One Dress Three Ways: County Fair Chic

Remember how your mom would dress you and your four siblings the same when you all went to Universal Studios or a three legged chili cook-off or something and you’d hypothesize profusely about looking like buncha tools? No? Well, I was getting some vivid childhood flashbacks on Diana’s birthday. After we surprised her with a bedroom mini fridge (so she could do her two favorite things at the same time – eat and sleep), we kidnapped her to a secret location custom designed for nausea-inducing amounts of fun.

The good ol’ county fair. Diana’s only clue was a stipulation that she wear one of these identical graphic floral sundress which apparently none of could resist for $1 at the Buffalo Exchange Outlet. Admittedly, it should probably have interfered with her already decided on leopard print “birthday headpiece,” but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. It was her motherfucking birthday and we were going to be just fine in our obnoxious headpieces, 5 inch architectural wedges and stiletto heels, thankyouverymuch.

The following is a step by step example of How to Look Like a Bunch of Tools in Matching Outfits.





(photos by Ciaran Harman)

As we walked in, one security guard told us we looked like “those girls from the 1920s” while his friend exclaimed “SUPER DIVAS!” We were profoundly flattered. I’m pretty sure Diana hasn’t taken her leopard print birthday headpiece off since.

are you there autumn? it’s me, diana…

it happened.  

it actually cooled down enough this weekend for me to put on my Majestic Leather Jacket.  long enough to take a picture at least.  

then i got in the car and turned the a/c on Maximum Intensity in the hopes that it would cool down enough to allow me to keep wearing it.  

that didn’t happen.

it was wonderful while it lasted.

leather jacket day!!_0001absolutely perfect in every way, thrifted shrunken leather jacket.
$12.99 at savers.  jealous much?
don’t be.  it’s too damn hot to wear it.  

bon iver. live in tucson. with megafaun. it happened.

by diana deaver

“bon iver” (or, more correctly, “bon hiver,”) means “good winter” in french.
i hate winter.  like, seriously hate it.  
want to see fury?  take me to some snow.  turns out though, the only thing the two (bon iver and “good winter,”) have in common, are the ability to make me want to cry and cuddle. 

bon ivergood winter music.  

that being said…   despite “guest list” status,* (a beautiful, beautiful thing, even when you are in the financial situation to joke with your bank teller, “i’m living dangerously!” and NOT have him give the straight-faced reply, “yes.  you really are.”) i just wasn’t feeling like leaving the house monday night.
that’s another thing i hate most of the time – leaving the house.  
it takes effort, and i have a lot of awesome things at home that i like to stare at.  
and a friend who conveniently needed/demanded a ride somewhere that was not the venue at the exact same time megafaun (the opener) went on.  

but something compelled me to go anyway. (fear of the wrath of an abandoned amber post-show?)  
um, can i just say that this is one of those amazing moments in my  life where i can say, “i made the right decision?”
  

something beautiful

not megafaun, but that’s ok – because it’s bon iver

(another thing i did monday evening was hear that megafaun was freakin’ amazing – but i wouldn’t know this for a fact, so you should ask amber about it.) 

bon iver?  the show was – dare i say it? – practically… epic.  
amber and i clutched each other and cried, and were (nearly) oblivious to the pain in our feet from balancing in 4″ heels on an ancient, angled theater floor for three hours.   

makes you not feel foot painthe events pictured above create a scientifically unexplainable condition in which the shoes
shown in the photo directly below do not cause pain to the wearer-
while listening and sometimes even up to 4 hours after.

ambersome Serious Bargaining has been going down at the house all week, over this dress.

 

wait!  i wore a dress too guys!  look at me, too!!  look!

i wore a dress too!

wedges: the preferred shoe choice

the last thing i did – obviously- was over-use my camera, for both photographic and video purposes.  just for you. and because i really really like going home and looking at pictures of things i just participated in.  (seriously.)

as for the “video” portion that i mentioned? 
that’s why this is posting thursday afternoon, not tuesday morning as i’d originally dreamed.
don’t even ask how many hours i’ve spent with youtube and my camera this week. let’s just hope this comes with a video-filled follow-up post… or at least some links.

and if bon iver is coming through your town, go see ‘em!  no excuses!

 

* emilie + erin – i/we love you.   no, like really love you.  as in, may we have your babies and marry you?  possibly not in that order?

a story involving pizza, a poor sport, and someone wearing an apron – in which i get schooled

(diana deaver)

it’s been noted by others in the past that my brother and i have an extremely close relationship  - especially since he’s almost 9 years younger than me.

i won’t deny that i remember the day mom and dad bought him from the hospital, but we’re adults now.
we’re equals, and i spend a lot of time with him so that i can prove that i’m the awesomer sibling.  

it’s the Ultimate Competition – and there are no Time Outs in the Ultimate Competition.  
(have you ever been woken up at 3:00am by a barrage of blinding lights outside your bedroom window?  then your sister probably didn’t invest a whole lot of time and effort into gathering every external camera flash she could get her hands on, and she probably isn’t me.)

it (obviously) goes without saying, but in the Ultimate Competition, i am the Ultimate Winner.

something weird went down this week though – i lost a round.
asher – with a little help from his boss, co-workers and the Tucson Weekly – finally has one point.

asher’s boss (i’ve heard) is a pretty awesome dude.  
example?  work uniform:  he’s allowed to wear pretty much anything he wants – which frequently involves black high-top converse, short-shorts, and a powder blue baseball cap that says “princess” across the front in rhinestones – as long as it covers the appropriate body parts.

example two:  they have a giant sign in front of the restaurant – on one of the busiest streets in tucson –  where employees frequently post pretty much any ridiculous statement they can think of.

(here’s the point where i tell you that asher always introduces me as his “sister, diana – the lesser-attractive sibling.”  then we all laugh knowingly and roll our eyes at each other when he’s not looking.  it’s pretty obvious that it’s just not true.)

so when asher handed me this week’s edition of the Tucson Weekly and said, “oh, and the Ultimate Competition scores are in.  they’re posted somewhere near the back…” i was able to accept the printed matter with grace and composure.  (i rolled up the paper, hit him with it, stormed home, and then laughed hysterically on my living room floor…)  

a true winner never wants her little brother feel bad about himself.  even if he has to post lies on local signage in order to win a round.

 

the Ultimate Competition: asher’s first point

the Ultimate Competition 

obvious lies.  (asher on right, wearing “princess” hat and shapeless apron.)

(ps. asher – your lies might be on signs, but my name – and amber’s too – is on the guest list for bon iver tonight.  what?!?!  oh, that’s right – i regained my running title as Ultimate Winner of Ultimate Competition…  see you at the show?  no?  what?  you’re working?!  so sorry, buddy…)

-your sis

pps. if you didn’t click on the link to asher’s music already, do it now.  my favorites? “knee” and “your bird.”  maybe he deserves 3 points?  you can be the judge of that.  

 

dress of the week(ness of knees) club

(by diana deaver)

solar culture

amber and i don’t really have a whole lot to do other than put on pretty things and lounge around in awkward places.

that’s a total lie.
i actually have a whole “to do” list – ahem, notebook – waiting for some attention, but seriously, if you were being propositioned by both a Mead five-star and this handsome fellow (the DRESS.  the person in it isn’t a “fellow.”) who would you choose?

amber in The Dressfor the record, i used to entertain the idea that i would feel pretty in this dress.
that was until amber borrowed it and i realized it had been hand-sewn by a million tiny angels, 
each singing her name in perfect harmony.  
oh gag me.  and stop being so freakin’ perfect in all MY clothes, amber!!  DO YOU HEAR ME?!


i can deal though.  i’m cool like that.  a lot of the “cool like that” being hinged on the fact that i also own this dress, so i didn’t have to stay at home, alone and poorly clothed:

diana's new favorite dress

an interesting fact about this dress:

one of the sweetest girls i’ve ever met, named sarah, who lives in close proximity to the city of fresno, gave me this dress a few months ago – after offering up her very comfortable home as a place for me to stay on my way through her town. she had never met me prior to this.  i could have been a complete lunatic.  

i’m still not making any promises that i’m not.  (a complete lunatic.)  but this dress might complete me…  

close-up time!!

the dress... again!

yep…  still kinda hate her for rockin this dress so hard.

of course!!  
thank you again/for the billionth time/etc., to one of our most favorite men in the world, mr. ryan mihalyi, for his photographic genius, (it goes without saying, but the good ones are his handiwork.  the not-so-good ones?  we had a homeless man take those…)

also?  we love you guys!!!  have a fan-freakin-tastic friday!

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