Garage Rock

I promise some substantial posts will be on the way as soon as I push through the last of this semester.

A garage was a slightly better setting for an all-black outfit than the following pretty, tiled background. I mean, butterflies.

Vintage tee, 2BWU jeans, vintage boots via Buffalo Exchange, Forever 21 cuff, rings and arrowhead necklace

Urban Outfitters skull ring, Hue leopard print socks, stone necklace given to me by a vagrant in Buffalo, NY

I’m smushing my face, taking a “selfie,” and using new vocabulary.

It was fun to revisit my middle school style and try to do it over. Unique white boots take the place of knee-high combat boots and none of the excessive jewelry involves pony beads or guitar picks this time.

How did you dress in your early teens? Do you hold on to certain things or cringe at all of it?

 

 

Thinly Veiled Effort

 

American Apparel chiffon camisole layered over an Urban Outfitters racerback tank, Aerie bracelet, Hot Topic jeans (Don’t laugh. I’m goth now.)

A friend gave me these cute, polka dot earrings as a high school graduation present. My college graduation present to myself is to stop freaking out.

South By Southwest

I didn’t hit SXSW too hard this year, and I think that’s what made it so pleasant. I spent more time at friends’ houses than at venues this week. I had one hour-plus driving experience within a three mile radius, with suicidal pedestrians outnumbering parking spots 5,000 to one. I stuck to out-of-the-way venues with free shows that I knew I wanted to see. As a result, I made it through with more money than I started with, minimal hangovers, and some semblance of rejuvenation to start this week.

I got photographed for the Urban Outfitters blog. I wasted this little moment of style exposure on nearly the same outfit as my other, uh, press. At least I can say I follow my own advice.

This was taken right before I fell in love with Eleanor Friedberger again. I’d seen her play with the Fiery Furnaces before, all scowls and miss-matched clothes, flying through the awkward lyrics as if auctioning off absurdity. Seeing her alone with her accoustic guitar doing some songs off Last Summer cemented my opinion that she can tell touching, authentic stories that are just as interesting without the bells and whistles of Fiery Furnace songs.

Some other bands:

Best Coast

My friend used a little deception and a few connections to sneak us past a huge line of grouchy teenagers to see this show. We caught the last few songs. It was exactly what I expected, except I expected the free beer to not have run out.

The Strange Boys

So good. Everyone seemed happy to be crammed together under the disco ball for this experience.

Light Asylum

I was resistant to this harsh Brooklyn duo. It seemed designed for eardrum assault, and it was not a good match for a sunny afternoon under a tent. Between songs, Shannon Funchess quit singing like an opera understudy of doom to plug their new album too much and make vague quasi-political statements. But if I said I didn’t do a bit of dancing it would be a lie.

Grimes

Okay, fine, Pitchfork. I’m becoming the stereotypical girl who’s entranced by Grimes. Visions is a refreshing album, and she performs that music like a damn MAGICIAN. She was sick during the show I saw, but hit her signature high notes as best as she could. She’s like a riot grrl for 2012, although she has a totally different sound, audience, etc. It’s in the way that she shrieks instead of crooning, performs like Lykke Li but runs her own show (instead of just banging the occasional drum), and dresses like a 10-year-old without parents. She’s that geeky girl you really should have sat next to in the middle school cafeteria.

Psychic Ills/ Crocodiles

Man, I don’t know. The beer was free.

For Those About to Rock

Photo by Thomas Allison

Albertus Swanepoel for Target hat – Urban Outfitters top - Forever 21 bustier - vintage necklace - Target belt - vintage shorts

Jessica Lee (of Sparkle and Stripes)  kindly featured me in an article about South by Southwest style for The Daily Texan, our university’s newspaper.

I’ll be working a lot during SXSW, but at least I’ll be just a block away from the free, back lot shows at UO. Can’t wait to see the lovely Eleanor Friedberger and Grimes on Saturday. So many choices, so little time. 

Ottoman. And I Don’t Mean the Empire.

I’m in the process of furnishing and decorating an apartment. In reality, this means dusting off the unapologetically 60s kitchenware my grandmother used to own and searching Goodwill with my roommate for the least ghetto furniture therein. Still, I couldn’t help but do a little Windows shopping at the Urban Outfitters website. They had some nice decor for the type of student who doesn’t need to be bussed into campus on Cap Metro. Here’s something that made me feel something so different from jealousy that I had to share:

Pom Pom Ottoman, $128

….hahahaha. I’m not convinced that anyone needs an ottoman. But if you do, you certainly don’t need to pay $128 for it. Most of all, it should not involve pom poms. And the fabric itself is disgusting.

So stop acting like a cat didn’t throw this up, Urban Outfitters.

However, I’ll say that I’m tempted to buy one of these cute doormats at $18 a-peach.

“Home Sweet Apartment” doormat

“Keys, Phone, Wallet” reminder rug.

Identity Theft: Cat Power

You Are Free…to be a copy Cat.

No girl should have to get through being 15 years old without Cat Power’s music. Or being 20. Or ever. And if you’re a dude, you need her, too. Chan Marshall is probably my favorite female singer. Her songs are as timeless as her style. Though she’s notoriously emotionally fragile, her clothing choices are steady as a rock. Few women look as sexy in designer duds as she does in rumpled menswear.

Without further ado, here are some Chan-reminiscent pieces I like but shouldn’t wear all at once since I’ve already outed my girl-crush and already have her haircut…

Equipment military top in navy, $178 ( madisonlosangeles.com)

But, by all means, get the same shirt from the army surplus or something for not-triple-digits.

Aubaine boxing gloves necklace, $28 (Urban Outfitters)

Just like the album cover  for The Greatest (which is not her greatest record, okay, but it’s a sweet necklace).

Speaking of gloves, she’s seems to perpetually wear black, fingerless gloves. I can’t stand microphone chafing either, Chan! Why is everything hard?

Asos leather pin-studded gloves, $30.44 (asos.com)

I wouldn’t normally suggest studded things anymore, since the mega-trend is  getting stale (Marc Jacobs said so, so there!). Yet, these are subtle “pins.” Loophole!

Chanel silk dress

$8,300 for you on eBay, free for Chan Marshall ’cause she hangs out with fellow wierd glove-wearer Karl Lagerfeld.

If you’re interested, a biography recently came out about her:

Cat Power: A Good Woman by Elizabeth Goodman $11.92 (Barnes and Noble)
I was skeptical about how good this could possibly be, given Marshall’s basic unwillingness to say much in the few interviews I’d seen. The book’s real problem is the shitty style that the journalist uses. I’d only read it if it solved the following mystery:

Is that beauty mark real? In some close-ups her face is mole-free. Does she cover it up, or pencil it on? It’s just another one of those questions I put up there with “What is dark matter?”

Victoria’s Secret beauty mark kit ($2.99)

‘Spose these are more smudge-proof than eyeliner. The strange, trampy mini-tattoos are a bonus.

Graphic Graphic Tees

Some things are more funny than they are awkward. Like watching a softcore porno with a strained plot line in the company of a coed group of 5 or more people.

Other things are more awkward than funny, like this shirt for the commonly wild 20-something:

Doe Wasted Day Raglan, $14.99

Wearing a top that says “IF YOU’RE NOT WASTED THE DAY IS” doesn’t make you the life of the party. It makes you an alcoholic.

Young guns, please respect your maybe bright future, or at least the rules of punctuation. There should be a comma in there.

Urban Outfitters has a few more funny tees that are on sale for a reason:

Truly Madly Deeply “Rebound” Scoop Tee, $14.99

Had a nasty breakup and finally ready to wear something other than a bathrobe? Throw this tee on for a party (preferably one where your ex will be in attendance) to publicly expedite the angry-sad mistaken hook-up process. Accessorize with a bottle of Jack Daniels, personal anecdotes, and shame!

B!tch Is the New Black Tee, $14.99

Um…no. I could say I’m anti-bitch, but shouldn’t, considering how I would harshly judge the identity management of a girl wearing this. This would only be funny on a straight male…if he’s that into irony. It’s almost as unnecessary as a previous season’s “Broke is the new black” tee. Perfect for people who have an expendable $25 for the purpose of looking like they don’t have an expendable $25.

Also, for the record: black is the only black. Done.