SONG OF THE EXILE

Halloween and Trying New Things for the Millionth Time

2011-11-18T09:35:00.002-06:00

Some photos from Halloween. My sister and A.M.

Once More With Feeling(s)

2011-08-01T14:33:00.004-05:00

Forever XXI top and skirt, vintage shoes.

So maybe I should never say anything about what I want or why I want it, because as soon as I said I wanted to stop blogging, I want to do it again, and maybe this is because I'm bored and full of feelings (for more on these feelings, please visit my other, smarter blog). So I have this to show you today, and maybe I'll have something to show you later, too. For now, let's just leave it at this: I stole the idea from Jenny Z, whose blog you should visit, because she's so amazing and beautiful and smart and her clothes are likewise amazing and beautiful and smart, and the other night we were at dinner and she wore an outfit like this, but not this, and I was like, Me too! I want to do that! So here I am doing it, and on the internet, too. Another reason I want to maybe keep posting here is that I'm going to an awesome place very soon and I want you all to see the pictures if you're inclined to look. So here are some, and soon there will be more!

xo Julia

2011-07-22T09:51:00.002-05:00

Hello Dear Readers,

I recently decided to close my blog because I'd been feeling uncomfortable about it. I am still feeling this, and for now will not be posting here on Song of the Exile. I am posting photos over at Wonderblood. I have decided, however, to keep the archives here at Song of the Exile open, because I've gotten some requests and I suppose there's no harm in it, since people can get the photos anyway if they want them.

Thank you all for your readership and your support. Please visit me at my other blog!

Unchained Melody

2011-06-05T16:34:00.003-05:00

Wearing a Matthew Williamson dress, thrifted shoes.

You guys, did you know Cyndi Lauper sings a version of "Unchained Melody," the theme song from Ghost? If you did indeed not know, as I didn't know, you can find it on her 2003 album At Last. Which I recommend. But this is not a music blog, athough maybe it will become another sort of blog altogether soon, since it's also not an outfit blog. Not really. Anymore. Ever? Anymore. Anyway, in the photos above I appear with my dear friend the artist A.M. Fisher, whose work can be found at Endpleasure. I also appear on the cover of his first novel.

Don't Think I Don't See You Looking At My Little Sister

2011-05-27T20:14:00.004-05:00

Wearing a Forever XXI dress and belt, thrifted heels.

Hopefully in a few days I'll have a little more time for commentary. Until then. Spent the past few days shuttling between K's family and mine, buying real physical CDs for the first time in 10 years, and jet skiing for only the second time ever. How come no one told me it was like Waterworld, only in real life? I must do it again. Now K is watching Game of Thrones on my parents' tv, and I must pull him away from it before he gets any ideas. There's a reason we don't have TV.

The Once and Future King

2011-05-22T15:07:00.003-05:00

Wearing a thrifted jumpsuit, Nine West hat, vintage belt.

I've decided I'd like my summer look to involve dagger-like nails, nose rings (which will soon be actual rings and not studs, like this one--the better to freak out the other doctors' wives...), and florals that I might've worn in the 8th grade. I certainly had a dress (or maybe a long jumpsuit) made out of either this exact fabric or one very very similar. It's a bit stiff but I aim to wear it into submission. There's something terribly regressive about wearing one's 8th grade wardrobe, but as my sister and I have discussed at length, you can never go home again. So I may be wearing something I might've ill-advisably worn in middle school, but I'm not wearing it the same way, because I am different now. And although I believe I was in middle school the last time I wore press-on nails, I wore the tasteful kind (if there is such a thing). These talons are the opposite. The jumpsuit wasn't tasteful then and it isn't now, but I'm figuring its natural cuteness plays against my type (which is severe and birdlike), so I'm hoping I look awesome -- like the King of Middle School.

Mortal Kombat

2011-05-22T09:21:00.007-05:00

Wearing a Juicy Couture dress, vintage belt, Forever XXI sunglasses, Pretty Woman press on dragon nails.

The other night the fever took me, and I needed some dagger style press-on nails. After carefully reviewing the selection at Ulta, I decided (with the aid of my brother-in-law) that CVS is where itis at in terms of the press-on nail affordability-to-tacky-ratio, and we eventually settled on these ones, with their Mortal Kombat dragons. I've heard that once you begin to flirt with the changeable hilarities that are drugstore press-ons, you'll never go back, and I'm beginning to see how that's possible. I'm even learning to type in them.

*I've got many more Richmond pictures to share. My sister shot these at an old tobacco barn.

Green and White

2011-05-18T00:54:00.008-05:00

Just walked around with Jen today, took pictures in Hollywood Cemetery, and all together had a lovely day. I promise more text soon. I loved the storm sky over Richmond this afternoon. Between rainshowers, it was really beautiful.

"I Want to Come Back Home to Richmond."

2011-05-15T21:25:00.004-05:00

And I did! Please enjoy the photos -- more tomorrow.

She is Me

2011-05-10T20:23:00.004-05:00

Wearing an American Eagle Dress, Seychelles heels.

Just a quick post, as I'm on my way out the door. Glorious weather today/tonight, and I'm out to enjoy it in a breezy cotton dress in a bright color. This is what I've been waiting for! Check out my other blog. And thank you Season 4 X-Files for this post's title phrase -- I can't get those words out of my head....

In a Cage of Infinite Light

2011-05-06T21:40:00.004-05:00

Wearing a thrifted dress, hat, shoes and belt, and a Buffalo exchange sweater.

Radiant warmth! Or nearly so! Which gives me an excuse to dress like I'm going to the beach. I hope you all have a lovely weekend -- I hope to get photos at least once over the next few days. That, and I also hope to get some rest.

That's Not a Dictator's Sash, it's a Ruffle, Thanks for Asking...

2011-05-05T19:09:00.004-05:00

Wearing an Envy Me dress, vintage belt and lightbulb necklace, Aldo heels, American Apparel cardigan.

I'm sorry for my longer than average absence! It's just, the weather hasn't been nice, and I keep getting home after dark...but I won't go on about that. Remember when last year I was all, I hate florals!? Now I don't. Which I guess we all knew would happen. I picked up this dress at TJ Maxx the other week for $14.99 (when I wouldn't even have looked at something like this, last year) and have been waiting for the thermometer to rise above sixty so I could whip it out. I think it's really only 58, today, but close enough, and I was surprised by how much I love it. The ruffle down the front doesn't even bother me, even though I've lately been feeling many mixed feelings about ruffles. Mostly feelings like: Get off my chest, I'm not a five-year-old. But not these. These are quality. These are adult ruffles. And...this navy cardigan is probably the most comfiest piece of clothing I own, and it was buried in a drawer for months and I'd thought I'd lost it! But there it was! Buried!

In a week I begin my drive back to Richmond and then onward to North Carolina. I'm so happy to bring you cross-country photos. Even if they end up being mainly of gas stations in Illinois or those weird Starbucks plazas that dot the hills of West Virginia. There's something amazingly glorious about driving from points north and entering Virginia and North Carolina. Perhaps it's just because that's my home turf, but I swear even the light changes...

Cut Your Evening Gown Off Like Lindsay Lohan (or Go Ahead, Wear It For Day)

2011-04-30T20:17:00.003-05:00

Dress from Beacon's Closet, thrifted sweater and shoes, gifted ring, tights from Target.

I hope you dear readers all are having a great weekend. It finally stopped raining for an evening, so we took the opportunity to shoot a few photos. Unfortunately, after working nine hours, I felt a little under the weather, so please excuse all the hair shots (my hair can't look tired and irritable, can it?) Anyway, have a lovely Sunday! I'll see you tomorrow!

Soon and Soon...

2011-04-29T20:01:00.003-05:00

In only two weeks I'm going back to Richmond! I'll be staying with my dear friend Jen W., a model whom you may remember from previous posts. I can't wait to take so many photos of her! She's one of my favorite subjects. And Richmond. Also one of my favorite subjects.

There Were Things I Should Not Have Done (Then Again, I Sure Had Fun)

2011-04-27T22:38:00.007-05:00

Case(s) in point: these '90's stiff fan-shaped red canvas shorts and crimped hair. But I have reasons for the both of 'em. The shorts I got because g-dammit, I'm wearing shorts, it's nearly May and it's still 40 degrees, but I am wearing shorts, and these were $3 and bizarrely starched and kind of a pleasant shape, no? And the crimped hair? A friend of mine just got some feather extensions (which I had back in January) and we were discussing how to achieve a whole head full of feathers without spending a huge sum of cash-money on a bunch of non-ethically sourced chemical covered feathers. When I got myself a Vidal Sassoon crimping iron from the late '80s for 99 cents at the Salvation Army (yes, it may actually be the model I briefly owned in my youth) and tried it out, I discovered to my rapture that it kind of makes your whole head look like it's got feathers in it! If you crimp strategic areas especially! I think it worked even better since my hair had air-dried to its usually wavy texture and I didn't brush or straighten it before I took the horribly damaging crimper to it. Oh girls, I cannot tell you how much I loved crimped hair when I was in elementary school. I'm so happy it's back in my life.

*Thank you so much for all your intriguing, moving and very personal reflections in the comments from my last post. You really made me think, and laugh, and think some more, and this is why I love and treasure my readers. Thank you so much -- you made me feel a lot better! If I could give you all home-baked blueberry muffins, I would.

We Make the Sun Ourselves

2011-04-24T09:57:00.008-05:00

Dress I got from this wonderful lady, Seychelles heels, thrifted sweater, homemade hair, vintage earrings.

Sometimes I don't know what to think about everything. And by everything I guess I mean irritatingly amorphously huge life-questions, like what is my place in the world, or why am I doing what I'm doing. I do think it feels odd to go from my work, where I'm routinely assumed to be a teenager, to the doctor-bar here in this doctor-town, where some 50ish dude last night said he thought I was 35. For serious? I mean, actually, the 35 part doesn't really get me down, and I guess he's not all that wrong, and I guess it doesn't even really insult me because why should some dude's assumption about my age insult me when I wouldn't even know how old I am if I met me? I feel 35 sometimes. Sometimes I feel 18. Last night I felt about 25 and happy and loved because I have friends who actually call me after work to hang out with them! And this morning I feel ancient because I didn't drink enough water last night, and my skin feels papery and full of tired energy. Also I feel like I need a berry smoothie.

I think one of the things that gets me down about both these assumptions (teenager, 35) is often men seem to think it's their prerogative to comment on women's appearance. Because we are women, our appearance is public spectacle, and as such is subject to their verbal appraisal, to our faces, whether or not we are in a bar, whether or not we work in "public" job (like in a bookstore. Or hell, even if we're doctors. Maybe especially then). The other day, I was working at the cash-register, and an older man approached with his purchases. He watched me for a moment, then he said "You're built just like my wife. Long, thin limbs. You probably couldn't gain weight if you tried." I was sort of shocked, although I don't know why -- this sort of thing happens all the time, to me and to every girl I know. But it still astounded me that this man (and men like him) supposed I'd want to hear his estimation of my body and my metabolism, that he thought I'd like to know that I'd never gain weight; his wife has been a "runt all her life." Runt. That is what he called me. But then he winked and qualified it by saying "Of course, that's a good thing." Of course it is! You're using a word with negative connotations to my face, after visibly taking stock of me and assessing my worth! OMG, thank you so much!

Maybe it's hypocritical to complain about this on a blog where I post photos of myself in fancy clothes. But I put pictures on my blog to share with my readers and I want your opinions of my outfits and my text -- that's why I have comments open. Here, here is a place for opinions, because I consider you all my interweb friends and we share a common interest: dressing up. But dressing up is not dressing for men, and vanity (because sure, I'm vain) is not the same as sexuality. The majority of my readers are female and the majority of those females are all too aware of the complexities of female value in our culture. Eg: I like looking pretty. Doesn't mean I like dudes. I'm wearing a dress and have long hair: that is not a free pass to comment on my appearance, for good or ill, whether you think you're "complimenting" me or not. If I have short hair and am wearing a t-shirt and jeans and you assume I'm a lesbian, this is still not a pass to comment on my appearance. If I am overweight: sorry, it's not appropriate. If you think my breasts are small, or large, or if you think I need to get my bangs trimmed, or you think my necklace looks like a penis and so you actually reach out and touch my chest to finger the necklace (yes, this happened two weeks ago): OMG you guys, it's still not okay to say something!

This sentiment has been expressed multitudinous times and in more eloquent ways than I have space to do it here, but suffice it to say that while I surely enjoy feeling beautiful and even sexy, those warm and pleasant feelings are not created by anyone other than myself. We all know this. If you're having a down-day, everyone in the world can tell you that you look great and none of it means a lick. What's such a shame is that because girls are raised in this evaluatory culture, we derive so much of our personal power and worth from these banal assessments by people who don't even know us. (Prime example: dudes who catcall when we walk down the street (nice short post about that here, please check it out). I don't know. Sometimes it just seems like loving ourselves and our bodies -- without the sticky glaze of masculine approval/disapproval -- is damn near impossible, if only because their feelings about women are always apparent and always, always more socially validated than women's feelings about themselves. I don't know. But I'm trying.

Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death

2011-04-21T17:32:00.006-05:00

Wearing a thrifted Odille sheer shirt, a TRAMP top, H&M jeans, vintage oxfords, U.O glasses.

I haven't had much time this week to do much of anything besides grade essays, but I will take a short moment to say: where is spring? Hello? Spring? It's April 21. The barely non-snow-covered ground and the non-existent flowers and the stunted tree buds are looking about the same as the did a whole month ago. So what gives? When does it happen around here? I'm getting impatient! In my worst nightmare, this year will turn out to be "The Year Without a Summer" e.g. 1816 or Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death, when snow fell on June 6th in Albany. We had snow on Tuesday. It blew. I'm choosing not to talk about that.

Dear readers, I don't mean to be complain-y! It's just that I'm so very very excited for my visit to Richmond and my trip back home to North Carolina that I'm itching to wear all my real, honest-to-god spring clothes. You know, the ones that are a bit structured and maybe a little too heavy or fancy to wear in summer when you're sweating all the time? Those. I have so many of those! These clothes aren't that, though: they're a continuation of my weird spring jeans phase. I like them because they were ten dollars, and also because they're soft and a ridiculously non-cool color. It's like I'm deliberately saying to Stacy from What Not To Wear "See these? They're not dark wash. Yeah. YEAH. It's making your eyes burn, isn't it?"

Nine Lives Like a Kitty Cat**

2011-04-17T19:40:00.013-05:00

Long sweater H&M; top and skirt, thrifted; heels, Restricted; necklace, self-made; vintage sunglasses.

As long as I'm talking about things I wore a long time ago and too much (long skirt, high school) I'd also like to introduce you to the sweater coat. Oh man, in early college I owned this look. I think I had one in every color, even a terrible dirty bubblegum pink. My sister even asked me once what I would do when they went out of style and I kind of stared at her in disbelief because the thought had never even occurred to me. Wait, I've blogged about this before. I think I might even have written that exact same sentence.

So we went to the Mall of America the other weekend, something we do only every few months since the drive is pretty long. Except for a couple of necessary basics (socks, plain t-shirts for the husband) the trip was largely a disappointment. One would assume, with over five hundred stores, the mall wouldn't be horrible, but it always is. To be fair, I think this has more to do with us than with the mall, being that whenever we go to the mall, we always say "Why isn't the mall fun anymore? Is it because we're too old to go to the mall? Also, the chlorine from the giant Dora the Explorer water-park in the center is giving us both headaches, we should leave." Anyway, I did get this H&M sweater coat, which is pleasantly thin and made me so happy. It's like, half Christian Slater* in Heathers (that's due to the swingy length, there) and half hippie braid-wearing 70s university student (that's the direction I took it, obvi). But I hesitated before plunking down my $10 because 1) I'm not sure they're ever coming back in style and 2) I'm not sure they ever went out, because uh...I'm not sure they were ever in. So then I had my answer. Since my M.O. is usually to buy the weirdest piece of clothing in the store, I figured this was it and then I was really happy with this sweater, which I then bought, and which I know I'll wear again and again. Regardless of whether it's in...or out...or indifferent like some miraculous Vedic god of (style) creation/destruction.

*High school Christian Slater = dreamboat. But you already knew that!

**Britney, Femme Fatale. "How I Roll" is a superior song.

I OWE YOU

2011-04-17T13:50:00.003-05:00

I received an email from the ladies at The IOU Project, which is a new, sustainable apparel company with an admirable mission: to design and produce a line of totally unique clothing that would be cool and casual, but no matter how many people bought an item no two would ever be the same....

I wanted to share their mission video with you. Please take a moment to watch it and tell me if you think it's as neat as it looks! Plus their logo looks like a crop circle. You kids know I'm into that!

It's Jeans Weather, Kids! (To Me).

2011-04-16T18:12:00.010-05:00

Wearing a Chloe Dao blouse, cheap jeans, thrifted Steve Madden heels, vintage bag and an Indian scarf. Jacket Forever XXI.

Today and the next week are supposed to be miserable, weather-wise, so I feel okay with wearing jeans. Now. After I made it all winter in my fleece tights and my terry-cloth lined leggings, now I've decided it's a great time to wear jeans! Perhaps because I really can't stomach the thought of tights in mid-April, or maybe it's that 40 degrees feels very cold all of a sudden, and I don't want to get tired of my spring dresses before it's even been warm enough to wear them properly, or...maybe it's just because I found this pair of cheap jeans while cleaning out my drawers, tried them on and was pretty astounded at how comfortable they are. I haven't worn a pair of jeans since October! But according to my blog archives, I did this same thing last year -- once the calendar swung around to April, I was all like, "Pull out the jeans, it's springtime!" Which is contrary to logic, of course. But I have such a deep aversion to them...for so many years, the only ones I could find were uncomfortable: too long, too baggy, too tight in the waist...or the fabric was too stiff, too stretchy, too thick, too hot. The list of my denim complains was (and I guess is) long and banal, but you see, it's mostly since people started wearing skinny jeans that I've stopped wearing jeans altogether. Don't get me wrong -- I love the look of skinny jeans, but I hate their ankle bunching, thigh squishing tightness. Today I averted that horror by cuffing, and I think I'm deeply pleased with the result.

PS: This shoe-shape is one I inhabited very regularly back in college, and I guess now it's cool again? Maybe. They are both easier and harder to walk in than the more forgiving "almond-toed" heels that I've been wearing for the last few years -- the heels are lower, generally, but those pointy fronts can trip you up if you're not careful!

PSPS: My mother-in-law gave me this scarf, but as she did, she told me that the Indian man who gave it to her was hit by a car and died like a week after he gave it to her, so she never felt right wearing it. So I've never worn it until now. Uh....

Open the First Bud

2011-04-13T19:46:00.007-05:00

Wearing and Odille shirt, Forever XXI shorts, vintage belt, AWOL heels.

I have this thing where once I've gotten myself out of tights for the season, I'm bound and determined not to wear them again until next fall. Today I probably should've worn tights. It started out warm, then steadily became more miserable as the day progressed. But not wearing tights allowed me to observe a strange phenomenon: my legs are somehow tanner at the top than at the feet. This defies nature. And yet.

I'm drawn to florals here in the North Country, because there aren't any flowers blooming yet. Look at that bud on our backyard tree! Such joy surged through me when I saw those branches, now meekly tipped with green. I spent the day going through all my old photos of Richmond--joyously rather than weepily, because I'm planning a short visit back in May--and I was once again struck by how green that city is, and how beautiful. I got this shirt at FanTastic Thrift in Richmond. I last wore it here. I hated that outfit, but I like this one.

*I won Delightfully Tacky's Blowfish boot giveaway! I'm super happy! She said she had her largest number of entries ever!

**I'm posting more at my other blog--not really fashion related, but maybe fun and more interesting? I'd love it if you checked it out. If you have a tumblr, I'd love to follow you!

On Dressing Like High School

2011-04-10T18:02:00.009-05:00

Wearing an H&M skirt, UO t-shirt, vintage belt, earrings, and camera, AWOL heels, sunglasses from the $ store.

This is pretty much exactly something I would've worn in high school, down to the last detail, and now that my hair is fairly long again and I'm wearing it sans-straightening, that's also adding to the whoa-retro aspect. I had me some long-ass hair back in the 90s, and I loved loved loved long skirts, and since I was not a very sartorially creative young person, I only ever wore white or black tops. But...I loved the way I dressed in high school. For some reason, I passed through almost all four years in a bubble of extreme self-confidence. I wore what I wanted: I couldn't turn down a paisley to save my life and I thought my body was the sh*t and basically I just felt all-around awesome about everything about myself. That sounds snobbish but really I was just happy, for the most part. I have vague memories of friends telling me that I dressed like a hippie, which I suppose is true if we go on outfits like the one pictured above, but I felt right in them, the way I feel right when I envision myself with my mini-flock of backyard chickens. It's like...no matter how meticulously I gussy myself up in pencil skirts, I still always look like a disheveled gypsy orphan. In high school I loved this about myself. Somewhere along the way that changed, but maybe it's changing back again. Maybe dressing like I did then will help me feel better about who I am now. It's worth a shot, no?

One modification I'd make to this skirt in particular would be cut out most of the lining so it's almost entirely sheer, and I think I'll do that before I wear it again -- the lining was static-plagued and heavy feeling. But beyond that, I loved wearing this (I don't even mind the print, which is admittedly ugly). Thanks H&M! Best $10 trip down memory lane I've taken in awhile!

*I found this Minolta film camera at the Goodwill for 99 cents. Kenny made it work again for me.

Saloon-Style Florals and Much Hat Tipping

2011-04-07T19:25:00.008-05:00

Wearing a Kensie Girl dress, thrifted cardigan, Seychelles heels, Charlotte Russe tights, UO hat and a vintage necklace.
Sorry there are so many pictures of me holding my hat...I try to look for varied poses but these were pretty much the only decent ones where I'm not half-closing my eyes, which is what I do in EVERY PICTURE! Anyway, we got these pretty close to dark, which is why they're a little fuzzy and drab, but I kind of dig the vibe.

I've only worn this dress one other time, but I can't figure out why, other than I suppose the cut is a bit juvenile. In that post, I referred to it as my "Evil Garden" dress (no. 2) because I paired it with purple. I had to resist that temptation again. But this time I want to do a light, more spring-like look and so I put it with the lace tights and white ruffly sweater that I never wear although I think I try it on almost every day. I always decide against it, perhaps because it's cute, and on top of this cute dress it's extra cute. Veering into Deschanel territory. So I wasn't sure until I tried on the hat, which took the whole thing in a Deadwood direction that I deeply approve of--taffeta and felt hats and cameo-looking necklaces that seem like a ghostface should appear in the silver-black stone? Triple yes. Not Deadwood the show, by the way, the book by Pete Dexter. Have you read it? Incredible! When I was young and foolish I thought I hated westerns but I've long since realized the error of my ways.

Blue Angel

2011-04-06T19:45:00.006-05:00

Mandee shredded pants, Forever XXI top, thrifted scarf and belt, Seychelles heels.

Okay, I am definitely not one of those people who's into "angel art" or has framed prints of Jesus hanging in my front hallway, but there was something celestial and mystical about this scarf, so I picked it up at Goodwill the other day. Since we have definitely (and rather rapidly) entered "spring" (that term still seems laughable since there's dirty snow everywhere and not a hint of a blossom to be seen...anywhere) I wanted to put away my winter scarves and bring out the spring ones -- the ones that are bright and soft and sheer. I also banished my sweaters to the basement and only was only narrowly able to resist covering them in gasoline and lighting them on fire. I am SO. TIRED. OF WINTER. If I ever say that I want fall to hurry up again, please hold me accountable and take away my right to use a keyboard.

Anyway, so I decided to pair this "Sunday" scarf with one of the weirdest and possibly trashiest garments I own -- these shredded pants from Mandee that I got in NYC. I feel like a mermaid in them, or a Greek teenager from Astoria. But from far away they look like jeans and up close their texture is like a costume for a school play, and they are also stamped with what appear to be crop circles. So how could I resist them?

*Days like to today make me think that I pretty much WILL wear anything. Once, at least.

I'm Not Top of Anything, Including America's Model.

2011-04-03T23:59:00.004-05:00

Thrifted shirt, UO skirt, weird see-through monk shirt from Beacon's Closet, Brooklyn, Corso Como shoes, vintage earrings and leather belt.

Is it weird that I didn't actually look at the pattern on this shirt until just now, when I was going through the pictures? I like how it kind of looks like little fans. I never wear this shirt and it's basically something I got because it's soft and I thought I could sleep in it, but seeing it here is making me reconsider. And sorry about the discrepancy between the expressions in the first and second photo -- this weird lady with a dog was crowding us--following us, I swear!--and by the time the second shot was taken I was feeling frustrated and annoyed because she wouldn't quit staring. I mean, I know it's weird standing in front of a random garage and posing like I'm ANTM, but it's what I got to do for the blog! But that visible annoyance is precisely why I couldn't ever win ANTM. And also, the fact that I'm tragically too old to compete. Unless the produscers hop on board the older model trend and do ANTM: Thirty Plus and Only Doing This Because You're Jobless and Childless. Naaahhhh, I'm kidding!

Now I'm going to stop typing because there is a lady bug on my keyboard and I don't want to squash it.

*I realized I already showed you the little jazz shoes (I know you're dying to see them, right?) here.

I Told You I'd Use This Green Wall Again...

2011-04-02T23:13:00.007-05:00

created using the animated gifs maker at MakeAGif

Wearing an Urban Outfitters dress, thrifted '90s Express silk cardigan, vintage shoes, belt and hat. Eye of Sauron bag from Queens.

...And lo, I meant soon. The weather was beautiful today! I almost -- almost -- was comfortable without my sweater for about five minutes. The temperature hovered around 50, but I think it was warmer in the glorious sunshine. Today was my man's birthday, so of course I dragged him out and made him take photos of me. I also made him my specialty and his favorite breakfast, popovers. And because I was feeling weird, I made that little hair-flipping gif! It's my first one! I don't know why I did it! But it felt good!

I kind of didn't like this dress for a whole year, but now I'm digging it. I think being up here in this land which is leeched of color for much of the year has begun to make me rethink my stance on neutrals. But really, the star of the show here is these vintage shoes I got for three dollars. They looked mightily dorky and old-lady on the rack but when I tried them on, I knew they were for me. Low enough to walk in, tan enough to go with anything and suede enough for a cool spring -- in other words, juuuuust right. I know for months and months on this blog I hemmed and hawed about big honking huge shoes, but now all I want are dainty delicate things that flatter the leg. I've actually begun wearing some tiny black tennis shoes on a near daily basis -- they look almost like jazz shoes. I know! I've hardly touched a lace-up since 9th grade gym ended all those years ago. But I like looking down and seeing how very small my feet look, and how very curiously and uncharacteristically shod. And now, since I wrote most of this post about shoes I'm not actually wearing in these photos, I promise I'll show you them tomorrow :)

I Love Freckles and Wish I Could Have Them, Too. And Not Just the Drawn-On Kind.

2011-04-01T16:41:00.014-05:00

photos by me

Some more photos of Lyz from the other day. I love the ones where you can see her freckles! I must say, I'm possessed of a deep freckles-envy of late, but alas they are definitely not in my personal cards. Also, I sort of feel a mania for faces -- it took a lot of self control to not post close-up after close-up. Anyway, we took these on a tennis court in a park by my house, and no joke, about two weeks ago it was still covered in knee-deep snow; I know because I drove over to check it out. But it's finally all dried out, and I feel like I need to use it a million times in this precious interim between when it's too cold for tennis but not snowy, and when the weather warms up enough to drive the locals from their houses and out into the world in search of recreational tennis after this long, cold, wet winter. Thank you for checking out my photos! I will be back to outfit posting tomorrow.

Snow and Glow

2011-03-31T01:36:00.007-05:00

Took some photos of my friend Lyz -- today was one of the first "warm" days and I'm chomping at the bit to get back to my portrait-making. I put warm in quotes because it's subjective, warm being like 45 degrees, but you know what I mean. I also wanted to take advantage of the weird snow-piles-on-green-grass-thing, because such a thing I've never really seen. Anyway, we got SO many lovely shots, but for some reason I like these smoking photos the best. Now yes, we all know smoking is bad for you, so let's not comment on that. I think Lyz looks beautiful in these photos, and very much like herself. The whole experience made me want to make photos much more often. I think I'll put more of Lyz's shots up tomorrow, because we did quite a few sets. If you recognize this dress, it's because I wore it here. It's diaphanous and sheer and marvelously long. Also, I realized I deeply love to look at people's faces.

Ode to Heather Chandler

2011-03-29T19:58:00.009-05:00

Vintage dress, Kensie coat, UO shoes, Target necklace.

I read an article in which Zooey Deschanel talks about her love of little-girl puff sleeves, even though she's in her thirties. Her words have haunted me ever since, and they skipped through my head as I fingered this garment and actually almost put me off this dress. I'm not sure why, but Deschanel kind of rubs me the wrong way. She wears her cuteness too naturally, too easily -- it's like she's not even trying. Which I guess some people think is what makes other people fashionable, or style icons or whatever, but I would suggest that Deschanel's inherent cuteness is in conflict with her super-considered clothing choices, and so to me she seems like a creme puff, or a piece of strawberry shortcake. Too sweet. It is in Heathers where Kim Walker (Heather Chandler, I believe) refers to Winona Ryder as a creme puff, a girl scout cookie? (Wait, I just looked it up--she calls her a brownie, doh). But you get the idea. Deschanel is my creme puff, and I kind of want to poke her in the chest and cast her mercilessly out of my clique.

Annnnyway, I do, however, sometimes enjoy Deschanel's ensembles, and I guess I relate to her in the sense that I'm too old to be dressing the way I do, too. So I got this dress because I liked it and the hemline is right and the buttons on the sleeves are pretty. Even though it's still a bit too cold to wear it (its would be better complimented by bare legs, methinks), I broke it out anyway because paisley makes me happy and has since I was but a wee thing. I think this might be an '80s church dress, which maybe is why I'm thinking of Heathers and that time someone said I looked like Winona Ryder. I never forgot that time...

Double Bubble

2011-03-27T15:06:00.004-05:00

Top Vertigo Paris, skirt Miley Cyrus, thrifted kitten heels, belt and vintage bag. Coffee Shop coat.

This is what spring looks like in Mayotown, I think; snow banks and sopping wet grass and cold hands and doctors' fancy houses. This is actually the hospital lawn -- when we visited, it was oddly strewn a scrim of snow, most of which was slowly but surely peeling back to reveal still-green grass underneath. These photos are from a couple of days ago, but as you can see, it's not as cold as it's been, or as snowy.

I love this Miley Cyrus skirt. It's for a 13-year-old, so the waist is quite cinched on me, and I love wearing it with voluminous tops for a double bubble effect. It makes me feel like a curvaceous Jessica Simpson type. I think I intended to wear pants that day, but after viewing the photos, I like this outfit a lot. I tend to feel that I look cobbled together or somehow slapdash, even when I put a lot of effort into an outfit. So sometimes it's nice to feel like I can look a little more considered. The plaid coat I originally got for fall, but it was already too cold to wear it when I purchased it. It's proving to be a nice spring coat, instead. The blues and pinks feel like spring colors more than fall ones, anyway.

*I will be embarking on my Timewarpian adventure soon, but I'm waiting until it's just a tad warmer so I don't have to bother with legwear as much. I will keep you all updated!

I Wrote My First Country Song in New York City

2011-03-26T12:22:00.009-05:00

Wearing a BCBG dress, vintage boots, thrifted sweater and coat, Primark bird tights.

That's true. I did. And then I wrote another one. Why did I wait so long? I should've been writing them for years -- they suit my emotionality and also my need to turn everything and everyone I meet into a maudlin character. Perhaps I should embark upon a new career?

Here are pictures from the glorious day after a gross and slushy day, when everything was reflecting everything else and the sunrays had the cool/warm quality of early spring. My sister and I sunned in Central Park and I often wished I didn't look like a traveling gypsy orphan, but I suppose if I have to have an aesthetic, I guess it might as well be that -- I'm wearing blue gloves that I found and a kids coat from the Gap and those Primark tights are already toast, since I wore them for three days straight. My country song is called "Thunderstorm," and I feel like this outfit is that, with its flying birds, searching for shelter, and my vaguely unflattering, unfashionable western coat.

New York II

2011-03-22T01:01:00.015-05:00

Something about the day felt very English, which was perfect, because we went to the lovely tea shop my sister takes me to every time I visit her, because it's near her work and they serve my favorite condiment, devonshire cream, and they also serve organic rooibos tea, which everyone thinks tastes like cough syrup. Except me. Even though today's photographs look grey and my hair looks both rain-frizzed and greasy, I was heartened, because I could tell spring is on the wax; the day warmed as it passed and we even spotted little flowers popping out here and there. Oh, to be here in full spring! Maybe one of these years. What I love about New York is that across from my little devonshire cream oasis, there is a cafe that serves everything made from soy. That is something to be happy about, every day.

New York

2011-03-20T23:32:00.008-05:00

Thrifted everything, Forever XXI dress.

I'd been planning to visit Iowa City this week, but my poor friend came down with pneumonia, so instead I was able to get a flight to NYC to visit my sister. Spent the day walking around, drinking a delicious blueberry smoothie, and watching the BEST MOVIE EVER, Country Strong. A pretty perfect day. Tomorrow I'm going to glitter myself out like Gwyneth and maybe get into a drunken brawl, then start hysterically crying and implore someone to "Remember me the way I was!" Ah....perfect.

Mother Mayo

2011-03-17T08:00:00.008-05:00

Wearing a Free People sweater, Monoreno dress, vintage shoes.

Mayo owns this town. The hospital also owns a) my husband's time and b) a lot of fancy art. Now, I'll get my man back eventually (I'm assuming), but while we're here, at least we get to enjoy the company Rodin* and Chihuly on occasion. What's disturbing is how all I could think of when we were in Mayo's grand marble halls (thank you, Saudi Arabian Princes or whoever) is how all these sculptures are going to crash to the ground in the apocalyptic destruction that will occur on December 21, 2012. Moreover, I couldn't stop thinking about how weird it is to go to a hospital to view art. Like, we went out for veggie burgers, then we went to the pediatric wing to look at the fiber optic lights in the waiting room. That's weird. What might be weirder is how while we were out for said veggie burgers, K referred to our smallest dog as "our youngest" in front of our friends.

*Not pictured: the Rodin. Saving that one for later.

**Thank you for your comments on my last post! I've decided to try the Timewarpian thing -- I'm going to gather my materials, do a little research, and then it'll be up up and away. Or back back and...beyond? Either way. Any suggestions for a decade? Methinks I must choose something that's compatible with my hair...

***Thank you Monoreno for featuring me on your blog! I love the dress!

2011-03-16T14:24:00.006-05:00

Please consider donating to Shelterbox's For Japan With Love fundraising campaign. They will be sending family-sized boxes filled with disaster relief equipment, including blankets, water purification devices, stoves, cooking supplies, etc. Read about and donate here.

The Past is Aliiive! (Or Is It? You Decide!)

2011-03-14T19:19:00.012-05:00

Wearing a Zara coat, vintage dress, earrings, ring and belt, thrifted Express sweater, Target tights and thrifted suede heels.

I've been incredibly fascinated with the idea of "timewarpians" -- people so enamored with times past that they dress (and sometimes live their entire lives) in a period style. Even though the proliferation of this idea via blog and Facebook group seems like the opposite of living in a time warp (it's a bit like cosplaying your entire life on the stage of the Internet), I can't deny the weird appeal of the concept. Perhaps it's just the next step in extreme dressing-for-attention. But I was perusing the Live-Like-A-'50/'60s-Housewife blogs and found myself intrigued by these ladies' gumption. Cooking with butter, smoking in bed, etc. Maybe because I've never watched Mad Men, I'm yearning for a dose of the retro. Maybe because the last few times I've gone out shopping, I haven't wanted to buy anything and when I attempt to buy something online I freeze up like I have a horrible phobia -- What if it doesn't fit? What if I hate it? I'll never send it back, I'm too lazy. Better not to buy it. Better to wear old moth eaten things I find in the back of the Goodwill.

Whatever the case, I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in watching me try it for a couple of weeks. You know. Everything. The makeup, the hair curling, the cooking, the drinking, the getting up to see the husband off to work. I mean, why not? I have a trip to Iowa planned in the next couple of weeks, but that might be hilarious, too -- to arrive in character and stay as such for five whole days around people I've never met before. I'd even dress the part at work, which will be totally weird. I know lots of people have done this, but I've never done it, and I'd like to think it'll be good for the deep-imagining, fiction-writing part of my brain. So....drum roll....if you'd be interested to read blog posts in this vein, please comment below -- even if you don't usually. I'm very eager for your input!

Springless Spring and Why I'm Having a Fine Time, Anyway

2011-03-13T18:19:00.009-05:00

Wearing a thrifted dress, Hue tights, Merona kitten heels and a Beverly Hills Polo Club trench.

Well, this is not what I had in mind for my returning photo session, but that's all right. The weather and my schedule refuse to cooperate -- on days when it's decent outside, I'm invariably at work. And don't let the satin spring trench coat fool you; it was about 15 degrees when we took these. Which for some reason still felt warmer than usual to me, perhaps because the sun was shining. Anyway, I promise a decent shoot is coming. On a day when it's 40 or above. Which, supposedly, is supposed to happen soon...or so I'm told by the old timers here. Anyway, all this time away from the internet has really helped me get my bearings both clothingwise and placewise, and so I can offer you this musing: I mind the eternal winter here, sure, but I guess I don't mind it as much as I thought I would. And maybe that's because I know I don't have to live here forever. When I check the temperature here against, oh, say...Finland, I find that it's usually only a few degrees colder there, if at all. That kind of makes me feel badass. I mean, Finland is extreme. That's taiga. Or something. Tundra? And anyway, if what everyone here says is true--that you appreciate the summer so much more when the winters are brutal--then I suppose I will be emotionally moved in that regard, too. So I stand waiting for that. I know I'm always hemming and hawing about the weather now that I live in the Far Arctic North, and I swear, I don't mean to seem so weak-spined. It's just...transition is hard, and it takes awhile to come through.

All this is to say, I think I feel like dressing up again. At least for now. I've actually been doing it for awhile, I just haven't been taking photos. But with the time change and the imminent (hopefully!) warmer temperatures, even if that "warmer" is 40 degrees, I think my spirits will only continue to rise. And anyway, there is something lovely about the blue ice and blue sky and the weird green leaves that never fell off that one tree.

*A note on the outfit: The Goodwill here is a Target dump, and I got these shoes there, brand new, for $3. Normally I'm over animal print, but wow, something about these makes me so happy. They almost feel like clown shoes, the print is so big and strange. And I like how each shoe is completely different, so they kind of look mismatched. Also this is the first trench in the history of man that fits me. Ever.

The Funhouse

2011-03-09T14:56:00.009-06:00

Starring my sister and A.M. Fisher.

I've got a photo session planned for tomorrow, so if the weather cooperates, I should be posting that and my new "mission statement" in the next day or so. Of course, it's very possible the weather won't cooperate, because right now it's snow-raining (I don't know how that's possible, but it is), and I'm just patiently a-waitin' for a little bit non-precipitation so I can trek out to the silent, snow-covered cornfields. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few photos I found while tidying up my Lightroom archive. These are from Coney Island, back in August, which I posted about here. I love a carnival, and I like to think that's because I love America, but it might really be because one of the first "grown-up" novels I ever read was Dean Koontz's The Funhouse, which is terrible, people, just terrible, being somehow about aborted babies and live flaying by means of roller coaster, and horrible Catholic mothers. It's poorly written, to boot, and yet somehow I carried it with me for years and I think of it all the time. What I love about carnivals has to do with that continuum that exists between outrageous fun and PURE EVIL, which everybody I think is aware of on some level, because carnivals are creepy, and there's there is nary a carnival movie or book that does not rely on that down-the-rabbit-hole topsy turvy-ness, on the carnival's electric color and the mystery of its nomadic nature. It's really a perfect setting for any story, if you ask me. And obviously for photographs. So please enjoy!

If you'd like to check out my Solon Beef Days photos, (which were in The Gazette.com, people!) click here.

Moonchild

2011-03-07T15:59:00.004-06:00

Hello! I hope you've all been well and I deeply appreciate your patience while I wait out this Great Northern winter! The bad news is: it's still cold and snowing here -- we're actually in the midst of another snowstorm as I write to you now. But never fear! The good news (at least, I hope you'll regard it as good news), is that Song of the Exile will be returning anyway, albeit with a slight change in focus. I've had a lot of time to think about what I ultimately derive from writing this blog, and I've also had ample of time to internalize my new(ish) surroundings, and come to some sort of internal consensus about what I'd like to make of my sojourn in the Northlands. The blog will still be about personal style, and it will still include outfit photographs, but there will be a significant difference in the quality and mission of the blog -- I'll detail this in an upcoming post. Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you some photos taken way back in the fall, by my dear friend A.M. Fisher. The plague mask was made by my sister. I am the one wearing the mask.

Stay tuned!

Hiatus is a Short Way of Saying I'm Freezing, And Busy, But I Still Love-love You and Need Your Support

2011-02-06T22:02:00.007-06:00

As I'm sure you've noticed, I have not been blogging as much. As in like, at all. This morning I intended to get up and take some photos in a beautiful lace dress from Beacon's Closet in celebration of being hired at a local bridal store, but instead I decided this: I'm going to put the blog on hiatus until it warms up. To be honest with you, there's little joy in dressing when I can't wear what I want, and when taking photos is miserable for everyone involved (read: the husband and myself and our poor camera, which has to be freezing, too). I love all of my followers and I hope you won't take me off your Bloglovin' lists and Google Readers, because I intend to be back sometime next month at the latest. But truthfully, I don't have anything pretty to show you, and on top of that, I don't really have anything to say about dressing or fashion when I only dress for warmth and my photog doesn't get home until waaaay past dark. This blog does not generate revenue for me and I'm not really interested in self promotion to the extent that a "serious" blogger must be: this blog has always been a way for me to meet people and stay in touch with those I have met, and it's supposed to encourage me to be creative. And it's...not. Not really. I dread photo sessions because of the cold and I'm not happy with indoor photos; that's never been my aesthetic. So. That's a long way of saying, please don't un-follow me, because I shall return, and when I do I hope to make the blog bigger, better, and more beautiful. I have some fun trips planned and will hopefully have some lovely photos to share with you, and I also hope the experience of working in a bridal store will give me lots of insight into aspects of clothing and dressing that I've yet to encounter.

If you'd like to get in touch with me during the course of this hiatus, you can email me here: julia.whicker@ gmail.com. I will of course still be checking my email a gagillian times a day. I love you all, and am incredibly grateful for your interest, emails, and support. Hopefully I'll see you back here come late March.

The Ring of the Cosmos

2011-02-01T17:27:00.000-06:00

Wearing rose leggings by Active Basic, Lucky Brand boots, gifted ring.

This is what I actually wear like, erryday. Leggings, massive boots, supersoft t-shirt, scarf, and of course a coat (not pictured). Boring and fit for a cold walk. But lo, there be light at the end of the tunnel, because last night I actually broke out a glittery dress and went out in high style. Even wore heels. I'm all "Winter, your horrible reign is almost up." I'm all "So yeah, Winter, what would you do if I told you I was going to Puerto Rico? To relax on a beach? In a ridiculous bathing suit? I THOUGHT so. I THOUGHT you'd be scared."

PS: This ring was a beautiful Christmas present from my man. It looks like a planet being orbited by a small glowing moon, and so I love it.

Cross My Heart

2011-01-30T11:48:00.005-06:00

Wearing a thrifted sweater, vintage coat, Charlotte Russe tights, Lucky Brand boots, my sister's fur/leather gloves (warm!).

It's warmed up considerably and maybe I've toughened up a little, too, I don't know. 25 degrees is like, totally doable for me at this point. I do know this: I do think these tights are perfect. There's something undeniably sexy about them, the crossed ribbons at the thighs, and paired with these boots (real leather, over-the-knee, and warm, my friends) I feel pretty functional and still a little bit badass. The boots were a carefully considered purchase because they cost a little more than I usually spend on shoes, but I figured I'd shell out because I'll probably be wearing them another 3 months.

We went to the top of the Mayo parking deck and the snow started just as we took these photos. I love a lot about the landscape here, but for some reason I've been feeling incredibly homesick lately. Oh, how my heart belongs to the East Coast!

(Again, I offer you my now routine apologies for the slow down in posts -- I've been working almost every day and until the sunset time changes enough for K to be able to get pictures when he comes home from work, I suppose I'll be posting less often. I've also been writing, and soon you'll be able to read one of my stories in an exciting new literary journal).

Feather Extension, Extended Edition

2011-01-23T00:01:00.004-06:00

Wearing a thrifted sweater, Forever XXI shorts, UO scarf and gloves, feather extension.

Taking photos in -10 is really unpleasant. So is like, dressing. So is breathing. I need to tell you this now, and really I'm not complaining, or maybe I am complaining, but at any rate, what I wish I could wear and the photos I wish I could take are extremely not what I'm showing you. I hated this outfit but it's so damn cold that I just put something on and I was like, Come on, trusty husband-photographer, we're getting photos of these feathers. I actually love this sweater, but getting dressed to walk outside, then actually walking outside, then actually taking my coat off, then smiling and pretending my eyes aren't burning is muy dificil, my dearest blog friends. I am thin of skin and southern, and just four days ago I was in the relative warmth of 40 degrees, so I must get these complaints off my chest. I love the sun here, and the snow, but I hate the negative temperatures. Give me any temperature over 5 degrees, and I swear I won't complain. I'll happily shed my outer layer and dress up in sheer tights. But this -30 windchill is not fun. For anyone. K's hair froze while were outside. My dog seized up after 3 minutes in the snow and fell down and I had to rescue her from the snow-bank where she lay in a fetal position, unmoving and obviously waiting for death to claim her.

But enough complain-y talk. In other news, I haven't yet shown you this lovely ring K got me for Christmas, and also, I've taken to wearing my hair natural -- that is, unstraightened and uncurled. I'm liking it, even though I have to wait until it dries to leave the house. Oh wait! I won't leave the house unless I absolutely have to, because it's too cold!

Feather Sneak Peak

2011-01-19T18:09:00.004-06:00

This isn't an outfit post because to be honest, when these photos were taken I'd reached the dregs of my travel wardrobe and also my hair was still wet, but I wanted to give you a sneak peak of the feather extension I had put in last week. I actually really love it, even though I feel conflicted about it being real feathers. I think I might be going through an ethical shift, and, uh, maybe that's because I'm reading this book, which I know is also supposed to be a little tongue in cheek, but I'm always going to be all about readying myself for the coming apocalypse because I think that's just, well, smart. By which I mean, yes, maybe I will turn my basement into a water-storage facility and yes, certainly I'm going to learn how to shoot.

This photo is from Sunday, during which I spent a leisurely brunch with Stephanie of Style Odyssey, and she took this photo and quite a few other lovely ones, as well, and she's also a Twitter celebrity! Thanks for the great time, Stephanie!

I'm back in good ole freezing Minnesota, with the hot prospect of working in a bridal boutique. Which actually sounds hella fun.

Inspiration (Probably More Than You Wanted to Know).

2011-01-15T13:11:00.009-06:00

I realize it's been well over a week since last I posted, and I promise you there are decent reasons for this. I had intended to go up to NYC to visit my sister and take lots of pictures, but inclement weather intervened, and instead I've stayed in North Carolina and Charleston--which is, although less exciting, probably warmer. Today I'm still in Charleston, and it's a glorious 55 degrees and I'm wearing a t-shirt and a scarf, though I can't show you because I left my camera charger in North Carolina. I've also been writing and writing, AND, AND(!) I also got feather hair extensions, which I planned to show you today but can't because, well...the camera's out of juice. And I won't subject you a grainy iPhone photo, that's for true. So. I remain picture-less myself but I'll share a photo which has been inspiring my fiction lately. I wish I had the energy to write a post about the appropriation of Native culture in fashion, because I am actually bright enough to have an opinion on it, but I will say this: I think that, because I am a writer, I also believe that hey, everybody has to get inspired somewhere. I do think native accoutrements have been shamelessly adopted and sold by the white man, (I did a whole year on this in one of my college honors seminars--to read my post about that, click here), but I also think being able to have an honest dialogue about inspiration is useful in many ways. For instance, the piece I'm working on right now is made up of these bits, and more:
1. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy.
2. Rick Owens' AW08 collection.
3. The Conor Oberst song Cape Canaveral (I can't find a non-crappy YouTube version, but it's on iTunes if you're interested).
4. Blue diamonds.
5. Gerardus Mercator, the Flemish cartographer.
6. The Superstition Mountains.

Bow-ties and Brogues

2011-01-06T22:26:00.004-06:00

Charlotte Russe tights, vintage brogues.

A couple of pictures from this afternoon, snapped by this lovely lady. More on our Charleston meet-up later when I've had time to edit the photos -- right now, I want to show you these pretty sheer tights and these $3 brogues I got at the Goodwill. Actually, I had no idea the tights had the little bow-ties, and I was a little disappointed when I noticed them, but I fell for them as soon as I got them on. And these brogues, while perhaps once worn by an 80-year-old, feel just right to me right now, and they're also as comfortable as any shoes I've found, recently, including my beloved leopard flats.

*I'm sorry for the lag in posting -- truthfully, I've been writing so much lately I haven't been thinking much about dressing, but I just finished a story, so perhaps I'll be able to get my head back in the game. Here's hoping. I hope the New Year has been splendid for you all so far!

Hair Purse For Two Thousand and Eleven

2011-01-01T16:45:00.011-06:00

Happy New Year! So instead of blogging, I've been writing. Not a terrible way, by any means, to bring in the new year, but when I say writing, I mean spending 7+ hours a day writing. Like, that's forserious writing. I don't know what's come over me. Usually I have major trouble working when I'm at home or traveling, but right now, everything seems to be falling into place and I'm not going to knock it. I took these photos of my sister the other day. The pony hair bag was one of her Christmas gifts. I really really wanted it for myself. But in the end, I bit the bullet and gave it to her because I know she'll enjoy it (and use it) more than I will. Thankfully all the snow from these photos is gone and it was a balmy 57-ish today, though it rained.

My resolution list for 2011 is short but pointed (and not too personal to share):
Publish.
Love myself.
Be kind.
No more anger.
Go somewhere.
Chickens.

It's like I'm 17 Again

2010-12-29T13:58:00.002-06:00

Wearing a thrifted silk top and sweater, Forever XXI linen skirt, Merona tights and flats. Wilson Leather bag.

I was a bit annoyed to discover that a blanket of snow had fallen in my hometown, but since it's nothing compared to our seven foot Midwestern drifts, I decided to take advantage of the slightly warm (!) weather and wear two things I can't back in Minnesota: sheer tights and flats. I actually brought a pair of Charlotte Russe Swiss dot tights with me in my suitcase, but those ripped and so yesterday I scored some new ones at Target. Seems the only thing I get excited about these days is legwear, so I'm trying to amass a fair collection. Today's pair? Hot teal leopard print tights which are clearly intended for a thirteen-year-old and are not in the least bit classy or subdued, but my modus operandi here on the home turf is to freak out the squares. I kid. Kind of. So stay tuned.

I also noticed yesterday how long my hair is getting, and today I noticed how very wavy it is, here in the humidity. I miss being able to go out, wet-headed, without risking all manner of cold-borne illnesses. There are a lot of things I miss about the East Coast, but I've found myself becoming increasingly maudlin and am trying to curb that impulse. So yesterday my sister and I devised a story in which a unicorn is transformed into Zac Efron by Gillian Anderson's benign Salem witch magic. Fan fiction central.

*Have you ever SEEN 17 Again, starring Efron? If not, and if you are between the ages of 27-34, go watch it. I promise it will move you in a curious and glorious way and also that if you start imagining Efron as a unicorn, you'll see why that needs to be a real movie.

Rose Red

2010-12-25T20:54:00.007-06:00

Wearing a vintage sweater, UO dress, Timberland boots, Charlotte Russe earmuffs and a Merona scarf.

There's something I deeply love about wearing red in the snow. I never knew this until now, but then, how could I? Snows in my southern homeland are fleeting at best, and when we lived in Iowa, I guess it just never seemed so...omnipresent. Here the snow is like a sleep and the whole land is quiet and the birds are fat and you need boots like these (awesome) Timberland Earthkeepers to tread without fear of wet feet or slipping. But back to the wearing of red. I never understood when people's mothers would say things like, "Put on some lipstick, dear, you look washed out," because I've always preferred a natural face, but now I guess I do, or shall I say I don't prefer a natural face, because when I compare my bare face to my red-lipped face, I can't help but think the bare one looks zombie-ish and lifeless against all that snow. Also, isn't there something Arthurian about black and white and red? Something romantic but in a better-than-Twilight way? I'm not sure exactly what association I'm making there, but it pleases me and feels medieval and fancy, so I will assume it's a good one. Red lips. Red scarf. The best way to be in the snow.

*As you read this, I'm on my way to the warm(ish) Southland. I will be spending the next few weeks at home and traveling, and I hope to be able to bring you more frequent photos and more interesting outfits and locations.

**Christmas is the only time of year I'd wear the penguin sweater, but ISN'T IT AWESOME? Wait, I'll answer for you. Yes. Yes it is.

Before We Opened the Gifts

2010-12-25T17:43:00.004-06:00

Let me tell you about that silver reindeer stocking holder. We saw it at Target and we were all like, Whoa, that's perfect! And then they only had one. Well, they had one silver and one bronze, and K was like, We can get 'his' and 'hers' reindeer, but he said it really skeptically and I knew he didn't actually want the bronze one, which didn't look nearly so classy as the silver one. So then we moved some boxes and bent down and looked harder. And actually they had two silver ones. So we got them. And then I got these old-fashioned long knit stockings that match but have no loop holders, so I just improvised and tied some of their fringe together and made loops.

We even got the dachshunds into their Christmas sweaters. No pictures of Stanzie in her red sweater because she wouldn't emerge from her blanket cocoon. Merry Christmas, dearest readers! I hope you all had the loveliest holiday yet. We stayed in all day, snuggled up with pop-overs and some new books and slippers and a nice warm fire and our dogs.

xo

The Long Black Veil and Please Hurry, Christmas!

2010-12-23T17:09:00.005-06:00

Bisou Bisou coat, vintage 80s leather gloves.

I meant to post these photos days ago, but time has gotten away from me. No matter -- here they are, and here I am, in my mst favorite find, of late: a Bisou Bisou extreme floor length parka. I feel like the Matrix in this coat, and were it warmer, I'd love to rock it open-style as I stalk down some nefarious green-tinted hallway toward my climactic character-moment. But I'm not the Matrix, so I just wore it work and people thought I was weird, and/or that I was wearing a sleeping bag.

I want Christmas to arrive! This will be my first Christmas away from our extended families, so K and I are embracing our own, littler family (three dachshunds), and we're eating a duck dinner and having lots of presents. He doesn't get much time off from the hospital, but hopefully we'll have enough to go for a winter walk. You know what I'll be wearing!

Nordic Royal

2010-12-19T22:48:00.002-06:00

Charlotte Russe earmuffs.

Because it's so cold we share the earmuffs. Plus, a sneak peak of this AH-Mazing floor-length puff coat I found for a ragingly absurd $10. PS: Doesn't my man look like a King of the Ice-Eyed Nordics?

Loving You Too Much Was My Greatest Mistake

2010-12-18T22:41:00.006-06:00

Wearing a J. Crew top, Forever XXI shorts, Charlette Russe tights, vintage boots, belt and hat.

Come now, don't let my coy expression fool you. It was -4 today (windchill, which is warm to us now, and we celebrated by momentarily going coatless). But then K began to worry because his ears were stinging and turning red and I couldn't feel my fingers. So we went back inside. But you can see the glorious icicles in our neighborhood. Someone in our wireless range has a network called "Icecircles," which I think is sort of a beautiful word. Anyway, on to the obvious feature here, the leopard tights. These were making the rounds last year, I know, and I never wanted any, but suddenly they appear in the bargain bin at Charlotte Russe and I can't keep my hands off them. I was skeptical of their versatility, not to mention their, uh, classiness, but my fears were promptly and utterly put down when I got them on. They are awesome and I think I look awesome in them. I feel like animal print is kind of done (just like I thought lace tights were done, but then I went to Brooklyn and EVERYONE THERE IS STILL WEARING THEM) so I guess sometimes I'm wrong about things like that, or else I'm not wrong, and animal print is indeed done and I'm just a sad lone sentinel that nobody remembered was on guard duty and I'm out in the cold and looking stupid. Either way. I love these and plan to wear the bejesus out of them.

Flashback, or, Which One of My Parents Do I Look Like?

2010-12-15T18:05:00.003-06:00

I love this picture of my parents. It hangs in my kitchen. I'm not sure exactly when it was taken, but it must be from about a year before I was born, maybe in '80 or '81, in the back yard of the house where they still live. What strikes me most is how, although they don't really dress this way anymore, they almost dress this way -- that is, I can see how they got from that moment to where they are now. My father has maybe never worn a pair of jeans in his life and he still loves hats and my mother has always favored bright colors and bohemian jewelry and I remember she had the same pair of hippie sandals that Jenny throws at her old house in Forrest Gump. I think those rockin' glasses might be in a box somewhere in our house. I wonder who took this photo?

*Apologies for my slow posting -- I can't take photos in the cold: believe me, I tried today and they turned out pretty terribly. I'm working on it. I did update my "Currently" page, though, so you know I'm not doing nothing.

Snow Total Part 1, and a Plug (For Serious, You Need This Book)

2010-12-13T00:35:00.011-06:00

Wearing Forever XXI fingerless gloves and skirt, thrifted duck boots, and a hat made by my mother.

Just another day shoveling three feet of snow -- or at least, that's how K spent the day, and I helped him until my fingers became "iced over" (elapsed time, approximately five minutes) and I "had" to go in and warm them. But he was very gracious. And don't worry, I was wearing a coat when we were shoveling, but man, these double gloves weren't cutting it in the -16 windchill. Which doesn't actually feel that cold when you're walking from your car to TJ Maxx but which feels extra cold when you're doing anything outside for longer than five minutes. And yes, your eyes doth not deceive you -- that is snow nearly up to our window boxes. I've really never seen this much snow, not even in the North Carolina mountains. I promise more and better pictures tomorrow, because today was mostly spent digging out and cooking for a little post-snow dinner party we had, which was vegetarian and featured one of the first dishes I ever made for company, a three-pepper lasagna (that was for you, Edan!). Speaking of awesome friends who are published authors, look here! This is Madeline McDonnell's book, and it's AWESOME, and you need it for yourself and/or to give to your loved one or your co-worker or your dog groomer, and it's only 10 dollars and Madeline is one of the most funny, smart, daring writers I've ever had the good fortune to call a friend. She also has been known to rock the eveningwear for day in a way that can only be described as boss, if people say that anymore, which I know they don't, but her style remains and there are no words.

They should've sent a poet*.

*Contact, 1997, starring Jodie Foster.

Shine

2010-12-11T16:40:00.006-06:00

I won't even bother telling you what I'm wearing because it's not important (although I love this goosedown puff coat -- it's like wearing a sleeping bag, and it's marginally fitted so I don't feel like a marshmallow. Its main flaw is that it isn't waterproof, and today that was a quite a major flaw indeed). We had (are having) a blizzard! There's no hope of outfit photos, so I'm showing you some details from our Christmas decorations. This year I wanted my theme to be "blue and silver tinsel throwdown meets the dingy inside of a smoker's house circa the early '60s." I'm doing a crappy job explaining. I've been thinking a lot about the interiors of houses I visited as a child, when people still smoked inside and their walls were yellowed and their televisions were encased in wood. Maybe I just don't go in enough houses anymore (or maybe the houses I go in are owned by younger people), but it doesn't seem like these exist anymore. So there is nostalgia for that. And something about tinsel makes me think of the unpleasant task of cleaning up after a party, but also it makes me think of the shining blue ice and snow outside, which is strangely heartening despite the difficulty dressing and also the general danger of having at least a foot of unplowed snow on the roads. Anyway, I bought a bunch of iridescent snowflakes at the Dollar Tree and put them in every window, and threw tinsel uh, everywhere. All our Christmas decorations are made of some sort of oil-like plastic substance which makes me feel guilty, but maybe that's okay since we're confronted daily with a heck-load of nature outside. Tomorrow's low? -24. That's the actual temperature. (-30 windchill).

The Red Lip as an (Indefinite) Accessory to a Veil of Snow

2010-12-07T17:58:00.014-06:00

Wearing a vintage faux fur, sweater and shirt, Charlotte Russe elephant print leggings, Forever XXI shoes.

It was so cold today that I couldn't seem to get warm, no matter where I went or what I put on, so I talked on the phone and didn't get any Christmas shopping done. I also almost didn't show you this outfit, since it's not particularly creative and it was mostly born out of my desire to be warm and also I'm so tired of wearing big sweaters and leggings. And don't let appearances fool you, here: I've got on some thick tights under those leggings, and like four shirts, and still I got cranky after five minutes of photos. I've got to hand it to all you snappy dressers in Canada and Alaska -- dudes, you ladies have some cojones of steel. Mine are not steel yet, but maybe they will be after two or three more winters here. As of now, my life is such that maybe I won't be showing you my awesome skin-baring lace tights or my beautiful vintage pale lace dress or my super great new earrings (it's too cold to wear earrings, I think -- the idea of a metal post inserted through the earlobe in -4 degrees seems crazy to me) until I go home to the south after Christmas. What I can show you is a new (thrifted) down vest I bought, some big ugly snow boots that might have to do until I hopefully get some more attractive ones at Christmas and some red lipstick, which I think looks really awesome with the snow. Am I'm allowed to consider snow an accessory? I think I am. Lately I feel like nothing but a pale face sticking out of various and sundry oversized coats, so a red lip seems the least I can do. You know, to spruce up the facial canvas. A reader was recently kind enough to comment that I looked like Snow White, and I'm taking that praise to heart in the most literal way possible. Thank you!

XS Seeks Same, to Help Her Rid Her Closet of XXLs. What Was I Thinking All Those Times?

2010-12-05T22:28:00.000-06:00

Thrifted sweater and skirt, Express denim shirt, Modcloth "Bootimus Prime" boots.

I find I've been more careful when picking outfits lately. The retrospective I did a couple of months ago had the effect of making me a little terrified of dressing -- I've worn so many horrible outfits! Or at least, outfits I don't care to wear again. Thus I'm noticing I rely on dressing "formulas" more than before, a tendency which probably would've alarmed me last year but actually sort of comforts me now, because that must mean I'm not spending so much creative energy obsessing about my clothing. Right? Which means I'm spending it on more productive endeavors, like writing and picture-taking and making playlists and tossing iridescent flammable tinsel onto every available surface in my house. Right now I like the look of a full, short skirt (a piece that's a bit of a unicorn for a short girl such as myself -- this skirt here is a bit too long for the look I'm after, but it is mega-full, so I forgive its length issues) with a slim cardigan. I really liked the fitted the cardigan I wore in my last post, and I wanted to wear something like that again today, but uh...everything I have is pretty much oversized, like this big sweater. Please, please don't get me wrong: I've loved me a huge sweater coat, hard, since college, (when, incidentally, my sister once asked me as we stood in TJ Maxx, But what will you do when they go out of style? and I threw back my head and laughed like a madwoman). But as a result of this perhaps ill-advised dedication to the large sweater, I've systematically discarded all of my close-fitting shirts and cardigans (for various reasons, the most pertinent of which is that they all seemed too "high school" -- aka 1997 -- hopelessly lame and like something fourteen-year-old girls in North Carolina with no idea how to dress might wear because they want to show off their bodies -- their sad pretty badly dressed mall-bound bodies). BUT. But. As much as I hate to admit it, that slim buffalo cardigan from yesterday was pretty damn flattering.

Did this post make any sense? I don't think it did. Take home message. Buy a fitted top or two, Julia, it'll put some hair on your chest.

1220 Under the Gauze of the First Snow

2010-12-04T18:39:00.010-06:00

Wearing a Target sweater, vintage silk shirt and belt and hat, Miley Cyrus skirt, and Anne Taylor boots.

I must be going native (am I allowed to say that?). It was a comparably warm 21 degrees today and I wasn't even cold without my coat while we shot these. Talk about a magical morning. The sun was weakly shining whilst flurries floated in the air, and K shoveled the walk and I didn't even have to dig out my car because we have a garage. That house in the second photo is ours -- pretty, huh? I can't say I'm overflowing with love for this town but I love our house, and its good vibes and pretty green shutters. This is the first real snow of the season, and it was good powdery, playful snow, about eight inches of it, and when I woke up this morning I thought: Today I will wear the Russian fur cap because I CAN. And I can't believe I've never thought of this outfit before, because I loved it, how cloying and sweet and weird it makes me feel, especially with the seamed stockings and that what-are-you-wearing fur cap. I guess the happiness showed, since these the best pictures we've taken in a long time (or at least, the ones where I look the happiest). Some days it can be difficult not to look cross or annoyed or put-out, even when I don't really feel that way -- I think my blank face looks either mean or scared. Anyway. Today--today I felt radiant, and I even got off work an hour early.

Please Give Me Time To Change Your Mind

2010-12-02T17:03:00.009-06:00

Thrifted dress, Kensie coat, vintage boots and belt and bag, Urban Outfitters hat.

When I found this glitter ball of a dress, I knew I had to have it, because it fits two of my favorite criteria for a going-out dress: it's a plus-sized shirt, and it's marginally gold. It's also, if you'll notice, basically a jester suit. Yeah. I know what you're thinking: You're thinking AWESOME! There is EVERY WAY I'd wear a jester suit. Now, when devising a way to wear this dress for day (because really, where do I ever go at night?) I relied on my old standby method: brown accessories. The scuffy flat boots take the glitz down a notch and the super-casual belt and the Gunslinger hat make me look like a total weirdo, and in my book, brown + weirdo + hat = day!

*Also, I'd like to take this moment to mention that I've been going through a Stevie Nicks/I am a sorceress phase for the last two months, and I am so happy my hair is now reaching an appropriately dramatic length. I'm going full hippie, so get ready, because this hair will be epic and I know I'll look back and think, "Ah, when I was young and Stevie Nicks-esque and wore jester suits and sorceress clothes and watched The Last Unicorn on Netflix. My interior life was good."

The Heartbreak Town

2010-11-30T13:00:00.010-06:00

Wearing a Zara coat, Target lace skirt, Time Out fleece tights, UO booties and Charlotte Russe earmuffs.

A few nights ago I slipped on some black ice and smashed my head on the pavement. It bled. It bruised. I have a big scrape near my hairline and two knots that hurt whenever I blowdry my hair. I had one of those moments -- you know, as I was falling -- when I lucidly thought "You could die now." Obviously I didn't, and I didn't even need to go to the hospital, but it was a wake up call, you can be sure of that. I wasn't even wearing heels! I just...didn't realize the ground was icy, I guess. Anyway, the point of that "pity me" story is simply that I feel myself forming a very weird relationship with this little cold town up here in the north country. There are things about it that absolutely alienate me, but they're not really the obvious ones. It's how everyone appends their sentences with the words "at all," no matter what they're saying or asking. It's how I now know more about Brett Favre than I could've ever wanted to. It's how there is no place in this town of doctors to get organic meat. There's no gay bar. There's no sushi restaurant. But lest this begin to sound like a litany of complaints, let me come to my point. Something about this town is curiously endearing, but perhaps it's not got anything to do with this town in particular. Maybe it's got more to do with living in a small town, in general. I sort of feel like I have a lot of friends. I also feel like there's a lot of delicious gossip, as well as a lot of honest-to-god nice people. And also people who are really mean, but interesting-mean, and that's really all I ask of mean people -- that they be interesting. And...there are also a lot of places to get parkas and earmuffs and Sno-Melt and fleece-lined tights. PS: Fleece-lined tights are THE BEST. They've nearly solved my sartorial dilemma about not wanting to wear pants but also wanting to be warm, because they're warmer than pants and also more comfortable than pants! So maybe I will smash my head on the ice again, but maybe it's good for me. I'm still dreaming of aprés-Christmas, when I can go home to the relative warmth of the Carolinas, but for now my fleece tights and my plastic fur coats and the glow of friendly people will keep me warm.

What Remains is Ugly, and Other Uplifting Messages in Red Riding: 1974

2010-11-29T17:15:00.008-06:00

I sat down last night to watch the first installment of the Red Riding trilogy: 1974. I have an abiding if perhaps morbid love of tales of mystery and murder, and since I'm also a fan of films set in the seventies that look smeared in Vaseline and also apparently a fan of possibly misogynistic and/or brilliant (which IS it?) crime thrillers (see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or as it's titled in Swedish, Men Who Hate Women), I thought I'd give this Julian Jarrold-directed flick a whirl. It's based on a quartet of novels by David Peace, which I haven't read, though now I think I might, and concerns a decade-long period of civil corruption and violence in Yorkshire, in northern England. Young girls are murdered, reporters are intimidated, and planned shopping malls are the cause of brutally violent altercations that I sort of wish I hadn't seen because I really hate torture scenes and do everything I possibly can never to watch them. But despite the film's violence (of which there is much) and the almost soul-crushing bleakness of its world-view, I found something to admire -- or at least, something that moved me. Rebecca Hall, the lovely and too-rarely on-screen mother of one of the missing girls, manages to bring grace to the film even as she's predictably painted as a figure we should both desire and pity. She conveys, with just the right balance of bitchitude and frailty, the irreparable damage done to her by her daughter's disappearance and her husband's subsequent suicide. When our promiscuous leading man (Andrew Garfield and his cigarette, both playing a reporter) gets angry at her for sleeping with a shady benefactor who might also be the murderer of her daughter, she helps us understand how his lust-driven "kindness" is simple-minded, macho and selfish, and how she's known that all along. "Do you think you're the first man who's tried to save me?" she asks. "You're not, and you won't be the last." Her pain remains, but he cannot begin to glimpse the depth of it, and we realize he hasn't even tried. Worse, we realize we haven't, either. *Tear* PS: The costumes are pretty sweet, and Andrew Garfield wears the same shirt for almost the whole movie, and he makes me want to wear slacks, an admirable feat indeed, considering he's almost too goofy for me to buy as anything but a dull-witted boy-next-door, but he seems to make much more sense dressed in seventies-era frippery.

The Coming of Winter and the Turning of Seasons and the Eventuality of Uggs.

2010-11-26T13:31:00.007-06:00

Wearing a vintage jacket, skirt, and bag, thrifted shirt, fleece tights, Corso Como shoes.

I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrated it yesterday, and I also wish I could tell you this is what I wore, but it was too cold for frippery and I went out bundled in two sweaters and a down jacket. It's hardly warmer today, but since the sun is shining and I'm about to be confined forever at the cafe for the next three days, I thought I'd brave the weather and actually put on clothes. I've been thinking a lot about the cold, and how it's relative and also not such a big deal if one doesn't make it into one. Crazy as it sounds, I felt colder when it was only about 40 degrees, versus now when it's, uh, 12. High temperature. With sun.

For inspiration, I'm re-reading one of my favorite novels, Jane Smiley's The Greenlanders, which is a grand book indeed and one of the best I've ever had the pleasure to press into the hands of all my friends, and now I'm singing its praises to you, my internet friends. Read it! It's tough and honest and moving and elegant and restrained and brilliant. It's written in a tone approximating the medieval sagas, and it's much concerned with the turning of the seasons and years in the Norwegian colony of Greenland during the 14th century. This is the last century that particular colony was known to exist, no one is exactly certain how and why it eventually failed, but Smiley offers us her own vision of their decline, and it's incredibly poignant. One of the things I love most about this novel is the way in which the Greenlanders' response to their very harsh environment is intricately described, how they prepare every year for winter and how every year they seem to barely squeak through to the other side, with less and less of their wealth and their wills intact.

It may sound silly, but this makes me feel brave about being out in the -1 degree temperatures here in the Northlands. What I mind isn't so much the cold, because it's not like I have a farm and I have to be patching my fence perimeter every week, or feeding my cows at 5am. It's more a psychological barrier -- one I really want to understand and break down. I know much of it is about having the right clothes. These fleece tights are warm even in 0 degrees (true!) and my faux fur coats are almost as warm as real fur because they're like plastic or oil or something. I almost bought Uggs the other day (OMG) but at the last moment I didn't, but when I passed them over I had the distinct feeling that I'd be back for them later and I wouldn't be embarrassed about buying them then, either.

DiCaprio, Damon, and Me. And Carcinogens. And Snow.

2010-11-22T23:19:00.003-06:00

Wearing a Forever XXI sweater, wedges and leggings, UO tee shirt.

I didn't plan to post again so quickly, but I wanted to say thank you all for your incredible words of support regarding my last post. I know my issues with blogging are neither interesting nor unique, but still, it's nice to know you guys are reading to see what I'm saying and not what I'm wearing. The Educated Pony wrote a far more articulate and thoughtful post concerning these issues et al, so if you're feeling like-minded, check out her words. Far more stimulating than my own "I don't feeling like posting outfits anymore, wahhhh!"

I also thought I'd do a little redesign around here to see if that made me feel any more invigorated with the blog in general, and it may have helped a little. I'm obviously still working on the site, so please don't mind the mess. Additionally, please don't mind the gratuitous hair shots I've so shamelessly included above -- I was having an awesome hair day, despite the humidity and the light snow (snow!). So here I am in all I want to wear now: a sweater that might as well be a blanket and double lined leggings and shoes that entirely encase the foot in a polyurethanic robotic glory that keeps it both warm and dry and possibly induces cancer, but that will have to be decided at a later date and I'm betting the PU people will never pay me for my trouble anyway, and anyway I'm the fool-ass who wore PU so who can I really blame but myself? If I got cancer? From these hoof shoes? I declare the day of the stomping shoe to be over, and yet now I have so many of them, what will I do? Put them in storage until 10 years from now? But then I'll just want new ones. Anyway, so the big shoes is dead to me in theory, like DiCaprio, until something happens to make me remember how much I once loved him, and that always, always happens. PS: tell me DiCaprio circa 1995 and Matt Damon circa School Ties aren't THE SAME BOY. Just try.

In Which She Owns Up To Failing and Describes What She Learned From Said Fail, Or Maybe It's Not a Fail, But a Release. Fly Away.

2010-11-21T19:26:00.007-06:00

Wearing a thrifted black tee and heels, homemade shorts, fleece tights, vintage hat.

If you haven't already figured it out, my attempt at the 30 for 30 challenge was a massive, full-blown, epic fail. I take full responsibility for that fail -- well, about 90%. The other 10% I'm going to chalk up to working too much, attaining some unexpected but welcomed artistic opportunities, and poor clothing choices due to my ignorance of these harsh Minnesota weather conditions. (And yet here I am, showing you an outfit that is not at all weather appropriate. Curious. Be advised that I later wore these tights and this top to work, so really this outfit was born out of necessity, since we have to wear all black.) At any rate, I give up, 30 for 30! I give in. It's not that I can't, it's that I guess I realized I don't roll this way. To figure out seven different ways to wear a shirt when all I want to do is be warm and comfortable suddenly seems like it's taking up more of my mental energy than it should be, and I have a novel to write.

Let me expound, if you'll hear me out. Lest I seem too harsh on the 30 for 30, I'd like to point out that if I'd taken this challenge last winter, or even this summer, I'd have finished and considered the exercise a month well spent. I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. But now, for reasons that are probably boring to my readers who are here for talk of clothing and style, I just can't bring myself to put much energy in the way I dress, much less remix. Put another way: I might be tired of blogging about my outfits. Put still another way: I might be tired of the internet. For many of the same reasons I abhor Facebook, I've begun to dislike the tit-for-tat catch-uppery that characterizes the blogosphere. I've watched my comments dwindle as I've stopped commenting on blogs that don't move me to want to comment. Zen as I try to be about those waning numbers, I can't really help feeling like a failure -- but at what am I failing? My readership has remained fairly steady, and I truly do cherish the amazing friends I've made through this blog. But let's be real, yo: I'm not saying anything super interesting about style and I don't have any new Alexander Wang bag to show you and all my clothes cost $3 and you've GOT to be tired of looking at my face by now, because I am and I'm pretty damn vain, what what. What I can talk about is writing and feminism and being a girl in this big big world that judges and judges forever and doesn't stop judging. The things I love about blogging -- the photography and the dressing up and the drive to push myself into new realms of sartorial daring -- these are all in me already. Fifth Element opera diva style. I'm always going to look like a wack-a-doo when I'm out on the town; that's just who I am. I can do photography with K and dear A.M. And though I've always been possessed of a curiously oxymoronical impulse toward exhibitionistic privacy (an extensive blog but no Facebook etc etc, and PS: I'm a novelist who doesn't want her name her novel), those two impulses seem like they're finally settling out nicely, side by side, like two little sleepy puppies who've rolled around all day and are tired of play-fighting with each other.

No worries (were you worried?)-- I don't plan to stop blogging. I guess. I'm too fickle to make any big promises like that anyway; I couldn't even finish the 30 for 30! But right now I want to focus on my artistic work. If you're not adverse to seeing outfits that aren't particularly this or that or anything but me trying to stay warm in this tundra, and if you're not tired of my face yet and you like a whole lotta bellyachin' about "what it's like to be a woman, goddammit," please stay tuned, maybe slightly less regularly.

I have a lot to say about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, if anyone wants to hear about that...If only Steig Larsson were alive, I'd write him such a strongly worded letter expressing my utter and complete rage/bafflement/tender acceptance of his creation.

If You Brighten the Photos Enough Everyone looks like a Model and/or High

2010-11-17T00:32:00.003-06:00

I swear I was neither drunk nor afflicted by an illegal substance when these were shot, and yet there's something about them that I love because I never seem myself this way. Not part of 30 for 30. Yes part of my recent life, which has been filled with fortuitous comings and benevolent events. Gloria.

Meanwhile...

2010-11-15T23:35:00.002-06:00

Meanwhile, here are some photos I shot recently. The leggings and shirt are some pieces I'm dying to wear after the 30 for 30 Challenge, but I have a sneaking suspicion they probably look better on my lovely model. Check out more of my photos at this little website I made the other day.

Outfit 3: Crowleyana

2010-11-13T18:29:00.005-06:00

Wearing a Merona silk shirt, Forever XXI shorts, vintage scarf and belt.

What does one do in front of an occultic black curtain? Mug? I don't know, but I ended up posing like Aleister Crowley and his pyramid hat. I loved this outfit.

*I apologize for being slow to post these 30 for 30 outfits, but I've been quite busy with my book and other such things. Also, it snowed in Minnesota. Lame! I promise a better post tomorrow.

Outfit 2: Creative Writing Teacher

2010-11-10T21:53:00.004-06:00

Wearing a thrifted skirt and sweater, Forever XXI tee, Romance Design booties, Lancome bag.

This outfit is who I hope to become. It's also a very close replica of the outfit I wore all the time to high school. This makes me love it. That is all. The skirt is rayon. That's really all.

Outfit 1: Those Are Actually Shorts

2010-11-08T13:00:00.002-06:00

Wearing a UO long sleeve tee, thrifted skort, HUE tights, Lancome bag as purse, Columbia jacket and Romance Design booties.

Outfit numero uno for the 30 for 30 Challenge. This skirt is really a weird pair of teen-shorts with a single panel hanging in front of the crotch, Roman-soldier style. They're obviously pretty cheap, but that and the fact they're also obviously meant for a twelve-year-old meant they also went right into my basket and came home with me. They're a good length, and though pinstripes can look hella cheap in bad fabric (like this) I felt like the fit was enough to compensate, and I also decided if I get tired of the flap, I can just snip it off and have regular shorts. But why am I talking abou the shorts when the scarf is the real star here? This thing is big enough to be a table runner, which is what I thought it was until I found the rest of its orginial outfit in a far-flung corner of the thrift store (it was once part of a sari, I think). It's light and in combination with the shades makes me feel a bit like a movie star. I also wanted to choose mainly colorful accessories, since most of my 30 pieces are very plain.

30 for 30 Status Update: Feeling good about this. Feels like cheating to be able to throw on a coat, but maybe I only felt like that today since it's 60 degrees. PS: This Columbia coat is making me SO. HAPPY. It was $3, and seems brand new AND is army green, which is a color my sister says only I can wear, and I started wearing it in high school because the boy had a crush on wore it all the time and I wanted to be just like him. Additional PS: I never did manage to transform myself into him entirely.

30 Days to Sartorial Transcendence?

2010-11-07T17:00:00.001-06:00

Four skirts. Two are long!
Three pairs of pants. Two are leggings, one is shiny.
Four pairs of shorts, in descending order of shortness. Or I guess ascending, depending on how you're looking at the picture...
(Only) two dresses.
Shirts, 1-4: shiny, print, pinstripe, blousey.
Shirts, 5-9: black, waffle, print, white, flannel.
Sweaters: textured, cardigan, sweater coat.
Shoes: all walkable to varying degrees, no high boots -- a risk.

My prison -- err, wardrobe -- for the next month. Nah, kidding. The 30 pieces I will wear for Kendi's 30 for 30 Challenge. Since all I want to wear is neutrals, I constructed a pile of them and I'm going to let myself have at it until my heart is engorged with content (though I do think I'm taking some risks with lengths and cuts, as you'll see). I know I can do this challenge because once I lived for two months wearing about five outfits, four of which were black. I mean I did this recently, not when I was 14. It actually felt...good, for many reasons, not least of which was that I stopped thinking about my clothes. I hope such transcendence happens this time, though I'm prepared to roll with the punches if it doesn't.

But maybe it already has: instead of thinking about clothes when I was picking out these pieces, I was thinking about why I feel compelled to take part in challenges like these. It seems so much like something my mother would do -- she who always impresses me with her exactitude when following recipes, when I'm all like, no vanilla? Throw in some almond extract, it's practically the same thing! (No it isn't). At first I reasoned my desire to join these challenges is because I'm not the kind of person who makes rules for myself, but that's patently false: I make hella strict rules for myself and then berate myself when I fail. So it must be that I also enjoy following other people's rules. Or putting myself through a communal experience and then figuring out why in the world I would want to be part of a community when I'm clearly not a community-driven person (or am I?). Or maybe it just means that I'm bored and want to change something about myself, and I want to be held accountable for that change. I suppose we'll see. I hope this month is like running a marathon, which you hate and hate and hate and then brag about forever afterward.

PS: Since accessories are allowed and encouraged in the 30 for 30 Challenge, I'm going to be rocking some hats, some scarves, and also a flipping SWEET new coat I found for ten bucks last week.

Wrapped in Stripes and Yes, I'm Cold

2010-11-06T21:19:00.007-05:00

Wearing a vintage scarf and hat, Aldo boots, ANA sweater, Chinese sheer silk blouse.

I'm gearing up for Kendi's 30 for 30 Challenge, which is going to be mega-hard for me because I get very bored very quickly with things like clothes. I tend to wear something once and then not again for at least a month or two, which tells you how many clothes I have. Except I don't have that many -- I'm always trading them around and selling some off and donating others. I've spent several grueling days trying to pick out my 30 items (I'd intended to just grab 30 things and then slap them together in my usual haphazard way, but whenever I pack that way I regret it, so I decided to learn from my mistakes, actually man up and try the items on, this time. The challenge lasts a whole month, after all. But more on all that when I post the pieces).

*In other news, it seems my tripod dilemma is solved (thanks Dad!) But K took these, not me. I was also informed today that I was "dressed like it's 10 below." To which I retorted in my head, "Dude, I'd never wear a cloth coat in 10 below, I'm not stupid." I'm from the South, 40 feels cold to me, especially when 40 feels like 37, and also when our house is only 56 and I'm freezing when I get out of the shower. So yeah. Ask me if 40 is cold come March and I'm sure I'll be singing you a different song, but for me, now, 40 is cold. Hat worthy, at least. PS: Isn't this hat great? It's so Scandinavian looking to me.

This Outfit is All Things in the Perfect Shade of Beige

2010-11-05T19:52:00.000-05:00

Wearing a vintage coat and shoes, thrifted sweater and skirt, Limited silk blouse and Converse hat.

Apologies for using the same jungle gym as a couple of days ago -- I don't have a tripod and I'm not about to risk my camera by perching it on an unstable wall in this crazy midwestern wind-land of death wind. I promise a more inspired shoot tomorrow. It's getting difficult, with the shortening days, to find a time when my trusty photog is around before dark. I don't think it comes across in the photos, but I loved this outfit. I felt cozy and slouchy and put together all at the same time, and masculine and feminine and pretty and bulky in this bear coat (faux, but rockin' all the same, eh? That's eight bucks, friends -- and its warm as Hades and paired with a hat it kinds of makes me feel like I look like you should. not. mess. with. me. That's helpful sometimes, right?) I had a good writing day, which I suppose makes up for the lousy work day I had, and I finished revising a section of my YA novel that's been giving me no end of trouble. PS: That's the same shirt as yesterday -- it's too soft to take off!

*(And I am so happy I found these vintage low cowboy boots. I got a similar pair at Topshop last year but they proved just too stiff to break in, so to eBay they will go now that I have a decent (better?) replacement).