Boise fashion | Frivolous Universe

Candy Apple Red for Christmas

By: Kelly Lynae Robinson

19-12-2011

K: Dressing for a Christmas party is always a conundrum. Chances are the event will be photographically remembered, which creates the need to look festive but most-of-all fabulous (and only a tad foolish). The outfit I conjured up for Charmagne’s white elephant gift exchange was as follows: sweater I found on a bench and candy apple red palazzo pants.

N: You look cold.

K: I am. These vintage palazzo pants are made of the thinnest, cheapest polyester around. They came in a set with a matching turtleneck/tunic and tie belt for four bucks. I bought them in a rush of glee over the dramatic volume and color, but they will not stay in my wardrobe long. Too cheap and poorly constructed. Turns out even in the 70s JCPenney was shit. Someday, I’ll hunt down a quality vintage pair , preferably in a print.

K: This loosely knit sweater doesn’t do much to keep out the breeze either.

K: I first put a red coral necklace with this outfit, but it was too heavy. These earrings my sister made keep the neckline clean.

K: My winter topper of choice: 60s men’s Pendleton wool coat plus wool wrap.

K: I love how these pants move.

N: At the beginning of the month, my better-paying, second job offered me some prime weekend shifts, so I quit my slightly-more-fun first job, allowing me to have more free time and more money! My now former-manager still invited me to his Christmas Party, though. I said “fuck it” to the ugly sweater theme and hauled my butt to Harlem in style in this 70’s Mr. Topper of California turtleneck and olive pleated skirt. My outfit was a big hit with the other party guests, who were pleasantly surprised to find out it was entirely thrifted and cost me about the same amount as their Cosby sweaters.

N: Nothing says Christmas like vintage polyester. Also, you may remember this skirt from our Autumn themed post last month. It’s ridiculous number of pleats and heavy material make it a great skirt for the colder months…so. much. fabric!

K: Oh, my! I love your little Christmas tree.

N: When in doubt, match your earrings to your belt. These gold squares have the tiniest little diamond* on the bottom corner, but it was too hard to get it to show up in a photo.

(*may-or-may-not be a real diamond)

N: Ok, I lied before. My zig-zag tights are the only non-thrifted part of my outfit, I got them from American Apparel last winter. The t-strap shoes are though! They may potentially be vintage dance/character shoes, which is one of the reasons I love them. That and the the fact that they are the exact same color as my belt.

K: Repeating motif! The rectangles on your shoes, belt and earrings all work together. A pro always styles down to the details.

K: I got an early xmas/late birthday present in the mail this week. This print:

K: Eeek! Isn’t it spectacular? I love the color choices, the stippling, the suit. I love that her skeletal hand looks like it’s grabbing her crotch. And I LOVE that the artist titled it “Lovely Couple”. *Sigh* Seriously, I would wear that suit. Check out more of Matthew Wade’s work here, here, and here.

Alas, this is our last Monday before Christmas, so we leave you with our blessing:

May your Christmas be rich in love and cheap in cost.

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What’s Mine is Yours… Is Mine Again!

By: Kelly Lynae Robinson

12-12-2011

Kelly, Kelly and Nicole, Nicole

K: My mom bought me this skirt six years ago at – get this – Coldwater Creek. I was supposed to be helping her shop when I spied black lace and gunmetal gray taffeta. I’m not sure if my peals of ecstatic praise convinced her to buy it for me, or if I came right out and asked for it. Either way, I wore it once. It was to a wedding with a cream sweater and black tights and shoes. How predictable.

Anywho, having never properly worn it, and having recently acquired a black silk, tiered, ruffled number of similar proportion, and having no money with my boo’s birthday around the corner…
It’s boo’s.

N: After picking out the skirt to wear to a friends play, I decided I needed to pair it with the least-fancy thing I could find…enter crew-neck wool sweater! I got this 100% merino wool sweater for a couple bucks at a thrift store last winter, it’s supa cozy and looks & feels much more expensive than it actually was.

K: Now you’ve done what I could not, dress it down and make it minimalistic and chic. I love a color palette of interesting neutrals.

K: Did you pick these earrings first thing, or did you try several?

N: You know me too well. I tried several earrings on before settling on these gold tear-drop earrings from Lucky. I picked them to match the gold in the belt.

K: Very unexpected. *Polite smattering of applause*

N: At first I tucked the sweater into the skirt before adding this thrifted leather skinny belt. It was too bulky and the elastic waist-band of the skirt looked cheap. Keeping it un-tucked also made it more casual.

K: Kitty dish.

N: The tights actually have a nice cable-knit texture that you can’t really pick up in the photo. I thought the chunky-ness of them set off the formal-ness of the skirt much better than an opaque tight.

These Kenzie mary janes I’ve had forever, but they are still some of my favorites. I seriously re-glued the soles on about 3 times before paying to have them re-soled.

N: In the days before my big move, Kelly and I spent many hours going through my clothes to decide which ones would make the trip with me. Since space was limited, I left a box or two behind with her to send to me once the weather changed and she got a good wear out of them. (hint-hint, nudge-nudge)

K: I wore this sheer purple blouse, sheer black hooded tunic and sheer sparkly tights (and a pair of lace-trimmed bike shorts for my modesty) to Story Story Night and Bethany snapped pictures at the Red Feather after party.

N: This blouse features some of my favorite traits that I look for in clothing: it’s sheer, has poofy sleeves, and cinches in at juuust the right spot on the natural waist, so naturally it’s one of our favorite thrifted finds. I decided to pack a black blouse in a similar silhouette, so boo got to hang on to this one for a while.

K: I got one query that night about why I was wearing my hood indoors. Kim jumped in and said, “It just doesn’t work without the hood.” Why? It just doesn’t.

N: I’ve always paired this blouse with something high waisted, be it tapered pants, hot shorts or a skirt. Though I’ve had some great outfits with that combo, I love how you layer it over the tunic here!

K: Chandelier earrings, platform sandals and socks – my favorite evening accessories… for now.

When we share, we sing the song What’s Mine is Yours from All Dogs Go to Heaven while passing rubbery-looking slices of pepperoni pizza.

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Turbans and Kaftans

By: Kelly Lynae Robinson

05-12-2011

Kelly, Kelly and Nicole, Nicole

Kelly: I’m not sure whether it was Jessica Holmes or Lisa Sanchez who first typed the words “turban and kaftan party” in a facebook comment, but it was Jessica who offered to have that party at her house and on my birthday. Last Friday night, garments of improbable square-yardage were paired with the world’s most forgiving hairstyle and we ate, drank and made merry. The turban/kaftan combo is comfy as pajamas and chic as shit. Black satin turban and cross-stitched embroidered kaftan.

K: I watched this video to learn how to tie a turban, then did it half-assed.

K: This antique pendant is from Armor Bijoux. I jangle when I wear it. People take notice. You might even say it’s disruptive. How marvelous. The diamond infinity band belonged to my great-grandmother.

K: I constantly marvel at the embroidery on this while I wear it – all the way down to the cuffs.

K: With a garment this epic, the accessories have to be correspondingly larger-than-life. This woven leather belt has a medieval feel to me, like I could hang a broadsword off it.

K: Platform sandals with socks.

N: The nice thing about the weight of the kaftan is that you don’t necessarily have to wear tights with it in the winter, socks will keep your tootises warm and the bed sheet…ahem…kaftan…will keep your legs warm.

K: I have four kaftans, two for warm weather and two for cold weather.

N: The sad thing is that a lot of people have no kaftans. We used to be some of them. And there are sad, giant kaftans in thrift stores everywhere looking for you to take them home!

K: Again, the intricacy slays me. Especially because I got this kaftan for only $8.00 at the Good Samaritan thrift store at 19th and Washington. The tag doesn’t tell me much, other than that it’s from Jordan. Does anyone have cheap calls to Jordan? Call that number and report to me what you learn!

Nicole: Just because I was in New York for my boo’s birthday doesn’t mean I was gonna let the opportunity to dress on a theme pass me by! I threw on my thrifted electric orange kaftan and butterfly turban (because yes, you literally can just throw on a kaftan) and my lovely roommate Sarah shot some pics of me in our hood.

K: The best kaftans at thrift stores are always in the large, extra-large, XXL, etc. If you ask me, the bigger the better. Drama, drama, drama.

N: And if you’re wearing highlighter orange, you really can’t afford to back off the drama. So, might as well add a parrot necklace. When I got this necklace at a thrift store it had a big-ugly-gold-metal-bead-thing on it. So Kelly and I pried it off and, voila! Now it’s not over the top at all!

N: These sandals were left behind by the former resident of my room. I rescued them and gave them a loving home paired with purple tights. They’re very happy not to be stuffed in that bag of give-away clothes anymore.

N: I didn’t think parrots and flowers are enough for one outfit. So I added a butterfly scarf turban, too. Gift from Kelly many moons ago!

N: I think this kaftan was actually hand made. You can see the seam down the middle here, and if you look inside the seams are unfinished and look home pressed. Plus, there is no tag. I seriously love whoever made this ridiculously colored garment!