Do the Creep

Now I know that in most situations it is undesirable to come across a creeper. You know what I'm talking about, those dudes who are twice your age, oily looking, with gnarly looking hair coming out of a mole, who anybody aside from roadkill are out of their league (lets just say, I have had lots of experiences with these kinds of guys).

Buuuuuut, I do love the other kind of creeper, the Brothel Creeper.

What, you may ask, is a Brothel Creeper? It sounds dirty.
Well, my dear friends, these are the heavy soled, suede shoes from England with a very long history.

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia and a report I did on subculture fashion ;)
These shoes were originally boots created for soldiers stationed in the North African deserts during WWII. They soon became popular amongst Teddy Boys and Punk Rockers in the UK, and are still awesome today.

I've been really wanting a pair of these for over a year now, ever since I saw these beauties by Jeffrey Campbell

Ok, so I'm guessing you're thinking I'm crazy for wanting these, I mean they are pretty outrageous shoes, but you'd be surprised who's been coming out with their own take on the creeper as of this year.

First up is Prada, that's right I said PRADA.
Their Spring/Summer collection has a butt load of creeper inspired shoes with a sort of espadrille twist. These babies have got some major lift in them, and come in some awesome colors that tie in with spring's neon fetish.

Another reason I feel these shoes are really kicking in as a trend this year is that my newest favorite store ASOS from the UK has a great pair that come in blue and slate. Nylon magazine even features them in their online store!


still don't believe me? Take a gander at these chicks rockin their creepers

Case closed. They all look great, and not too harsh with these statement shoes.

FYI the perfect occasion to wear these- a concert like the Vaccines. You can dance around to great music and not have to worry about your feet getting tired or stepped on!

I ♥ the Heartstrings

This past week Frankie & The Heartstrings released their debut album...unfortunately it's not available to us Americans. Commence pity party and sobbing over the fact that I don't live in England.

Here's one of there videos if you have no idea who the hell I'm talking about. I'm going to warn you though, this video is really weird and I think this video is imitating some sort of UK version of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

These guys just seem so adorable, I bet seeing them in concert is a blast! It's probably something like this actually:

Well if you ever do by chance find their album, A.) Tell me immediately where you got it!! and B.) purchase it because these guys deserve to be famous

I once randomly e-mailed them last year when their first single came out asking if they knew how I could get a copy of it over in the States and will you know what good ol' Frankie did? He just sent me the MP3's! Check out the e-mail for yourself, his pseudo surfer talk is a riot! (Hopefully you can still download the single from the link in the e-mail as well)

"Hey dude

Sorry for the slow reply we've been mega busy making pop and doing shows so this is the first time i've had the chance to catch up on the mail, Zane Lowe made our new single released Oct 4th HOTTEST RECORD IN THE WORLD on monday and we have just made it available on our site , but seen as though you made the effort Im sending you a present... p.s We'd love to come play Texas

www.frankieandtheheartstrings.com

www.popsexltd.com

www.twitter.com/frankiestrings

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1121527/7_%20master.zip

Thanks for taking the time to get in touch

Love

Frankie x"

 

You feel that?

It's the heat and lazy feel of summer drifting in!

I came to this revelation today when I stepped outside.
Although normally I despise the sweat that goes hand in hand with summer, I'm quite looking forward to busting out all my shorts, sandals and sundresses!

My life has been really boring lately so I apologize for not being able to regal you with a funny story...maybe next time. For now the least I can do is leave you with one of my favorite songs by a great new artist;
 

**Fun Fact: I actually had a Quinceañera back in the day! I shudder at the memories of it...

¡Viva México!

Obviously Empire of the Sun knows what's up because Vogue Italia claims that the "Mexican Look" is in....I'm guessing this translates into the 70's renew craze going on right now in stores like Urban Outfitters, ASOS, Topshop etc.

 Looking at any of these sites you'll find that their "trend reports" are flooded with wedges, peasant blouses, chunky jewelry, and floppy hats!

Asos collection

My mom is a self-proclaimed "Queen of Disc"o and found this recent development as a opportunity to explain to me what a great fashionista she is/was back in the day.
Apparently she too used to wear platform wedges like these and owned a Mexican worked leather satchel likes these which can be found anywhere online;

Digging around through my closet I found that she was right...some clothes I have that used to belong to her definitely fit this trend, as well as my Grandpa's old guayabera.

 I also found some of my jewelry that I never wear, but definitely should start like these earrings my friend brought me back from Mexico, and this awesome 2 finger ring I bought at Forever 21.

I think that since I am not really the sort to go all gung-ho bohemian (my style really is more of a 50's house wife or 60's mod, at least that's what I like to think) I do have a few items that are a subtle nod at to trend, like this great Dia De Los Muertos printed dress I bought at Shroeditch Market and these great woven wedges from Miss L Fire.

That's all for now, leave a comment if you want to share what you think. Will you be rockin this style or do you poo poo the idea Mexican style?
"Keep on Keepin On"!!

Dream Boat

It has come to my attention that today, the 8th of February, would have been James Dean's 80th birthday. Now, sure if he had somehow made it to this age he probably would be all wrinkly and never been immortalized, but as a cliche fan of his, today we celebrate him!

Who knows what it is about him that makes generation, after generation idolize him. Something about being a sensitive, brooding hero must really speak to the hoards of us drooling over him in Rebel Without a Cause.

If you think about  it there are COUNTLESS songs that reference him, usually as their coolness goal.

Some that would be on my Jimmy Dean playlist would probably be;

*The Killers- Under the Gun
*The Eagles- James Dean
*Noah & The Whale- 5 Years Time
*Scouting for Girls- Famous
*Don McClean- American Pie
*Mando Diao- Cinderella

That's all the ones I can think of for now, but if you know of any others don't be afraid to leave a comment or something and share.

I shall now leave you with a video that made me spontaneously collapse with laughter for weeks.

Acting with James Franco Episode 3: Scene Work from James Franco
 

**Note: I've decided to focus my efforts on stalking James Franco due to the fact that he is the closest living thing we have to James Dean. Fact: they are both named James and have good hair.

Modesty is the Best Policy

So of late I've seen over and over in magazines and online that the peter pan collar is all the rage. (Who knew the Pilgrims had it goin on when it came to fashion?) Even the slightly disturbed Alice Glass, from Crystal Castles, is rockin this look.

 Needless to say, I want one.
I found an overwhelming number of dresses that incorporate puritan collars at Asos's site like these:

You can even buy a freestanding collar at Asos or Urban Outfitters to make any boring article of clothing look as hip as the Pilgrims!!

Topshop was kean on this trend this past December and basically all their fabulous dresses have sold out, but if you look hard enough you can find a few things.

Sadly this beauty may only exist somewhere on ebay these days

This 1700's/1960's look is definitely on my fashion lust list.

Snow Day, Mayday!

Recent developments today include:

 Snow.

Today the Sun City was blanketed with what appears to be about an inch of snow causing mass hysteria, resembling this episode of King of the Hill (hmmm as it turns out I can't find the clip anywhere but this Russian site, so click here and just see if you can make any sense of it).




New Music.
Since the snow outside has created apocalyptic-like conditions that can only compare to a scene from The Road, I have spent most of my time indoors and discovered two of the best songs I've heard in a very long time.
First is this song by Ringo Deathstar (a name that is almost as great as that of the band Gringo Star)

and finally this masterpiece by my love Enrique Iglesias...you sure topped "I Like It" with this gem ol' boy.

Clothing.

 In wardrobe news, my shoes finally came and I am ecstatic. You know that scene in Confessions of a Shopaholic where she describes that amazing feeling you get when you purchase something? How she compares it to a piece of warm butter sliding down a piece of toast? Yeah...I am in agreement with her. I think I have issues because buying clothes is such  a high for me, but on the downside, not purchasing them gives me heart palpitations and extreme regret for months (damn it!! WHY, Why, why didn't I buy that fur coat when I had the chance!!!!).

Anyway, I also bought me some high rise skinny jeans and this fuckin amazing lip gloss with a special lid by Urban Decay...it's called Pocket Rocket *tee hee*

This is Timothy, future senator.

He's everything a girl will ever need.