I am lamelamelame.

Fact: I suck at blogging.
Fact: I fantasize about having time to blog.
Fact: Theatre, writing, and school (mainly Russian) have consumed my life.

If I didn't feel bad about using this blog to write (read: bitch...probably) about my day, then I might be blogging more. We'll see. My monthly updates are pretty much lame-ville, though. All of you out there that are blogging all the time, you rock. And you make my school day so much more tolerable! Maybe someday I'll have more time to actually blog again...sighhh. Now, here's a pretty photograph to look at. I'm at least trying to contribute!

Karl: Now available to cuddle.

Is it wrong that I want Karl in my bed? In teddy bear form? I guess Steiff, German teddy bear makers, don't see anything strange about it because they're offering you a teddy-version of the man for $1500 big ones. Guess those little plastic sunglasses must be designer. Maybe someone will get crazy and make a DIY Karl Teddy Bear? Someone with a lot of time on their hands should do that...

I'm not dead.

So, I moved. I have no interwebs. I have serious interior decorating and organizing to do. I have yet to move my clothing into this very tiny closet. Adulthood is kind of lame. I'll be back when I have more to say on more important topics. There will be less fragments at that time. I hope.

I will be back!

New Vintage. Oxymoron.

So, I've had my first free Saturday for what feels like the whole summer, and I managed to re-list some things that didn't sell, and list a few new things. A few really super crazy awesome things. I wish I could keep them, but one of you would give them such a great, stylish home! So, if you're looking for a cherry red leather motorcycle jacket, blazer like bodice on a mini dress, or a nautical jumpsuit--hopefully I've made your day. And if you weren't looking for them, you might be changing your mind. I re-listed that totally adorable white 80's party dress with the pink flowers and scalloped neck, too. Go to Solid Gold Vintage and bidddd. I need to pay rent in a month. As usual, I'm apologizing for NEVER posting. I have about 45 minutes of free time a day, and I use that for homework. School, Work, my sweet 45 minutes of free time for homework or dinner, and Grease rehearsals = my life. But, here are the top three items up for sale, as previously described:

(Old) Man Power.

The Sartorialist always has impeccable photos of impeccably dressed older gentlemen. This man has the perfect cuffed trousers and the perfect blazer--I am obsessed with the pushed up sleeves and the shirt just peeking out around the collars and cuffs. I totally need this man's outfit. Whenever I bunch up the sleeves on my blazer, they just end up inching down and finding their way back to my wrists. Oh, to be old and worldly and well dressed. Anyone else weirdly obsessed with old-man clothing?

Stars and Stripes and neurosis (forever).

You know those times when it's almost midnight, and you just put some homemade cupcakes in the oven, but you spilled flour all over the floor (as always) and you're down on your hands and knees with a paper towel and some Fantastick getting said flour all over the hems of your Marc Jacobs jeans and hoping to god that the internet wasn't lying to you when it said (as if it were an actual person) that sour cream was an acceptable substitute for buttermilk, and yet you justify it all because the cupcakes are for your brother's birthday and you're wearing that cute little vintage ruffled apron with the pineapples on it? No? Maybe it's just me.

I swear someday I will have actual posts. Long weekend away from home coming up. After that I'll be listing more vintage on eBay, doing outfit posts regularly (it's my independence day resolution), and working most likely long hours at night for Grease.

Happy Fourth of July to all who celebrate it. Now pull a Karl and get all patriotic-like!

Sites to love

So, this is a random late-night post. I'm bored. I feel the need to share my love of a couple of sites with you at this very moment because waiting until morning just will not do. Especially because I will probably oversleep, and probably not by accident but just out of absolute anger about how my morning will be spent: In biology class. Science is not my forte. At all. So, anyways...how much do I love Missbehave?!

Quite a lot. Their daily blog gets me through the occasional bout with boredom while at work. Just when I thought there was not a fashion publication out there as random as I am, I was happily proved wrong. I only bought my first issue this month, and read it for the first time in May, but I am going to pay for a subscription! There isn't a Borders for an hour and a half away from my house, hence why I've been deprived. Any magazine that includes Dairy Queen, Aerobics, and advises you to deep fry everything all on their front cover gets a thumbs up from me.

Also, all Midwesterners should be super excited to check out The Midwasteland
Actually, everyone should be excited! It has a new look, and it's flyer than ever. Street style, features on fashion and culture written by contributers from all over the midwest, and (coming soon!) a regular blog. Check it out immediately if not sooner.

Now that I'm done rambling, I will continue to pick off chipping nail polish, ponder showering, and fighting with myself about how it's probably too late to eat but how I'm a little too hungry to care about that. I'm so inquisitive!

Making a lake of the East River and Hudson

How much do I love New York? A whole lot. Probably even more. It is my favorite city in the world, after all. I really enjoy the scent of melting, glittering asphalt. I love taking the subway (when it's running on time and everything and not out to just piss me off), going to Brooklyn for my favorite meal of all time, the random things you overhear, the hilarity and ridiculousness of the catcalls, and all of the strange encounters I seem to have EVERY time I go--even after having been 17 times in the past 7 years. My brother used to call Williamsburg home, and I have fond memories of walking through his quiet Brooklyn neighborhood alone at eight am. Waving hello to the old man who owned the meat store or stopping to smile and fawn over an adorable dog. Even though I know living there would be far different than any of the trips I've taken, I think I'm going to be damned well equipped with at least some of the skills I need when I move. And I will! I swear. I could never go against the pact I made with myself at age twelve.



I did my fair share of shopping (lots of florals and the BEST marc by marc shirt ever), saw Crybaby on Broadway from the 3rd row, ate way too much good food (papaya dog, Spice pad thai, mac and cheese and wine at DuMont, pizza, Good Burger, Pirozhki from Veselka etc...blahh), and likely killed my arches due to all the pavement pounding I did in heels for wonderful nights out. All well worth it and in great fun, though!

Decorative parrot in our hotel room.
Russian ELLE. I am such a Russian Nerd.
We're weird and we know that.

As promised...

Too many comments urged me to do this...you guys can talk me into anything! These are all pretty embarassing, really. Mainly because in most of them I'm young and awkward looking. Oh, well. Enjoy?

Mmm. Blue Gingham, hair ribbons, and ruby slippers...oh, my? Yes, I'm from Kansas and I did actually play Dorothy. Hilarious, right? I'm 17 here.
I really liked this one, actually! It was a green fringe dress with a purple fringed dress over it. Oh, and yellow tights with pink fishnets over them, and fishnet gloves. This is Godspell. I was the hussy who sings "Turn Back, O Man"
So, I could have included the photo of this show where my character is pregnant, but nah. The apron and strange head adornment are bad enough. Plus, my friend is back there playing a cow in this picture! I was 16, and this would be Into the Woods as the Baker's Wife. Our greens even match, how cute!
So, I am 13 here (eighth grade!), and wearing a bustier with more padding than you can ever imagine, and playing Scrooge's fiancee of the past in A Christmas Carol. Wrong, I know. All bra issues aside, this blue dress was probably one of my favorites!
So this picture isn't even a year old. Pretty, lacy dresses make me happy. That's my boyfriend looking super cute and super tall by the way. Thoroughly Modern Millie...and I was the only girl in the show not showing her goods off in a fringe dress because I was playing Miss Dorothy--the prude.
You can't see it, but I had to wear this giant, feathered tail as Gertrude (a bird...really) in Seussical. Pretty sweet glasses though, right? And I even got to wear my own converse.
Alright. This is bad. I am twelve years old here in the very first summer production I did for our theatre. I kind of wish I had a skirt like that, though. If you look closely, you might be able to see the ridiculously long fake blue nails I had to wear for this part.
Here I am with a cow--again. Hmm. Most embarrassing. Tiny little dress, poofy petticoat, BLONDE WIG. Oh, and the bonnet. Greeaaat. Age 15, in Gypsy as Dainty June. Vomit. I will never go blonde.
The glasses are back! Cute little catholic school-girl costume as Annie in Over the Tavern when I was 16. I also had to wear a beehive wig and shove a whole twinkie in my mouth for this show. Good times?
Nothing like Western attire to get the party started! I really like the guy who played Curly in Oklahoma's costume better than my boring costume as Laurie. I mean chaps? Really?
I loved this dress so much...sigh. I'm sixteen here, in Beehive which was a musical that revolved around 60's girl group songs. I had some killer go-go boots for a different song. I wish I still had those, too! Also, check out the wigs going on upstage of me. Amazing!


Well, I'm headed to NYC until late Monday night. Expect to see pictures...I am bound and determined to actually take some. Usually I always end up forgetting my camera, or feeling lame about taking pictures. Plus, my camera may be small...but it isn't quite small enough to not make my clutch have a strange, protruding tumor.

Grease is the Word.

So, I'm a bit of a theatre nerd and have been for the past eight years. I've had the chance to wear some pretty ridiculous stuff. Fringe dresses, piles of petticoats, super tight bustiers, horrible wigs, feathers...I could go on and on with this. This summer should prove to be pretty exciting speaking in terms of costuming, though! I'm going to be in Grease as Rizzo, and she has some pretty rad clothing in the film! I'm just hoping the duds I get to wear on stage will be half as cool. As a little girl, I would dress up in a poodle skirt and dance to the Grease soundtrack in our living room and sing probably at the top of my lungs. Charming, I know. If there are some amazing costumes in our show, I'll be sure to take some photos. I'd love it if we wore some real vintage, and I know for a fact that our costume shop has some great stuff! But I'm really hoping to see some crazy, tight black pants on my friend who's playing Sandy! Maybe sometime I'll compile some photos of the costumes I've had to wear...embarrassing? There is a bit of a difference between an audience of 300 and....the whole interweb.

Vintage clothing needs good home!

So, some things are back up for grabs at Solid Gold Vintage in the land of ebay! Not to my surprise, many of the last batch didn't sell and are back up! So if there was anything from the last round of vintage you wanted to nab but didn't, check to see if it's returned! Now for the new stuff! I may edit this post to include more depending on how my night goes...I have a few more dresses and shoes, though. Head to Solid Gold Vintage immediately if not sooner!

Bathing Suits and Cowboy Boots.

My mom could not dress me. Well, she would attempt to, at which point I would apparently remove said clothing and put on whatever I wanted. And I would change outfits multiple times a day. It still pretty much holds true, actually. I'll put something on for awhile, get sick of it, change again. Maybe that's why my outfit posts on here are so sparse...I never stay in one ensemble long enough! I was looking through some pictures my mom had scanned, and came across these choice fashion moments. I guess I believed that bathing suits could serve as outer wear once paired with tights? Also included (just because) is a great shot of my dad circa I don't know when donning a white suit and strange mustache. It's all about class in my family.


I really need those sunglasses.
I should consider reviving the navy tights sometime.
Interesting choice of hat...and I am definitely rocking the off the shoulder look. Nice!
What a bad ass.

Light of my life, fire of my loins.

Nothing gets a person's attention like a title with the words loins in it, right? Well, being the self-proclaimed Russian nerd that I am, I am reading Lolita.
Doesn't this photo from the film (which I refuse to watch...yet!) make you want to go out and lie shamelessly in the grass in a retro-inspired swimsuit and giant hat? What is that one made out of anyways, any guesses? If I were thirteen, I could be spending my summer doing that, but instead I'll continue to busy myself indoors with the mountain of things I have to do (and should be doing right now). When I finally do get some time to bask outdoors, I may want to do so a la Lolita...in a way that is far more legal, of course. Swimsuit and sunglasses, Urban Outfitters

I'm not a stripper.

During the summer, I get strong, unusual cravings for tragically campy cinema. For the past four or five summers, I have gone to the video store (do they still call it that?) with my family seeking out horrible and hilarious movies. Typically it ends up being a horror film (I stand by the original Amityville Horror being THE funniest of the horrors), but once in awhile, something outside of the horror genre will produce glorious, golden camp. I give you Showgirls. If you haven't seen this movie, please, go watch it now. Well, maybe not all of you, considering it is NC-17, but you should at least catch the edited for tv version they show onVh1. The 1995 film stars Elizabeth Berkley (you know, Jessy from Saved by the Bell? Who can forget!). "A young drifter, named Nomi, arrives in Las Vegas to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing and pushing her way to become the top of the Vegas showgirls." (thanks, IMBD) As if that shouldn't lure you into seeing this film, I have found upon recent viewing that the 90's threads Nomi (what a name) acquires after reaching some stardom are really kind awesome in the way that only early ninetie's clothes can be. She has a penchant for Versace, all things body concious, and fringe...or really anything that adds a strange urban cowgirl element to the ensemble. Unfortunately, there are very few photos of some of the costuming, so I decided to compile a little collage of WWNW -- what would Nomi wear? Try not to be too dazzled by my paint skillz, now.
I don't know how many strippers, I mean, dancers, should actually serve as inspiration for any wardrobe. But damn it, if loving Nomi is wrong, I just don't want to be right!

Up for Auction!

So, I started my ebaying adventures today! I posted nine awesome vintage items up, although it took quite some time because of a tornado warning. Oh, Kansas! Here's some photos of what's up for auction at Solid Gold Vintage! Click if you like what you see and want to try your hand at being the highest bidder! The only thing that isn't actually up for grabs right this moment is the pair of light brown 1950's high waisted shorts. But they will be up this week! Thus far I have: high waisted acid wash cut offs, floral print hooded vest, tshirt dress, paint-stroke print mini dress, double breasted multi-colored dress, cropped leather jacket, tribal/plaid button up shirt, high waisted teal pencil skirt, and a bright red shrunken blazer with the cutest anchor buttons. All one of a kind vintage!

A little PS: The knee-high gladiators in the fifth picture are new to my shoe collection. And let me tell you, it's definitely love!

Keep on the lookout for more additions to Solid Gold Vintage...I'll always keep you posted with photos and more!