One of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singing

Hello, friends! So much has happened since my last post! I've been a busy bee, and hence a bad blogger. I have an extra long post today in an attempt to make up for it. I'll start with my long-overdue recap of the Chicago Rookie meet up. I didn't take any pictures at the actual event because I suck, but I have some other related images. 

As soon as I walked into the record store where the meet up was held, I knew I was among my people. This is the group photo from the Rookie tumblr. Just look at all these cuties! I'm in the pink tshirt with the pentacle, standing towards the left.

I met Meagan from Naturally Dapper and this girl, who knew me from tumblr. She was really nice and cool and was wearing the cutest outfit (she's the one with the blue hair and flower crown behind me in the photo). I also chatted briefly with Tavi, Petra, and Hazel, and they rule. They are all so friendly, smart, funny, and just as cool as you would expect them to be from their internet endeavors. 

This was the thing I made to go in the giant Rookie shrine, but it kind of fell apart and I never got a chance to give it to Tavi and co. I thought about mailing it to them, but I kind of got attached to it. Oops. It's an empty hair dye jar coated in glitter on the inside with lace and fake flowers glued to the lid. I thought it was a good symbol of my teenage-hood because it encapsulates green hair, glitter, flowers, lace, and ridiculous homemade crafts. I also added a sticker that my friend Genny gave me in a care package earlier in the year that was inspired by a Rookie article! I thought it would be good to include a little Rookie-induced girl love on my shrine item.

This is the zine that I made in the zine workshop. I didn't write a title on it, but if I had it would have been "Things Allison Likes". The top photo also includes my daisy crown that I wore and a flier for Rookie Yearbook One, which comes out in September!

I also have an outfit for you guys! I wore this to a Beirut concert with my friend Ben the other day. The band was amazing and the lead singer is a dreamboat. Like, seriously, listen to his voice.

Vintage dress, homemade flower crown, old Urban Outfitters sunglasses from before my boycott 

I was agonizing over whether to buy this dress for a while, but eventually I decided I had to get it. It was a lovely surprise to see that it had been marked down from $42 to $19! I guess the shop was closing down and they were having the mother of all sales. It fits perfectly, makes me feel like a 70's goddess, and you can do this with the sleeves:

I drew freckles on my face, but I chickened out and wiped them off before going to the show. I also left the flower crown at home in fear that I would lose it.

I'm really happy with these photos. They really feel like summer to me. I wish I had freckles in real life.

What do you guys wear when you want to feel extra-fabulous?

P.S. I've had a twitter for a while, but I've only just started tweeting regularly. You can follow me here if you want. I still don't tweet that much, but whatever.

The official uniform of FREEDOM

Thrifted top and skirt, ebay sunglasses, old target socks, the usual saddle shoes

Tumblr was teeming with hilariously exaggerated patriotism this morning, so I thought I'd join in the fun with a pinup-esque outfit in American flag colors. Plus I got to bust out these bitchin' heart sunglasses I just scored on ebay. Tonight I'm celebrating by barbequeing some meat, watching the fireworks, and singing "America the Beautiful" until my family can't stand me anymore. It's the American way.

Happy 'Merica day, kids.

P.S. This is my 100th blog post! Woah.

P.P.S. I also got featured on a Chicago style blog while I was on my way to the Rookie meetup (which I'll post about soon, I promise)! Check it out here.  This has never happened to me before so I'm super excited and  squee-ing and stuff! I don't even mind that I look a little derpy!

There's one rose sweeter than any that grows.

For mood music to go with the valentine theme, here's a beautiful cover of my favorite sappy love song.

This shirt is my DIY pride and joy. It took me forever to sew the roses on and get them positioned just right. I almost chickened out at didn't wear it today, but I'm so glad I did. I felt really glamorous and it fits perfectly with my valentine-y inspiration as of late. I've been browsing Stylelikeu and it's inspired me to be really creative and expressive with my outfits and not worry about the occasional stare or rude comment. It's funny because my style is pretty tame compared to most of the internet fashion scene, but it can be a little outrageous compared to other people in St. Paul. Sometimes I wish i lived in New York or LA where no one would look twice at me, because I'm pretty shy and don't like to attract too much attention. I'm learning to love standing out though, and I look forward to wearing fake flowers on my bosom for years to come!

I've been having a really fantastic summer so far. I've been trying to fill my days with fun and productive things besides just tumblr, and I've been relatively successful! I'm devouring books and movies (I just rewatched Marie Antoinette for the decadent pastel vibes) and going out to do interesting things in the twin cities. I plan to go to lots of concerts and festivals and spend lots of time outside.

Speaking of, I spent last weekend at the gay pride festival and it was the best! I mostly ate fried food and people-watched. There were so many cute, stylish, outrageous, and/or scantily clad people! For whatever reason there were also a ton of cute dogs. The atmosphere there was so joyful and it felt like anyone would be welcomed and celebrated. Minnesota is facing a potential amendment to our state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage, so the event had a somewhat more political slant than usual. It's really important that we shut this amendment down by voting against it in November, or the rights of queer Minnesotans will be in severe danger. It doesn't mean that if it passes we'll never be able to legalize gay marriage, but it'll make the fight a whole lot harder. Let's crush this stupid-ass law under our fabulous heels and spread love and tolerance instead. Fellow Minnesotans, vote NO!

P.S. brownie points for anyone who recognized the Bye Bye Birdie reference in the title.

Be My Valentine

Meadham Kirchhoff spring 2012

As odd as it may be to draw inspiration from Valentine's day in the middle of summer, it's been central to my aesthetic preferences these days. Things like candy colors, roses, hearts, and lace are inexplicably appealing to me. I've been wearing red and pastel pink and lusting after the kitschy beauty of Meadham Kirchhoff spring 2012.


Photos taken from the sourceless clusterfuck that is tumblr, except the last one which is from my polyvore. Shout out in the comments if you know sources I should be citing!

Velvet Lapelles

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles merch t-shirt, thrifted DIY skirt, DIY bag, thrifted polo, target tights, thrifted sunglasses

I wore this outfit to go see Moonrise Kingdom, which is the best movie I've seen in a while. Since the movie is centered around two children, it seems fitting that my outfit looks like it could be worn by a small child. I've noticed that my wardrobe lately has been trending towards little-girl territory with lots of high collars, knee socks, and my ever-present saddle shoes. Interesting.

The skirt I'm wearing is one I've had for a while, but I got sick of it the other day and decided to shorten it. It was at kind of an awkward place between midi and maxi, and now it's decisively midi. I got the shirt at the Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles concert that I went to last year. It's probably my favorite t-shirt. It's really soft, fits me perfectly, has a cute graphic, and, most importantly, has a great memory attached to it (the band was fantastic). This, for me, is that one garment that I wear usually once a week.

P.S. How fierce are my sunglasses?

I've got my eye on you.

Thrifted top with DIY collar, American Apparel skirt, DIY rosary, Glow Worm Shop eyeball ring, drugstore knee-highs, my same old saddle shoes

I bought this skirt around Christmastime and haven't gotten around to posting it yet. It's finally warm enough to wear it regularly! It's the only thing I've ever gotten from American Apparel. I'm kind of bummed because I later saw a similar skirt on Miracle Eye for way cheaper. I would have preferred to support the teen genius behind Miracle Eye than American Apparel, too. Oh well. For future reference, if you need a velvet skirt, get it from here! I'm also really happy with my new eyeball ring and drugstore socks! It's hard to tell in these pictures, but they're actually sheer. I'll be wearing both of these things practically every day this summer.

I was at my favorite thrift store the other day and I had the good fortune to stumble across this black polo shirt and a bunch of vintage lace trim for $2.99 each! I also found some massively fierce leopard hotpants and two bunny figurines that I couldn't bear to leave behind, among other things. I'd say it was a successful shopping trip.

 My creepy bunny friends. Their eyes are haunting, yet strangely adorable.

 My lace trim in its pretty vintage packaging! There were also a few stray pieces of white and pink lace stuffed in a bag with these two rolls.

 The tortoiseshell shades were thrifted along with all the other finds here, and the mint green frames I got free at Q-Quest, a super fun LGBTQ youth conference. Unfortunately they look ridiculous when I wear them (even by my standards), so they just sit on my dresser and look pretty.

I hope everyone's enjoying summer! I look forward to a few months of short skirts, ice cream, and frolicking in sunny fields, not to mention the Rookie meetup! Sadly they're not coming to the Twin Cities, but I'm determined to road-trip out to Chicago to meet them at the end of the month. How could I miss the chance to spend time with a giant group of Rookies and maybe even see Tavi irl? It's going to be great. Obviously I'm obsessed.

Ode to a Skirt Part III

DIY top, Tunnel Vision vintage skirt, homemade girl power brooch a la Rookie

This is the third outfit I put together with my precious skirt, and it's probably my favorite for summer. I like that it uses two of my diy-ed pieces. I guess I was going for a teen witch/girl power look with this outfit. I'm really happy with how the pictures turned out. All the colors get me excited for summer dressing! I really have to borrow my sister's black lipstick more often.