Frivolous Universe

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Tag "Photographer: Anna V. Demetriades"

K: Your clothes are talking. There’s no use fighting this. Every detail of your life that can be observed, will be observed eventually by somebody and compiled to determine what kind of person you are. My clothes are talking, and I’m not going to worry about how it is unjust because clothing is a terrible indicator of character.  I’m much more interested in my clothes saying something exuberant and playful to whoever is listening.

thrift store, color textile, colorful tights, cowboy boots, Turkmen vintage necklace

N: I mean this in the most feminist way possible, but my clothes (and yours)  are saying, “Grow some mother-fuckin’ balls.” Take all your most extreme pieces,  go against your first fashion instincts, and put them together in an unexpected way.

K: In my wardrobe, there are no supporting roles. Every item gets to be a lead – all the time, mostly because my clothes are all divas and refuse to be shunted to the chorus of endless black accessories. This vintage 70s polyester tunic is a statement piece on it’s own. Why not pile on, not one, but three more: sparkly metallic blue leggings, cowboy boots, and an antique Turkmen necklace? The vintage Pendleton wool coat is less of a statement, more of a frostbite defense. It is not warm lying in the rocks. Not at all.

thrift store, color textile, colorful tights, cowboy boots, Turkmen vintage necklace, man's tweed jacket

N: By late winter,  it’s easy to pick out your the most  boring, supporting characters in your wardrobe and put them together any old way because you’e lazy and just want to stay warm.  I’ve been in a total winter-hating mood lately, and instead of  putting another plain-old sweater with jeans, I decided to go on textural over-load.  I paired vintage brocade vest, blue velvet shirt (seen in previous post as a skirt!) and tweed skirt (that’s part of a suit) with my cowboy boots. For warmth I added one more layer of 70’s leather trench coat with awesome lining. It ain’t warm posin’ next to books.

K: We’re both wearing thrifted cowboy boots and beaucoup de statement pieces! It ties together! We’re such good bloggers. Why am I straddling barbed wire? What kind of fucked-up patriarchal imagery is that? (Can we say ‘fuck’? Are we doing that now?)

colorful tights and thrifted cowboy boots

N: This is the internet.  Of course we can say fuck.  People say and do way worse things on the internet these days.  Mythrifted cowboy boots are from Ariat, and are totes legit cowboy boot. Such a great find. The purple tights are the only non-thrifted part of my outfit. The American Tourister Bag I picked up at a vintage store in Washington D.C.

K: Your purple tights make a memorable color palette with the orange tweed, blue velvet, and taupe. The eye-wateringly bright psychedelic print of my tunic oddly fits with the shape of my Armor Bijoux pendant.

thrifted colorful textile tunic and Armor Bijoux Turkmen vintage necklace

N: I love all the colors in this tunic.  It’s an absolute statement piece, and doesn’t need much else to compliment it. My pieces are mostly staples with great textures. Combining them makes them even more special.  I added 3 necklaces to my textured layers to give them even more depth. A picture necklace made by Carrie Applegate,  vintage silver pendant given to me by a dear friend when I moved to New York, and semi-boring H&M chain to finish out the look.

K: My pictures were taken by Bethany and Anna. Wowzers. I’m sure lucky to have those two pointing their lenses at me.

thrift store, color textile, colorful tights, cowboy boots, Turkmen vintage necklace

N: My new friend/co-worker Rylie took my photos the last two weeks.  Hope you all are enjoying pictures outside of my apartment for once!

A week from today, Nicole comes back to Boise for a week of frivolous fashion. Stay tuned.

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Amongst the thrift store racks I discovered a glorious polyester tunic with matching elastic waist pants decorated with mysterious stains that looked a lot like adult spittle, odd and slightly gross yes, but still strangely intriguing. The lavender hue and the v-line seam on the front of the tunic reminds me of Deanna Troi from the Star Trek Enterprise.

Add to the tunic some silver accents and . . .

Old pawn silver necklace: Navajo, gift

hello Will Riker.

Vintage polyester tunic: home made, thrift store
Silver leggings: brand unknown, Wet Seal
Ankle boots: Report

Ethnic vintage silver cuff: Afghanistan, Armor Bijoux
Ethnic vintage silver ring: Kazakhstan, Armor Bijoux

1950s Ernst Engel reversible ski jacket: thrift store, borrowed from Kelly
Polyester 1960s tunic: handmade, thrift store

I’m a big chocolate slut.

Thank you Anna for your photographic eye.

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Since the age of 7, I have had a fascination with clothes and have invested a chunk of time piecing together outfits. I have been embarrassed by this passion of mine because my mother raised me to believe that a woman’s worth comes from her intelligence and personality, not from her looks because beauty fades. One of my biggest fears has been that I might waste too much time investing in my appearance and be valued only for my level of beauty. You can imagine that I have had an internal battle between this fear and my pleasure obtained from styling clothing.

Crocheted fairy tale cape: thrift store
Anne Klein high-waisted wool skirt: Neiman Marcus, thrift store

Recently I have given myself permission not to feel guilty about my interest in fashion and pursuit of beauty. There are a couple of reasons why. The first reason is I have come to realize that play in life is important no matter what form it comes in barring that it isn’t a sociopath behavior. When I am getting dressed, I get a lot of joy from trying to figure out a beautiful combination of colors, textiles, and silhouettes. The second reason is that this creative exercise of fashioning an outfit I have never worn before makes me a better graphic designer.

Chocolate brown beret: Dillard’s clearance

Floral pink blouse: thrift store
Element of surprise: juxtaposing girly blouse with gnarly Turkmenistan vintage necklace, Armor Bijoux
Silver vintage Navajo bracelets: gift
Vintage ethnic ring: Turkmenistan, Armor Bijoux

Retro red shoes: Urban Outfitters one year ago

Vintage 1960’s reversible purse: L and M, antique shop

. . . the feeling of beauty is useful. The aesthetic emotion might have begun as a cognitive signal telling us to keep on looking, because there is a pattern here that we can figure out it.
(Why Does Beauty Exist? by Johan Lehrer)

As much as people try to de-emphasize the value of beauty, it has a purpose. In Johan Lehrer’s article Why Does Beauty Exist? he discusses that beauty is a signal to man that something has a pattern and it is worth figuring out. He says that beauty is a motivational force that heightens our conscious awareness and makes us learn. Beauty might be a guilty pleasure but it is also an expression of mathematics and beauty’s purposes is making us take notice. Man’s curiosity with beauty has helped lead to our evolution and pursuit of knowledge.

Photographer: Anna V. Demetriades

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