Diana Deaver | Painfully Hip

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.

absolutely 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.

good 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?”

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.

the 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.

some 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!

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

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)

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?

for 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:

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!!

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!

preen (and buffalo exchange!) fashion show for tucson HocoFest 2009

what’s HocoFest? oh, you know… i had no idea either. until there was a fashion show involved (and that right there sums up the extent of the brain-space i devote to anything non textile-related…).

so turns out, it’s a pretty freakin’ awesome 3-day festival that “a celebration of all things music, solar & sustainable during labor day weekend in sunny tucson, AZ- home to one of the best indie music scenes in the states.”
(aw! thanks hocofest website! i think tucson has one of the best “indie music scenes in the states” as well!)

emilie

emilie, half of the preen-ownership duo. um, was this dress MADE for her, or are you going to be
stubborn and argue with the obvious?

so everyone’s favorite vintage shop in tucson, preen, would be getting involved, obviously.
how so? by combining with the also-fabulous buffalo exchange to create a ”sustainable fashion show.”

um, hi world! did you say that the show involved all things thrifted and vintage?
huh… i suppose we could work within those parameters.

preen tucson

pre-show. we (and by “we” i mean emilie,) did a fantastic job with the theme, no?

so the theme was “glam rock,” something which i personally have never embraced as a style choice. it turned out to be a lot of fun to work with though, actually.

amber and i spent way too many hours combing through photos of david bowie, lamenting over our lack of one armed/one legged psychedelic jumpsuits, and listening to all things sparkly and amazing in our itunes. we styled some really amazing catwalk outfits, which were immediately tossed out the door the minute we set foot in preen and realized we had some serious options to work with.

me, amber and evee, wearing more makeup, leopard print and hairspray than we will for
the entire rest of the year combined.

so preen had eight models total, and buffalo exchange had somewhere around 30, but we totally managed to kill it anyway. the missing 8th model from the group picture at the top? this handsome looking fellow, abraham:

abraham, one of the only men i know who can totally rock pleather pants and a sequined bomber.

something else amazing? tuani’s vintage gold fringe skirt, docs, and one glove:
seriously emilie, how do you pull this off?!?!

ok, so she’s glove-less here, but i promise one came on for the show…

so enough “behind the scenes” already, right?!?! you’re ready for some actual show-action!!
well, that’s “behind the scenes” too. (hey, best spot in the house. and a change of scenery…)

so… some of us had never actually walked the the runway before and were actually a wee bit terrified. i won’t say who this “someone” is, because i’d be embarrassed. (hey! i’m not a model, i’m a designer and a stylist! being stared at is terrifying!)

this photo does the situation no justice – we’re all on the runway at this point – which i’m cool with. but how does a girl with absolutely no catwalk experience pull it off when it’s her turn alone down the runway? well, if you’re ever in the same situation, i’ll give you a little hint: do your most ridiculous dance and pretend everyone is eating it up.

there’s no terror in large groups…

and not to save the best for last, but the show-stopper of the evening? i don’t think anyone can argue with this:

evee, in her cage-dress/vintage lingerie/black velvet little-boy blazer number, with the most amazing hair ever…

AND

um, yeah. an amazing trash can ball gown erin bradley, the other half of the preen
magnificence created by hand.
yeah, i said it. BY HAND.

and in case all that wasn’t enough, the Meat Puppets played immediately after our part of the show. the meat puppets! stop and think about that for a minute or two. seriously, how awesome are the 90s?!?!

September 9th, 2009 | Tags: fashion, fashion show, music, preen, recycled, tucson, vintage | Category: Diana Deaver, Every Day is Halloween, Fashion Shows, Tucson Hip, music, vintage | 7 comments