Spiders and cold weather clothing.

Today was a day of searching for jobs, resume revamping, and random rain.  Oh yeah, also working on my phalanges/spider drawing.

I had this dream a while back, in which I was trying to escape from a building made of cement.  I was being held captive there.  I eventually crawled through a labyrinth of tunnels to exit the building, only to discover a giant, metal fence preventing my exit.  I dug into the earth with my hands, creating a path of escape under the fence.  Suddenly, I realize there is something in my hand.  I look at my right hand, and a brown recluse spider is embedded under the skin, lifting the muscle up.  I can see every single bone in my right hand, even through the skin.  Eventually, the spider broke out of my hand, through the skin.
That dream haunts me to this day -- I had to illustrate it.

Outfits of note from the past week (Saturday - now):

This is a vintage zip-up corset... with a vintage prairie/square dance skirt.

I don't usually like long dresses, but this 60s/70s  full-length dress looks pretty great with my long, black coat.

I just recently got this awesome old camel-colored, wool coat.  It makes me feel like a dandy.  

This dress represents me so well.  It is super 60s, really whimsical, and reminiscent of an Austrian dirndl.  It's vintage, I'm assuming from the 60s or 70s.

Vintage anchor chain belt!

A loose braid and a vintage bow fascinator.

-Kc

Radioactive Glow Spider

Doll orgy at the thrift store.

 Ok, I lurk people.  Mostly behind things that obstruct their vision so they don't notice me.

It used to say "Personal Training."  Someone altered it, now it says "Sonal Raining."  This is my most favorite made-up word ever.

 Celine has a NIGHTMARE FACE in this picture.

This was the best 50 cents I ever spent.

Winter time mouse death.  Sad.

Spotted: Amazing geometric '90s windbreaker.

The best day of my life! I found out my (real) preserved in resin brown recluse spider necklace GLOWS IN THE DARK.

Got Hanson?

This deli has a decorating theme every month.  This month involved owls, silver trees, and roses.

...More owls in silver trees, and a bunch of roses.

...More owls.  Also: icicles.

....And to complete the theme: Gnomes.  (with roses.  and icicles. and owls.)

The man doll with some treasures.

Every night should end like this -- with OMC's "How Bizarre" music video projected onto a wall.

 

Here is some back log:

My "Mermaid floating on a cloud in the sky in the dream sequence of the movie Oklahoma" dress.  (For a vintage fashion show.)

My vintage hairstyle, done by me.

all photos copyright Katelyn Roof 2010.

-Kc

Haze halo

I've (allegedly) heard so many strange sounds today.  (I'm not sure which were auditory hallucinations and which might have been real.)  Chalk it up to the dip in barometric pressure, I say.  Today was one of those weird days, where the sun was wearing a foreboding haze-halo all day.  My camera was also acting up.  On the up side, I'm doing this vintage fashion show sort of thing on Friday with a few friends, so we got to go into a costume shop and try on beautiful old dresses.  I was like a kid in a candy store.

This past weekend I finally finished altering this really awesome vintage dress I've had for a while, that was half finished when I found it.  To celebrate, I subsequently wore it.

I was going for a "New England Private School Student in the 70s" sort of look.

This is actually a boarding school blazer from 1973.  It was my mom's -- she went to boarding school in Massachusetts in the 70s, and I'm now the proud owner of her blazer.

I love my weird taxidermy-chic mink wrap scarf -- I refer to it as "my pet" (I know, that's strange).  Under the blazer and over the dress, I also wore this really great vintage sweater that has applique flowers and rhinestone embellishment.

Anyway, back to today.  To break the weird vibe of today, I decided to change things up a bit.  I'm pretty much married to the idea of wearing navy or black opaque tights with EVERYTHING during the winter.  I even do it in the summer, as long as it's not 95+ degrees.  Instead of the old routine of black or navy, I decided to wear grey opaque tights to match the grey of the atmosphere.  I wore them with this really awesome geometric-patterned 60s or 70s dress, and my favorite Frye T-strap wedge heels.  (Note:  the dress has triangles all over it.  The triangle is my favorite polygon!)

So, here's to awesome polygons and weird, cold, hazy sky and hazy brain days.

-kc

Are you leaving for the country?

I have been listening to 60s and 70s folk music all day.  (That's where the title for the post came...a Karen Dalton song.)  That definitely put me in a certain mood, that being the mood for gold buttons, high collars, obnoxiously bright, wide stripes, and big, furry hats.   People like to make fun of my collection of giant, furry hats, but I enjoy them thoroughly.  The one I'm wearing in the following pictures is equal parts lumberjack cutting trees in the woods and hiker in the Siberian tundra.  And .... to be quite honest ... I'm totally into that.  Also, it's a very special day -- I conquered a fear today.   That fear is the fear of wearing bright orange.  I have always feared bright orange, because of my coloring -- bright orange and red hair can sometimes be really overwhelming.  But, I decided I liked this shirt more than being afraid.  It kind of feels good to break one of my own rules.

I estimate the shirt to be from the 1970s.  It's made of wool, so it's kind of itchy, but I wore my American Apparel double U-neck dress underneath it to make it less itchy.  My hat is also wool, and rabbit fur, and I got it way back when in Beacon's Closet in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (it's vintage, I don't buy retail fur).  Sometimes I really miss Brooklyn, and New York in general.  Today is one of those days.

-kc

on the ROCKS

This morning, I searched through my closet (and...oops...floor) to find something to wear.  I realized I wanted to wear something that I wore for one hour yesterday.  It didn't feel right yesterday, but today it felt right.  Really, it HAS TO feel right.  I've changed outfits up to 4 times in the course of a day.   If I exist for an hour or so in it and it doesn't feel right, it goes.  (And that's not including the changes that occur in the morning when initially deciding what to wear.)  Is that weird?  I mean, I'm an actress/performer/artist.  An outfit for the day is like a costume to me, and it has to feel right for the character I'm going to play that day, or the fictional world I see myself inhabiting that day.  Each day brings a different character/place/etc. 

Today it was my 1970s (I think?) Halston blouse.  It's a poet blouse, with really puffy, long sleeves and a collar that ties at the neck.  It's a really rich burgundy color, and it's long enough to be a (really short) dress with opaque tights (with the danger of some potential bum exposure if it is windy), or a (really long) shirt with pants.  Today I wore it with my ultra-skinny Cheap Monday blue jeans.  And a fur collar... always a fur collar.

Right now: Maker's Mark, on the rocks, with a splash of ginger ale.

The splash of ginger ale is necessary for two reasons:

1. I'm a ginger. I have the arm freckles and transparent complexion to prove it.

2. It gives just the right amount of fizzing, bubbly sweetness needed to enhance the Maker's.

Maker's is exactly what I need to lull myself into dreamland.  Lately, dreamland has been nightmareland.  But, really, to be honest that's kind of fun--as long as I can kick the creepy in the morning.  Sometimes I do.  Sometimes I don't.

-kc

Flutter by

It's supposed to snow a lot today.  I'm preparing to be forced into inertia for many more hours than I would choose if I could choose.  Owning every single episode of Twin Peaks is really going to come in handy tonight and tomorrow.  

Last night I performed at the Spotlight Cabaret and Piano Bar at Allentown Brew Works again, it was really great.  I performed a Joanna Newsom song (in addition to other songs).  I have a video up on Facebook, I just haven't uploaded it onto here yet (perhaps later).  Anyway, I wore this dress last night for the show, and I decided to wear it again today, the only difference is, due to impending snow, I wore a white fur collar with it today.

This dress was actually free.  I estimate it to be from the 70s.  I love it because it is basically a giant scarf.... the material feels exactly like a scarf.  Also, it has flutter sleeves...  I love flutter sleeves.  Every time I wear a dress that has flutter sleeves, it makes me want to live in a log cabin on the top of a mountain and play the banjo all day, then ride some horses.

Taxidermy-chic

The other day I came into my room, and I had left my vintage lamp on for several hours.  It had consequently burned a hole in itself... now I'm going to have to think of a creative way to solve this, I'm thinking a calico patch might do the trick (as long as it doesn't incinerate).  My eskimo black fur slippers have been helping me survive the winter, along with my taxidermy-chic mink fur stole and my flannel 70s shawl (that makes me look like a human blanket).  I feel like an Appalachian cabin-dweller come weird, reclusive cat-lady, but I kind of like it.

Taxidermy-chic vintage mink scarf

Vintage black (and white) fur eskimo slippers 

Accidentally annihilated lamp

Birds lined up on the roof of my house (seen through the skylight).

Weird cat-lady shirt found in the thrift store (still don't know why I didn't buy it, probably because it was ridiculously XXXL).

-kc