When you’re a stylist working on a farm, what else are you gonna do but show the insects how its done?
- Praying Mantis
photo by Kaary Ogard
Fire Warning: Photos by Ryan Mihalyi Wardrobe Styling and Art Direction by Amber Mortensen and Bradley Rhea Hair by Raul Mendoza at Fringe Salon (4861 E Grant Rd #111) Model: Jessaca Marie Haag Special thanks to Abraham Cooper and Jonathan Saupe It’s June in the desert. The sun is relentless, cicadas are celebrating, and temperatures are rising, but what’s this? Hemlines are descending, modesty is rampant, and …black is the new black? Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but pretty much every trend you’ve come to associate with summer (sundresses, shorts, mini skirts, color, color, and more color) have been sent to trial by fire this year. So how do Tucsonans keep cool when fashion publications are telling us that long sleeves, trousers, ankle length hemlines, and black are haute stuff this season? Anything loose and floaty has risen to the top of my wish list. Especially chiffon, the textile equivalent of whipped cream. It’s cool, breathable, and just plain sumptuous. American Apparel (988 E University Ave) offers loads of the stuff. Maxi skirts, cropped blouses, long-sleeved button-ups and even pants in delicious sheer chiffon. Couldn’t resist including this hotness in conclusion (Abraham was the best fog wrangler in tarnation): 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.
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. Ever since my relocation to the glorious Sonoran Desert, I can’t seem to get enough of sandy Southwest shades and be-jangled Bedouin baubles. (You may have even noticed that I wore the same coin scarf in both of my previous Check Me Outs. If so, give yourself a silver rupee.) Granted, I’ve been on a gypsy kick for the past… well, ten years. This is mostly due to my impossible wanderlust and the fact that I share a birthday with Mata Hari. But whereas my past bindi/mehndi exploits may have hit one costumey note too many, this particular brand of nomad strikes a very wearable chord. Jewelry overload? Sure. But paired with knits, clean lines and subdued patterns, it’s more modern than maharajah. And what better styling option for the upcoming scorcher that is an Arizona summer? Bring on the bare legs, white linen and headscarves! Olesya Senchenko by Matteo Montanari | Mirage Spring 2010
Karmen Pedaru by Catherine Servel in The Wild Frontier | The Sunday Telegraph
via Fashion Gone Rouge Last weekend was… as surreal as it gets. Describable in one made-up word: WARHOLMANIA. The Tuscon Museum of Art is now showing an amazing collection of original Andy Warhol screenprints so they wanted to do something special for their opening. And special always means dead people impersonation, right? So Friday the museum invited Drew Krewer and I to come in full costume and full character as Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick, making a surprise appearance directly from that “Factory in the Sky.” We were even featured on the Six O’Clock News! While Drew could easily sashay into the room with only his charm, his usual styling finesse and a spritz of silver hairspray, it took an entire team to get me in fighting Edie form. First off? The fabled dress by my beloved roommate and besty, Jamaica Cole of Sapphire Cordial (pictured in the previous post).  photo by Jessica Castillo  photo by Omer Kreso (Hair by Addam Moreno, Makeup by Lynette at Toni & Guy, Tucson – Thank you!!) And, of course, the ever-important jewels, designed by my dearest Laura of Wingflash Designs!  Paula Taylor and Amber Mortensen - photo by Tucson John  Necklace by Wingflash, Whipped Cream by Diana
While Edie managed to last about 27 years, I lasted exactly 10 hours – through the epic POP! Afterparty at the Rialto, complete with a Velvet Underground cover band, mylar photo booth, gallons of whipped cream, a Warhol Death Reenactment, endless dancing, and a good slathering of Tomato Soup. SPENT.
But no rest for the weary, because the next day we had a request to transform into go go dancers at the Eric Firestone Gallery. They had THE most amazing exhibit, including some never-before-seen Andy Warhol photographs. Unbelievable.
 Jamaica Cole photo by Tucson John  Danielle Theriault Sit-Down Dancing photo by Tucson John 
The gogo dancing lasted for 5 hours straight with no less than 4 costume changes each. So it goes without saying, I spent the last three days in bed. Sick as a dog. Like Edie coming down from a multitude of barbiturates. 
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All images were either created by the Painfully Hip Design Collective, used with permission, or found on the web and believed to be in the public domain. If any images that appear are in violation of copyright law, please let me know and i will remove them immediately.
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