Masque

 

 

Sometimes you can only show your true self behind a masque. The facade, outlandish, becomes the siren of secrets, your inner world, your sigil. Stripped of the plain-jane mundane, the mask can expose your brilliant self, the fearless one who knows no boundaries. Who are you underneath your costume of the day-to-day?

What I Wore:

Carnival Cat Mask

Vintage Chiffon Red Scarf

Vintage 1960's Cheetah Print  Coat, "Safari Sportstown La France"

Target label Grey/Black striped Cardigan, Thrifted

Chevron Striped Target Thankoon label T-shirt

Vintage Sequin Top, worn as vest, Courtesy of EQUINE-BOVINE

Vintage Broach, Thrifted

Photo Credits: Bella Q

 

Cat People

Cheetah, cheetahs everywhere. this one's on a leash.

Big cats

on the cat walk, she's all the talk.

Remakes, re-take

return, report, release. You'll always make a comeback

as a cat. Live up your 9-lives, land on your feet

Sleek spots are hot

Top to toe, you can't stop 

or change a leopard's spots.

Photo: 1: Vintage pic, unknown, off the internet. 2: Moschino Chic & Cheap Fall 2010. 3: Natasha Kinski in Cat People, 1982. 4: Megan @ Another Day to Dress Up. 5: Alice Point 6: Bella Q for the Citizen Rosebud

Ingenue

in·gé·nue

         

    /ˈænʒəˌnu, -ˌnyu; Fr. ɛ̃ʒeɪˈnü/ Show Spelled /-ˌnuz, -ˌnyuz; Fr. -ˈnü

1.   the part of an artless, innocent, unworldly girl or young woman, esp. as represented on the stage.

2.  an actress who plays such a part or specializes in playing such parts.

Also, in·ge·nue.

the Red Shoes

"And all the people inside looked at Karen’s red shoes, and all the figures gazed at them; when Karen knelt before the altar and put the golden goblet to her mouth, she thought only of the red shoes. "

- Hans Christian Andersen, The Red Shoes

 These photos were gathered from various sources in the bloggersphere. Note the common theme: the delicious bright pop of red at their feet. Red shoes add so much to an outfit, and expresses the lively nature of the wearer. Irrepressible, red shoes are. Come, dance with me-

( Sources: The Clothes Horse, Manchester Streets, Stil Berlin, and my new favorite blog: Clothes, Camera and Coffee.)

Le Smoking

"Smoking is bad for you. But man, oh man, it's looks hella cool."

 

YSL even named a jacket after it. When's the last time YOU got a jacket named after you for giving some guy cancer? 

(Sources: internet surfing and discovery- Cafe Naivete,  YSL archive photo,  the Photodairist)

Cherry Blossom Girl

A Shanghai-flavored homage to Spring. Here comes the Cherry Blossom Girl.

Costume provided by the Citizen Rosebud

Vintage Acetate Rose-Embossed Dress in Jade. Nine West Patent Leather/Glen Plaid Spectator Shoes.

Model: the very lovely Tracie Johnston

Photo Credits: Ernest Leyva

The Studio

Here are some shots taken of the newly refurbished lair of the Citizen Rosebud. Colorful and funky, with nary a sparse spot in sight, the studio is ground zero for the creative process, the HQ for all things citizen. You'll be seeing more of these walls as we share our newest photo-shoots, fashion finds and etsy postings. Hope you like!

As you can tell, nothing is from IKEA. Well, almost nothing, the sleeper-sofa actually is from IKEA (not shown). But the place is chuck full of vintage finds, and various flotsam and jetsam that come our way. The Chinese lantern shown in the top photo was just salvaged the day before from the street! Most of the furniture was acquired from second hand sources, and the fabu new dress-form was a recent buy from eBay.

I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of her as we open our shop on etsy.com.
Bookmark us, would ya? Shop opens in March.

citizenrosebud.etsy.com

Looking back, then moving forward: A time machine with Lee McQueen

Jennine of The Coveted posted a couple of interested links regarding Alexander McQueen a few days ago, and for those who have been deeply moved and saddened about his sudden demise, I feel they may enjoy them as much I did. There is the last interview given by McQueen at the TimesOnline and a Hulu.com re-posting of a documentary of McQueen filmed nearly 10 years ago. It is touching to see McQueen and hear his voice. To hear him say that his best was still to come (it was) and to see even then the way he took on the world. It all feels so heartwrenching and tragic looking back, but helpful too. I want to honor this great and innovative spirit and wish him much happiness on his next tremendous journey.

Alexander McQueen: the last interview - Times Online

Red would, Redwood.

 

Around the corner from my house, stands a grand beauty: a great old redwood tree. She towers over her surroundings, a genial sentinel to the alley that runs behind our avenue.  

I thought this redwood tree would make a terrific backdrop to a "what I wore today." To be honest, I feel she stole the show.  What I wore: 

• Vintage B&W plaid car coat with leather buttons and trim. THRIFTED.
• Vintage plaid wool shawl. THRIFTED.
• Red thermal shrug:  a CITIZEN ROSEBUD original
•  Black Tissue T-shirt: GAP
• Levi's dark rinse short shorts. THRIFTED.
• Black Tights: TARGET.
• Grey knee-high socks: TARGET.
• Black flat scrunch boots. THRIFTED.
•  Vintage Red leather purse. THRIFTED. 

.

 

Feeling like a plaid Zapatista here. Boldly mysterious in my vintage plaid wool scarf with yarn fringe.

 

I really liked the shots taken with my coat on.  The strong grid graphic of the coat played up nicely against the rough reddish tree texture of the bark. 

 The tree had an immense presence, like a great-grandma sitting out on her porch keeping an eye on the kiddies. Perfect posture. Here's to aging with as much poise and beauty as this tree. I may visit here again more often.

-Bella Q

Photo credits: Lori Blair-Taffuri

Serendipity

Some people don't even have to try.

Walking home from an impromptu photo shoot, I spied this wonderful creature walking down my block. I wanted to stop her and ask to take her picture, but I got kind of shy, like, why would she agree to let a stranger photograph her? I must have been walking a little to briskly at her heels, because she suddenly looked back at me and scooted over to let me pass her. She had such a great expressive face and looked so stunning in a colorful gypsy skirt, knit scarf and sweatshirt, that I worked up the courage to ask for her picture. She was game, and we stepped over onto the nearest lawn and I snapped exactly 5 pictures. All of them were flawless. She was relaxed, poised and made a perfect subject.

Seriously. Not a bad one in the bunch. No retouching or tweeking in editing, just some simple glorious pictures of joie-de-vivre. She literally threw her outfit on this morning to make it on time for work. You might guess she's artistic, and she is. She knit her own scarf and loves crafts. Her name is Vocheri, by the way, and I am definitely planning to shoot her again, next time, hopefully as a Citizen Rosebud model. If Ms V looks this amazing rolling out of bed in the morning, I am curious as to how stunning she'll be all dolled up!

Beautiful in Butt Ugly

 

 

  

 

Just down the street from my home, lives one of my all time favorite local designers.  About 15 years or so ago, she created a clothing line called BUTT UGLY. Her clothes are anything but. She uses vintage fabrics and notions and creates funky, eclectic and wearable clothing for the Sacramento set.

Her name is Kris Laskey, and she's mercilessly inventive. She's been known to sew a pair of palazzo pants outs of a vintage shower curtains, keep the rings attached and using them as trim on the hem. She lso creates bags and purses out of just about everything including tapestries, sleeping bags and wood-grained patterned vinyl.  Tonight, hanging on one of the racks was a beautiful wool coat that had been made out of a super soft wooly army blanket with lining made out of salvaged satin printed "Pierre Cardin." She has a rabid, cult crew of followers, and yours truly is certainly one of them. At every show, I'll quip that she deserves a Nobel Prize for Fashion. SHE DOES!

Her events pack a modest house. And there's always laughter, good stories and chow to to be found at a Butt Ugly trunk show.  The people are like her clothes, smart, quirky,  and beautiful. I stepped behind the camera for the evening and took some snaps of  folks shopping BUTT UGLY.

There's a tiny little story to my picture taking.  My first photo was of the lovely Sasha P and I had asked her to pose with this sweet vintage barkcloth dress with a charming little print. One of my last photos of the evening was of my dear amiga, Kerry D who was trying on the very same dress. It fit her like a dream, and she promptly bought it. Lucky girl!