top 5 with tessa from apparellel

oh boy, this week's top 5 is good! we have the amazing tessa from one of my favorite blogs, apparellel. this girl does it all. she's a LA- based stylist and jewelry designer with a closet to die for. seriously. i end up swooning over every outfit post, which is updated almost daily... which is just about enough to drive me crazy with envy! and what's even more utterly amazing is that a lot of her pieces were handed down from the women in her family- like her grandma's tiger print caftan featured below. whoa. that's all i have to say. my grandma was the sweetest little polish grandma a girl could have, but she only wore housecoats.

but, not only does tessa have great chameleon- like style,  she's also just so sweet and honest and real, which i love...and which is rare in the fashion world. what it comes down to is that this is a girl i want to hang out with.

here are a few of tessa's favorites...

top 5 films

1. harold and maude: saw this for the first time when i was 13. it is seriously the best movie ever. it is really hard to find any movies that live up to this in my opinion. the message, cat stevens soundtrack, the acting, production design—costumes, and... what a great love story! it is actually one of the happier movies on my list. 

2. the piano teacher: i love movies that reel you in psychologically. isabelle huppert is brilliant, and brilliantly screwed up in this movie. warning: do not watch if you do not like depressing foreign films, it is a bit disturbing. 

3. blue: krzysztof kieslowski did a trilogy of films, and finished them right before his death. they were titled 'red', 'white' and 'blue'. blue being by far the best (imo), and one of my favorite movies of all time. a reviewer got this move right on with this one sentence, "A masterpiece of an understudy into human grief." juliette binoche plays a woman who loses her family in a fatal car crash and she is the only one who survived. it is a look at her life after that and like most foreign films completely brings you into her world, her heart and her sadness. juliette binoche is brilliant in this movie, as she is in most—starting with another of my faves 'the unbearable lightness of being'. blue is a must see. starting with the cinematography and ending with the amazing score.

4. leaving las vegas: i just absolutely love everything about this movie. it's yet again another disturbing movie, but played so well by nicolas cage and elisabeth shue. a movie about an alcoholic and a hooker, what more could you want?

5. wings of desire: this film is poetry in motion. nothing else needs to be said. brilliant.

top 5 books

1. your name written on water: sold as an erotic novel, which leads me to think of harlequin romance novels—but so not. to me it is a poetic look into the psychology of a woman and her relationships. this book breaks many rules, and reads like a work of art. i don't think i have read a book since that surpassed this one and i read this in the late 90's.
2. written on the body: this book is one of the most powerful and amazing love stories i have ever read. the narrator of this book is genderless and does such an amazing job at leaving you wondering. but most of all it's jeanette wintersons language of love that reels you in, leaving you wanting more. i will leave you with a paragraph. if this doesn't make you want to head to amazon right now—i don't know what will.
"Articulacy of fingers, the language of the deaf and dumb, signing on the body longing. Who taught you to write in blood on my back? Who taught you to use your hands as branding irons? You have scored your name into my shoulders, referenced me with your mark. The pads of your fingers have become printing blocks, you tap a message onto my skin, tap meaning into my body. Your Morse code interferes with my heart beat. I had a steady heart before I met you, I relied upon it, it had seen active service and grown strong. Now you alter its pace with your own rhythm, you play upon me, drumming me taut. Written on the body is a secret code only visible in certain lights; the accumulations of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like Braille. I like to keep my body rolled away from prying eyes. Never unfold too much, tell the whole story. I don't know that Louise would have reading hands. She has translated me into her own book."
3. geek love: AMAZING. two words, carnival freaks. but be forewarned, this book isn't for everyone.
4.  conversations with god (books 1-3). this series of books has proven to be quite controversial but i won't get into any of that. these books changed my life.


top 5 crushes of all time

1. rex smith: my first real crush when i was eight. he was in a movie titled 'sooner or later'. some made for tv situation. oh my... i was in love. he was a singer as well. take a look at that hair, how could you not love that man?

2. ian astbury, singer of the cult: his voice, his style, his beauty. wow!

3. johnny depp: who doesn't have a crush on him? when i was in college he started on 21 jump street and since then he can do no wrong. plus... does he age?!!

4. billy crudup: kind of random, but i have had a crush on him for a long time. he is so sexy to me.

5. my husband: biggest crush of all time. seriously i am one lucky woman! this pic was taken when we first fell in love after knowing each other for 22 years.

top 5 style icons

"i have never really been a person that has had style icons. i was always interested in expressing myself through clothing and style but don't really know where that came from. but if i have to give a few they would be."

1. my aunt joanne: my aunt joanne was the first style influence that i can remember. all of those amazing laize adzer jackets i wear are/were hers. she has always had a style completely her own. one of those women that looks effortlessly gorgeous. i have so much respect for any woman that can pull effortless style off.

2. my grandma: my grandma kelly was a huge style influence for me in the 80's and 90's especially. she rocked chanel and valentino like no other, but would mix the pieces with stretch jeans from jcpenney and pieces from random boutiques. as she got older she had a uniform of mens white button down shirts and jean leggings every day, but accessorized perfectly and was never without make-up. such a gorgeous woman she was.

3. anita pallenberg: what a beauty, with a style totally her own. i have so much respect for anyone who thinks outside of the box, which is not the norm in the 'fashion industry'. anita was one of these amazing individuals and keith had amazing style as well. the two of them together, dynamite!

4. edie segwick: when i was in junior high i was a total wannabe 'flower child'.  i found a book on edie at a thrift store and fell in love with her. she definitely influenced my style as i was coming into my own.

5. catherine baba: she is my perfect definition of someone with amazing 'personal style'. what a brilliant woman who exudes confidence and has such an eclectic and eccentric style. 

5 words to describe falling in love...

peace

giddyness

anticipation

elation

wonder

And now, here are some of my favorite looks by Tessa...

for more:

blog

twitter

shop

(and be sure to check out some of her great DIY's, like this t-shirt post and this dungeon boot post)

 ***You still have until midnight on Sunday to enter our GIVEAWAY at the shopcalico.com blog! Click here for details!***