Happy Halloween!

Tropical Bird Costume:

Mask from Halloween Adventure with a homemade beak attached

Red feather boa from a bead store on 6th Ave

Rainbow feathers from Michael's attached at wrists and tail

Vintage Izod sweater/Atmospere skirt/Tights from We Love Colors

Background:

The bloody remains of someone murdered in my friends' shower

I wore this to a Halloween party on Saturday night. Full disclosure: this is actually bits and pieces of the costume I wore two years ago done slightly differently. I didn't have a lot of time to put my costume together this year, but still wanted to do something fun and elaborate. I love to dress up, so Halloween is naturally one of my favorite holidays!

Matt was a big help making this. He constructed both the paper mache beak and the foam core frame for the tail (you can't see it in the pictures). Sculpture was never one of my strong points, but he did an amazing job where I would have been quite helpless. All I had to do was apply the paint and feathers, which in my opinion is the fun part anyway! 

I did a fairly involved eye makeup even though the mask is the main focal point of the costume. I knew there was no way I would be able to keep it on constantly all night and wanted to have something interesting going on even when I took it off. That was a smart move because the beak made it very difficult to take a drink out of a glass. I need to remember to bring a straw if I ever wear this again!

Happy Halloween everyone! Be sure to eat plenty of candy!

Winter is Coming

Outfit Details:

 Vintage Sasson coat from St Vincent de Paul

Hat & pants from H&M

Dr. Martens Blake boots

So winter decided to come early this year as a snowstorm complete with thunder and lightning yesterday. That meant I got to bust out my new faux fur coat much earlier than I expected! This is just one of the many great thrifting finds from my trip to Cincinnati. I love the single beveled purple button and the piping detail on the sleeves. At $19.99 the price was right too! Matt thinks it makes me look like a Romulan. I'm not entirely sure if that's positive or negative, but I love the coat nonetheless.

Now time for some homemade potato soup and cornbread--yummy! That's one major plus for cold weather. Soup time!

Blue Moon of Kentucky

I just got back from my sister-in-law's wedding in central Kentucky. Wow--it was amazingly beautiful down there with all of the leaves changing! Unfortunately I had a cold the entire time I was there (sniff, sniff) and didn't really feel up to posing for outfit pictures. I'll leave you with these lovely pictures of the scenery around the Cliffview Inn instead. Oh, and one of Matt scarfing down Skyline while we were in Cincinnati just for good measure!
Also, illness be damned, I did some major thrifting in Cincinnati. You'll definitely be seeing the fruits of that labor in upcoming outfit posts.

Devil's Haircut

Outfit details:

Dress from H&M

Levi's jacket

Tights from the Gap

AK Anne Klein Boots from Beacon's Closet

Bag from Beyond Retro in London

Yes, I finally got a haircut. My hair was really turning into quite a helmet, so I was happy to have some of it chopped off today. I'm digging the slightly 70's shag shape and loving that it isn't falling into my face anymore.

Also, just let me say, it's amazing what a little bit of shoe polish can do to revive some worn in boots! They look better than the day I bought them now!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Outfit Details:

Nine West leather jacket from Beacon's Closet

Topshop shirt from Buffalo Exchange

H&M jeans

Vintage scarf 

Dr. Martens Blake boots 

It's been an exciting (and nerve racking) week. I was offered a new and exciting job and accepted! I'm super stoked, but just a little bit scared since I've been at my current job for six years now. I just keep reminding myself that change is good, especially when it has the potential to lead to amazing long term career opportunities!

Matt and I had to run a ton of errands today, so I went for a super comfy outfit. Definitely necessary when you're going to be running from one end of the neighborhood to the other all day. Up next: going out dancing with my friend Shanya tonight. Can't wait! It's been too long! Now I just have to figure out what to wear...

Over and Over and Over Again

Outfit Details:

The Beautiful Ones shirt from Buffalo Exchange

Vintage necklace from Buffalo Exchange ($1!)

H&M skirt

Vintage sunglasses from Day-lab

Sandals from Rainbow

So this is strange. Just two nights ago I wrote about listening to Suede and today I'm wearing a shirt by a brand called The Beautiful Ones. To make things even weirder, I heard the song Beautiful Ones today at Beacon's Closet. Luckily I was in the fitting room and could sing along quietly without anyone noticing. I hadn't heard this song in years, and it's all over the place this weekend!

An Apple a Day

Outfit Details:

Tank top from Beacon's Closet

Cross-back bra from American Apparel

Levi's jean shorts and cardigan from Buffalo Exchange

Dr. Martens Blake boots (on sale!)

The National is one of my favorite bands (along with a good number of my friends), so logically our apple picking trip today lead to a lot of singing of the lyric "picking apples, making pie" from the song Fake Empire in our best Matt Berninger baritone. I realized I hadn't listened to their album Boxer in a long time, so I put it on while editing my photos. I forgot how awesome it is! Oh, and if you were wondering, we didn't "put a little something in our lemonade and take it with us"...
While we're chatting about The National, I might as well share their video for Apartment Story (off of Boxer) from a few years ago. Keep a keen eye out and you see yours truly make several appearances (back in my short black hair days).

You and Me, So Lazy...

Hi gang--sorry for my silence lately. Let's just blame it on a busy week and move on, shall we? I'm a bit behind on my blog reading as well, so I just saw this post Annika made back on Monday. A silly video with the Suede song "Beautiful Ones" playing over it. So many great memories were brought back hearing that song. I just had to listen to Coming Up on Spotify while putting together this post! Oh Britpop, I can never get enough of you...
Just thought I'd share some photos from Bring to Light as promised. Enjoy!

Burnt Orange

Outfit Details:

Vintage shirt from Beyond Retro in London

Vintage sweater from Goodwill

Levi's jean shorts from Buffalo Exchange

Tights from We Love Colors

Altama Army boots from Goodwill

Two of the vintage clothing items I seem to collect most are printed polyester button down shirts from the 70's and men's v-neck sweaters from the late 70's/early 80's. They tend to pair perfectly together! Plus they are both plentiful at thrift shops. I guess I'm the only one with this obsession...

We checked out the Medieval Festival up at Ft Tryon Park today. It was fun, but super crowded. I hope to post some pictures later this week along with the pics we took at Bring to Light last night. That was also awesome, but super crowded! That's just what happens when there's a free event in NYC. EVERYONE shows up.

Rainy Day Stripes

Outfit Details:

Vintage top from Goodwill

Skirt & tights from H&M

Cardigan from Target

AK Anne Klein boots from Beacon's Closet

Matt decided he wants a new winter coat this year, so we went hunting at a few vintage and thrift stores around the neighborhood today. No luck. We came closest to finding what he was looking for at Big D's, but he decided against the shoddy quality. If you live near Greenpoint, I highly recommend a trip to Big D's. You never know what you might find there! We ended up buying some socks--so practical.

We're getting ready to meet up with some friends and check out this year's Bring to Light, the Brooklyn branch of the Nuit Blanche festival. It's a nighttime art festival held every year in cities around the world. Last year's was really cool, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they've done this year. I'll attempt to take some pictures to post.

All Summer in a Day

Outfit Details:

Dress from Buffalo Exchange

Isabel Toledo for Payless shoes

Vintage scarf from Beacon's Closet

Vintage sunglasses & ring from Day-Lab

Have you ever read Ray Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day? If you haven't, you should. I think it was one of the most emotionally disturbing things I ever read as a child. Our house was always full of books, many of them handed down from family friends with kids around my age or a bit older. For some reason, there were a few text books scattered among the collection. One of them was an English book that contained this story. I vividly remember reading it for the first time in the basement. I cried. Yes, it was that traumatic. I didn't do much better with the repeated readings year after year. Piqued your interest? Now you want to read it too? I was able to find it online, but (fair warning) it's in comic sans. If you're like me, comic sans makes you want to puke. Please try to look beyond this and read the story. It's quite short, so your comic sans pain will be minimal. It's the emotional distress of the story that will stick with you...

Sunday Style

Outfit Details:

NYLON x Urban Outfitters top from Buffalo Exchange

Seriously old Paris Blues jeans cut into shorts from who knows where

Tights from Target

Hair bow/scarf from Beacon's Closet

Sunglasses from Brick Lane Market in London

Glitter shoes from Strawberry

So this is what I wore on Sunday to hunt down bagels and run errands. Sorry it took so long to post; I was busy at the Mets/Reds game last night at Citi Field. It was a great game, with the Reds (go Cincy!) coming out on top after 13 innings (!).

I love the artwork on this shirt drawn by illustrator Noah Butkus. I can't fully explain why I'm so drawn to this image...there's just something so late 1960's band poster illustration about it that I can't resist. All the strange, disjointed figures melding into each other, no telling where one begins and another ends. So enigmatic!

Note: I have dead eyes in that first photo. Tyra would not approve.

The Island

Outfit Details:

Vintage dress from Beacon's Closet

Vintage vest from Goodwill

Tights from We Love Colors

Altama Army boots from Goodwill

Bracelet from a museum shop in St John, New Brunswick

Matt and I headed to Roosevelt Island for a meeting yesterday and decided to take photos there for a change of scenery. "The Island", as our colleague who lives there calls it, is a very strange place. Located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, it's only accessible by one subway line (the F train) and the Roosevelt Island Tramway. I haven't taken the tram there yet, but it seems like it might be fun. It's also home to multiple hospitals, including an old abandoned small pox hospital. You didn't hear it from me, but it's actually really fun to find your way through the fence and explore the ruins. Just look out for falling bits of building!