Dirt Chic

I Was a Free Man in Paris

I had to check a bag, as is my custom, apparently, in coming back from Colorado.  It was good, though - Ashley always has choice things for me, and she and Anne and I found ourselves at thrift stores, and yes, I found myself alone at a choice antique emporium, and while I didn't go nuts overall... I still had to check a bag. 

Anne and I made it to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit.  No photography was allowed, but the images of certain garments are burned into my brain.  It made me realize that I'm really done with just amassing clothes.  Remembering the experience of making my feather jacket, I've decided to go into a kind of makeshift personal couture, shifting out of thrifting as a regular hobby. :) ...If makeshift couture is not a contradiction in terms....  

I'm getting rid of a lot of clothes, in fact.  A lot of everything.  Am in the process of mass purging.  I sniffle right now from the dust, but not sentiment.  Nostalgia is something I prize - when it has a kind of intimacy to it, a connection.  But collections?  ...I'm trying to move away from them.  Feeling much less curatorial.  Interesting that a museum exhibit would push me further in that direction, eh?

I didn't buy everything I saw, as some things are fun (see above two pictures) but not necessarily worth the effort of buying them.  By that I mean I like to look, I would maybe even like to buy if the item is truly inexpensive... but $28 for pajamas?  Nah.  $12 for a Carmen Marc Valvo dress that might or might not be from the 90's (my preference) and really doesn't quite fit me?  Nuh-uh.

I did buy these.

Jessica saw them and said, "those are weird."  She meant it the right way.  You can't see it, below, but I'm wearing purple socks.  And my black pants and H&M blazer and a 90's rayon shirt.  A student told me I was wearing a nice suit.  Loved it.  Le smoking rubbing off, as usual.  (Hey Anne.  Le smoking.  Pamplemousse. ;)

And you also can't see my heart necklace.  So, here:

Shoes: $18.  (And oh so comfortable, I just have to add.)  Shirt: $3.  

And I leave you with YSL's eloquence.  My souvenir. 

Getting Dressed: Lest You Think I'm Straight-Up Retro

No.

Granted, this is heavily 80's - but the hat is pure 60's.

Today required a little bit of tweaking.  

First, the luscious silk shirt (a choice prize from Ashley) had these ENORMOUS shoulder pads.  I am not, on principle, adverse to shoulder pads, but these... were keeping me from wearing the shirt.  I had Guilt that it might ruin the look of the shirt, if removed.  But the Guilt was making me want to put the shirt back on the hanger.  So I sucked it up, trusted my instinct, and seam-ripped them out.  Man.  They were the size of, like, those knee pads or whatever that hockey players (goalies?) wear.  (I'll have to brush up on sports terminology.  In, like, 5 years.)

Second, the hat ($14).  I have had this hat for about 4 years, which is no big deal, except that I've never worn it.  Why?  Why not just get rid of it?  I almost did.  It made it to the purge pile.  But - I love it so.  I love hats.  This one just didn't fit.  It was edged inside and out with a grosgain ribbon, and while I have a bit of experience with hat-making, I felt this was out of my league.  For some reason, sticking it on the purge pile (as well as amassing quite a few choice hats this year), made me not want to give it up, to give it another try.  So I seam-ripped the grosgrain off, fully intending to wet and the stretch the felt somehow.  Turns out, I didn't really need to.  The felt stretched without the grosgrain.

Anyway. I enjoy a little tweaking, a little sewing, a little ripping, a little whatever that gives something I know I love a second chance.  

Belt: $3 (had to tweak this one too, back in the day!  Seam-ripped it from the buckle, cut it to length, sewed it back on).  Shoes: $4.

Crazy Necklace Time

Well, it's a good thing I resolved to wear more jewelry.  Since I now have more jewelry.  Which I want to spell jewellery.

Pink wood necklace that looks like teeth.  Going along with my current morph into some Western-esque dressing.  (Don't worry.  I haven't actually morphed out of anything else.)  $10

Pink wood necklace that looks like... something.  $10.

Pink Lucite-and-silver necklaces.  I cropped my face out of this one.  I was doing my rat impression.  The world at large doesn't need to see that.  $10 each.

80's gold heart necklace.  There were some gold/pearl flower beads with pearls on it that annoyed me, so I removed them.  $10.

And, I finished the disco bib.  I attached a small bit of chain and a clasp.  From the craft store.  Guess how much?  You got it - $10.

Christmas and Costuming and Thrifting and Dressing

Glitz and glam.  

Picture doesn't do this shirt justice.  Big, yes; multi-layered, yes; cool back, yes.

I went to the salon to have my excellent stylist (and sister) cut my hair, and she was so awesome and kind as to curl it, too.  Someone asked if I was going to a Christmas party. :)  It occurred to me that my normal style includes "ugly Christmas sweaters" and like apparel.  (I was going to rehearsal for my upcoming play.)  80's "big" shirt: $16.  (I need to iron it, but the material is a pain, so I went for the calculated-messy look.)

I have been given the task of also costuming my play, which is great thrifting fun.  I've got at least a first round of possibilities - but of course, I also found a few items for myself as I was searching.

Ugly, misshapen, bad-poly 80's dress yielded this incredible silver mesh bib.  I will carefully detach it and make it into a necklace.  I think it'll look cool with my gold mesh bib - and it will also look cool solo.

Heh heh.  It's like those nail thingies.  I enjoy.  $5.

I also got what I consider to be an opera coat.  Perfect black velvet, fitted at the wrists, with pockets.  Loose, but in a structured way.  No belt.  Astounding garment.  $13.

Glam and glitz (though not in this pic - not an outfit, just a try-on).  I think I'm ready anything festivity can throw at me.

Yearly Ornament Crafting: Check

I didn't know if I would get them done this year.

I started with Owl, and despaired.  And then I picked Roo, because he's so tiny and seemed so easy.  I tried to make the first one, and despaired - just 'cuz I'm rusty at my handcrafting skillz, and his little ears posed the only challenge.

I got over it.

Roo x 8.  It is truly Christmas.  

(Older ornaments here and here :)

Skin Cream: Round Three

I was trying to make lotion.  Not cream.  It's more lotion-y than, cream, but not quite lotion-y enough.  I used too much glycerin, and it made it sticky.  But, I used it last night, and I woke up feeling just right - not sticky at all.  So, another night-use product.  I hope I can cook something up for the day, before I run out of supplies....

But I loved how much fun it was to whisk.  The consistency was much more satisfying.  Less balmy.

The one on the left was this recent try.  You can see it's lighter.

Feathers Feathers Feathers!!!

I can't get ENOUGH!!!  I can't get over how COOL they are!  I found this on Etsy and while I wish I could have it, um, $350 is not in my price range, so, I was just inspired, instead.

I was rooting around my supply closet for an empty container and I came across this - a spool of Christmas ribbon - "ribbon" - I got at Target last year for $5.  

Too cool for spool!  Ha... ha.  (I can't HELP it)  I got out my sewing box which had some pink thread, and sewed the ends together.  Voila.  

Next feather project will be something just as awesome.  Gotta get to Hobby Lobby at some point, probably as a reward for finishing some self-imposed deadline.  Also in feather news, I came across two absolutely fantastic, FANTASTIC feather boas this weekend... vintage... epic... $60 each.  Yikes.

Skin Cream: Round Two

I really don't want to spend money on skincare right now and I really don't want my face to look bad.  I tried my hand at concocting skin cream about a month ago, and it ended up being more balm than cream.  ...Did I even post about this?  I'm losing my mind.  But anyways, I chalked that up to my lack of know-how more than anything else.  And I was using an old book (like, from the turn of LAST century).  And I added extra stuff.

Well, I still have all the makings around, so I found this recipe and more or less followed it (minus benzoin, as I don't have any right now - I don't know if it is a preservative/fixative/stabilizer, so I guess we'll see).  I like how it's called Skin Food.  I found the same title of recipe in the ancient book, and I know of a skincare company who has something called that.  According to my readings, companies couldn't call cosmetics anything relating to food.  I guess that no longer applies.

Anyway.  This one is definitely more creamy.

But it still is pretty balm-like.  It doesn't absorb super-quickly, but tomorrow morning will be the real test (poor pillow), as to how it makes my skin look/feel once it's absorbed.  I think this will be great for winter.  And now that I've managed to get one thing to turn out, I'm going to aim for a lighter lotion, next time.  

Let me just note, that if you are interested in making your own skin cream, as well, it's not super-necessary to have a double boiler - I just held a smaller saucepan in a larger pan of water - but it's probably handier and less likely to cause, well, accidental burns.  Also, cleaning up after this stuff is kind of a pain, so don't try to wash your cosmetic dishes with the rest of your dishes.  Wipe it all out, first, with a paper towel, then wash.  (And if you are so inclined and likely to be doing it often, follow a tip I read in a soapmaking guide and get separate "tools" from thrift stores so you don't have to use your kitchenware.)

Oh, and, I get a lot of my stuff from here.  It's awesome.  But here is good too.  And local natural food stores, and even drug stores, and many other places, I'm sure.

Kickin' It in K to the C

Well, technically, I was mostly in Independence, because you know me - like to hang out in presidential towns.  Close to President's Day.  But not ON President's Day.  So tomorrow, instead of hanging out in Springfield, I'll instead go to Lincoln, Illinois.

Oh wait.

A lovely, if fast, weekend.  I did more than I thought I would - made Thai-ish food twice, thrifted AND vintaged, ate pastry at Panera, went to church (it's been more than a month), took a REAL WALK... saw my dear buddies the Mau-Bridgeses. :)

A visual rundown:

$5 worth of thrifted vintage Avon stuff.  I'm not a huge collector of anything (clothes don't count - they are not collectibles as I wear them), but I love me some vintage cosmetic ANYTHING.  (I will use them for something.  I promise.)

Appropriate purchases to prep for an afternoon (ok, 10 minutes) of deodorant crafting.  Yes.  Carra has wanted to do it for something like years.  We made it from this recipe with lots of orange essential oil for fragrance.  She has tried hers already, and loves it.  I failed to do so.  Will tomorrow.  A bit of process:

(Carra, I feel you will hate this picture, but you shouldn't.  It's very nice. :)

Adele and I goof off.  She is camera shy.  I am not, in case you haven't noticed. ;)

Church.  I love this couch.  It is straight from BH&G's New Decorating Book from 1983.  I want.  I need.

Making spring rolls post-church.  It was tres delicious.  Mega-tres.

(I was starving so mine wasn't pretty.)

KC is such a weird town, historically speaking.  Feels kindof dead.  Very stoney.  But I still like it.  I want this property, as there is a house on a hill and something like a wine cellar at the foot of the hill:

This is not the house on the hill.  This is just a lil' ol' mansion.  But I like mansions.  In the middle of the ghetto, especially.

I will leave you with thoughts of summer and barbecuing.  This odd spring-y week has made me hope for strapless dresses and open windows.  Godspeed you, warm weather.  (So I can go back to KC when it is not dead and stoney. :)

S'no Glamour Like Snow Glamour

There's no reason for me to dump around just because I have nowhere to go.  And THAT'S not even true anymore - I'm going to walk to Aldi in a little bit to stock up on (ahem) provisions.  Provided they are open.  If not, I will consider it a brisk constitutional.

Anywho - not that I will be wearing this:

But I FIXED it - the zipper just needed to be sewed on.  I'm still working with this dress.  The top is kind of snug in spots, and the skirt is really full - but it looks dumb with my crinoline.  I think I might need an additional long crinoline to the shorter one I have.  (Ashley gave me this dress.  Bless her forever.)

An astounding Before:

Before hemming, Before makeup... and you'll get the After later.  I looked this dress over and decided it is worth the $10 or so to have someone else shorten it.  I am bad at straight lines, and even worse at straight lines in this kind of stretchy fabric.  It will be disaster, and I'm just looking for success, right now. ($1.  Yup.  $1.)

I will probably tackle this one myself.  This dress (Glinda, recall - I know, not really, but similar) is pretty much the embodiment of every Barbie dress I loved as a child.  I was not so big on Barbie (still am not, really), but her clothes.  The heart neckline.  The ruffles.  The pinkness.  The CRYSTALS.  (Though I might remove some of them.

So what's wrong with the dress, you ask?  See above!  Giant gaping hole.  Someone started to take the skirt apart.  I have no idea why.  I have to re-ruffle it.  I might give up.  But I'm going to try.  If not, seamstress. ($7.  I couldn't talk them down even with it partially disassembled.  Jerks.)

As you can see, I'm slowly getting the hang of the tripod.  More like getting the hang of my tripod and my phone camera.  I would do SO MUCH BETTER with it if I had a program that both allowed me to do a timer and have the option of the screen facing me.  But I've yet to track down that program if it exists.  So a lot of my pics are still trial and error.  But, getting there.

I ended up in my Op skateboarding skeleton Where's Waldo sweatshirt today. ($2.) Remember Op?

This is me, remembering Op:

Also, this is me looking towards getting provisions.  Now I'm off.