All posts tagged: vintage fashion

“Watermelon Sugar High Seas” outfit

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When you buy a wicker watermelon clutch purse on the beaches of Isla Mujeres, make sure you pretend to eat it and spit out the seeds into the sand, so that when you later randomly pass a clutch of servers standing in front of a restaurant, they’ll mouth out your action and laugh. Making you a legend. A legend of the sandìa mime jokes. When I quit my job 8 months ago, I wanted to travel for one week out of every month. Finally, this year, I am nailing all my goals. Travel-wise and client-wise and money-wise. I’m exhausted, frankly. And I’m learning to adjust to reality. And realize the value of routine and a sense of place.   But I’m proud of myself. For going there. Over and over and over again. (Yes, this is my third trip to Mexico this year.) I’m proud of myself that I woke up at 5:30 am to catch the sunrise and silence of this abandoned shell beach house on the south tip of the island. Especially after …

“Velvet Underground” outfit

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In the thick of the most intense snow and ice storms seen in Boise in decades, every morning I send a heat-seeking missile into my closet to find the thing that will cover me most thoroughly. I’ll forsake fashion for warmth like a caveman, when the temperature drops below 20 degrees. Fortunately, there’s plenty of velvet jumpsuits, in the case of my particular closet. Like I’m a sexy 70’s cavegirl, found perfectly preserved (and voguing) under this ice block. vintage 1970s Ronni Nicole Petite by Ouida black velvet jumpsuit – $30, Red Light Clothing Exchange (Portland, OR) | Banana Republic cream lace camisole, ReStyle, $3 | leopard print rubber boots – gift, from Jane Newby (New York) | Black & gold arrow banded belt – $0.94, ReStyle thrift store Cheep Jane.

“Pilgrim’s progress” outfit

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“From This World to That Which Is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream” – subhead of Pilgrim’s Progress Why is it—with all our privileged pilgrim’s progress and all our fever dreams of thanksgiving—that we always have to look back, repeating, “What have we done?” vintage, label cut off sheer tan & pink tie-collar peacock dress – $35, Pursuing Andie online vintage boutique | vintage Lorraine bright pink petticoat – $3, ReStyle thrift store | Minnetonka studded leather boots, some gift shop place in the deserts of Utah (last season sale), $30 Vinyl of the day: Blood on the Tracks – Bob Dylan Cheep, all you pilgrims.

“Ivanka Trump’s bidet” outfit

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Do you ever have that not so fresh feeling? Maybe you’ve got a real douche bag on your hands. We all feel a little unclean after this political season. But especially for Ivanka Trump—that enigmatic scion—all the gold-plated bidets & all the gaudy bathroom wallpaper & all the pussy bows in the world can’t wash that icky feeling away. (The above facial expressions made by imagining Donald is my creep dad.) But you can still wash your hands clean. Vote! vintage Joan Curtis pussy bow gaudy print dress (just imagine it as Ivanka Trump’s childhood bathroom wallpaper, because that’s what I did), $15 – Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale | Shoe Strings red leather shoes made in Spain, $8 – Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale Photography by Kim Philley.  Voting is cheap, cheep!

“Hard rain” outfit

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Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature today. I squealed like a schoolgirl at a Beatles concert. Or I should say, a Bob Dylan concert. I love Bob Dylan. I first saw him at 18 with my dad & he hit lit something on fire in me—with that nasal voice, those brilliant lyrics, that effortless scathing genius. I took him into my subconscious & into the wilderness. I wrote college papers comparing his writing to Walt Whitman’s. I memorized the battle-rap-like lyrics of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” on a long daily commute from the cow-dung hell of Caldwell to the corporate hell of DirecTV.  I soundtracked my last break-up with Blood on the Tracks & Blonde on Blonde. Thanks & cheers to you, Bob Dylan, the true love of mine. Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one? I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’ I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest Where the people are many and their hands are all empty Where the pellets of poison …

“Last gasp” outfit

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Fill this in like a mad libs. Last gasp of: ____. Fall colors. Summer blossom dresses. Our democracy? Alice Polynesian Fashions orange & pink blossom print cotton dress – $7-$15, I can’t remember if this is from a yard sale or thrift store | Chia orange leather Victorian bomber jacket – $7.99 Serendipity Boutique vintage 1980s? Made in Korea | Frye ‘Sacha Moto’ black leather shootie – $100 (MSRP: $278), Bombshell Salon‘s Head to Boots Fall Make-Up Event Cheep, cheep.

“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!