Little Red vs. Big Bad

Halloween 2010. 

A femme fatale take on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Brilliant.

Halloween 2010

Have a safe and happy HALLOWEEN!

                   - from the kids at Street Style SACRAMENTO

Street Style: Intergalactic

This is Rufus. He calls himself "the brother from another planet," and you may guess that this shiny gentleman is a street performer. I caught him practicing some out-of-this world dance moves this evening in the quiet confines of Cesar Chavez Park. Boom-box blaring, body-bending, this spaceman kindly consented his picture being taken. He really puts the style in street-style. Thank-you Rufus. See you on the dark side of moon. 

Happy Halloween, Sacramento.

Fungus, among us.

 I was so captured by their headpieces, I couldn't even look to what they were wearing.  Simple black gowns were worn  to not take away to much attention away from the spectacular displays . I felt like my eyes were on a treasure hunt in the Old Growth Forest. Turkey Tail Mushrooms , Pheasant feathers, flowers and foliage. Designed by Caley Johnson of Miss G Designs , San Francisco. (-Kerry Dolan)

                                                                                                  

Photo credits: Kerry Dolan

Tricks for Treat

To get you in the Halloween mood, here's a spooky reveller caught in mid-spin. What are you going to be for Halloween?

Haute for Teacher

I captured these early evening shots (on my Canon PowerShot A480 point & shoot), just around the corner of The Grand Wine Bar, where this lovely professional was off to socially sip some vino. 

Class, meet Ms. Moore.  She teaches honors English and Creative Writing at a local high school.

Biologically speaking, it all adds up: relaxed yet polished in a sleek package of silky greys and a classic black pencil skirt. Not to be confused with the dullness of say, an Accounting class, this school-marm delivers a hot shot of literary color with the addition of her vividly sequined designer handbag. Let there be no debate: this IS a study of Sacramento style. Rhetorically speaking, Ms. Moore most definitely makes the honor roll. A+

Photo credits: Bella Q

• Grey silk shirt & black skirt are from Express
• Isabella Fiore handbag
• Steve Madden shoes

Cousins @ Crepeville

Photographed outside of Crepeville on 24th Street. That would be Bella & Melissa, posing for the camera in a medley of florals, stripes, leathers and plaids. Note the bitchin' vintage plaid valise, and printed waxed-paper umbrella poised to ward off real rain-drops.

Street Style: Dress to Express

architect

retired/ patron of the Arts

designer/inventor

artist & bad-ass

Jacket, shirt, sometimes a tie, pants & shoes: that is the uniform of dressing as a man. Seems limiting to me, but creative men get creative with this formula. Above are 4 candid shots of some Sacramento gents dressing to express. 

Unfortunately I didn't get the architect's name, but did learn that his incredible tie was designer. Bugler. And vintage. I love the look, creative yet classic. And man, can't get enough of those horned rimmed glasses. 

The colorfully suited man told me his name was "Bob," and that he was retired. The suit was actually a costume that he rented from Cheap Thrills, a Sacramento institution for costume rentals. He described himself as an art lover.

Danny Scheible, an inventor/designer is is wearing a "tape tie" of his own design made out of tape. You can see more of his tape creations at: tapigami.com.

And no Sacramento street style blog would be complete without a few photos of Sacramento style icon and artist/musician, Steve Vanoni, so consider this the first of a probable many. His outsider style is always effortlessly cool, and this shot of him wearing a vintage leather jacket and torn-up t-shirt and vintage cowboy boots was no exception.

Women on the Verge

Women on the Verge: Lisa and Liv drink to the Arts

These are Women AT the Verge to be more precise.  The lady in red is Liv Moe, and she is the Executive Director for the Verge Center for the Arts. The gamine in black, Lisa Marasso is the Associate director of the Verge, and both are not only art lovers but vintage lovers as well.

Both looked stunning in vintage at last Saturday's Neo-Crocker soiree. Lisa was wearing a gorgeous vintage rhinestone necklace (a family heirloom from her husband's side) with an elegant LBD.  Her LBD (Little Black Dress) is one of many; she has confessed to a closet full of go-to LBD's and boots. Being a working mother of 3 keeps Lisa's wardrobe streamlined.

Liv sets the room on fire with her vintage red dress from Bows and Arrows. She spices it up even more with shiny drop ear-rings from F-21 and a 1950's era vintage rhinestone broach.The silver handbag is also vintage. Her classic pumps are Bandolino, and her lace tights come from Target. H-O-T. Her fashion sense is no nonsense and she is is more concerned in wearing things that make her feel "happy and comfortable" than chic. Being an artist, she takes in fashion from an art perspective and mentions Rei Kawakubo & the late Alexander McQueen as great examples of both.

Verge Center for the Arts is enjoying its new, larger stomping grounds on S Street. Voted best art gallery in Sacramento by the Sacramento News & Review for two years running, the Verge is a mixed-use arts space devoted to the promotion and support of contemporary art. They specialize in featuring artists from the Sacramento region. 
They've currently added a movie night to the mix, and recently showed John Carpenter's The Thing. Coming soon this November is a Holiday open house (check their website for details) so you can come check out for yourself this great art space, and the women that run it.

Verge Center for the Arts

625 S Street

Sacramento, California

916-448-2985

Bring back the back.

Black lace. White drape. These ladies put their backs front-row and center. And Sacramento should thank them for it.

Wade a Minute

This is Jen Wade in 60 seconds.

Say hello to California chic in 3 easy pieces. 

A poppy-red flow-y tunic with tribal embroidery

+ short shorts, long legs 

+ a great pair of high-heeled wedges 

= one tall glass of water. 

Now, THAT'S refreshing. 

(You can read more about Jen in a Citizen Rosebud interview here.)

Shirt: Recent purchase from Sugar Shack
Shorts: Banana Republic on sale
Shoes - Bettye Muller, Anthropologie on sale

Birds of a Feather

Photo credits: Kerry Dolan

Photo credit: Bella Q

The Neo-Crocker 2010 party in the new wing flew sky-high. Feathers were on hand, taking Sacramento style to a whole other level. 

Photo credit: Kerry Dolan

Dapper

Adam was snapped while looking dapper texting a friend at the neo-Crocker soiree. His love of a good suit shows, and he makes dashing look easy. This gent is a "straightening conditioning coach" which means he helps athletes become more uh, athletic. All I know is that if dressing up were an Olympic sport, Adam would be wearing a gold medal.

Fringe Benefits

Life on the Fringe can be exhilarating. Just on the border of Midtown & nowhere, 
less than one block north of Broadway, you'll find a nest of local shops quietly flourishing on 21st. 
A handful have been there forever. One of these pioneers is Audrey Wells, who holds down the fort
at the chic and funky Fringe. If you live here in Sacramento, you probably already know Audrey. She's the kind of friendly that knows EVERYBODY.

My recent street style photos of of Kristen, and Melody in vintage cowboy boots reminded me of the Fringe, and their enviable bookshelf (or should I say: boot-shelf?) that is lined with an INCREDIBLE vintage cowboy boot collection. So I went and paid her a visit.  Well, what do you think Audrey was wearing? Yep, you guessed it: some bad-ass kickers. She also seemed to be wearing some very key elements of Fall 2010.

Audrey exhibits cowgirl cool.

 Fashion Cues from October 2010: 

• Natural make-up with a bit of shine (see lips)
• Low-maintenance, unfussy hair
• Spot of bright color (see Saffron yellow sweater)
• Denim short-shorts, regardless of weather
• Vintage cowboy boots

Photo Credits: Bella Q

Fringe is offering a 20% discount store-wide to Street Style Sacramento readers. Use the code: "ROSEBUD20" at check-out and enjoy a 20% savings off your purchase. Offer valid to October 25th, 2010.

FRINGE

2409 21 st Street

Sacramento, CA

(916) 706-0216

Street Style: the Monster Mash

Gabby is a shop girl at Prevue's on K Street. She just started there last week. An artsy sort, Gabby makes "trinkets & boxes" and sells them at Spanglish Art, and craft shows when she can. Originally from L.A., Gabby, (short for Gabrielle) moved up to Sacramento 9 years ago and has been happily living here ever since.

Her fashion inspiration is "Vintage." She loves the vintage styles of the 1950's and early 60's.This, she tells me was her "casual day." Normally she dresses up more. More what? I ask. More vintage, she says. Even on her "casual", Gabby is wearing a handful of vintage-style references that dress her casual up . 

While mixing up the retro, her choice of pattern play is all modern. A bold mish-mash of prints is a much fresher approach than past season's overly matchy-match looks. From the pop of color from her "monster green" barrettes and shoes, to the "in season" elements of denim, stripes and leopard print, Gabby is thoroughly a 21st Century girl.

Gabby's great retro touches: her Breton-striped shirt, the leopard accents, a classic black pencil skirt.  She deserves bonus points for her relaxed version of a bouffant hair-do, her femme fatale red lips and killer pin-up girl eyeliner. For tips on how to recreate your own version of pin-up eyeliner, click here.

She loves monsters, monster motifs, scary movies. Which is why she bought her rad monster ballerina flats. "Got them in L.A.", she says," they don't sell any stuff like this  here." 

When the Melody jumps, does your heart skip a beat?

Photo credit: Bella Q

This is Melody Stone, journalist, future media mogul. Recently transplanted from Humboldt county, Melody now lives in Sacramento, and has been writing for various newspapers and media outlets for quite some time now. She has recently begun contributing to the Midtown Monthly magazine. 

I met her for the first time at the Sacramento Fashion Blogger Meet-up, and took this photo of her caught in mid-jump. In true Midtown/Sacramento fashion, Melody rode to the event on her bike, and came wearing a sweet vintage styled dress and some bad-ass, broken in cowboy boots that she scored from a vintage shop in Eureka. 

Like the media tycoon that she is, Melody Stone has a website, a Facebook page, tweets, and is LinkedIn. If you're in the Midtown area, you can probably introduce yourself the old fashioned way: in  person. Just look for a girl in a dress on an old blue Schwinn cruiser with back baskets.

Street Style: Stand the Heat

This is Kristen. As in Kristin O'Connell. She was crossing the street on S & 21st when I rode my bike past her. I noted her careful study of neutrals and this kickin' pair of cowboy boots. I decided to pull over and ask her to let me take a picture of her. I loved the earthy color of her dress and its nubby texture, and felt that the whole look captured Sacramento essence: laid-back style with touches of interest.

Her dress, you'll note is a wonderfully textured knit, and is very au currant in it's neutral hue. A nice contrast to the minimal lines of the dress, Kristen wore a few well-placed pieces of jewelry that added texture. My favorites were her necklace & ear-ring set, black metal work medallions, picked up for cheap at Forever 21. And adding even more heat to the fire was her magnificent bag, a shoulder bag made from an old Basmatic rice sack and some cotton ticking. I loved how texture of the rice back and the stripes of the ticking echoed the texture of her sweater dress.  I won't even mention the wow factor of her incredible studded Frye cowboy boots, a score she said, found at Nordstrom Rack.

She was just walking home from a job interview. Which she got, by the way, thank you very much. Kristen will begin working at Tuli's within the week. She's also a personal chef, and she runs Kristen's Healthy Kitchen, which you can fan over at Facebook. Go ahead and fan her here. 

I'd like to thank Kristen for stopping for a stranger, for letting me take her picture, AND  for having fantastic Sacramento street style.

The Girl (& Boy) Next Door

These are my neighbors, Ari Lozano and Ernst Vco. They are originally from Southern California, but since they moved to Sacramento 3 years ago, they now consider themselves happy Sacramentans. Looking like your typical indie Midtowners, they took a quick smoke break before grabbing their bicycles and heading over to the Blue Lamp to catch a show. 


Ari is wearing: 

Top: A hand-me down from a friend's mama

Jeans: Ross/ Brand: Hydraulic

Shoes: 8-hole Chuck Converse All-Stars
Owl Pendant: Forever 21
Bead necklace:Thrift store
Snake brooch: a tiny shop on Haight-Ashbury in S.F.


I've taken photos of Ernst before and you can see them here.