Spring has Sprung!

7:48

Earth has cried so long

that her sky tears soak my scaffolding

my face like glass, I nod

and let light pour through me,

examine my hairline fractures

look –

I become light when I break it.

we are only what we destroy

the curtain cut light lacing the wall,

the spines of our fathers,

the unbuttoned breaths of our mothers.

it is early and Spring

is a cracked eggshell becoming

itself. 

(Flat Brim hat: TopShop, round sunglasses: Forever 21, denim buttondown: thrifted, floral crop top: Urban Outfitters, black circle skirt: Brandy Melville)

fashion FRIENDly

"IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MARCH DAYS WHEN THE SUN SHINES HOT AND THE WIND BLOWS COLD; WHEN IT IS SUMMER IN THE LIGHT, AND WINTER IN THE SHADE" --Charles Dickens

Friendship has always mystified and eluded me. From the moment I met Emily, it seemed that the concept of friendship would avoid me no longer. It may sound cheesy, but I feel as if we were just meant to know each other. And even now, having lived with her for months and dealt with her boyfriend issues and intense hot sauce and noodle consumption, I can still say that she is my best friend. 

...but I don't mean to slip into terribly overwrought cliches. We're both fashionable ladies with unique yet compatible wardrobes. When we go out, let's just say it's an ordeal. Here, Emily is wearing a beautiful shapeless floral dress with spaghetti straps and a light pink lipstick shade. I have on black high waisted pants, black crop top and a loose feather button down (one of my proudest thrifts). 

With spring finally showing us its sunny days and affable nights, we no longer have to cover up our well-planned outfits with layer upon layer of sweaters and coats. No more stashing jackets backstage at shows or in kitchen cupboards at parties. Here is to many more outfits to come with my lovely best friend, Emily. 

Frosted World

"Pitch-black winter nights live in my bones" -Friedrich Nietzsche 

 

In the desolate winter where caffeine and nicotine have seemed to be my only salvation, I must push to find within myself the breath of Spring that satiates. And in the depths of a seasonal depression, what better way to feel anew than to dress like a punky version of a 50-60s bombshell. 

With a pair of creepers, tights, a vintage tea length skirt hitting just below the knee, a simple black crop top and a pop of orange-red on my lips I think I can take on the frosted world. 

"I guess we often get the deep blues, both of us, and wonder what it all means - the people, the buildings, the day by day things, the waste of time, of ourselves" --Charles Bukowski

La Fournette French Patisserie

The other day, a Buzzfeed quiz popped up on my feed titled "What City Should You Actually Live In?" My guilty conscience swarmed for allowing myself to waste time on something so silly...but I simply couldn't help myself. Surprise, Surprise - I got Paris, France. 

This post also feels like the perfect setting to recommend two of the absolute best movies I've seen recently. Both being French Romantic Comedies - Amelie and Populaire. These discoveries make me never want to watch an American film again! Give me a plane ticket and a time machine because 1950s Paris is all I could ever want. 

Amelie

Populaire

Winter in Chicago

marked Chicagoans

we travel swiftly on taxi strewn roads,

lemons rolling in a granite bowl.

the strut of our competent heels

bites the sidewalk,

edges smeared by the ashen slush

and the salty speckles splashed

onto backs of black

cigarette jeans.

the snow releases itself

in curtains of harmony

developing the city, top to bottom,

like hand-copied sheet music.

sprinklings of climactic melody

run in sixteenth notes through stitches

of knit hats and scarves.

we don’t flinch

at the roaring of the tracks;

the subway is our lullaby (especially

in the winter when Midwestern ice slices

through ring fingers in thick layers)

discontented mothers search for nothing

in handbags because they don’t understand

that what they’re looking for will wait

for them if they just turn their head

to the sky and              see.

sometimes we walk along believing

that the veil of gray forces us to disappear,

but like the sheer tulle billowed

across a bride’s face,

winter in Chicago

amplifies the beauty of its rushing people

a concealed secret to be revealed

before the world even begins to dream

of Spring. 

I wore a beautiful black turtle neck with a keyhole opening on the chest. My beautiful friends were looking lovely as usual.The macaroons were divine and the company was even better. très belle!

Harem Pants & Flowers

"MY STYLE — IT’S BLACK, AND IT’S EXPENSIVE." --matt healy

"I WANT TO HAVE MORE SEX, TRAVEL MORE, DRINK MORE WINE AND LOVE LIFE." --Zoe saldana

You know those days when you wake up and are not sure if what's on your head is hair or a giant mass of stringy straw? I like to take those bad hair days and make them seem intentional. With my short hair finally able to get into a little ballet bun, this style makes for a sleek and quick fix to messy hair. Accent it with red lips, bronze blush high on the cheek bones and a chunky earring and you've got yourself a look! 

"I KNOW PRETTY MUCH WHAT I LIKE AND DISLIKE; BUT PLEASE, DON’T ASK ME WHO I AM." --sylvia plath

This beautiful long cut sweater is perfect for almost any outfit. It flatters forearms and balances the inch of revealed skin (and belly ring) from the floral crop top. When the sweater comes off, the best thing about this crop top is the elegantly cut back. 

The sun simply wouldn't allow me to take any better of photos....but I'm in love with these black cotton harem pants. I balanced their billow with some black suede booties. 

Glam Fur

A Smoker’s plea to the Universe (and herself)

we smoke down to the filter

as if we have renewable lungs 

but we recycle the empty packs

because we’d rather

kill ourselves

than the earth. 

Picked up this beautiful black fur piece at a vintage store in Belmont yesterday. It was the perfect touch for the art gallery concert I went to last night. It kept me warm outside and feeling glamorous inside! 

Oh, Mr. Gatsby!

“I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” --Daisy Buchanan (The Great Gatsby)

Hands down, no question about it, undeniably and irrevocably, Halloween is my favorite holiday (and day in general) of the entire year. My every day wardrobe has always held tinges of the lovely Wednesday Addams who naturally appears in peoples mindscapes on October 31st. The weather is lovely, the autumn leaves are lovely, the darkness is lovely. This year I spent a part of the Thursday at a beautiful cafe called 'Bourgeois Pig' and stressed out about my Daisy Buchanan costume coming together perfectly. 

 “I was within and without. Simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” 

To my delight, the costume came together just how I had planned. My thrifting expertise came in handy when in need of some true vintage wear. Classy is the standard that I live by and I could not help but be satisfied when I saw girls dressed up as 'Franzia' boxed wine... really? You've dressed yourself up as cheap wine for Halloween? At least sharpie the name of some nice chardonnay on your skimpy excuse for a dress. Anyways, it all came together and my Gatsby looked lovely as well! Happy Halloween!

 “You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.” 

Lilies & Lace

Hi Lovelies. Welcome to my first ever post on Volatile Velvet-- join me on my fashion endeavors. Chicago Autumn is upon us! My Fall necessities? Black coffee, Radiohead and a serene place like the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool to write poetry. This outfit contains multiple of my signature style markers, such as these lacy/floral patterned tights, to give you punks a better picture of my every day style. Burberry's classic plaid compliments a heather gray pea coat and amplifies the dark red of a thrifted sweater and Doc Martens. 

Autumn in Chicago

with all the white Autumn light in the world

tucked, brooding, between my fingertips,

I breathe in rhythm with October’s crisp respiration.

unlike the tug of an addiction, I know

that one day these months will crave me

like I crave them, and I rise

into the fresh air and leap down the streets of Chicago.

green vines bless brick architecture

with their gentle caress, run in harmony

alongside the varied shades of gray.

starkly angled skyscrapers

reach their talons to brush the clouds.

lovers decorate sharp street corners,

red and raven black pea coats meet in embrace

along Millennium Park benches,

new and old companions’ intimacy excused

by the air’s brisk inclination

to nudge bodies ever closer.

the season is simple if you let it,

but poets with campfire eyes

breathlessly ponder

why some voices are soundless

and why leaves are most beautiful

in the wake of their eminent death.

I walk along ashen gravel paved

with cigarette butts and the satisfying crunch

of chardonnay, amber and amaranth

leaves fallen from their branches.

on Fullerton, a Maple tree’s finger tips crack

as they reach for a last embrace before the fall.

the foliage is reassured by the promise

that they will create a most lovely Symphony

beneath city dwellers’ heels.

Somewhere, someone is falling

like Autumn leaves in Chicago,

and somewhere the branches

reach for them, too. 

 “one day I am gonna grow wings

a chemical reaction

hysterical but useless

hysterical and a let down”

--radiohead

T-Shirt dress (Target), Sweater (Thrifted), Tights (ModCloth), Pea Coat (Macy's), Shoes (Doc Martens), Purse (Burberry)