Countdown to Halloween Series

The Witch

The Zombie Transformation

The Mad Scientist

The Woodsman's Princess

The Cocky Blogger

The Sidekick

The Vampire

  

The Victim

   I’ve been wrestling with the idea of this post all day.  While I’ve been enjoying the slow unveiling of each Halloween portrait, my OCD self has the absolute need to display all of these images in one spot.  Due to this compulsion I decided to post the remainder of my countdown this evening.  “Whew,” I can finally rest easy now that my series has been presented in full. Of course, I'll continue to post each image separately on social media until Halloween has officially ended.  I apologize for the monotony, but my obsessive brain simply won't allow me to do otherwise.  Basically, as a result, if you happen to be looking at this blog now you’re getting an early look at my grand finale.  I know you’re thrilled, right?

   Initially it seemed kind of like a cop-out to use Halloween as the topic for a personal style blog.  However, upon further reflection I realized it really isn’t that uncommon.  In fact, the other day I was trolling my favorite blog sites when I was suddenly confronted with the title, “Halloween Is Ruining My Wardrobe”…. or something similiar.  Honestly, I didn’t even take the time to read this piece due to the fact that it was a topic I'm already extremely familiar with.  “You’re preaching to the choir, sister,” I thought. 

   This Halloween season alone I made at least two trips to the thrift store each week in search of vintage treasures mistakenly labeled, “Halloween Costumes.”  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s no better time of year for the fashion conscious to hit the thrift store circuit.  Not only does fall provide increased quality inventory at secondhand establishments, but it’s all neatly organized within a few easy aisles.  For a vintage clothing lover Halloween at the thrift store is like shooting fish in a barrel!  Of course, this time of year can get rather competitive among hipsters.  I mean, there are only so many purple silk windbreakers with fringe out there.  One may have to get aggressive in order to obtain them…which I did…and not a soul fought me for it.  Huh,…I thought it was a prize.   Of course, this statement is reminiscent of that title, “Halloween Is Ruining My Wardrobe.”  After one finds themselves aquiring as much weird shit as they can each fall they begin to realize over time that they have a closet jam packed with…well, weird shit.  I suppose it's not unlikely to anticipate I may want to someday wear a dress that is not covered in teal tassels.  However, I can’t imagine why…and you won’t be able to either after you see the absolute treasure I picked up at the Fargo Savers this season!

   Despite the fact that my closet has become dangerously close to being too kitschy, I must admit that the majority of my, "Countdown To Halloween Series," portraits don't feature this type of clothing.  Honestly, I’m dressed rather boring in most of these images.  Realizing this now, I find it very interesting that I deem myself, “scariest,” when I’m in my plain-clothes.  Of course, it doesn’t take a mad scientist to realize any outfit looks more funky when accompanied by a pair of glowing eyes.

-r.

Among My People

   I feel compelled to mention that I’ve reached that awkward point in the season where my pictures don’t make a lot of sense.  For example, if I was to wear this outfit today I would've frozen my buns off.  This being stated I have a fairly large backstock of images and I didn’t have the heart to skip over these particular ones.  Basically, it’s either I post pictures of me, “showing skin,” awhile longer or I start posting every day in order to catch up with the changing seasons.  Let’s face it, even I don’t want to be constantly confronted with glamour shots of myself.

   I want to state that there are multiple reasons I was so pleased with this ensemble.  The first being the skirt I’m wearing was a thrift store find that even I can’t believe.  Admittedly, I consider myself highly skilled at thrifting.  Keeping that in mind I came across this beauty on a quick trip through Savers one afternoon.  That day the line for the dressing room was ridiculous and I was lacking in patience.  I reasoned it was worth risking $6.00 on an item that may not fit correctly in order to get to the coffee shop faster.  I left the store completely accepting the fact that this piece may be a disaster…in stripes, which as any fashion conscious individual knows can be a woman’s worst nightmare.  One can image my delight when I finally got home and tried it on.  It fit like a glove!  I really couldn’t believe how good it turned out.  At that moment I took time to praise the thrifting gods that have been so good to me over the years.   

   About a week later I decided to wear my new found treasure out on the town.  I had heard rumblings about a charity garage sale being held by some local hipsters.  I reasoned, what better way was there to create good thrifting karma than to wear my last best find?  I put on the outfit featured above and headed out to the sale…because why not dress up to go look through a bunch of crap piled on top of dirty folding tables?  As soon as I arrived I was pleased with my choice of outfit.  Standing there, I was suddenly confronted with a bunch of fairly intimidating ladies who all looked extremely trendy with their dark rimmed glasses, tattoos, and bright red lipstick.  You know, the kind of women I always want to be friends with but am scared to approach.  I walked up to the first tables and instantly one of them latched on to me stating she knew exactly what I was looking for.  She steered me to THE GREATEST vintage dress and told me I simply had to buy it.  I’m pleased to report I left that sale with a pile of adorable vintage finds.  I’m even happier to state the ladies who sold these items to me were extremely nice.  They actually said to me that they saw me walking down the road towards them and instantly thought, “Oh, she’s one of us.”  I was thrilled.  “Maybe I’m not as vanilla as I feared,” I thought.

   Later that afternoon I was loitering around downtown when I came across one of the local news anchors.  This woman is a big local celebrity and I noticed that she was eyeing me.  I turned towards her hoping she was not going to tell me my skirt was stuck in my underwear when she said, “I love your style.”  “Holy shit!” I thought.  “I’m almost famous!”…yes, I seriously thought this. 

   Remembering this now makes me recall a conversation I had with a coworker the other day.  This individual does not know me that well.  Somehow we had gotten into a discussion about what we do on our days off.  I had mentioned I like to dress up and he couldn't fathom why I would do such a thing.  “Don’t you like to just put on sweats and watch football,” he asked me.  Again, obviously he has no idea who I am.  At the time I had almost felt guilty.  Why don’t I just chill out in crappy clothes?  Am I seriously that uptight?  Has narcissism totally taken over?  After writing this post I feel like replying, “I try to look my best at all times because one never knows which local newscaster might decide they like your style.”  Wait…that still sounds kind of sad.

-r. 

"Ayy! Nice shirt!"

   To be honest it's been near impossible for me to sit down and write this blog post.  The weather this weekend has been outstanding.  Between all of the sunshine and the fact that the Syfy Channel is currently playing their, "31 Days Of Halloween," marathon I'm getting a whole lot of nothing done.  Don’t be surprised if this post suddenly ends mid-sentence, considering all of the distractions.  Admittedly, B-Rated horror movies are one of my biggest weaknesses.  I mean, when you always have the hankering to watch, “C.H.U.D.,” you need to recognize there may be a problem.

   As a result, this post is kind of simple.  Sorry, but I’ve got sewer mutants to watch!  Basically I just wanted to comment on the outfit I’m wearing in the above photographs.  The day I took these pictures I was feeling fairly nostalgic.  I was thinking of the good old days of my youth, when I not only watched sewer mutants but I believed in them.  In addition, I'd been listening to a lot of the, “Singles,” soundtrack that week and this obviously inspired my outfit…which is odd considering there are no Nirvana songs represented on that album.  Sadly most of my band t-shirts from the 90’s either got lost, or stolen by my brother who inevitably wore them out.  Oh what a bad ass collection of vintage record store tees I would have now if only I could have taken care of things better back then!  It damn near makes me sick when I dwell on them. 

   Instead I own several generic band tees that I’ve found at establishments like…urp…can I even write it…Forever 21.  The shirt featured in the pictures above is one of them.  Despite the fact that I still do own one legitimate Nirvana tee with the sleeves cut off and the neck ripped out, I felt compelled to wear this version on my photo shoot day.  In order to make up for the, “poser,” quality of this garment I paired it with my favorite pair of thrift store jeans and some Mulberry sandals I’ve been dying to release from their box.  Overall, I was pretty pleased with the way this outfit turned out.  Dare I say, I was even feeling kind of cool.  I believe this is apparent due to the fact that at one point I seem to have found it necessary to roll my sleeves up like I was The Fonz.  Let me tell you, if there had been a jukebox around that afternoon I would have pounded on it! 

   After I was done taking pictures I found myself walking with a new swagger.  “I still got it,” I thought.  As I started up my car and exited the parking lot I looked over to a teenage couple that was walking into the entrance of the park.  “Oh that’s nice how he holds her han…What the hell?!” I thought.  Standing there, directly in front of my vehicle, was the grungiest teenage boy I have seen in quite some time…and guess what?  He was wearing the exact same t-shirt I was, only he was wearing it BETTER!!!

   My first impulse was to yet again pull a Fonz and yell out my window, “Ayyy! Nice shirt!”  However, considering how much more legit he looked, I opted instead to scoot down in my seat, lowrider style, and creepily glide by this couple hoping they didn't notice my outfit…as if they would be looking at an old lady like me.  In closing, there were two things I learned that day.  One...October really is the time for horror stories and this unfortunate occurrence certainly qualified…and two...there is no greater tale of horror than when The Fonz jumped the shark.  I should know.  I did it.

-r.

The Closet That Carrie Built

   It is not at all unique for a woman in her thirties to state that she, "loves the show, “Sex and the City.”  What I do believe to be notable is the fact that so many women today are still saying this about a program that stopped producing new episodes in 2004.  Basically, Carrie and the gang are old news so what keeps them so relevant today?

   Recently, I was struck by this question when a pretty little twenty-something remarked that, “Your dress is SO Carrie Bradshaw!”  My first reaction was absolute delight.  I adore when people label me a, “Carrie.”  Who doesn’t want to be compared to the leading fashionista of the early 2000’s.  Admittedly, this comparison was no surprise to me considering when I saw the dress in question I too immediately thought, “that is SO Carrie Bradshaw!”  After some serious consideration of this compliment…(me enjoying my inner permagrin) I began to marvel at the idea that this individual and I had the exact same response towards a piece of clothing.  “Wow!” I thought, “Sex and the City," really had some influence!”

   Admittedly, this is a fairly ridiculous topic for a blog post.  Not only has this subject been approached by many a more talented writer than I, but it’s pretty flaky in content as well.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit how fond of this show I actually am.  I fear it immediately categorizes me as just another shallow dimwit trying to sadly appear, “fabulous.”  Uh, by the way…is that fabulous thing working?

   I guess the whole reason I felt compelled to muse about my admitted addiction to this show revolves around the t-shirt I’m wearing in the above pictures.  After the second, “Sex and the City,” movie was released I was obsessed with finding this shirt.  I think it’s relevant to mention that my friends and I were so excited to see this film we rented a movie theater room in the commons area of someone’s apartment building and had our own private showing of it.  Admittedly, it was a pretty poor picture.  However, there were some redeeming qualities.  I’ve mentioned before I adore the scene where Carrie goes shoe shopping at an outdoor market in Abu Dhabi…yes, I really wrote that…yes, that really happens in the movie…yes, I really love that scene, despite how ridiculous it is.   During that particular moment of the movie Carrie is wearing what I believe to be her finest outfit ever.  This is a heavy statement for me to make considering I worship her wardrobe throughout the entire series.  However, there was just something that really spoke to me about this particular ensemble.  That evening, as soon as our, “Sex and the City,” screening party was over I was a woman on a mission.  I glanced around at all my friends wondering which one of us would be able to first locate the, in my mind, obviously coveted Dior t-shirt.  Immediately, I felt competitive.  “That shirt is mine!”  I thought.

   Apparently, not everyone at the party felt the same.  Upon arriving to my next social function about a week later I expected all of us to be wearing the same cheap eBay knockoff I was able to hastily locate.  However, no one else did!  Furthermore, none of my friends seemed to notice I had on the exact…okay, the ghetto version…of Carrie’s t-shirt.  “What the heck?!” I wondered thinking I had missed something everyone else knew.  

   Obviously the above pictures are proof that several years later I am still wearing my, “Carrie shirt.”  Whenever I want to feel, “fabulous,” I put that thing on and strut around like I got the world by the ass.  To this day, no one has ever mentioned it is the same shirt as the one in the movie.  I now think it might be due to how poor that film actually was.  Perhaps people believe an acknowledgement of this would be an insult to me. 

   Lastly, I’m forced to wonder if I’m the only individual to memorize the clothing presented on this show.  Could it be that other women were not watching, “Sex in the City,” in order to admire the costumes?  Wait…was there actual plots to these episodes?  Uh…huh…I better go watch them again.  I’ll get back to everyone on that.

-r.