Painfully Hip » Diana Deaver

One Dress Three Ways: County Fair Chic

amber — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:16:04 +0000

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…

diana — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:49:04 +0000

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.

diana — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:03:35 +0000

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 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:04:33 +0000

(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

diana — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:27:26 +0000

(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

diana — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:45:24 +0000

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, 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.

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?!?!

painfully hip road trip photo shoot – a month later and all the greater!

diana — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:19:58 +0000

in case you haven’t noticed, amber and i have been strangely absent. (from here, as well as the other inter-web haunts we frequent.)

this is not because we don’t like you any more. it’s just because you’re kind of pushy and self-centered, and honestly, we’re tired of the incessant stories about all the boys who are “so in loooove” with you, and the way you always borrow our clothes and never return them. (that was a joke. a really horrible one. in fact, i should erase it. but i’m not going to!) have i mentioned that i’m severely sleep deprived? that’s probably worth mentioning…

why the sudden lack of posts and extreme exhaustion?

well, ladies and gentleman, in 6 (7? i can’t do complicated mathematical things like count the number of days between now and next thursday!!) we will be performing a holy union between painfully hip and the painfully hip design collective, and wellwornroad and the non-existent wellwornroad design collective, and combine our love forevermore beneath one roof in tucson. i will be taking her name, because no one knows what the hell mine is.

(don’t act like you didn’t see this coming. we’ve only been together for what, like two years now?! at what point did you think biological clocks started ticking?)

so obviously we’ve been partying it up like the bachelorettes we will soon no longer be. i didn’t wash my hair for four days this week, and amber started a fresh batch of kombucha. we have sort of this “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, where if we don’t say, “hey, what did you do today?” we don’t tell. but we keep forgetting not to ask…

yeah, ok, it’s not funny. when are you going to get to the point, diana? this is stupid.
well that was mean. fine.

without further ado, i present a couple behind-the-scenes photos from the painfully hip road trip/design collective photo shoot in corpus christi:

krystal aeby – our gracious hostess and the “without you, this never
would have been possible” of the shoot. plus she gorgeous too, huh?
do you want to hate her? i did. but you can’t. she’s too freakin nice!

the (equally beautiful) boys of produce culture, fame, who not only let
us use their phenomenal gallery/studio, but also did the shooting and editing.
are you guys single? all of you? i’ve got one week of freedom left…

behind the scenes, take one.
ps. i totally made that dress… that’s why amber is marrying me.

“behind the scenes” take-2.
what’s better than pretty girls and a picturesque window?
amber!!
(although i guess that doesn’t count, because she is a pretty girl.)

ok, i’m in desperate need of some sustenance and a rest break if i’m going to continue on with this day.

in the meantime, i guess i lied – i have to show you one more picture – and it really is the final one. i made this dress too:

it’d been pointed out to me that i have a “thing” for green dresses… whatevs!

i’m going to go take that much-needed nap, but while i’m asleep, work her down! get some pictures and stories out of her! we know she’s got ‘em!

and in the meantime, if amber wont share, i’ve posted a few more pictures over at wellwornroad. don’t let her get off that easy though! we will harass it out of her!

xo

(re)-living the dream – highlights of the painfully hip road trip

diana — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:52:38 +0000

after depositing amber and rory in their sacramento homeland, i embarked on the pilgrimage back towards my own home. (there we’re a few stops at humble shelters along the way. a pilgrim’s gotta rest up, you know?! and besides, have you ever known a pilgrim to say “no thanks” to a booze-cruise?)
you’re starting to make me think you know nothing about pilgrims…

i arrived at the casa de los diana late friday night, and after spending a month (um, please go back and re-read that. a full month!) on the road, i’m feeling a bit lost in the immenseness that is my home. what’s a pilgrim to do? well, this pilgrim has confined herself to her bed (which is only slightly larger than the car the three of us were living out of,) where i’ve been fervently clicking through the 5000-something road trip photos i’ve clogged iphoto to an almost entirely inoperative level with. (portable external hard-drives be damned! my macbook is the Master of Disaster, and the Master of Disaster – much like a pilgrim – never says no to accepting 327 new 15-megapixel photos from it’s best friend, the G10.)

a pilgrim-suitable beach-front humble abode

unlike amber, who shows grace and restraint with a minimalistic writing style that always leaves you itching for more, i have absolutely no verbal self-control. my name is diana, and i’m a text addict. (is that an over-share?)
so i will continue:

tucson being my homeland, i would have considered that stop along the trip to be a grade-a success even if it had been 115 degrees outside and my car broke down, leaving us stranded within it’s city walls for an extra day and a half longer than scheduled. (oh wait. that did happen.)

however, the real tucson highlight for me (and i’m pretty sure for amber too,) was the preen party, (thank you emilie and erin!!!) and getting to meet this stunning beauty:

(no, not amber. we already KNOW she’s hot. i’m talking about wendy, on the left.)

so who is that beautiful bronzed goddess?
that’s wendy. she lives in tucson, works for the arizona opera, has impeccable taste – and i’ll stop before i divulge too much of her personal information. (sorry wendy!)

she arrived at preen and graciously told us that she’s a huge fan of painfully hip.
i’m not sure i’ve ever had a fan before. it’s pretty awesome. if you don’t have one, i highly suggest getting yourself one as soon as possible.

(and for the record, the fan-ness is totally reciprocal. amber and i are both officially fans of wendy.)

ps. – if you’re reading this wendy, i can’t wait to go thrifting together!!

pps. i’m still in the process of updating the other road trip blog with trip shenanigans, so if you like reading posts that go into way more detail than necessary and looking at a lot of (hopefully) tastefully-clothed painfully hip road-trippers doing ridiculous things, feel free to stop by. but don’t say i didn’t warn you about the word-count…

road trip – painfully sexy gone painfully wrong!

diana — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:22:20 +0000

sorry guys! diana’s been busy with food poisoning, and amber and rory have been busy having all the fun, so there hasn’t been a lot of posting round these parts lately…

this is a fashion and road-trip related true story that was lifted directly from wellwornroad. sorry to those of you who have read it already – we still think it’s funny!

xo

amber and i found something we thought was hilarious at Cheap Thrills the other day. and those hilarious things are called “Inappropriately Tiny Vintage Hooter’s Tank Tops.”

not that this is something that the entire internet needs to know, but amber and i are not very well… padded, in the upper rib-cage area. this was a source of huge distress when i was in my mid teens, but at this point in life i honestly think it’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me. bra-less in the summer time? heck yes!

back to the story though. sorry.

we tried on said tank tops (which actually hung in a really flattering and not-exactly Whorish Thing In The World kind of way, due to the fact that we weren’t trying to squeeze small watermelons into them.) we giggled uncontrollably, purchased them, and snuck them back to the house for “surprise attack.”

last night while packing up to leave fayetteville, we picked out the most hussy-esque matching shorts and white shoes we could find in our luggage.

this morning we wore loose dresses over the Secret (Awesome) Outfits and said our goodbyes to jeannette and will. the three of us – me, amber and rory – stopped at a thrift store on the way out of town to drop off the last of the clothes that were left behind at the swap yesterday. rory sat unsuspecting in the car.

unsuspecting, until amber announced loudly on the sidewalk, “wow diana, it’s pretty muggy out today. maybe we should take off a few layers” and we tore our jumpers off in unison.

see, it’s totally anti-climactic when i tell the story in words. that’s why it’s so awesome that cameras were invented:

see, now THAT’S pretty darn funny.

rory’s reaction was great. pretty much exactly what we’d anticipated, right down to this:

i think this is what Spring Break looks like

but yeah, it’s all fun and games and we feel victoriously hilarious, until we fall asleep in the car on the long ride to austin, rory pulls over at a gas and home-made-candy (?!?!) station/shop in the middle of absolute nowhere, oklahoma, and amber and i run inside for a desperately-needed pee break – completely forgetting what we’re still wearing until it was way – way – too late.

rory took a picture of that too. note the less-than-enthusiastic smiles?

do you have any idea how hard it is to pay for your snacks with your arms crossed over your chest, the cashier sending you straight to hell with her eyeballs, and the full attention of every trucker at the gas station? how about i share this with you: don’t try it.

breaking the rules of the road… painfully hip road trip woo hoo!

diana — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:46:10 +0000

(that’s to be read in the same tone as you would read “spring break!! wooo!!“)

a little while ago i wrote a post about self-imposed fashion “rules,” and how to go about getting over/past them. i mentioned that my main rule was the “you just don’t wear black and brown together. ever.” i believe that i forgot to mention my second biggest rule, which is “diana never wears strappy/peep/toe-showing shoes.” (this goes way back to early childhood, when i convinced myself i had the ugliest feet in the world. it’s funny how i’m still letting a 6-year-old tell me how to dress.)

my third self-imposed rule is, “i wash my hair every day.” maybe not with shampoo, but at least rinse it off in the shower.

well, apparently this road trip is all about looking my stupid rules in the eye, saying “eff-you!” and reclaiming my fashion freedom.

i’ve procured many a peep-toe pump at thrift stores along the way so far, and even went so far as to purchase a pair of vintage perforated tan strappy wedge sandals that i’ve been – get this – wearing on an almost daily basis. this may sound trite to some, but to anyone who’s suffered the debilitating effects of a self-imposed fashion rule knows just how big of a deal it is to finally overcome it. i’m thinking of throwing a party in honor of my newfound freedom.

i’m going to bombard you with photographic evidence now, because i’m so excited about overcoming these life-long “issues.” you may all pat me on the back. one at a time, please.

exhibit one – the strappy sandals:

i’m rockin those bad boys and i didn’t even give myself a pedi! not bad, huh? i give full credit to the shoes.

exhibit two – combining black and brown in one outfit:

i’m coming to the realization that (at least as far as my personal taste is concerned,) it’s all about the shades of the brown and black being mixed, as well as doing it in small doses – shoes and belt in brown, dress in black? doesn’t look too bad…
(also, i wore this combo for “hiking day.” i would just like to say that black might not be the best choice for hiking under the sweltering desert sun. in case you were wondering.)

exhibit three – brown and black again:

this time i think the dominating white in the dress made it possible to mix in the brown shoes and belt without too much “eye ouch.”

and lastly? this has nothing to do with the outfit, and everything to do with me and amber choreographing our new broadway musical:

oh, and in case you’re wondering, road trips are totally not conducive to daily hair-doin. i’m embracing hair powder into my life with open arms, and i feel like a changed girl. i like it!

(side note: in the vein of some totally shameless self-promotion, i believe amber mentioned it already, but i’ve been documenting the road-trip in a not-quite-so-fashion-focused way over here. i’m trying to update on a daily basis, so if the nitty-gritty interests you, come visit! i like you!)