2008 August | Painfully Hip

thrift star of the day: unadulterated pretty

originally uploaded by fashion rubies (fashion-rubies.blogspot.com) for wardrobe_remix

When I get dressed, if something looks too “pretty” I have this incessant, unreasonable need to uglify it a little. But his lovely lass is wearing the outfit-equivalent of an endless field of blooming irises. And I totally love it.

Tales from the West Coast

Oh man. Going on a West Coast Tour with three amazing bands and pretending to be a musician was apparently my dream come true. Seriously. I learned the songs along the way and then wailed on that uke just like I knew what I was doing. And I met so many hip kids with false respect for my fake talent! I had been planning on getting more street style photos of locals, but unfortunately riding in a van with 9 peoples’ stuff covering up your stuff is not conducive to always having your camera with you. Luckily I was able to whip it out in Olympia where hipness was rampant.

A few random shots from the tour…

Seattle.

Olympia.

Portland.

Arcata.

Sacramento.

San Francisco (Giants game).

One of many highlights? I found a delightful thrift store in Cave Junction, Oregon where they were having a wondrous thing called a “Bag Sale…” Stuff a grocery bag with anything you want for TWO FUCKING DOLLARS (Um hi, Death? I can welcome you now). I kept everyone waiting in the van for me, but made up for it when I came back and handed out practically free presents like I was Santa Claus.

Diana!! Thanks so much for stylishly picking up my slack whilst I was endlessly searching for sub-par wifi on the road. You are the BEST.
And another huge thanks to all the kind-hearted hipsters who put all of us and our abundance up every night!

a call to arms: my legs

i have to say, i’m typically not a big fan of patterned – and i mean, subtly, tastefully – patterned legwear. i’m a bit small in stature, and quite honestly, anything that chops the leg into tiny visual chunks is terrifying. i was absolutely mortified when hugely patterned tights and leggings started creeping out of dark alleys a couple years ago. it really bothered me, on an emotional level.

so i’m really really confused by my deepening adoration of the bebaroque tights that have been springing up on every awesome blog that ever existed in the entire universe. period.

i mean, honestly, it doesn’t make sense. these are not subtle OR tasteful, and i didn’t even need my normal “warm up period,” to fall in love. they just suddenly became the only thing i’ve been able to think about.

exhibit a: (or “the sparkly ones” as i’ve compartmentalized them in my head. this is not their official name.)

these seem to be the ones i’ve seen the most. they’re awesome, yes. but then when i actually took a moment to look at the rest of the site, i found “the hairy ones.”

or, exhibit b:

i have to say, i might have gotten even a little more excited about these. they’re like a mohawk for your calf! who would have thunk it?!

as it turns out, along with my (normal) aversion to fancy legwear, i also have a bit of an issue with spending $60 and international postage on tights. even hairy ones. so i’m on a bit of a mission now. (god, i live for missions…) a DIY version.

so far, these supplies have both crossed my mind, and then almost simultaneously been crossed off the mental list of “good ideas”: tin foil, glue sticks, the fringe off my carpet, and pennies. i feel like i should be able to do better than that.

i have one more idea, but i don’t want to say it out loud and jinx the whole thing… know this though: if it turns out as awesome as my mental image, there will be actual pixilated documentation, and it will be shared.

here’s where you can join in though: any fantastic ideas out there for DIY fancy fall tights? i’ll send you a mental high-five if i like your idea. (trust me. you’ll know. my mental high-fives have been known to knock people over when they least expect it.)

ack!!

i know that’s not a title. or even a word. it’s a sound, really, and i hope you read it as such. but… a new thrift shop opened this morning!! (you can make the “ack!” sound for me again if you’d like. it’s ok. i’ll wait.)

when does that happen?!?!

i know. it’s like halley’s comet.

so… despite STILL being sick, i set my alarm for 7:30 this morning, (to give myself a good hour of pre-public-spaces time to hack up my last lung,) and informed the best friend that she would be attending with me.

did i mention that this might be the most exciting event of my life?

the best friend and i arrived half an hour before opening time, and managed to be numbers 13 and 14 in the quickly growing line. (and also about 50 years younger than the spriteliest attendee.) this calmed my growing fears of having to compete for goodies, since it seemed very unlikely that i would be trampled to death by a group of senior citizens who suddenly decided that they wanted to buy back all of the things they had purged from their attics.

so, while there was quite a commotion going on over in the tupperware and recliner isles, i was able to leisurely browse through the clothing and cast disapproving glances in the general direction of my misbehaving elders. it was a lovely morning, really.

after a good two hours at the event, the bestie and i decided to call it a day, and haul the loot back over to my apartment. what happened there? why, we played dress-up of course. (duh.)

and so now, without further ado, i present to you, (make-up less, fever-riddled, and entirely worn out on fun)…

commander mcthrifty

(ok. it’s me. but it’s a pretty sweet cape, right?)

dear diary,

day three in bed with the flu.

i’ve exhausted all un-read options in my google reader many times over, and re-organized my collection of must-have jeffrey campbell-bookmarks into the order i will acquire them in. (i am now in the process of figuring out how that will happen.)

obviously, after those things have been done, the only thing left to do on the internet is obsessively hit the “refresh” button on the page i have devoted AT ALL TIMES and ONLY TO wardrobe_remix. duh.

which is how i found yarn over movement. (there are reasons to be ocd.)

see this? this is exactly how one gracefully transitions from summer to early fall. cute mini skirt and tee combo? check. covetable jaunty cap and scarf? check. slightly muted colors? check. i now see the error in the way i have been lurking around my apartment for the last three days in a mint green american apparel one-piece and my stretched out black beanie, in a fever-induced stupor.

no, diana! wrong!

since i had plenty of time to lurk, i also discovered that this girl who has saved me from total fall-fashion self-humiliation also has a great blog and an etsy, (which she promises to re-open in the beginning of september,) where she sells hand-made goodies such as cowls, lace and cable berets, and cable fingerless gloves.

i’m wondering if she takes special-requests for a mint-green combo of all three, to match my fall one-piece?