So I hadn’t been planning on dressing up for Halloween at all until about 45 minutes before launch time – sometimes it feels like getting dressed up these days qualifies as “work.” By the time I had resolved to pull the trigger on an actual costume, I was rather stumped – my wardrobe has dwindled decisively over the course of my transient lifestyle.
By pure fluke, however, I had wandered into the “Free Room” at my local thrift store earlier that day and found this pristine early 60s ivory brocade A-line… not something I would normally wear, fit so well and was free-not-to-mention, that I scooped it up. Not having time to dramatically alter my hair, a half-assed Betty Draper of Mad Men was pretty much my only option.
While I’m addicted to Mad Men, I’m not usually one to costume myself as the Flavor of the Year. But considering that about 48% of the population likely dressed as characters from Mad Men, I could be overstepping by using the jaunty little word- fluky – when I tell you that my best friend Richard in Vancouver had corresponded inadvertently by dressing as Betty’s philanderous husband, Donald… but that’s just the way I am.
Rich photos by Janos Sitar and Jillian Mccavour
Amber photos by Abraham Cooper
Mad Men photo from Fabric Magazine
Photographer and artist, Joe Mehl came down from Phoenix this weekend to pitch this collaboration idea he had, with a staggering amount of enthusiasm and a big ol’ wack of stickers in tow. They looked like this:
That’s Ryan’s photo of Addam’s haircut, doused in fractals and what he calls “light paintings.” Said project will be unveiled sometime in ….2010.
Joe came along to see my lovely and dear friend, Emilie, perform for the halloween edition of Black Cherry Burlesque. After pulling an impromptu all-nighter the night previous, let’s just say that I was in no condition to be out and about at a bewitchingly rowdy bar. So my (equally hungover) friends and I found a quiet, dark, comfy booth in the back, where we ended up missing the first few minutes of the show… the exact minutes we’d pried ourselves out of our beds to see. Oops. Sorry, Emilie! We were even more sorry when we realized how next-level this show had been so far… Mary Poppins and Spock Girl were amazing.
Check out Emilie’s last Halloween performance Friday night, Oct 23 at 11:30pm at the Surly Wench in Tucson! I know I am!
Anyway, it sucked that we weren’t allowed to take photos of the show, but Joe ended up getting some great shots of me my extra styley friend Abraham, and Joe’s friend David wandering around 4th Avenue and Hotel Congress. Wearing my beloved Mary Quant vintage dress almost made up for the hangover… although that didn’t help any with my photogenicity that night.
 mary quant dress 
Oh and here’s a doozie shot of our “street.”
vintage Mary Quant shift – $30 US Vintage, Chicago
houndstooth stockings – Marshall’s $7
suede ankle booties – Diana’s (thrifted)
Photos by Joe Mehl
Last week I woke up and felt like it was Christmas morning in July (except it wasn’t July, it was October… only it felt like July because I’m in the desert…). Why you ask? Because it was motherfucking HAIRCUT DAY.
You see, the gorgeous Jasmine of Billie Goat Vintage had asked me 2 months ago to be part of her amazing runway show on Sept 25th, and had graciously asked me to please grow out my hair for it. I knew it was important to her, so I didn’t hesitate to promise to keep away from the scissors – NOT an easy feat considering that my hair is my arch nemesis, and I’d rather have as little of it on my head as possible at all times.
Here I am on the runway… Turned out there was actually no need at all for me to grow it out since they just ended up fixing a big yellow clove hitch of fake hair to the side of my head anyway… By the way, those are butterfly wings affixed to my eye. The hair and makeup was pretty awesome all round. Check it.
 Click photo to see the rest of this amazing show! I must thank you again, Jasmine, not only for letting me sport the most amazing dress ever, but for priming me up for the best haircut of my life.
Fast-forward. I have just met one of the most talented hair stylists I will probably ever know. We become fast friends because he is FUCKING AWESOME… and he offers to cut my HAIR!! My gnarly, fried, bleached-to-shit, nothing hair! And what does he do with it? He makes gold. An alchemist is he. He spent, like, an hour on my 3 strands of hair. Addam Moreno, ladies and gentleMAN, the creative director of Joico.
 Yes, Dirty Harry, I DO feel lucky. Thanks for asking.
photo by Ryan Mihalyi
hair by Addam Moreno
gilt shark tooth earrings by Laura Kepner-Adney
Here’s the front, just for the record, in the immediate afterglow of scissor heaven via my laptop photobooth.
 This is what glee looks like
BTW, Tucsonans, we are currently looking for hair models for a free cut and color by Addam. YOU WIN. Please contact me at painfullyhipATgmail.com IF you are not afraid of change.
Phoenicians? Is that what we call people of Phoenix? I really hope so!
Don’t miss BOOTY SAFARI tomorrow night, October 15, at the Ruby Room! My friend Joe! He paints with light! Plus it will be a crazay partay!
Honestly, I took this outfit shot a few weeks ago and can’t recall where I wore it. I do remember not really wanting to put much effort in so I chose black on black (but I can never resist some colorful accessories). So this outfit is my comfy casual version of a little black dress.
I have do have to say one thing: These leather shorts are the most perfect garment I have ever owned. My friends are getting sick of hearing about them (“So… my leather shorts totally slept through the night last night for the first time, can you believe it? I can’t believe what a pleasure they are, can you?)
 high waisted leather shorts 
(Everything is thrifted/borrowed from Diana’s thrifted collection except the green headband from Little Red Fox).
These shorts are in perfect condition, lined in satin, light as a Miller High Life, and they make the shit out of any ensemble. They are as low-maintenance as a couch-surfing Mr. Clean – wipe and go. They are somewhere between classy call girl and pin-up rock chic. They complete me. I should re-name this blog Painfully Repetitive – Amber Wears Her Leather Shorts. Again.
I promise there are more things to come besides leather shorts. Saturday we had a photoshoot of next level professionalism. It features, among other things, a stunning 6’2 redhead named Ashley, eyebrows fashioned from tiny green leaves and jewelry made from the teeth of sharks. Giddy!
Also, I received a perfect, perfect haircut from the most talented stylist in Tucson, possibly Arizona, possibly the world. Although I could not, of course, prove any of this except the haircut part (because now I’m even hip when I’m picking my nose).
Can I say one other thing? Tucson, AZ is wonderful.
But then, the quality of a city is all about who you know in it.
Dearest Tucson,
I’ll admit it. Moving to you was a total whim. I had no clue what to expect, but it was not, within 5 weeks of arriving, to be swept up in an unstoppable tidal wave of creativity, inspiration and unfettered acceptance. I want to say thank you to beauteous Emilie, who brought me to the cool kid convention, who always hooks me up and is there for me and my shenanigans. To hip as shit Erin – if you are into it, I will be too. To loverly and amazing Kristen and Noah for instantly embracing me and making me feel a part of their family at the opulent palace of Casa Libre (I may have to start paying rent). To brothers and huggers savant, Adam and Abraham for being incredibly kind and always cheering me on. To Addam(!), Octavio, and Ryan for being unbelievably talented and endlessly enthusiastic toward every one of my stupid ideas. And to Diana for your unabashed support, for keeping it real, for being you. All of you inspire me to be compelled to create and to savor every morsel of the process.
I love you, Tucson, because you have a a cost of living to make a pauper feel like a prince, a kickass art and music scene, stunning vistas, and spring instead of autumn.
I love you because you love me back.
Lucky me,
Amber
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?
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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.
Thanks for reading,
Amber
painfullyhip at gmail.com
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