My friend and every other bride in the world is getting married in June.

I need an outfit.

I want to use what I already have instead of buying another dress, but I need something to spice it up.

Then it hit me. A FASCINATOR would do it!

A fascinator is that feathery headpiece on that girl

A fascinator is a headpiece, a style of millinery. The word originally referred to a fine, lacy head covering akin to a shawl made from wool or lace. The term had fallen almost into disuse by the 1970s.

Source: Wikipedia

Ever since I saw Kenley on Project Runway wearing them, I’ve been obsessed. Yes, she was a bit of a brat on the show, but she was cute and she wore the cutest head pieces.

You may also recall Sarah Jessica Parker and various members of England’s royalty wearing fascinators, although I find them too dramatic for going to a wedding.

Now to go searching on Etsy for something in a thick kind of headband with feathers but nothing too poufy.. something that lays kind of flat.

AM BACK FROM BOSTON/CHICAGO!

Had a great time, although Boston was SO COLD and windy. I wished many times, I had brought heavy duty earmuffs and another layer.

I was expecting that in Chicago, but it was much warmer in Chicago near the end of our trip (Thurs/Fri), and I enjoyed myself more, soaking up the atmosphere.

I think if Chicago had a winter like Dallas, and had a stronger IT industry, I’d want to live there.

It was just the right amount of energy and I didn’t feel worn out or as tired as in New York from over stimulation… which probably contributed to why I spent 3x as much as I did in NYC shopping… *la la la*

Pics to come, but I need to wind down. I have so many emails to go through 100+!! Arrgh.

I must also regret to inform you that I did NOT try a stuffed crust, deep dish Chicago pizza but I did try a regular piece of pizza.

The reason being… it just didn’t look good. Keep in mind, I have never really liked pizza, and the kind that I do, is very simple but done with high-end French cheese, tomato, the dough that is not oily or buttery but tastes like soft bread instead.

I also prefer thinner crusts, and it looked like too much stuff on there.

I’ll post a pic later about what I mean.

$$ CARNIVALS

The Stretchy Dollar hosted this week’s Festival of Frugality, where I submitted my article about the differences between being a frugal, cheap or a cheap opportunist.

Your Money Relationship Blog hosted this week’s 20-something Finances, where I submitted my article about why you don’t just live in a small space, give up your dreams and whine.

GIVEAWAY

A giveaway for North American moms or moms-to-be is in the works. More on that later.

As a commenter once said to me:

How can something be truly unique? If there are more than one of the item, it wouldn’t be technically considered unique.

And even if there was only one of each item there may be similar items out there – so would they still be considered unique?

Good question. And one too deep for me to answer in a neat little blog post.

So instead, I am going to direct you to people who are real individuals to me, and turn against so-called mainstream to create their own kind of unique style.

(To clarify, when I say unique from now on, I mean “not-like-the-others” and not necessarily that they are the only ones that exist in the entire world…which would stir up a whole philosophical debate akin to “if a tree falls and no one hears it, does it make a sound?”)

Introducing Kat Von D and her D-I-Y- t-shirts!

I just find them a tad too revealing for my taste so I wouldn’t actually wear the t-shirts myself, because they’d look totally out of place on me, but I think it looks great on Kat, and if you can pull it off, why not?

Another individual style icon is Dita von Teese who is not for the Natural Movement. She’s into artifice and the idea of man-made beauty, which is.. exactly what she’s all about. The properly done and dyed hair, the makeup, the red lips, the high heels, the corsets.. it’s her style and she rocks it.

She has stated that you would never catch her dead in sweatpants and sneakers going out. I wonder what her natural beauty looks like underneath all of that.

Well, this video may give you a taste of that! She looks completely different in the beginning of the film.

Or how about model Agyness Deyn? They call her the new Kate Moss but I think she’s got a style all of her own, sprouting a new fashion style called “The London Club Look”.

Fun fact: her real name is Laura Hollins.. bet you didn’t know that! And there’s a huge controversy about her age. She says she’s 21, but she’s really 24.. *rolls eyes* Who cares, she can work it like Boy George!!!!

Here’s Boy George

And here’s a look that’s really Boy George-ish. I think it’s the hat that does it.

Or how about in our very own blogosphere? Tavi is an individual to the point that she gets mocked (sometimes) at school for wearing her own interpretations. I’d post a pic of hers but she has stated on her blog that she doesn’t want anyone to use her pics. Respect!

Hysteric girl did a great post called: does fashion need rules?. The best are the tips near the bottom on how to ignore people who snicker at what you wear when you walk downtown.

The one tip gave me a fright: “PUBLIC AREAS – It’s generally safer to walk around places filled with people and try to avoid back alleys. People rarely do anything too bad when tonnes of people are about but they might try it if you make yourself an easy target.”

Seriously?

Last but not least, if you saw the Kaiser walking down the street dressed like this, you’d think he’s a crazy ol’ foo! “Girl, look at him! What is up with those gloves?”

But he ain’t because he’s his own person and there is no one else who can dress like that (except for Halloween) and rock it harder than he does.

And one of my favourite shots of him:

Those are just a couple of people who don’t care what others think of them and I applaud them because I can’t go against mainstream.

I’ve been too programmed to love dressing in classic, conservative outfits with light touches of bright colour or heavy metal, looking like I stepped out of a J. Crew catalog.

But I do respect true street style that makes you think and re-evaluate your wardrobe.

So.. FB I live in a small town, where the hell am I going to find people NOT like you and your pansy-ass mainstream J.Crew style?

Well, here are some really great ’street style’ sites you can go to for plebian inspiration!

• Style Diary
  
• CoolHunter
• Copenhagen Street Style
• Tokyo Street Style
• Style.com (Certain designers like Alexander McQueen may be up your alley)