Frivolous Universe

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Tag "colored tights"

K: Your clothes are talking. There’s no use fighting this. Every detail of your life that can be observed, will be observed eventually by somebody and compiled to determine what kind of person you are. My clothes are talking, and I’m not going to worry about how it is unjust because clothing is a terrible indicator of character.  I’m much more interested in my clothes saying something exuberant and playful to whoever is listening.

thrift store, color textile, colorful tights, cowboy boots, Turkmen vintage necklace

N: I mean this in the most feminist way possible, but my clothes (and yours)  are saying, “Grow some mother-fuckin’ balls.” Take all your most extreme pieces,  go against your first fashion instincts, and put them together in an unexpected way.

K: In my wardrobe, there are no supporting roles. Every item gets to be a lead – all the time, mostly because my clothes are all divas and refuse to be shunted to the chorus of endless black accessories. This vintage 70s polyester tunic is a statement piece on it’s own. Why not pile on, not one, but three more: sparkly metallic blue leggings, cowboy boots, and an antique Turkmen necklace? The vintage Pendleton wool coat is less of a statement, more of a frostbite defense. It is not warm lying in the rocks. Not at all.

thrift store, color textile, colorful tights, cowboy boots, Turkmen vintage necklace, man's tweed jacket

N: By late winter,  it’s easy to pick out your the most  boring, supporting characters in your wardrobe and put them together any old way because you’e lazy and just want to stay warm.  I’ve been in a total winter-hating mood lately, and instead of  putting another plain-old sweater with jeans, I decided to go on textural over-load.  I paired vintage brocade vest, blue velvet shirt (seen in previous post as a skirt!) and tweed skirt (that’s part of a suit) with my cowboy boots. For warmth I added one more layer of 70’s leather trench coat with awesome lining. It ain’t warm posin’ next to books.

K: We’re both wearing thrifted cowboy boots and beaucoup de statement pieces! It ties together! We’re such good bloggers. Why am I straddling barbed wire? What kind of fucked-up patriarchal imagery is that? (Can we say ‘fuck’? Are we doing that now?)

colorful tights and thrifted cowboy boots

N: This is the internet.  Of course we can say fuck.  People say and do way worse things on the internet these days.  Mythrifted cowboy boots are from Ariat, and are totes legit cowboy boot. Such a great find. The purple tights are the only non-thrifted part of my outfit. The American Tourister Bag I picked up at a vintage store in Washington D.C.

K: Your purple tights make a memorable color palette with the orange tweed, blue velvet, and taupe. The eye-wateringly bright psychedelic print of my tunic oddly fits with the shape of my Armor Bijoux pendant.

thrifted colorful textile tunic and Armor Bijoux Turkmen vintage necklace

N: I love all the colors in this tunic.  It’s an absolute statement piece, and doesn’t need much else to compliment it. My pieces are mostly staples with great textures. Combining them makes them even more special.  I added 3 necklaces to my textured layers to give them even more depth. A picture necklace made by Carrie Applegate,  vintage silver pendant given to me by a dear friend when I moved to New York, and semi-boring H&M chain to finish out the look.

K: My pictures were taken by Bethany and Anna. Wowzers. I’m sure lucky to have those two pointing their lenses at me.

thrift store, color textile, colorful tights, cowboy boots, Turkmen vintage necklace

N: My new friend/co-worker Rylie took my photos the last two weeks.  Hope you all are enjoying pictures outside of my apartment for once!

A week from today, Nicole comes back to Boise for a week of frivolous fashion. Stay tuned.

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This outfit is inspired by Kelly’s Turban and Kaftan birthday party. One night of putting on a turban to celebrate was not enough for me. I am drawn to wearing accessories that are novel and/or bold. Some of my favorite accessories are a fertility necklace, tribal collar, colored tights, suspenders, beret, neck tie, armor silver cuff, fedora, and Tibetan breast plate. I like to build my outfit around the accessories rather than the other way around. For this ensemble, I centered everything around the turban. The rarity of it in Idaho and the mysteriousness that it exudes makes me obsessed with it.

Turban: Urban Outfitters scarf (Price: $20)

This is me ashamed. As you keep reading you will realize how much of an Urban Outfitters addict I used to be.

Sweater: Urban Outfitters (Gift, 2 years ago)
Dress: Urban Outfitters (Price: $60, 2 years ago)
Pin: Navajo antique silver (Gift)

Indian Navajo Rings and Armor Bijoux braceletRings I can’t take off: Navajo green turquoise and silver (Gift)
Afghanistan silver bracelet: Armor Bijoux

Boots: Urban Outfitters (Price: $20 originally $78)
Mauve tights: Target (Price: $8)

With the help of thrift stores, I am recovering from my Urban Outfitter addiction one day at a time.

Photographer: Kelly Lynae Robinson

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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!

K: Here’s a few pictures of the party:

There’s something inherently intimidating about a woman who has the guts to wear a kaftan.

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