Things I Love Thursday: Hipster Photography Edition

I've had an insanely busy past couple of weeks. I'm in talks for a couple of different jobs, I've been putting in some volunteer hours, and I went on a couple of dates - in addition to painting the porch and getting some of my May goals finished before the end of the month and working my usual internship. Most of my free time, which only comes after 10pm, has been spent on the couch trying to relax/frantically hem pants and repair split seams on dresses. I haven't been able to check into my social media all too often, but a few days ago I hopped on Facebook to find my friend Irv Briscoe had sent me some film scans that we took several weeks ago. As a lot of the recent links into the blog have been on a Reddit thread for ~hipster girls~ I thought it would be appropriate to share these ~hipster film scans~ taken with a ~lomography~ camera (so many tildes you guys). There're a lot of funny faces, a lot of me being confused about what I'm supposed to be doing in order to get a ~cool hipster photo~ because I'm not naturally ~hipster~, but I think they turned out awesome. I got a good laugh over seeing the finished product and some of the ridiculous faces I make. I'll be back this weekend with more normal blog updates! I love you all xxxxx

Talk That Talk

Overalls: Rehab via Modcloth ; Shirt: c/o BOODWAH ; Shoes: Converse All Stars

When Jayne at BOODWAH sent me this red gingham crop top, I knew that I was going to have to do some sort of country dixie look. As I was throwing my hair up in victory rolls this morning, I thought it would be the perfect time to wear the shirt and pair it with these overalls for a pin-up look. A country pin-up look. I feel like I belong in Oklahoma! or something. Oklahoma! set in the '50s. (Side note: We had to do that musical in 5th grade and it was terrible. I had to wear a bonnet and a horrid floral floor-length skirt and it was all just awful.)

Let's forget about Oklahoma! and talk about these overalls. They work so well with this shirt. I'm ridiculously pleased. I found them on sale back in December on Modcloth and purchased them on Christmas Eve after crying over my boyfriend forever and needing to do some retail therapy. Yeah, retail therapy buying presents for myself the day before Christmas. I know. I like these overalls because they're more of a pin-up style than a grunge type look. They're super stretchy and hug me so well! Except in the waist. I need to nip that in with a belt and the extra fabric bunching up on top of my bum isn't exactly perfect, but I think my small waisted chicas understand the struggle. I have a feeling I'll be wearing these bad boys out a lot this summer. They're so fab and so easy. Like wearing pajamas! (Oh no, I'm too young to be saying stuff like that...)

It's been such a long time since I've dressed this pin-up-y! For work I always dress with a bit of menswear inspiration - very tailored, straight pieces. And a lot of my days off are spent in bell bottoms or mom jeans with crop tops and band tees. It feels good to wear something that hugs me and that I feel cute in. It must be the springtime! I've gotten over the worst of my allergies (seriously some pretty terrible days in there, including a 3-week long headache!) and am able to soak up some sunshine and enjoy the breeze. I planted my herb garden over the weekend, made sun tea, and drank lattes with friends out on the coffee shop patio. Life is amazing right now. I'm so grateful for all of it.

I spent a good chunk of my evening bingeing on X-Files re-runs. I watched this amazing one about a humanoid parasite monster that lived in the sewers, created by accident as part of the aftermath of Chernobyl. I'm such a dork for the paranormal and the bizarre. I'm trying to decide on my next tattoo - it's between "The Truth Is Out There" or a UFO with "I Want to Believe" under it. Do you think that will look good in a job interview? Ha!

I'm off to watch something light and easy after all those X-Files - maybe a Disney movie! Oh, and eat ice cream. I've gotta keep adding to my figure to fill out these overalls better! xx

For Baby

Shirt: J Crew ; Skirt: Halogen ; Belt: Nordstrom ; Boots: Sammydress

Spending my day listening to John Denver and Jackie Wilson (strangest combination, I know!) and working on exciting things for the future of the blog. It reached 80 degrees today which is fab, but of course it comes after torrential rains yesterday. My hair is twice its normal size thanks to the humidity and I keep tossing it from one side of my head to the other to help calm it. But anyways - 80 degrees! Guys! That's like shorts and tee shirt weather! Of course, I worked today and as it was chilly when I left in the morning, I went instead for a flippy skirt, boots, and button down. 

My mum bought me this skirt last weekend as an early birthday present. I haven't owned a flippy little circle skirt in years and it makes me feel all young & fresh again! It reminds me of this outfit I wore back when I was 17. I don't have that skirt anymore because it quit covering my bum but oh my goodness I was so adorable at 17. I never feel very grown until I see photos like that. But, I felt pretty young and sweet wearing this skirt today, swishing from side to side when I walked, twirling in my boots just to get a few extra flips out of the skirt. 

To keep things a little more classy & professional, I went for a black-navy-red colour combo. I already cannot wait to take this skirt out for another spin around the office!

You guys, this humidity is ridiculous. Living in the land of 10,000 lakes means summer heat makes you feel as if you're swimming through the air. And it doesn't do any favors for my insanely textured hair. My hair shaft just soaks up moisture like a little curly sponge.

I have a lot on my plate for the blog. I'm working on a couple of awesome guest posts and am currently coding an entirely new layout - getting back to my web designing roots! When I was in elementary school, I joined Neopets and immediately got swept up in this little community of coders, learning HTML, CSS, PHP, and all that good stuff. It's been a long time since I've done anything like this, and I'm excited to get back into it and be able to customize the blog to be less bulky and more my own. I'm also hoping to get out and enjoy the fabulous weather we'll be having for the rest of the week!

Stay cool kiddies xx

inundation

Skirt: How Very Dare via ANTHOM ; Sweater: Topshop ; Shorts: Sammydress

Before I begin: Sorry for the optical illusion quality of these photos. When your porch is nearing 100 years old, things start to warp, making it look like you're crooked in a straight room, when in reality, I'm straight in a crooked room.

I wore this outfit on Saturday evening on a date to Art-a-Whirl in Northeast Minneapolis. Art-a-Whirl is basically a yearly event where a bunch of the artists who have studios in Northeast open up their doors and let people wander around & buy their art. I'd never been before, and actually Minneapolis is pretty foreign to me, being a Saint Paul girl, but it was fun. I'm not much of an art person. I like looking at it, but I'm not really down for discussing art or art technique. I took an art history class last year and it was such a snooze because that just isn't my thing.

Anyways, I decided to wear this How Very Dare maxi skirt to Art-a-Whirl because it's pretty much the closest thing to wearable art that I own. I still cannot get over how beautiful the print is! They have a whole collection of this print - Romance in the Air - on blouses, mini skirts, skater dresses, and more over at their Etsy shop. (I got this maxi at ANTHOM, but it's out of stock now sorry friends.) It was my first time wearing this skirt out in public and I got so many compliments and girls just glaring at me with obvious massive envy in their eyes over how rad my skirt is. Sorry I'm so cool guys. Oh, but wearing a maxi when you have to go up & down a hundred flights of stairs in random artists studios is not fun. Lesson, learned.

I took these photos on my porch today because I was too busy on Saturday to take any. Oh well! I actually wore a grey crop top on Saturday and didn't throw this sweater on until it got chilly in the evening, but dang it's cold out today! 30 seconds on my porch and I was covered in goose bumps, making the sweater necessary for this look. It poured rain all day, so you know, obviously beautiful weather for my day off. It's also been black outside all day, though you would never guess by the way it appears light is pouring into the porch. Never-ending rain and gloomy skies have made for an unproductive day off of sitting on the couch thinking of all the things I should be doing.

I wanted to say a big fat thank you for everyone who left such loving and supportive comments on my last post. It took so much courage for me to post that, and even simply writing it was emotionally draining. I think I bawled my eyes out for 3 hours straight just even having to remember how much pain I was in for those 7 months that my boyfriend was using. This morning, I accidentally deleted a few comments instead of publishing them, so I wanted to confront a couple of things that I think the comments were about. For one, I changed the photos as some people were uncertain about if I should be using those photos. They were clearly taking away from the message of my story, and I didn't want people to be blind to the point of the story just because of some photos. I will not be discussing the photos anymore. Please read my words and have compassion for what I have to say. Second, I will absolutely not be taking that post down. Shame on you for even suggesting that, anon! Silencing my story is only stigmatizing and shaming my pain. Me sharing my story in a public forum will in no way prevent his healing - and deleting it would only prevent my own healing, because yes, I need to heal from it, too. Don't forget that it isn't only the addict who is affected by his using: other people have stories to tell about it, too. We have valid pain and shame from it, too. I wrote that post not to find comfort & solace for myself, I wrote it to help others who have stories similar to mine feel less ashamed & less alone. To delete that post would be to cut off people being troubled in the same way I was. I wrote that post to reduce isolation, and a number of people have already messaged me to tell their own story and say thank you. It lifts my spirit to know that we can get past the stigma of our experiences with addiction and have an open, honest conversation about it. In my relationship with an addict, I was not allowed to share my own feelings about what we were going through. When I did, he stormed out on me or cut me out for days at a time. It only increased the hurt and shame that I felt - hurt and shame that was completely valid. Here I am, sharing my story to help others who feel that same hurt and that same shame. To remove my story would be a disservice to my own healing, as well as the healing of others who are silently suffering. My feelings and my experiences are just as valid as anyone else's who is dealing with addiction. Please respect that. Please try to grow from that.

Now that that tangent is over, I'm off to deal with the joys of student loans! Oh, yippee.

Boy/Girl

Jeans: Vintage GUESS via Up Six ; Blouse: Book of Deer ; Necklace: Downton Abbey Jewellry Collection
Hanging out with Little Girl on the porch today, I decided to take some photos of my outfit. Last spring I made the promise to my parents that if they bought the paint, I would re-paint and re-decorate the porch. I picked out a creamy yellow for the walls and a pale blue for the trim and got to work in June after I got home from Paris. But painting is boring, and my boyfriend refused to help me, so I found myself sitting alone on a ladder on the porch, listening to The Current, and feeling very sorry for myself. I had to give in on the project in September when school started, around the time I was finishing up the second coat & about to begin touch ups, so it remains an unfinished project. Just the other week I hauled the paint back up and have been continuing with the touch ups. After that, sanding and painting the floor! But then it will be complete and I'll be able to sleep on the couch out there this summer.
Way back when I first Pinterest, one of my first pins to my Style & Fashion board was this pin of some girl in high-waisted jeans, a button down, and her hair in a bun. I fell in love with it and always kept it in the back of my head as inspiration. When I got dressed this morning, I channeled that look, but a tad more girly.
It's very '90s, the only thing that would make it more '90s would be a strand of fake pearls around my neck. (Seriously though - pastel blouses, chunky cardigans, floral skirts, and a strand of fake pearls is THE quintessential nineties look....aside from anything high-waisted jeans.)




Let's talk about this blouse for a minute. I found Book of Deer via Views of Now and fell in love with her A/W 2013 collection, Selkie & the Sea. So much great seaside, nautical inspiration! I'm completely in love with all of Book of Deer designer Eilidh Ho's creations. All of her prints are beautifully hand drawn and sewn into adorable blouses, drape-y dresses, and cute mini skirts.
I spent a good three days ooooh-ing and aaaahh-ing before picking out what piece from the collection I wanted to buy. Although I was massively in love with the Selkie Dress, I decided the cut was a bit too juvenile for my style at the moment. Everyday I struggle to be taken seriously as a 5 foot adult with porcelain pale skin, curly hair, and bright green eyes (trust me, it's the worst combination for trying to look your age). So instead, I went for the Village Blouse. The illustrations half remind me of Santorini, Greece, and half remind me of something out of a Hemingway novel. A mixture of whimsical and dark, summery and foreboding.



Dirty feet - a reminder of how absolutely disgusting my porch actually is! At nearing 100 years old, it's lopsided and warped with loads of cracks and splinters, allowing dirt and grim to collect everywhere. After I'm finished painting, it will need to be kept up pretty well if we want the new interior to last!







And to end with Little Girl. She's such a fatty! The other night I spotted her sitting up against the door frame like this, watching Harry Potter (side note: I was watching Harry Potter, too, which ya'll know if you've been following the live-tweets of my complete Potter marathon last weekend). I realized that I had only seen the final movie once (in France back in 2011 when it premiered), so it was fun to re-watch. I'm a die-hard fan but I haven't read the books in such a long time that I've realized a re-read is in desperate order! I've got three books of poetry to finish before I'm letting myself so much as touch Sorcerer's Stone though!
xx

five-six

Pants: Ann Taylor (here) ; Jacket: vintage ; Sweater: Ann Taylor (thrifted) ; Button down: vintage ; Shoes: Cinderella of Boston

Okay, yeah, these pants and that jacket are back again - already. I found a new way to wear these pants and I was excited to try it out for work today! On Saturday, during a company field trip to Arc's Value Village thrift store, I picked up this cheerful Ann Taylor Petites sweater & immediately thought about pairing it with these (also Ann Taylor Petites) striped pants. I like the fit of the sweater, though the colour is this weird, unbalanced mix of orange, pink, and red that doesn't quite work for my skin tone. Colour aside, I am so beyond pleased to discover yet another store with a petites section. Ann Taylor Petites, here I come! All 5 feet of me! For some reason this outfit is making me feel very Italian (or Ann Taylor poster girl). I think it is, in large part, because of the button down I'm wearing. I wish I got a detail shot of it, because it has a scene of Venice printed all over it - cobble stones, gondolas, little shop fronts by the sea. It's fantastic, though mostly hidden by the sweater. It was enough to contribute some serious Italian vibes to my being though. This makes me feel like I need to start up a serious discussion about what it means for an outfit to feel "Italian" (or other cultures like "American" or "French"). Ya'll know what I mean though. I feel like, at least to me, Italian vibes are earth tones, very glam in a very natural way, and very down-to-Earth, not realizing how fantastically perfect you look. That's the vibe I get from Italian fashion, though most of this is coming from Sophia Loren, so that might not be the best representation of "Italian" outfit vibes.
It's like the French - where they're extremely put together, well tailored, very proper, but they know that they look freaking fantastic. They're not oblivious to their efforts. Okay, now I'm not making any sense so I'll save this conversation for another time. But deep down, ya'll know what I mean. I know you do.

I chose to wear this jacket with these pants again because I wasn't entirely pleased with how it went together on Saturday. I think that the bulk and colour of the sweater made the jacket work loads better this time around. Or maybe it was my renewed attitude. I left the house on Saturday in doubt about a frayed old leather jacket matching an otherwise prim & proper outfit. Today I put the jacket on, said to myself, "I got this" and walked into the office like a boss (when I am really lowest on the totem pole).
People always tell me that I look great in everything (not a muumuu though, I assure you) and I always say, "It's all about the attitude and having confidence." And I really do think that's true. SAGE STYLE ADVICE FROM A MEDIOCRE BLOGGER, YOU GUYS.

I wanted to say a big thanks to all who gave me ideas on how to keep on rocking these pants! I definitely think I'm going to try the "boho" look with them this summer. I love reading all of your comments, they make my day brighter and give me reason to keep blogging! So, tell me, what is your trick to always having confidence in what you wear?

Say You Will

Jeans: Great Scott vintage via Up Six ; Flannel: Land's End ; Cheetah Crop: Mimi Chica ; Earrings: c/o Alexandra Inn

The other week my friend Carrie and I stopped by some vintage & used clothing stores in the Selby/Snelling area of Saint Paul, including Up Six, one of my favourites. I think I first stepped foot in Up Six close to 8 years ago when I was just beginning to ~explore my style~ or whatever type of cheesy lingo you want to pair with such a time in my life. The store is stocked with perfect '60s shift dresses, ridiculous Screech-inspired ski knits, and as many high-waisted pants as your heart could desire. In my last visit there, I walked out with these beyond perfect Guess jeans and with my heart set on a pair of rad bells that my wallet just didn't want to open up for. These rad bells to be exact. (If we want to be more exact, I suppose "wide legged jeans" is probably more accurate than bell bottoms.) I went back and bought them just a few days later. I had been sitting at work in my sad little office when Carrie texted me about how I needed to get those jeans and she couldn't believe I had passed them up. Yeah, me neither! So I went back for them. I think I hemmed about 6 inches off of them but they're now perfect and obviously a staple for summer. Come on guys, they are so perfect. I feel like I need to write an ode to them.

I originally went into my closet for a pair of pin-up style overalls, but my hand fell on these bells first and I decided to wear them instead. Even though they're definitely a '70s style pant, I played up a bit of a '50s pin-up look with the victory rolls and the cheetah-print crop top. And flannel because this is Minnesota and that is the law here. Oh and these gorgeous earrings in blue courtesy of Alex Inn. The earrings make the outfit seem a bit more put-together and lady-like, less woodsy '70s chick. So I'm not sure what this outfit is in the end. A bit '70s hippie, a bit pin-up '50s glam, and a bit outdoorsy Minnesotan. Yeah, that's typical me.

Wearing these pants in public definitely turns heads. With skinny jeans being the uniform for youth these days, and with these wide-legged jeans being, literally, the opposite of skinny, I think a lot of people are surprised. Hopefully pleasantly surprised, but if someone thinks these jeans are atrocious, then I don't care about their opinion on anything anyways. These are obviously the type of jeans that you foam at the mouth in jealousy for.

And to end on a funny photo. It's beautifully sunny out today, but the downside is that I genetically inherited this condition from my mother that makes my eyes extremely sensitive to the light. It was a mega struggle to keep my eyes open for these photos while also not looking like I was on drugs. I have a lot of me looking at the ground or with my eyes in slits. So I thought I'd share one for your viewing pleasure.
And now, I'm off to spend my afternoon enjoying the absolutely stunning weather xx