Everyday style reflection.

I am one of those women who really is casual in my dress when it comes to the everyday. Maybe it is because I am a Californian by birth since everyone dresses very nice but casual down there. They may be wearing jeans and a t-shirt but they are not sloppy, worn-out, ill-fitting, jeans or t-shirt. I have always been the same way. I always make sure it is clean and not too threadbare if I am going to wear something out and about.

I was flipping through a fashion magazine and found a good example of my everyday wear when the days are warm:

Above: Everyday wear for me.

Jeans, tank top, and peep-toe wedge heels. I substitute a v-neck tee for the tank top most days (and sometimes wear flip-flops instead of wedge heels) but the rest is about right. Casual, comfortable, yet not sloppy or "rolled out of bed and threw whatever on" looking.

It is really cool to see one's sense of style reflected in a magazine. Many times I see what I want to dress like or what clothes I would not dress in. It is rare to see my daily style sense reflected in a magazine. When it happens, it always makes me smile.

Adam Ant Lives In My Ear Again.

As I mentioned in my last post about Poly Styrene's death, I was a into punk rock as a teen and young adult. I was Gothic/punk rock and spent my weekends at the local punk shows in Spokane, WA with my friends. I also would make mix tapes from the local college radio station of punk/new wave songs from the 70s and early 80s to listen to when not listening to the radio.

I was a punk rock girl who never really got into The Sex Pistols or The Ramones. They were not really to my taste though I adored John Lydon with all his snarky rudeness. I just preferred Lydon in Public Image Ltd and PiL's music to The Sex Pistols. I was more a The Clash, X-Ray Spex, The Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Adam and the Ants girl. I enjoyed the rawness of The Clash and X-Ray Spex and the theater of The Damned, Siouxsie (I even did my make-up like she did!), and, especially, Adam and the Ants.

After hearing of Poly Styrene's death, I went on Youtube and rewatched a lot of the videos of that band...which led me to watching Adam Ant videos.



I had been thinking a lot about Adam Ant in the last month and found out he has an autobiography that was released in the UK. I also found out that Adam Ant had struggled with being bipolar for most his life. Something I had no idea of in my young punk days since it was not public knowledge, at least in the US. It seems that Adam Ant talks about this struggle in his autobiography and it makes me want to read it.

Above: The book that can be purchased at Amazon.com

I am in the process of having a friend in the UK get the book for me and send it to me to not have to go through the whole paying too much for it via Amazon or dealing with import/overseas shipping fees. I full of excitement and cannot wait until it is in my hands.

While I was looking at Adam Ant videos at Youtube, I came across a documentary show that aired on Bristish TV about Adam Ant and his struggle with bipolar disorder. It talked about how it affected him throughout the years and was utterly fascinating to watch for me since it never aired in the US.

You can see the first part (The Madness of Prince Charming) here:



I spend all of Tuesday evening watching all 8 parts on Youtube and being incredibly wrapped up in it. It was really interesting to hear all about him and it made me admire Adam Ant even more because he accomplished so much despite being bipolar. The documentary makes me want the book he has written even more.

I have always loved Adam Ant's fashion sense (I mentioned it here in my blog a few years back), his sexy aura he emitted, and his music was just so multi-layered in sound. The videos were so epic in scale at a time when most were just of bands playing in a white room with bad video effects added later.



Remember, this was pre-Duran Duran with their epic videos filmed in Sri Lanka (Hungry Like The Wolf) or movie style. According to The Madness of Prince Charming documentary, Adam Ant fought for the money to produce movie-style videos. I am glad he did because his videos are very memorable.



Over the past month I have downloaded two of his albums to my Itunes so I could have them on my Ipod. They brighten up stressful days, make city bus rides go faster (at least in my mind), and make me want to dance. How can one listen to Goody Two Shoes and not want to dance around the room?

I was happy to see that Adam Ant is going to give touring a go this spring/summer in the UK, as well as be part of a few festivals in the UK. I wish him all the best and wish I could catch one of those concerts...but being low on cash and in the US makes that impossible.

So, I will continue to listen to Adam Ant music on my Ipod and await my copy of his autobiography to show up in my mailbox.

Poly Styrene of the X-Ray Spex died yesterday.

I am sure a lot of you are wondering, who is Poly Styrene and who are X-Ray Spex.

The X-Ray Spex were a punk band from England that was in the original punk movement and had a 15 year old, braces on teeth, female, lead singer named Poly Styrene.

As a 21 year old goth/punk I discovered X-Ray Spex after reading the book England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond by Jon Savage. Savage was part of the England punk scene so the book was full of interviews with people like John Lydon and Poly Styrene...and lots of candid photos from the time period. I became interested in wanting to hear the band so called up the local college station that played alternative music and had them play "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" during the song request hour.



It was love at first hear to me, who always preferred punk bands like The Clash, Adam and the Ants, and The Damned over The Sex Pistols or The Ramones.

I loved X-Ray Spex so much that I went on a quest to find the album Germ-Free Adolescents which was out of print in 1993. My then boyfriend, John, was able to track it down while on a road trip and made me a cassette copy of the album. I still have that cassette to this day and the album has gone out of print again after being released on CD a few years back.



When, I heard late Monday night that Poly Styrene had passed due to cancer it made me sad. She was quite young at 53 and was on the verge of releasing a new album after years of not being active in the music industry due to being bipolar.



Rest in peace, Poly Styrene.

A Shot From Saturday.

I wandered downtown in Spokane on Saturday to check out the Earth Day Celebration events. It was a beautiful day with sun and warm temperatures. The turn-out was good since it was held on Main St. which was closed to traffic. I had a pleasant afternoon but was not inspired to take any photos. Well, at least not until I was taken with one of the buildings.

I loved the fire escape being on the front of the building. It just captured my eye and inspired me to take this photo. BTW, that is a resident of the building there on the first floor of the fire escape. He was eating and enjoying the sun while watching the crowds below.

It is now raining and I am hoping that it will not pour down rain on Wednesday because I have a photo shoot scheduled. So, everyone cross your fingers for me that all is well and rain holds off for Wednesday.

Getting Spotlighted and Saturday Planning.

I actually got featured on a local blog to help out my search for models for my photo project!

Check that out here:

http://spovangelist.com/superhero-searchlight/

I wish they would have warned me because the first response I got was rather negative and left me wondering where the person heard of my project and how they got my email address. I was alerted to the post by a positive response email that mentioned it. So, a slight heads up would have been cool and cleared up the "WTF??" moment email origin.

So, now I have my first photo shoot for the project on Wednesday and am scrambling to get other photo shoots set up. Hopefully all will work out for me.

Tomorrow I am heading downtown to see what the Earth Day activities are that have been pimped out on Twitter and in The Inlander. I will have camera in hand so photos will be taken.

I get to wear my new necklace tomorrow! I mentioned it here and received it last week in the mail.

Above: My new necklace found at Alloy

So, the necklace will be around my neck tomorrow as I wander Earth Day and take photos. The weather is forecast to be nice and I am in the mood to get out of the house for a day.

Updating on my life with creativity.

I am restarting a project I have been slowly working on on Wednesday of next week.

I also have another person I am working with scheduling a photo shoot for the project at the beginning of next month. I am excited as you can imagine!

The weather is finally nicer and it is time for me to get back to taking photos for my superhero/villain project. I have scheduled my first model and am starting to try and pin down other models to times/days for other shoots for the project. Hopefully, luck will be on my side and I will be working on this up to Comic Con in July.

I am still in search of paying photography jobs because I need income coming in but have faith that I will have some come my way if I keep working for it. My getting the project restarted is the first step toward getting paying jobs since it will get me out and about meeting people.

I am also still tyring to work on the painting for the friend. I actually restarted it because what I was doing didn't feel right and didn't inspire me to work on it. Now, I am having ideas and will run with them. I plan to paint a bit in the next few days and will make the next step in my idea for the painting.

Needless to say, I haven't really been fashion focused lately. I have so much I am working on and also was getting everything set for Comic Con in July. Now, I have all things paid for and situated for Comic Con (a huge relief) and am restarting my project. Maybe my mind will relax a bit more and allow me to long for fashion items that I cannot afford but can write about. We shall see.

Until then, keep on thumbing through those fashion magazines and longing for those shoes you saw online. I know I will.

In 20 to 25 years...

I have long wondered what I would do as I age. Would I still embrace fashion? Would I want to dress up? How would I dress? How would I portray who I was using clothing when I go older?

I have already gone through my Goth/punk stage years ago in the late 80s and early 1990s. That was the time where I wore crazy outfits, colours, and make-up. I guess I have almost entirely working it out of my system to be that "standing out" in fashion. I still have my moments where I dip back into that fashion period in my life but I don't dress that way anymore in my day to day. It just doesn't feel right for me anymore.

So, I wondered, as an artist, how I could keep my fashion sense and still not look "dressing way too young" when I am over 50 or in my 60s.

Then I saw this woman in O Magazine:

She is an artist, over 50, and looks so stylish! I love here two-tone grey/brunette hair (I can only hope my hair looks like that when it goes toward total grey!), the jeans, the red sandals. the jacket, and just the whole way she has pulled her outfit together. I am down with that...except for the silly flower on her jacket which I would instantly get rid of since that sort of thing makes me put on the "Ick!" face.

She looks modern and in style while not looking like she is reaching too hard for her youth. She is what I would like to be as I get older. It gives me hope that I can still be into fashion and dress well as I get older without looking like I am trying too hard to appear young.

She is an inspiration.

Talking About My Inspirations: April 2011

I have been looking through so many fashion magazines recently to pass the time and always seem to be drawn to the same clothing/shoes/accessories in the same adverts. I thought I would make a post showing what catches my eye in the magazines...an "Inspiration" post so to speak.

So take a look at what makes me go "I want that" and ponder adding similar to my personal style.

The orange colour, deep v-neck with the ruffle edge, and the pattern...wow!

I could see myself wearing this outfit. Casual and pulled together. It always catches my eye in the J Brand advert no matter what magazine I am reading.

Love these sandals with the whole lace up the front look.

The sandals and the purse are gorgeous.

This entire outfit makes me want to own it. And I see the advertisement in Elle Magazine every month.

Wow....the black, the earrings, the purse.

I seem to be drawn to extreme v-neck tops/jackets. The amber necklace is gorgeous as well!

Love the colour blocking on these shoes.

Love the fringe on these suede pants and the metallic beading.

Again with the extreme v-neck. I have to get daring some day and give it a try.

These lace-up sandals in this The Limited advert are gorgeous.

Love the look of this MaxMara suit and the whole styling of the outfit.

This ring I have long been eyeing. It is Boucheron and I am so into two finger rings right now.

This The Limited coat needs to be in my closet...and on my body.

So day-glo and so pretty. I am not usually a fan of orange but a lot of orange clothing is catching my eye this season.

This whole outfit in the Tod's advert is gorgeous.

Perfect sunglasses for summer.

My love of grey/taupe rears it's head in this outfit.

I just love there shoes...the peep-toe and the heels on these shoes.

These are the items that have been popping out at me from the pages of W, Elle, Lucky, and Vogue  magazines for the past month or two.

Fashion magazines are one of my favorite time-wasters. I love the glossy pages, the interesting outfit ideas they have in photos, and the beautiful advertisements. I think I will always get the print version of magazines because there is something so satisfying about the smell, flossy look, and the feel of the pages. Something that is lost when viewed online or on an Ipad/eReader.

I look forward to magazines showing up in my mailbox each month and my hours spent reading them...and marking things in them to check out online. It is one of my "simple pleasures" that I would be sad to give up.

Spring fashion catches my eye.

I admit it, I am pretty broke at the moment so am having to make do with what I own and add very inexpensive things to my wardrobe this spring. This, of course, does not stop me from seeing things I would love to own when I wander fashion sites online.

Here are some of the most recent fashion items that I have seen and wished I had the money to buy.

Above: San Diego Pink & Tan Woody Platform Heels by Jeffrey Campbell

Wood platform heels, great colour combo, gorgeous style, and the name of the heel is my hometown! Definitely a pair of shoes I would love to wear.

Above: Crowning Glory Necklace at Modcloth. com

It is long and chunky in style which I really love. Perfect for little black dresses like the one pictured or with a long dress for a more 70s look.

And now for two long dresses that need to be in my closet.

Above: Pleated silk maxi halter dress by The Row

I have a confession to make: The only white article of clothing I own is a white v-neck tee shirt. I don't even own white underwear or socks.

That is why this dress it so appealing to me. It looks light and airy...juts perfect for a hot summer night/day. I should keep an eye out for something less expensive and similar in style on my wanderings around town.

Above: Printed silk-habotai maxi dress by Edun

I am in love with olive green. It is my favorite colour in fact and this dress is that shade. I love the print and the cut of the dress. It would look good with platform heels, wedges, or even flip flops. So easy to dress this maxi dress up (for a night out) or down (so a more casual day look). I am loving it.

And two skirts that caught my eye:

Above: Ruched stretch-linen skirt by A.L.C.

The ruching of the skirt really appeals to me. It is also in a neutral colour that would go with so much that hangs in my closet already. The skirt is also at a length I love...just above the knee. This skirt would fit into my wardrobe with absolutely no problem.

Above: Embellished printed silk georgette skirt by Edun

I love the colours in the pattern of the skirt, the style, and the shine! This skirt, as you can see in the photo, would be perfect with a simple white shirt and strappy sandals. I would wear it with my one v-neck, white, tee  as a casual/dressy outfit to head out for the evening in. This skirt would get a lot of use from me.

Above: Go Fish Ring at Lulus.com

The fish ring is simple and cool. It has a bit of an ancient look to it and I am more attracted to the gold tone version than the silver. This fish ring would feel right at home in my jewelry box.

Above: Nail Necklace by Cheap Monday

I love the "oil on water" colour that the necklace has. So modern and funky. I also love the style which would definitely dress-up and funk up an outfit.

And finally,

Above: Ringed Plover Kimono Wrap by Odylyne

It looks comfy while being one of those tops you can wear casual (with jeans) or dress up (bold rings and an eye-catching necklace). I am loving it!

I am sure I will run across lots of spring fashion that catches my eye and will sigh because of not being able to buy it. At least I have this blog to share my finds with others and maybe they will be able to buy what catches their eye in my posts.