cycle chic

cycle chic saturday

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so yesterday, i mentioned that i would be introducing a new little feature here at calivintage. so without further adieu, i’d like to announce cycle chic saturday! i’ve mentioned it a few times here on my blog and in a few interviews here and there that one of my passions (besides style and fashion) is cycling. living in the bay area has given me the benefit of being exposed to a rich bicycle culture, and it’s something that i would love to share with you. but being that this is a style blog, i’m not going to get technical and talk about geometry and components, but instead, i’d like to focus on bike design and fashionable cycling attire.

for my first installment, i decided to keep it pretty simple and introduce you to some incredible bikes that are not only perfectly functional, but absolutely beautiful. rivendell bikes is a company based out of walnut creek, ca. (which happens to be about 20 minutes from where i live).

their mission:

“…to make things that wouldn’t be made if we weren’t here, to offer an alternative to racing-centric bikes and parts, and to espouse a different approach to riding. And to resurrect and keep healthy many of the better ideas, designs, and styles of bicycles, clothing, and accessories that we personally like to use or wear.”

while i don’t own one of their bikes (it’s a bit out of my budget range), i definitely admire what they do. the pictures shown here are some of the fashionable bike frames they offer in addition to a range of racks and bags. not only that, but they offer bike camping supplies and cycling attire. each item they sell in their shop is beautifully designed and perfectly functional, so i strongly urge you to check it out!

fashion

blog favorites april 30

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this week i decided to change things up a little bit, so you’ll notice a slight change. i usually do a blog favorites roundup on fridays to give a little shout out the people who inspire me. then i do street style saturday on, well, saturday. but i feel like i would prefer to focus more on blogs and outfits that i love, rather than just posting images from the same street style sites week after week. so now they’ll just fit into this same category to free up some space on saturdays for fun new features like (wait for it…) cycle chic saturday! more on that tomorrow. now let’s get back to my favorites this week:

hannah karina
bright and cheery polka dots with a lovely straw hat and perfect mustard cardigan? this girl has so many beautiful pieces all combined to make a killer spring outfit. i die. on a side note, i didn’t know exactly where to direct you for this image. this lovely lady has a blog and a tumblr, but i found this outfit on her flickr.

kansas couture: please mr. postman
first off, i have to brag a little because i had the opportunity to meet katy in the fall during nyfw and she’s such a doll! and we’re kinda like hair twinsies coz we both got pixie cuts on possibly the same day? anyway, i am in love with the way she styled this cute little dress with a huge statement necklace and crazy cool sunglasses. a work of art!

mademoiselle robot: a pretty dress… and the most boring shoes ever.
dang, girl! that is a pretty dress. and the shoes aren’t boring in my opinion! i must say that not only do i love laÁ«titia’s sense of style, but i also love her sense of humor and the incredible, unique content on her blog.

turned out: lauren
ok, this is probably my absolute favorite outfit of the week. her look is perfect, from the mustard jeans to that amazing vintage pendleton to those round sunnies. i actually have a similar jacket and i’m feeling inspired to try an outfit like to this (though not nearly as good)!

stockholm street style: outside victor & rolf fashion show
i will always and forever be a sucker for these inky blue and black color palettes. but what makes this so unexpectedly awesome is that she’s wearing a denim jacket under that coat and her skirt has that quirky pattern. too cool for school.

love ship: sotw (cont.)
i am dying over how incredible this vintage lace dress is. and to make things even better, she got it for $5 at a thrift shop. that’s right, $5. these are the kind of amazing thrifted finds that make us live for the hunt. every once in a while you come out with something that is not only undeniable awesome but that also gives you bragging rights for weeks!

giveaways

and the winner is…

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kat is the lucky winner of the $40 gift certificate to rare treasure vintage! she was selected as the winner using the random number generator at random.org.

thank you so much to everyone who entered the contest, but no worries if you didn’t win this time! there are many more opportunities to win great prizes each week thanks to the sponsors of calivintage.

my style

cheery chums

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calivintage polka dot dress

ah! i have to tell you about my evening ordeal: last night, i wore this outfit to a little fashion blogger tweet-up in san francisco where i had the honor of speaking on a panel with some really lovely bloggers. but the real drama starts when i got home later in the evening. while i was driving home, i got a text message from my boyfriend that read, “my cell is dying. home by 1130.” no biggie, that meant i had the apartment to myself for the evening to relax and enjoy a glass of wine. i pulled up to the apartment at around 9:45 and immediately realized that i had forgotten my keys. crisis! i had no idea where my bf was or who he was with and i had no way of contacting him. i tried my luck texting a few of our friends but got no response. so yeah, i drove to the store, bought myself some necessities and parked myself in the driveway, drowning my sorrows in a bottle of corona and a jumbo sized bag of chips. my boyfriend arrived past midnight. weee!

let’s just say i wasn’t too pleased, and i had a good cry when i finally got in because it just felt awful, and apparently i needed it. but despite my evening ordeal, i woke up this morning bright and early feeling happy and energized. this was partially fueled by the sun shinning and the birds chirping. and i had a ton of fun on the rooftop taking pictures today (which is why there are more than usual). there was a gentle breeze that added movement to my flouncy polka dot dress and it just made me feel happy sitting up there with my boyfriend out in the sun.

so i’m in a good mood now and i really like my outfit for today (and i wore it last night, too. whatevs.) it feels like the perfect outfit to wear while hunting for treasures at the flea market, which is perfectly fitting considering that i got it from we move vintage, which is an online shop based out of l.a. that also has a booth at the rose bowl flea market. i’ve said this before, but aren’t polka dots so cheery? and in keeping with the theme, i thought it was nice to pair it with this super comfy cardigan. it has really long sleeves with little holes for your thumbs to peek through.

sweater: fabray cardigan courtesy of modcloth
dress: vintage polka dot dress from we move vintage
belt: urban outfitters
tights: target
shoes: vintage nine west boots from vintageless beauty on etsy
sunglasses: ray-ban wayfarers

calivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dresscalivintage polka dot dress

press

calivintage on ifb

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if you’re a member of independent fashion bloggers, then you may have seen that i was recently nominated by members of the community for the blogger spotlight of the week! i am flattered and honored by all of the nominations and i really appreciate the support i receive from fellow bloggers and readers! so thank you very much! and to check out the interview, click here!

i also want to give a shout out to the folks over at wonderwool for posting this interview with me on their site. we actually connected through ifb as well. really quite nice!

my style

peachy keen

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nope, my shorts don’t have scallops, but i still love them so. like i said, i’m really into wearing high rise shorts these days. and this particular pair was one of those really exciting etsy finds where i had been browsing here and there for something exactly like this, and i saw the picture and reluctantly clicked on it expecting the model to be, like, a size 0, so there would be no way i’d fit into them anyway. but then bam! they were perfect. just my size. “commit to buy.”

and i’m feeling quite relieved that i actually thought of an outfit to wear today because the past couple days have been really meh over here in my neck of the woods. but i finally pulled myself out of my funk and took a nice long shower and washed my hair after taking a weird nap at like 10am this morning, and i’m finally feeling better. of course, this also means that i have a ton of work to catch up on because i’ve been letting the apartment (and my email inbox) go to ruin, but i’m just gonna play some of montreal (satanic panic in the attic) really loud and get to work!

blouse: h&m
shorts: vintage liz claiborne from lola vintage
belt: vintage woven belt from we move vintage
tights: target
shoes: vintage tassel loafers from tree & kimball
coat: marc by marc jacobs from spring 2001 (i think)

fashion

shorts story

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this year, i’ve been completely obsessed with finding the perfect pair of shorts. and not just one pair, i kinda want like several pairs of incredible high rise shorts in different fabrics with different cool little embellishments like paper bag waist ties and pleats, but most importantly: scallops! hard to believe, right? ha, you know me. and i know this is old news since these perfect shorts were seen walking down the chloe spring 2009 runway over a year ago, but ever since i laid my eyes on that collection, i have not been able to get scalloped edges out of my mind! but as with most runway trends, i knew it would only be a matter of time before we saw all sorts of imitations, knock offs, and homages. not that chloe is, like, the owner of scalloped edges or anything (i have been collecting a number of vintage pieces with scalloped edges), but you know what i mean. i just don’t happen to be able to afford chloe.

unfortunately, for whatever reason, when it comes to obtaining a pair of these amazing shorts, it’s been my personal shopping fail. i saw them pop up at urban outfitters in black for under $50 and i hesitated until they were out of stock in my size. and neneee has been whipping up some custom pairs refashioned from vintage shorts, yet i have yet to snag a pair of those either. and well, i’ve seen others and still don’t have a pair. so i guess i’ll just keep on sitting here, waiting patiently for the universe to drop them on top of my head. or rear, i suppose.

chloÁ« sevigny wearing chloÁ©, neneee, the cherry blossom girl wearing a pair from the queen’s wardrobe, kloset, urban outfitters, a look from the chloÁ© spring 2009 runway.

giveaways

win a $40 gift certificate to rare treasure vintage!

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win a $40 gift certificate to rare treasure vintage!

this week i’ve teamed up with one of my lovely sponsors to bring you this awesome giveaway for a $40 store credit to rare treasure vintage on etsy! the shop is run by robyn (pictured below) out of her cozy downtown studio in toronto where she focuses on providing a nice selection of unique, functional, and affordable vintage pieces. a quick peek in her shop and i found several wardrobe staples that would be perfect for fun in the sun this spring.

to enter, visit rare treasure vintage and take a peek around, then come back and leave a comment in the section below. if your profile doesn’t link to your contact info, be sure to leave your email so we can contact you if you’re the winner. this giveaway is open to international readers, so anyone can enter. the winner will be randomly selected and announced at 10am p.s.t. on friday, april 30th.

fashion

world traveler

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i had big plans to show you the photo highlights from a fun bike ride around the carquinez strait yesterday, but my monday has gotten a bit of a slow start and i can’t even think of sorting through all of the pictures we shot. so instead, i will share a pretty new discovery with you: i happened upon this spring collection from lauren moffat while browsing the camp comfort blog and instantly fell in love with the fun and laid back styling of these looks inspired by the world traveler. it’s great because this collection really does have a piece for everyone: there are easy separates to mix and match, cute rompers, and pretty dresses styled up with sunglasses, giant bows, and all sorts of fun and quirky straw hats. she really knows how to make tourist = cool.