music to fashion and back again...

Sorry for the brief AWOL. I kept trying to find the graphics I wanted for this post, but they were very difficult to find.

Anyway, as of late, I've been obsessing over a look, not unlike LAST TIME where I obsessed over lavender and caramel in a tough but sweet british countryside look for early fall.

As for my latest obsessive look, I blame it on this hawaiian guy, danyo cummings, from youtube. Like my unhealthy obsession with ebay, I also love looking for new songs by under-the-radar singer/songwriters on youtube. After the school semester ended, I was so obsessed with this song "Angel" by Lisa Lavie [it's a lot cooler than it sounds]. Sometimes it's just fun to search for things and figure out your taste and new things you like...as long as it doesn't get too obsessive [often a fine line for me].

Anyway, you know how fashion intersects with music in the funny way that it does? With music sometimes inspiring fashion, sometimes complementing it, sometimes, fueling it?

Well I listened to one of his songs...and it made me want to do 5 things:

1. Pick up a ukelele.
2. Move to Hawaii.
3. Adopt a easygoing, laidback frame of mind.
4. Put my black hair in a loose side-plaited bun.
5. Wear a breezy, slightly sheer, subtly patterned dusky but vibrant blue dress with an assymetrical hem that goes from knee to ankle. and spaghetti straps.

You'll see what I mean when you watch whatever makes you happy.

I mean, that's the song: "whatever makes you happy" :)

The above list is significant because all these things are nothing I would ever even consider doing. As for #1, although I always fancy learning instruments, I'm not so inclined! I still have a guitar in my room that I haven't picked up for years since I was worried about callouses and I didn't know how to tune it. As for #2, although Hawaii is depicted as you know, a tropical wonderland-- I hate heat, I actually like winter more than summer. I never considered Hawaii as a vacation place for me, and as too stereotypically mainstream as a vacation place to be of serious interest to me, personally [although we don't really take vacations much anyway]. I've always had the dream of being city chic and working well in fast-paced NYC.

So you see, this hawaii thing is SO different for me. Concerning #3, although I try to pretend to be easygoing sometimes, I am FAR from it. As for #4, I am not hair-inclined. I have long thick black hair, which hardly holds any curl. I don't even know how to french braid! But I just have this image of me in a sweet loose side-plaited hairdo. This is what took me so long in putting a post together since surprisingly, I couldn't find any runway photos where models had that style that was in my head although I was sure I saw it someplace [I think I clicked through 700 pictures of hye park and coco rocha and I gave up. Hey, you try clicking through 700 pictures of hye park and coco rocha!].

a better idea of the hairstyle...but should be looser

tracy reese sp 08 photos [tweaked from elle.com & focusonstyle.com]

And lastly, #5, ...that type of dress is NEVER something I would wear. I mean, I'd probably never pick it up off a rack. I mean, layering, and mashing together different colors and textures is more my thing than a medium-long breezy blue dress [not to mention the blue in my head is nothing I would ever wear]. I would also never pick up something with a neckline like that since I don't fell it suits me very much. Also, I typically don't like this type of breezy material either and long patterned dresses just aren't my thing. Another reason this posting took as long as it did was because I couldn't find "this dress" online at all... I also kept debating whether or not to try to put look together in real life, like an outfit post, but like I said, I'm hairstyle-challenged, and I don't own ANYTHING like that.

my sad 5-minute MS paint and photo editor rendition

So "What does this mean!" I wondered. I'm willing to trade NYC dreams for laidback down-home Hawaii? I don't know...maybe this is my new secret dream. It is very strange... all I know is, if one song can make me want to do so many strange things that are not what I'm inclined to, it must be a pretty special song. Plus, it's real catchy, in a non-pop way.

Any of you have a song that makes you want to change...well, your whole lifestyle and your personal style? Or just want to share your latest musical song obsession by an unheard of artist with me? strange times...


PS. not only do music and fashion have a long history together, but musicians and activism do too...on the animal rights side, you got (of course) Paul McCartney, Common, Tommy Lee, Tegan and Sara, Death Cab for Cutie...and now KT Tunstall! [actually one of my favorite artists]

"Two-time-Grammy-nominated songwriter KT Tunstall has just lent her voice to the campaign against KFC, firing off a letter to the managers of every KFC in Scotland encouraging them to pressure the company to stop its suppliers' worst abuses of chickens. You can read the full letter here." -blog.peta.com

Have a favorite artist who speaks up for animal rights? Take a page and be inspired! :)

______

action of the day [DO THIS]
-------

I think this tropical post would be incomplete if I didn't mention anything about my sea friends. You know, sea turtles, dolphins, and...sharks. Did you know that longliners are the worst culprits when it comes to shark finning?

Background info from http://www.hsus.com/:

"This fishing technique is very effective for catching sharks and indeed, many longline vessels are specifically fishing for sharks. However, some that catch sharks will cut off their fins and then throw the animals back in the water, leaving them to bleed to death. Shark fins can fetch a very high price due to the demand for Asian shark fin soup. Enforcing a requirement to bring in the whole bodies of these large animals would allow boats less space for the targeted species.

Recently, countries have started to adopt laws and international agreements against this cruel and wasteful practice; yet it is still legal in many places and laws against it are too lenient and poorly enforced.

Humane Society International is campaigning to strengthen domestic and international laws against and reduce demand for shark fins."

You can learn more about this here: http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/shark_tournaments/

You guys, as I always say, can make a difference. With persistence, the Humane Society had a significant victory in the campaign against the Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tourney in Martha's Vineyard. And the seaside town of Destin, Florida recently decided to discontinue the annual Destin Deep Water Shark Tournament.

Here's your action of the day, all you have to do is the sign your name to this! [see below] If you want to do more, visit:

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/shark_tournaments

Stop the Star Island Shark Tournament

The gory public spectacle of the annual Star Island Shark Tournament in Montauk, NY, is more than just a cruel contest kill—it also contributes to the ongoing decline in shark populations.

The shark species targeted by the tournament are all suffering serious population losses. The thresher shark was just categorized by The World Conservation Union as "threatened with global extinction." North Atlantic populations of blue and mako sharks have declined by 50 to 70 percent over the last 20 years. (hsus)

SIGN HERE-- it'll take less than a minute! and I would be very happy : )