This outfit here is just a way for me to talk about my mom’s great Halloween table decorations.

A few weekends ago, our mom had us over for brunch and had decorated the table for the season. Cath and I couldn’t stay as long as we liked because we had a photo shoot later that afternoon. The lovely people behind the shoot asked that we wear black and white, so I tossed on my Forever 21 sixties tunic (from a few years back- and actually pretty good quality for $30) and my thigh-highs. Cath wore this blazer outfit. (You like how – kinda, sorta – I tied this outfit to Halloween decor?).

Below- the real reason for the post! The table! 

Now I know lots of people do good tablescapes, but my mom whipped this out with a miniscule budget (I would guess under $10). 

The center piece is the retired cast of Nightmare Before Christmas– an assortment of characters from years past. The black water goblets and black plates are my mom’s wedding china (yes, really) from 27 years ago. 

The napkin rings are skeleton hands attached with black pipe-cleaners, and an assortment of plastic skulls and spider webbing are scattered over a length of black cheese-cloth.

My favorite part of the table are these skeleton candle sticks. My mom bought 6 brassy candle stick for $1 at a thrift store, spray-painted them matte-black, and hot glued these skeletons in different poses (skeletal yoga- so the candle wax wouldn’t hit them). And don’t you love black tapers? Morticia Addams would bes sooo  jealous.

My mom is quite possibly the most creative person I know; Martha Stewart with a heart, I like to say. Eddie Ross* should take notes.

*Both my mom and I love Eddie (and Martha) and are constantly inspired by both– I just like to be cheeky. And when Amelia and I met him last year, I was anything but (just giddy and star struck). Check it out here.

In high school Cath was in the marching band (french horn/mellophone), and I . uh. sadly got left out of all the fun. I missed out on all the band regalia: plumed hats, tuxedo trousers, stiff uncomfortable and heavy jackets with brassy buttons.

But- ah ha!- now (9 years later) I too have a stiff, uncomfortable, but oh-so-chic marching band jacket I found at  local thrift store (locals, it was a few doors down from Young Blood and they had an old rack full of them in the basement). I had it altered to fit a bit better, and now it’s one of my favorite items in my closet. It’s warm, it’s nostalgic (kinda), and makes Balmain jealous.

I wore it with skinny black pants, my thigh-highs, a $2 leather purse I partially studded last year, black fingerless gloves, and my greek fisherman hat.

I don’t know if I would pass drum major inspection, but I could successfully play a Sousa march for sure (on the violin).

(Thanks for taking the photos, M!)

ps- Sorry for the slow-down on comments, lovely readers! I’ll be back in town tonight and can’t wait to catch-up on your blogs.

The beautiful and talented Linda at Struggles of a Creative Mind did this awesome sketch of me and my thigh-highs. Doesn’t she rock?! Visit her blog and her illustration site Misketch, and maybe you’ll be Blogger of the Month next month with a gorgeous sketch! Thank you, Linda! Seriously, today feels like Christmas 😉

I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!!

xoxo,

Lar

The cold, rainy Atlanta weather has me daydreaming about Paris. Not the pastel Marie Antoinette/Sofia Coppola version, but the turn-of-the-century smokey coffee house and cold artist garrett version.

To.uh. celebrate my moody Paris daydreams, I’ve been playing a lot of Edith Piaf (to Cath’s chagrin) and went with a French ingenue outfit for work during the week: a black satin ribbon, white button-up, and flats (a rarity at Chez AsianCajuns).

Thrifted shirt, found ribbon, AA skirt, Capezio shoes, book is The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier.

Background print from this Etsy seller.

I’ve only been to Paris for about three days in my entire life  (three days of pastry-eating and Louvre haunting), so I’ve based most of my ideas about the city off of movies. What is your favorite rainy, moody environment? My second choice would be some old library in the middle of nowhere (again, based on watching numerous movies set in the British country-side). Books, music and pastries seem a safe bet against chilly autumnal weather, non?

Happy Weekend, mes amis!!!

So I really do think this past weekend might have been our last hurrah at summer. We had sun, we had heat (80s, right?) and I turned on our air conditioning on Saturday. I decided to embrace this last gasp of Southern summer with sleeveless layering.

(Outer to inner layer) Heliotrope earrings, Forever21 vest and belt, Tracy Feith for Target dress (“dress”? it’s more like a tunic- a short tunic), Target bubble skirt, New Orleans Mardis Gras mask.

I dressed the layers down with some old denim and my “Roman Holiday” sandals (really from Florence, but Gregory Peck doesn’t need to know) when I went to the Oakhurst Arts And Music Festival on Saturday.

Ooo I still love this torso ring from Evolve Boutique. I don’t wear it too often because it’s a bit big for me, but I think it’s lovely.

Apart from the Oakhurst Festival, Cath and I went to Cooper Sanchez’s show at Oakland Cemetery, I pulled out my winter clothes and reorganized my closet (with much cursing and muttering), and had a delicious Sunday dinner with family and friends.

Hope you guys had a marvelous weekend!!! What are you up to this week?

It is far too hot in Atlanta even in the fall to wear this type of faux animal on your head, but somehow it ties this outfit together nicely (or I just like playing dress-up when I get home from a long day at the office).

This outfit came about because I was stuck as to what to do with this Tracy Feith sweater. I bought it this summer at Tarjay and imagined me wearing it over a bikini after a long day of surfing, snuggled up to my bf on the beach in front of a bonfire. I live about five hours from the closest beach, I can’t swim (waves scare the bejesus out of me when I’m standing on the beach), and very few beaches let you do the whole fire on the sand thing. So this sweater got a lot of use, obviously. Enter fall, and fall colors! Orange and browns and creams.

And then I just happen to have this Russian Doll pillow that wears the same orange- hence the non sequitur post title! Woohoo for whimsy!

I also like to dance a jig after the long work day. My neighbors below hate me and my boots.

This is what I actually looked like – I left the pillow and hat at home for the day.

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

ps- Thanks for all the sweet comments about the Over-the-Knee boots! You guys make my week!! You’ll see them a lot come winter. and perhaps sooner for Halloween. Lady Gaga fans, anyone?

I am now 100% ready for the Fall. I don’t enjoy the colder weather and the shorter days (and what’s with the depressing rain, ATL?). The layers are fun and I like jackets (like this faux leather doo-dad I have on), but what I really live for during cold weather is the boots.

This year I finally succumbed to the over-the-knee trend. I toyed with the idea last year, but didn’t pounce until I saw these Jeffrey Campbells a few months ago. I decided if I wanted to do over-the-knee I really had to commit. I wanted the boot as high up the leg as possible (not just kissing the knee)- and these fit perfectly and feel divine.

To keep them from looking too “Lady of the Night” I’ll avoid miniskirts and pair them with oversized tops and skinny pants. My old men’s H&M shirt grazes the tops of the boots- I like that. Good work, chambray. 

What do you guys think? Are you a fan of the Pretty Women boots or no? You know either way I’ll wear them around until it gets back up to the 80 degrees next spring, but I’m curious to know what you think when you see boots this tall (tall or high?). If the you are looking for an over-the-knee boot sans heel, check out these gorgeous ones the lovely Becs of Style with Benefits found.

Jacket is Express, Shirt is Men’s H&M, pants are from Bill Hallman, boots are Jeffrey Campbell

Happy Hump Day!

I always hate when Cath has conferences in other cities and leaves for a few days. It’s not that we see each other that often even though we live together (our schedules never seem to align), but I always feel better when I know she is right by me in Decatur/Atlanta somewhere.

The only good thing about Cath’s business trips? She brings back great goodies for me (such a sweet sistah! Thanks, KitCath!).

Her latest trip was to Miluakee (see her post here). She brought back this wonderful fringe-y scarf. It’s just getting cold (okay, cool) enough in Atlanta to start layering and I love the colors that run through it (I think it matches the Ghanaian flag).

The cheerful fringe breaks up the gray monotone of my outfit.

Scarf from the lovely Cath, dress from Old Navy, belt from Asos (via a give-away on Anywhere But Here :), booties from H&M.

I forget the store Cath got the scarf from, but Cath and I found it on Moxsie the other day. Get yours here!

Of all the different cultures/ethnicities that swirl in our AsianCajun blood, Greek (sadly) is not one of the mix. Our best friend when we were young was Greek Orthodox, so we had our fair share of loukoumades at Greek festivals, but I don’t think that even gets us an honorary membership in the Greek club. I’ve also never fished or actually been to Greece (a girl can dream.), so this hat is a lie. A little lie . a baby lie. all worth it because who doesn’t like a good, jaunty cap perched on their tête, huh?

I’ve eyed these on some lovely Swedish bloggers and wondered where I could nab one. Instead of doing something sensible like search the interwebs, I moaned and complained until I stumbled into a hat shop off Jackson Square in NOLA that sold these.

This man (below) can both fish and read the sign behind him. He wears that hat with a clean conscience. I bet he likes loukoumades too. Swoon.

Right before we left for NOLA I received this beautiful corset from Norwegian Wood. I’ve never had something made to order for me before, and the sheer delight of how perfectly-tailored silk feels on your skin is magnificent.

I’m almost too scared to wear this corset out and about because I know I’ll ruin it somehow, so I took it nice and slow this weekend by playing dress-up in my bedroom.

Paired with my flouncy skirt from a boutique in Birmingham, the corset reminds me of John Singer Sargent’s painting El Jaleo. I know this is nothing like traditional flamenco dress, but if I started flamenco dancing again, this is what I would wear.

I think it makes me want to dance because it feels so damn good to wear! Do you guys have clothes that do that? It makes me want to chuck every ill-fitting, cheapie F21 dress I have out of closet and save up for real clothes (something I probably should be doing at my age anyways).

Thank you, Angie! I love, love, love it!!!

Fashionistas, I’ll do a follow-up post with a detailed shot of the corset and more practical ways of wearing a piece like this year round (and out in public sans dancing 😉 ). In the meantime, check out Angie’s other gorgeous handiwork at her Etsy shop Norwegian Wood.