ANET OLLYWOOD

thrifted and diy top and vest, ebay arm cuff, skirt c/o sugarlips, jeffrey campbell boots

Just another windy day in windy city. And another set of pictures completely blown out by the sun. I really need to start enjoying shade, or at least remembering to take pictures in it instead of DIRECT SUN LIGHT. 

How about that elastic coin arm cuff? Pretty neat for a penny (plus shipping).  It's pretty cheaply made but it looks super rad and happens to be incredibly light-weight on the ol' bicep. I've got another silver, less cheap coin cuff coming in the mail in which I am equally hyped to wear. I guess I just love to jingle. 

In other news, I was recently introduced to this girl's personal style blog from internet lady-bud, Isabel. Um, HELLO. Super juiced on her style. Mad steeze. And she has a great dip-dye tutorial for leggings that I am probably going to go ahead and do. Go check Rachel out right meow!

NEVER KNOWN A GIRL LIKE YOU BEFORE

thrifted vintage sweater, spanish moss velvet shorts, boots from ebay, purse c/o lucky vintage
 

This sweater reminds me of something I would have worn in the late 90s, probably paired with army green bellbottoms and Chuck Taylors, with loads of hemp necklaces. Since I am seemingly traveling backwards with my aesthetic tastes, here I am pretending I'm 15 again. It's really is strange to think back to what I used to love in fashion, and how I generally end up shaking my head in shame years later when I look back at pictures. Come a few years after the shame-fest, I find myself interested those same previous fashion philosophies again. Maybe it's because I don't want to grow up. 

On that note, you probably noticed my highlighter hair? Did that on a hair A.D.D. whim last week. Not with a highlighter, with color. It's funny, though. I used to color my hair with actual markers when I was a teenager. That was all great and dandy until gym class when I would sweat green ink.

To high-five the good old times, here is a 90s jam that I always loved, courtesy of Empire Records.

 

FRINGE FLORAL

thrifted and diy shorts, thrifted flannel and top, jeffrey campbell shoes, ebay necklace

 

I clumsily sewed fringe to these shorts from a piece I'd never wear that I picked up awhile ago at a thrift store. And now, bam. I can finally wear these otherwise buttcheeky shorts in public. 

I now have instagram, folks. Finally in tune with the 21st century, right? Like all my other social network mumbo jumbo, my user name is caseystrawberry. Ya dig?

SHRED THREADS

renewed vintage harley davidson shirt c/o shred threads, unearthen pendulum ring, thrifted belt, bag, jewelry, eye necklace from ebay, american apparel crossback bra, sunglasses c/o american deadstock

Welcome to my life, amazing Harley Davidson dress. Sarah from Shred Threads is my new internet buddy that was kind enough to custom make me this gem. This girl is so rad. We both live in lofts, both have a dog, and have similar tastes in clothing. We also are clearly both patient enough to dig through racks and boxes of clothing until we find great pieces. AND we both love to cut things up! But, she definitely trumps me when it comes to sewing. The style of her work is geared towards 3 main types of ladies..and I believe (I hope?) I fit into 2 of these 3 categories.

The romantic. She adores Peter Pan collars and unaltered vintage clothing.

The gypsy. She loves all floral, and ethnic prints. Free spirit all the way.
The grunge gal. Loves all things 90s. Anything sheer, studded and roughed up.

Her latest collection draws inspiration from the gnarly biker and American heritage mixed with lace and fringe. Yes, please. I'd say this idea speaks straight to my desert loving heart. 

Check Shred Threads out HERE. 

Also, thanks to those of you who answered the questions in my last post! I really appreciated the insight!

 

WRITER'S BLOCK

 moon tee c/o lune vintage, thrift and diy shorts, jeffrey campbell boots, kimono from my sister, thrifted bag, thrifted belt

I'm experiencing writer's block and I don't really feel like vomiting insignificant words into this post. Instead I would love for all you ladies to answer a few questions. I appreciate any and all feedback!

If asked why you dress the way you do, what is your answer? Not just "because I like it", please. What are you wanting to portray?

Do you dress in hopes of attracting the opposite sex?

If the way you choose to dress doesn't "flatter your body type" in a way the mainstream opposite sex would deem attractive, would you say you dress to impress women instead? If so, why?

 

Do you believe dressing in similar fashion can derive new friendships amongst similar people?  

 

Do you look up to other women because of how they dress? Do you form opinions about other females based on their style?

If you are a fellow fashion blogger I would imagine that you'd be lying if you say you don't dress to impress. You want people to see what you are wearing. You are proud of it, otherwise you would not be excited to post pictures. You want to be a source of inspiration and be inspired. Am I right?

Otherwise, ask me anything on my Formspring. I'm bad about responding to blog questions on this thing, mostly because I assume my answers won't be seen by the person inquiring.

PUT A SUN ON IT

DIY vest, shorts, and top - thrifted boots, belt and bag - ebay bootstraps 

The exposure in this photo group is completely blasted - whoops! Too much sun, too little looking at the settings on the camera?

Here I am riddled in a bunch of DIY junk. When I am not lazy, generally I am the polar opposite. I become a cracked-out motivated weirdo who ends up bleaching and cutting everything, and sometimes even a little sewing happens here and there. This motivation usually only has the lifespan of a couple hours, so I hustle like crazy to get procrastinated work done. We will start with this vest. Thrifted, obviously. I tied it up, threw some bleach on it, and ironed this freaking awesome sun to the back of it. Paired with the bleach, it kinda makes the entire backside look like a summer day, doesn't it? AND GOD KNOWS I LOVE SUMMER DAYS.  The shorts were old and annoying, so I shredded and dyed them a little. Same with the shirt.

Part of me wants to apologize for boring you with shorts non-stop, but I really can't help it. Shorts are me. Guess you've just got to deal with it, folks.

Also, besides using gift cards, I have only bought thrifted clothing for almost 2 whole months now! Whoohoo. Go me. 

PS. It kind of blows. I WANT TO SHOP. 

PPS. I forgot to put a link in my sidebar, but for those of you that have Lookbook - I am trying to use it more. MY LOOKBOOK. I need more interesting people to fan.

DESERT BABY DESERT BABY

cactus bag from ebay, etched bracelets from namibia, thrifted and diy cut off shorts, thrifted vest from a friend, ebay boots, unearthen pendulum necklace, ebay geometric necklace, melrose trading post vile necklace

I could not be itching to be back in the desert any freaking more. Is it transparent? I got this cheeseball cactus bag and geometric abalone necklace on ebay recently. My search entries for the one of the days were as follows: "palm tree bag", "cactus bag", "joshua tree shirt", "desert scene shirts", "desert purse", "snake in desert clothes", "canyon shirts", "sedona t-shirt", "arizona patches", "sun patches" and so on. I think I have a problem. Anyway, I ended up with this bag that I imagine a visor-wearing 60 year old woman with a smokers voice,  who goes to Arizona for the Winter with her third husband likely was my rival bidder. She was probably pretty cool. Like the grandma in Napoleon Dynamite, she undoubtedly owns a llama and likes to go out with her old lady friends to gamble and flirt.  

AND THIS VEST. Oh, this vest. My coworker bought it for me at a thrift store and I had left it at work for the longest time until I was digging through my junk yesterday. Thank god I found it. I feel like I should probably own a magic lamp with this thing on. Genie, where are you? My three wishes would involve the desert (duh), lots of enchiladas, and fish scales.

PS. Pretty sure Stick got a hold of some DMT or something.

 

THE DRUG AND THE DREAM

I don't know about you, but I would rock weed print leggings and neon with beanies all day er day after seeing this collection.

DIMEPIECE SPRING 2012 

Their disposition ain't too shabby either.