50$;

A sleeveless top from Club Monaco, store price around ???, upwards of 50$ from what I can deduce;

A men's button down shirt, store price ???, since I steal all the ones I have from my dad.

So to recap, had I bought all this in stores I would have spent between 205$ and 275$.

Wanna guess how much I ended up paying?

14.96$

I was so excited about this, I almost posted it when I got home from this expedition, last Wednesday, but decided to wait.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Just Your Everyday Vampire, Part 1

Today, I have adapted what is possible my all time favorite halloween costume into an outfit.

Just Your Everyday Vampire, #1 by RosieUnknown

The Vampiress.

Leather, alligator skins and silver are materials I have always linked to vampires, so they are obviously included. As for the colour scheme, pretty simple I think, red for the blood, the passion and black for the night, the darkness within. I put in all the skulls to symbolize death, obviously.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

What I Wore: Thoughts on a Sweater

Shirt, Smart Set; jeans, KappAhl; necklace, gift; bag, some place in Iceland; socks, made by my mummy; shoes (not here), Converse.

I'm not sure how I feel about this sweater. On one side, it is wonderfully warm. But it has fits of itchy-ness. It isn't always itchy, but every now ant then it itches a bit. On the other hand, it's a sweater I like the look of. The length presents a bit of a problem, as you can see in the picture, it is rather short. It was fine with my high waisted jeans, but I also know that with anything not high waisted, or at least medium waisted, it would spend all day pulling it down. My final thought on this sweater is that I love the colour. So I think the final tally brings it to a success.

I don't really have any other comments on this outfit, other than that for the first times in a long I was actually warm at school.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Just Your Everyday Witch

As you all probably know, Halloween is fast approaching. I decided to do a little series of polyvore sets of outfits that have just a bit of costume to them to celebrate the event. I give you...

Just Your Everyday Witch by RosieUnknown

Everyday Witch!

The dress. I have always seen witches as having rather full skirted dress, and this one just felt right. I chose these shoes because, once again they felt right. Also, lace up, high heeled, black ankle boots? How awesome are they!!! Since every witch needs a familiar (animal friend of above average intelligence), and carrying around an actual animal is rather hindering, I used the purse. I picked cat purses, since I adore black cats, but you could go for an owl, oar anything you like really. It can get pretty chilly when you are flying through the sky, so I included some kelly green tights for warmth and a pop of colour. I think because it looks like some thing you would find in a cauldron, kelly green has always been a very witch-y colour to me. Ditto on the purple, and since you wouldn't want to get your hands dirty while mixing potions, out come the gloves! Finally, the necklaces. I felt that the outfit needed just a touch more colour, and the stones felt rather mystic to me.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Thankfully, these Apples weren't Poisoned

One of my favourite fall activities is apple picking. I adore apples, and practically live on them, so I obviously like it for that reason. And then there is just the fun of pulling an apple off a tree, polishing it on your shirt, and biting in.

Some time ago, my family went apple picking. I took a lots of photos, but they mostly didn't work out well. I think I may do one of my polyvore outfits inspired by a picture with another picture of an apple, so I didn't include it, even though I really like it.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

A Shopping Ban: Week 1 and I narrowly missed a Dilemma

It's Tuesday. And that means that it is time to discuss how my shopping ban is progressing.

So far, I have been slip free in my quest to shop for clothes only in second hand stores until I can buy a laptop. However, since my temptation has been zero, not exactly surprising.

I almost encountered a potential problem on Friday, but thankfully my mother got tired of waiting for me to get home and ran the errands without me. Thankfully because one of the stores she had to visit was having a bag sale, and at 5$ (CAD) for a large bag of clothing, I don't think I would have been able to resist. Of course there is a bit of a dilemma in this. It is dirt cheap, so I could make an exception, but it still doesn't fulfill the environmental aspect of my ban. I guess I will just hope that I don't come near this bridge again.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

What I Wore: Pretty in Pink

And I have returned! So sorry about how sketchy posting has been recently, but Thanksgiving weekend+my computer being dismantled so we could use the table it's on+missing 3 days of school and having to catch up on homework= no time to blog.

Jeans, Old Navy; Pink Cowl Neck shirt, Old Navy kids; Shoes, Converse; hat, handmade by my mummy; scarf around my waist, gift; scarf on bag, ???; bag, "borrowed" from my dad.

Last Friday was wear pink and support breast cancer day at my school, so I obviously wore pink. It was also my first day back after a three day, flu induced absence, so I wanted to be relatively comfortable and fuss free, hence the jeans and long sleeved shirt.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

A Brief Abscence

I am very sad to have to tell you that I probably won't have any posts up until Monday, due to the fact that I am drowning in homework and my computer is not hooked up at the moment.

I can blog some from my iPod, as I am now, but I can't do anything with pictures, so it is sort of useless for anything other than telling you I won't be around.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

Product Review: Maybelline Define-A-Lash Washable Lengthening Mascara

When it comes to mascara, I have an on again off again relation with it. Sometimes I wear it, sometimes I won't. When I do decide to wear it though, this is always my choice:

Maybelline Define-A-Lash Washable Lengthening Mascara.

My reasons:

1. It really is lengthening, and thickening.
2. It does actually go on clump free. Really.
3. The Very Black is just that. Very Black. Which, when it comes to mascara, is always a good thing.
4. It may call itself Washable, but this stuff doesn't budge till you wash it off. Really. Tears, rain, sweat, this stuff can take it all.
5. However, when you do want to wash it off, it doesn't present a struggle. Almost like it knows when to leave.

(I am not in any way affiliated with Maybelline, and I am not payed in any way to promote this product. I am just a rabid fan.)

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Fixing It: Gwyneth Paltrow

Long time readers may remember way back when I had a feature called fixing it up. I recently saw this outfit, worn by Gwyneth Paltrow:

And realized that it was almost perfect. I had just a few qualms with the styling.

1. I will come out an say it: I actually like the jeans, as long as they are worn appropriately, with heels.

2. The blazer and t-shirt are great, but the white on white is a bit too, well, white. I think I would go for white tee and black blazer.

3. My next problem is the hair. I know you probably have a very busy life, but couldn't you find time to touch up your roots?

4. I'm fairly certain that an all black heel would work better in this circumstance, instead of a shoe that leaves me wondering if it faded in the wash.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

A Shopping Ban: The Beginning

I have been thinking about my shopping habits and the consequences they have on the planet. I have also been thinking about their impact on my savings, and I reached the conclusion that I need to control my shopping a bit.

Since I know that quitting cold turkey probably won't help, I have reached a compromise with myself: I want a laptop, so until I can afford one, I will only be shopping thrift. I have given myself a few loop holes: underclothing, tights and beauty products.

The reason I am telling all of you this is because I will try to record my progress here; I will have a post every Tuesday talking about challenges I have had, success stories, tips I pick up as I go, and I would love to share stories from any of you.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

What I Wore: Teacher-ish?

Shirt, ???; pants, thrifted; headband, Lululemon; Shoes, Rampage; briefcase, hand me down from my dad; necklace, handmade by me.

I adore these pants. Despite the fact that they are way too long, and I can only wear them with at least 3" heels, they are my favorite pants. I almost hacked up this t-shirt a few days ago, but decided against it and I am glad I did.

I realized the other day that my eye make up is often a fairly important part of my outfit, so I will try to share it more often. Any one interested in a tutorial for my fave look, pictured above?

I made this necklace ages ago, and I haven't worn it since. I thought that this shirt could use a little help, and I liked how this looked. It may be making appearances more frequently.

Funny story about this outfit. I was walking down the stairs and a teacher I had last year was coming up. As she passed me, she said that she thought I was a teacher. I guess the briefcase? I'm not sure if I should be flattered of mad!

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Unrequited Love in a Dress

I just wanted to share one of the recent objects of my affection, this wonderful dress from Modcloth.Isn't it amazing? Sadly, I will be admiring this beauty from afar, because I am fairly certain that that skirt will make my butt look huge, instead of somewhat well rounded. It makes me sad that I will never get to see for sure, because I am also fairly certain that the bodice would make me look absolutely stunning. Le sigh.

I am thinking about doing a polyvore with this dress, or several. Any takers?

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Playing Dress Up: Just Your Everyday Cat Woman

Update: This post is now a part of a series of outfits with a hint (or several) of costume in them.

Just Your Everyday Cat Woman by RosieUnknown

Usually, when I post a polyvore set, I talk about why I chose certain items, what was inspiring me. The thought behind this set is very simple: it is sleek, it is sexy, and it is what I wished I was wearing. Because there are two Rosie Unknowns: the real one, who is typing this and wearing jeans with a sweater, and then there is the other Rosie Unknown, who is dancing the night away and wearing the above outfit. Confused? This is what my dream self is wearing.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

A train, a Dog, and some Hay Bales: My World

I took these last weekend when I went cranberry picking with the family. I wasn't sure how these would turn out, but I like them. It was a truly amazing day, it felt almost other-worldly. My friends put up with me complaining about how boring our area is about a gazillion times a day, but the truth is I love it, despite the fact that I hate it sometimes. Of all the few places I have been, these marshes are one of my favourites.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!

Combined, it was Magic

Have you ever had something rather mundane feel completely magical? It happened to me tonight. I was out for my run, which was going very well, surprisingly, when I happened to look around. I was all alone, on a path with trees on one side and a field on the other. The only other living thing in site was my dog. The sky was deep blue, and perfectly clear. It was almost a full moon, and the stars were bright. It was cold out, only a few degrees above zero (Celsius), but it didn't matter since I was running.

(image source)

Alone, any one of those things would have been completely normal. But combined, to me, it was magic. It was the most peaceful moment I have had in a very long time, and it reminded me why I still try, why I persevere in this harsh world when sometimes it would be easier just to give up.

So, remember, sometimes, when you think that there is nothing to live for, just leave it all behind for a few minutes. Do something do something exhilarating, go somewhere magical, or do something exhilarating somewhere magical. Look around and remember that life can surprise you.

Thoughts? Requests?

Love, Rosie

PS: Don't forget to check the sidebar for all the different ways to follow the blog, and my twitter feed!