Shadowless Sword and Chocolate

It's been a while since I've posted anything related to Martial Arts, and to relax a few weeks ago, I watched some martial arts films we've had lying around. Lucky for me Devynn is always up for watching some action movies:)

The first one I watched is called : Legend of the Shadowless Sword. It was great! It's a little unique because fist, it's a Korean martial arts film (In case you didn't know, the best and most of the martial arts film come out of Hong Kong). The other awesome thing about this film, is that the plot has very strong female characters. The premise of the story is a woman warrior going and finding the banished prince so he can come back and be king. I wouldn't want to give away any of the plot, but I really enjoyed the movie as a movie and the martial arts was pretty awesome too. Lots of good sword stuff.

The second movie I watched is called Chocolate. This movie comes from the same people who did the movie Ong Bak. I loved this one! It takes place in Thailand, and is a little slow to start, but it was so good! I believe what I heard about the making of this movie, is that the director wanted to produce a movie that showed that a girl could do everything Tony Jaa does. So again, the main character is a woman. This movie is also interesting because the main character is a "special needs" child. It's a great movie, with AMAZING action and I recommend you go watch it!

Be sure to let me know if you do go see either of these, or if you would like to borrow one. And I forbid you to watch either of these movies dubbed in English. It completely ruins the film. Now go watch!

January's Challenge

As promised, here is finally the one post I am making for my challenge for the month of January.
In case you forgot, I had a little poll going on what accessories or clothing items I should incorporate into my daily looks for the entire month of January. There was a three-way tie between scarves, hats and jewelry, so I decided that I would just do an outfit with each for each week.

Then as the first week of January began, my wireless internet was not functioning in my house, making it very difficult for me to post three times a week. I still look the pictures for the first week, and that was a hassle in itself! So I only got through one week and will show you the outfits that came of it. Kudos to all of my blogging friends who do outfit posts, they are a lot more work than I would have ever thought.

So here is day one: (hats)

The whole look: old brown houndstooth hat from I don't remember where, old white collared shirt, brown O'Neil v-neck top, Brownish vest/shrug from Ross, Athena Owl coin necklace, pearl and gold 'happiness' earrings, skinny blue jeans, black boots.

Close-up on the Owl Necklace I got from my sister 4 or 5 Christmases ago.

Close up on the inspiration piece (my hat) and the lovely earrings my mom found for me in San Francisco's Chinatown.


Day two: (scarves)

Black & White Hong Kong scarf, Old Navy Cardigan, Teal Cotton dress from Hong Kong, Victoria's Secret leggings and black boots.

The inspiration piece for the outfit!

And I had to show my brightly colored Nike jackets, because the day I wore this entire outfit I had so many compliments on my coat. I even had someone compliment me as I rode past them on my bike....


Day Three: (Jewelry)

I decided to go with my birthday "going-out" outfit! My sister Kambria picked out the black tank top for me from Wet Seal, and I decided to highlight the black with yellow. Yellow ribbon, yellow flower, my black Nike golf skirt, black tights and my yellow Hong Kong heels. Oh yes, and my yellow dangle earrings! (Not exactly the inspiration, but a perfect touch!)

Just for fun :)

Hope you enjoyed the one post for my January Challenge. Remind me to not try to add something like that to my already busy life!!

Rain Check Fashion Show

Hey Friends!

So I know I was supposed to be posting some outfits and such for this month, I don't think I fully thought through that challenge. I did manage to take pictures of 3 outfits the first week, but I have a lack of internet connection at my house, so that made things difficult. Anyway, I'll get the outfits posted that I did do, and I think that will be the end of that challenge. I don't think it is my thing to post outfits of myself... kudos to those of you who do, it's a lot of work!!

Now then!! If you weren't there, the Rain Check Fashion Show went amazingly well!!! I am so happy all of my hard word paid off! We even got an article published about it in the Gazette Times!

After an all-nighter and plenty of late nights.. some parts of my collection finally came into reality! You can expect a few more of these lovely garments for the Spring Show in May!

Now to start work on the Recycled Show! Mark your calendar for March 3rd!

Always the bad guy....

I finally got around to watching the new version of Clash of the Titans, and I was not impressed. I really wasn't expecting to be impressed, so it wasn't that big of a disappointment, but it was interesting how they changed things from the original plot. (The original plot I am referring to is the old 1981 version of Clash of the Titans, still not really based solely on Greek mythology.)

One of the most interesting changes of plot was the motive of Perseus to defeat the Kraken (the Kraken is Norse mythology... not Greek). Instead of wanting to save his love Andromeda, he wants to seek revenge for his family against Hades. Man versus the gods. Interesting.

There was a few things that particularly annoyed me about this movie (and many movies loosely based on Greek mythology).

One: Why do they always depict Greeks in Roman dress? The Roman toga and the Roman soldier's uniform was not that exciting. The mohawk on the helmet is probably what annoys me most! And don't even get me started on Perseus' buzz cut!

Two: Seriously, if some of these writers would actually look at the stories in Greek mythology, they would see how ridiculous and crazy they already are and just make a movie from that. I don't understand the need to mix the mythology of multiple cultures to create some new story.

Three: I know Hades is the god of Underworld, and associated with everything related to death, but is that a reason to hate on him?

One of the things I particularly like about Hades is the fact that he is one of the Greek gods that doesn't run around. He did trick Persephone into staying in the Underworld, but that was his wife and he didn't mess around with anyone else. Very unlike his brothers Poseidon and Zeus. Another thing I like about Hades is that he pretty much sticks to ruling the Underworld. He doesn't get mixed up in all of the silly things between the gods and man.

I think that another reason I don't buy into Hades being a bad guy is because I am kind of sick of the bad guy plot. In reality, there aren't really any real bad people, not like the sadistic bastards that we put as the antagonist in movies anyway. If someone is bad, there are reasons that person became that way, and I love movies that illustrate this. One of my favorite movies that sort of lacks the bad guy, is Princess Mononoke. It's an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. Go see it if you haven't, it's great!!! :D

Any other comments on the movie or other bad guy topics?

January and Beyond!

Upon reviewing the poll I posted, it appears there is a three-way tie. Everyone seems to like my "Accessories" options... so I have come up with a new plan.

In reviewing the amount that I have ever posted in a month, I think it would be wise for me to require only 3 posts a week in this challenge. Because there is a three-way tie, each of these posts can be an outfit based on one of the three accessory groups.

I am also very excited about the new year! I've been finalizing some long-term and short-term goals, and creating a vision board for myself to stay focused!

Some things I am looking forward to in 2011:

Turning 25!
Testing for 1st Brown
Multiple Fashion Shows
Summer Internship
Traveling somewhere in the Fall


Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Make Things Water Repellent

Above is a picture of a lotus leaf, a water repellent plant. The reason it stays so shockingly white in a skumy pond is because of it's being water repellent. In Oregon, we love clothing that is water repellent!

I've known for a while that you can purchase special sprays that you can spray on your tent, your shoes or whatever and make them water repellent. (Especially good for white fabrics, keeps them looking cleaner longer - just like the lotus!) What I didn't know until today, is that you can purchase a wash-in water repellent treatment, and treat your fabric from home!

Today I had the opportunity to visit the Rain Shed in Corvallis, looking for what fabric I am going to use for my line for the upcoming fashion show. I was informed that I could pick a fabric that didn't already have the treatment and do it myself!

The directions are on the bottle, and you apply this treatment to any fabric or even clothing you already have that might be losing it's ability to be water repellent! This might be old news to some people, but I am very excited about this!
Expect exciting things when I design my Spring collection! :D

Dressing for different body types

This is a topic that I really need to research further. My career goal is to create an outdoor brand for women specifically for women who disc golf. As I have played with many different women at many different skill levels I have come to realize that disc golf does not create a specific body type like other sports. These women can be all different shapes and sizes, even at the professional level. I want to design for all of these women.

Because I have absolutely no experience in dressing people of different body types, it is going to take some researching on my part. The other day my sisters and I were watching the movie HairSpray, and noticed how good Queen Latifah looks in this dress:

Nevermind John Travolta dressed as a woman there...

I'm still trying to analyze all the reasons why this dress looks so good on her, because I know it would definitely not look that good on me. First of all, she has a chest and this dress does an excellent job of emphasizing this. I think the flowing fabric helps give hint to a waist and shape without showing every curve.

What do you think?