FATED TO BE CELEBRATED!

It totally slipped my mind that FATED TO BE HATED just had its first birthday! I started this sucker on October 11, 2010 and in 365 days time, its blossomed into my profoundest passion. In fact, I consider this blog a pet. It needs attention, affection, maintenance, a walk every once in a while, and a satisfying scratch behind the ears. In honor of its FIRST EVER anniversary, I decided to re-style an outfit I wore exactly one year ago! Coincidentally, I call this dress my "birthday frock" because it looks like the perfect floral garment for a party. If only I had a set of couture balloons and a couple velvet-textured birthday caps.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

Birthday clip - DIY

Necklaces - Chanel

Dress - TRAMP, Buffalo Exchange

Scarf - Vintage

Socks - ICING

Wedges - NINE WEST espadrilles

Here's the original post for comparison! I no longer own those cork-heeled Target wedges, so I opted for my Nine West espadrilles instead. And the scarf went from an accent for my purse to an accent for my waist! The dress is still perfect without it, but I love how the magenta marries all the Spring colors in my ensemble.

I would really like to use this 'cyber-celebration' as an opportunity to thank each and every person who has taken the time to follow along with Fated To Be Hated. I put a tremendous amount of effort and energy into keeping up with this project, and hearing your incredible words of encouragement affirms that my infatuation with fashion blogging is not in vain. Blogging is one part personal reflection, and two parts understanding and appreciating your audience. This endeavor would have quickly fizzled into oblivion had I not received such supportive feedback. And then I may have named my blog Fated to be Faded (Into the Background.) But my blog isn't fading into any background at all. After a year of waking up at 7 AM, chewing my nails in the closet in search of the perfect blazer, punching keys, tucking my feet into dangerously tight pairs of secondhand doc martens, yanking the neck of my tripod into place, posing beside my antique loveseat, and arranging my point-and-shoot camera on its timed capture setting, I'm more energized than ever. I've spent 12 months "falling into" my status as a blogger, and now that I know the ropes, I'm ready to transcend every convention established. I really want to push the envelope in 2012. Thank you all so, so much for leaving comments, checking for updates, and recommending this page to your friends. Just remember - every time someone bookmarks my site, an angel gets its wings!

EVERYTHING IS INFINITE,

Bebe Zeva

I'D RATHER BE CLOGGING THAN BLOGGING

The title says it all, friends. I would rather slip my feet into a supple pair of paisely patchwork clogs than open up my Blogger dashboard and hit "new post." I guess both are pretty therapeutic, which is why I'm wiggling my toes in the very pair of slip-ons I'm sporting in the following photos AS I type this. Does anyone else feel overwhelmingly meta right now? No one knows what I'm talking about? Less Philosophy 101, more wooden platforms!!!!!!!!!!!

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

Hat - Arden B

Sunglasses - Mustang Xchange

Blouse - Vintage

Skirt - Secondhand

Socks - ROMWE, www.romwe.com

Clogs - CLOG OUTLET Sanita clogs, http://tinyurl.com/3fz355m

Realistically, I could talk for twenty minutes about these clogs. I originally made them my formspring background because I feel like they define so much of my "brand." They're made by a company called Sanita -- which identifies as makers of "the original Danish clog since 1907" -- and are available on a site called Clog Outlet. Needless to say, the fact that an entire online WAREHOUSE dedicated to CLOGS makes me want to quietly cry tears of the purest ecstasy. When I'm not wearing these precious yellow European wonders, I'll be using them as furniture within my bedroom. I think they'd make great vases, and if it were the late 1990s, good cell phone carriers. The point is, these slip-ons are daisy print perfect.

Everything is infinite,

Bebe Zeva

STAY REAL, SQUARES

The title and t-shirt say it all: stay real. I guess it's the same as telling someone to "be themselves", kinda like what Gordo wrote in Lizzie McGuire's yearbook on the last day of 8th grade. Makes me wonder what Miranda would have worn with this t-shirt. Probably some neon orange fingerless sleeves from Claire's and crimped hair. Say what you want... Miranda's real. Always keepin' it infinite.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

Sunglasses - WHO KNOWS? Who cares? Is anyone reading this?

Collar - ROMWE, www.romwe.com (the motherlode of detachable collars)

Fuzzy sweater - Savers

STAY REAL shirt - Brashy Couture, http://www.brashy.se/shop/stay-real/ (This top seems extremely popular in Sweden)

Cuffed pants - Gwenevere super skinnies, Seven For All Mankind

Loafers - Etienne Aigner

Miranda aside, I went with a 1950s slam-poetry-enthusiast theme. If you haven't noticed, there's not much accessorization goin' on outside of my dotted collar. Guess that's because I don't want to detract too much attention from the central idea of keepin' it coolio (jk). U give me the beat and I'll give u the goods.

Everything is infinite,

Bebe Zeva

JEWELS ET JIM

I may not be a femme fetale, reminiscent of French goddess Anna Karina, but I'm always up for putting a feminine twist on an otherwise masculine look. I layered a plain button-down underneath a matching red striped tee and tied it all together with a jeweled collar clip. Nope, Jim isn't present in these pictures, but my beatnik wayfarers and doc marten brogues sure are.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

Beret - Saks Fifth Avenue

Glasses - PROOPTICALS, www.proopticals.com

Blazer - Armani

Collared blouse - Savers

Striped Tee - Secondhand

Khaki shorts - ROMWE, www.romwe.com

Lace ups - DOC MARTENS

Now for some dainty details...

Everything is infinite,

Bebe Zeva

VERMONT

It's finally autumn and you live in a three-story Victorian home in the historic district of a town in Vermont. It's 48 degrees outside, so you have the radiators on at full blast. Your closet is packed with knits, robes, turtlenecks, camel trenchcoats, and seasonal sweaters. You're wearing acorn slippers and clutching a piping hot cup of cocoa as you mosey through the rustically decorated rooms of your wooden mansion. "Halloween," you say, as you peer through a window in your foyer and notice jack o'lanterns in the yard of a neighbor. The entire town anxiously awaits the fall festivities.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

Knit brown sweater - Ralph Lauren

Orange scarf - Vintage

Orange dress - THREE DOTS, http://www.shopthreedots.com

Boots - Steve Madden

You spend every day of October with your hands in your pockets, crossing streets and passing through piles of leaves. You bake bread and visit the local library as often as possible. Eventually you hop in your station wagon with wood side paneling and take a day trip to Deerfield, Massachusetts. It's cold and gusty, so you pull your velvet Rothschild coat tightly around your waist. Life is absolutely wonderful.

Everything is infinite,

Bebe Zeva