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I feel like a leprechaun. In a good way. (by diana deaver)
amber and i don’t really have a whole lot to do other than put on pretty things and lounge around in awkward places. that’s a total lie.
i can deal though. i’m cool like that. a lot of the “cool like that” being hinged on the fact that i also own this dress, so i didn’t have to stay at home, alone and poorly clothed:
an interesting fact about this dress: one of the sweetest girls i’ve ever met, named sarah, who lives in close proximity to the city of fresno, gave me this dress a few months ago – after offering up her very comfortable home as a place for me to stay on my way through her town. she had never met me prior to this. i could have been a complete lunatic. i’m still not making any promises that i’m not. (a complete lunatic.) but this dress might complete me… close-up time!!
yep… still kinda hate her for rockin this dress so hard. of course!! also? we love you guys!!! have a fan-freakin-tastic friday! Usually, when phrases like “my popsicle melted” or “hard drive failure” are used, you expect to hear a particularly boring sob story with many uses of the word “suck.” Mine is different: more boring, less sob. On the morning of the fateful day in question, I had decided to finally break out the external hard drive which had been sitting off for a month and a half while I wandered the country aimlessly. I needed it to back up my 3 year old laptop and then begin the annoying task of transferring files so my brimming hard drive would not burst. I’ll spare you the details, but needless to say, that is exactly what happened. Hard drive failure. This was a good thing (no, I am not on drugs) although I could not have known it at the time. I made an appointment at the Apple Store, fully expecting to go into debt over this thing. Not to be. There is this thing that is rad? It is called The Genius Bar.
Yeah. My computer is now better than new. Literally. mixed florals flapper dress: thrifted in Tucson The next day, the nice Genius that helped me asked me to dinner (maybe he enjoyed my joke about beds). Last week I received my first ever negative comment regarding an outfit:
Gah. As this was in response to my relatively adventurous turquoise leopard print dress and weird neon purple and yellow astronomy-patterned bag, I was a bit astounded at first. As I thought of ways to defend my shallow sense of dignity (not limited to simply deleting the comment and going on my merry way), astonishment quickly turned to defiance, then quietly to resolve. She was totally calling me out on my shit! The reason I started this blog was because of my love of shopping at a time when I lacked sufficient means to support even a weekly thrifting trip. The only things I ever bought were clothes that were flattering, comfortable and timeless – pieces from which I could squeeze my money’s worth. My practicality (nevermind my lack of dough) was literally stifling my personal style. Blogging gave me a way to “shop” for things I would love to be wearing at that very moment, without creating a vacuum in my wallet. Plus it constantly inspired me to make do with what I had. Fast forward one year. I had moved to a new city, the perfect time to reinvent oneself. But now that I could afford a few thrifting trips, I was having a difficult time kicking old shopping habits. My new business is based in fashion and design, so I always have potential clients on my mind when I dress. I found myself watering down my personal style in order to try and please everyone’s expectations – an impossible feat. Plus, because my first love is travel, I hate being anchored down with all kinds of stuff. So I was still being uber-choosy and erring on the side of practicality on any given day. This blog has changed my life in a multitude of ways. My personal style has evolved faster than the Silicon Valley gene-pool. It has also literally helped me become self-sufficient and that has boosted my long-waning confidence. I owe it to my readers to practice what I preach. So, Lenora, I’ve decided. I have sorta been phoning it in. And if I can’t take constructive criticism from a perfect stranger, who can I take it from? I wouldn’t have been so offended if I didn’t know deep down it was a little bit true. Thank you for lighting a much needed fire under my ass. After some months of rabid thrifting and clothing swapping, I’ve now got enough signature pieces to put together a few outfits which encapsulate the many personalities of my personal style (whilst shunning my inherent habit of being too goddamn practical). I’m taking this as a challenge to come out of my closet and start baring my soft style underbelly. Be gentle with me.  leather jacket – gift knit hoodie – flea market, 75 cents green silk top – UAL, New Orleans $39 Wimbledon tennis shorts – Painfully Hip clothing swap in Chicago houndstooth tights – Macy’s $7 red patent pumps (with chunky grey heels) – Marshall’s $19 feather earring – borrowed from Eve Personality #2 – Mixed Patterns Personality #3 – Modernized Flapper Personality #4 – Self-Contradictory (Photos by Rory Toolan) The Glamourai wrote a great post on the same issue (in response to a negative comment regarding one of her fucking genius outfits):
I want to thank you all again (SO MUCH) for reading my blog and taking my word for what it’s worth, in spite of my lazy style choices of late. Here’s to dressing for ourselves! xoxoxo Lykke Li‘s distinct personal style tends to include a lot of layering of slouchy tops, cropped jackets and blazers, loads of large jangly pendants, and a tight chignon. And always in black, with touches of cream and/or gray. It’s a good look (and easy to imitate with thrift store scores if you’re into that sorta thing). J’adore the Brigitte Bardot mixed with early Imitation of Christ styling in this video. …Yup, that settles it: I need to go dancing. (thanks, Danny)
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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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