dirty girls

From Girls Get Busy #21

important

I just feel the need to say this because it's been happening for TWO YEARS and it just keeps getting more and more annoying: STOP emailing me and asking me how to write for Rookie. I'm not going to email you back and I'm not going to call you. The website says: submit something. That doesn't mean: email someone on staff who contributes to the site, it means: submit something. I didn't want to post this here but it's a really annoying problem that I'm sick of. My email is on the site for contact reasons, yes, but that doesn't give people the liberty to continuously ask me this. (I'm not overreacting because I've gotten too many of these to count.) So please just don't contact the staff asking how to write for Rookie, unless someone specifically doesn't have a problem with that. -Britney

what a cancer

ACK ACK ACK HI! It is summer and I am blogging again! It finally feels right again and I really like the idea of continuing this blog not only because I truly do love it, but because it feels like a way to motivate myself to break through the barrier of mediocrity put up by summer  and create posts and pay attention to outfits and do something besides endlessly, mindlessly reblogging tumblr posts and listening to "This American Life". I'm fifteen now and in the words of almost any person having a midlife crisis, "I feel ready to live again!" (except the distinction between me and someone having a midlife crisis is not only the age but the fact that I just need to try to blog and get out more as opposed to planning an impromptu Vegas trip with my "posse") I think that was a run-on sentence but I'll get over it and hopefully you will, too. 

Somehow people are still following me even though I don't post or do anything that's really that worthy of posting but I'm not complaining! That makes me happy. It always makes me feel guilty when I log on here to look at new blog posts and see that people are following me because I'm not posting anything so hopefully that will change. I want to post at least 2-3 times a week/have at least 100 posts for the year of 2014. I guess a good thing to do, and a nice motivator, would be to post daily/try to post an outfit daily, even if it weren't the greatest, because then at least that would allow my style to grow in a sense. It's easier to let yourself go (which I've done this year) when no is really watching you. Also, it's been about two years and I still haven't figured out this whole layout thing so that's something to work on.

My personal tumblr; I really like the layout/colors here.

Kurt's notes for the uncreated "Rape Me" video

I cannot contain the love I have for Twiggy Ramirez and Marilyn Manson. These are my favorite pictures of them.

Below, three of my favorite videos:

^This one especially describes me right now, at points in this summer.

This may or may not have been a useless post to some but I wholeheartedly love everything here so I'm fine with sharing this. Stay tuned.

-Britney

dharma bum (life update!)

SOY UN PERDEDOR. (Or not.)

Everything has changed, is changing, and if you had told me that a year ago, that might have terrified me. BUT THIS CHANGE IS GOOD! Classes are almost over and I wish I'd done better but I am also not going to hold on to unchangable things; finals and Regents are coming up and I guess that's a second-ish chance. My close group of friends still persists and I am making friends still. Summer plans are kind of confusing but they are exciting, at least. I've had a huge crush on one of my best friends for months and it turns out that she felt the same way about me so now we're going out, something that I still can't believe but could not be happier about. (You should also be proud of my self-restraint when a "friend" asked me if I was experimenting. I am not even going to go into how angry this makes me, but I would just like to say that this is the most serious crush I've ever had on anyone and if someone doesn't take it seriously, then I do not want to interact with them.) And this isn't even of major importance, but this is one of the best songs I've ever listened to and it is one of my absolute favorites. (So is "Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)") Mellow Gold is heaven and it one of the best albums ever made, I swear. I'm seeing Beck on June 30, which is amazing.

I can't think of anything else! I am totally out of things to talk about! I feel lame because this is called The Style Aviator and all so I should at least post an outfit or something but I will save that for another time. That feels oddly narcissistic even though that was the whole purpose of this blog. I don't know. Oh well. I'll figure it out soon. -Britney

frostbite, homespun

 

Buffalo '66

Fargo movie poster

More small town thoughts; this is a hodgepodge of sorts, and I would have included more washed out pastels but then I thought that this would turn into a kind of winter-y Meadham Kirchhoff tribute. (I had an outfit planned around it that focused less on the washed out pastels and more on the small town aspect-since I have close to no colors in my wardrobe-but there was an issue called my face that was involved.)

-Britney

reunited and it feels so good (suburbia kills)

Long time, no talk! I have a lot to talk about (and it does not directly focus on style or fashion despite this blog's name, but bear with me here) and I want to start with how I feel/have felt for about a month or two now, which is a combination of adolescence in a '90s suburban town with the concept of "shock rock" and having those bands (Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails-although I view NIN as WAY more than shock rock, this is just an umbrella term that describes how other people see and saw them-etc.) as an influence on life. This entire thing is so difficult to explain but having this mindset and focus has made me so happy. I am also holding back from making an entire series of blog posts about how in love with Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor I am-I have tickets for the NY concert this summer!-and the impact that NIN has had on me and my life; I am comfortable with calling it my absolutely favorite band, next to Nirvana. (If you've read any of my thousands of pieces of work about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, you'll understand the significance of this.)

My attempt at explaining all of this:

This tumblr, which I made and have not updated in a few weeks but love like a child; it represents almost everything that I am talking about here: http://vhsworld.tumblr.com

 

 

SUMMATION
-Marilyn Manson's Portrait of an American Family, especially "Dogma"
-Palo Alto by James Franco (I don't know how good the movie is so I am referring primarily to the book of short stories)
-A '90s suburban town, especially one with a rural area
-The "shock rock" of the '90s and how so many people were scandalized and thought that it signified the coming of the apocalypse (see: "Sympathy for the Parents" by Marilyn Manson, and watch them on the Phil Donahue show)

(I highly recommend watching the other parts as well but I thought posting all of them here might create a bit of a hassle.) 

I wish I had more content that focused on this! If I can extract some more ideas from my journal (I try not to call it that because it's not much of a journal, and assigning it this position will discourage me from using it as much) then I will edit this post because it is incredibly important to me and I feel like any attempt at explaining it will make it come off as a one-dimensional concept. It would be so great if you could just climb into my brain and see exactly what I mean.

I briefly entertained the idea of talking about outfits or something in relation to this but I feel like that seemed trivial. This isn't about clothes our outfits at all, and anything that I wear is influenced by this in some way but is not a primary factor. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like clothes do not really factor into this. I hate saying this because I'm wary of it coming off as standoffish but I feel like there would be some kind of void in this post if I didn't.

This is one of the best, most chilling songs ever written. Enjoy. 

-Britney 

it's a question of allure

So I was rethinking the Rodarte Spring '14 RTW collection and I am SUCH. A. DUMB. BUTT. I don't know how I didn't see it before, I think it's because I didn't have or think about the same influences that I do now, but now I am on the Mulleavy train more than because they are absolute geniuses. 

Observe:

(tacky = i.e. what would be considered tacky on a personal level or compared to our current standards of "trendiness")

I used to really like Axl Rose and it hurt so much to type the words, but the fact that there's an article saved on my computer named "18 Reasons Why Axl Rose is the Biggest Douchebag" makes up for it. (Also, a diehard Nirvana fan liking Axl Rose ends up being problematic. And Guns N Roses.....not worth it.) His influence on this is very obvious in a way that kills me but also makes me proud of myself for knowing this, for some reason. The entire glam/hair metal  scene that ended up essentially parodying itself (causing the birth/uprising of grunge and Our Lord and Savior Kurt ft. Eddie Vedder's heavier than heaven voice that kind of sounds the same in everything but still)  and I feel like the collection is a play on that, in a way. But at the same time, given the Mulleavy sister's California roots and the fact that they incorporate their home state into the majority of their work seems like this is their way of telling history through their work. The fact that so many people are saying, "Do I really want to wear this? Like, realllllllllllly, do I want to wear this fringe skirt? What is this? Is this the 'November Rain' video? Will this turn me into Axl trudging through the snow in shorts and a fur cape?" is SO GOOD because all we do is cut up history and paste the pretty parts into our lives, the ones that fit in perfectly and don't require too many questions. I mean, you can buy a dress and Mary Janes and associate it with kinderwhore but what is underneath all of the smeared lipstick smiles and parodied childishness/ideals is rawness that not that many people want to touch. (I'M SORRY FOR THE '90s REFERENCES IN A POST ABOUT THE 1980s) (I'm not) But back to the 1980s-sorry, Kate and Laura-if we are going to return to these past decades, then we have to acknowledge the parts that make us think, the ones that make some people wonder if that's how they want to look, if that's really what they want to wear. 

More parts of the collection: animal print, the use of flannel (more of an allusion to the Sunset Strip scene than the '90s which most people associate it with), constant use of fringe, leather, baseball caps, chola culture, padded shoulder blazers, denim, color scheme of gray/blue/white/black/brown/red, metallics, lines 

   

   

(Sorry if the moodboard is badly made, when it's 3:17 AM my sense of judgment tends to be pretty fuzzy)

The outfit based on this will go up later, or I'll just edit it in! I have to go to bed now because 1) it's important that I have the energy to act like a human being and 2) I am finally-finally-going to see Blue is the Warmest Color today, so I have to make sure that I have the willpower to consume 179 minutes of subtitles. Tell me what you think of this collection! 

-Britney

(EDIT: Sorry for the bad layout of this post! It's been like that for a while, I'm working on fixing it.)

the water is so yellow, i'm a healthy student

 

No one ever wants to see the guts and all the twee is on my dashboard and sometimes I just feel like I'm either too lazy or too plain or too much past the trope to post anything.

Hi. 

So I am finally posting! I've missed this blog. I looked over my old posts with a friend and realized how much I hate them. I'm not deleting any but I feel like I am almost the complete opposite now. As in, if I were to meet my former self who seems like a caricature of me now, I may or may not like her. This makes me happy because I've changed so much since age 12 and I finally feel AUTHENTIC to myself. This is why I feel like I can post outfits again and feel happy and not have to come up with the dumb, "quirky" ideas of yesteryear (this is not a jab at anyone else, but at me one or two years ago); I think that whatever I wear now will feel so good that I will barely have to think about whether or not I should share it. Dressing is sincerely an art form for me now and this blog can finally be revived. I feel less likely to look back a year from now and wonder what I was doing out of sheer embarrassment. I do have doubts about posting, still-do I sound too serious? Not serious enough? Why don't I have enough time or energy to write about what I want to?-but I can finally see past those inhibitions. It is like school (without the unnecessary stress): if there is someone who does not like me for who I am, then why try to change to fit their mold? It is an endless cycle and it only brings pain. 

                 

                 

                 

I am what seems to be perpetually stuck between wanting to wear layers and floor length leather trench coats, and worrying about whether or not someone thinks I am beautiful and occasionally compromising my spirit and art for someone's approval, for the promise of a longing gaze. I want to be Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love and Trent Reznor and Winona Ryder and write "INCEST?" in kohl on my chest and Nirvana lyrics in ink that looks like it came from the River Styx, but I also have days where I do think about channeling sexuality through clothes while maintaining some artistic integrity or transport myself to the 1960s and have an outfit that is the opposite of what I would usually wear. And maybe that's okay. But I don't know. All I know is that I want to belong to myself and 2014 is the beginning of the beginning; however, this is not about a new year, it is not about a new me, it is about the acknowledgment of who I am and the thought that hey, who cares what anyone has to say? Yes, I am imperfect and I can be a contradiction but that can be channeled into so many things that are more productive than lying on my couch listening to Kurt's voice, raw like the inside of bones and crying. This may be the first time-or one of the first times-in my life where I've felt completely happy with myself, inside and out, and it is glorious.

Everything seems fresh and exciting now. There are ups and downs but the former outweigh all the bad. 

                                                                                                               Yours truly, 

                                                                                                                           Britney 

                       

she's an unorthodox rainbow: an interview with holly rivers

*Note: this interview was conducted a few months ago. -Britney F.
1. What inspired your eccentric, unorthodox style? 

Eccentric and unorthodox? Me? Really?!!

 I have always been interested in clothes and design so I guess my style has just evolved naturally over the years. I experimented with the obligatory cliched skater girl, indy kid, grunge chick looks as every teen girl does, but eventually I just let myself be inspired by a wider range of sources and it made manifest in the ecclectic outfits i like wearing today! Today I'm inspired by an mish-mash mixture of Japanese culture and design, children's books, retro toys, the 80s and 90s, music, street style, pattern, colour, texture, monsters, comics, illustration and whatever else crosses my path each day. I feel very comfortable in what I wear and getting dressed is a lovely part of each day for me.

2. Why did you decide to start your blog?

To be honest I was unemployed and bored and needed something to keep my creative juices flowing! I had also been getting stopped a lot in the street  for photographs so thought it would be a good space for me to document my style like a visual diary. I have always blogged for myself really and I'm very humbled and glad that other people like following my sartorial adventure too. 

3. Who are your main inspirations, not only style-wise, but in general?

OOOH SO MANY! Bjork is a massive inspiration in every sense - her unique music, her originality, her passion, her incredible style, her attitude to work, her ability to grow and change so organically without seeming contrived, and of course her one-in-a-million voice. In terms of style and design I get fan girlish about Fred Butler, Fam Irvoll, Zandra Rhodes, Lazy Oaf, Bernard Wilhelm, Meadham Kirchhoff and Pam Hogg. My girlfriend, family and friends also put a massive cheesy smile on my face every day.

4. What blogs do you frequently read?

To be honest I'm shite at reading other blogs! When I first started out and had loads of time on my hands I read loads of other blogs as inspiration, but now I don't seem to find a spare five minutes as I have a proper grown ups job! I also find that the internet is over-saturated with watered down, copy-cat, style blogs these days and therefore a lot of them blend into one these days; I prefer to read books and graphic novels when I want to relax or go people watching if I want to be inspired. 

5. What are your favorite shops?

I shop in a mixture of charity shops (or thrift stores as you yanks call them!), markets, boot sales, online, boutiques and the high street. I'd love to dress head to toe in bespoke pieces but until that lottery win comes in I like to get a bargain. I also love to customize pieces and adding my own spin to plain garments - can't get enough of pom-poms, ribbons, paint, studs and buttons.

6. What books would you recommend? 

I adore children's books and I'm attempting to write my own at the moment so I'd have to say anything and everything by Roald Dahl...the man was a complete genius...dark and twisted stories that don't patronize children! Other faves are Geek Love by Katheryn Dunn, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, Snake Rope by Jess Richards, The First Book of Calamity Leek by Paula Lichtarowicz, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess  and A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett - I love stories that are hyper realistic with a dark undertone! 

7. And finally, what are your goals for the future?

I like having fingers in lots of pies and I keep myself busy with so many things! I'm not a 9-5 kinda girl and get bored fairly easily. I'm restarting my career in acting at the moment and I just got cast as a 1977 punk in a short horror film this month, as well as embarking on a 2 month UK theatre tour of Alice in Wonderland this Autumn; both of which are insanely exciting. I'd like to write and publish my children's book in the next couple of years, maybe design a range of clothes at some point, have some babies, do more traveling, get more tattooes, buy a house boat......so many things to tick off my list. As long as I keep doing creative work and don't turn into a beige wearing, PTA attending, cookie baking,  home owner then I'll be happy!

rock widow coming clean and indecisive feet (another liebster award!)

                   
                                                       (Two recent obsessions: Spin and Courtney, although I have conflicting feelings about her sometimes)

Salut! I'm so excited to return to blogging and I still need to get everything together (I have too many drafts and so little time), so until tomorrow, enjoy my answers for another Liebster Award awarded by the incredible Miriam, whose blog you HAVE TO READ. I'm very serious, she's amazing. I've nominated people in the past so this time I'm just answering the questions. Enjoy! 

Where do you get inspiration for outfits from?

So many places! Women's Wear Daily, Tavi Gevinson (this is such a typical blogger answer but I'm not just saying this, she's been in my life since I was about 9 or 10 and actually knowing her is even more of an influence), Arabelle Sicardi, the entire punk/goth subculture and movement, the 1990s, Ruby Book, a few other bloggers, CDG/Maison Martin Margiela/Vivienne Westwood/Yohji Yamamoto/Ann Demeulemeester (esp. their a lot of their work in the 20th century), Courtney Love, different pieces I see, art, the human body, the Nine Inch Nails "Closer" video, bands I like, Nirvana/Kurt Cobain, music styles, etc, etc. I don't only get inspiration from other clothes, I get it from people I look up to, television shows/movies, etc. 

Street style or catwalk?

Honestly, I've become so sick of street style that I'm going to have to go with catwalk. People tend to think of "stiff" and "unoriginal" when the latter is mentioned but it's quite the opposite. It's amazing how much styles from the catwalk have influenced the world.

What kind of shoes do you prefer?

Right now I'm trying to get a pair of T-strap flats and I've been obsessed with combat boots for years, but I think my absolute favorite to see and to wear are kitten heels (preferably in leather form). I hate the name but recently I've grown very fond of them. 

Why did you name your blog as you did?

I love these questions so much! I can't remember my exact mental state at the time of choosing/thinking up "The Style Aviator" but I remember having a list of names in one of my notebooks and agonizing over articles on how to name blogs for hours on end. I think in the end the answer would be that I didn't want my blog to be just another one about style and fashion, I wanted it to create new ideas and bring up deeper meanings and express stories and thoughts through my outfits; I wanted to help lead instead of looking at someone else's blog and simply making myself a carbon copy.

Do you keep your blog a secret from people that know you?

I definitely wouldn't tell them unless they asked, but I wouldn't go out of my way to make it  a secret. If they find out I have one-which has happened-then oh well. 

What is the piece of clothing you would never go without?

This is so tough for me. I'd say some type of over-sized clothing, or my hair necklace (I know it's an accessory, shhhhh).

Do you go shopping for the pure pleasure of it or with specific things in mind?

Both, but the latter usually happens more. It's a bit hard for me to go into a store without maybe having one or two items in mind that I will search for, but the thrill of the hunt for an unknown piece is also very amazing. 

How would other people describe your style?

Eccentric x gothic x early '90s based. 

Dress up for outfit posts or show what you're already wearing?

Most of the time I do dress up for outfit posts not because those outfits are not what I'd wear outside but because it's hard to think of an intricate outfit with a good story when you wake up at 6 in the morning. It's complicated, but my outfits are very true to who I am.

It's your birthday and you get to choose one present from whatever designer collection you want. What present would that be?

                 

Comme Des Garcons, I can't remember exactly what season but I think these are from 2009 or 2010. You don't even understand how much I need these. I think I'll do a DIY because these are most likely not in my near future. 

Are you brave enough to ask random people on the streets if you make take a picture of them?

Definitely! I've done it once or twice before; I'd do it more often but for some reason I am never in the same area at the same time as the people whose outfits are so amazing/inspiring that I have to stop them and ask to take a picture.

    -Britney

if i fell, would i even make a sound?

Lately I've felt more of a need to read blogs every day and to blog more, because high school makes me unfathomably sad and sometimes, during a class, the weight of this unhappiness bears down on me so much that I come incredibly close to just running out of the room and out of the building. I feel so happy when I come home; before, in middle school, it was simply a routine marker of the end of the day, but now it feels like the only space where I feel sane. It's funny that I feel like blogging is more of a release now that I have even less time for it, but without it, I wouldn't have a space of my own anymore that I could still share without feeling like my words had to go through a filter first. Too many people that I know, too many people from school who know me and see me every day read my Rookie diaries. I don't know what to do. It may seem odd that something so public could feel so private to me, but I really do treat each and every one as a diary, as a sanctuary to my feelings. 

I don't like my high school at all. The only place there where I feel at the peak of my joy is philosophy club, talking about mortality and hedonism while lying on tables with upperclassmen and eating. It's one of the most beautiful, safest spaces that I've ever been in. Everything else makes me tear up-the people, the fact that I am still an introvert, the work, the way everything piles up, the lack of sleep. I spend every class period writing poems and daydreaming about studying abroad in France. I want to do this next year, and I know it will probably not happen, but it keeps me from wanting to break down in the middle of a lesson about conjugations in Latin class. 

I don't want to talk about this too much, but I think I found someone who understands me, who cares about what I have to say, for once. This person doesn't go to my school, and doesn't know any of my friends, yet oddly enough, they have managed to do what they seem to do with most great things in my life: they've killed it a bit, allowed it to wither away in their hands. I sound terrible talking about them like this, because I love them, I really, really do, but this is such a frequent issue in my life that if I don't write about it, it's going to sit gently on my rib cage, growing and growing until one day it just explodes. It hurts so much to think about. Crying makes it all better because I don't have to hold everything in. There's only so much one person can take.

Anyway, onward to the point of the post. I've been reading Just Kids by Patti Smith and actually using my journal for once-it's new, so that makes it easier for me to want to fill up-and wanting to dress a certain way that embodies the spirit of that time (the late '60s so far) and the beatnik movement. Patti herself is such a great example; she shifts from different planes, feminine to androgynous, and sometimes just in-between, an undefined place that for me is almost the epitome of that that movement. I made a shift from what you're used to seeing me dress like to  a more eccentric type to a more morbid/darker style, and now I am in-between that last type of dressing and a Patti-esque/beatnik way, with occasional outfits of the second kind. I don't feel as content as I could with it, so maybe I have to find different ways of going about it. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, but for now there's a moodboard that I made at the beginning of this post that you can use as a reference. 

It's almost 1:30 and I have school tomorrow and everything sucks, but this made me feel a bit better even though I'm tired and essentially don't have a life anymore. Oy. 

all that mattered was that we had loved the girls, and that they hadn't heard us calling.

I have never read The Virgin Suicides the way I did today, with death on the brain. Not my own, but just the general concept. (Note: try not to think about it. It hurts.) It made the entire book, especially the ending, mean something new to me. Something darker than I ever recognized it to be. 

Reading this blog is probably the best thing anyone can do after reading this book, whether it is for the first time or the tenth. It makes you think, even if you don't want to think, even if you just want to sit and let the sadness wash over your body in a slow wave. 

The part of Mary (she put her head in the oven after she heard Bonnie kick the trunk out from underneath herself in the basement) made me feel so heavy. The part of kicking the trunk made me feel this way especially, but just everything about Mary (you'll know what I mean if you read or have read the book) and her aftermath just made me hurt for her. It made me hurt for everyone in the book. I still feel this way, even if the initial sting of the events has worn off. 

I don't think we-the readers, the boys in the book who were so infatuated with the Lisbon girls in the books, etc.-will ever really understand the girls. There is a section about this in the book towards the end with one of the characters, Mr. Buell, who the boys interviewed about the Lisbon girls, saying "All wisdom ends in paradox." We are with the girls towards the end of their short lives, as they deteriorate, but our collecting of bits of their lives-Cecilia's yellowed high tops, vacation photos, and so on-will not guarantee answers, only more confusion; this is one of the only facts that comes attached to The Virgin Suicides, one of the only things we will ever be sure of about the girls. 

                                                                                                                         Yours truly, 

                                                                                                                                     Britney

the blogosphere: the future of fashion or absurd narcissism? (or maybe both?)

Let's be honest: not all blogs post the same thing, but most of them do. There is nothing that seems to stand out anymore, unless you wade through the sea of highly supplied yet not in high demand pages upon pages of someone wearing an outfit that you wouldn't think twice about in about twenty different pictures. The rise of certain fashion bloggers-Susie Bubble (Susanna Lau, respectively), Tavi Gevinson, BryanBoy, The Man Repeller (a.k.a Leandra Medine), etc.-has convinced people that if they go through the simple process of signing up for a blog and banging out a couple of paragraphs to go along with pictures, the same fame that has befallen these people will soon arrive at their doorsteps.

 

Before you say, "Hey, you're a blogger! Aren't you criticizing yourself?" I probably am. I have never put too much thought into my own blog; it was a place for me to upload pictures of things I liked and to voice my opinion. But in the past few months, it's become to tedious to do that; sometimes I just want to wear something amazing and not have to groan at the thought of setting up my-now broken-tripod, self-timing a good picture, and uploading it along with some words about it. Or maybe I would like to look at some fashion shows and not have to write down notes that will soon come together for the sake of my blog. (I actually got invited to one for NYFW, which is next week, by the way, and I will definitely be writing about that because it's too great to even believe.) Yes, now and then there's an outfit that I like, and style blogging has definitely improved what I wear; other style blogs have helped me do that as well, and I am incredibly thankful for that. So let me clarify: I am not saying that all style blogs are like this. There are a good amount of people that I know who have amazing blogs and post what they like, and share so many beautiful thoughts and ideas and photographs with the world, but there are also people who jump on the bandwagon because they think that by wearing the same. Exact. Thing. That. You. Can. Find. In. Every. Magazine. Just. Because. They. Told. You. To.

 

I've stopped taking pictures of what I wear-maybe I'll start back-because I don't want to be generalized or be accused of partaking in these endless trends that seem to be on almost every blog I come across. I don't want to be grouped with a ton of other people. I don't want people to come to my blog and think the same thing that I am writing about. I just want to write without doubt and wear what I want without saying, "You're only wearing flannel because of Saint Laurent! You're just like everyone else!" And I definitely don't want to group people like this, either. Sincerity will prevail over all; there are a ton of honest bloggers out there who wear clothes because they love them, but simultaneously, there are the people who are quite the opposite and are in it to win it. ("It" being interviews, followers, etc. etc.)

This absurd narcissism is not all blogging is made up of; there are the blogs that inspire, the ones that make people think. There are blogs that people return to over and over again, ones that make them happy, sad, and glad to be a part of all of this. They are the future of all of this. At the bottom of this sea of duplicated pages upon pages of half formed opinions and the same outfits over and over again, they are there, just waiting to be discovered; and when they are, they will be with you forever.

 

is this the real life? (liebster award)

Hey, people. The long title is what happens when I am up at 1:00 A.M. in the morning. Kani A. from The Style Monster (how could you not like that name?) nominated me for a Liebster Award. *woot woot* We all know the rules, but here they are again:

-You must shared 11 things about yourself.
-Answer the 11 questions that your tagger has given you.
-Choose 11 other blogs for the nomination. Nominees must have under 200 followers on Google Friend Connect.
-Leave 11 questions for your nominees.
-Lastly, thank the person that nominated you and link back to their blog. (Thanks, Kani!)
 

11 things about myself:
1. I am going into my freshman year of high school.

WHOA.

That's really hard to process, because I started this blog in seventh grade and now I'm going into a new world, one that is so, so different from the one that I got so used to.
2. I'm contemplating dying some of my hair green before school starts backs, mostly because one of my friends, Lula, has green hair and insists that she leaves proof of herself in my hair. (Peer pressure ugh)
3. My very favorite movies are Heathers and A Clockwork Orange.
4. I am currently in the process of trying to make my own shirts via iron transfer paper which may or may not result in tears.
5. I dance. (Ballet and modern, which I start to believe I'm good at until I see myself. But I still love dancing. It's a huge part of my life.) Hopefully I'll summon up enough courage to dance in my school's talent show, or at least try out.
6. I'm currently working on a book list for Urban Outfitters (!) to display along with the books that I recommended. The theme is coming-of-age tales. Exciting, right?
7. I'm an only child.
8. I don't own a cell phone. I think I'm pretty much happy that I don't, to be completely honest. The only inconvenience is not being able to call someone when I really need to (i.e. if I'm stuck somewhere), but other than that, I'm free from others and I get to enjoy life more rather than being trapped by the immaculate screen of an iPhone. 

9. Something that really interests me is someone reinventing his- or herself, especially since I'm starting a new school. I don't feel as if what I wear really reflects who I am, or what I say sometimes. I want to be able to dress how I want to, and say what is on my mind. I'm sick of being shy or censoring myself.
10. I wish I were funnier/wittier.
11. I have a considerably dark personality, which many people don't realize. I guess I'm cynical? A lot of people have said that I am. 

Kani's Questions:
1. Your favorite childhood movie?
Hmm. Childhood is pretty broad, so I'll say either Finding Nemo or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
2. What's the last thing you read (article or book)?
I reread The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
3. What album would be the soundtrack to the movie of your life?
Oooh, good one. Either a Nirvana's Nevermind or Suspiria, which is a CD I burnt with a bunch of punk/New Wave/gothic songs from the 1980s (and possibly '90s, not sure) and the song from the Zero Day trailer, along with Patti Smith's cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." 

4. Would you rather watch something being made or just see the finished product?
It depends. The answer would differ if it were a DIY or a movie.5. What do you do first when you have writer's/artist's block?
I either get annoyed/angry in general or at myself, or go read/look at something inspiring. Both at the same time also work. 6. Describe yourself in 5 words or less.
Awkward/maladroit, talkative, writer, friendly, and realist. 

7. Your favorite thing to drink?
Water or berry punch.8. Your favorite place, fictional or real (other than your hometown)?
My current favorite place is the town in Ghost World. 
9. Reality television: yes or no. And why?
No. Only a few of them are worth watching, like Project Runway or The Face or Breaking Pointe. My answer is no because in all honesty, they're really stupid if you strip them down to their framework. You absorb all of your time into them and then realize: why do I care? There are loads of more interesting things in my own life that I could be doing instead of watching this housewife get ready for her dinner party. 
10. Top song to sing when you're at home?
Right now it's either "Blister in the Sun" or "Kiss Off" by Violent Femmes.11. Do you like musicals? If so, what's your favorite?
I do!! I'm a theater geek. Right now my favorites are Chicago, Cabaret, and Broadway's Matilda. 

My 11 questions for the nominees:
1. What is your best memory ever?
2. What song describes your life?
3. If you could have one mystery in history solved, what would it be?
4. What blogs do you read daily?
5. How long do you think you will continue your blog for?
6. Best experience ever?
7. If you could go to any band's concert, defunct or still in action, what band's would it be?
8. Are you an optimist, a pessimist, or a realist?
9. Are you truly happy?
10. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?
11. If you could offer a newborn child one piece of advice, what would it be?

My nominees are:
Eryn from Style Orbit
Essine from Psychedelic Daisy
Chloe from Rhinestone Moon
Ibe from Mademoiselle Rossele
Maddie from Silly Innocent Girl

Sinead from Peppermint Whiskers 
Ruby from Ruby.

Brie from Teenage Chariot
Maggie from Style Walrus
Eva from Style Wandering (not sure how many followers she has but I'm too tired to check)

Gwen from Under a Bridge 

(Part two of my Resort '14 reviews will be up later today! Also, if you have any questions for me, ask them at www.ask.fm/britneyfranco)

                                                             xxBritney

sheer genius (resort '14 review pt. 1)

Today my mom and I went to MoMA for the Rain Room exhibit but left after waiting for a bit after realizing that it probably wasn't worth it. (I got the same experience later on when I walked through actual rain with an umbrella, for free.) We walked around Rockefeller Center for a few hours, stopping at various shops and such. We went to H&M, and I wasn't sure if I would find anything worth buying, but I did. There was this amazing pair of jeans that my mother persuaded me to try on, which I am grateful for because WOWZA. People say that the right pair of jeans can transform a person. I don't know if it was that extreme, but I definitely felt upbeat wearing them and a tad more self-assured. (I don't base self confidence on what I wear, but these jeans are different. They are on the same level as those pants from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, except these are not to be shared. Ever. I don't care how close we are.)

Anyway, I didn't think that my outfit was really worth posting on here; it was nice, and gave me a chance to wear my giant Heathers button, but not particularly blogworthy. Since I still wanted to do a post, I decided that I would use today to sum up some of my favorite looks from the Resort 2014 collections.  

1. Jean Paul Gaultier
             
             


             
             

My three absolutely favorite parts of JPG's Resort '14 collection are the use of sheer material (especially in the second picture, for the sheer coat that is incredibly lovely), the use of fishnets, and the jacket in the last picture (click to enlarge). The silhouettes and tailoring in this one were really good (see: last two pictures). But back to the use of sheer material: I like the fact that the subtly of it made it quite blatant if you think about it. Instead of having outright sheer pieces, the material was used as sleeves, parts of tops, and different places in dresses and pants. 

There are an equal amount of good draping and tailoring which I mentioned before, and then there was a mixture of the two, which is even better, because why choose between the two? There was also a balance between prints and more minimalistic colors, although I chose not to add pictures of a good amount of the printed pieces because they weren't really anything that would make you look twice. Overall, I would say that it was a pretty good collection but definitely could have been even better.

2. Maison Martin Margiela 

              

              

Clean, structured, well tailored clothes from M.M.M. I like the contrast between the white and the black. (There were also splashes blue and grey in the collection, but the only piece that I really liked that used one of those colors was a blue trench-coat.) Like the JPG collection, there could be more standout pieces in this once, which makes me sad because I love Maison Martin Margiela.

3. Marc by Marc Jacobs

             

             

So far, this is my favorite out of all of the Resort looks that I've seen. It has, as annoyingly overused as this phrase may sound, a youthful yet sophisticated look to it, which stays true to the general spirit of the usual Marc by Marc Jacobs collections. It's great. I really admire the use of black and white because it isn't trying to be cool, it just is. That effortless cool is what defines this collection. I like the fact that the clothes are incredibly amazing and still retain their fashion credibility while being something that you can really visualize yourself wearing.

              

              

4. Alexander Wang

              

              

YES to the dress(es) and NO to those shoes. I know that the Alexander Wang girl is about maintaining the relaxed yet interesting cool of a model walking down the street...laid back, but laid back enough that you won't hesitate to look twice. 

But those shoes.

I would not look twice.

In fact, I regret even looking once. I don't know. I have a serious aversion to Toms, anything that LOOKS like a pair of Toms, and nice outfits that are killed by the overpowering, satanic aura of Toms or Toms-like shoes. 

Alexander (first name basis, obviously), I love you. I love you so much that when I was nine and my mother got one of your bags, I stayed up all night wallowing in sadness because she refused to let me use it. (Five years later, I realize how much sense this made.)

But those SHOES. 

Okay, I'm done. Let's move on to more outfits without THOSE SHOES. (But first let's analyze these outfits while pretending that you-know-what doesn't exist. Great use of leather, good mixture of masculine and feminine; I like the message that it sends that you don't need to choose between the two. This is shown in the more obvious choices like the pink pencil skirt and  the black leather peplum shirt, and in more subtle outfits like the second picture featuring the black dress with the sharp lines.)

                 

                 

I like the fact that the third picture brings to mind high school (ignoring the Toms-like shoes, which don't look too bad with this outfit). Did anyone else get that vibe?

Basically: pleats, leather, effortlessness with structure (a fashion paradox, essentially), masculinity and femininity coexisting, youth, and leather. I like this collection.

5. Alexander McQueen  

                  

                  

I really like the clothing shapes that were chosen for this collection. They were based on what women wore during WWII while men were at war; for a good amount of the pieces, I felt as if they were also based on what one might wear one a safari in Africa, only with more taste. The major points (sorry if it seems like I'm not going into detail enough; it's getting late and I want to finish up this post for you guys before I go to sleep): pockets, structure, war/1940s' colors (brown, light blue, white), femininity evolved, belts and buckles, and prints that didn't work as well as the more simple-colored pieces. It started off well and then just ended up as dresses with prints, sort of losing the original artistic vision.

                  

                  

Well, I'm off to bed because my mother is on the other side of the room glaring at me, and because I'm tired and need to wake up early tomorrow. I didn't get to do a collection flashback which I really wanted to do in this post, but I'll make it up to you in the next one. Goodbye, lovelies! 

                                                                                     xxBritney