Rainbows are Fantastic

Hello, Lovelies.
I know posts have been few and far between. It's part of backpacking Europe, that's how it goes. I'll have a lot to tell when I get back in April, and lots of pictures for you. For now, here are some England pictures and some makeup from a little while back.

King's Cross Station, London

Natural History Museum, London

Chill Spiderweb gate in Canterbury

On the river in Canterbury

A perfect replica of the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum

Big Ben at night

Earrings from Primark

Bun courtesy of my paintbrushes

In Barry M and Lime Crime

Barry M

All the best from Maastricht,
<3LW

'Tis Green!!

Finally.

Inspiration:
My university "family" threw a Christmas costume party, and I went as a Christmas tree. I wore a green plaid taffeta bubble skirt dress, brown tights, brown snakeskin Betsey Johnson heels, made construction paper presents to tape to my legs, sprayed my hair green (actually, my friend Ethan did the spraying for me), and clipped in a giant gold star I'd made.
I was amazed and pleasantly surprised to find out that the green actually looked good on me, which was confirmed by the onslaught of, "Dude-you-could-actually-pull-that-off"s, and that was when I finally settled on what color I was going to dye my hair.
After jillions of hours of google-imaging, I decided I wanted something that reminded my of the green letters on the black screens of old computers, slash something that could have been on the cover of the Half Blood Prince, slash kelly green only darker and prettier. Turns out, Special Effects makes EXACTLY that color, so I guess I'm not the only one. Cool.

Process:
My dear friend Emma Dahling and her wonderful mother helped me do this (aka did this for me).
'Twas done by lightening my natural hair color with 30 volume bleach, and then steeping it in Special Effects Iguana Green for... 1, 2, 3, 4...
...roughly 16 hours.
It probably would look the same now if I'd only left it in a couple hours, but I'm told that leaving it in so much longer will help it hold up better, and that since Special Effects dyes are vegetable-based, Leaving it in super long would not damage my hair. I'm incredibly excited.
Really.

IBCing You (aka I love root beer)

These pictures were taken in my backyard yesterday, most of them by my beautiful boyfriend Rafferty. <3

The kepi is his.

Toy horse supplied by Playmobil... aka from my endless collection of child's things I totally still play with.

I'm in love with these shoes, not least because they're incredibly comfy. I bought them for my trip to the Netherlands this coming semester (I leave January 26th!) because they are warm, comfortable walking shoes, even though the leather and fur are both fake. The fur is inside to about twice the length that is folded over, and they lace on the front and zip up the inner sides. The brand is Groove, and I bought them at Marshalls in Carson City, Nevada (we drove from Los Angeles up to Alturas to visit my uncle on his ranch for Christmas, and spent the night going up in Carson City). I wore them a little bit up there to ride, as it was quite cold, and just the other day (when these photos were taken) to camp on Colorado Blvd for the Rose Parade. 

I think my boyfriend needs to photograph me more... I'm loving the results. <3

I won this shirt in a holiday gift exchange... it's incredibly soft, and I think the perfect balance of masculinity/femininity for a girl who wants to jaunt around in men's Hawaiian shirts but still look good. Then again, that's just me.

These sunglasses were a miracle find. I saw them lying around at this great antique shop near Alturas for $8.00, and thought they were awesome... but of course cool vintage sunglasses for me are a losing battle, since I wear glasses and don't have the patience for contacts. But, I thought I'd try them on anyway just to see how they looked... since, you know, a girl can dream. I slipped 'em on, checked the mirror, smiled a sad smile, and took a quick look around... and noticed that I was able to read the posters on the walls. 

"MOM. I CAN SEE."

"What, honey?"

"I CAN SEE IN THESE GLASSES."
And the rest is history. :)

Reproduction sergeant's Union kepi for the marines, circa 1863. Navy wool, wood-lined, with black leather brim. Used for reenacting with ACWA's Confederate Marine Infantry, Co. B. It's my boyfriend's. 

IBC Root beer is by no means my favorite, but hey--it's still root beer, and I'm a fanatic. All that glitters may not be gold, but it's still glittery. Virgil's is my favorite, then A&W or Mug (I go back and forth with those two), then IBC, as far as major brands go (although typically the less major the brand, the better). Virgil's is really a breed all it's own--the only place I know to carry it is Trader Joes. Check it out.

And, no, I don't drink. I'm only 19 and live in the US so it shouldn't really be a question whether I do or not, but I'm also in college and what happens happens, so it really is a question, and for the record the answer is no, I don't. While we're on the topic, I also don't smoke or do any drugs. My soul is slightly torn between the part that abhors smoking and smokers for breeding idiocy and illness and the part that knows how damn classy a good pipe looks. Or those cigarette holders from the '20s. Look good in 20 years versus have a good looking pipe now? I picked the former, that's all. Enough moral babble. Fashion.

My rainbow bracelets! As I've mentioned, I have a boyfriend and I identify as straight, but as I have probably also mentioned, civil rights and freedom of expression are the absolute most important issues to me in politics, and I serve as founding secretary of SIF (Sexual Identity Forum) at Baylor University. SIFemBears.com

I wear my rainbow out of pride for the difference my (and our) work makes and has made, out of love for my friends and for all people however they identify themselves, out of respect, out of support, and as a symbol that those who know and believe in what the rainbow stands for are not alone. Sporting the rainbow does not mean you are gay or bi; it does not mean you agree politically or morally with "gayness" (is that pc? I don't know)--all it means is that you are a safe person with whom to talk, to whom you can be "out," and with whom you can freely be yourself. 

That's all, folks.

Best of the best,

<3LW

Things Will Be Better In Chicago

Hello my lovely readers!
I wrote the below at the beginning of finals week and never had time to upload the pictures during finals, and then there was absolute hecticness of packing up, flying home, christmas in the woods, boyfriend coming to visit (he's still here), and all that jazz before I finally (boyfriend is playing nazi zombies on black ops with my brother :D) had time to come back and post this.
To those of you who contacted me during my absence, thank you for checking in--I really appreciate the thought. <3 I'm sorry it's been a while, and I'll have a few posts rolling right out for you in the next couple of days. I hope you all had happy holidays and got to spend some time with your folks and the people who matter most to you, and the people to whom you matter most. Without further ado, here is what I meant to post weeks ago.
<3LW

---------------------------------------------------------------
The pendulum of finals is swinging out to the left in preparation for the full swing of pain, antisleep, paperwork, flashcards, death, coffee, sweatpants, and insanity coming soon to a theater near you. Aka Thursday. Aka sorry I haven't been posting much, but here's what I wore a couple days ago, and will be wearing again tomorrow for my psych history class review session, because me and my fellow group project members did (and will again be) perform(ing) St. Augustine: The Musical, aka Chicago, but about St. Augustine. There will be a video, io prometo. Anywho, so it's saints in fishnets (try not to take offense at that phrasing... or at the act itself, for that matter--offense is not meant), and this is what I wore.

• dress from Target
• fascinator from Primark
• earcuff from F21
• red fishnets by Hue
• character shoes by Danshuz
• red wool coat from Target

And, things will be better in Chicago. Aka after finals. Aka in the NETHERLANDS, because I'm doing study abroad next semester! WOOT! Notes on that later.

Furthermore, I have a tumblr now, so if YOU have a tumblr, too, you should follow me, and you should tell me so I can follow you, too.
iWantLovely.tumblr.com
That's all, folks.
<3Lovely Wednesday

I Am The Wind

I got called a bunch of things today.
Namely, "Indian Brave," "Mermaid," "Autumn Gypsy," "Like-a-Native-American-tribal-Indian-dancer-ethereal-fortune-teller-Chola-warrior-princess-thing," and "Jingle-Jangley."
Also, the typical "You're wearing a belt on your head. WTF?" (Sometimes a good WTF, sometimes neutral, sometimes bad, but no matter.)

I made this fabulous skirt for a gypsy Hallowe'en costume several years ago. 

We bought the patchwork fabric and Michael Levine and my mom said she thought she had something similar to it for the other panels already at home. When we got home and check, she had the gold/red fabric... that is EXACTLY the same as one of the fabrics used in the patchwork, and utilizes one of the same threads from ALL the other patchwork textiles. It was GREAT.

Since I'm still in the Oh-my-god-I-can-fishtail-braid-therefore-I-must-do-it-every-day phase, I did two fishtail braids today, but this time with my rainbow extension from Vivid Vivka (on etsy) braided in on my right.

I stuck feather earrings in the ponytail holders at the ends, and wore bronze-y hoop earrings. Both pairs came in the same earring set from my campus bookstore. Right? Right. Yeah.

I really enjoy creating the illusion of nudity or partial nudity when it's not actually there. I guess I just generally enjoying pushing limits (and envelopes?), and so wearing a nude skintight top under a T-shirt with only one button done seemed like the obvious solution.

I thought it was kind of obvious, but I actually got asked a couple times whether it was my stomach or a shirt. 

I guess the real question is "do you or don't you believe that I have a belly button?"

Hip scarf from somewhere in downtown LA... LOVE this thing. It has a full musical sound to it, the colors are gorgeous, and it's lightweight as all get-out. Who could ask for more in a hip scarf?

F21 gold cuff, bangles from craft stores/antique shops/thrift shops/travels abroad, vintage ring settings from Zinnia (wonderful craft shop in South Pasadena), spiky ring from F21 (on ring finger).

Makeup applied wet from some random pallette. It's just a shiny blue and a shiny bronze. I wore a dark wine-colored lipstick later, and I wish to god I'd worn it for the pictures. I looked a heck-of-a-lot better with it on, especially considering the heavy eyebrows I had today leftover from yesterday's shading.

This is one of my very favorite belts. So glad I just found another use for it. :)

This photo looks like something out of a comic book. You don't have to, but I love it. <3

picasion.com is my new favorite thing. :P

Is it just me, or are black and white photos inherently classier than color photos?

I think I look like a statue of a saint in this pic. That means NOTHING metaphorically. 

Like, really, please don't read into that.

And good morning/night/afternoon/whatever.
Go listen to the Cherokee Morning Song on youtube or something. Really, it's really good and it's been stuck in my head all day. :)

Love,

<3LW