Because it's gloomy out, you're up early and the fair rides have yet to start spinning. A dress is the easiest thing to wear when sloshing through puddles. (Who wants to walk around all day with wet socks?!)
And there's something quite calming about browsing through trinkets with no agenda. Plus aren't mannequins just so freaking fun to look at!!?
So we suggest using a little bit of window shopping as a dress-up excuse (not that you ever need one!). You never know what fancy find you may acquire... or whose glance you may attract!
Tips and tricks I have acquired from listening to my elders and living in the same town since I was born. Do you have something to add? Let us know...
1. There is no such thing as being overdressed. Only haters will say otherwise.
2. Be nice to everybody...You never know what crowd you'll be mixed in with a few years down the line.
3. The secret to looking young forever? Sunscreen and a lot of champagne.
4. Going to bed in make up is not the crime your grandma led you to believe. Even Lady Gaga does it:
"When asked how many nights per week she goes to bed wearing makeup, she replies, 'Seven'."
5. If your lover doesn't kiss you right, take you out, is mean to your friends, etc., it's time to go fishing for a new one. You can't ignore that glaring dealbreaker forever and there are plenty of cuties in the sea.
I tire of you...
6. As much as we all love to resist the idea, everything really does happen for a reason.
7. You can get your beauty sleep when you're dead.
Wake up...wake up! There is still kissing to be done!
8. Money woes suck balls but we've all been there and those types of things tend to work themselves out. If they didn't, we'd all be sleeping on the sidewalk by now.
http://threewordphrase.com/
9. There's a lid for every pot, a mate for every soul and the perfect lipstick for everyone, somewhere out there in the world. Sometimes you just have to do some searching.
10. Leopard print is totally acceptable as a neutral.
Or as anything. From The Sartorialist.
11. Having a crush, or crushes, is good for the soul. Even if it results in nothing more than longing glances and extra trips around the block.
He's never washing that hand again.
12. Sometimes being mysterious is the sexiest way to be.
13. All things you do, good or bad, return to you in threes. Keep that in mind.
14. Giving a shit about something is sexy. It's easy to get bored of someone who doesn't have any opinions.
"A very dorky passion is much better than no passion at all."-Aristotle
15. If you have a great idea for a tattoo, especially if you're young, get out your planner or calendar, turn to the date one year later, and write it down. When you get to that page next year and you still like idea call your artist ASAP and get it inked.
This lady probably did not take our advice.
16. Throwing a kitschy homemade birthday party for your BFF can be the perfect gift. Bake a cake, paint a cute banner and just invite the people they really love.
If they don't like your cake decorating skills, they're not really your friend.
17. Sometimes it's best to take a chance. There's a million reasons not to do something, but will it really matter in 5 years if you sell all your stuff, buy a plane ticket as far as you can go and wander until your visa expires? Every now and then, turning your life completely upside down can be the best thing you can do.
"I don't regret the things I did, but those I did not do!" Vrooom!
18. There's no point in wasting time hating your body. Unless you wanna pull a Heidi Montag and pay some wacko a million dollars to rearrange your butt fat, you're gonna waste a lot of precious time worrying about something you can't change. Lookin' good has nothing to do with your height or your waistline. It's all about finding what looks good on you and serving it up to the world slathered in confidence.
19. There is no such thing as too much glitter. Anyone who tells you otherwise just finds you threatening to their image as a lumberjack (and who wouldn't love to see a glittery lumberjack?!). You won't even die if you accidentally eat it! (Just don't eat that much...)
20. Once the wild rebellious teen years are over, it's great to count your mom (or dad, or parental figure) as a friend. You will be shocked at how similar you are and no one else in the world will ever know you as well as she does and still like you.
Eventually they stop trying to pull this kind of shit.
21. Telling someone how you feel is hot. Why waste time pining when you could be making out? Bonus: Great excuse to make a mix tape. Or to rent a marching band and get a street closed.
22. When the shit's hitting the fan and you feel like nobody likes you, the best thing you can is hop to the library, check out something fascinating, make a blanket fort and turn your phone off. Get lost in another world and don't come out until everybody's knocking down the door to your fort, begging you to return to their world.
23. So many women say "No no no, I could never wear heels! I'd break an ankle instantly!". This is just not true. Here's the secret to wearing heels (for your eyes only): Buy a nice pair of medium height with a chunkier heel that won't mess up your feet (Born is a great brand for the uninitiated). Throw a pair of flats in your bag just in case, but wear them wear them wear them for as long as you can. Do this every day for a week and you'll be jogging in stilettos in no time! This strategy totally works and adding heels to an outfit makes your legs and body look amaaaaaazing!
24. Print your digital pictures and do it often. You never know when your computer might die or be stolen, or maybe the world will end and Instagram won't be a thing anymore! (Oh, the horror!). You wanna be able to show your grandkids how snacky you looked as a teen, so plan ahead. Even better, take more photos with film. It looks 100 times better anyway.
25. And finally, for now, wearing pretty underwear is never a mistake.
"I may never walk again, but the paramedic was certainly charmed"
We know how influential music can be on life events. Which is why we've decided to offer you kids the chance to utilize playlists we've made as accompaniment for various Human Being Activities.
And so we are letting you take advantage of our "Clean the House Like Only a 60's Housewife Knows How (But With Better Style and Less Sinatra)" Playlist.
Warning: genres and eras will collide. But your agenda shall not be scathed upon listening!
Just click the link below and you'll be scrubbing that scum with a smile on your face in no time!
If your house looks like a pack of randy wrestlers came charging through it, you're probably itching to make it spotless again. This generation, we know, associates 'cleaning' with wearing your most scuzziest of frumps. Putting a bandana around your head, leaving your pajamas on and getting your Grime Time on.
As shopgirls, we suggest an alternative: Find those high heels you've got buried in the back of your dangerously cluttered closet. The ones you never have a reason to wear. The ones you purposefully forget about. The ones that you're terrified of. And PUT THEM ON.
I spent my entire birthday afternoon cleaning in my highest of heels. Oh my stars, was it liberating! I was breaking them in, I was feeling confident, I was listening to good records, I was GETTING IT DONE. Plus, I could reach things I'd have to climb counters to score. It was such a wonderful feeling.
So step one to feeling like a lady in Scuzztown, USA is to dress fancy at home. Scrub the counters in a party dress. Sweep the floor in stilettos. Take out the trash with curls framing your face, darling! Because feeling like a million bucks while no one's watching is the first step to feeling fantastic in the huge wide world.
We know how hard it is to show yourself off. Especially when you're a female that's constantly surrounded by Scuzztown brats. Which is where we Shopgirls come in! During our career as recreational fashiony bloggers, we wish for only one outcome: To give you every reason to feel absolutely fantastic! To push you into leaving the house in nothing but your loveliest of get ups. To remind you that self expression is crucial. Not only for making impressions on the world but also for letting yourself be the person you've always wanted to become.
As one girly half of this blog, I'd like to share my story with all you dear readers! I recently moved here from big-shouldered Chicago where I went through many phases of fashion. I was a long-skirted, flip-flop wearing hippie. I went through a trend of only wearing dresses with tights and uncomfortable flats which was followed closely by my "I'm gonna be riding my bike everywhere and then working at a diner" attire. Which included stretchy mini skirts, leggings, weird shirts and big cardigans. I thought all "fashion" was pretentious. I wanted nothing to do with it. I only shopped for comfort, for good deals and for things I wouldn't feel bad about spilling red wine on.
Fast forward a couple of years. I get hired at a whimsical, lovely dress shop. I buy my first pair of heels since senior prom - with much success! I dive head first into the world of ladylike fashion. And I haven't turned back!
I never thought I'd own more than two pairs of shoes at once and I definitely never thought I'd get excited about putting a belt on over a dress! But I've realized that fashion is an art. It takes a keen eye, an open-minded color palette and the courage to prance around in something that may cause a double take. I love it! It makes every morning so much more significant.
This blog is the creation of two like-minded shopgirls that believe fashion is something so much greater than all of us. It can make us feel beautiful or cozy or fearless or safe. It can open doors, it can paint pictures, it can start conversations and it can most certainly turn heads! So we'd like to invite you to relish the newest wrinkle. Let it into your life. And... EMBRACE THE VOGUE!
I think most of us have a person or two that we try to channel when we get dressed in the morning. I have about a million and though I'm madly in love with all of them, my queen, the titan of my fashion fever dreams, is the one and only Francoise Hardy.
Seriously, what a babe. And she is cool as hell. She was raised by her mother alone. Her absent father gave her a guitar as a graduation gift and she scored a record deal when she answered a newspaper ad for young singers. She was always incredibly shy and struggled with it her entire career but she basically lived my dream life- she was the It Girl of France in the 60s, released all sorts of succulent pop music in French, German, English, even Portuguese. Mick Jagger described her as his "ideal woman" but she rejected him. Jean-Luc Godard put her in a movie. Fucking Bob Dylan wrote a poem about her.
As amazing as she is, she was never comfortable with her professional life and always felt that the Francoise Hardy presented to the world was a completely different person. As soon as she could, she peaced out on the French Pop Industrial Complex, had a baby with, and eventually married, Jacques Dutronc...
Scuzztown Body Language Expert says they're pretty into each other.
....and WROTE A BOOK ABOUT ASTROLOGY.
If only I was fluent in French and could afford to buy a copy of this. (She's a Capricorn, in case you're a curious astrology nerd like me).
Though she wasn't lovin' it, Francoise's style is timeless and looks just as fresh in 2012 as it did back then. She perfected understated sexiness. Her look often bordered on tomboyish but no one would doubt her femininity for a second. Those doe eyes, that perfect hair, those cheekbones!
Feeling like you need to infuse your life with a little more 60s French Cool Girl Swag? You've come to the right place.
The Shopgirls Guide to Channeling Mme. Francoise:
Une: Press Play.
This song is high up there on my summer jams this year. I feel like I'm speeding down a country road in a vintage convertible with the cutest boy in town whenever I listen to it.
Deux: Regarde ça!
Ici! All of the elements necessary to make people think you just hopped off the red eye from Charles De Gaulle.
Bronzer- Oh, the magic of contouring. Because we weren't all blessed with cheekbones that could cut glass.
Nude Lipstick and Black Cat Eyes- Quiet sexiness is all about neutrality. Play down your beautiful lips a bit and they'll be lost in your eyes.
Black Cigarette Pants-Looking hot in cigarette pants is much healthier than having actual cigarettes in the pockets of your pants.
White Turtleneck- Minimalist sex appeal, perfect for when your striped shirt is dirty.
Black Ankle Boots, Striped Tee and a Trenchcoat- Frenchies love Trenchies! Ooh la la! Pair them with Geometric Sunglasses and a Floppy Hat and hopefully the rock n roll dreamboy whose calls you've been ignoring won't recognize you when you pass on the street. (We doubt it, beautiful, but you can try).
1. Wearing stained clothing in public is just sad. If you dropped mustard on your shirt while eating a hot dog, that's fine. It's human. But go the extra mile, find some club soda and start scrubbing. There's nothing that looks worse on a shirt than yesterday's lunch.
2. If someone happens to walk by that you're attracted to (suddenly), we suggest offering her a smile. Maybe even a flower or a quick hello, a 'how do ya do'. Never in the world is it appropriate to cat call, hoot n' holler or scream from a moving car at a girl you think is fly. Despite what you may have been told while growing into larger boys, no lady is going to go home with you because you yelled out how fine she looks from across the street. We can't speak for all the girls of Scuzztown, of course but we can honestly say that such behavior only makes us want to put another layer on, quicken our pace and drink a lot of vodka at the darkest of bars.
3. OFFER TO BUY A LADY A DRINK. We're willing to bet she'll buy the next round. You'd be surprised how sweet ladies can be!
4. Being mysterious is very cool- sexy even! We have to admit, it draws us in sometimes, leaves us yearning for more! But we've had quite enough of the 'Oly Diss', okay!?
If you're not interested in a person, tell them that. If you decide you'd rather not hang out with them on a given night, send them a brief little text message. If you don't have a phone, tie a note to the neck of a raven and hope it reaches the bar.
Communication is a human necessity. Without it, we're all just weird voiceless creatures gaily bouncing off one another like fruit rolling around a sloppy floor.
So get with it and speak up!
5. Sulking/whining/pouting is actually for ACTUAL babies. Unless you're going through something tragical, keep the sniffling to yourself. There are few things more annoying than hanging out with a person that thinks 'complaining' is the same as 'talking'.
6. BRING BACK THE DATE, YOU GUYS!! Hanging out on your basement couch is fun and all but we can do that with almost anyone. Why not try and woo us a little? All it takes is a free evening, a public location and maybe some clean pants. Throw the element of surprise in there, a pinch of charisma and you've pretty much got yourself a date!
7. BE POLITE. You don't have to do outrageous flip flops through a hoop or anything but it would be nice if you could appreciate the company you're with. Make that person feel important. Ask them questions about themselves while actually listening to their answers. Let yourself be open-minded and consider their opinion during discussions. Try not to be boastful nor talk too much. Humility is a fine quality and arrogance only attracts the weak and insecure.
We'll update you when more advice for the modern gentleman comes to us, dear readers. But for now, follow our simple plan and you'll probably be the only male in town with a girlfriend... or three!
