This one is going to be short and sweet because I just have to let the public know how much I love this song! Here is the embedded track:
Something about this song feels so whimsical, like I floating off of the ground while spinning around in circles in a forest at the twilight hour.Well, it's about that time of year: we are heading into the months when I think fashion really gets its chance to thrive (at least if you live in California, and it's too hot, like 60 percent of the year, for me to wear what I want). I would like to believe that I have an elevated sense of fashion, but chances are I am just like everyone else in their own minds. Not that anything is wrong with that, of course, but we can all remind ourselves of that occasionally.
Before we actually get into the things I want to see on people's bodies this season, I feel like we all need to address the elephant in the room: people are buying too many cheap pieces of clothing. This causes trend cycles to end significantly quicker than they usually would, especially with the presence of social media telling the consumer that they need the new next big thing otherwise they are going to be left out. I do not want this post to be like that at all, I am just writing about the styles I like. I actually feel really passionate about this subject, and I might write a post about it in the future, but that's beside the point.
I don't know what has taken over my body, mind, and soul recently, but I am really hoping that the once loved now hated "indie sleaze" makes a full revival in the next year or so--mostly because I wish I could have lived that life in 2014--but also because I genuinely believe it is a perfect time to do so: there are so many icons in our generation right now that look at indie sleaze for their fashion. Charli XCX and Aaliyah's Interlude are the first two people I think of, but only because I feel like they get the most attention for their outfits. While Aaliyah has established her own Aaliyah core, I can't help but notice a few things borrowed from Indie Sleaze, which I am absolutely here for, don't get me wrong. I'm just glad the style is seeing the light of day again.
I don't think it's bold to say that scarves are making a comeback again. Not to say that they were technically ever "out", but I've seen so many more people wearing them for fashion instead of function. I must say that I have been LOVING those skinny scarves that are striped and alternating between two colors. This is a moment where I wish I knew how to knit or crochet or something so I could make one for myself.
There are so many more things that I want to talk about for this season, but I think I will only add one more before I close this out. I have been really obsessed with mini dresses that have sleeves on them. Not necessarily long sleeves, but closer to a baby or bell sleeve. I am not always a fan of a boxy style, but this one just makes sense to me. I wish I had a better explanation, I really do, but that's the best I can offer right now.
I have been thrifting about 95 percent of my clothes for about two years now, and while I love the challenge, sometimes (more often than not) I wish I lived in a place like NYC because I am sure there is so much stuff at the thrift stores there. But maybe it's just as expensive as buying stuff from actual websites. I guess I didn't think about that. I strongly encourage everyone to do the same, though. The people that say all of the stuff in their thrift stores are bad, are plain wrong, in my opinion. I have never been to a thrift store ever where I didn't find something that was slightly cute, you just have to be patient and dig.
That is all I have to offer on this subject for now, I plan to update this on what I find at the thrift stores around, and if my opinions change on what styles I want to be wearing this fall, and what I would love to see on other people. Until next time!
Today I bring you my most recent read of 2024: Rouge by Mona Awad. This is the second book I've read by her (the first being Bunny) and I have really come to like her writing style. The main character, Mirabelle -- also referred to as Belle in the story -- has such interesting internal dialogue, and the writing style of the novel fits the bill perfectly. The story follows a woman whose mother just mysteriously passed away on the cliffs of La Jolla, in San Diego. She also finds herself weirdly obsessed with skincare videos by the same individual. She travels from Montreal to deal with her mother's piling debts and rundown apartment when she attends a haunting French spa on the cliffs.
I found this story much more intriguing than Bunny, but maybe I am biased. As a San Diego local myself, we all wonder what the hell is happening on the La Jolla cliffs because the people who own houses there are so obscenely rich they have to be doing some kind of creepy ritual or whatnot. It is always interesting to see how color shapes a story, and this is a perfect example. The spa's main colors are black, white, and red, with lots of shades of gray/silver in the mix. These colors play a great part in Belle's skincare obsession and her crumbling relationship with her mother that leads up to her untimely death.
Belle is a main character that you initially will probably dislike, because she seems to be a rambling, almost insufferable downer about everything, even when she claims not to miss her mother. However, as the story progressed, I found myself wanting her to solve her deep-rooted trauma and escape from those shackles.
The supporting characters were almost perfect in my eyes. I loved all of them in their own ways: Tad, a stereotypical Californian, Sylvia, a pretentious older La Jolla native, and Hud Hudson (funny name), the beautiful investigator. Of course, many other supporting characters contribute to the weirdness of the Rouge Spa, but I don't want to give away too much in case you want to read it too.
I saw people saying this was a retelling of Snow White, but honestly, it was really hard for me to even notice the story lining up the same way Snow White does. It is a great spinoff if that was her intention in writing and you won't even be able to tell this was inspired from a fairytale. I am very much looking forward to reading her next book, whenever that comes out.
Today is the day that I started this new blog. I have made other ones in the past but I haven't kept up with them. I plan to keep up with this one to practice my writing skills and also to talk about things that excite me and whatever. Mainly I plan to talk about media I've seen and why I like it (and why I don't). I really want to focus on music and movies, but I will also talk about books when I actually finish one.
There are a lot of things to catch you up on here, but I don't even know where to begin. How do I go through 20 years of my life in a consolidated, five-paragraph blog post? I don't actually know. I am spending my first autumn/winter in a place that almost feels like those are real seasons. I am from San Diego, so those don't really exist in my mind. Northern California gives you almost every kind of season. Except snow. Where I live at least. One of my friends told me that once it rains, it doesn't stop. Lucky for me I love the rain so I'll be just fine with that.
Maybe I can also fill you in on my experience in a new city. I have no memory of living in a different place other than San Diego (even though I lived nearby San Francisco for one of my baby years), so it is overly exciting to be somewhere new. I don't know if people really prepare you for how lonely it is though. Even though I live here with my best friend, I go to a college with over 25,000 people my age, and the community is fairly outgoing, I still am finding myself in a rut of not fitting in with the crowd here.
Everyone has told me it is because I am under 21. Everyone likes to drink here. People go to the bars or they go to fraternity-sponsored events. To be honest neither of these really sounds appealing to me, so I guess I'm shit out of luck. That being said, I have been trying to find a "third location" of sorts that can help me meet other people. Right now that place is a cafe that I go to almost three times a week. It also helps that I think one of the baristas is extremely attractive, but that is beside the point (more on this later).
No more to say about this right now, I will start my journey here, technically on October 15, but I am updating this on the 17th instead.