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Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/mnha5re7g0ey/domains/thehipsterho.me/html/wp-content/plugins/iwp-client/api.php on line 40 Wear It Archives - The Hipster Home
When my thoughtful buddy Fiona emailed, “Hey, did you know tomorrow is National Donut Day?” my brain immediately went a little haywire. Big day. Very, very exciting. Why? Because I get to have a little fun! Ok, a lot of fun.
An idea popped into my head. So I started in on it. That idea was a self-portrait with donut halo. Success! But oh, no. That wasn’t enough. More, more, more!
That humble, simple self-portait turned into this next one. I’m calling her St. Donut.
And then, in turn. This series.
Happy National Donut Day, ya’ll. Go, get a little fried god and stuff it in your mouth. I’m out here cheers-ing you with my own dozen.
Shameless plug: this donut day is big for me because I watercolor donuts. This is part of an effort to start supporting myself using creative abilities. I was really dang unhappy in office jobs and decided it was time to do something different. So, here we are. Donuts are not only delicious but really important to me. I’ve sold 6 commissions with one on the way. Huge.
Do you like, really, really love donuts? Or know someone who does? I added a bunch of early, original watercolor donuts to my newly named Etsy store: April’s Magical Donut Galleria. Take a look and bring one home.
Walk into our former bedroom. Look next to the sofa. Open the closet doors and reach waaaaay to the back. There resides my most precious wackadoo wardrobe. This wearable art collection are items that made me clutch at myself, curse and die one thousand times in ecstasy, resulting in an open wallet. I carry the piece home, hang it with great care, and then forget.
Or when I don’t forget, I get scared and think of a reason not to wear it. Which isn’t hard. There is almost always something wrong with the clothing—vintage is so rarely perfect.
Why should I neglect something that gives me such pleasure? Clothing is meant to be worn, even the aspirational stuff. So that dark, difficult-to-reach part of my closet is getting a tiny spotlight. I’m slowing fixing each piece, and bring it into rotation.
My newest gasp-with-glee pick is a technicolor cape I bought in New York. It was perfect, so all it needed was a tiny vacation at the dry cleaners. Today it came home with me for good, and I put it to use immediately. I cannot believe I’m saying this, but capes are great for walking the dog.
I sashayed around each block as a bright, giant gumball. Me, this rainbow waterfall of fabric, gentle cooing at the tough looking dog when she is good, and gives a reminder when she needs it.
The clothing might be a little weird, but its use doesn’t have to be. Thank you for bringing me joy, April and the Technicolor Cape!
]1 We started at the very packed, Youth-filled Alt-J set. Amateur move, folks. Don’t ever follow the Youth.
In the weeks approaching my third-ever Coachella experience, I spent a lot of time not thinking about the music. I thought about clothing. Ever since I made the decision to get more use out of my wackadoo wardrobe, I’ve been determined to wear the crazy stuff whenever I can. You know that part of your closet, right? It’s those things purchased years ago that have steadily collected dust and guilt. These are the clothes that you love so much and yet, never actually put to use for some reason. No more!
Case in point: I have a Buffalo Exchange dress I purchased for $7 in ohhhhh probably 2009. Broken-zipper pre-installed. It also had styrofoam boob cup holders. Yes, STYROFOAM. The manufacturer graciously glued a thin piece of fabric to the cups lest you chaff your breasts. I bought this dress knowing it was a fixer-upper. And it sat in my closet. Bought a zipper once. It wasn’t long enough. So it hung there. Waving hello every time I passed over it for something functional.
Until this year. I said, “I WILL WEAR MY COOL CLOTHES,” while thinking “Good grief, these things need some risk and TLC.” Because HEY, if you never fix something, you can never RUIN it. So I got that dang ole zipper fixed. And I used my favorite pair of don’t-stab-yourself fabric scissors to gleefully RIP those styrofoam cups right out of the bodice.
Lo, this story has a generally happy ending but I did one thing wrong. When the time came to wash the dress, I did. And then it went for a “tumbled dry”. People, I over-dried it. Which means… it shrank. Not too much! But it took a correctly sized dress and made a teensy bit more… form-fitting. So here we are. This dress was going with me on the Coachella trip no matter what.
The rest of my packing was a quick practice in “see which non-fancy dresses you have that are clean.” Load up on sandals, some sun screen, jewelry… DONEZO.
So then we go to Coachella the way the professionals do–later in the day, ready to see where the tide takes us. For the Day 1 ensemble I went for mega-comfort. It was just me and my Rachel Pally Reggie maxi dress. I also wore some hella old green suede sandals with gold button-things (from Urban Outfitters back-in-the-day, kinda like these but t-strap) and a necklace from Nasty Gal. Day 2 was my fixer-upper dress paired with lovely Indian bangles from my friend Erika, and some dangly wood earrings I got in Prague. Day 3 started with a striped tube dress with a big ole cowl neck and open back, but once the dust storm made itself known, that dress transformed into a wind and dust-fighting machine. I added a hastily purchased Ross jacket, some skeleton tye-dye leggings I got at the best Joshua Tree National Park shop, and sun glasses all. night. long. It was fun to wear everything and I felt pretty darn good about my choices.
But enough about me. You can here for the good and the bad of other people’s threads. And so here’s the best of the best. The things people wore that made me stop, stare, and frantically scribble notes to myself as to never forget their awesomeness. And then there’s bad stuf. The things I never ever want to see again. Ever. If you’re going to Weekend 2 Coachella and one of these things is packed, you will not be dressed like an original, beautiful snowflake.
YAY Looks
I saw plenty of fringe. There was a terrible amount of fringe-on-fringe (which is a crime). Fringe booties, purses, vests, bathing suit tops…. yaaawn. Then we walked behind a woman wearing a cream minishirt with three-layers of fringe. OH GOD, YES. It was basically this Forever 21 chiffon fringe skirt but looked well-made and rather luxe.
To the sir wearing a long-ish (faux?) fur coat without a shirt and red basketball shorts: bold move, thank you.
Two of my favorite styles at Coachella were patterns. Not just in a single dose, but twice the whimsy. Yes, this shoutout goes to the man wearing a light blue geometric print button up with matching shorts. And to the woman wearing a Richard Scary-esque illustrated pattern with animals/nature on white. She sported this superb pattern on a turtle tank and mini skirt.
And finally, my favorite combination of the whole dang trip. To the sir wearing camo pants and a baby blue Laura Ashley print button up. THANK YOU FOR THIS. I laughed, I cried, I took a creepy picture of your back.
NAY Looks
Lana del Ray-style fake flower headband, headdresses, headgear, and head wraps. Is it me or do the fake flowers make it totally depressing? Now if I had seen a real flower headdress, then fine, ok. Otherwise, it’s very, very common and boring.
It pains me to list this, but neon. I understand the desire to match neon with neon but that isn’t like, something that is very pleasant to look at all day. Especially considering that there was very little that people were actually wearing. So neon “Ray Bans” and neon bathing suit top and neon kicks. UGH, no, really.
Butt shorts. You know the kind. Two jiggly half-moons delicately hanging out for all to poke, think about poking, or accidentally poke. You can’t sit down without getting your butt on something. And I cannot imagine how uncomfortable it must be to have tight shorty shorts on in that heat. Can you say swamp butt? Double whammy of doom: pair booty shorts with a high waist. It looks like you’re toothpaste being squished out of the tube.
Once again, I surprise myself with the discovery of a strong dislike of glow sticks. They’re about as good lookin’ as sequins stapled to a pair of Ugg boots. Your glow stick necklace is an eye sore. So is that one around your wrist. And the one attached to your purse, and belt… and ankle.
Most get-off-my-lawn complaint: visible bra straps, bare bellies. Maybe I’m showing my age a touch, but how hard can it be to find something without blatent bra straps? And all those tight, taunt belly shirts. I sniff my nose with a slight foot stamp and harumph. Youth.
Honorable mention: 60s style crochet tops. They’re pretty unoffensive in general and that daisy pattern is precious. However if you wear one to Coachella, I promise you’ll be one of 5,000 ladies sporting this look. Promise.
P.S.
My sister and I stayed in this lovely dessert bungalow. If you ever need a place to stay in Joshua Tree, I recommend the Coyote Hole Holiday House. If you think it looks like a house you may never want to leave, you are not mistaken.
I have a history of chopping off my hair and not telling anyone. Did it in college, grew it out, and did it again 9 months ago, lopsided. But like anything that that’s been sitting around that long, my hair will soon be a new creation. I’m going full pixie. And I’m telling you about it. (HUGE!)
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to chop all my hair off. As I told the Mr., “as near as I can get to a feminine buzzcut.” Slowly I’ve worked towards that but it’s time to commit. My present asymmetrical haircut just needs a trim. I’m still having fun at this party but I think it’s best to leave early.
So, how about a little help from you guys? The last thing I want to do is walk into my amazing hairdresser’s place and say, “Give me that haircut from the girl in Breathless.” PS Jean Seberg.
Or say, “Give me the subtle elegance of my girl, Audrey Hepburn.” (unoriginal)
Let’s hear it, are there any other classic short-haired hotties?
Since the last I wwwant that! post, I’ve been collecting more completely desirous items available for purchase on the web. But something else has happened. I’ve been stock piling awesome inspiration and ideas for things to make too. So today’s I wwwant that! isn’t just for pretty objects I can’t afford but also will highlight incredible projects that are within our creatable realm.
TASTY ART ALERT: Kim Piotrowski was recently featured on My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses. I was immediately transfixed. Her paintings remind me of pantyhose (beige), My Little Pony (pastels), and Monet (everything swirled together) and although that sounds like an unsavory combination, I dare you to browse through her website and tell me otherwise. Her paintings belong in a beautiful world I wouldn’t mind visiting. (Clearly I did not go to art school.)
It might be last week’s internet hotness, but I can’t help but wwwant a Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. “April, that is impossible! It’s an web thing. You can’t own it, silly pants.” Au contraire, my good buddy. You can’t own it yet. How badass would it be to have the creations available as as a giant fine art print for your house? Don’t you judge me. Just thinking about a print of Selleck Waterfall Sandwich IN YOUR BATHROOM or ABOVE YOUR BED will rock your world a little bit. Someone make it happen!
DIY DISCO BALL SHOES! (or ANYTHING) was originally created by Thrift and Thread and brought to my attention on OutsaPop Trashion. I’d really like to make a headband or yamaka using this technique. (2 for 1! OutsaPop Trashion posted a friggen awesome tutorial for custom hangers.) ((Ok fine, THREE for 1. Their post for this dude’s woven sweatshirt. Heaven.))
I just had to share this awesome DIY Valentine from my recent favorite bloggy blog. I found it while voting for The Bloggies 2010. A Beautiful Mess was nominated for the Best Art, Craft, or Design Weblog. FOR GOOD REASON. Look how easy they make it look to draw people and be incredibly thoughtful. So easy!
Recently I’ve noticed I’m stockpiling reusable containers. Unsure why, I knew the minute I saw this. Textile artist Karen Barbe created these playful brooches using old plastic bottles which she shared on her awesome Flickr stream. Yes, let’s do it! You can’t beat those industrialized pops of color. Creature Comforts gets bonus points for spotting the awesome.
The Kid Collective posted an amazing assortment of Parisian home inspiration and this Zap rug, designed by Fiona Curran from The Rug Company caught my eye immediately. Our colorful lil cheap ikea rug is on its way out and all I can think of is replacing it with this luxe business.
PRO TIP: Cucumbersome tweeted* about Anthropologie’s newest flower window displays made from old bottles (which are BEAUTIFUL by the way) and I noticed that the store has a dedicated Flickr site. It’s a gold mine. The stream is flooded with inspiration and fantasticalness. If you love the Anthropologie feel, then their Flickr stream will provide you with a good 30 minutes of WOW.
*SPEAKING OF TWITTER! Did you know that The Hipster Home is on it? True story! Hear ideas, updates and news the second it pops into my head @thehipsterhome.
