• DIY dyed gauze dress - I love how it turned out, kind of cage-like and stormy.
• Feathered waist belt - Worn a little too high as usual. :/
• Necklace thanks to Via Christa Chains
• Rebecca Minkoff bag thanks to Shopbop.com
• 80%20 Molly Mesh shoes thanks to Karmaloop

Clockwise from left:

• Purple teardrop ring from eBay - I have no idea what kind of stone this is. It could be acrylic for all I know. I like to find $1.00 silver rings on eBay.
• Double-finger gold-tone snake ring from eBay- Some of the gold plating is wearing off, but I don't mind.
• Abalone and silver ring - My super-stylish mom gave this to me. She always has the best rings. (Hi Mom!)
• Made Her Think ring from Shopbop.com - I've been obsessing over rose gold lately, and this ring was the catalyst.
• "Holographic" drusy ring - From Arizona, a birthday gift from my sister after some pointing from me. It changes from yellow to pink in the light.
• Black sitara ring from eBay- This is black with tiny silver flecks like a night sky.
• Faceted abalone-looking ring - I think this is meant as a sort of faux abalone. I don't know, but it's pretty. A gift from Benjamin, who picked up on my love of anything multicolor.

I wore this to a dear friend's small birthday party in my hometown across the border in Kentucky, where I was among close longtime friends. We spent the night drinking a horrible concoction of cinnamon schnapps and jagermeister (my stomach churns at the memory - never again!) and looking at photos of us all when we were 18.

• DIY crop top - dyed and cut
• Target jersey dress
• Cut-off leggings
• Custom acrylic "BB" necklace
• Quartz/amethyst? necklace
• Assorted rings and leather bracelet - I was going to do a post about the rings I wear, but I've misplaced them! Hopefully they'll turn up soon and I'll show them to you.
• SST Records bag
• 80%20 Georgie's - from adorable Jessica!

• MINKPINK "First Impressions" dress thanks to the crazy sweet Threadsence team - Loving this! It's actually floral but from far away turns into multicolor static on black, something that has always meant instant delight to my brain. ♥
• Layered over a Wet Seal acid wash denim dress
• Necklace thanks to Via Christa Chains
• Beaded bracelet from souvenir shop in Chloride, AZ
• Rebecca Minkoff bag thanks to Shopbop.com - My new favorite purse. I've wanted one of these Boyfriend Crossbody Pouches for a long time. I like how the zippers resemble a maze. This one has a black & white staticy design made of marled leather. L.O.V.E.
• DIY thumb tacked shoes - I should maybe clarify that my toes aren't mashed up in these, I have congenital curly toes. They're kinda funny-looking, but what am I gonna do? Have cosmetic surgery on my toes? No way. Call it wabi-sabi.

Are you feeling the punky hair trend? This tutorial will teach you how to make your own hair color dye using stuff you might already have at home! And it's not as messy as you might think.

What You'll Need:

• Food Coloring (or Kool-Aid)
• Clear Aloe Vera gel (if you don't have aloe, any clear hair gel will probably work just as well)
• A small jar or cup
• A paint brush or chopstick for mixing
• Gloves
• An old t-shirt or smock

First Things First:

First you'll want to put on an old t-shirt and gloves so you don't get dye on yourself. (Minors, make sure your parents are cool with you doing this.)

Make Your Own Hair Dye Mixture:

For highlights, squeeze 1-3 tablespoons of aloe gel into the jar. Use more if dyeing your entire head. Mix in 3-5 drops of food coloring per tablespoon of aloe, depending on how rich you want the color to be. You can mix food coloring to make just about any color you like. The back of your food coloring box should have a guide for mixing, but you can also experiment. What's great about this is you can easily and cheaply make a whole rainbow of hair colors without spending $8 on each one. The possibilities are endless! You can even try mixing complementaries like red and green to make brown shades, just do a strand test first and be aware it might look funky as it fades. The aloe makes the dye easier to work with (way less messy) and nourishes your hair. Keep in mind, of course, colors will show up more on bleached or blonde hair.

Dye Your Hair:

Work the dye into sections of clean, dry hair the way you would any other hair dye. Definitely do a strand test first if you're mixing a color, because some pigments will set faster than others. Warm pink/red tones set faster than cool tones in my experience. For example, pale cotton candy pink can take as little as 30 minutes. Blue takes much longer. In most cases, you can expect to wait for several hours, as long as possible for richer colors. It's okay if you leave the mixture on for a long time. There are no harsh chemicals and this will not damage your hair. If you make too much, the extra can be stored in a jar with a lid for later use. When you're ready, rinse your hair until it runs clear and use conditioner. The dye will be semi-permanent and will eventually fade with regular shampooing.

I just finished Edie: An American Biography by Jean Stein, a great (though tragic) read. I'd found a copy at McKay's bookstore here in Nashville, which is practically a library and my favorite used bookstore of all time. My copy was only $1.50 and in good condition. Can you beat that? The above photo of Edie caught my eye. It's from a 1965 issue of Vogue in which Edie was dubbed a "Youthquaker."

Patti Smith: "In one issue of Vogue it was the Youthquaker people they were talking about. It had a picture of Edie... in a ballet pose. She was like a thin man in black leotards and a sort of boat-necked sweater, white hair, and behind her a little white horse drawn on the wall. She was such a strong image that I thought, 'That's it.' It represented everything to me... radiating intelligence, speed, being connected with the moment." (Edie: An American Biography, p. 245.)

The photograph was taken by Enzo Sellerio in Edie's first New York apartment. Here is another quote from the book:

Danny Fields: "Edie moved from her grandmother's late that fall of 1964 into an apartment in the East Sixties between Fifth and Madison. Her mother came to town and took Edie shopping to furnish the apartment. Suddenly this empty room was full of the sort of ornaments prosperous people have who've been living in the same place for years and years... solid crystal paperweights, great fur scatter rugs, fabulous embroidered pillows, one of those enormous leather rhinoceros from where? ...Abercrombie & Fitch, wasn't it?" (p. 163)

Abercrombie & Fitch no longer make leather rhinoceros footstools, probably because they've switched their focus to mall clothes for teenagers, but Jonathan Adler makes a similar leather rhino inspired by the mid-century trend. It's on my wishlist, for sure.

Bob Neuwirth: "After Edie left Warhol, I was actually the first one to make a film with her. We made it on an Easter Sunday... a satirical movie of Edie making breakfast, and ending up with her wearing a nine-thousand-dollar leopard-skin coat and walking her huge rhinoceros, that big footstool of hers outfitted with four roller skates, up Fifth Avenue in the Easter Parade, pulling the rhino behind her on a leash. ...At one point on Park Avenue she tied her rhino to a fire hydrant, and the police, as a joke, gave it a ticket. I have footage of them giving her a ticket for parking her four-wheeled rhino, or actually her sixteen-wheeled rhino." (p. 285)

And of course mine would need to have roller skates as well.

Here are a few suggestions for how to wear a fanny pack without looking like a nerdy tourist. Wear it:

1. With confidence.
2. As a drop waist belt on a dress.
3. Off to the side.

I had a fanny pack back in the early nineties. It was black with neon orange piping and I carried my lunch money in it. Oh yes. I don't have it anymore, but I did pick up this nice leather vintage one on eBay. It's a little more grown-up, probably. Not that it matters. I didn't put any lunch money in this one, or bar tab money. I actually wore it empty as a belt so it wouldn't be bulky. I was excited to carry another eBay find, this Asian bootleg messenger bag that says, "Minutemen, Meatpuppets, Descendants, Angst." It's a copy of a show flier. Those are all bands on the punk label SST Records.

I wore this to dive bar dance party that Benjamin helped deejay. Thank you to everyone who helped me win the headphones for him! xxox

• Lynn Ritchie dress
• Quartz (or amethyst?) necklace (see here)
• Vintage leather fanny pack - The strap really is kind of red-purplish like that.
• Probably bootleg SST Records show messenger bag + Morrissey pin
• Leather bracelet and assorted rings
• Blue socks from Target
• Personal vintage Doc Marten's - I wore boots because it was raining.

Irregular Choice - "In For The Thrill"
A silvery powder-blue pump with a pony-hair leopard heel. This proves that a shoe can be eye-catchingly quirky and still have a classic, traditional shape. Love!

Irregular Choice - "Stitched Up"
This is no surprise for my regular readers. Of course the multicolor glitter is my favorite! The faceted-mirror heel is futuristic, which is part of what makes these the perfect shoes to wear to a New Year's Eve celebration. These are total party shoes!

Irregular Choice Fall 2010 - "You're a Star"
This shoe is so 1940's empowered smoky starlet meets 2010 artsy girl. The perspex heel resembles fine cut crystal glass, the kind found in a smoky starlet's parlor right next to a bottle of Scotch. If all that isn't enough, Irregular Choice has attched a pair of ski bunny pom-poms made from faux fur. Why not? They're cute!

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Which of these do you like best?

It can take years for a brand new, stiff t-shirt to become your favorite soft, old t-shirt.This tutorial will help speed up that process and soften any cotton-blend t-shirt.

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What You'll Need:

• A large pot.
• A stovetop.
• A spatula or something for stirring.
• A cup of salt.

What To Do:
Fill the pot with enough water to cover the t-shirt completely and allow movement. Place the pot on a burner and turn the heat up to medium/high. When you start to see little bubbles, turn the heat down to low/simmer. The water should be hot but not boiling. Stir in a cup of salt. Wet your t-shirt with warm water in the sink, then add it to the salt bath. Stir and agitate the shirt for 30 minutes. Be careful that you don't scald yourself when removing the shirt or dumping the water. Do not reach in with your hand to pull out the shirt. I recommend pouring the pot, shirt and all, into the sink. Rinse the shirt with cool water in the sink, and wash it as you normally would using soap and fabric softener. Ta! Your new t-shirt now feels lovingly soft and worn.