All my heart, it breaks every step that I take

Everything either thrifted or vintage except shirt and cardigan (f21) and boots.

I'm working on an "about me" section. While this may seem trivial, this is a deep struggle for me. I fold my hands and stare at the blank edit post. And stare.

It's hard to control what people think of you, and the simple written "about me" is more than a label, it's a burden. It challenges how you see yourself, how you want others to see you, and leaves little room for subjectivity. It's hard to make yourself a commercial, an advertisement. I am the Queen of Exaggeration, clearly, my kingdom is the mountain I've made from anthills... but challenge yourself. How do you see yourself? Is it possible to entice someone from your personality alone?

The title comes from Lana Del Rey (yes, I'm on the bandwagon) song "Born to Die." I absolutely envy any artist that can catch my attention with the title of their piece alone, that is a talent I've never possessed in my short history of writing (thus why I borrow every title from a lyric that speaks to me). My favorite films have the same in common.

This barn was magical. We live not only in a face paced world, but a world of routine and familiarity. What a forgotten blessing the simple act of exploration is. I kept hearing voices outside and was scared I was intruding, but the light and the environment were a crime not to take an advantage of.

I love clutter. Possibly because my room is never clean. When I was a kid, my mother framed this poster above my bed that had kittens in buckets with paint all over them that said "I'm not messy I'm creative" and that's a great illustration of how I lead my life... Something about junk amuses me...I want to know who had that couch before and their story. I've always found intrinsic value in objects. I found old coloring books, classic literature and magazines scattered in the corners.

We crawled through a very tiny hole into the silo, where there was one single tree inside. My luck the lighting wasn't any good in there...

I have a feeling I'll return back to that barn soon. It feels like my secret garden.

-h.

Makeover!

 shirt - forever 21 (old), skirt - family vintage, belt - borrowed, scarf - borrowed, earrings - vintage buttons

Notice anything different? Unless your powers of observation are minimal, I CUTTED ALL MY HAIRSES OFF.

I've finally joined the ranks of Twiggy, 1950's Audrey Hepburn, Edie Sedgwick, Mia Farrow and other 60's mod era fashion icons and hacked off my follicles. I hate to use cliche words such as "empowering" but I really do feel so liberated with short hair. I donated that alarmingly heavy pony tail to Locks of Love so someone in need can have the hair I once babied.

I've always been in love with a woman who could pull off short hair (see list of style icons I adore listed above) I always worried I'd come off too manly, because of my large nose... 3 days later and I don't regret a thing except that I didn't do it sooner. It's changed my view of the beauty standards. I'm embracing it. I've been told time and time again (though the compliment never gets old) that I favor Emma Watson. I completely adored her makeover, and as we all know, every good artist copies, every great artist steals. How could you not love her with short hair?! Too many girls feel limited to having long hair because it's safe. That's been the reoccuring theme I've heard among reactions to my dramatic makeover: "Oh I wish I could pull off short hair!" YES YOU CAN! Just do your research, and try it! It'll always grow back. What was really helpful for me, and it might be a fun experience for anyone who wants to just play around, is this virtual makeover site from InStyle that allowed me to try out several pixie cuts. It's fun just to play around with!

My mom made me promise that when I have short hair, I must wear lots and lots of dangle-y earrings. I have no problems with this. (image: emma-watson.net)

Ok, enough about hair, let me tell you about the outfit: did it ring any bells? This was an impromptu look heading out the door... The inspiration is quite literal and taken from Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Remember when she hacked off all her hair? Yeah, that's exactly how I felt after I cut all mine off.  Roman Holiday is one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn films.

(image: en.wikipedia.org)

I hope to continue updating regularly again. Classes have taken over my life, and I thoroughly miss my "me time" that photoshoots provide. xx

-h.

There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon

skirt - forever21 (old), crocheted cardigan - thrifted, belt - thrifted, necklaces - borrowed & gift

I am fortunate enough to live near an open expanse of countryside, with old farms surrounded by crops. Everything about this area breathes nostalgia for me: the childhood explorations and my senior photos for high school which were taken around this area. I'm always overcome with the urge to plant myself under a shady tree and read a book, walk down to the river and dip my toes in the water, find an abandoned barn and write about it.

This is where fashion is meant not just for the purpose of conveying personal style, but personal story. In most of my looks, I wear something that was given to me, or handed down, and it's that much more unique with memory. The tiger's eye apple necklace was my grandmother's, bought in Japan, if I'm not mistaken. I'm happy that I can continue to bring myself and my background into these looks.

Morning comes in paradise, morning comes in light

It's been a busy two weeks and my usual photographer was out busy. But luckily a friend offered to shoot me on a nice day in the park! Thanks to Heather Ferguson for these pictures, they're amazing! She has some amazing photography and it was so nice of her to do this for me. Her flickr is here, so check it out! Also, that squirrel picture is adorable, he was our little audience the whole time (I think I'm turning into Snow White.) There's a few more pictures over at her flickr as well, I didn't want to overload, but it's nice to have options for which picture to use, because they all turned out stunning.

Dress - Urban Outfitters, Socks - Urban Outfitters, Shoes - nine west (borrowed), Jewelry - vintage/family, hat - target
Photos copyright Heather Ferguson - http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherferguson/

Well, it seems I don't ever go without a piece of family jewelry - I actually made this necklace a long time ago. It was my great grandmother's beads and I didn't have enough so I strung the few I had and made the clasp the pendant.

The dress was actually my graduation dress in 2010. I lovelovelove the back though, and me + floral anything = best friends.

The shoes are actually borrowed and a size too big, thus why socks were involved to help keep them on my feet.

~

In other news, I just finished "Diary" - and um, wow. Not my favorite of his, but certainly a quick and fascinating read. Just started on "Brave New World" for my next summer reading! Anyone want to join me?

-H.

Look #5 - I stole Dorothy's ruby slippers

bustier - Urban Outfitters (gifted), skirt - gifted, tights - gifted, shoes - shoe carnival, jewelry - gifted, jcpenny's, hat - vintage, bag - t.j.maxx

So after finally coming down from my high of being on the front page of Chictopia (!!!!!!!), I bring you all another floral inspired, vintage look! The hat was my mother's. I've reflected on the past few looks recently and considered just how many things are vintage from my mother!

I know I exceeded the necessary amount of photos per look, but I was extremely excited about this look, and I hope you're all as pleased with it as I am. I'm a sucker for red lips & lace over eyes. Very seductive, no?

-h.