firmoo + giveaway

Wearing fake glasses...

I know it's completely silly of me, and I'm sure people who actually need them find it ridiculous, but I must confess I own and occasionally wear several pairs of fake/lesnless glasses!

I think I started my love of sporting fake glasses when I lived in China.

1. People had no shame about wearing or doing things "just for fashion" so this trend was everywhere and it felt normal to buy and wear glasses for fashion instead of necessity.

2. Wearing frames actually has an emotional impact and ability to make me feel a little bit hidden. This was so valuable in China when I got stared at just for going to the grocery store. Sometimes I was tired/sick/grumpy and NOT in the mood for attention; glasses let me go forth with a feeling of being "in disguise."

3. I found fake glasses especially comforting when I got a crazy rash on my face! I know people could still see I was foreign/had a rash on my face, but the glasses still made me feel protected somehow.

I still get in that same mood to feel inconspicuous from time to time so frames like these from Firmoo can come in handy. I use them on "shy" days or "bad eye days" as I call them (you know when your eyelid is puffy or your eyes just look tired??) And... I'm not kidding... I really am this big of a cliche... but glasses can also make you feel smart! I like to throw them on when I know I'm going to have a busy, efficient day. They help me remember the part.

 Firmoo was so nice to offer me a pair of glasses in exchange for trying them out and writing a blog post about it. I like these lenses I ended up choosing, they're kind of scholarly and mousy, great for "bad eye days" or "need to feel smart" days. I could have tolerated them being even bigger and rounder. Sometimes you just have to go big or go home when it comes to being a glasses faker.

A good thing about Firmoo glasses is that these cute frames are for the vision impaired and the wannabes alike! If you're a super faker like me, you can even order them without the plastic lenses and just have the frames. Sometimes I prefer that because I can see better without the fake plastic lens. The irony of this is not lost on me. I know people probably think I am so strange when they notice I have no glass in my glasses... But I can't help it! I'm just a big ole poser.

Do you want some Firmoo glasses, too? Whether you are a legitimate glasses-needer or a simple frames-for-fashion lover, Firmoo has you covered.
I am giving away 6 vouchers for $30 at Firmoo! 
You can choose from their Designer Frames (which I LOVE) here. You're just responsible for S&H. This giveaway is open internationally to places Firmoo delivers to. Check here to make sure your country is covered. 

How to enter: 
Comment with which pair is your favorite and an email address I can reach you at. For extra entires, "like" Firmoo and Zombielace on Facebook. You can also share this giveaway on your social media of choice. Let me know which you do so I can give you the extra entries! Giveaway ends May 1st. 

A few of my faves:

Here

Here

Here

back to blizzards

Okay, there weren't exactly BLIZZARDS greeting me upon my return to Atlanta... but after being in Florida for two weeks, that's kinda how it felt! So I had to bundle up. Sweet cheap accessories of Asia, I thank you for aiding me in this time of need.

Wearing:
Hat bought in Seoul, Korea.
Glasses from Sears??
Angora granny sweater from a thrift store. Can't remember which one!
Boy's shirt (worn underneath) given to me by someone at school.
Drop crotch pants, fur collar, fingerless gloves all bought in China.
Minnetonka fringe moccasin boots.

These are my numba one stunna pants. I haven't photographed them much before, but I will confess they are rarely absent from my weekly rotation. I bought them in China and they have been my go to lazy-pants every season since. I love the drop crotch and the droopy pockets and getting to feel a bit like a genie. They can be worn to yoga, or paired with some boots for a cool, militaristic running around town look. Basically, they're perfect.

The moccasins were a gift to myself in Florida. I know, it's perfectly normal to buy some eskimo looking boots while visiting a tropical wonderland. Whatever. Minnetonka shoes are something I plan to continually wear to shreds for the rest of my life. Do you have any "old faithful" garments like that?

the only thanksgiving dress you'll need

Nice and baggy, yet made of warm chocolate corduroy, it has to be my favorite dress. And I'm a woman of many dresses. I have to practice restraint not to wear it several times a week; It's perfect for every day, all the time, even sleeping. Feeling a little chunky, or planning to after a thanksgiving feast? Well, it's perfect for that occasion too.

This dress is one of the few not-dirt-cheap things I bought for myself in China. I did most of my shopping at places you can barter, little shops or stands where I'd spend something like 50-70RMB for a dress (7-10USD). The dress above, however, I bought in a shopping mall, at this ultra cute girlie shop called Honey. It was more like... 200RMB (30USD). I LOVED the clothes at Honey. They were always very feminine, yet kind of dust-bowl farm girl looking. Unfortunately, they were also expensive in Chinese prices. I brought home 2 pieces by them, but drooled over dozens.

Here it is in action this Thanksgiving...

          Sitting with the lovely sister                                       helping to cook by stirring that for 5 seconds. 

I hope your meals were as tasty, and your waistlines as forgiving as mine were this year! Thanks for all the comments on my last post. You lovely readers and your inspirational blogs are some of the things I counted among my blessings this holiday. <3

P.S. Does anyone know anything about Honey? I can't find a website. The tag on the dress says "Cinema Club" but all I can find in searches is this Chictopia post.

Plain jane

Wearing:
Oversize Lacoste: Thrifted at Clothing Warehouse warehouse
Sweatpant jeggings: Festivity
Bow, circle scarf, slipper shoes: China

Yet another frumpy chic teacher outfit.

On mornings when you awake with swollen eyelids and a general need for comfort, reach for the faux glasses and the big slipper shoes. Oversize Lacoste sweaters will keep you cozy and ready to play polo at a moment's notice. Drink plenty of tea and practice calming breathing exercises. Stretch aching thigh muscles often. Count banana colored leaves on the playground. Count blessings. Repeat.

I love this gigantic bow my chinese BFF gave me for my birthday. I'm not sure it's as acceptable in America for a woman in her 20s to wear such a childish accessory, but sometimes I just can't resist. 

Enter the Tiger

It's no secret I miss China. Well, in a spontaneous fit of nostalgia, I did something a little crazy: I signed up for KUNG FU!! I got in the mood for my first official lesson yesterday by wearing this badass tiger sweater. Tiger is one of the 5 animals kung fu movements are based on, chosen by the Shaolin monks for its power, strength, and courage. I hope challenging myself to do kung fu will bring out these qualities in myself. Why not begin with knitwear that reveals my intentions? Though this sweater and these ramblings also probably reveal that I am a nerd.

More proof:

Wearing:
Oversize tiger sweater: Salvation Army on Marietta St.
Boots: Underground ATL
Jeggings: H&M

China Archives : October 25th, 2010

I love any excuse to talk about China.

Which is why this China Archives thing might become a frequent occurrence!

When I look back on these pictures I think... "I can't believe I'm not there right now."

I also think... "What am I wearing?"

I love reviewing the outfits I wore. I can still remember exactly what I was thinking when I made certain choices, like "I want to wear these tough new boots!" And in some cases it's interesting to see the unintentional absorption of my surrounding trends, i.e. "I'll top it off with a neat little ballerina bun and a girlie bow!" (I still go for the bows... have for a long time... but I've accepted that neat structured hair styles are not for me).

Wore:
Black boots: China
over-garment thing: Love Culture
Vintage silk undershirt
Betsey Johnson bag
Leopard leggings from Underground Atlanta.

I wouldn't wear this outfit again. The hair is all wrong and I think it's just too young. But it was perfect for going out to "play" with my new friends; Chinese people are so cute sometimes by saying "play" when a better word would be "hang out" :)

Don't I look like a goliath next to them? I swear I'm only 5'4.

Then there's sweet S and her birthday!



It was one of the first nights I really felt like I had a "group of friends" to do awesome chinese things with like hot-pot eating and KTV (karaoke). She's still my Chinese BFF and I send loving vibes her way! Too bad she'll never get to see this blog without a VPN... oh China.


And last of all, an outfit I absolutely WOULD wear again, messy high bun and all:




I still feel like the person in that photo, though she probably doesn't feel like me... for one, she couldn't imagine WANTING to be in China. Yet I miss it so much lately! It's bittersweet going through the old photos, reliving last October. I hope it won't be my last and only one there. Do you pine for any foreign places?

China Archives : October 1st, 2010

I thought it might be fun to do some archiving of my year in China, where I had a job teaching English to adorable kindergartners (and some primary students too). It's a "lost" year of Zombie Lace due to the blockage of Blogger, so I wrote a China blog (May Go Wren) instead. I've been back in America for about 3 months, but I still spend a lot of my time reflecting on China; Fall is so bittersweet for me in that way, making me wistful for old friends and old haunts. 

The following is taken from the original May Go Wren... a Wordpress blog... that was later also blocked, leading me to the ultimate Weebly one:

It’s National Holiday and I have a week of vacation! My passport arrived in proper China time, the DAY OF my trip to Chengdu. I have one confusing and frightening voyage to the airport in Shanghai, and then I will be amongst good friends and faux family! I have a vague understanding that we will visit some mountains and some ancient city, but I’m used to tagging along for things with Chinese people adorned with the appropriate blank expression on my face. Knowing what’s going on is overrated.

See you all in a week! I’ll tell ya all about it.

Wearing:
H&M Jeggings
Target blouse and flats
Betsey Johnson bag
Vintage scarf
Glasses from a Chinese fashion shop

And this is what I wore the same day this year, which I spent running errands and dropping by Down Town Decatur for a King of Pops salted chocolate popsicle. My friend, (we can call her the Princess of Pops) pushes the cart and sells the frozen treats around town. She was kind enough to snap a few of these photos:

Wearing:
Floral maxi skirt: thrift store in NC
Crop top: China
Mustard sweater: China
 Boots: shop in Underground Atlanta
Fur purse: someone's souvenir from Scotland, given to me :). 

I suppose some things don't change; like a penchant for hiding behind big florals and fake glasses, while other things do: I feel like where you live strongly influences your mode of dress, or at least that's true for me! China has a lot of super feminine details and a fancy polished-ness allover, and I definitely started to absorb some of that by October of last year. 

Have you ever noticed your style evolving as you settle into a new place?

WIS.

Summer days spent in
back-porch shade with lavender
tea and lemonade.

This maxi dress and crop top combo is very fashionable in China right now. I've Americanized my rendition by adding moccasins and my vintage macrome bag, where a Chinese girl might style it with wedges or even converse all star, and a big square clutch in a lovely bright color. Possibly.

I love the random little "WIS." on the breast pocket. Lots of clothes in China are adorned with "English" words, and I frame that in quotations because they often aren't quite words. Like "WIS.".... what does it mean? Why the period? Is it short for Wisconsin? Or did that combo of letters just look neat to someone?

Wearing
Dress and top: China
Moccasins: Cherokee, NC
Hat: Thrifted
Bag: Was my ma's
Dog: Belongs to my parents

Ah beautiful back-porch lounging, interrupted only by the occasional trip to walk the dog.

Zombie Lace -- Not Completely Dead!

As it happens, I had to admit to myself that as much as I love fashion following and blogging as a hobby, I can't let it get in the way of my concrete goals for life. I had to back off the blog for many reasons, from losing my digital camera, to feeling plain uninspired about writing about outfits. There's something to be said for dressing from the subconscious, without analyzing or over-thinking my choices in context of blogging. Not having a camera aided this, and I actually think the respite was liberating in a way!

I did get some random snapshots of outfits here and there. To update you, here is kind of what I dressed like over the colder months.

I suppose I sort of oscilated between glam-loving granny and Victorian school girl. Lots of colorful skin tight bottoms and oversized sweaters. I altered some sequin pants from a dance costume long ago, and I pretty much lived in these leopard gold leggings I found in the ghetto-fabulous treasure chest known as Underground Atlanta. Seriously, the best cheapest place to fulfill your blingtastic needs.

I found these 80s lace-up boots at an awesome little Antique store off Highland Avenue and I got a ton of use out of them this Winter. I think my Victorian looks were inspired from taking my very last class of my college career, the works of the Bronte sisters.

Speaking of my very last class of my college career, I guess now is a good time to reveal my post-graduation plan. In August, I am moving to China to be an English teacher!

And so brings me to the new direction of this blog. I know I'll probably lose some people (and I so hate to lose you, but I understand this is a FASHION blogging community so it only makes sense!) but this blog is going to evolve to reflect my journey. I'll be facing a unique set of challenges, and I plan to be dressed well while facing them and to continue to gush about clothes and antiques and insane bargains, but Zombie Lace will become less geared towards fashion and more towards Teaching Abroad.

My last few months in Atlanta, I will cross all my i's and dot all my t's and say my farewell to the Atlanta scene. I'll also record my experiences as a young Western graduate preparing to ship overseas and hopefully my awkward disasters and mishaps will serve as wisdom and guidance for the voyagers who come after me. Once in China, I will be unable to use Blogger.com, and will then switch to some platform acceptable over there. I hope I can bring some of you with me along for the ride.

Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me this long! I can't wait to start getting reaquainted with your blogs and stealing your outfit ideas.

Home Sweet Home and Chinese Treasures

It feels so wonderful to be back home after only three weeks in China. I hate how much of your blogs I've had to miss and I feel like I'll never catch up; those of you following me on twitter (which I'm still getting the hang of using!) know that in China the website Blogger.com and most other blogging websites are blocked! I don't want to bore anyone by making them look at a hundred pictures of China-- forced slideshow viewings are the domain of the ever suffering families and boyfriends in my opinion, but if you're really interested you can check them out on flickr and facebook. For the rest of you, I'll sum up my trip in terms you can truly relate to: an outfit!

Blouse: Chengdu Fashion Market

Satchel: Shanghai Antique Market

Traditional style slippers: Chengdu

Jade bracelet: Beijing Jade Factory

Leggings: long story. Got them for free from Emory University Dorm dump, an adventure you can read about on my fellow dumpster diver's blog Crafty Cortney.

We started out our trip with a few days in Shanghai. We stayed on a busy pedestrian strip full of shops and restaurants and beautiful well-dressed people on their way to fashionable important places. The city lights and the style watching was the best in Shanghai. One day we went to an Antique Market that was mostly full of kitschy Chairman Mao memorabilia and some flat out fakes of older things. This is where I bought my vintage carpet-bag satchel. 

The next place we went was Chengdu, in Sichuan provence where we attended the main attraction (not to mention the original purpose) of our voyage to China: the wedding of our Chinese friends! 

This is "David" and "Spring" throwing the bouquet during the first half of the wedding which was very western. The second half she changed into a red dress which is the traditional chinese wedding color. I'm the fine honey in the background with the sparkly red dress.

Though it's a smaller and lesser-known town (maybe better well known now due to the earthquake) we had the best time here because we had all these lovely sweet Chinese friends to take us to all the best places and make sure we didn't lift a finger! The bride, Spring, took me shopping at her favorite cheapest place where I got my shirt. Read it a little more closely:

That's right, I am a supporter of "OKLAHONA FOOTEALL!" This kind of fractured English was all over the place in China and we enjoyed warning signs in our hotel bathrooms that said things like "Careful, Landslip" and tea shops with signs reading "you can attempt have any tea prior to buy." Young people like to wear shirts with English writing on them, but often, like the shirt I bought, the words are little more than gibberish. Maybe it's the English major in me, but I love it.

I also bought my chinese slippers in Chengdu. One of my favorite fashion statements in China was when girls and women would wear trendy modern clothes with these traditional shoes. 

Our last stop before heading home was in Beijing, because of course we couldn't leave China without seeing the major tourist attractions of the country! The pink umbrella I bought from a street vendor in Tiananmen Square (famous for the 1989 student massacres that you've probably been hearing about in the news lately). It was an emergency buy! The weather was in the 90s (30s for you Celsius lovers) and I couldn't find a drop of sunscreen for what I like to refer to as my porcelain complexion. Pale skin is considered a sign of beauty in China, so lots of women walk around with umbrellas in the middle of a sunny day, so that's what I did. I have to say, it's a clever thing to do. Like carrying your own portable shade with you everywhere you go! 

My umbrella coming in handy on the Great Wall of China.

This last photo represents my three major obsessions while I was in China: delicious tea, fashion magazines that I couldn't read, and pandas!! 

Jasmine tea ball that blooms when you add water.

A picture is worth a thousand words anyway.

Pandas doing what they do best at the Breeding and Research Center in Chengdu.

Can't wait to find out how everyone else has been spending their summers!