why do you come, yellow bird?


Happy Halloween! Ella took this photo of me in the woods yesterday. Vintage cloak, hat, ring, and dress; Rodarte tights.

nowness

I am in full Halloween mode right now, watching all the appropriate teevee specials and having premature candy feasts. I wore my costume to school today only to learn it's against the rules, but no one thought I was even dressed up because of how I normally dress. I can actually get away with a lot of ridiculousness because of this, even if I'm not being serious about, you know, foot-tall foam bunny ears.

My costume is Joey Ramone+Ramona Quimby=Joey Ramona Quimby. Hence, little girl dress, leather jacket, Converse, etc.
More elaborate explanation when I post the one I wear for Sunday since I got the chance to go thrifting today and get better cutesy-tomboy stuff for Ramona, but this post is really about shooting these photos by Leigh Johnson for Nowness...

...which totally got me in the right mood. Today I spent half of one class staring creepily at the kid behind me and his friend was all, "Dude, she's casting spells on you!"

october

I am so stoked for Halloween. I think it'll be kind of supernatural this year. What're you gonna be?


This message was brought to you by The Craft, Couture, and the letter C.
Images via.

"steve's been possessed!"

Fall witch vibes are in full effect. There is something very delightful about biking to school in a long dark skirt and various cosmic layers. I wore this outfit in particular on opening night for the school play I was in, though I'd like to start being less lazy and not need a special event to wear giant gold Abba platforms.

I built the outfit around the shoes and socks (paired because we listened to Abba in the dressing room) (and by "dressing room" I mean nasty school basement with cockroaches) and the Risto Bimbiloski space skirt just kinda had to be matched with the ridiculousness of the Abba situation, but to make it moodier/earthier and less cheesy I added the flannel dress that used to be my mom's and this vintage feather hairpiece. Then I just wanted weird brooches and jewelry that an old lady who lives on the side of the road or in an almost-fallen apart house might collect.
From left: Gara Danielle ring (FTC disclosure: sent to me by the brand), Zak Kitnick brooch from Two Bridges Trading, thrifted sun brooch, flower brooch used to be my grandma's, and Neivz ring.

This bracelet is Ann Taylor Loft -- weird, right? They've been getting less "Modern Mom!" lately. And the bottom is a closeup of the Risto skirt (FTC disclosure: sent to me by Risto.)
I found these socks in our basement and Beso.com asked if I'd review these shoes in exchange for Abba vibes forever.
Brand: D&G
Pros: Look stellar with socks; fulfill my 70's and Lady Miss Kier needs. My feet are surprisingly comfy in them.
Cons: My feet are unsurprisingly uncomfy once I take them off. They also wear pretty easily -- I've worn them twice and scuffing has already gotten the better of parts of the now-dented wood and now-brown straps. If these were delicate glass slippers I would blame myself for clunking around, but you're supposed to be able to dance in these kinds of shoes!

But enough about me and my Abba dancing*! How are you? In other words --


*Which, come to think of it, I have previously showcased here!
I hesitated in posting that link since this blog is read by about everyone I know from school, as well as my teachers, as well as my parents' friends, as well as everyone I know in real life. But I fully stand by and support 8th grade me's Abba passion. Plus I'm reciting the lyrics to Ciara's "Work" tomorrow for a class talent show and we all know I have no dignity anyways.

pop and such

Woohoo, the new issue of Pop came out! Which means...

Enlarge to read. The whole experience was crazy, I feel like a lot of it was maybe so special that publishing too much would feel exploitative? We'll see once I sort through the 2300 pictures. From nine months ago.

Dudes, the rest of this issue is SO GOOD. I know I contributed and all but I mean that sincerely. LOOKY:

I'm really glad they didn't jump on the "Femininity! 1950's! ~Real women!~, a phrase used to create the illusion of inclusiveness while actually invalidating the body image of others!" and instead used the "feminine housewife" clothes of the season on crossdressing dudes.
Other favorite editorial moments of mine have to be the spankin' angsy youthy menswear...
...the various stories devoted to travel, which almost feel like the team built entire editorials based merely on the feelings that arose as they walked around, with some lenses hazy and some lighting cold. This one is from the Moscow shoot...
And from the Rome one...
Obviously I was also way into the Britney Spears situations, which I wrote about before. My other favorite features have to be Cindy Sherman, Gloria Steinem, and Hillary Clinton. The issue is blonde-themed, so there's also an interesting article about the Dumb Blonde stereotype by Marilyn Monroe biographer Sarah Churchwell and an incredible editorial devoted to blondes.

The use of magazine clippings and photos of famous blondes made for interesting commentary on the depiction of blondes in pop culture and the media.

And now I am worn out but hugely inspired. Pop is a prime example of the current need for inspired and inspiring magazines of substance -- this kind of stuff just isn't as good online.

(All photos except for my articles via the tfs thread.)

having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card

Oh, HIIII there. Now that life is a little less bothersome, why don't we get back into the groove? Fall is my favorite season, and it's when I'm most inspired.


This outfit was inspired by the Subway map colors from Prada Pre-Fall 2010, the cover of my math book, and the kind of librarians and teachers whose desks are adorned with things like cat figurines or New Yorker cartoon calendars that are sarcastic and dry so the teacher doesn't have to be.

My mom thrifted this shirt for my dad but I stole it, hand-me-down Gap sweater, and desertose brooches.

These glasses were sent to me by Thakoon and are super Enid Coleslaw.
Brand: Thakoon
Pros: Comfort and the subtley of the logo on the side, but the best thing is the versatility, which makes me want to make them my prescription pair. They're somewhere between black and brown and round and square, so they kind of become whatever color or shape looks best with the outfit.
Cons:
The insides are snakeskin-printed which makes these such a niche thing. I know no one else sees it but it makes me feel like such a Funky Aunt when I put them on or take them off.

FAVORITE EVER, THESE HAPPY SOCKS. Clashed because I couldn't pick just one pair. I was torn between these thrifted orthopedic grandma shoes and my white Pierre Hardy for Gap ones, and while the Gap ones would've been way cooler these are SO comfortable and I like dressing frumpily and I couldn't have lugged that math book around in heels.

marios schwab ss11

If one thing is gonna pull me out of a rut, it's these:
Super average leather brown clunkers, but with pentacle-esque stitching. Like the Christine O'Donnell witch malarky, in shoe form.

The whole collection carried those kinds of motifs, which I loved except for when it got reminiscent of 7th grade notebooks. Eyes are awesome, pentacles are awesome, but wings and paisley are a bit too temporary tattoo-y and took away from garments that otherwise would've been way more intense.

I got more excited when the same effects were made using the fabrics themselves, especially in leather form.

Even though I'm really feeling witch vibes for the weather we're currently having, associating that kind of darkness with fall would be pretty obvious. Like the occasional use of brown leather as opposed to black, applying the gloom to sunnier days allows the pastel/witch contrast to reach a less simplistic place. This made the last look one of my favorites: a light, pure, modestly long slip held together by a caramel harness.

i had at least 70 more people at my funeral

Maybe as a result of how much Internet I took in during the summer, and then the speed and intensity of some fashion-related traveling at the beginning of the fall, I have felt little desire to delve into Fashion On The Internet in recent weeks. Plus, school is a little crazy, and I am figuring out how to manage an extra curricular schedule that is more Max Fischer than the Daria kind that I'm accustomed to. I've been trying to be creative more offline, and do other kinds of writing, and work on my zine, and it's making me really happy. My policy on being my own boss for this blog is that I don't post if I don't feel like it. It feels contrived and boring and chore-like, and my other policy is that I'll stop once this feels like a chore. So posts are about to get rather spotty. I plan to catch up on Fashion Week shows that I missed once I feel more in the ~zone~.

Inspiration compilation, yes?
Photo sources at links: bedroom, Winnie Cooper, Kids, Moz shrine, gun, Veronica Sawyer, Rosemary, Kent Rogowski flower puzzle.

Any more cultural references in this post and it'd be a Haruki Murakami novel! OH WAIT

seeing double

Comme des Garcons SS11/The Shining