White Crow

Hmmm I can already tell that autumn is just around the corner! My favourite time of year - Minnesota is beautiful. Crisp and cool, with winds that blow your hair everywhere and beautiful sunsets, the days getting shorter and shorter. And, sweater weather! I was excited when I came home to a package from the folks over at White Crow and found this totally lush sweater waiting for me. I was able to wear it right away thanks to the beautiful weather and yeah - LOVE IT. The jewels around the neckline, the boxy structure, and the high-low front and back. Can't wait to show it off more this autumn! White Crow is a new line that's just launching. I love their look already - edgy, contemporary, and that great mixture of grime and glitz. I already look forward to seeing more from them! I paired the new sweater with these sweet ass holographic leggings from Thrifted & Modern via Chictopia. I am obsessed with them. And anything holographic. I want to wear holograms from head to toe some day. Swear I will. I'm also wearing my go-to saddle shoes and my faux leather jacket from H&M. My sister has been harassing me about this jacket lately. I think I'm going to have to start hiding it whenever she's over, otherwise one of these days she'll take it with her. And she's moving to Arizona, so I may never see it again! (Sidenote: If you're moving to Arizona, in what occasion would you want or need to wear a stuffy black leather jacket?? Enter: My Sister.) Three days a week I wear business clothes and starting in November, I'll have to be dressed business casual 5 days a week. What a bummer! I'm trying to use these last remaining days to get all that grunge out of my system. I've been buying tons of dressy/chic clothes and trying to still dress a tad wacky everyday regardless. I wonder if I could get away with wearing holographic print to the office? Maybe in a blazer...? Hmm, something new to think about! I went to Nordstrom and raided their petites section, so keep your eyes peeled for some more "professional" outfits coming your way. And rants about dry cleaning bills. What a drag! Welcome to my future. And your future, if you choose to keep reading this blog. (Which I highly recommend you do. And tell your friends about it, too.) One of my internships requires me working in the courts. I'm trying to get all my court lingo down and start thinking like a lawyer/detective, so I've been bingeing on Law & Order with my cat. I think it's time to settle down for the evening to start watching again. (Hey, I'm sick, give me a break.) Keep cool my friends and again, thanks to White Crow for the beautiful sweater. Keep your eyeballs peeled for this brand & more great stuff to come!

senior semester

Whaaaa what's this?? A real actual legitimate outfit post? It's been an awful long time and I have a pocket full of excuses - weather in the upper 90s, the first week of class, the first week of my new internship - but none of them are actually very good. It sort of just comes down to me being lazy. But here I am at last!
Two weeks ago I began my final - last forever and ever - semester of my undergrad degree. What happy days! I have a pretty relaxed schedule - just 3 classes - but I am also interning 3 days a week. Now that I have a better grip on my schedule though, I will be updating more! Promise and promise forever.
This was a simple rainy day outfit. The bell bottoms (I am OBSESSED with bell bottoms) are vintage from Up Six and absolutely beautiful. I've lost about an inch in my hips though and they're a tad baggy. Time to gain back that weight! I love these pants too much. I'm also wearing an old jacket that I plucked up from my aunt at a garage sale earlier this year. It's all worn out and moth-eaten and beautiful.
ALSO, I'm pretty excited about this shirt! It's vintage from Tunnel Vision and has this super cool seaside print of a forest and people off in the water fishing and boating. I'm a dweeb for rad prints so this fits me perfect.
Also, moccasins from ZiGIny which I love and are my go-to, a gift from my pops.


How has everyone been in my absence? I've missed blogging. I'm still hanging around on my social media though - Twitter and Facebook - trying to keep them updating and reply to comments & messages!
It just got done pouring rain. My gig for tonight got canceled so it's time for a good old fashioned movie night! I spent all of today trying to find professional wear for my new internship (which is an office setting & requires me to go to court) but then I started panicking about money & being an unpaid intern so I think a movie night is well deserved! I hope that everyone is having a great weekend xx

What I'm Watching on Netflix: Bomb Girls

A few months ago I was scrolling through Netflix's suggestions for me, looking for something new to watch, and a mini-series called Bomb Girls was suggested. You all know my love for period dramas of any sort, so I was immediately intrigued. I liked the idea of an entire show based not only in the '40s, but focusing on women's part in WWII - a point of view you don't really get the chance to understand outside of seeing Rosie the Riveter splashed on everything. (Don't get me wrong - I love Rosie the Riveter and all she represents, but you can't really understand an entire lifestyle from a propaganda campaign.)

 

The story of women working in the munitions factories, becoming their families' top earners, growing Victory Gardens, forgoing glamour for jump suits and turbans....and also losing their husbands, their sons, skimping on food and basic materials, changing their entire lifestyles to win the war...it isn't glamour and it isn't easy and to have a show display their realities without glossing over things is remarkable and exciting (and yes, this is coming from a media studies student). From the dangers of working in these factories to the struggles of being a lesbian in a time when, not only is homosexuality unacceptable, but when women are expected to be entirely dependent upon men. The stories of the women are dynamic and brave.

I ran through season one in a couple of days and noticed that season two is now available on Netflix, so I'm back to bingeing. Although the show's writing is sub-par and the acting can vary from alright to pretty darn bad (maybe due to the writing), the story is intriguing and the characters are strong and likeable (but not in a boring way). Mostly though, I like the television show because it's so rare that you get to engage in a show based entirely around the lives of women, from the viewpoints of women, and women being together and actually have substance without needing a man. It's not commonly seen in our modern media, regardless of the country it's made in (Bomb Girls is Canadian) and to finally have a viewpoint of women during a war and especially a war which is largely considered a man's war is something that's been a long time coming.

One of my favourite story lines, that of Lorna Corbett (Meg Tilly), is about the floor manager at Victory Munitions. Both of her sons are fighting in the war, her husband is a paralyzed WWI vet suffering from PTSD, and her daughter has devoted herself to healing soldiers at the hospital. I love her story because it is the most dynamic of them all and because she is, in my opinion, the strongest, most fierce character of the show. The plights of middle-aged housewives, regardless of time period, is not something that is commonly highlighted in movies and television (and no, the Real Housewives reality show doesn't count). At the factory, she is hardheaded, a leader and a role model to all the young women (and sometimes their friends) but at home, she is vulnerable and lost in the war, still making mistakes and weaving in and out of how to save her family.

 

 

I also love the male-characters in the show. They're funny and sweet, equally strong as the women, but downplayed and mostly background characters, in the same way that women are usually in shows about men. Furthermore, the men in the show mostly play as emotional support to their hardworking women. They are, dare I say it, feminists even (I never thought I'd say that about mainstream media). But I don't really want to talk about the men when this show has so many strong women...

 

Betty (Ali Liebert), Gladys (Jodi Balfour), Kate (Charlotte Hegele), and Vera (Anastasia Phillips) wait in line outside Victory Munitions.

Harvesting the Victory Garden. (Side note: I bought a retro gardening book all about how to grow your own victory garden and now I cannot wait to have a yard so that I can grow one!)

 

I don't want to give away spoilers (since I want all of you guys to go out an watch the show now, DUH), but I cannot say enough good things about Bomb Girls. Anyone who has completely lost hope in the state of mainstream media should watch even just a few episodes of Bomb Girls and be amazed that there can be strong, leading female characters who do stuff other than sit around talking about boys and hair.

 

Unfortunately, the show wasn't picked up for a third season. Fans have already pulled together to Save Bomb Girls and hopefully they succeed with the effort! Also, if anyone is interested in learning more about the women in the factories, check out the documentary The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1980) about the lifestyle of female factory workers and what happened when the boys came home from war.

 

 

p.s. I also wanted to give a shout out to the impeccable hair and wardrobe team behind the show. I froth at the mouth for their perfect pin curls and victory rolls and their beautiful frocks and wide-legged pants. But puh-lease, I could talk about that for a number of other period pieces. If I can get a chance to talk about strong female leads, I'll do that in a heartbeat instead.

 

 

photo cred: Bomb Girls on FB

Taylor's Falls, MN + Franconia Scultpture Park

Last week the boyfriend and I took a trip up to Taylor's Falls. It was over 100°F in the metro area, so we looked at surrounding areas and noticed that Taylor's Fall was only 93°F. We packed a lunch, pulled on our hiking boots, and headed north. A town near Taylor's Falls boasts the Franconia Sculpture Park, so we dropped by there was well. The Park was empty on such a hot day and we were both drenched in our own sweat, so we only stopped by for a few minutes - enough to see some awesome artist-designed, playable sculptures. Northern Minnesota is one of my favourite places on Earth. There are few places that I am as comfortable as I am along the shores of Lake Superior or in the thick of the woods.