Thanks, IFB for featuring one of my most favorite images we’ve ever created, its an honor. Thank god it’s Friday the 13th, my friend Jamaica is joining the Commune of the Painfully Hip today! Velkommen!
Man, editing the links this week was painful, only because there were so many fantastic posts, so be sure to check them all out in the IFB forums! This week we have loads of great interviews, a few wonderful lookbooks from our members, and had a recurring theme of personalizing style, from the DIY projects from M.I.S.S., Monoxious.com, Quirky Fashion, to customizing trends on Clutch 22, dramatis personae and The Art of Accessories we’re finding what works!
“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.
When Agent Ribbons (vaudeville outlaws, theatrical bandits, our only hope of making it out of monotony alive…) rolled into torrid Tucson like a three ring circus of unquestionable awesomeness, we were excited to reimburse the stratosphere some of our couchsurfing karma. Natalie Ribbons, Lauren Hess and their fanciful dancing bird, Christopher, hit the road from my old stomping grounds (Sacramento, CA) and have been on the lamb since January. We couldn’t let them make their escape with out documenting their dangerous levels of va-va-vaudeville vavoom.
I was feeling a definite Bonnie & Clyde streak brewing. Voila, our very first band shoot!
They chose their performance outfits from the “Painfully Hip Closet/Room” for their performance at the gorgeous Solar Culture Gallery – a mustn’t miss in Tucson – which they rocked without question. After the ensuing spectacle, they left the crowd hankering for more and decided to sing for their supper at the Red Room later that same night. Better believe they had the entire restaurant up and dancing! Quite the feat… especially when late night mozzarella sticks are involved.
photographer: Ryan Mihalyi
styling: Diana Deaver and Amber Mortensen
Hair and Makeup: Amber Mortensen
Special thanks to Stacey and to Solar Culture!
Is it Vaudeville? Or “cabaret-inspired victorian punk garage?” Pictures are always nice, but I’m going to let Natalie’s green wiggle dress do the talking:
If you are a touring band rolling through Tucson, and would like to raid our styling skillz and alliances with amazing photographers like Ryan Mihalyi for some promo shots, launch us an email at painfullyhipATgmail.com!
the watson twins played at one of my favorite clubs in tucson last night, and while i thought i would be attending the show, apparently reality and my lower back were pulling for a quiet friday night in.
guess who won?
note to anyone who might be planning to move all their belongings across town and then see the watson twins in the same 24-hour period: don’t bet on it.
so i did the next best thing. i internet stalked them. (duh.) and while most of us have already formed our opinions on how great (or not, i suppose – we’re all allowed to form our own opinions…) the watson twins are, i’d like to share a juicy little tidbit i unearthed that you may not have formed an opinion on yet, because – like me – you were unaware of her existence. this tidbit is jenny reyes, stylist, vintage connoisseur (or so i’ve read…) and creator of the brand new label, geronimo.
according to the interweb, the lovely ms. reyes has done quite a bit of stylist work for cute indie band girls, including create the costumes the watson twins wore while on tour with jenny lewis. even better, this spring she’s scheduled to make her talent accessible to those of us who may not necessarily need touring costumes, but know an adorable bathing costume when we see one. she’s designed a line of vintage-inspired bathing suits and shorts, which will be coming out just in time for the warm weather.
i have yet to uncover the price tags that will attach themselves to these fancy little numbers, but i’m guessing from their perfect appearance and the rumored high-quality of their construction, it will be way out of my league.
that’s fine. i’ll just create a visual pep-talk on my computer with all the pictures i’ve snagged from her website, as i ready myself to march bravely into my tenth summer of searching for that perfect vintage swimsuit…
In my blog-sploration today, I happened across the page (via the lovely Style Symmetry) of an online vintage boutique called Magic Child Vintage, the lovechild of two of The Beautiful People – Ashley Krantz and Ian Marshall. A exhaustingly adorable couple you will soon love to hate. Read on.
Their bio according to said page:
Ian and Ashley live together, on a farm, on a piece of land in Akron, Ohio. Also residing on the property are 2 horses, 1 goat, 3 dogs, and some cats. It is a fascinating land like no other. Living in the harmony of country living comes a powerful force of music and style.
Daily living revolves around efficiency & saving energy, right down to the clothesline dried items we sell online. While striving to maintain a GREEN lifestyle we keep our fingers firmly implanted in the latest forms of pop media technologies.
Our day-to-day business is conducted at two locations. The online Vintage Clothing Boutique is run from the farm, while our Music Production Facility is located minutes away in an abandoned glass factory. Both of our locations have low overhead and provide us with plenty of space to allow for an effective workflow.
We seek refuge in the rural landscape while we focus on expanding our ideas and growing presence globally. With an edgy sense for fashion, a fresh musical style, and a unique eye for images Ian and Ashley form a powerful POP media machine.
Really?? A couple of hot models in love, playing music on a farm with white horses – a magical wonderland of pristine vintage clothes, rustic photographic backdrops, and really really Good Hair Days?
If that’s too much American Dream for you to bear, make sure you think twice before taking a gander at the following most awesome vintage gems. Methinks it’s just about time for this blogger to take a midwestern roadtrip, if this is a sample of the bounty for hawk in the thrift stores of Akron, Ohio.
Too fucking cute.
After closing down their eBay store, the couple has had some success selling items from their Myspace page whilst readying their own site.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, items are pretty reasonably priced between $20 and $30.
All images were either 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.
Thanks for reading,
Amber
painfullyhip at gmail.com
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Just scored an interview to be the new Visual Merchandiser (aka Window Dresser) at Forever21 and the envy of unemployed 21 y/o's everywhere. 2010-07-29
