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.
Continue reading Painfully Hip Design Collective F/W 2009: Daphne
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
As much as I love to layer, the weather in Arizona has thankfully not gotten cooler than a 5 year old’s tepid dunking milk. So I have not of yet had occasion to wear any layers (not counting the occasional bf blazer over my high-waisted short shorts – gotta keep it classy) this fall. But one can always look, right? I have nothing against coats – just the weather they require to be useful.
(Click photos to check auction)
 Bright Blue Wool Boyfriend Blazer from Erstwhile Style - current bid $42
God, I love this color!
 Embroidered Wool Coat (are those SEAHORSES?) - current bid $38
Are those SEAHORSES? I love me a slouchy, warm coat with a tropical theme.
 Tweed Swing Cape - current bid $42
Going gone! This’ll be going the way of the big ass fish by the end of the day!
 Green Wool Coat with Fur Collar - current bid - $64
Pounce! This too shall pass in 7 hours. Gasping for breathe.
 60s Swing Coat - current bid $175
Perfection. All the androgynous appeal of a boyfriend blazer, with all the sass and femininity of a 60s swing coat. I’m just going to go ahead and count on the mercy of the universe to bestow something like this on my life. Eventually…
Its photoshoot day again!! My roving gang of artistic fanatics are at it again… we need to come up with a team name! This will be our third shoot since I moved here, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Upcoming this week: our beauty shoot for Wingflash’s sharktooth and gilt organic jewelry and our 70s school girl, Biba-inspired fall shoot. Here’s a wee teaser.
photo by Ryan Mihalyi
model: Katie Palmer
styling and concept: Amber Mortensen
hair by Addam Moreno
makeup by Octavio
wardrobe and additional styling by Diana Deaver
accessory styling by Jasmine Jarrett
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
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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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