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Monday, August 31, 2009

Support Your Local Swapmeeet!

I am out of perfume. That is a huge accomplishment for me because I don’t ‘run’ out of anything. Last year I looked at my fragrance shelf and thought, “My, I have a lot of fragrances.” I don’t want you to think me excessive, but if you did, I couldn’t dispute that.

Anyway… Since I only smell like the scented shea butter, I decided to go get some more perfume. I have some essential oils that I could mix, but I have no medium to dissolve it in. I dissolve EO’s in vodka This joker came through and drank everything that I have. And I keep a stocked bar! At least I did. The nigga promised that he was gonna replace what he drank. But after a year, I suppose he’s not gonna keep his word. Plus that would take at least 2 weeks for the scent to develop in vodka. So…. I went off to the hood Beauty Supply Store.

Why a hood BSS and not Sally’s? Because hood stores have hood needs. And I wanted oils. Not oils that smell like popular blends like Dior, Glow and White Linen. Nope. I wanted, Black Love, Butt Naked and Lick Me All Over. And that’s what I got. I purchased some China and Egyptian Musk for the toiletry mixes and some, for real this is the name… “Pussy”… to wear on a daily basis. Already I have gotten compliments on how I smell. SMH. And I’m not one of those people who tell everything about themselves. I’m not gonna tell where and how much I paid for something.

But that got me thinking. Why is it when we get a few quarters to rub together, we leave the hood? I know that the hood is NOT known for quality but the neither is the mall. The same polyester clothes that hang on the racks of hood shops hang in Neiman Marcus. The name in the collar is different is all. And Manolos are a rip off! They run smaller and the heel is not sturdy. Try running down a bus in one of them jokers. I know this from experience. But them plastic platforms aren’t any better for you. Because when they break, and they will, it is cheaper to buy a new pair than to have them repaired.

Another good thing about hood shopping is it usually done in cash. That keeps you honest about your finances. And one learns to deal in Equality with your own people. I like that. I have been feeling a little cut off nowadays.

So. What does this mean for Serenity? It means that my jump off will be the hood and I’ll move up in price as my needs require. That is until I start looking like a full bloom hoochie. Then the upscale retail therapy will have to take precedence.


Peace

Hood Shopping

I'm excited!!!! I went to a fabric store. Not the 'good' fabric store. You know the one that is open daily and is known because its a chain. Nope. I went to the one in the 'hood'. You know, the one that is open only on the weekend. Where the employee don't have a full compliment of teeth and somebody is always calling for the Lord while eating chicken. That one. And guess what? I found ALL, not some, of the fabric that I needed to complete my entire fall collection! I am mad geeked y'all!

The grand total for all the fabric I bought was $19.26! That's it! Another thing I got from them is like 10 paterns for a dollar. i went to the 'known' fabric shop earlier and they were having a sale on Butterick patterns for .99 each. I got 10 mixed patterns for a dollar at the hood shop. It was a grab bag wrapped in grocery bags so you don't know what your getting. And if y'all have read my other blogs you know I am not a big fan of patterns, but I can see the value in owning some.

You know.... You can say what you want. But I am neither shamed or mad at shopping in the hood. I'm glad I have mental and physical option.

Now all I nee now is the energy to get crack-a-lacking!



Peace!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

My Fall Collection...

In a previous post in my ‘Righteous Urban Crunchiness’ blog I decided to do a lifestyle makeover. One of aspects of the make over was to completely re-vamp my wardrobe. I’m going to decrease it by 1/3. I plan to rid myself of synthetic fabrics (they smell bad) and make/sew the larger percentage of my garments.

I have decided to fill my closet with basics. Yes, of course, I will be following the current fashion trends (I love that shit!) but the trends will be customized to appear timeless. One of the staples that I will add on with is turtlenecks and long sleeved shirts. The place I go the most is work. And I want to step up my work wardrobe. My current boss doesn’t really seem to care what I put on my body, but I want to obtain a different opportunity. When I get home, I’m either naked or in sweats. I suppose when my God moves in permanently I’ll want to change that bit I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I will entertain suggestions.

From what I’ve seen in the Fall 2009 RTW trends, some of which I probably will not do. Biker chic is big. A lot of black leather and buckles. Now that’s mad cool for a 20-something year old, but I’m almost 40. I have some black boots with a big buckle and a leather jacket. But that jacket is definitely not biker chic. I’ll probably pick up a short and cheap leather jacket from somewhere. I am prohibited from buying brand new until September 28th of this year. I live in ATL so it won’t be cold here anyway until hopefully after Thanksgiving. I will look to catalogs for some cheap leather jackets in October. Probably one of the only new things I’ll buy this year. Unless I can find something at a thrift store. I have big boobs and that seems very unlikely to me that I will find something I can close.

Another thing is a lot of stretch pants and pant suits. Ummm….. No. I don’t wear pant like that. I wear them to work out, do yard work and to just lounge in. I don’t wear them out. And I don’t wear them long term. I only own one pair for each task. So nope. There is a lot of gray and metallic out there too. Those colors don’t look good on me so they will be in the details.

One thing that has me excited it the tribal/animal prints. Cool! I have a silk skirt. I am going to get a few more skirts probably. The trick thing with tribal or animal prints is you have to balance them. You can’t rock them at the job the same way you would elsewhere especially if you work for the devil. You have to mellow it so you blend in some. So there will be tribal skirts with turtlenecks. I want some jackets too. I am jacket lite. I want to make them but I am bad with jackets. That’s saying to me that that’s gonna be my goal for the next few months is to make jackets that I would actually wear.

I need a LBJ and a sheath dress. I have brown tweed that I plan to make a sheath dress from (a la Michelle Obama) and a cape. I have already made a skirt from it. I haven’t decided on the nature of the LBJ, but I want something with lace. That part I know. We’ll see how everything develops.

I’m dying to go to Hancocks and see what they have new. But I suspect that it will be very little. They were still selling off a lot of their summer stuff last time I went. I am so over summer. Though, if I see some cotton tribal fabric on sale I will scoop that up.

For some reason, I want to wear my pearls this fall. Back to the justice!



Peace

Monday, August 17, 2009

Okay Okay

Yeah, yeah , yeah.... Yada, yada, yada.... I suppose I'm opinionated enought to handle yet another blog. Here we go....

Clearly I am addicted to clothes and blogging. So I set this blog up to support my co-dependency.

My fashion blog is going to be a little different than other fashion blogs. I am a Refined Earth in the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths. that means I have a clothing restriction. I really have to come up with a better word than restriction because I don't feel restricted at all. But As I am Earth and as the planet Earth is cover approximately 3/4th of it's surface with water, I cover my body 3/4th with clothing. Case closed.

So this blog is me and my clothes addiction. I buy. I create. I sew. I design. I question. I ponder. I do a lot of things. Come follow me and watch how I get down.


Peace


PS: I'm on Polyvore.com as serenity Earth!