Cry Baby

Welcome to another addition of Fash Math! This outfit is kind of my mash up of the opposite ends of the style spectrum in the 60s. I'm drawn to both the classic style of Betty Draper on Mad Men, for the architectural shapes, the soft colors and ladylike details. On the other hand, I love the bohemian freeness that Janis Joplin was known for and I always find it creeping into my outfits. Check it out, do you think the math works out? Everything in this outfit was thrifted from The Arc. Isn't the vest adorable? It was only $3.99 and it's Nicole Miller.

The skirt is definitely my favorite recent purchase and it was only $6.50. The pleats give it such a nice shape and the colors are so unexpected for a plaid pattern. It's also great for the colder weather we've been getting because it's made out of this really nice, thick wool.

Mixing and matching pieces inspired by figures from different decades is one of my favorite ways to communicate a vibe with my clothes. I want this particular outfit to say, I'm classic and stylish with a rebellious heart. 

FASH MATH: Grungy Prep School Edition

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(Eloise + Margot Tenenbaum) ÷ Angela Chase = 

Coat: Goodwill (buttons from Michael's)
Corduroy dress: The Arc Thrift
White Shirt: Sierra Trading Post
Belt: The Arc Thrift
Tights: Delia's
Combat Booties: The Arc Thrift

I'm pretty much obsessed with this outfit and want to be buried in it. First of all, CHECK OUT DAT COAT! It's faux fur and super snuggly, and you can't really tell from this picture, but I sewed the sparkly buttons on myself. I had Xander (the boif) take pics for me as we were walking around campus on our way to lunch. I think the field with the fall colors and mountains in the background kind of captures that boarding school rebel vibe I got going on. Now that I've died my hair red, I kind of channel Angela Chase in everything that I do, but I was really feeling her today with those shoes and the corduroy dress. Have you guys ever seen anything as cute/tough/awesome as these combat booties??

For a height-challenged gal like myself, a little lift is always appreciated, especially when it's a clunky, easy to walk in lift. I really don't know if I'll ever take these off. They go with literally everything. 

I definitely swiped my color scheme from Eloise with the white on black jumper/dress thing. I used to read those books all the time and fantasize about hiding in elevators and of course those mary-janes! I was originally gonna rock a pair of my own for this outfit, but my closet is an abyss and I came across these, which tickled me even more since they definitely rough up the look a bit.

Here I am trying to look snooty, a la Eloise and chilling in my trippy dorm room.

I think the Margot inspiration kind of speaks for itself with the coat. When I saw it in Goodwill over the summer, I almost died right there between the mom jeans and the wedding dresses. I had been looking for a Margot coat forever and this one is just too spot on to be real! The original buttons were uggo-tastic and I knew they had to go, so I picked up some way appealing sparkly ones (I can never say no to sparkle) and remedied the situation super easily. Living in Colorado, you learn to never turn down an awesome/warm coat for $9.99 because real stores charge way (I mean WAAAYYY) more for stuff that's only a fraction as cool.

Check out the rest of the pics. What do you guys think of my math skills? Does it add up to you too?

RA! school spirit...

Please excuse my blank stare.

And Nothing Makes Me Happy, Not Even T.V. or a Bunch of Weed

Gahhh I'm just in a foul mood right now and I just need to vent. Is that okay for all of my like 2 readers?? Ha. Sorry.

This is how I feel about pretty much every aspect of life right now. I feel like I've just been frantically running around trying to please everyone in my life and then they just sort of don't do the same in return. My boyfriend and my sister have been all bickery and passive aggressive with each other and I'm so over it. I just want them both caring about me to be enough for them to make the effort. When they don't, I'm constantly being pulled in two different directions and while it might be fine for them to just pass me around like a rag doll, it's exhausting for me. And it keeps me from being able to do what I want or even KNOW what I want for that matter because I'm constantly worried about upsetting them. So honestly, FUCK THAT. I know at the end of the day it's really just up to me to be strong enough to piss them off, but hopefully they'll realize how hard they're making it on me.

Until then I'll just cuddle this ridiculously perfect pup and cry like a drama queen baby loser...

On the upside, I did just turn 21 on Wednesday and had a pretty fab entrance into adulthood.

Top and Bottom from The Arc Thrift Store
Belt from Goodwill

Here I am being a model before class on the big day. The whole outfit just says "BIRTHDAY," doesn't it??

Left to Right: My Boulder babe, Lily; My southern belle, Woogie; My twinsicle, Dani

Jumpsuit from a stand on Venice Beach, CA
Also note the Rips in my hand. I certainly enjoyed them for the ten minutes they took to consume them and the hour or so they remained in my stomach...

One from the beginning of the night and one from the end, equally sloppy and adorable.

I also started my Advanced Poetry Writing Workshop this week... It's such an incredible opportunity to be able to take this class early and with such an amazing visiting professor (if you haven't heard of Jim Moore, look up his stuff immediately, he's a genius) and GAH it's var var intimidating. I'm trying to just shut myself up and not over-criticize and whatnot, but it's soSO hard not to think that my stuff just doesn't measure up. Maybe I'll post some poems on here soon or maybe I'll just be a coward 4eva?! Only time will tell my friends.

Secondhand Fantasy Land: Zine Edition

So for those of you who look at this blog that AREN'T my mom and my sister and therefore don't know everything about me, I'm a junior at Colorado College where we're on the block plan (as opposed to the semester plan). That basically just means that we take one class at a time, for three and a half weeks each. There are upsides and downsides, but it's definitely my preferred way to learn just because you can get so in depth into the class and just in time for you to get totally sick of it, you get to move on. Anyway, the point of all this is that my first block of the semester was pretty much the most amazing thing evereverEVER and it led to the creation of my first zine! The class was called, "Creativity: Theory and Practice" and it was taught by two amazing professors, one from sociology and one from poetry. It was basically all about the creative process and how it fits in (or doesn't really fit in) to society. Every day we would do some sort of creative exercise and have class discussions about all the different texts we read. In lieu of a final we all wrote research papers on some aspect of the creative process and complete our own creative project of our choosing. The best part about the whole thing was how open-ended it was so we could really make it into whatever we wanted. Creative projects ranged from interpretive cupcakes to postcard puzzles to defiant graffiti - it was just unlimited awesomeness. I wish I could show you guys all the incredible things people came up with! I can't do that, but I CAN share my project :). This blog has been a great place for me to express myself creatively and also a big part of me developing my own style philosophy, hence it was the perfect inspiration for my final project. It sucks because I feel like clothes can be the greatest form of expression, but a lot of the time we just buy the shit that stores or brands want to sell us. Anywayyy this zine is just my answer to that and hopefully it'll be the first of many! So without further adieu, here is Secondhand Fantasy Land - The Zine:

I hope you enjoy and if you want to contribute to any future zines, please let me know!!! And if you want to see the pages bigger, click HERE!

Clueless House on the Prarie

GAH worst blogger ever award goes to ME! But I swear I'm gonna be better from now on. I think I just needed a little time to decide where it is I really want this blog to go, and the truth is I still don't know! But I think that's okay. It's definitely gonna be a bit less uniform over here, which I hope you guys don't mind; maybe a bit more accepting of change so that I can keep figuring things out. I definitely have some really exciting stuff coming up though, so stay tuned!

Anywhoozle, back to the important stuff....CLOTHES OF COURSE!

Dress: Originally Urban Outfitters, thrifted from Goodwill for $6
Belt: The Arc Thrift Store $2
Boots: Someone actually left them in my dorm room last year and never claimed them...
Headband: Stolen from a friend...

I wore this the other day to class and to take my sister's new puppy, Milo to the vet. I also recently gave myself an impromptu haircut which I think works pretty nicely with the look, don't you? It is quite a deviation from both of my inspirations for this outfit, but I still think it works.

Do you see it? A little bit Laura Ingalls a little bit Cher Horrowitz. It makes sense in my head, so go with it.

There's Milo! Isn't he just heartbreakingly cute??

Mini backpack: #1 Accessory ever.

And there ya have it!

I'll be posting a lot more outfits in the near future, but hopefully in an even more fun way. I don't want to say too much, but just know I'm pumped for it and you should be too!

Rocky Mountain High

I'm soooooo glad to be back in Colorado! The weather is beautiful and the air isn't practically dripping with moisture like it does in Miami. Today we went to see Dani's new school, which is beautiful and nestled riight in the mountains. We also have to start moving into the house I'm renting for the summer with some other kids from my school - GAH I'm SO excited!

Sunglasses: Target $7.99
Top: Thrifted Mossimo from Goodwill $3
Belt: Thrifted from Goodwill $2
Skirt: borrowed Urban Renewal
Shoes: Thrifted from Goodwill $4

This outfit is super comfy and I think it definitely has a Colorado vibe going on with the plaid and the crochet, but maybe that's just in my head. Shout out to my beautiful, cat-like, crazy haired frog of a friend Zanzabar for giving me this skirt that I always loved stealing from her closet. She's going abroad for a semester so I'll just have to siphon some of her awesomeness out of her clothes until she gets back.

Out Of The Ash I Rise With My Red Hair and I Eat Men Like Air

For me, creativity is this huge intersection of all my different passions and inspirations. Even though fashion is a total separate entity from things like poetry, music and art, I'm constantly finding all those other mediums sneaking into my outfits.  Now that I'm studying English and poetry on a more serious level, some of my favorite writers are always dominating my brain (and therefore my closet). 

Shirt: Antique Mart in Colorado Springs - $6
Skirt: American Way Thrift in Claremont, California - $4.50
Belt: Goodwill - $2
Heels: Forever 21 - $25

This outfit was inspired by the incredible, brilliant, tragic,  Sylvia Plath,
one of my biggest influences.

Sure she was beautiful and stylish, but she was soo so so much more than that. Some of her critics call her self indulgent for her deeply personal work, but they're just fucking haters! She was a serious scholar, and at one point even a professor of poetry. Her writing is not only technically skillful, but also so passionate and detailed that it takes on a relatable and even universal nature. 

This is one of my favorite poems of all time, it's about her struggle with depression and suicide:

Lady Lazarus
by Sylvia Plath
I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it-- A sort of walking miracle, my skin Bright as a Nazi lampshade, My right foot A paperweight, My face a featureless, fine Jew linen. Peel off the napkin O my enemy. Do I terrify?-- The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth? The sour breath Will vanish in a day. Soon, soon the flesh The grave cave ate will be At home on me And I a smiling woman. I am only thirty. And like the cat I have nine times to die. This is Number Three. What a trash To annihilate each decade. What a million filaments. The peanut-crunching crowd Shoves in to see Them unwrap me hand and foot-- The big strip tease. Gentlemen, ladies These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. The first time it happened I was ten. It was an accident. The second time I meant To last it out and not come back at all. I rocked shut As a seashell. They had to call and call And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls. Dying Is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I've a call. It's easy enough to do it in a cell. It's easy enough to do it and stay put. It's the theatrical Comeback in broad day To the same place, the same face, the same brute Amused shout: 'A miracle!' That knocks me out. There is a charge For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge For the hearing of my heart-- It really goes. And there is a charge, a very large charge For a word or a touch Or a bit of blood Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy. I am your opus, I am your valuable, The pure gold baby That melts to a shriek. I turn and burn. Do not think I underestimate your great concern. Ash, ash-- You poke and stir. Flesh, bone, there is nothing there-- A cake of soap, A wedding ring, A gold filling. Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware. Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air.

Rebel Girl You Are The Queen Of My World

Some people think of feminism and fashion as mutually exclusive, but I like to think that one is just an awesome extension of the other. To me, feminism is all about not letting all of society's rules and expectations dictate my actions. It's about seeing past the bullshit and finding ways to be and express yourself in a world that would rather you just shut up and wear some Abercrombie. The riot grrrl movement of the 90s spawned some of the most badass women that serve as awesome inspiration, but none more than the one and only Kathleen Hanna. As the lead singer of Bikini Kill, she screamed and belted lyrics like, 

"We're not gonna prove nothing nothing
Sittin around watching each other starve
What we need is action/strategy
I want I want I want
I want it now.
I believe in the radical possibilities of pleasure, babe.
I do. I do. I do. "

loud enough that they were impossible not to hear. She smashed stereotypes with her unapologetically girly style paired with her badass ability to rock out and I will forever be in debt to her fucking awesomeness. This outfit goes out to all the rebel grrrls out there :).

I figured my adorable pup Spazzy was the only accessory I needed for this look.

Dress: Goodwill $5

Combat Boots: Charlotte Russe $25

Puppy: Heaven PRICELESS

Oh and for the record, Kathleen Hanna was also bffs with Kurt Cobain and drunkenly wrote "Kurt smells like teen spirit" on his bedroom wall which inspired the song...Yeah she's the shit.