Painfully Hip » Painfully Hipster

Internationally Painfully Hip: The West Coast to Reykjavik

amber — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:54:24 +0000

I think I left my brain in Reykjavik, but I’m attempting to write anyhow. PHEW! Read on, if you please, it has been quite the adventure thus far.

I’m terribly sorry its been awhile since my last update, but you would not believe the trouble I’ve been getting into. You’ll have to excuse the length of this post, as we have a lot of catching up to do! At the end of September, I moved out of my apartment, sold all my stuff at like four rummage sales, and drove off into the sunset. Literally… my bestie, Abraham and I started off my 2 month long journey in a rickety old Volvo without AC driving toward the sun to Los Angeles on the hottest day in its recorded history (115 degrees to be exact). I think it was symbolic or something.

In Los Angeles, on a much nicer day, I did an awesome shoot with the adorable and talented Nicole Hill. The next day we made a sweet stop in the beauteous Santa Barbara and the legendary La Supa Rica Taco Stand. With a bellyful of queso ambrosia, we made our way through the foggy cliffs to the gnarly, dusty dirtroad hills of San Simeon, where our lowly rental Hyundai proceeded to get lost (on our way to a friends’ addressless address). But after some spontaneous car camping, our achey bodies awoke to be offered chicory coffee, bacon, eggs, and a melty cliffside soak in a flame-heated cast-iron bathtub overlooking morning ocean fog.

After some quick but heavy stops in Big Sur, Santa Cruz and Carmel-by-the-Sea, we arrived safely and with relief in stunning San Francisco. A very good friend put us in his cozy murphy bed to prepare our road-weary bodies for a romp around The Haight, Golden Gate Park and a hike up Telegraph Hill. When we returned to our rental after five hours, we found it towed to the tune of $475 for a very slight overlap of a curmudgeon-owned driveway. OUCH. There went our already too measly travel budget.

Not to be defeated, we kept on keeping on. Luckily my sister, her husband and my ambrosial nephew were happy to see us in Sacramento, where we laid low and saved up our resources for a week. From there we flew to Seattle to stay in the hippest apartment in the PNW, with my dear high school friend David and his incredibly welcoming beau, Charles. They put us up in their cozy, Versailles-worthy living room, fed the shit out of us, bought us expensive drinks at a bar straight out of Mad Men, and saw Abraham off to British Columbia and me off to Reykjavik.

Reykjavik! I said goddamn. Nevermind the remarkable architecture, the stunning, hipper-than-thou women (every venue felt like a modeling convention, I kid you not) and the genetically perfect men (who I assume must all share the same talent for kissing via the liquefying way they coo their consonants… unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to sample them all), the mysterious light, and the otherwordly landscape…
The Iceland Airwaves Music Festival alone is worth all the jetlag, chilly wet weather, unpronounceable street names, and undrinkable beers in the world.

Bands of note that broke my brain with their sheer proximity: The Antlers, Junip (I was drunk enough on Heineken to think it was a good idea to climb on stage with them, which, astonishingly, no one seemed to mind), and Dan Deacon. Also? Every Icelander must be born with an instrument in his hand. Amazing.

On our last day in Reykjavik, my dear librarian friend, Barrie was too jetlagged to use her pre-paid horse-riding excursion, so miracle of miracles, she let me go in her stead (steed?)! So I had a very special day galloping through some very special lava fields on a very special breed of Icelandic horse in some very special freezing rain. Apparently, I must have packed an extra brain to blow.

If you need a higher visual/blathering ratio, here’s a slideshow for you:
Hit the full screen button in the bottom right corner of the player to zoom.

I am now in Copenhagen, but have yet to see any sights as I have been forced to be tethered to my computer with work stuffs all day. Not complaining though! Tomorrow holds a long walk to through a botanical garden and to check out David Lynch’s paintings at the GL Strand Gallery. Huzzah!

I got a wild hair and changed my mind in the last couple of days, so the rest of my itinerary looks like this:
Oct 18: Copenhagen, Denmark
Oct 26: Berlin, Germany
Nov 5: Vilnius, Lithuania
Nov 11: Brussels, Belgium
Nov 17: Antwerp, Belgium
Nov 18: London, UK
Nov 22: San Francisco, CA
If you’d like to keep up with my blundering escapades in real time, follow me on Facebook.

Tomorrow! Photos of stylish Europe-dwellers. WEE!!!

Painfully Hipster of the Day: Tux Untucked

amber — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:33:42 +0000

Bow Tie, Ruffled Dress Shirt from Vv, Burgundy Velvet Blazer from Vv, Dark Paisley Dress Shirt from Vv via LOOKBOOK.nu: “~whisper winds at the break of dawn~” by Bobby Raffin.

Way to make a 70s velvet ruffled tux undeniably wearable by layering with a paisley shirt and baggy trousers. Canadians can pull anything off. Hopefully next he’ll try pairing a tuque with a pair of gonch.

Painfully Hipster of the Day: Granny Chic

amber — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:59:54 +0000

Vintage, Nordstroms Tights, Shirt via LOOKBOOK.nu: “LATE AUTUMN” by Megan Stewart.

I feel like Megan here pulled this outfit straight from my subconscious and made it even better than my imagination could fathom.

Argh! You win, Megan, you win.

Painfully Hipster of the Day – Denim to Die For

amber — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:55:01 +0000

Mega Thinker from My Mum via LOOKBOOK.nu: “Bye bye blue dress” by Mega Brinsmead.

Lately, only the slouchiest, dumpiest mini dresses do it for me. Something about the juxtaposition of slightly frumpy with sexy and short. Everything about this is perfect from the afterthought sleeves and perfectly-placed pockets to the whack of superfluous gold buttons. Dying.

Painfully Hipster of the Day: Horse Shit

amber — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:25:21 +0000

Vintage Pants, Leopard Tights, Horse Shirt from Horse Show, Vintage Fur Trimmed Sweater via LOOKBOOK.nu: “Horse Shit” by Megan Stewart.

An outfit with another name just wouldn’t smell the same.

The adorable Megan S. is a blackbelt in the art of thrift styling. Keen too. She got a girl boner when Goodwill Industries put her photo on their Facebook page in homage to that fact. Ah to be a Goodwill poster child for a day…

Painfully Hipster of the Day: if Diane Keaton had raised the Olson Twins

amber — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:02:41 +0000

Vintage Fur Coat, School Girl Blazer, Polka Dot Jacquard Skirt via LOOKBOOK.nu: “Gossip girl..” by Fashion Infusion.

Let’s see. We’ve got “eccentric school teacher” on top and “Victoria Beckham goes grocery shopping” on the bottom. Its madness, and it works.

Painfully Hipster of the Day: Embellished

amber — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:52:20 +0000

via LOOKBOOK.nu: “mrs. grumpy” by Angela D.

One foolproof concoction for an easy knockout is to assemble some flattering simplicity and frost it with statement accessories. Though the above knotted belt is designer, thrift stores are often rife with slightly obnoxious accessories like these (on my last roadtrip with Agent Ribbons, I must have picked up 12 amazing statement belts in a single thrift spree, 4 of them very similar to the one above and all under $2).

Confucius say: Accessories are a good babystep to putting a little more adventure in your garb and flourish in your manner. Load up!