vintage fashion | Frivolous Universe

In Pursuit of Reality: parallel universes, parallel parking in a snow bank, and Pursuing Andie….

By: Anna D.

07-03-2012

Yesterday morning, I slid into a snow bank. My little Nissan and I went careening down an icy hill on Highway 55 and smacked right into a giant berm of snow, and it’s all my fault. Here’s what happened:

I was running late leaving the house and needed to make it from Boise to McCall in just over 2 hours to make a work meeting on time. Normally, driving like Danica Patrick on one of her slow days is no big deal, but say there’s a little slush and ice on the winding, narrow highway separating one from a destination….a reasonable person would remove their lead boot and stick it in the trunk for extra rear weight and drive like Betty White, but as my manfriend is so good at pointing out, I’m not always the most reasonable of people. I had just reached the other side of Little Donner Pass – which, for those of you who don’t know the area, is a narrow, steep, tree-and-rock covered pass with a four-lane highway gouged through its center – and as I began my descent, I hit a rather deep pocket of slush covering a sheet of ice. I began to slip, and what did I do? Yes, I hit my brakes. Silly me. My car and I took a nice, leisurely double rotation across all four mercifully empty lanes and landed – THUNK – in a snow bank about halfway down the hill on the other side of the road. As I sat there, stunned and trembling but remarkably unharmed, I thought of the last interaction I had with Dustin before leaving the house:

Me (jumping up and down): I gotta go, I gotta go! Hurry up and give me a hug so I can get outta here, I’m running late!

Dustin (giving me a hug and a kiss on the forehead): You know, you can be a real turd when you’re in a hurry.

Me (squirming out of his embrace and sprinting for the door): Yes, I know. Sorry. See you in a couple days!

Dustin: Love you – drive safely, please!

What a turd indeed. Had I driven like a reasonable person rather than plowing forward like a disgruntled ox, I would have noticed how nasty the road was on the pass and could have saved myself a ride in the Mad Hatter’s teacups. Had I not wrecked, I would have been only 5 minutes late to my meeting instead of 20.

All these what-ifs got me thinking, as I eased out of the berm and crept along the highway at a respectable 40 mph…….in some parallel universe, I drove wisely and avoided that wreck. In another reality, I left my home a few minutes earlier and careened right into the massive white truck that sped by me on the other side of the pass. In yet another, I over-corrected my steering and flipped down the pass rather than taking the loopy slide I did today. Endless possibilities…..at least that’s the theory according to Brian Greene. So all things considered, I’m glad I woke up today in this reality rather than some other, less fortunately structured parallel universe.

(If you’re curious, the reason parallel universes popped into my head is because of Monday night’s Coast to Coast show on this very topic. I just adore George Noory and his large, caterpillar-like mustache….)

About the Outfit: This little adventure with Idaho roads and meditation on the unseen worlds that are endlessly layered upon our current reality also got me thinking about the many friends I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter during my stay in this sheet of life. My dear friend Andie Bravender-Mueller was kind enough to pack up some of her precious cargo from her vintage clothing store – Pursuing Andie – and gave us FU broads the go-ahead to paw through her collection and choose an outfit for this week’s blog. Thank you so very much, Andie – you are just lovely!

The dress I’m wearing for this week’s post is perfect for me in that it’s not something I would pick up on first glance, but would instead maybe pull it from amongst the many racks of clothing at any given vintage store, consider it briefly, move on in search of more obviously “me” items, and then not be able to get it out of my head. It takes a little time and consideration to truly appreciate this piece – it’s graceful, feminine collar, the simple, understated print with muted palate coupled with an unexpected burst of jewel tones at the hem, and the elegant line from sleeve to waist. It’s an incredibly thoughtfully made garment, and suits me beautifully.

The jewelry is a mix – some from the relentlessly talented Hazel Cox, some turquoise Navajo pawn jewelry from my great-grandmother, and a gold medallion from my grandfather. The belt is something I found at a clothing exchange years ago, and the shoes are also from Pursuing Andie and are still available for sale, as is the dress….so if you love them, know that they could be yours!

And as long as I’m praising friends for being incredible at what they do, many thanks to Bethany for these photos – simple, elegant, and wonderfully composed.

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BREAK-UP

By: Jessica Holmes

01-03-2012

Jessica

Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded a plane.

Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues, in the middle of the pouring rain.

-Walkin’ in Memphis, Marc Cohn (version embedded in my soul by Dan Costello)

Story Story Night‘s BREAK-UP: Stories of the End of the Affair was on Monday. As you may know by now, I am the driving force behind this ever-blooming live storytelling phenomenon. I do what I can to keep up, but on this night in question, with endless lines around the block confronting our sheepish and over-long will-call lists, facing my doom (erm…hosting duties) in the Rose Room was like touching down in the middle of the pouring rain.

After some heartburn, we somehow packed 500+ people into the Rose Room to hear stories of Splitsville, with fantastic featured storytellers and random intervals of Braveheart bag-pipe music inexplicably wailing in from the restaurant below.

Luckily I had on my Jeffery Cambell blue suede shoes ($60, half off $120 MSRP-Piece Unique & Shoez), as I boarded that rocket plane. No clothing item better connects with the blues, and how to rock the sh*t out of the blues, than these edgy shoes. My Tibetan turquoise, coral and beaded breastplate ($140, Armor Bijoux) also puts up a good frontal defense.

The above photo represents how I feel on Story Story Nights. Blurry with continual motion, and tired around the eyes. Or maybe I’m just trying to look like a fashion model. OK, you got me, for BREAK-UP, I was actually trying to look like a fashion model.

This model, actually, from Sophie Theallet’s fall 2012 Ready to Wear line. I always try to dress for the theme, but I just wasn’t feeling anything BREAK-UP worthy in my closet. Then a few weeks ago, I spied this look. The top reminds me of the 70’s couch you awkwardly had your first kiss (or groping) on. Worn with all the sweatervest and turtlenecked geekdom of your adolescence. Then, on the bottom: drapey drama, drama, drama; broken up by a slit that never quits…rawr. All bottomed out by those awesome, quirky, laced-up shoes. I star-cross love this look, as I can never, ever possess it.

So instead, I sent up my wish into the Universe…

And this is what came back to me. Vintage Liz Clairborne rose print red dress ($5-Good Samaritan).

And by the Universe I mean I posted this look to our FU Facebook group, with the noted desire to find something “similar.” On a thrift run, Kelly Lynae texted me a photo of this dress. She knows vintage Liz Clairborne has a thing for my body. A love affair over the decades.

I know, I know, this dress sort of looks nothing like the Sophie Theallet. But squint. It does everything I wanted that look to do. Bold color in an old-school update print. A bit innocent with the boxy shape and pleated bottom. A tad naughty with the bare legs and shoe laces. A pinch bad ass with the breastplate and the blue suede shoes.

Photos taken at Red Feather, site of the Story Story Night Afterparty, by Bethany Walter. Cheers to the rose period.

PS: After a BREAK-UP, do what most mortals do, and get NAKED…

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Too much? : A Prince inspired outfit

By: Bethany Walter

27-01-2012

Bethany

Last week I confessed that I am at times a poser. I think of outfits as costumes and a way to pretend to be something I am not quite yet. Thinking of my outfits this way gives me permission to play and be creative with how I dress. I brought up this perspective of mine for dressing because I think sometimes people have a hard time wearing something adventurous and pushing themselves outside their comfort zone.

Lisa Sánchez, a friend and reader of Frivolous Universe, commented last time that I should think of my approach to dress as artistry rather than posing. She then gave an awesome example of someone who embodies distinct and glorious style, Prince. There were probably times she said when he looked in the mirror and asked himself, “Too much?”

“Too much?” I ask myself this question about last week’s outfit and I realized I am dressing too safe. Say hello to my Prince inspired outfit.

70s vintage nylon maxi skirt: Ship ‘N Shore, thrift store
70s vintage nylon blouse with necktie: John Matthews, thrift store

I’ve been waiting to wear this vintage maxi skirt for the last couple of months. Twice I saw it in a thrift store and it’s electric blue color jumped out at me. Both times I thought to myself, “What the hell is this?” It looked like a heap of fabric draped on a hanger. The maxi skirt was a part of 70s 2 piece Ship N’ Shore outfit. It came with a matching button up shirt with giant cuffs and two random strips of fabric.

The color matches Prince’s outfit up above perfectly. When I tried the whole outfit on it didn’t feel Prince enough and so I replaced the shirt with a signature white 70s vintage John Matthew blouse with neck tie.

This maxi skirt has serious drama, both in it’s movement and length.

On a side note, Kelly took these amazing photos. I only included this photo above because she loved it so much because of it’s motion. I however find it slightly unflattering. With this blog, I am, along with the other frivolous ladies, trying to redefine what our culture says is beautiful. Unexpected, unusual, and potentially uncomfortable has been becoming part of our definition of female beauty.

Headband: came with Ship N’ Shore 2 piece, thrift store

Prince always had something crazy going on with his hair and I felt I needed an extra accessory to push this outfit over the top. I fashioned this headband from one of the strips of fabric. Originally it was designed to be a neck bow.