outfit post: Birthday Grrl

 

Every year, while you my friends are celebrating Memorial Day weekend, I am turning one year older. This year I am 46 years old. While I realize that the adage "a lady never reveals her age" has good sense, I am telling you my age because I want to show that this tree is proud of her rings. I am rich with history, and full of memories worth remembering. Rather than try to hang on to the glory of youth, I'd like getting comfortable in my own skin, and relishing my present. 

THESE are my glory days.

The beautiful vintage sundress was a gift from my dear friend Lindsay. Thanks, amiga!

Now Wearing: 

• ubiquitous Target sunglasses
• 1950's vintage cotton sundress, Thunderhorse Vintage
• vintage green corduroy coat w/ vintage butterfly broach, my closet
• vintage black clutch
• We Love Colors black tights
• Alice + Olivia for Payless, black/white striped wedges

We LOVE Clothes, I LOVE IFB

For the Love of Clothes

Yes! This has been a wonderful week for me, and icing on the proverbial cake is this: I made the IFB's Links Ala Mode list. Dished up for your consideration is a extra helping of great reads, so I hope you have a strong cuppa coffee before you and a few extra minutes to enjoy the best fashion blog posts in the bloggersphere.                   -Bella Q

Edited by Fajr Muhammad at Stylish Thought
If fashion is one thing; it's fun! Whether fashion bloggers are chronicling their ensembles, spring cleaning their wardrobes or finding the perfect colored jean they are loving their clothes. In IFB we discuss fashion from so many angles we often forget the fancy of style and what keeps us blogging: our passion for fashion. This week's Links A La Mode features advice for the perfect poolside ensemble, a comprehensive Q & A on San Fran style and a walk down fashion's memory lane. At the heart of each post are the lovely clothes we wear and adore.

Links à la Mode: May 26th

• Britt & Whit: San Francisco Fashion Bloggers Respond to Danielle Steel
• By Anika: The art of not feeling threatened by the beauty of others
• Fashion Limbo: The Rant- Slutty Fashion
• Fashioned By Love: Weekend Sign-Off
• For Those About to Shop: How YSL’s recycled bag reminded me of fashion irony
• Girl Loves Color: Color My Denim
• Give Me Bows: Friday Frocks
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: Tips on Creating Beautiful Images
• Made to Travel: Afia-The Perfect Pieces for Spring & Summer, Ethically Made
• Mission Closet: The Perfect Fit
• Mordrian: Start Shopping Wisely
• New York Don't Leave Me: Going Native
• Style Confessions: The Safari Jacket and The Sartorialist
• Style Delights: 6 Ways To Spring-Clean Your Closet!
• Style Sizzle: 5 essentials for poolside glamour
• Stylish Thought: Closet Love: 6 Things I Love about my Wardrobe
• The 1989 Soiree: Urinal or Campbell Soup
• The Best of Bklyn: Bright Lights
• The Citizen Rosebud: Outfit post: Momento Mori
• The Escape Artiste: Picasso, Modernism, and Oscar de la renta
• Those Graces: Women, Fear and Makeup

SPONSOR: Bags at Shopbop: CC Skye, Ash, Whiting & Davis, Halston Heritage, M Missoni, Tory Burch bags, Marc Jacobs, LAMB handbags, Wang, Malene Birger & Gryson 

outfit post: Dreaming You

  "You dance inside my chest
   where no-one sees you,
   but sometimes I do, & that 
             sight becomes this art."
                                        --Rumi

Kudos

Bloomin' Madly!

Thank YOU Thrifty Gal for this Blogger Luxury Award

Charming, fun and Thrifty, Debbie of Thrifty Gal included me in an award she recently received called Blogger Luxury Reward. Debbie I am honored! Now I am to share 7 things about me, and pass the award along. 

In a nutshell, here are 7 things about me you probably don't already know:

1. My favorite color is blue and my favorite word is "BISCUIT."
2. The last book of fiction I've read was Robert Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy. 
   I read the sci-fi novel over Christmas.
3. I am most definitely a cat person.
4. You may not guess this, but I'm actually shy. At least with strangers. 
5. I love to use Google Translate. So..Ekki líður illa ef þú getur ekki lesið þetta.
6. I am a huge fan of Glee. I can't explain it- it just happened. 
7. I am also a huge fan of Daniel Craig. That I can explain:

holy-fucking-hey-zeus- is-this-man-steamy-or-what?

I am feeling luxurious enough to reward this award to THREE bloggers. They are: 

1. Luxuriously Gorgeous Christine of Un-Stitched
2. Satin-smooth Tracy of The Closet Shopper
3. Like Water for Coco-puffs Steph of The Loudmouth

So ladies with prizes comes priviledges, and responsibilities. Those are:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award
2. Share 7 random things about yourself

3. Award 3 blogs (I changed it from 15 to 3. 15 is too many to be luxurious!)
4. Drop them a line and tell them about it

I've been feeling pretty lucky lately. Recently some sweet souls have been spilling ink about me. 

I love the feature recently done by lovely Cameron of 33 Avenue Milquelon. You can read it here.


The Bon Bon Rose Girls honored me some time ago by making me their Freshly Picked Rosebud! I love how they described me as the "Ultimate California Girl." You can check out their post here.

And more sweet words: Kirstin Marie added me to a wonderful post of inspirations. You can see me along with a handful of ah-mazing bloggers here.

And last but not least, Mrs. Bossa Does the Do puts out a brilliant post from her series, Dressing For Your Shape  and does a brilliant turn at mixing some great reader quotes with their pics. Here I am jumping for joy at the mention: 

There is quite a number of GREAT bloggers and quotes, including the stunning Ann of Annimal House, Steph of The Loudmouth and Vix of Vintage Vixen.  I hope you take a moment to check 'em out here: Dressing For Your Shape #3

outfit post: MAXI BELLA/ mini cooper

Ok, FOLKS: now I'm feeling more like "me." Yes. Red + Black = Bella Q to the enth power. Also very much to my liking is this spicy Red/Black Mini Cooper that was my inadvertent co-model today. Say hello to Zoom Zoom. Oops. Wrong commercial.

outfit post: Green & Bear It

All of a sudden, I'm feeling resistant to "trending," or any sort of sign of being "on trend" or even wearing my signature style. Probably a symptom of blogger burn-out. I just want to shrug off any sort of style cliche or codification and just "BE."

Easy peasy, right? You just get up in the morning, throw on some clothes  & head out the door. Unless you are perhaps a personal style blogger, in which you think about what you wear, how you're wearing it, and why you're going to share it with your fellow fashion bloggers and your loveliest of readers. Then you look in the mirror and wonder if you're gonna "represent." Well, suddenly I need a breather, and want to see if I could still look like "me," even if I don't dress like me. So no signature mess of mixed prints- no polka dots, no stripes, no leopard. No wacky hat, no combos of white, red or black, so what do we have?

outfit post: Momento Mori

"Life is short. Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did."
                           - Mark Twain

outfit post: Black Western

Feeling a bit western here. The trigger?  The latest score from This n' That Gift and Thrift which was this Michael Howard vintage black felt hat. I don't know the name of it, but it looks pretty spiffy to me.

outfit post: Ikat's Meow

I've been heavy on the outfit posts lately. I hope you find that a good thing. 

I've been busy writing and blogging; you can check out my latest street fashion capture over at Street Style SACRAMENTO here: http://streetstylesacramento.com. And I just had a blast filming youtube videos of street music over for at the Midtown Bazaar. AND, I've been busy setting up the Citizens HQ and getting ready to post some items up on my Etsy shop. Hopefully I'll get some pieces up by tomorrow, and get my career as Etsy vintage seller going. 

Shall I talk about the weather? Sacramento is caught up in some strange wintry throwback- we just went from bright sunny days to a weekend of thunder...rain...and HAIL. Yes, folks, on Sunday it hailed, which is a rarebit for these parts, especially this time of year. Today, it's is overcast, rainy and a double helping of gloomy. Unlike this summery jersey dress. I love the cool hues of the blue and green on the ikat print. For some reason, I find it hard to mix with- it doesn't seem to look good layered or mixed with anything else- so here you have it, simple and sweet. 

outfit post: Street Style Citizen

It is no secret that I LOVE street style. Today's outfit was definitely inspired by a previous fashion incarnation of my former self. Think back when most of you were babies, and I was stomping around the Castro and the Mission District in San Francisco in my college days discovering life after Sabbath school. It was the mid-'80's, and friends, I was having a very good time. That is when I discovered street culture, street style and loved seeing the wild characters from my 'hood. 

I loved the carnival of it: the bright techni-colored hair, the modern primitive tattoos and piercings, the gypsy layers of silver jewelry that seemed grow like vines over every finger, wrist and ear. I was intrigued by the influence of underground culture elements  burgeoning into the mainstream. I loved going into corner bars and seeing business suits mixing with kids in fetish gear. People weren't dressing for success; they were dressing to express.

My Gingham Collar, Ice Cream + Links Ala Mode

Two Scoops of Tasty! The Citizen Made this Week's IFB Links Ala Mode.

Want a taste of Sac-town? Above you see a double scoop of Gunther's Ice Cream, local ice cream makers for for the past 70 years. Trust me, they've got the recipe down pat. I'm celebrating, having made another mention on IFB's Links Ala Mode. Ya know, I don't think I'll EVER feel blase about making that list- it is ALWAYS an honor! And this week, is NO exception, with Vahni of Grit & Glamour editing, and me joining a fantastic group of bloggers who created some incredible posts. Do check them out!

If you are a member of Independent Fashion Bloggers and want to connect with the Citizen there, click this link here and send me a friend request. On my sidebar, you'll see the IFB badge proudly posted, well, it is linked to my profile page, so a click sends you direct to me. Say hello!

Making a Wish and YOU are it.

Meanwhile why don't you all appreciate my newest addition to my vast gingham collection- it's a vintage long sleeve gingham shirt I recently got from This 'n That Thrift & Gift for only $3 bucks! What sold me was the long collar. I'm  bit of a sucker for a slightly outdated collar, but don't ask me why, because I just don't know. But I like how this collar adds the singular interest to an otherwise plain and very casual outfit. Tell me, do you like it? AND- How do you feel about gingham?

outfit post: Darker than Black

   

  And I, infinitesimal being,

  drunk with the great starry void,

  likeness, image of mystery,

  felt myself a pure part of the abyss,

  I wheeled with the stars,

  my heart broke loose on the wind.

                                                     -Pablo Neruda 

outfit post: Hello Cleveland!

The Rosebud Revolution

"Revolutions are not a bed of roses."
                                                           -Fidel Castro

 I am ready for a Rosebud Revolution. I want to wear a riot of florals, but better yet, I want it to MEAN something. The "Bloom Madly!"  in me wants,  to quote Gandhi, "to be the change I want in the world." And I want change. I want to  create change in the way you and I buy and wear clothing. 

This is why I'm proud to share with you the IOU project. The IOU Project makes unique, handmade, traceable apparel. There's a BIG difference in the "I OWE YOU" way than the present-day insane industrial manufacturing practices. The IOU Project sources traditional, artisanal weavers and tailors, who hand loom and hand-craft each piece of IOU apparel.  Because each fabric is unique, they provide end buyers with the ability to trace the process from finished item right down to the weaver that hand-wove the fabric. The stories of how that item was created, of the people involved, of the customers who purchased them, are the essence of the e-commerce social network which The IOU Project has built as a meeting place for a community that shares their brand values of authenticity, transparency, uniqueness and both social and environmental responsibility. 

YOU CAN GET MORE DETAILED INFORMATION OVER ON THEIR FAQ PAGE BY CLICKING HERE. 

It is my hope that this type of business model revolutionizes the present exploitative practices of fast fashions, and reduce harmful sweat-shop  factory manufacturing. 

It is my hope that this new/old way of trade and craft will create a positive change for the fashion industry as a whole. I would love to see an industry flourishing by supporting communities, families and artisans. 

Here's to the Rosebud Revolution!

guest post: Vanessa of Queen VII's Reveries

       
                                                                                                                                                                      
It's a small world after all: Vanessa currently lives in Germany but hails from Sacramento, California. Like some other bloggers, such as Jeanelle of Glocal Girl, I discovered Vanessa randomly, only to find out later that we share the same hometown. Vanessa's blog is called Queen Vii's Reveries, and she and her family have been living in Germany for some years.   She was one of the first people I thought of to ask about second-hand shopping abroad, and the following are her tips on shopping the markets of Germany. 

NOTE:  Vanessa and her family are moving back to the States, so within a couple of weeks, she will officially be a SACRAMENTO BLOGGER, and I can't wait to meet her!

Vanessa:
While living in Europe, I've had some amazing shopping opportunities.  From the Meir in Antwerp to the Champs Elysees in Paris, to the Alsatian streets of Strasbourg and the huge malls of Frankfurt, I've been enjoying the thrill of the hunt in a market stall.   One of the things I'm going miss most particularly in  Germany are the Floh markets and second-hand shops.  These markets are VERY  different than the thrift stores and swap meets of California, and my experiences are something that I will never forget.

I apply my same thrifting philosophy/rules when shopping out here:  

Sprung

Spring has sprung for the Citizen Rosebud

IN Just-

spring when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

 

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far and wee 

and bettyandisabel come dancing

 

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

Wheels, Hotties, Handbags + Hats: To-Do's for the Weekend

This weekend promises to be wicked fun. 

This Saturday, the second-annual Velo and Vintage fashion show rolls into the Hot Italian. This event, created and coordinated by Lorena Beightler of Sac Cycle Chic in conjunction with Kari Shipman of Juniper James brings together the thriving, independent communities of cycling and boutiques in Sacramento.  Velo and Vintage highlights urban cycling as a smart, stylish and fashionable mode of transportation.  Velo and Vintage promises to be a fashion event that combines  a fusion of modern & vintage looks, showcasing local & regional bike shops as well as the best of Sacramento boutiques.  “It’s a celebration of you on the bicycle. It's an exhibition of all things chic and fashionable,” says Lorena, and with 30 modern/vintage looks to go along with 30 select bicycles, there will be plenty to celebrate. Hot Italian hosts the event, which starts at 8:30 p.m.

Velo & Vintage Fashion Show

Saturday, May 7th, 8:30 p.m.

Hot Italian

16th and Q Street

www.veloandvintage.com

rambling ROSE

Yeah, babies: I don't feel like coloring inside the lines. 

I've been feeling a bit spread thin as of late. Not that life isn't buttering my toast both sides so to speak, but it seems what I've got on my plate is making me lose my focus. And it's been showing in my blog, which seems to have veered off from its fashion focus and is stumbling off the beaten path of, uh, other things, like personal, I guess.  Not sure what. I think I'm working some stuff out. Hope you can bear with.

Firstly, let me say a big HULLO to my new readers and followers! I feel I don't thank you all enough for stopping by my blog, and actually reading the stuff, and for which I AM VERY GRATEFUL! Thank you so much, dear people for getting to know me, and letting me get to know you. I'm now at a generous +300 followers and subscribers, and I am terribly fond of all of you!

If you have been keeping tabs on the 'bud, you of course know that my wo-manifest destiny has taken a turn into the world of freelance & self-employment, and so I have put my moolah where my mouth has been (NOT A PLEASANT VISUAL, TRUST ME) and plunked myself down in a hospitable new abode for the Citizen Rosebud Head Quarters. I've been busy packing, moving and unpacking lately, and I am FEELING REALLY GOOD about my new place! When it is all up and running I'm going to have an open house and of course blog about it. In the meantime, please enjoy these snapshots taken from my iPhone: 

The Thinkhouse house: the Citizen Rosebud now headquarters here

 The Thinkhouse is located at 1726 11th Street...

outfit post: Striped Like Santina

Feeling a little Ooh-la-la Parisienne in my over-sized striped T-shirt from Target

My STRIPED Sister from another Mister- Santina of Style By Santina

Today's outfit reminded me of blogger gal-pal Santina's style. While her and I share an abiding love for stripes, florals & bold prints & super short hair-cuts, I admire how she always wears her stripes with such simple grace and effortlessness. She makes her stripes very American sportswear chic which is a perfect look on the beaches of Mexico or the streets of San Francisco. If you haven't had the chance to visit Santina's blog, please take a moment and do so- she's fearless! Style By Santina

I was feeling a bit fierce in my new D.I.Y. patent leather choker which, in my mind, made the outfit a bit Parisienne chic- it could just be the wilds of my imagination however...