90s Child

I finally dug out the grunge floral dress that I thrifted last summer and haven't worn since. I've been a little hesitant about wearing it, because it has an incredibly skimpy top, which in combination with a fairly short skirt seemed like a little too much. So, I threw my eyelet top over it and folded the annoying elastic waistband at the bottom of the shirt over a belt, making a wonderful little lump all around my waist. Hey, at least you can see my waist, right? Whatever works, works. Anyway, I was feeling pretty grunge-y, especially with my wayfarers. I guess this is my 90s tribute.






Shirt- JC Penney, dress- thrifted, sunnies- UO, bracelet- gift, shoes- Jessica Simpson (again, I know).

I got really distracted while I was taking pictures, because the prettiest little kitty climbed through a hole in the fence and onto my little stretch of sidewalk. I have an all-black kitty, so it's kind of exotic to me to see the opposite.

I Loved You First

I know this editorial is already making its way around the style blogosphere a bit, but I could couldn't help but share it. While I think I am a bit guilty of over-comparing every editorial I see to those of Tim Walker, he is just the main standard against which this style of editorial can be compared. These images reminded me of Tim Walker's in terms of the whimsical and somewhat magical nature of the sets and moreover in terms of the incredible attention paid to the details in each scene. The clothes also excite me greatly. The rich, bright purples and blues seem perfect for fall and I'm liking the exaggerated shape of the skirts. (It's always seemed to me that it would be kind of strange to sit down in them, though.) Finally, Emma Watson really is becoming a lovely model. She's always been a favorite of mine and it's nice to see her coming into her own. All in all, a very impressive editorial.

(source)

Into the Woods

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

The gorgeous thing with the red lining that I was eyeing at the thrift store and that the man gave to me for free was a cape! A navy cape with gorgeous gold buttons! I die, I die, I die. I assume that it's vintage, although there's no real indication of when it's from. Even though I think it will look better in the fall with tights (yes, I might wear it for real then, since it's rain proof), I decided to take it out for a spin in the woods. The funny thing was that the weekly game of dungeons & dragons was going on there, so, had I had my plastic sword along with me, I would have fit in quite well.







Cape- secondhand, tank- Gap, shorts- Gap, shoes- Payless.

Nice As New

It always seems like the best shops are the little whole in the wall places that no one's ever heard of. This was definitely true in Memphis. There really wasn't much in the way of shopping in downtown Memphis, but one day, when we were looking for breakfast, we took a shortcut through a little alley to get back to our hotel and there it was. A thrift store. Exactly what I wanted to see. We descended down the stairs into a dark and slightly smoky-smelling basement. I really want to romanticize it here and say that it was absolutely brimming with treasure, but the truth is it was mostly junk. However, the little treasures it did have were beyond incredible. I'd definitely suggest it to anyone in Memphis. Smoky-smelling clothes aren't really preferable, but a wash will get rid of that and the old man who runs it is terribly nice. We went on a Friday and I think we were practically his first customer of the week, so he talked to us for ages.









(^Why did these shoes have to be half a size too small and narrow? They are my dream shoes. I probably should have bought them anyway...)

I bought a red trench coat, but the really amazing thing is what the old man gave me for free. He saw me eyeing it but he hadn't priced it yet, so he asked me if I'd pay $100 for it, then $50, then $20, then $10, then asked me if I'd take it off his hands for free. It's epic! But you shall see tomorrow. Right now you can just know that it's navy with ridiculously gorgeous red lining.

PS Today was the first day of my summer job. Ugh. Don't worry, though. It's not cramping my style. More outfit posts soon.
PPS Don't forget to check out my TeenUgly post! :)

Ambiguous Alliterative Abomination + TeenUgly!

Dudes! I was invited to write an article for TeenUgly. Go check it out!

PS Real post later tonight.

Down South

Because I'm not really big on country music or anything, I hadn't really been particularly looking forward to heading south. It seemed to me that if were going to go on vacation, we should go somewhere really epic like New York (where I still haven't been and thus I'm incredibly envious of all the bloggers who seem to be heading there this summer!). However, I will say that a week away from home did help to ease some of the unbearable wanderlust that I've been feeling lately. While I would really prefer to travel alone, not tied down to familial obligations, Tennessee, when it comes down to it, was pretty darn magical. This post is a bit of a trip recap, but it is by no means comprehensive. I took around 900 pictures, so I thought I'd just share a few of my favorites.

We spent a couple days in Memphis, which during the day was a bit of a ghost town (probably due to the heat--it got up to 103 degrees while we were there!). However, at night, as temperatures dropped a bit, the whole place suddenly livened up. The wild Cinderella-esque horse-drawn carriages were certainly a sight to see...


While in Memphis, we also made the obligatory pilgrimage to Graceland (Elvis's house). It was much smaller than I expected, but quite trippy. This picture I took in his mirrored staircase is plenty proof of that (I was wearing my sailor shirt). And there was a cute little 50s-style diner across the street.


We also made a little side trip into Arkansas (which has a remarkably beautiful countryside, by the way) and stopped at an amazing little country fruit stand (HUGE watermelons!) and at the most bizarre barbecue place. Travelers were supposed to leave their mark anywhere they wanted--and they did (the walls, the ceiling, everywhere).





Upon our return to Nashville, we were greeted by the most glorious sunset. Magical, really.

Then, we visited the Parthenon, which was pretty cool, but they were doing work on the inside so we couldn't go in.


Following that was my favorite lunch ever! We stopped at a little French bakery for salads and ended up staying for dessert as well. I had my first macaron, which was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. We also couldn't help trying the adorable little fruit tarts...



After that, the Belmont mansion, which was quite lavish. I would love to have a gigantic mirror like that in my entry.

Then we went to the state capital, which was quite beautiful, particularly the old library with its spiral staircase. That is as a library should be.



I hope you all enjoyed this little vacation to Tennessee. You can return to your everyday lives now :)

PS I still have a post or 2 left about Tennessee shopping, so look forward to that in the next few days.

The Birthday Hat

Sorry about that weird depressed post yesterday. I feel much better today. It's sunny and hardly windy at all, so I wore my birthday hat! I wish I could say that there was a great story behind it like my mom made it for me when I was little or I found it on my doorstep on my birthday or something, but actually I just bought it a couple weeks ago at a vintage store. The tag said $20, but I showed the owner some visible glue on it and she gave it to me for $15--just goes to show that it never hurts to try to get a lower price. I decided I wanted to debut it on my birthday, which obviously didn't work out, but I'm still going to call it my birthday hat. As you will see, it is remarkably photogenic.







Hat- vintage, sweater- Nordstrom, skirt- Fire Finch Boutique (Nashville), shoes- Jessica Simpson. (If I keep wearing them at this rate, I'm probably going to wear holes through these shoes by the end of summer!)