i'm ba-nanas for boots.

I'm allowing myself to buy one pair of expensive new shoes for fall. I'm hoping to get two, but I can definitely only afford to get one pair without major parental intervention. But HOW do I decide? Fall/Winter is the season of really fantastic footwear, and I'm absolutely ga-ga for all of it. Especially boots. I adore boots, of just about any kind.

So without any ado, here are the fall shoes I'm coveting right now . . . any advice on a direction to go in would be amazing.

-the trouser, steve madden ($69.95)

-the Melissa Button Boot, Frye Company ($318 [ack!])

-Beaded Ankle Boot, Minnetonka Moccasins ($32.95)

 Or any cowboy boot, or a pair of Doc Martens . . .
All sorts of difficult decisions. Any thoughts?

heh.

i dunno the source. if you do, please let me know.

Sufjan

   

source: Paste

Emma Watson for People Tree

I have a massive girl crush on Emma Watson*. I think she has a phenomenal grasp of fashion, editorial work, design, and is incredible at navigating this world that she became a part of because of a choice that she made at nine years old.  I love her collaboration with People Tree, choosing fair trade fabrics and participating in design discussions. The fall/winter line is particularly lovely.

both images from here

And here's a video of her relatively recent trip to Bangladesh:



source: PeopleTreeUK via Million Looks



*not sure how I feel about the pixie cut, but I 100% understand why she wanted to do it. If I wasn't allowed to change my hair for 11 years, I would probably chop it all off too.

Style Icon: Alison Mosshart

source: we heart it

I'm certainly not the first person to gush over Alison Mosshart's personal style. Off the top of my head, Tomboy Style has recently featured her. She has this slightly androgynous style, almost like an early 60s Mick Jagger, yet still looks very feminine. And what I absolutely love is that her style absolutely suits who she is, and shows exactly who she is. It's slightly torn, very vintage (but not from a super obvious decade) , grunge-y, yet somewhat streamlined . . . nothing really overwhelms her body.  And she's practical which is such a breath of fresh air! She wears boots on stage--heeled boots, but solidly built. And you see things more than once, the rarity among rarities for most people in the public eye. She very clearly lives in her clothes, can throw things into a suitcase and hit the road, or just curl up at home for days and days.

all sources: tumblr

It’s been said time and time again, but what does she really think of being called a Fashion Icon? “I think it’s interesting considering how kind of unfashionable I probably am,” she says. “But I think it’s kind of cool and sort of ironic. I do wear the same stuff over and over again and I don’t really go out of my way to buy expensive clothes or know what’s happening. It’s not a terrible message to send to people. Style for me always comes from people who are doing things that have nothing to do with the fashion world, they’re usually artists or painters or musicians or writers. It all depends on what people are doing. I don’t flip out over someone just walking down the street or in a magazine doing nothing, it’s gotta be in the context of their life. What they’re wearing tells a story about what they’re doing, I like people wearing their art.”      -UO Style Icon: Alison Mosshart interview from September 2009

Workday Obsession

-I am obsessed with Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". What can I say, the woman gives good pop! The video is spectacular, and a bit of a departure for her, really. It's an indie-kid's fantasy (which makes sense . . .). I listen to this song pretty much on repeat in my cubicle, and it's really all I can do not to rock out in my chair. And I generally fail at resisting, for that matter. Thoughts:

1) what IS the filter they're using on the camera? I love the way it looks, and I've seen it in photography as well.


2) I love that her underwear doesn't match, because mine sure as hell never does. It seems more honest that way, if that makes sense. I'm just sayin'.


They won't let me embed this into my blog, but you can access it by clicking here.

-I'm also loving Greedy Girl

-and these earrings:

source: chainchainchained on etsy

Notes on a Thursday, continued

source: islandrecords

Notes on a Thursday

source: Under the Radar mag

Mumford & Sons. Holy God, Mumford & Sons. This is what indie-music should be. This is what the neo-folk revival should be (and is, in England). Their album, Sigh No More, is a revelation in so many ways. 

I downloaded the first single, "Little Lion Man" ages ago, while I was still in school. A friend of mine and I independently discovered the song and spent an entire class period surreptitiously exalting over it. But despite this, I didn't download the whole album (which was released in February) until . . . yesterday. Unbelievable. 

VH1 has started playing the video for "Little Lion Man" on TV in the mornings on some sort of "Artists you Should Know" thing, which prompted the purchase.

Now, "Little Lion Man" is excellent. It sounds so joyful and was somehow both similar to the music I love yet different from anything I'd heard. The lyrics are so interesting, as well. You can't help but want to grasp their meaning, figure out exactly what the lead vocalist, Marcus Mumford is saying. All the band members sing, creating incredible harmonies that just lift up through the air (almost like Fleet Foxes, but different). It's been quite awhile since I've heard a band blend this well. And best of all, they seem to have such fun playing together. But despite the fun, and the beat and chorus you can't help but dance to . . . it's not a particularly happy song, is it? The juxtaposition works, somehow, without being trite.




The opening song (and title track) "Sign No More" is almost beyond words. The banjo, played by "Country" Winston Marshall, is just . . . . well, I haven't been this enamored of a banjo for a long time. The banjo is an integral component of the music, and it's a-rocking, but it's not self-indulgent or hipster (like "ooooh, we're so indie, we have a banjo in our band"). It's just right. And the woooords

"love, it will not betray you
dismay or enslave you,
it will set you free
be more like the man
you were made to be"

and the song, that has been so solid, so strong and steady, revs up into this . . .  I can't even describe it. For me, it's purely emotional. The sort of music that just makes you lift your arms in the air and dance, waving wildly, closing your eyes so that there's nothing to focus on but how the music makes you feel. 

And each song on the album sounds slightly different, which is just spectacular. And when I say different, I mean . . . pretty different. Obviously the instruments are the same, but each song is a sort of theme and variations. And Mumford's voice is so versatile--the emotions are so clear in his voice, as it shifts and colors with each song.  At times it is strong and steady, trumpeting clearly above joyous cacophony, and at other times it is rough and careworn. It's not perfect, it's not auto-tuned; it's real, and it latches into your soul more than overly-engineered sounds do.

"Winter Winds" is a track that should also be sought out, as should "Awake My Soul."

"Dust Bowl Dance" is such a surprise, I think. It becomes almost like a Tom Waits song, about pain and sorrow and wrongdoings, and sin and repetence and revenge and fear.  It's one of the harder songs on the album, and one of the few that I can recognize legitimate electronic instruments' presence. Guitars jar, drums and cymbals crash, piano chords pound, and Mumford's voice slides devilishly low to grate against your guilt.

Morning Covers-Wild Horses

-The Sundays
video from: Grungeman23




-Original, the Rolling Stones
 video from: DarkGeno21

Notes on a Should-be Thursday

Alright! Arcade Fire album! The Suburbs! Hipsters and indie-kids everywhere are going bananas for this album. Here's my two cents:*

source: rockinandblogin.com

 Overall, they're continuing in a great direction. It's got a youthful vibe, that's rich with the promise of new beginnings yet still nostalgic enough to remind you of driving around in your high school best friend's junker. "Modern Man" and "Rococo" are getting some heavy rotation on Alonso, which is funny since they're pretty different. "Modern Man" is a bit stripped down, more acoustic-sounding, with a very dance-tastic edge to it. "Rococo" is a bit more like "Wake Up"-- expansive and powerful, with a giant sound that fills up your headphones. The harmonies are spectacular, frankly, and the epic orchestral sound is very title-appropriate. Which is great, because it means that they actually fact-checked themselves and weren't like "this name sounds cool . . ." Extra points for the harpsichord sound on the end, and the great strings segue-way into "Empty Room." 


I like it a lot. It's got that synth-string thing going on that I like (particularly in "Half Light I"), some decent percussion, and enough surprises to not be a monotonous string of indie self-indulgence. That being said. Pitchfork was going on about this album like it was the second coming of Christ. I don't know if I would go that far. I certainly agree that the band is in a different place, emotionally, then they were on their last album, or the album before that. But their last album was three years ago. And I think most people hit a point where they prefer honesty over anything else . . . at least I know I did. 

source: Guardian UK

I also really like the song, "Suburban War," probably because it's like they climbed into my life and wrote about it. I, like so many kids in America, am a product of the suburbs. And like most indie-kids, I have that one friend that chose to view the suburbs as the enemy--our hometown, as the enemy. Now she lives faraway in a city that she maintains is her hometown . . . which kind of sucks, because I feel like it totally disregards the really idyllic childhood we all had.  . .  But that's just personal hoopla, really.




Arcade Fire just seems to have a talent for hitting on universal emotions, as all great bands are. They have a sound that defines a tribe of kids, without being repetitive, or overly obnoxious. 


Also download: "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

*It should be noted that I am not an Arcade Fire connoisseur. I have Funeral and Neon Bible, but I'm basically a big fan of "Keep the Car Running" and "Wake Up," and then I like all the rest of it.

Notes on Thursday

You'll have to wait 'til next week to get a real Notes on Thursday of any substance. I'm currently a bit delayed because I'm trying to make heads or tails of the new Arcade Fire album.

But I can tell you that I'm listening to the new Taylor Swift single, "Mine," on repeat. Take that as you will.

Morning Covers-White Rabbit

-White Rabbit, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals


-Original, Jefferson Airplane

Morning Covers-Shankill Butchers

-Cover, Sarah Jarosz


-Original, the Decemberists

From the Bookshelves

"I have been able to both love him and lie to him. I see myself wrapped in lies, which do not seem to penetrate my soul, as if they are not really a part of me. They are like costumes. When I loved Henry, as I did those four days, I loved him with a naked body that had shed its costumes and forgotten its lies. Perhaps it is not so with Henry. But love, in all this, trembles like a spear in a sand dune. To lie, of course, is to engender insanity. The minute I step into the cavern of my lies I drop into darkness."

-Henry and June, Anais Nin

I enjoyed Anais Nin's Henry and June immensely, largely due to Nin's beautiful writing style. Her words are very lyrical but still grounded in a sort of realism. And honestly, if it were not, I don't know if I would have been able to get through it at certain parts. It's very . . . indulgent. The affair between Henry Miller and Anais Nin seems to me very passionate, yes, but also very indulgent. It's almost like teenagers . . . everything is dramatic, everything is intense, everything is earth-shattering. Also, she seems cruel to the men in her life, and she knows it!

But then I remember that this is a time when women did not have power in their relationships, and that Nin's sexual awakening is a very new thing. And that leads me down very interesting thought paths, which I haven't really been able to fully figure out yet. At least not in a way that makes sense.

It's also very interesting to see her portrait of Henry Miller, an author that has quite the reputation to us Americans (so does Nin for that matter . . . I blushed a bit when I read the book in public coffeeshops). Overall I recommend, but not for anyone under the age of . . . . a mature 15, and not for the faint of heart!