They All Belong in a Loony Bin

Incredibly beautiful, untouched mail-order vouchers that came in pair of records I bought recently. I wish I had a better scanner so you could see the texture of the cardstock. Each one is just saying you should buy the other volume - luckily I found both of them together!

The albums are someone named Leo Ferre singing the poetry of Baudelaire - it's quite beautiful. If you're looking for good records to have on during soiree or what have you, anything French and croony from the 20's to the 60's pretty much gold. I like to have French music on while I study; the lyrics don't register the way English does so it's not distracting. Jacques Brel, Jean Sablon, and Yves Montand are some of my favorites...

Redemption

This is a really protracted anecdote to accompany a single thrift find, but I have been looking for this sweater for well nigh 14 years. That's right. This one.

My mother taught me how to shop early on. She has a really artistic sense of style coupled with an almost pathological frugality, which meant thrift and vintage stores were and indelible part of my childhood landscape. The only reason I can claim to have worn vintage clothes since I was a wee-lass is because my mom was always bringing home cute things for me (being the only girl probably had something to do with her dressing me with such relish). I relied heavily on her eye whenever we went out. Once, at a Salvation Army, she came around the corner while I was poking around in the skirts and said she found the cutest little fuzzy green sweater somewhere over there and I should take a look at it.

We both spent a good 20 minutes trying to find the sweater that she had just spotted a minute earlier. We split up to cover more ground. I heard an "oh shoot!" from somewhere near the door. She came over to me. "I can't believe it! Some girl just bought it. I saw it peeking out of her bag. Oh darn, why didn't I just grab it?"

For some reason I was extremely disappointed. I hadn't actually even seen the sweater, I just knew I would have loved it. I couldn't have been older than 12 or 13 at the time, and I've had an image of it in my mind ever since. No joke, I've had dreams about it. I'm half-looking for it whenever I go thrifting, and ladies and gentlemen, this week...

I FOUNT EET!

I mean really - the color, the fit, it's all just as I imagined! That ostensibly makes it a talisman. Honestly, I don't think grad school/marriage/a firstborn could top this. Thanks to Pretty Penny in North Oakland for making my dreams come true.

Now back to regular weirdo programming.

Now Watching

Quinn and Daria crushing it at Pappy and Harriets.

Lost at Sea

Ashby Flea Market, 2011

Upward Mobility

Sterling, Echo Park, 2010

Il Pourrait Être Plus Clair

SF MOMA, 2011

You're Putting Me On

I don't have a full-length mirror in my apartment right now, so on days when I really feel like giving my outfit a little ...how's your father? I'll take a quick photobooth snap to make sure I haven't gone over the edge. It's my own jerry-rigged, low-budget version of Cher's outfit software that we all freaked out over. Here's how it works!

-Forget to close bathroom door.
-Open PhotoBooth and stand in front of screen.
-Ask your screen, does this skirt made out of ties that I've had since high school look stupid?
-Push the button.
-Wait for PhotoBooth to give you it's inscrutable results:

STATUS>>>>>BITCHIN'

Post Partum

downtown Oakland, 2011

Part 5

Do you ever find yourself buying a particular item of clothing over and over? I do. This dress I wore today is probably the 5th iteration of it's type that I've owned. Since junior high I haven't been able pass them up, and just as one is wearing out, I always find another to take it's place. Despite all of my style phases from then until now (and believe me, they are legion), I've always felt good in a simple black dress with a white collar.

Wore it with my leopard coat from ebay.

What type of clothes do you find yourself buying again and again?

To Do or Not To Do

Berkeley, somewhere on the I-5, 2011