Friday, November 1, 2013

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.” 


Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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)