Glittery Dandy

In my continuing series of wardrobe inspiration, I’ve been posting some of my favorite styles and looks. I realize that all of them are very costume-y and sort of impractical. But, truth be told, I love when I see people on the street looking costume-y and impractical. Fashion in the Pacific Northwest, in general, is very boring, particularly in the area of the city that I have to spend time in. I’m a firm believer in wearing whatever you want, but god is the flannel/jeans/yoga outfit/hiking boots/Colombia sportswear look boring. I understand that it is practical and comfortable. I get that it rains here and people like to think of themselves as ‘outdoorsy’. But it’s so boring! Where’s the zazz?? I am one to talk. I love fashion, and love people who wear interesting and fun and unique clothes, but I am not one of those people. Believe me, if I had financial means/thrift store luck, I’d be right there with ‘em, but as of now, I’m stuck with working with what I have. But still, I love collecting inspiration for that one day when I nail a full time job and/or enter into an agreement marriage with an older gentleman and am suddenly flush with Oprah cash that I can spend on great clothes.

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What is this even called? I think of it as kinda-sorta mod, heavily influenced by “glam” as in “glamour rock” of 1970s Britain (though the term has an astronomically different meaning today) with a bit of weirdo Goth and New Wave thrown in. Pre-Punk and Post-Hippie, it’s less modishly groovy than Keith Richards’ 1967 be-furred get up shown below.  Sort of Deco, sort of BIBA, lots of gold and black and sequins and a little cheeky silliness. It's kind of like "Glittery Dandy", which is, as of  the moment that I am typing this blog and forever forward, what I'm calling it.

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Whatever the hell it actually is, I love it. For the record, I’d dress like this every day if I could. It’s over the top and fun, though not really realistic for summer months. Maybe come fall-time I can try and angle my wardrobe that way. I always struggle during summer with what to wear- I have a series of “rules” that I personally like to live by, and all of those are pretty much anti-summer. For example, I’m strongly opposed to open toed shoes. It’s just not going to happen. I also prefer a long sleeve, to protect my tattoos from sun damage (and also avoid questions about them), which is not a warm weather compatible ideology. The struggle is real, folks.

 PS, I had kind of a hard time finding photos that I really liked regarding this style, so I made up some collages on Polyvore, which is a cool time-wasting clothing/art site where you can save clothing items/photographs/whatever from almost any website and make collages. I used to do this in the pre-Pinterest dawn of the internet in moleskine books with magazine clippings!

Ocian in View! O! the joy!

I grew up in a state whose history is not that interesting to me. Moreover, I grew up in the top corner of  a state that takes 18 hours by car to get from one side to the other, and in a family that took... interesting vacations. I've seen the Anderson Pea Soup Factory, and stayed at the truck stop in the olive capitol of California, but have never been to Disneyland (which is 1000 percent fine with me.) Most of the history that interests me, now and as a kid, happened on the East coast, so I've never been fortunate enough to really get 'close' to the history that I'm passionate about.

THAT ALL CHANGED, FOLKS.

My parents came up for a brief visit this past Memorial Day, and on Sunday we drove up to Astoria OR and visited Fort Clatsop, the area where Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery stayed the winter in 1805/6. I've wanted to visit for years, but it's never actually something I've been able to do, but I actually got time off this visit around so we went for it. It's not that far away- for some reason I thought it was a lot farther than it is from Portland to Astoria.



The site, though not the exact original location of the Fort, is most likely very close to where the original fort was constructed in about three weeks in late 1805 when the Corps arrived. Apparently it was first constructed in the mid-1950, but burned down in 2005, then rebuilt with more technologically accurate details taken from William Clark's journal specifications.

The fort itself is tiny- much smaller than I had expected. There were four or so rooms with bunk-style beds to fit everyone on one side, plus larger rooms for the Captains and Sacagawea and her baby/husband on the opposite.



Appropriately, it was raining. During summer months, I think they have reenactors, which is cool, but most importantly, I got to meet THE SEAMAN DOG REENACTOR.

I had to surreptitiously take a blurry photo of him hanging out in the gift shop because there were damn kids everywhere and I had to be the adult and not shove them out of the way.  My crappy photo makes him look small, but he was a huge Newfoundland dog that easily came up to my hip when he was standing.

My one regret is that I didn't think to bring my Stuffie Billy Clark! Argh! He's been photographed all over the city but this would have been his moment!


Aside from Fort Clatsop, the only other history site I've been to that wasn't Humboldt County history was the Carmel Mission in the Bay Area, which is very beautiful, but very depressing. I'm always slightly jealous of people who I know that are interested in a particular part of history and live in the area where it actually happened! It was very exciting to get to visit an area where the people I am interested in actually lived!

Music For Gracious Living

There's a special place in hell for whoever was in charge of making easy listening records in the mid-1950s. The music is so so so bad, yet the cover art is so so so good.

I recently found these gems on  pinterest- a collection I've never seen before called "Music for Gracious Living". I can only present these without further comment.

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AAAAAND

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Wow. That's a whole lotta vanilla swinging going on. I'd kill to be able to hear these, but I was unable to find any audio samples online. Dingity Dang!

Midweek Favorites: Party Like it's Sometime About Twelve Years Ago

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   If we were to travel back through the mists of time AmazonTrail-style to the year 2001, you’d most likely find me combing over retail websites, waiting for the dial-up images to load chunk by chunk , adding products to my ongoing, handwritten wishlist that I kept next to the computer.  That’s right, folks- I was ahead of the Pinterest curve by like thirteen year. Instead of having a great assortment of photographs, I had my shitty handwriting meticulously cataloging item descriptions, websites and price points.  Don’t me wrong, I also had various scrapbooks of things I would cut out of magazines, or print off from my dad’s work computer and paste into moleskine books BACK IN THE DAY when they only sold hardcover journals and they were like $8.99, but that’s beside the point.

Today I stumbled upon a website that not only had high real estate on that list, but I has also completely forgotten existed: GIRLPROPS.

AHHH!

I can’t believe they’re still around, and though I never ordered anything from them-because I was twelve- I had many favorites from this discount jewelry/weird crap website back in the day (and they are definitely still selling some of them. Oh man).

Look at these gems (I'll leave the original titles I saved the pictures under, because I feel you should be aware of my late night thought process);

saddle pin

cat rangs

wang gs

gorgyle

Nautical Bar Pin

There’s something so circa-2003 about this site, it’s incredible. Maybe it's the zebra print logo. Maybe it's the heavy selection of leg chains. Whatever it is, it's still working for me.  And more incredibly, I remember seeing them in big time magazines over the years.  I want to actually order something fromthem and see. Add it to the “when I’m rich” list.

Quick Chat

I did not intend for this blog to become a "let's listen to be talk about tv" blog, but it seems to have veered that way for the time being, doesn't it?

That being said, LET'S TALK ABOUT HANNIBAL.

The tv series is supposed to be based on the characters of the novel Red Dragon, and is seen as a sort of prequel to the novel series, and it's been fairly solid on that. As a fan of the book series, I was a little confused as to why they had introduced the Verger storyline so early in the timeline (Margot and Mason Verger don't show up until Hannibal the novel), but they have taken creative license with other plot points, so I was just going with it. Then I remembered that Verger's appearance and situation in the novel was due to a "therapy session" with Hannibal that is unexplained in the books and I realized they were doing the backstory to that storyline and boy... BOY. I won't go into it for spoiler reasons, but this past episode was insane. Everything that this show does right was in this episode. It was suspenseful and deeply disturbing while maintaining it's trademark visual beauty.


I cannot wait to see what happens next in the series, and I'm excited that it's been renewed for a third season. Sometimes I can't believe it was even greenlit in the first place, but I'm so happy that it's been getting the ratings it deserves!

Me Toil Part Time at Jah Coldstone Creamery

This week  a good time to be a circa-2000-09 era SNL fan.

 

Digital Short dork-in-chief and Golden Globe™ Winner Andy Samberg returns to host the season finale this Saturday, something I've been waiting for since he left the show two years ago.  The Lonely Island dudes and their Digital Short era of SNL made a huge impression on me and my concept of comedy, and I'm excited to see what this episode delivers. Most pressing question: will Timberlake make an appearance? 

A quick refresher of their stupid genius.

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Then on Monday, one of my absolute favorite comedians, Saturday Night Live-based or otherwise, Maya Rudolph finally gets her own GD variety show! Maya is hugely underrated, in my opinion, and massively talented. If anyone can carry an on old school style variety show, it's her.

Also, in my constant search for "that one sketch where" something I vaguely remind myself of in casual conversation happened, I recently discovered that yahoo has a video section that houses a TON of clips from back episodes- the most comprehensive collection I've found ever since Netflix decided to scrap their full seasons (big fucking mistake, assholes. How am I supposed to memorize entire Weekend Update segments now???), covering bits and pieces from every season. And big, iconic sketches too, not just one offs that no one cares about (hulu). Though, they recently did take down the Gilda Radner classic "Jewess Jeans" which was super disappointing. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

Nevermind I'll Find Someone like You

Well, what we've known has been coming for at least a year has finally happened and Parks and Recreation has officially been last-seasoned.  I'm glad that they are ending on their own terms (though it's still insane that they're being benched. Again.), but it's still very sad to see them go. NBC has become notorious for tanking it's quality comedies in recent years, and while I have high hopes for the Untitled Tina Fey Project that had been titled "Tooken", then recently retitled "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", a title I am 100% not sold on, I just generally have no hope for anything that happens on that network. 

So, in lieu of quality Big Three programming, I sometimes have to veer into the realm of basic cable.

Several months ago, I was turned onto Louis CK's show, the aptly titled "Louie", which, until yesterday, only had three seasons (on netflix, yay). Louis CK is one of my favorite stand-ups, and his show doesn't disappoint if you are a fan of his type of comedy.

It follows Louis playing basically himself, a divorced comedian who has part time custody of his two hilarious and adorable daughters, shleping through New York City.  There are a ton of cameos from other comedians playing themselves, and it really feels like "comedy for comedians", if that awfully pretentious statement even makes any sense. I love to watch comedians talk about comedy with other comedians, and this show feels like a peek into that world. Each episode typically is broken into two parts that don't really relate to each other, which lends a sketch-show pace that is refreshing if you're used to serial shows that can sometimes drag.

The show is hilarious, awkward, awful, and brilliant. It starts out strong, with genuine earnestness and terrible "Curb Your Enthusiasm" level second hand embarrassment, but, despite being slightly horrible, Louie's character is extremely likeable, if not a bit generally sad.  But, let's be real- we're all a bit sad. Hell, I've been binge watching old seasons of "Glee" steadily for the past week or so. I'm no better than this guy.

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One of the things that I think makes "Louie" stand out is its darkness. It's fucking hilarious, don't get me wrong, but it can get real dark reaaaaal quick.  It does so with a smoothness and realness that just works.   Whether addressing homophobia withing the comedy community, suicide, or the Iraq war, it honestly deals with shitty things by couching them with Louie's terrible first dates and cute kids, but in a non-saccharine way. Lord knows I have no tolerance for saccharine, and this show does so well in avoiding that canned laughter sugar trap a lot of shows slip into.

I haven't gotten to watch the any of the brand new season, as it's, well, brand new and I don't have access to the tv that has cable (even though I'm paying for it, but that's another post entirely), but I'm excited to see what happens. 

Bad news.

Despite what I was told yesterday, I did not actually get that job.
I am very upset, let down, confused, frustrated. I will not be making a long post about it because I am very embarrassed, and upset, but just wanted to keep everyone up to date.

I guess it's back to the malls for a shitty part time job that I eventually have to leave because they refuse to cooperate with my current job.

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The Bad News:

Yesterday, I splurged and bought nachos. Not just any nachos- the large size because for 50 cents more, I could eat off them for like three and a half days. After eating some of them (not even close to half), I put the rest in the fridge at work, then promptly FORGOT them at work.

The Good News:

I finally, finally, finally, FINALLY got a second job!  Six months after I left Penney's and several botched job interviews later, I was hired at an antique store as a cashier/helper person. It's a place (or at least type of place) that I've wanted to work at for a long time, and the job opportunity kind of fell in my lap after I royally screwed up my interview for a full time position at the bookstore. I've come to realize that, while it would be ideal, I'm just not going to get a full time position at the bookstore. I needed to be realistic and stop waiting for "maybe it'll happen" or "maybe someone will leave..." I'm very fortunate to have the friends I do, because I wouldn't have found this job if it weren't for my friend Michelle! 

 It's part time, and I will be working seven days a week, but I'd rather do that than work six 12-14 hour days a week (sometimes for four weeks on end) like I was doing at JC Penney. I'm very excited because this means I will finally be able to save money and move out of my awful living situation, get glasses, buy a new bra, all the important things. Plus, I'd rather work seven days a week at my job at the bookstore and at an antique mall than any days a week breathing recycled mall air. I was really starting to worry I would have to start applying at mall jobs again, but I'm so lucky this worked out.

Dapper Dames

LIFE GOALS: Esther Quek

I love menswear. I love menswear more than I love any (and I mean any) "female"  clothing that has ever existed since the dawn of wearing clothes.  I feel like a lot of men don't get how great they have it, and waste their lives wearing grimy Call of Duty 3 t shirts and cargo shorts, but whatever losers! More for me!

Okay, the second line of this post is a lie, because there is something I love more than menswear: the Lady Suit.

Have you met my personal Lord and Savior, Janelle Monae?

Ballerina Maria Kochetkova

via Asos

 

 

 

I'm always excited to see someone style a pants-based outfit. I feel like there's a lot of skirt and dress centric outfits out in the style blogosphere, which is great, but not really my style. I like skirts and dresses, but not necessarily on me. In my everyday life, I have to schlub around on the bus, and have to do a lot of walking, so skirts just aren't super practical in my life. BUT I still like being fancy and looking put together. Enter: the Lady Suit. Life goals include owning a well tailored suit, and maybe one day when I'm rich, or at least am able to secure a full time position job somewhere (ANYWHERE PLEASE), that will happen.

Photo by Anthea Simms

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Esther Quek via I Dream of Dapper

Everyone needs to bow down to Esther Quek, the fabulous lady in the photos bookending this post. Fashion Director  at the men's fashion magazine The Rake, she has written the book on the Lady Suit. She is one of my favorite fashion people, hands down! She knows how to take something that is traditionally male, and make it feminine- but not cutesy-, and does so flawlessly.