Slackerrrrrrrr!

Sorry all, I've been SWAMPED with school, work, and preparing the house for my Papa's two week visit from California! YAY!!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. I need to see him and just relax, talk, cook, fish. All the wonderful things I miss out on now, living out here. Besides being a Cali girl to the very marrow of my bones, being this far away from my Dad and my brother is really tough. SO, not a moment too soon my Dad will be here and we can chill out together. :)
Anyway, here's some garden and the first pics for a DIY Balmain I did. Yay, bleach and rubberbands!

Holy Shit. David Lynch, Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse.

Oh Good God. It's freaking amazing. Currently listening to the new Dangermouse, Sparklehorse, DAVID LYNCH collaboration. Unreal. SO SO SO good. Iggy Pop, Flaming Lips, Frank Black, and Monsieur Lynch has produced a book of beautiful photographs to go along with this incredibly successful concept album. I actually haven't been this impressed with music in a while. Loving this. Sneak it here: NPR.

Relaxed or Just Lax?

Lately, I've been a bit under the weather. As such, I'm one of those girls who tends to try to dress up and away the blues that accompany feeling a bit, shall we say, peckish. This is a regular, everyday outfit for a full class load day at school. The top is Alexander McQueen for Target, the pants are French Connection, the shoes are Dolce Vita that I scored for 7.00 on eBay, hand beaded Native bracelet picked up in Akron, Ohio, and vintage butterscotch clip on Bakelite earrings from Buffalo Exchange in Phoenix, Arizona (go AZ4!!!). You can't see it in the photos, but there's also a floral themed cane floating around in there somewhere. So if you see lots of pics of me leaning, that's why. :)

Baby. Detroit Cobras.

Detroit Cobras, "Cha Cha Twist" from Anthony Morrow on Vimeo.

Alexander Wang. Runway or DIY?

It's pretty undeniable that Alexander Wang has become a household name and one seriously rock star young designer. His latest show has plenty of new covet-ables, my favorites being the shoes and the bags. I can't help but notice the similarities in the heeled boots of the last photo looking remarkably like all the punk rock witch boots I used to wear. I've been searching for a pair rather desperately for over a year now. What do you like? How can you re-create this on a shoe string budget? I'm working on some DIY solutions myself...
images via elle.com

Hedi. F----g. Slimane.

Whooooeeeeee!

So courtesy of another blogger (platinumevil), I discovered a fantastic new designer named Khoi Le. She designs bags, accessories, amazing fringe spats, and more. Truly talented, and also TRULY low priced. I forsee this won't be a permanent condition however, as there's really no reason why these designs wouldn't instantly fit in with the merchandise on pixie market or opening ceremony. My suggestion to you, my dears, is to snap this stuff up as soon as you can before this shit blows up, because it will, trust me. Love love love the bag I've ordered. I'll shoot more pics as soon as I get it in the mail.

A Fendi Bag Says Goodbye To SWC's

For those of you who haven't been watching the boutique, we recently sold a vintage 1970's barrel large Fendi handbag for 340.00 US dollars! Cheers to the lucky winner, and also to the lovely ladies who won Paper Denim Cloth and Earnest Sewn white jeans; perfect for summer, a fantastic Damned Young, Hot, Loud, and Stiff tee, Rock & Republic sunnies, Juicy Couture aviator sunnies, Lux crocheted flutter hem sweater, Irregular Choice vintage heels, and some awesome vinyl records. (Shout out to Tim, winner of the Guided By Voices offshoot Tropic Of Nipples EP!)
Keep watching the shop! More incredible designer and vintage finds to come, and of course a TON more records! Thanks everyone! We love you!

Shock Treatment.

Those that know me IRL know that I'm completely obsessed, and have been forever, with Charles Baudelaire. Those who don't, CB was a French poet/opium addict/red wine consuming weirdo who had strange mistresses and one of the most subversive and daring written voices of his time. I finally got his poem L'Ennemi tattooed from my underarm to my hipbone, about 4 and a 1/2 inches in width. Can I tell you that it took 6 hours and I went into shock? Well worth it. Plus, Paulie at Glen's Tattoo Shop in Chapel Hill is my new favorite. Love him. So nice through the whole thing, attention to detail, courteous, and never once was a prick about the whole no shirt thing. I'll post some pics of the final product later today.

so. damn. good.

F--K THE CLOCK.

Oh, Patti Smith. Sometimes I just have to quietly reflect on her ridiculous, balls to the wall, aggressive yet poetic romantic genius. Thanks, PS.

yep.

nouveau chic. some inspirations and clues in what i've been fabricating.

Oh, Pixie Market. One of the best sites to find actual, high quality, fashion forward avant garde designers at reasonable (sort of) prices. I love them. These are also quite evocative of the clothing and jewelry I've been working on. Can't tell you the name of the label 'til I copyright it.
Check out pixiemarket here.

lovely.

Standard Issue Foot Soldier.

Somehow, being dressed in the most basic of comfortable clothing makes everything easier to bear. I woke up today and limped out to my back deck to take in the garden and the pups playing. It's my morning routine. I wake up, start a pot of coffee, and wander outside. The sun was shining, dogs were happily chasing birds, and all of my seeds have sprouted into little plants. I have this thing about self sufficiency and sustainability, and also about organically grown foods. So in an effort to marry and enjoy all of these interests, I'm slowly but surely developing my back yard into a really productive and aesthetically pleasing garden. Peppers, beans, tomato, potato, carrot, chard, onion, leeks, cantaloupe, watermelon...the list keeps going, trust me. Plus, a ton of really gorgeous flowers and some vintage planters and trellises. It's a really wonderful way to relieve stress, to feel as though I'm making some sort of positive addition to my little corner of the world, and totally a form of spiritual meditation for me. With all the health issues I've been dealing with, it's vital that I have some time where my mind is just sort of there, open, malleable, without any issues taking up precious real estate. Plus, how can it not be fulfilling to shop for dinner in your own garden? It's awesome. I recommend it to all. Even my good friend who has a balcony at her apartment is finding joy in growing a cute little herbal garden of culinary plants! Space does not define your ability. Anyway, what I meant to say was that it's the little things that help me get through all these trials and tribulations life throws at me. Things like a really clean, soft plain white t shirt by Helmut Lang, which I scored for under 20 bucks at TJ Maxx. Or Rogan cargo pants. BCBG jelly sandals for ten dollars. (did I mention that was for TWO PAIRS???) My dogs, my garden, my house, cooking. Thank God for all of the wonderful moments they bring me. Without them, I'd be lost. Skoal to them!

More Victory. I'm like Attila The Hun.

eBay is such a ridiculous wonderland. I'm really not supposed to shop so much for me, but at this point I'm evening it out by unloading over ten times more than what I'm bringing in. My closet is sad and barren. Really. No, I promise. It's close to depressing. Currently, that's life. I have to edit down, compile, edit down, compile. I did break out my trusty Singer sewing machine in preparation for some really fun reworkings and fashion experiments. I'm so influenced by vintage, and I want to continue to celebrate it by bringing it back to life, so to speak. It's not an original idea by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a bit like recycling newspapers, cans, et al. One person does it, it's still good. Twenty people, even better. You get the picture. I've been really excited about getting some key life long pieces taken care of for my own wardrobe. As you can see, I'm well on my way. Some combat boots in my size, which is something of a miracle, vintage punk belt and boot strap courtesy of an old Cleveland punk I found on eBay, and an AllSaints deconstructed blazer. Lovely. More to come. Just don't tell my significant other.

Sweet, Sweet Victory!

So I won a few auctions on eBay this weekend, which I'm pretty stoked on. I should not really have bought anything, but you know, school and life are really ultra stressful right now and sheesh, the retail prices for these are about ten times more. All of these are from one of my favorite labels, AllSaints SpitalFields, out of England. Everything, almost without fail, that they make is absolutely incredible. Plus, they actually have an equally appealing men's line which is quite rare. Check AllSaints out here. I'm currently redesigning some vintage for sale in the shop, making some really nifty jewelry, and studying for an Economics midterm, a math midterm, and working on a million other things. More updates later. Cheers!

It's A Cruel Joke!

Why aren't they my size? I've been looking for these for oh, about a decade. In any case, they're currently on eBay in the fabulous shop IndieCultVintage.