Greyscale leopard print
Well hello there. I just thought I’d let you guys know that I got dressed. Again. And some people do shit like eat breakfast before work but I skipped that to play fetch with Geraldine / experiment with my new tripod.
This animal lives to photobomb my shit.
Coordinated accessories: I suppose that my belt is indeed tennis-ball coloured.
This tripod thing is making it way easier to show off this updated haircut that Rebecca did for me last weekend. From the front it looks like an asymmetrical bob but it actually has one hell of an undercut goin’ on too.
Gonna namedrop Bloodline Parlour here again because what we have goin’ on is one of the best creative partnerships in my life. Rebecca! Babe! Thank you.
I maintain that leopard print is a neutral, but greyscale leopard definitely is. This dress is a few years old but the embroidered-chevron shape on the bodice is exactly what I’m into right this second.
Have begun wearing all the bangles! Working at the brewery always peels my nail polish off! Last night’s gay dance party lipstain didn’t come off so I just layered it up again for today.
I bought this belt for a DIY project that I obviously have not done yet – but I keep finding myself wanting to wear it even tho it’s too big for me. Like this wavy braid situation that I figured out today. Also, bee tattoo! Sometimes I forget that my tattoos are visible to other people. Also, boobs.
Coral shoes, again.
How is all this greenspace actually in my back yard? I always forget.
This is one of those outfits that are from the mall but that perhaps don’t look it?
Dress – H&M
Belt – Old Navy
Shoes – Gap Outlet
Bangles – Costa Blanca, vintage
& a bucket of bright orange Joe Fresh lipstain.
I’m at work & my pal Linz just dropped in. We have a comically similar (and obviously impeccable) range of fashion influences. & today she *also* had on a black-and-white animal print dress. I love that shit. Hard femme dress code.
Creep on Creepin’ on
You know how tough it is to have a fashion blog when you can’t take photos of your entire outfit?
It’s fucking hard!
But, you know how hard it is to use a self-timer, even with a tripod?
It’s – as you might have guessed – fucking hard.
If you want to take a bunch of photos from the same angle where you are blurry & have your eyes closed, you should totally get a tripod. Because holy shit, will that thing ever deliver.
Still, I actually really like these shots. I took clearer, more fashion-y photos on a white background but for now I kinda like the “Oh hey! Here you are in my house!” vibe of these. Come on in, yo.
My beginner skillz mostly mean that these shots are pretty honest. With mirror photos you just pose until you look hot, smile, and then press the shutter button. Here, I have basically no guaranteed way to control what I look like. Okay, to rephrase, I have no idea what the photos will look like, including whether I am even in the frame.
For me the whole point of this outfit is the highlighter-pink of these jeggings with the poppy orange of my flats & my earrings. Do you know how hard it is to get your face and your shoes in one photo?
It’s fucking hard.
But I am also excited about being able to represent my body in a more complete way in photos, even if that means that the photos themselves are less “flattering”.
Here you can see both hands – and both tattoos – at once! I’ve never taken a photo of that.
The backs of my shoes have little bows, okay? Do you see the bows? Bows!
Also, here is a photo of myself from behind, which I don’t think I have ever taken before. Can you see that the back of my hair is asymmetrical? The old ladies at the grocery store were loving this new modified bowl cut, and I love old ladies.
I also have a matchy-matchy manicure with poppy/berry/orange zigzags, but two-handed close-up shots are beyond me, for now.
Oh & because you’ll ask, my shirt says “Timber Timbre.” Nick booked a show for Taylor in Ptbo last spring in a beautiful church here & it was such a perfect event.
I have almost stopped buying band shirts because I rarely like the way they look on me (or their “girly” tees are American Apparel and are automatically too small.) But this one is black, soft, and fitted, which means it’s in at least a bi-weekly rotation on my bod.
Okay we’re done now. I’m sure I will wear clothes again soon: stay tuned.
Good Things Sunday: Everything.
print by Jen Renninger
I know that I’ve said before that I have been having this vague feeling of wanting to step my game up but not quite knowing how. This week I figured out how to look at my life & see the possibilities: multiple & conflicting & unsettled but definitely there.
& the rest:
- Found out that some friends are getting married on my birthday! I am so giddy for them. & for the biggest birthday party ever.
- I’m still high on the good vibes from visiting my best friends this week.
- Had some charming North Carolinians stay over at the house. I always love when someone is around who knows how to play our piano. They laughed at all my band girlfriend jokes & showed me photos of their dogs on their phones. Perfect houseguests.
- Fiona Apple’s new album.
Audrey Hepburn on set during filming for Funny Face.
- I am usually a knitting-and-tv kinda gal but I’ve been feeling inspired to see more film lately. I watched “Funny Face” again & loved it better than the first time. So many important things about it and only some of those things are related to how it inspired Beyonce’s Countdown video. I am sure I posted this before but I don’t give a fuck.
- Trying to figure out summer dressing – I definitely prefer to wear layers. Carly’s “Ode to Fall” is absolutely true for me too. Bring back the boots & the knitwear. Today I realized that what I have on is exactly the outfit that I would wear to bike to dance lessons back in the day. Tights & a tiny mini & a longline bra with a floaty sheer dress over it. Like two totally unrelated outfits being worn simultaneously. Basically I am a babe. Um. Not.
- I just bought a tripod so that someday soon I can take actual photos that are not using a webcam. I know you’re stoked! Get ready for the outfit posts.
- This “What I did the Summer After I Graduated” post from The Rejectionist is really, really good. It feels like it was written about my city, too.
When you are a woman or a girl or female no one says to you Look, artists who are great take without asking and take and take and do not apologize because when you are a woman or a girl or female the only thing you are supposed to take is a lot of other people’s shit. No one says to you Be sure you are strong enough to take and not apologize and keep going when the taking leaves you nothing to go back to. Be sure you are strong enough to steal and live alone with what you’ve chosen to make yours.
- Mom and daughter shopping sprees are my favourite part of my job.
- Thankful for the way that having a long distance BF means that we somehow get to talk much more than we do otherwise. About real stuff, I mean. It’s the biggest silver lining of all.
First Day of Summer
All the curtains closed to keep the weather outside where it belongs.
Back home. My whole house is covered in empty iced tea containers & abandoned coffee cups & receipts & bits of yarn & discarded clothes.
It’s hot. Fashion doesn’t exist when it’s this hot. Priorities: no sunburn, no chafing, no heat exhaustion, no sweat stains.
No underwire no shoes no pants no problem.
Yesterday it thunderstormed & I sat on the porch and watched the rain. Gulls struggling to stay aloft. Horizontal wind.
My plants are slumped away from the windowpanes & my dog is hiding under the dinner table. The weather creeps in.
Today is the first day of the summer and I feel like more has happened in the last few days than in the last few months.
More new glasses! Thanks Nick.
Here are a few excellent moments:
- Arriving at my friends’ apartment while they are at work. Laying in their hammock in the middle of the city, drinking beer, knitting, not thinking about anything.
- Waking up to a power outage and walking over to a hip little cafe hidden in a residential neighbourhood. All the neighbours were there too, wearing as little as possible in the heat, thankful that someone’s coffee maker still has power.
- My friend shared her favourite childhood dessert: little baked pods of dough filled with honey that you have to tilt your head back to eat.
- Chatted about grown-up shit with my younger brother. Tattoos and art and jobs. Love. Cities. Anxiety.
- When strangers become new friends. When you find yourself sitting around a kitchen table with some old friends, wondering why it has been so long…
- Sorted through some things I’d kept at my parents’ house. Dug out some embarrassing and lovely millennial pre-teen ephemera. Fairy wings & poetry books. Hand-beaded jewellery. Smiley faces on everything.
- Time to think. Compliments from strangers. Happy friends with good news.
- Showed up to Toronto with bare nails because I was betting that Claire would suggest a manicure party – and she did.
Okay babes. Let’s keep in touch. Stay hydrated. If you go somewhere to keep cool, make sure to tip huge! Cuddle your animals for me.
GOOD THINGS SUNDAY: Pals are the most important thing!
Customer of the day at my favourite coffee spot.
- My favourite summertime coffee spot made me Customer of the Day the other day. Normally this happens because it is your birthday. But it was not my birthday! It was a beautiful surprise, especially coming across a quote like “The most beautiful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire” & realizing that anyone would relate it to you.If you want to read the whole thing you can click to make the photo bigger – but I have to say that the recognition of my politics AND fashion sense together meant something so big to me. Making a home in this city for the summer without my best friends & partner has been hard – it is nice to have such an overt demonstration of welcome. Bless the Silver Bean & their grand gestures – and my friend Stephanie whose idea I’m sure this was.
- I love Dinosaur Comics but I especially like this comic about, well, pals. Pretty much sums up my life philosophy.
“Mathematics” collage by Ben Giles
- Today is Father’s Day & I love my weirdo dad. He has had my back my entire life & I am forever grateful. Lots of my friends don’t have great relationships with their dads & I know just how great I’ve got it.
- Here’s hoping that you’re all finding a way to celebrate the dads and … *ahem* daddies… in your lives. Lots of love to those celebrating chosen families, close friends, or who are in what my pal calls the “Dead Dads Club.”
- Yesterday was Peterborough’s version of Worldwide Knit in Public Day & it ruled. I could only stay for about 45mins but it was rad to be outside in the sunshine with knitters of all ages & backgrounds & interests. Looking at the official website I found meetups happening truly globally & I got a little bit sentimental thinking about that.
Roswell: Not Just For Aliens yarn by Indigodragonfly
- As part of the day I was able to buy some Indigodragonfly ”Unicorn Sock” yarn which has glitter spun into it! You know I am into that. I’ve also been appreciating Kim’s posts about the “name that yarn” fundraiser she did last weekend for breast cancer research. The combination of beautiful yarn & heartfelt stories & funny names is really worth checking out. See all the yarn and all the stories on the Indigodragonfly blog.
- Did some more knitting-in-public after work with some friends & beers on a sunny patio, which is my favourite thing to do basically ever.
My new low budget glasses are the jam.
- Had an eye exam on Monday & my new glasses showed up in the mail on Friday. They are from Clearly Contacts & their first pair free deal meant that I spent about $35, but could have spent less. This deal is basically why all my broke & uninsured friends are able to see properly & I am grateful for that shiz. I really like everything about that site & especially the part where you upload a photo of yourself so that you can see how everything looks on your face. Scrolling past hundreds of photos of yourself in different glasses-disguises is super surreal. If you want to get glasses for yourself and you want to also help me get $20 store credit you can buy using this referral link: Clearly Contacts basically rules.
- My virgo BFF took the time to do my chart at the bar last night. Much giggling about astrology.
- Today I am going to see my fam & tomorrow it is city-full-of-best-friends day. Can’t contain my excitement.
