Author: Kali

I'm the Queen of Strangegirl.com!
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Fashion Icons: Vertigo, Edith Head, Alfred Hitchcock, and Kim Novak

Vertigo Costume Sketch
Madeleine’s icy white coat, worn by Kim Novak in Vertigo. Scan from an Ebay poster auction.

Anyone who knows me knows I love me some Vertigo. It’s my favorite Hitchcock film. The mystery involved makes it an obvious choice for Halloween, but there’s more to in than that. There’s the local aspect (I’m from Northern California), the Edith Head costumes (which aren’t exclusive to this Hitchcock piece, though they are particularly wonderful in it), and Kim Novak, whom I admire greatly.

She’s not just beautiful, she’s a tremendously sensitive actress. Novak’s very raw, vulnerable portrayal of Judy resonated with me. I could relate. Plus, she looked darn hot as both a rough-edged shop girl and a sanitized stand-in for the very patrician Madeleine Elster.

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Fun Halloween fashions…and other sweet pinup nightmares

Planet Pinup spider bow with interchangeable charms
Planet Pinup spider bow with interchangeable charms.

While gothabilly aesthetics have been strongly represented in the realms of retro and pinup fashion for some time, it takes something truly special to represent the rarified holiday quality of Halloween for this recovering goth girl. Halloween requires something more than black, or bats, or zombies, or skeletons. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes something Halloween as opposed to garden variety macabre, and indeed, there is no special formula. For me, it’s a know-it-when-I-see-it kind of thing.

Here are some new, pinup-friendly Halloween-themed pieces that scream Halloween to me…

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A “modern” Emma by Alexander McCall Smith…

Writer Alexander McCall Smith – creator of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency mysteries  – is working on a contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma for HarperFiction’s Austen Project.

“Writing a contemporary version of Emma is both a privilege and a real challenge,” the author said. “Not only is Emma one of the finest novels in the English language, but it is possibly Jane Austen’s most thought-provoking and interesting book.”

According to HarperFiction,

The Austen Project pairs six bestselling contemporary authors with Jane Austen’s six complete works: Sense & Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion and Mansfield Park. Taking these well-loved stories as their base, each author will write their own unique take on Jane Austen’s novels.

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“Emma Approved” premiers!

Joanna Sotomura as Emma
Joanna Sotomura as Emma.

The first Youtube installment of Emma Approved hit the web today. In the premier webisode of this multimedia adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, we meet our eponymous heroine, a bubbly, self-described lifestyle expert and blogger. We discover her professional raisons d’etre and meet her button-down Highbury Partners colleague/buddy, Alex Knightley, and her friend/client, Annie Taylor.

After just a few minutes, Emma fans will swiftly figure out where things are headed…

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A vintage and repro autumn!

Since the weather’s finally turned, it’s time to share some autumnable vintage and vintage-inspired dresses and separates!

Collectif Simone Doll
Collectif Simone Doll Dress in grey houndstooth.

First up is Collectif’s Simone Doll dress in grey houndstooth, a late 1940s/early 1950s-style day dress with a princess-style skirt. First introduced last fall, it’s available in four fall-appropriate colors.

Since Collectif’s measurements are all over the map and their website provides virtually no guidance in this regard, it’s best to ask around to see how a particular style or fabricway fits! On the advice of friends, I chose the UK size 16 and wasn’t disappointed. At 42-32-48″, I had no major fit issues. There is a bit of extra room in the shoulders and the drape of the fabric makes it a good idea to wear Spanx underneath to avoid lines, but nothing to make me run screaming.

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My back yard is no longer a disaster!

Back yard pre-shed
Back yard, pre-shed.

This was the summer of yard work! Finally, over a year after moving in, I’ve gotten my yards to a decent place.

I laid pavers in the back yard, planted oleander along the fence, installed a shed, and replanted a few favorites.

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Emma Approved: Another Austen-inspired web serial

Emma Approved
Emma Approved premiers October 7!

If you enjoyed The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, an interactive online media series adapted from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, you’ll be over the moon about Emma Approved. Based on Austen’s Emma, this one’s produced by the very same team that  brought you Diaries and Welcome to Sanditon.

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ESO: End of Summer Outfits

Jenny Dress
My Aunt Cynthia, my mom, and me at my cousin’s graduation party. I’m wearing my Pinup Couture Jenny Dress in Harlequin print. Photo by Shelly Donald.

Northern California will probably be warm until Halloween, but Autumn officially starts in just ten days! In honor of the climactic end of Summer, some outfits I’ve worn along the way…

First, a beautiful vintage dress from the 1950s that I bought from a friend. The striking color, mid-century halter-twist neckline, atomic-era buttons down the back, and metal sequin details made me fall in love with this one.

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