Guess Who's More Famous Then You?

Ok, so I don't go out too often on Saturday nights. My Sunday's are consumed with a lovely 12 hour bar shift, and I HATE being tired for it, so instead, I come home and spend a night in front of the TV, well tonight, I was in for a treat.

After consuming a couple drinks, and some hot wings with my roommate, we came home, only to see that Prince's Purple Rain was on. Now, if you read my last post, you will realize that I am obsessed with Prince, especially Purple Rain. Now, my roommate hates the fact that I'm making her watch this, she keeps saying things like "Prince was awful in concert," to which my clever retort is "well, he's much more famous then you," and she just pulled out "Alex, this movie is over 20 years old," to which I quickly responded "well, I'm over 20 years old." Yes, I am clever, but more importantly so is Prince.

Can I just say a few things. The first, his mustache and eyelashes make me want to be pretty. The second, his poet shirts make me want to be pretty. And third, okay, he just makes me want to be pretty. Prince may be a bit crazy, and a bit washed up. But he will always be pretty, and probably more famous then me.

And with that, I shall retreat to my bed, listen to the best of Prince, and wear my vintage Purple Rain tee. Have a good night.

My New Vintage Obsession: Men's Vintage T-Shirts

As I mentioned in my last post, I often shop vintage in order to save money while living in the city. Well, that and I cannot stand to even walk into an H&M or any other sort of big boxy store, which leaves me with all the great Soho boutiques I can't afford. Right, so vintage it is.

Usually my vintage shopping leads me to great vintage dresses, maybe a jacket here and there, and some accessories. Growing up, I was never a t-shirt and jeans type girl, but with the stresses of the city, that has quickly changed into my everyday, non-work wardrobe. The one difficulty I have had with bridging the gap between my love of supersoft tee's and vintage shopping is that it is impossible to find really killer t-shirts, that still fit, and stick true to my personality.

Well, call me Lady Luck, because all of that has recently changed. First, came my vintage-esque* Ramones T-shirt that I only managed to snag after Annette had second thoughts and threw it back on a random rack. Then, while shopping for my Halloween costume (I made an amazing Garth), I came across a vintage Woodstock t-shirt. Now, it's not like these t-shirts come with tags of authenticity, so I know that this shirt may not be from 1969, but I do know that it is tissue paper thin, is oversized enough to look amazing, and the screenprint is so worn out that you have to squint to read it. Even the check-out girl was totally jealous, I thought I had myself quite the find.





Shortly thereafter, I decided to give the vintage store another go (I hit it about every two weeks, and usually leave with one, maybe two items depending on my luck that day) and on this particular day I decided to start in the men's t-shirts. I had actually been going back to see if an old Cars concert tee was still there, when lo and behold, I found it. The holy grail of vintage t-shirts for me, a Prince, Purple Rain t-shirt.



Now, I have this sick obsession with Prince. I don't know what it is, maybe the crazy androgyny? Maybe the fact that in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet the choir did a gospel version of "When Doves Cry," either way, I recently bought a raspberry beret just so I could justify singing the song to myself when I walk down the street. Over the past week this shirt has become hands down my favorite article of clothing. I will forever keep it with me, and when I can no longer wear it, it will go into a trunk alongside my mom's ancient Bowie and Police concert tee's (which may get stolen at Christmas).

Here's one more pic of all three tee's, just so you can get an idea of what I'm wearing on a day to day basis. Lately, I've been combining these shirts with my Kimchi and Blue harem pants, some random knee high black boots I got ages ago, an oversized cardigan and fur vest. Nothing beats being comfortable and warm in the fall in NYC.




*Vintage-esque- meaning, I don't think it was too vintage, I think it's more one of those shirts that is bought at Hot Topic to be cool, but later consigned when they realize they know nothing about the actual band. However, it still fits correctly and is perfectly worn in.

RIP: Daul Kim 1989-2009

I have had supermodels on the brain today. I awoke to Doutzen Kroes tweeting non-stop about the VS Fashion Show (http://twitter.com/MissDK) which was filmed tonight in New York, or Fashionista's posting of the George Michael "Freedom" video (http://www.fashionista.com), and now there is news that Daul Kim, a Korean supermodel, has been found dead in her Paris apartment.

I may not be extremely well versed on my supermodels that are either A) post-1994, or B) not heavily involved in the VS campaign, but as I perused Daul's book on models.com, I had more then one "I know that photo" moments. While they have not officially named the cause of death, many news outlets are ruling it as a suicide.

Now, I know it's impossible to fully understand what is going on in someone's life that may make them want to kill themselves, but it almost seems more tragic when it's someone like this. Here was this 20 year old model, ranked in the top 20 models in the world, getting paid to wear haute couture, look beautiful, and stay skinny. She got to travel all the time, and have experiences so many people dream about.

It really makes you wonder, if this is happening to models, is there hope for the average person? I get paid to wait tables, I have been out of the United States fewer then five times, and I shop vintage to acquire anything cool on my budget. I guess this just proves that you never really know about someones life until you walk in their shoes.



RIP Daul Kim, your frisky and fabulous editorials, and sassy blog will be missed.

Hipster Must-See: Whip It

So today I decided to go to a movie alone. I thrive on alone time. I eat alone, get coffee alone, and go to movies alone. I swear that if I didn't have a roommate and work around people, I would be alone all the time. So when I picked out a movie today, i decided to go with Whip It, something feel good, female infused, and shorter then the average release.

Whip It was great. I'll be honest, maybe it was my low expectations, but I found it much more entertaining then I expected. I expected to cry for far too much of the movie. I expected Drew Barrymore to have a much larger part then she did. I expected more violence, more roller derby, and less connection to characters. Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat were high school students. Everything they felt, did, thought, I remember doing similar things a few years ago. Every roller derby chick had this tough as nails attitude, and a connection to Babe Ruthless that couldn't be replaced by a family you were born into.

Basically, Whip It made me want to do four things. 1) It made me want to join the roller derby. Duh, the girls seemed tough, but lovable. They seemed to be heroes, but the type of heroes you want to follow, not just idolize. 2) They made me want to dye my hair crazy colours. Kristin Wiig as a redhead, Ellen Page with blue hair, and Drew Barrymore with rainbow stripes. Maybe I would be able to identify more with my own identity if I borrowed someone else's hair. 3) Get a sleeve. Ok, so it's something I've wanted to do for a while, but the badass women in Whip It only intensified that desire. and 4) Move to Austin. Also something I've been contemplating for a while, and it is ALWAYS intensified by any and all movies that take place there. There is something so desirable about a city that allows you to let your freak flag fly. And my freak flag seems to be flying the Austin colors. If only it had a winter.

Either way, Whip It was worth my $12.50, and the two hours. It brought up some emotions that may have been needed to be expressed. It inspired me. Made me want to be tougher. Made me want to work out. Made me want to create the family I've been missing in New York. Who knows, maybe I'm relating to movies because I'm in that place in my life, or maybe it's just that Drew Barrymore actually has skills as a director.

Nerdy Things That Are Kinda Awesome: Crossword Edition

Okay, so I am a nerd. I love word games, puzzles, reading, and going to bed early on a Saturday night. Lately, my new nerdy obsession has been crossword puzzles. I recently bought a book of New York Times crosswords and have been taking it everywhere with me. Yes, I know I can do these online, or on my iphone (both of which I do from time to time), but the truth of the matter is, nothing is quite the same as doing a hardcopy crossword with a pen.

Crossword puzzles make you smarter. They expand your vocabulary, and make your brain work when it hasn't in a while. You can crossword when you're eating, watching a movie, on the subway, or out for some coffee. They are a great way to pass time when you're alone (which I often am), but you can still do them together (unless you're like me, and doing that makes you feel stupid). While I've been on board with this trend for a while, I'm now noticing my friends jupming on board. In fact, it's become the way that my best friend and her boyfriend spend their days off together. And if they are taking part in it, then it may have officially entered the hipster world.

I'll admit, I am a total sucker for anyone finishing a crossword puzzle in the dark corner of a hipster bar. It makes me think, "wow, you can read," and nothing is sexier then that. Well, maybe the ability to finish a rubix cube in under five minutes while drunk, but that's a different story.....