This Picture...

I love tumblr as my aggregator of runway news and giving me some inspiring personal style shots at the same time. I don't know if this is just someone's picture they snapped for their flickr or for a lookbook or what. But at this moment, this is everything I love about fashion.

I haven't done a close reading of a photo here... or maybe at all. And I'm going to do one now that explains what I'm loving about this photo. Let's start at the top:

Hair: Bleached and dyed. But not “bleached” in the typical California blond way. I know from reading other blogs that this color of hair is particularly hard to achieve and therefor, pretty rare. You see a rainbow of dipdye at the moment. Solid grey/white dye is different. I like it.

Makeup: I wonder if this is airbrushed or photoshopped because her skin is flawless. No blush, just big lashes and a blended smoky eye. Black lipstick contrasts the whiteness of the photo. Usually black lipstick can stick out drastically but even compared to the photo's tone, I think it fits perfectly and isn't nearly as shocking as it generally is.

Clothes: My favorite part, big surprise! This one top describes my wardrobe in general. Lacey and girly and a bit of punky hardcore. Her top is as feminine as can be in a cream color with a lace neckline and a preppy collar. And then she studded the pocket and part of the collar with pyramid studs reminiscent of a punk rock belt that I had in my first few years of high school. It has that whole "hard yet soft" connotation that so many designers try to portray in their clothes. Fashion juxtaposition is so beautiful to me.

Tone: Minimalistic. Plain white, but it speaks volumes. She's not smiling or putting on a “model” face either, but just looking. This photo made me want to dive for my box of vanilla meringues and arrange them neatly on an antique silver platter.

Does that make sense?

Thom Browne (aka my soul mate)

Oh my studly goodness, will you take a look at this masterpiece of a menswear collection?! I came across a post from one of my favorite DIY blogs, Outsapop, and had to click through to the rest of the shots (the designer here is Thom Browne).

As I clicked along, my jaw dropped lower and lower because this collection is essentially everything I love. I think Thom might actually be my soul mate. He used studs. Anchor motifs. Doc Marten-esque boots. Sunglasses. Knee socks. Tailored jackets/ coats. ...That is everything I love and currently wear. If I was a menswear designer, this is what I would make. Well, this is actually a little more stylized than I would do (Man-belly shirts, not so much. And the headgear freaks me out a little... ok, no, that's a lie. They're baller.), but this would definitely be Amy-aesthetic if such a concept existed. Observe the brilliance:

He also takes some drastic liberties messing with proportions here. Kind of like super accentuated football pads (Note the leatherhead. Definitely early 1900s football) or... tumors? I kid, I kid. Did I mention I also love plaid?

This look is just dfhbguafdicanteven. And mohawks too! The more I look at this, the more it freaks me out how * me * it is. Honestly. Peep this site here for the rest of the pics. It gets a little pastel near the end which is kind of wonky, but whatever.

EVEN More Studding

Here's some inspo for today's DIY:

This project is a result of something that went three different ways. This used to be a orange-pinkish men's shirt. I had intended to make it into a skirt and it turned into a hideous potato sack looking thing. It was not cute. At. All. So I made it into an apron instead. I even got really crafty and used the buttoned cuffs as the halter part.

I cut the top collar off with the intention of making it just a neck piece. But the color was really not too flattering on someone who loses all their tan in the winter. So I dyed it black with some RIT dye. It ended up turning dark charcoal grey and the stitching turned a lighter shade of grey. I'm okay with that color combo.

Upon returning to Syracuse, I remembered I had 30 studs left over from my last studding frenzy. What better way to spice up a collar than stud it!? The material is stiff doubled cotton so I had to slice holes to stick the studs through. Push the pointy parts of the stud into the fabric so that they leave an indentation, then take a razor blade and poke the end through the fabric just enough to cut a few fibers. I even got a ruler out and attempted to measure and lay out the studs correctly... and then I didn't and eyeballed it instead.

I intended on going stud-happy like I usually do, but in the end, I actually reined it in. Only four per side. I plan on wearing this with any t-shirt I have. Maybe my obnoxious yellow LA Pride tee! Ok, fine, I'll take a lazy webcam pic so you don't notice my tired eyes and face lacking in makeup (I had an early flight).  

MORE Studding

...since studding is obviously the best and easiest thing to do ever. It's a great way to personalize some basics, like this plain zippy that I showed you all a couple posts ago from yesstyle. My pack o' studs is from studsandspikes. They're larger than the last ones I used, which I'm happy with. They're quite clanky.

I've introduced proper studding procedure here in a previous post when I studded some shorts. All you do is push the pointy parts through your fabric and bend them down on the other side. It'll look like this:

First, I outlined the kangaroo pouches on the front, keeping the studs close together, nearly touching.

Then I made a triangular pattern on each shoulder. I started with a line of 5 right along the shoulder seam. I continued in parallel lines on each side taking away 1 stud each time.

The finished product looks like this:

Studded Shorts DIY

What is better to do on a rainy day than stud a pair of shorts? Obviously nothing. Throw on an Adicts cd and grab your pliers!

I picked up these high waisted black mom jeans from Goodwill for a couple bucks and ordered medium sized cone studs from Studs and Spikes. I was initially going to get English-77 studs, but those aren't the greatest for shorts if you ever plan on sitting down and not getting stabbed in the ass.

I studded one of the back pockets on a diagonal. For the front I had planned on just studding two lines on each side seam, but they're not too visible from the front. So I took out a row and used the rest of my 100 pack on one side. Go big or go home.

  

Can't wait to wear these with my nearly perfect 14-hole AirWair Docs, also thrifted from Goodwill for $20. Best day shopping in a LONG time! Here are my inspo shots that have been sitting on my desktop for days: