This time in my life feels like a blur. On the one hand, I'm confident that motherhood is going to be a lot more natural for me as the boys get a little older, but I'm paranoid that I'm ruining them right now due to the difficulty I have enjoying the time we're in right now. Jonas reminds me that I'm so focused on "getting things done", and really all I need to do right now is take care of the boys (but I want to do so much more in addition to that!). I don't think I have a category in myself for not getting as much done as possible. I go through this cycle every few months where I realize that I can't handle the amount of projects and responsibilities that I've signed up for, so I cut back, pare down, and simplify. I get my breath back.
But then I feel bored and unaccomplished, and start getting excited about new stuff with any amount of free time I find myself with. Before I know it, I'm wrapped up in so much more than I can healthily juggle again. On a similar note, I have so very many interests and so very little time in my life (relatively), that I never seem to master anything. As soon as I become proficient at something and have to focus on the administrative side in order to keep my creativity profitable, I lose interest and am on to the next thing. I am a proud quitter of many things, but I'm coming to see that quitting isn't a very profitable business to be in.
Despite craving time to myself, part of me is also lonely as a mom. When my mom gets home from work, I just follow her around the house, I think just so that I can talk with another adult. Sometimes I'm bitter about the fact that I'm technically busier than most people that I know, yet I rearrange my whole schedule to make hang-out time work with other people. I never thought I'd hear those words coming from myself as the biggest introvert known to man. I'm sorry that sounds so snotty. It really is hard for me to be so needy for other people's company.
Anyway, that's a mini-blog on where my head has been in the last week or two. My social media and blogging presence has not made it on to the list of my top priorities recently. Well, actually I've been very present on social media, but I've been over in the shop at instagram.com/retroriot (there's a button on the sidebar too). I hope I can make my way back to blogging more consistently in the future!
I have been loving running my little shop. It gives me a completely valid excuse to thrift my heart out, even though that has opened my eyes to some obsessive compulsive behaviors of mine. I can hardly handle the thought of all the things I'm missing out on by not stopping EVERYWHERE, looking at EVERY THING. ALL THE THINGS.
Another aspect of the shop that thrills me is becoming a mini-expert on vintage clothing and items. When I started out, I wondered how you could tell if something was vintage, and now I hardly have to touch clothing on a rack to be able to pick out what's vintage and what's not. The terms and history and brands and trends that I'm gaining knowledge about are giving me some experience that I hope could bolster my credentials as a buyer someday - a job that I've always been interested in, and seems more feasible (income wise) than just blogging about stuff that I like.
Beyond having an outlet for my love of vintage and clothing and vintage clothing (and a really great excuse to buy amazing little girl clothes, even though I don't have a daughter!), I SO enjoy finding and selling vintage books. Of course, I keep a bunch of them for myself, too. ;) I've been so alarmed and saddened to realize how few of my peers are big readers or read very much to their kids. If they do read to their children (and everyone should be!!!), it's the same 10 classics across the board OR any number of terrible children's books that are available. The Bearinstein Bears are not great books, people. Anyway, people snatch up the books I sell faster than anything else, and that is so rewarding for me, even though I make the least money off of them out of everything that I sell. I get to be a very, very part-time librarian, and it makes me so happy.
I'm taking courage in the fact that I'm still young enough that I can afford to pursue a lot of interests and keep my horizons wide open, building on the categories that thrill me, and hoping that one or more of them pans out into a career later on, and I will have a little bit of work and knowledge and experience under my belt already! My vintage golden lion belt, I might add.
Believe it or not, I am getting around to Jimi Hendrix, which is what this post is supposed to be about. There is a tie in though, wait for it.... The 70s are making a big come back in fashion right now, and I am pumped about it! It's my favorite era to wear right now, and it's not so old that the pieces are impossible to find at thrift stores or too expensive to buy from vintage sellers.
If you take a look around, you will notice magazines and movie stars and the like wearing a lot of boho, fringe, and lace, and decorating with an updated macrame (ugh! I can't take it!). I have long thought that I belonged in the 70s (albeit, the idealized version, not the druggy, young deaths, and lack of responsibility version) and I think my style may stay attached to it even when the regular fashion world moves on again, but that is hard to say for sure. I've grown my hair out, to everyone's surprise (including my own), and it's not quite at Cher lengths, but I like to think I'm getting that vibe. I'm experimenting with some bouffants as well (though technically that's more 60s). I'm pulling my bell bottoms out from the back of the drawer, and stocking up on psychedelic prints (no one else wants them around here, so it works out great). Though I don't plan on being pregnant any time soon, a lot of 70s styles are flattering for maternity wear too, just a word to the wise!
I came across this photo compilation (images in this post are from this source unless otherwise noted) of Jimi Hendrix's wardrobe a while ago, and I'm so crazy about it. Like, teenage girls at the front of a Beatles concert crazy. I want it all! He is definitely a major style icon in my eyes, though maybe not so much of a personal role model. I do appreciate his music though, particularly "Foxey Lady", one of my favorite songs of all time. He was basically a fashion god.
I love his pattern mixing, his attention to detail with his guitar straps for each outfit, the costume rings, and the scarves around the thigh. You know that old favorite interview question, "if you could have dinner with anyone famous, dead or alive, who would it be?" Let's update that to, "if you could go shopping with anyone, who would it be?" JIMI HENDRIX.
Okay, play by play now...
The fur lining makes this outfit everything. But really, the whole outfit kills me. (source)
Ruffled blouses, so much YES. His eye for color and pattern matching was just incredible. In fact, he didn't seem too hung up on making it "right" - there was no formula - and that's the best way to go. Looking at all these pictures re-excites me about a few pieces in my own wardrobe and how I can mix and match some combinations I hadn't thought of. I love it when inspiration strikes like that because you end up with 10 new outfits without buying any new clothes. My mom used to give me a hard time for never buying basic pieces that worked with anything else that I owned, but thank goodness I've hoarded all the one-of-a-kind things knowing I would find a way to wear them someday, because... Jimi Hendrix. (image source) I don't own any boots though, which might need to be remedied.
Look at all that belt jewelry... swooooon! (source)
Those pants, hearts for eyes! But seriously, the whole ensemble is magic. Also, when are sheer shirts for men coming back? (Kidding, kind of...).
Let's talk about capes and gold buttons. They're always the right choice. Ok, this has been a good talk.
In case you missed them, see my previous style icon posts on Michelle Harper and Ulyana Sergeenko.
But then I feel bored and unaccomplished, and start getting excited about new stuff with any amount of free time I find myself with. Before I know it, I'm wrapped up in so much more than I can healthily juggle again. On a similar note, I have so very many interests and so very little time in my life (relatively), that I never seem to master anything. As soon as I become proficient at something and have to focus on the administrative side in order to keep my creativity profitable, I lose interest and am on to the next thing. I am a proud quitter of many things, but I'm coming to see that quitting isn't a very profitable business to be in.
Despite craving time to myself, part of me is also lonely as a mom. When my mom gets home from work, I just follow her around the house, I think just so that I can talk with another adult. Sometimes I'm bitter about the fact that I'm technically busier than most people that I know, yet I rearrange my whole schedule to make hang-out time work with other people. I never thought I'd hear those words coming from myself as the biggest introvert known to man. I'm sorry that sounds so snotty. It really is hard for me to be so needy for other people's company.
Anyway, that's a mini-blog on where my head has been in the last week or two. My social media and blogging presence has not made it on to the list of my top priorities recently. Well, actually I've been very present on social media, but I've been over in the shop at instagram.com/retroriot (there's a button on the sidebar too). I hope I can make my way back to blogging more consistently in the future!
I have been loving running my little shop. It gives me a completely valid excuse to thrift my heart out, even though that has opened my eyes to some obsessive compulsive behaviors of mine. I can hardly handle the thought of all the things I'm missing out on by not stopping EVERYWHERE, looking at EVERY THING. ALL THE THINGS.
Another aspect of the shop that thrills me is becoming a mini-expert on vintage clothing and items. When I started out, I wondered how you could tell if something was vintage, and now I hardly have to touch clothing on a rack to be able to pick out what's vintage and what's not. The terms and history and brands and trends that I'm gaining knowledge about are giving me some experience that I hope could bolster my credentials as a buyer someday - a job that I've always been interested in, and seems more feasible (income wise) than just blogging about stuff that I like.
Beyond having an outlet for my love of vintage and clothing and vintage clothing (and a really great excuse to buy amazing little girl clothes, even though I don't have a daughter!), I SO enjoy finding and selling vintage books. Of course, I keep a bunch of them for myself, too. ;) I've been so alarmed and saddened to realize how few of my peers are big readers or read very much to their kids. If they do read to their children (and everyone should be!!!), it's the same 10 classics across the board OR any number of terrible children's books that are available. The Bearinstein Bears are not great books, people. Anyway, people snatch up the books I sell faster than anything else, and that is so rewarding for me, even though I make the least money off of them out of everything that I sell. I get to be a very, very part-time librarian, and it makes me so happy.
I'm taking courage in the fact that I'm still young enough that I can afford to pursue a lot of interests and keep my horizons wide open, building on the categories that thrill me, and hoping that one or more of them pans out into a career later on, and I will have a little bit of work and knowledge and experience under my belt already! My vintage golden lion belt, I might add.
Believe it or not, I am getting around to Jimi Hendrix, which is what this post is supposed to be about. There is a tie in though, wait for it.... The 70s are making a big come back in fashion right now, and I am pumped about it! It's my favorite era to wear right now, and it's not so old that the pieces are impossible to find at thrift stores or too expensive to buy from vintage sellers.
If you take a look around, you will notice magazines and movie stars and the like wearing a lot of boho, fringe, and lace, and decorating with an updated macrame (ugh! I can't take it!). I have long thought that I belonged in the 70s (albeit, the idealized version, not the druggy, young deaths, and lack of responsibility version) and I think my style may stay attached to it even when the regular fashion world moves on again, but that is hard to say for sure. I've grown my hair out, to everyone's surprise (including my own), and it's not quite at Cher lengths, but I like to think I'm getting that vibe. I'm experimenting with some bouffants as well (though technically that's more 60s). I'm pulling my bell bottoms out from the back of the drawer, and stocking up on psychedelic prints (no one else wants them around here, so it works out great). Though I don't plan on being pregnant any time soon, a lot of 70s styles are flattering for maternity wear too, just a word to the wise!
I came across this photo compilation (images in this post are from this source unless otherwise noted) of Jimi Hendrix's wardrobe a while ago, and I'm so crazy about it. Like, teenage girls at the front of a Beatles concert crazy. I want it all! He is definitely a major style icon in my eyes, though maybe not so much of a personal role model. I do appreciate his music though, particularly "Foxey Lady", one of my favorite songs of all time. He was basically a fashion god.
I love his pattern mixing, his attention to detail with his guitar straps for each outfit, the costume rings, and the scarves around the thigh. You know that old favorite interview question, "if you could have dinner with anyone famous, dead or alive, who would it be?" Let's update that to, "if you could go shopping with anyone, who would it be?" JIMI HENDRIX.
Okay, play by play now...
The fur lining makes this outfit everything. But really, the whole outfit kills me. (source)
Look at all that belt jewelry... swooooon! (source)
This is my version of "if Anne Frank were alive today, I think she would have been a Belieber", but apparently, Jimi Hendrix was in to weird eyes too. xoxo (source)
Same shirt, but larger ruffle (always a yes). And his henchmen weren't too shabby on the style front either, I should mention. P.S. Bougainvillea forever. His world is perfect, minus the drugs and everything... (source)
Ok, this shirt is UH-MAZING. That is all. Here's a closer-up picture, too.
I haven't found a picture of this shirt anywhere else, but it looks CRAZY good. I wonder what color it was?
People think I don't know what I'm doing when I wear so-called clashing colors. But let me just tell you... Jimi Hendrix.
I can't even. Thank goodness I've kept all those kimonos I'm not quite sure what to do with.
This is possibly my very favorite outfit. I also wish to point out that he's just a handsome guy.
Those pants, hearts for eyes! But seriously, the whole ensemble is magic. Also, when are sheer shirts for men coming back? (Kidding, kind of...).
Necklace layering, Asian motifs. Yes, and yes. Winning so hard. And if this isn't an ode to natural hair, I don't know what is.
Let's talk about capes and gold buttons. They're always the right choice. Ok, this has been a good talk.
If those are magnolias on that blouse, I would die.
I'll leave you with this perfection. I hope you've been as inspired as I have been! Oh, and if you're not into the 70s look but have a bunch of items you want to get rid of, I'm your girl... ;)
In case you missed them, see my previous style icon posts on Michelle Harper and Ulyana Sergeenko.
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