Author: Jessica Holmes

“Mom jeans without a cause” outfit

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With a rebel yell, they cry, no more because you’ll spoil your appetite. Pleione black w/ gold & white diamond print ruffle blouse – $5, Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale (c/o the fabulous Danielle Hurd) | Twins Leather Collection (TLC) half mom-jean / half black-leather high-waisted pant – $8.50 (originally $16.99), LUX Fashion Lounge | Frye ‘Sacha Moto’ black leather shootie – $100 (MSRP: $278), Bombshell Salon‘s Head to Boots Fall Make-Up Event | cream w/ black polka dot print silk head scarf – $2, ReStyle thrift store Cheep! Because the early bird gets the worm. Now listen to your mother.

“The heart is a lonely hunter” outfit

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How frail the human heart must be—a mirrored pool of thought – says the Nietzsche-like cat on the side of my fridge, a screen-print given to me by this sweet girl at a Mostly Muff Valentine’s show at the Visual Arts Collective. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – says Carson McCullers on a book jacket at the high school library. I never finished reading that book, but I still remember that title. I was sixteen. One-score years later, I wonder if I will ever let myself be hunted. Take off the camouflage. Or put it on, maybe. Wait in blinds, coo into the fog, send decoys, just shoot. At the very least, cock a gun, take a shot. (Even if it’s Dick Cheney shooting his 78-year-old friend in the face as this is my leading mental reference point for hunting.) But, mostly, I wonder if I painstakingly designed my own heart to be this wild longing untended thing—in a private purgatory of hunger—a permanent state of lonely hunter. no label-handmade? fall hunter camo dress – $15, Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale …

“Mic drop” gown

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What you can become is the miracle you were born to be through the work that you do. –Kurt Vonnegut I dropped a mic a month ago. Over the past 7 years, I built a magical life from scratch, using the medium of mere words. Self employment. Stage popularity. Community figurehead-ism. Yet somehow, I ended up utterly caged inside my own creations. Lonely. Broke. Trapped. When at my depressive lowest, I would often stare at photos of deep space taken by the Hubble Telescope. The infinite release of a profoundly glorious and indifferent universe. So I quit it all. Though it took an act of God, I quit it all. And quitting my “dream life” has been nothing short of an ecstatic freedom. Dropping the mic on stage felt like dropping a world of weight off my shoulders. Boom.1960s Helen Bass California deep space print gown – $45, In Retrospect vintage/consignment  | Cindy Says green-gold hells – $I can’t remember but they were half off, Piece Unique | Feather earrings – $14 Record Exchange | Busted mic, gift from my rockstar friend Ned Evett (because I’m not an asshole who would drop a live …

“Lois Lane’s alter ego” outfit

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I’ll bet Lois Lane was also secretly a superhero, and both she and Clark Kent/superman were just using each other as norm-core beards. Shazam! This outfit’s like she’s plugging away at her day job as an award-winning journalist but left her superhero belt on. A fashion wink to alter egos everywhere. Kapow! no brand tag, possibly home-made coral, black & cream striped dress -$15 (I think), Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale – previously sported by Boise artist Erin Cunningham, I think, but maybe Danielle Hurd, because things got a bit frenzied as I tried things on in the yard |  Banana Republic twisted black and tan leather slip-on heels, $4, Gold Mine thrift store (Ketchum, ID) | Black & gold arrow banded belt – $0.94, ReStyle thrift store Cheep!

“Day at the Regatta” outfit

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Outfit names just come to me like saintly voices to Joan of Arc. I have no choice. I do my duty—and take the designations as they come. Day at the regatta.* It sounded so yachting. So seaside seersucker East Coast-y. So gimlets** on the dock, bwah-haw-haw-ty. So then I googled it, and the image spread was somewhere between the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and Girls Gone Wild. I guess regattas aren’t as classy as they used to be. vintage I. Magnin & Co. buttoned up striped dress – $20, Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale – previously sported by Boise artist Erin Cunningham (I fashion blogged about her!) | Enamel blue flame earrings – Gift, Cuba via my smuggler/friend Jeff Cramer | Steiger navy leather blue heels with brass eyelets – $7, ReStyle On side table: vintage navy leather clutch – $8, Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale – previously sported by Danielle Hurd | Nine West cream sunglasses – Free, In Retrospect b/c they were in the lost & found bin for more than a month and I’m crafty as fuck Word guide for non-classy types: * Regatta: a sporting …

“Japanese silkscreen” outfit

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Now this paints a pretty picture. Carole Little Japanese flower print vest (it’s rayon and acetate, not actually silk you guys, so I really pulled one over with the title) – $0.99 (sale!), ReStyle thrift store | Vivienne Westwood red skirt – $20, Lux Fashion Lounge | Guess black patent leather with gold buckle stilettos – $11, Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store | red polka dot fan – Gift bag – Atomic Treasures (received for judging this year’s Boise’s Funniest Person competition) Vinyl of the day: “So Runs the World Away” by Josh Ritter Cheep!

“Luxe at the Lux” outfit

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I rarely feel overdressed, but last night at the Neurolux, it occurred to me that maybe this silk wonder is a bit much. And then, I draped myself over their pool table. I’ll do anything for fashion. Especially risk being too luxe. Exquisite photographs by the multi-dimensional, multi-talented Kim Philley. Pool-table guest appearance by Xtopher Web. vintage Doreen: Handtailored in Thailand The Royal Orchid Hotel, Bangkok (I wrote that exactly as presented on tag. Now that’s fancy.) multi-dimensional pink & orange silk print dress  – $24 @ 25% off sale = $18, Antique World Mall | Steiger navy leather blue heels with brass eyelets – $7, ReStyle Cheep!

“Criss-cross applesauce” outfit

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Saucy. ($2 dollar special.) Moda International black silk wrap tank, $1 (sale) – ReStyle thrift store | DKNY two-tone tan/black pants, $1 (sale) – ReStyle thrift store |  Banana Republic twisted black and tan leather slip-on heels, $4, Gold Mine thrift store (Ketchum, ID) Cheep!

“Kool” outfit

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 Too kool for school. Like an existential model, I had this Gwendolyn Brooks poem in my mind during this whole self-examined photoshoot, because I’m so cool you guys. We real cool. We / Left school. We / Lurk late. We / Strike straight. We / Sing sin. We / Thin gin. We / Jazz June. We / Die soon. boutique castoff Lush teal green tank, $3.75, Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store | Ralph Lauren Jeans Co. faded black denim – $1 (sale), ReStyle thrift store | Banana Republic twisted black and tan leather slip-on heels, $4, Gold Mine thrift store (Ketchum, ID) Rolling with the Holmies. (Groans. Revokes cool card.) Cheep it up.

“Bronze Metalist” outfit

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I’m a real metal winner. (Mettle, too.) (Just no medals.) Hawaiian Moon sage green silk dress – gifted & thrifted | vintage Carmelton bronze sheer party top (made in USA) – $1, ReStyle thrift store  | Cindy Says green-gold hells, Piece Unique, $I can’t remember but they were half off  Cheep!