Painfully Hip » seasons change

Check Me Out: Transitioning to Spring

amber — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:46:22 +0000

“woodland creatures, plaid, houndstooth, zigzags and argyle” by Painfully Hip.

About Budget Style (click for more details!)

Painfully Hip Design Collective F/W 2009: Daphne

amber — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:31:12 +0000

The Painfully Hip Design Collective are on a roll. This time within the walls of the lofty new Eric Firestone Gallery, a magnificent building full colored glass and beautifully weathered murals and seasoned brick, what Eric hopes to call “Tucson’s version of Andy Warhol’s Factory.” So on friday night’s big opening (starts at 6pm, the gallery expects around 500 people), we plan to take that literally… by doing a live photo shoot with the art opening party as a backdrop. I can’t tell you how excited this makes me. Make sure you stop by if you’re in the area so you can witness my hummingbird-like styling and direction …although some may come for the champagne.

I am getting ahead of myself. The following is my interpretation of Autumn this year… a jaunty 70s schoolgirl with Biba Girl tendencies.

Shop the shoot (click images to see listings)!

Painfully Hip Design Collective – F/W 2009

photos by Ryan Mihalyi
model: Katie Palmer
hair: Addam Moreno
makeup: Octavio
styling and concept: Amber Mortensen
wardrobe and additional styling:Diana Deaver
accessory styling: Jasmine Jarrett
painting: “Pavane for a Dead Princess: Jezebel” by Terence La Noue
location:
Eric Firestone Gallery, Exhibition and Event Space
403 North 6th Ave
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Ph 520.882.2616

All clothing is vintage, except the luscious, soft as butter, cornflower denim (J Brand jeans. I found them for $30 at TjMaxx. SCORE.

Painfully Here: Our First Roomie Shoot

amber — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:09:36 +0000

After a very busy weekend, we finally got a chance to play dress-up with Diana’s closet (since mine has now shrunk from “walk-in” to “portable”) and chisel out our favorite fall trends. This, as fellow Tucsonans know, is a hilarious feat in early September. The relaxed look on my face is a SHAM, it was 96 degrees and not a good day for boots and sweaters and hats. However, fun was had… and not just by our on-looking neighbors with the cooler of High Life.

These were all taken in and around our new house – a veritable paydirt of textures and colors that any photographer would covet. Perfect! (Click on photos to get to the Etsy listings).

sundress to fall dress

Photos by Diana Deaver
Styled and modeled by Amber Mortensen

Painfully Hawt: BriAnne Wills Vintage Summer

amber — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:04:48 +0000

Most of you are teetering between summer and fall, but I am in the desert and will probably be sporting the minidresses for a couple more months. I am, however, tumbling down the rabbit hole for this transitionary photoshoot by photographer BriAnne Wills, giving love to vintage fur and swimwear. I love the (probably unintentional) Margot/Richie Tenenbaum styling and the makeup is absolutely brilliant.
Trés cool.

Model: Stephanie @ Option
Stylist: Sara Moskovitz
Clothing: Monster Vintage

Painfully Hip: This is How We Do.

amber — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:29:54 +0000

So.
I know it. There have been exactly 4 updates in the last two weeks. Things are, um, just a bit complicated (read: simultaneously ass-kickingly traumatic and glorious) in our sphere at the moment. Curious??

The last two weeks since we got back from the Painfully Hip Roadtrip have been INSANE-O-RAMA.
I got a new nephew, became single, moved out, went on a last minute roadtrip to Canada and back, started writing an in-depth emergency article on current hairstyles for the News & Review, found my photo in a glossy magazine (Lucky, September 2009), and planned 5 photoshoots, a yard sale and a solo move to Arizona.

… if you think that’s a bit much, you should see the list I sent to Diana, who, by the way, has an eerily similar list of her own. For instance, swap “Canada” with “Mexico” and change “to Arizona” to “in with Amber.”
Yeah, we were exclusively internet friends only 3 months ago and now we’re practically married (just don’t tell Diana that Arizona is actually a red state). But one thing we have in common is that we take bullshit and turn it to gold. This is how we do.

Therefore? Hang in there, folks. This is going to be a whole new beginning for Painfully Hip, because Diana and I have realized: once we get our heads together, we tend to get a little, ahem, obsessed.

I have created “The Most Stupidly Half-Assed Animated Gif Ever Made” in celebration.

ROCKIT!

In case you haven’t noticed, I am getting REALLY EXCITED about winter for once! And not just because I’ll be able to wear short shorts for most of the year.
Take THAT, pants!

Check out WellWornRoad for more details, including photos of our NEW HOT WATER HEATER!!

public nudity and other acceptable behavior

diana — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:00:47 +0000

being the blue-eyed, dark-haired pasty girl that i am, the whole nude thing (yes, i mean nude-toned clothing, you pervs!) has never been that attractive to me. i find that it either, a) washes me out even more, or b) gives me the appearance of having applied a dollar-store brand self-tanner in the shape of an outfit. neither of these are high on my list of “looks i’m going for.”

so things that we’re not allowed in my closet were as follows: nudes. and then somehow that started leaking into the “whites, off-whites, creams, tans, pale pink and light brown” categories as well.

call me closed-minded. that’s ok.

then, back in the good old days of january or february, i stumbled across this picture of the incredibly gorgeous nikki, of flair to remember:

that is a pretty sweet outfit going on right there, consisting of some colors i do believe i’ve banned from my life!

and then, wait! what’s this perfection? it’s peachy, but… it could also almost pass as a nude! and i’m coveting it? what’s happening?!

yes, i know she’s tanned and gorgeous, but my pasty-ass has decided that it wants in on some of this action. so i went to saver’s with the intention of finding myself something nude-ish, but still well within the comfort of my safety zone.

i procured a pair of 80′s peach-colored wedges. i slapped on a very conservative layer of self-tanner, (not the dollar-store brand,) and i wore them in public. and i can assure you with my Most Serious Face that these peach wedges have not left my tootsies in well over a week.

thus begins the saga of my obsessive patrolling of All Things Nude on the internet.
wait. that came out very wrong.

would you like some more inspirational photos? (really, i mean, who doesn’t?)

you know what i call that? i call that “wow.” (she, however, prefers to go by the moniker dear golden, and her fantastic etsy shop is packed full of the most amazing pieces, many of which fall into the “pale hues diana previously avoided” category. this will be the first etsy shop i buy out entirely when i win the lottery tomorrow.)

so in a wild attempt to be a fun-loving, free-spirited and open-minded human being, i went out last weekend in, (get ready!) pure white and pale, pale pink. and maybe a pair of nude wedges were thrown in there… the over-all response? two enthusiastic thumbs up. i was even challenged to a dance-off by a very cute boy at my favorite bar.
i would share the photographic proof, but someone (ahem… you know who you are…) failed to clue me in on the fact that white skirts require a slip.

question: ladies! what have we learned today?

answer: approach life with an open mind – you just might be missing out on a whole lot of really great nudity. (or at the very least an invitation to a dance-off or two…)

i missed you…

diana — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 05:21:24 +0000

by Diana Deaver

hi guys.

i know i’ve been awol for… ahem, cough, umm… about two months now. you were missed dearly. thank you so much to all of you who sent emails/searched me out and found my personal blog/contacted me in one of the plethora of other ways possible, to send me your love, well-wishes and thoughts. it really meant so much to both me and the bf. i know there are people out there who are skeptical of this internet world, but it has brought me such an incredible amount of support. i wouldn’t give you guys up for anything.

i feel so unprepared to jump back into the fashion-blog world. sort of nerdy-3rd-grader-ish. like, “hey guys! check it out! i’ve been thinking about hats!”

but whatevs. i have been. especially my newest addition to the collection – a vintage (fake) ‘coon-skin cap i acquired at my favorite thrift shop for $3. yes, you heard me right. every word of that is the truth.

i’ve also been obsessing over teasing my 6 inches of hair into the biggest beehive i possibly can (which is not big, and i get a little shy about taking it out in public sometimes, so i compensate with platform shoes. both accomplish the task of bringing one’s hair closer to god.) pea-coats from the little girl’s section of department stores, and that embarrassingly over-exposed double u-neck american apparel dress. i know i’m totally behind on the times, but i’m allowed to clamber up on the u-neck bandwagon and shake it too, ok?

anyway, “winter” (read, 50-degrees at night,) has finally come to tucson, which meant that today i got to wear all three! (well, four if you count the ‘hive, but that got covered up by the ‘coon-skin…)

i know you want to see what this looks like. i took a picture for you:

(i’m trying to see my hat.)

also, today i discovered that the 120-year-old converted adobe barn i live in was not equipped with any sort of central heating system. which is rather unfortunate for me.

Cosby Sweater Couture

amber — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:24:45 +0000

Coziness is at the top of my list of favorite moods. I flee from soggy, cold climates like the plague. I’m a spooning aficionado. So sweaters are essential to me. However, I’ve never experienced the sensation of being dressed arms to ankles in knitwear. After seeing this collection by Marie-Louise Vogt via Fashion156 on a chilly Chicago day, that’s ALL I want to do.

You can purchase all this beauty for a very shiny penny (240,00€ – 380,00€) at Style Server.

Not that those cut-out vests would be entirely cozy, but still, I’m absolutely hankering for those skinny pants and cocktail dresses! That poncho could easily become a staple (the bicycle shorts, maybe notsomuch). Do you think I would be completely and utterly remiss to attempt to sew scraps of vintage uglysweaters together to devise patchwork wonders like these? I don’t know, but as soon as I get back to my beloved sewing machine, I’m going to busy myself with such janky-ass futzing, PRONTO.

ack!!

diana — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:11:08 +0000

i know that’s not a title. or even a word. it’s a sound, really, and i hope you read it as such. but… a new thrift shop opened this morning!! (you can make the “ack!” sound for me again if you’d like. it’s ok. i’ll wait.)

when does that happen?!?!

i know. it’s like halley’s comet.

so… despite STILL being sick, i set my alarm for 7:30 this morning, (to give myself a good hour of pre-public-spaces time to hack up my last lung,) and informed the best friend that she would be attending with me.

did i mention that this might be the most exciting event of my life?

the best friend and i arrived half an hour before opening time, and managed to be numbers 13 and 14 in the quickly growing line. (and also about 50 years younger than the spriteliest attendee.) this calmed my growing fears of having to compete for goodies, since it seemed very unlikely that i would be trampled to death by a group of senior citizens who suddenly decided that they wanted to buy back all of the things they had purged from their attics.

so, while there was quite a commotion going on over in the tupperware and recliner isles, i was able to leisurely browse through the clothing and cast disapproving glances in the general direction of my misbehaving elders. it was a lovely morning, really.

after a good two hours at the event, the bestie and i decided to call it a day, and haul the loot back over to my apartment. what happened there? why, we played dress-up of course. (duh.)

and so now, without further ado, i present to you, (make-up less, fever-riddled, and entirely worn out on fun)…

commander mcthrifty

(ok. it’s me. but it’s a pretty sweet cape, right?)

it’s always summer in the southwest…

diana — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:45:42 +0000

i have to admit, all the “i’m so excited about fall!!” blog-talk is starting to make me jealous.

my google reader is full of nothing but cute little sweaters and talk of tights.

tights!

i’ll tell you what happened yesterday in my life: the thermometer on my back porch passed the 100 mark before noon. i waited as long as i could for the ice storm i could have sworn i saw brewing in the distance, but when it 4:00 rolled around and it still hadn’t hit, i oozed my over-heated body into my un-air conditioned car, and sizzled myself around to a couple of my favorite thrift stores in search of more tank tops. this is not because i don’t already have a million tank tops.

“why did you buy more tanks tops then, diana?”

well, because it’s too hot out to do my laundry.

mooka kinney is also making me really autumn-jealous:

summery dresses with thick autumn tights? crop-tops in thick sweater-like materials?

it’s still gonna be a very long time before these wardrobe options are mine.