Blogger of the Moment! The seventh edition...

Meet Julie, everyone! If you haven't already been to her blog, Orchid Grey, you must (if only because she spells "grey" the right way, haha). She's a fun girl with a great sense of style, sure to inspire. Some of my outfit inspirations have come directly from her blog. Plus, she's a thrifting queen, which, if any of you know me, I totally dig. Now read this little interview, then head over to Orchid Grey!

DT: What is your favorite part of blogging?

JULIE: I love the community! I don't have a lot of fashion centric people around me so it's great to be able to connect with people who have a similar interest. I mean, how awesome is it that you're in Alaska and I'm in Massachusetts and we would have never connected otherwise? Blogging also forces me to take photos everyday. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with photography (it's actually what I went to school for), so blogging has really helped me get back into the habit of taking photos. There is a lot of troubleshooting that goes on when you photograph yourself in an environment, it's really helped me with the technical aspects ofmy camera and lighting- which I'm awful at.

DT: What inspired you to start Orchid Grey? Any particular bloggers who got you into it?

J: I'm not really sure what made me actually start the blog, but I do remember sitting down and somehow coming across What I Wore and then JenLovesKev. The combination of these two blogs really inspired me. I was drawn to Jessica's (of What I Wore) dedication to her blog and to showing off what she put together and how driven she is and I loved how Jen (of JenLovesKev) writes about her style but also weaves in more personal aspects of her life in her writing, like her job and her marriage. I felt like i could really relate to these girls and also felt I had something to add to the conversation. I also needed to get on a budget, there was this whole portion of my closet that I wasn't utilizing, and I wanted to get more creative with my outfits.

DT: You're an admissions counselor at a college, what's your favorite part of your job?

J: My job definitely has it's ups and downs, but one of my favorite aspects has been the chance to travel. Every fall the admissions counselors are sent out into the world to recruit. We do this by visiting high schools, college fairs, and portfolio days (like a college fair for art students) all over the country. Since I started two and a half years ago, I've been all over the US. Seattle (x3), Detroit, Austin, Dallas, Memphis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, and all over New England. Traveling alone can be a challenging experience, but the level of independence you gain and the unexpected treasures you come across are priceless! I alsoreally enjoy being in an arts-centric community. Because I work for a fine arts college, I am surrounded by other creative people 24/7. It's inspiring and motivating to be around creative thinkers and I love having that community around me.

DT: What is your dream job?

J: My goal is to work in Fashion in some creative capacity. I would love to be a stylist for photo-shoots or work at a magazine. And my boyfriend and I have always talked about opening up our own boutique of some sort. Right now I'm not too worried about specifics, I am concentrating on steering my career in that general direction, we'll see where I end up!

DT: Of all the places in the world, where would you like to visit or live most?

J: There are so many places that I want to visit. Right now I'm really interested in Iceland and Norway. I would also love to go back to Germany, I visited when I was younger but would really love to go back and explore the places where my mother spent time as a child. As far as places to live, I love Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, it would be nice to spend more time out there. I'm really interested in exploring more of America. I love driving, so it would be great to go cross-country.

DT: What got you interested in style/fashion?

J: I don't really know where my interest in fashion came from exactly. I always felt a little out of place where I grew up because I had this innate interest in fashion that went beyond what my peers were buying at the mall. My mother took me to thrift stores when I was very young out of necessity and I also wore a lot of hand-me-downs. My mom was also very tiny when she was my age (26) so I was wearing her old hand-made bell bottoms and mini dresses in sixth grade. I was always encouraged to be creative in one way or another, and I guess somewhere in there clothes became just another medium of expression.

DT: You've mentioned that you love art, what's your favorite type or art/who's your favorite artist?

J: My favorite medium is photography, which is consistent with my

background- I think I'm just naturally drawn to it. I'm really

interested in large format film work, anything really traditional. Some of my favorite artists include William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, and Nikki S. Lee. There is a common documentary thread that runs through all of those people, though Sherman and Lee's work could also be considered performance in a way. I love anything having to do with the idea of document or archive as art.

DT: You recently went to a blogger meet up in Boston, what was that like? Have you made real-life friends through your blog?

J: Well, I had already met Jen of JenLovesKev before the meet-up, so it was nice to know someone already who would be there. She and I met when I was traveling in upstate New York for work. I was so nervous before the meet-up, I must have sent her a million crazy emails about what I was going to wear! The meet-up was fun and way less stressful than I expected. Sometimes, I don't do well in social situations and can be awkward and quiet, but everyone was

super nice and relaxed! It was great to meet people whose blogs I had been reading for awhile, and also be introduced to new faces. I really hope there are more in the future.

DT: Do you prefer vintage/thrifted or designer clothes? Why?

J: You know, if you had asked me this question a year ago, I probably would have answered "designer". But since I started Orchid Grey, I have completely rediscovered my love for thrifting and vintage. I think the shift was slow, I

started noticing more and more that the clothes I was buying at the mall were of poor quality and/or didn't quite

fit my body right and I am always a little disappointed with the selection. I love going to a thrift store and having to hunt for something, sometimes I turn up with nothing and sometimes I hit the jackpot. Either way I don't end up spending a lot of money and I have a good time. Most of the outfits on Orchid Grey cost me under thirty dollars total, I'm proud of that. I won't buy something just because it's cheap though, I look for high quality, gently worn pieces. One thing I will spend more on are shoes, I still have an "under $100" limit, but I don't mind spending a little more on good shoes.

DT: What are some of your daily must-read blogs?

J: My must reads change daily, and it's hard to keep track of who I'm looking at. I like blogs that are easily relatable, where the blogger isn't spending their rent on a pair of shoes just to keep up with what's hot this minute. Realistic, but still fun and different, you know?

DT: Why do you think people should bother with putting together interesting outfits or caring about what they look like?

J: You know I think a lot of people think that caring about the way you look and caring about fashion is bad, but I think wearing something great can give a person a lot of confidence.

From Russia, With Love

I have been aching to show you all this dress since I thrifted it last week. It's probably my new favorite thing in my closet. It's all handmade! Someone made it themselves and I got it at a thrift store, how cool! It has a 60's mod feel to it and I was walking around in it the other day and thought that maybe someone made it as a halloween costume and there I was just wearing it as regular clothes! If you styled it right it would be the perfect Austin-Powers-girl dress. I feel awfully sexy in it even though it's not necessarily a "sexy" dress. I had to put on the fur hat because when I wear the dress with the hat it makes me feel like a girl in a Bond movie where Bond is at some Swiss ski chalet and he's chasing bad guys on skis and I'm the sexy ski chalet girl he tries to seduce.

This dress is actually a perfect winter dress. It's very warm. Today it's about 30 degrees, too, so I felt like I could be outside for hours doing my photos! The difference between 10 and 30 degrees is so amazing. Actually, a couple weeks ago there was a city in AK that was -56 F and another that was 46 F. Over a hundred degrees difference in one state. Unbelievable eh? It kind of blew my mind.

dress/thrifted :: leggings/F21 :: boots/lulu e. bebe :: hat/dunno. we've had it forever

I actually wore this dress last night to go out with some friends, but I had to put it on again this morning to take pictures of it. If anyone lives in Anchorage, you should go to Taproot on Huffman, it's really great. I drank the most incredible beer there. They have beers and wines from all over the world. I'm pretty sure they have live music every night, too. A very cool place, indeed.

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, yes, that is a zipper. The whole dress can unzip, isn't that funny?

Rock me, mama, like a southbound train.

Today I woke up at noon. Ridiculous. I hate waking up later than 10:30, it makes me feel like I'm wasting my life. I decided to be slightly creative today so I made a little slideshow video music thingy. I don't have actual video footage of anything so my videos are always just slideshows, haha! My brother makes silly handmade videos, so he's the Steven Spielberg of our family. He makes moving pictures, I make still ones.

Here are some pretty pictures for you to look at.

(fuckyeahtattoos, ffffound, & I don't remember the rest)

Unless They Look Like Mick Jagger

Well, here's what I wore to my interview. Pretty much the exact same outfit I wore last week except different skirt. It went pretty well, I'll find out soon if they want me go back for a second interview. I think my portfolio was pretty well put together (for doing it the night before). It seemed to go over pretty well. I was happy with it, so at least there's that.

If any of you have been around my blog for a while, you'll remember my Menswear Monday feature that I used to do. I did it kind of for my little brother, who is fifteen and sort of interested in style, to the extent that a 15 year old heterosexual boy can be. Anyway, I'm doing a couple guest posts at Male Ugly for Chictopia, so go check it out!

When I visited Washington a couple weeks ago I retrieved my macro lens. I haven't gotten it out since then until today. Man is that a nice lens. It can get so close it makes the patterns on my skin look like little canyons.

skirt/thrifted :: top/thrifted :: shoes/ payless :: purse/vintage :: necklace/mousevox vintage :: ring/F21

My best friend finally got a camera and she's starting a blog!! She's super awesome, so go over and check it out. She hasn't posted any outfits yet, but hopefully she'll start soon. She's built very much like Christina Hendricks and I haven't ran across many fashion blogs that are by curvier girls. I'm excited to see her outfits!

Oh, and we haaaaave a winner! The winner of the Decades of Baltimore giveaway (randomly drawn), is....

Midwest Mayhem! Congratulations!

P.S. I'm not really a big fan of Ke$ha (mainly because a.) I'm not a huge fan of her singing style, and b.) who uses a dollar sign in their name?), but I'm totally on board with that line about Mick Jagger-esque boys.

Flair to Remember

It seems that my nature has not changed since college. I am currently in the midst of putting together a portfolio for my interview tomorrow afternoon. I'm still the good ol' procrastinator that I always was! It's kind of strange putting together a portfolio for a job. Portfolios for college just involved putting forth your best work, but trying to get a job? You have to try and predict what the employer wants most. Do they want me to show my creativity or my ability to make logos, or what? I suppose it comes down to what kind of graphic design firm you're applying to. I guess I can only show what I think embodies my style and abilities.

I decided to start watching Bones, mainly because it's the one thing on Hulu that I haven't seen all the episode of and looked mildly interesting. Aaaand, I needed something to watch while I did my portfolio. It's an okay show. I hate when detective shows utilize much too futuristic technology to solve crimes. So, Bones isn't my favorite show ever. It's got pretty typical characters and relatively uninteresting cases, but it's alright. I prefer Fringe and Castle when it comes to crime solving shows. Actually, it's pretty funny to see Emily Deschanel act in something. I've only ever seen Zooey, but they are so similar! I wonder what my sister would be like if I had one. I'm really glad I don't have one though. I'm not the sisterly type.

dress/thrifted :: boots/target

This dress makes me feel like Nikki from Flair to Remember. I love her style. Hers was one of the first blogs that I read on a regular basis. She's got this perfectly vintage, carefree, summery style that I could only wish to have. Of course, she lives in Australia, which means she gets to be on the beach, dress up for races, and look perfectly tan. It almost makes me want to move to Australia!

I've picked out my outfit for tomorrow, and I'm not wearing that green ruffled top. It's kind of hard for me to determine what is an appropriate "interview outfit." I feel like so many people just wear black grey and navy to interviews, and I hope that potential employers don't see my outfits as too casual for an interview simply because I don't wear what other people typically do. I got offered the job I interviewed for on Sunday, so either way I have a job, but I really want this Graphic Design job, if only to validate my degree, haha!