giveaway! the gentlewoman #2

It's well-known that I am a fashion magazine junkie. Not quite to the admirable level of Ready Set Fashion, but print is one of my favorite things in life. The Gentlewoman is one of my most beloved fashion/lifestyle magazines. Printed on deliciously matte paper and bound by a cover that feels like a literary journal, it features strong women whose ambition inspires the best parts of femininity. The retro styling and typefaces make the magazine feel an heirloom book that you've loved forever. Fashion editorials are styled with practical yet modern sensibilities, clothes for women who work. I deliriously devour each issue, reveling in the magazine's effect of making you feel classy just for reading it.

I ordered the Gentlewoman #2 from American Apparel and it arrived with a giant gash down the cover. I stood on the phone with customer service demanding a replacement. The replacement finally arrived...4 months later. In an effort to turn poor customer service lemons into lemonade I've decided to give away the pristine copy to a lucky blog reader!

To enter: follow my blog on blogger or google reader or bloglovin'. Or don't. I'm not fishing for followers. I just want this magazine to find a good home where it will be appreciated. The only requirement is that you must leave a valid email address in the comments section and be a US resident. I'll pick a winner at random on Monday, July 11th. Good luck!

GIRLYGAZE: a latterstyle mix

I apologize for that  unannounced absence! I was a bit busy dealing with very IRL things that have temporarily zapped my creative energies and enthusiasm for "posting outfits on the internet." Sometimes a quick break is helpful to refresh the brain. And while I don't have anything fashion-related today, I do have something very special for you all. I've been meaning for some time to post more music content, my dear readers, because truthfully I am a music nerd before I'm a fashion nerd.

This mix, entitled GIRYGAZE, is a collection of shoegaze-ish songs all from bands that contain a lady. One reason I love shoegaze so much is because it is a genre that, when compared to others, seems to eschew the whole "girls can't rock" thing, both when the movement first started in the late 80s and in the resurgence of shoegaze bands today. One could argue that this is because shoegaze tends to sounds more "feminine"; dreamy, swirly pink noise lends itself quite well to whispered lady vocals. And that would be a fair assesment. But it is also worth noting that Rachel Goswell from Slowdive sang less songs than Neil Halstead, Debbie Gooch from My Bloody Valentine and Lorelei Meetze from Film School play bass and don't sing at all, and the Dum Dum Girls are an all-female band. So while the music style (like most forms of rock music) isn't completely egalitarian, it's certainly a lot more inclusive than most, without touting their female band members in a tokenist way (however, the blantant objectification of Miki Berenyi in Lush was an unfortunate exception).

I sincerely hope you all enjoy this mix. Let me know what you think!

Note: I realize Ladytron isn't a shoegaze band, but their one shoegazey song is better than some bands' entire discographies. Thus, its inclusion.

click here to download.

tracklist

1. blackout - lush - split

2. there is a light that never goes out - dum dum girls - he gets me high ep

3. dust devil - school of seven bells - disconnect from desire

4. lectric - film school - hideout

5. souvlaki space station - slowdive - souvlaki

6. the absolute elsewhere - thee heavenly music association - shaping the invisible

7. spring and by summer fall - blonde redhead - 23

8. love fade - tamaryn - the waves

9. drive it all over me - my bloody valentine - you made me realize ep

10. pack you up - black tambourine - s/t

11. white light generator - ladytron - witching hour

12. musette and drums - cocteau twins - head over heels

xoxo

summer kick-off weekend

Summer has finally reached the shores of Lake Michigan! I'm sure the city was collectively thinking it may never arrive, considering just 3 weeks ago we were all still wearing our winter coats. Summer began in a major way for me this past weekend, first with the SlutWalk (which deserves its own post because I feel the need to sanctimoniously delve into the issues surrounding rape culture and sexual assault stigmatization and ugh just everything and I am sorry in advance if that future post is preachy),  and then with not one, but TWO shows by my dear friends A Place to Bury Strangers. I've been a fan of Oliver's music since the days of Skywave which I guess makes me some kind of Real Shoegazer OG, probably the equivalent of being a worldwide underwater basketweaving champion. Which is to say, of course, completely useless and laughable in the grand scheme of things. But!

First things first, I suppose. Here's what I wore to their show at the street fest. Risto dress from Filene's (my mid-twenties bank account loves you, Filene's <2 <3).  Zana Bayne harness that you're probably sick of seeing me wear (IDGAF). Waaaay old shredded tights that I'll be wearing all summer. Thrifted bag, Alexander Wang boots from eBay that I like to wear socks with pulled over so they don't look like very obvious Alexander Wang boots. Still on a mall goth kick. I just find it incredibly hilarious to poke fun at a lifestyle I took so! seriously! as a 15-year-old. The poor sartorial decisions of my teenage years are proving to be a source of inspiration for my twenties, albeit somewhat ironically and mostly self-mockingly. I also wanted to dress slightly trashy because I wanted to mirror the Do-Division street fest around me. As you can see, poor Division Street was reduced to a chaos of spilled beer and the trampled containers that probably once housed said beers.

So like I said, A Place to Bury Strangers performed two shows. One at Do-Division, the other at the hallowed Empty Bottle which is one of my favorite places to see live music in Chicago. If you've never seen A Place to Bury Strangers, I'll just summarize it quickly by saying that it's an experience. Oliver thrashes his guitar all over the stage in a disorienting effort to drag as much feedback out of the stacks as he can; it looks very chaotic and perhaps parts of it are, but much of it is quite calculated. Once his guitar strings are shredded beyond playability, he will create effects-laden noise with his his amp plug and custom-made Death by Audio pedals alone. And of course, their music is ear-splittingly loud thanks to an amplification system that would be serviceable for a stadium show. I've only ever seen one band that was louder than these guys: My Bloody Valentine. Click for better res.

 Who needs strings?!

It's always incredibly gratifying to see friends do well because they are talented. I'm a firm believer that exceptional bands/artists/designers/etc deserve to be successful.