Joelle Van Dyne

grishko 2007

if you are a lover of pain and humiliation, might i suggest going back en pointe at age 30? i will leave you with my favorite quote from my teacher this week. “the barre is your partner. you want to dance with him, not crush him…. i said NOT crush him joelle.”

lions and leopards and roses, oh my

Happy 2012 everyone! Hope you had a great holiday and are enjoying a day off work today. Unfortunately I’m stuck in the office. On the plus side, Wall Street is a ghost town today and there was zero line at Starbucks (see what I did there? Being Positive = new resolution). Here are a few photos from a holiday dress-up session, featuring this vintage Escada jacket, which was a gift from Santa. When telling friends what I got, their reaction was unanimously “you got… an Escada jacket? Really? You like it?”. I hope when they see it they’ll understand. There are lions AND a leopard print on the same jacket, and the prints match up perfectly at the seams. 

In looking at these photos, another resolution will have to be buying a new pair of black jeans. The old standby pair is looking pretty shabby. And yet another resolution might be to figure out how to do flash photography- I was having all kinds of issues with the flash, and then with trying to get rid of light bursts in photoshop. Just squint when you look at the photos.

I took these photos in my recently-painted home office/dressing room. I used Benjamin Moore ‘racoon fur’ and am in love with the nearly-black color. I found a few brass lamps and fogged mirrors at various Ohio thrift stores, and finally feel like I’m making some progress on getting my apartment in shape. Well, back to work! Maybe I’ll be back later this week with some apartment photos.

vintage escada jacket, h&m sequin skirt worn as a shirt, diane von furstenberg black slip dress, genetic denim jeans, christian louboutin miss tack boots, miu miu sunglasses

gold star

you may remember my birthday wishlist, which i posted here in september. these ridiculous miu miu sparkle butterfly sunglasses were on that list, and at last, they are MINE! i fell in love with these as soon as i saw them shimmering down the runway, and put myself on a wait list for them in august, hoping to have them as a 30th birthday gift to myself. by october i had given up on ever receiving a pair, but then, lo and behold, in the end of november, they arrived. once a birthday present, now a christmas present.

when i went to pick them up, there was another woman at miu miu yelling at the sales associate “i KNOW you got the glasses!.. i don’t know why you’re lying about it!.. i’m sure you kept them for yourself!..” she was QUITE upset about not getting her glasses. i waited until she was safely gone before proudly announcing that i was there to pick up my own! 

i like to celebrate these glasses by dorkishly matching my entire outfit to them: shiny golden stars, a yellow dress, and boots that make me feel like a superhero. i can’t wait until i’m wearing these glasses on the beach with a gold lame’ swimsuit instead of a fur coat. to do before spring: acquire gold lame’ swimsuit.

miu miu sunglasses, vintage fur coat, rebecca taylor blouse, black halo dress, wolford tights, stuart weitzman 5050 boots, jcrew bracelet

what i wore for a date with a vampire

i hope you all had a great thanksgiving weekend! i know i did. this was the first year i stayed in NYC instead of going to montauk/hamptons for the weekend. i was pretty depressed about it at first, but it ended up being a good time to stay in the city. it was quiet, and the weather was beautiful. on this particular day, i took the dogs to play in our backyard before going to witness the masterpiece that is the latest TWILIGHT movie with my girlfriends. WOW those movies keep getting worse every time! i love them.

i wanted to wear something vampire-worthy to the movie. luckily the outfit i’ve had on repeat for weeks worked out fine: a skull tee shirt, velvet pants, and large, ruffled sleeves. 

millie wanted to go too, because she loves edward. and jacob. she loves all boys. is her face not the cutest one in the entire world?

+j uniqlo jacket, la perla sweater, pamela love tee shirt (c/o), bcbg velvet pants, alexander wang boots, zac posen bag

the evil powers of leggings

long time no blog! i’ve had a really nice break from tumblr for the past couple weeks. i laid in bed for several days straight after finishing the NYC marathon; i spent a week with my family in ohio; i went to the movies a bunch; i ate my weight in red vines; etc. etc. i also wore basically the same outfit every day, and didn’t feel in the mood to take any photos. however, last week i had a nice dinner with of a kind, celebrating their 1-year anniversary (!!!), and attended a very hectic preview of versace for h&m with the inimitable rima, and suddenly felt like getting back into the swing of blog-things. 

i’ve shared my love for uniqlo’s +j collection here many times, and now i’m going to do it again. this is the first down jacket i’ve ever been attracted to. i first saw it when my mom was visiting me in nyc, and was disappointed when i couldn’t find my size. well, my super-mom spent her last morning in nyc going uptown to the new uniqlo store, finding my size, putting it on hold for me, and then slipping cash, in the exact amount of the coat, into my bag when she hugged me goodbye later that day. now i think of her every time i wear it.

i’m not the only fan of jil sander’s uniqlo line. i managed to convince my boyfriend he NEEDED to check it out, and he ended up with this wool toggle coat.

aside from the cozy, wizard-sleeved down jacket, my uniform of late has included my low-heeled alexander wang boots, which are turning out to be my most sensible shoes. they’re so comfortable, and go with everything. i’ve also been wearing something i’m feeling sheepish about: leggings. i frequently complain when i can see the full outline of someone’s crotch in their leggings. thus, i have avoided wearing them since the 1980s. i feared that they would tempt me to wear shorter and shorter shirts, until i, too, was displaying my crotch outline for the world to see. 

however, in ohio, i saw these kova & t faux-leather leggings, and remembered admiring them on an olsen twin years ago. i came up with several reasons i should buy them: an olsen wore them; the price was right; i will never fit my thighs into actual leather pants. and so, i gave in. and i’ve been wearing these all the time, feeling so comfortable, so free, so ashamed. 

uniqlo +j down coat, alexa chung for madewell sweater, ny&co dress, kova & t leggings, alexander wang boots, miu miu bag

keeping off my feet

i’m a bundle of nerves today, as i prepare to run the NYC marathon tomorrow. it’ll be my first, and probably only, marathon. as a completely un-athletic lady, it is very intimidating; however, i’ve done my best to train. i was able to run 20 miles 2 weeks ago. i could hardly walk home after, but i felt like a rockstar. this week, during a quick 3-mile jog, i did something bad to my left leg so that it’s hurt to walk all week. i’m hoping i get an adrenaline rush tomorrow that makes me forget my left and make it to the finish line. please cross your fingers and toes for me- i’ll need it!