In tribute to Jess' last week in America, we decided to go vintage hunting around Huntington Beach and Old Town Orange. Although this will be the last of a slew of adventures (drunken carriage riding, late night gallivanting through Newport pubs, VEGAS, etc.), this blog marks the beginning of our inter-continental/ trans-pacific fashion friendship. Every week we will be posting the latest finds of our shopping expeditions. Since Jess will be moving back to Australia she will be posting all the goodies she discovers in local "op shops" around the city of Melbourne and I, who will still be residing in Newport, will be posting my latest finds in the OC area. We figured it would not only be a fun way to keep in touch, but a chance for both of us to explore our very different fashion senses. For this specific post, we will be introducing each other. Alors, voila! The first post of Trans-Pacific Fashion Wars:
introduciiiing CHARISMA.
i'm constantly surprised by ms.riz. we met via skype while i was still in australia, and i must admit that following a quick facebook scan i was fairly intimidated. with a double major in french and literary journalism and portfolio of professional modelling shots, this girl seemed like a force to be reckoned with. i didn't know what i would have to offer somebody with such a resume.
what i didn't realise is that the girl is batshit bananas. she's completely addicted to sugar (does anyone want a nutella sandwich? do we have any more cookies?) and coffee (to which she adds honey?!). this morning, trying on the above pink dress for the first time, she bounced into my bedroom complaining "i look like a beetle!" it was only half a complaint, however, because charisma would probably kind of like to look like a beetle. so she's pretty smart. but she's also mad.
so what kind of fashion can you expect from charisma? pink is a staple. she often remarks (usually to an uncomfortably unresponsive carful of people) how she can't wait to get a hot pink SUV in which to burn around the californian highways. raised on a diet of vogue and vanity fair, charisma can pick a kate spade pink from a hype pink and have opinions on them while i just have headaches. and yet despite this good-taste grooming, she will still choose a knee-length faux-denim collared shirt dress from the salvos rack and claim it's her favourite find all day. bananas, i told you.
there's a certain allure about her which i can only attribute to the abstract noun by which she is known; charisma has a "compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others". ultimately, she wears the shit out of the crazy clothes she chooses, and puts her skeptics to shame time and time again. it doesn't hurt that she's a bit of a babe too.
introduciiiiing JESSICA.
When I first met Jess I walked into our living room after work and she was stretched across the couch, her black leather combat boots propped on the center table. I gingerly took a seat adjacent to her and we engaged in a pleasant chit chat about her visit in America. The whole time I was flabbergasted by her peculiar sense of style. Despite the severity of her footwear, she was donning the most darling flower printed dress paired with a worn suede belt with an electric blue cardigan. Then, after much talk about Feminism and Foucault I decided that we were going to be excellent friends.
I absolutely adore her, even when she insists that a frumpy green cardigan with a curious brown stain is a keeper. Jess is forever enigmatic and spontaneous. It's rare to find people who can keep up with a conversation concerning Showalter, dons fur jackets and red lipstick to a kitschy frat party, cartwheels along the streets of Newport and sashays into VIP areas in Vegas like she belongs there. In short, she's my kind of gal:)
Alors, even though I have walked into the bathroom to find her brown hair scattered about the sink as a result of her habitual homemade haircut and come home to a half-blonde, half-brunette roommate (literally as if she fell asleep on a plate of blond paint, its fucking awesome), there is no one in the world like my pixie cut, combat boot sporting blondie<3!
and now for the spoils of our adventure:
Jess: see this, this is what i call shoes. fuck-off-shoes. shoes that could crush nuts and still have a stomach for breakfast.
Charisma: How impossible is this purse! The mixed patterns of snake skin and the varying colors of brown are so perfectly put together, I was elated just imagining myself floating around NYC clutching this with one of those deliciously gaudy fur coats (previous photo).
Jess: A present for Jen, our constantly Mexican-munching (and -lusting) housemate
Charisma: WANT!
Jess: This globe demonstrates the rotation of the globe through the astrological zones. It also marked the "here be dragons" zones. Pretty bomb.
Jess: In honour of Bakhtin and the Carnivalesque
Charisma: Just some old man taking a nap in a thrift store, he don't give a what what!
Jess: Learning DSLR, have patience readers...
Charisma: Mmmmm sushi. There are only a few things I like more than sushi, which are: chocolate, coffee, good writing, my darlings, and men.
Jess: I call this librarianesque with a touch of designer handbag
Jess: If Charisma was a planeteer she'd have flower power I suppose
Charisma: She bought it! Despite the curious smudge and all!
(And I wore it today --Jess)
Charisma: A little cafe and my mum's old Hermes bag= LOVE<3
("Be quiet, I'm very busy and important" --Jess)
Charisma: "Hrmmm, why doesn't this kid in Catcher In The Rye just suck it up already?!!"
We'll be posting weekly words and pictures detailing our separate adventures in a desperate attempt to keep in touch. Keep reading, if you like, and please for God's sake tell us what you think! We'd love to hear.
