Thursday, June 30, 2011

35; Qu'est-ce que je peux faire?







Top: Ebay (She Tiger Vintage) • Cami: Maurices • Shorts: thrifted DIY • Hat: Ebay • Shoes + belt: Etsy Vintage • Purse + jewlery: antique store (aside from the engagement ring)



First off, I was given a feature on another blog! Check it out on Tiger Tantrums; she features a different Lookbook member every week. ♥

Secondly, I decided on my blog name -- drumroll please! -- On the Ganges.

GASP! I KNOW. Totally didn't see that coming, huh? I had so many name ideas (mostly involving the word 'bioluminescence') but all of them were taken, and when I ran out of possibilities, I just went with the internet handle that everyone knows me by. (Unless you're on Livejournal.) It's just part of my internet identity now, and I even devoted to a whole post about the story behind the name, and I use my style as a form of inner identification anyway. Fashion is all about identity, to me, so it just seems to fit.

In other news, the hat and top arrived in the mail just today -- a day early in fact! I purchased the top after being outbid at the literal last second on a pair of gorgeous vintage paisley palazzo pants. $9.99 with free shipping! It was definitely some good retail therapy after my loss.

The hat was bought on a whim -- I'd been, once again, outbid on another listing while I was out of the house, and spent about an hour going through ebay, etsy, and amazon. There was a listing for one hat from a vintage seller that was absolutely perfect, but it had about a week left and it was bidding, not buying, and at that point, I was too frustrated with bidding on things. This hat seems to be awfully big, though. The listing said it had a 4" brim, and when it arrived, I measured and it's definitely 5". I wanted 4" because I'm so freaking tiny, and the hat looks almost comically big on my poor little head. However, I now have a nice, big floppy sun hat, and I spent quite a pretty penny for it, so I won't bother to complain.

I can complain about my boots, though. The right one has made it a habit to continuously fall apart on me. First the heel came apart from the shoe (which was remedied with my favourite all purpose glue, Elmer's Stix-All) but then the front began doing the same thing. I glued it, but didn't work. I tried hot glue, and it didn't work. I used Stix-All one more time, making sure to leave something heavy to sit on the shoe to apply pressure while it dried for the required twenty-four hours...and ten minutes into my walk, I discover the glue had let go and the shoe was pulling open again.

I'm at my wit's end. I'm thinking I'll just take it to a shoe repair guy, but the closest one is a half an hour drive, and I'm no good at asking Kathryn's parents to take me anywhere. I may just shop around for a while and try to find a pair of something like these, in the same price range. I'd rather not be constantly paranoid of these guys falling apart -- even though I am still in love with these boots. My fiancée and I often refer to them as my 'Beatle boots', and with a title like that, I'll be hard pressed to give up on them so soon.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

34; Next stop, Salem Mass.

I recently got to visit a shop on the way out of town that specialises in antique knick-knacks, furnature, fossils, crystals, jewelery, and occult pieces like skulls carved from various stones, Hindu figures, pentacle pendants, reiki crystals, and the like -- and really, I didn't spend a whole lot. I'm pretty sure I walked in there with $45 in my purse and had six or seven dollars leftover in the end.


Turquoise wood pendant, approx. $4

Flourite crystal pendant, approx. $8
I was hoping to find a clear quartz crystal pendant, but I'm not too worried. They're all around the internet, and this one looks pretty darn cool.

Amethyst pendant, approx. $6
Not only my birthstone, but it just looked really lovely in the case I found it sitting in. I am actually loving this more than I thought I would when I bought it.

Bone carved bracelet, approx. $5
At least, the tag said 'bone' on it -- however, I no longer have it because the woman snipped them all off and kept them when she was adding up my total. It's fairly light, and definitely hand carved. (The photo isn't pixelated; the edges are just rough.)

Polished garnet piece, approx. $8
I hope to try to turn this into a necklace pendant, somehow.

Quartz crystal, approx. $6
This was so gorgeous, that I just had to buy it. Maybe I'll be able to turn this into a pendant as well?

Old tile, $2
Sarah picked this out but wasn't sure on buying it. I went ahead and purchased it in case she didn't want it,  and to secure no one else grabbing it. (Not sure if she still wants it, actually.) For the life of me, I can not figure out who these two are. I'd immediately assume Krishna (blue) but with the snake around his shoulder, I'd guess Vishnu. (Okay, they're almost the same person, but they're significantly different.) I wish it was a better view of the one on the right, because they look so feminine, that it really makes me curious as to who it is. That, and I'm not really sure who sports a snake buddy and a trident, so I need more clues.


My fringe shorts are late on arriving, but they should show up tomorrow. I won a button-up on ebay (after being outbid at the literal last second on a pair of gorgeous palazzo pants I needed in my life) and am wondering if they'll go together. I actually sort of have this imaginary outfit planned out and if the top goes with the shorts, then I'll be very pleased. I'll then be looking out for a big black floppy hat and will be buying a certain bronze crow skull ring I've had my eye on for a while, and to finish I'll be fixing up my favourite black boots. I've been having this weird urge to dress up like some late 60s era voodoo witch doctor lately -- but, you know, tasteful.

So it was probably fated that I discovered this band via The Colbert Report this week:



I think I need a mod-style little black dress now.

Monday, June 20, 2011

33; Déjà Vu (Snake Skin Remix)






Top: Crystallized Vintage on Ebay • Shorts: Thrifted DIY • Belt: Etsy Vintage • Shoes: Wholesale-Dress.net
LookbookChictopia


It's the revenge of the snake skin print, apparently. ♥

Also, I'm super in love with these shoes. They're the same height heel-wise as my Ednas (y'know, the brown Victorian ones from Maurices) but since they're platform, my foot isn't bending quite as much, so they're much more comfortable. I'm also surprised at how nice they look. Buying from Wholesale-Dress makes me nervous, considering I ordered a shirt there and received one that was significantly different...same colour, same basic style, but where it has open-shouldered sleeves, it was supposed to have a braided sort of thing going up most of the sleeve, up to the shoulder, where it would poke out. After having something else sent to me, I didn't shop there again until one of my black boots began falling apart and I wanted to get a back-up pair of black shoes. (Also, I felt I needed something a little more summer-y.)

Also, made an impulse buy when I was on Forever21's website yesterday, because I discovered these black denim cut off shorts...with fringe:



Did you catch that bit? With fringe! How awesome are these things? I can't wait until I get the shipment confirmation email -- and better yet, I can't wait until they reach home and I can wear them. I just hope I bought the right size...

Sunday, June 19, 2011

32; DIY To-Do List, and Thrift Store Shopping List

Because I'm extremely forgetful and need to jot things down constantly.

DIY To-Do:





 

Thift Store To-Buy:

Sweaters (some for hacking)
High-waisted pants (for hacking)
Casual button-ups
Non-denim vest (leather or suede)
Better-fitting leather jacket?
Knit shorts (a long shot, but still possible)
Tank tops (for cropping)
Oversized tees (for fringing/cropping)
Casual (flower print) dresses

Thursday, June 16, 2011

31; Voodoo Child







Top: Thrifted • Leggings: Ebay • Jacket: Target • Shoes: Maurices • Necklace: F21

LookbookChictopia



Finally having more days off from work, only to spend them lying in bed lazily catching up on television and such. Kathryn and I cleared all of the last and current season of Doctor Who, only to have to wait until August for the next episode (and the new season of Sherlock). I hate waiting.

Basically getting some much needed R&R and exercise. I'm developing some nice skin colour from being out in the sun, at least. However, I'm sure it says something pretty bad that I go into work on my days off for coffee. I think I have a problem.

Speaking of problems, I can't stop my obsession with snake skin print. (My next post will further confirm this.)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

30; Dark Lotus Mantra




Top: Insight • Shorts: DIY • Vest: Thrifted DIY • Boots: Etsy Vintage


Took this last week. Unfortunately, one of my boots is actually falling apart! I have some very awesome and reliable glue to fix it with, but it smells so horrible when wet that I'm kind of slacking off on the job. I'll get around to it eventually.

Also this is the vest that I bought forever ago and talked about studding and cutting up. I went into work the day these were taken to walk Kathryn home, and a co-worker likened me to 'a Breakfast Club character.' Perhaps if she were George Harrison inspired, then I agree.


Kathryn and I went into Boston yesterday for the annual Gay Pride fest, and I even wore an outfit that I wanted to make an outfit post of. Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely miserable and it just wasn't a good day to take many pictures. In fact, of all the pictures I did take, I didn't take any of the actual fest. It was cold, rainy, there were tons of people, and there just wasn't a ton of things to photograph. There were vendor booths (with a couple of big name companies like Bank of America and such, though some seemed like they were just there to sell their products or for advertisement) and a stage with either some performers, or drag queens. If I'd wanted to take a photo of some queens, I would have had two seconds of visibility before people would have gotten in my way. When Kathryn and I had decided we wanted to head out, I'd finally remembered that I had a camera stuffed into my bag. Thus I have shots of the train ride, when we hit Starbucks after growing bored of the fest, and everything afterward.

Luckily, we found a booth for the Hare Krishna Temple of Boston. We tried to look for them over a year ago (with no address, but heresay instead) to no avail. I now have a business card of theirs with an address and days they are open for 'free feast, chanting and dancing.' I'm quite excited! At this same booth there was a man doing henna tattoos, and was kind enough to let me buy one of his packets of henna ink. I also bought two books from them for really cheap. Probably the highlight of my day.

 

More shots on my LiveJournal and Facebook
(Yeah, I still play Pokémon. I'm not afraid to be judged.)

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

29; Lost Boys





Top: thifted • Vest: F21 • Shorts: DIY • Shoes: Etsy Vintage • Jewlery: everywhere


Yeah, not many shots this time. It was terribly hot outside and Kathryn and I just wanted to go home. (This location is about a five mintue walk from our place of establishment.) Also, pictures aren't as large as usual because for some reason I can't manage to think clearly this morning, and resized them all to Chictopia standards (instead of just one or two) and after having to brighten up two of them to decent visibility, I decided I wasn't going to do it all over again.

In other news, I'm very excited for this Saturday, because I will be over in Boston's City Hall Plaza for this year's gay pride festival and parade. Last month was the youth pride fest and march, which soley focuses on alternative sexuality youth, but the one this weekend is for anyone of all ages, and is on a much grander scale. I had to skip out on this last year because I'd just had spinal surgery and it didn't seem like a good idea to go out into Boston and walk around all day. (Though, I suppose I won't be really doing myself a favour by wearing the wedge heels I decided look best with the dress I'm going to wear, but since when does something like that deter me?)

All of my tip money since having bought my camera is going to required expenses for this trip, as well. I was going to save it up for the tattoo I've been wanting for nearly a year now, but that's what I decided to save up for this time around:


(Please ignore the silly Cinnamoroll stationary.) It's the astrology symbols for Libra and Aquarius joined together. Kathryn's a Libra, and I'm an Aquarius. (Did you know John Lennon and Yoko Ono were the same signs? Yeah, I'm a bit of an astrology nerd.) I want to get it on the inner most part of my wrist, probably my right one. I worry about how much it will hurt, but I'm determined, plus I'm only so worried because that part of the wrist is a sensitive spot.

Yesterday, Kathryn confirmed that she wants to get the same tattoo, possibly on the opposite wrist. No idea when I'll be getting mine... My huge tip collection jar-thing is currently empty, so we will see!

And yeah I know, it's 'risky' to get a tattoo that has anything to do with my significant other in case of break ups and whatever. I was still a bit nervous, because I'm seriously convinced some days that Kathryn will just wake up one morning and realise what a silly loser I am and that she could do better (blah blah insecurities blah) but when Kathryn said she wanted to get the same tattoo, that told me how committed and attached she is. I don't have much to worry about in that case, do I? ♥ (The flip side of the coin is that I could potentially leave her, but really, I couldn't. She's just too wonderful. There's no way I'd leave her!)

I'm already debating a second tattoo, something southwestern/involving a dream catcher. Not entirely sure yet, because that's too far ahead in the future for me to worry about at the moment.

Friday, June 3, 2011

28; Crystal Clear

I found myself drawn to people wearing those healing/reiki crystals with their bohemian style outfits on the internet and did some research. I finally found one that I may want to get, but it took a lot of narrowing down, because there were so many great options that I had to sift through.



(Images link back to their listings.)

$24.00 (10% discount through the next two days)  -- crystal_chrysalis


$29.99 -- petalgifts


$32.00 (comes in clear quartz) -- thrifted


$14.95 -- xinar


$11.99 -- themagicisinyou


$7.99 -- themagicisinyou


$17.99 -- themagicisinyou


$14.99 -- themagicisinyou


$16.99 -- themagicisinyou


There are tons and tons more online; this is just a fraction of what I managed to find. There are smaller options for a much cheaper price, but I was going for something longer. TheMagicIsInYou sells a ton of items in this area, and with reasonable prices.