Trends I just don't get.

I've put this post off for a while, because I didn't want to sound snarky or curmudgeonly... But I just don't "get" a lot of current accessory trends. Maybe it's a symptom of my Goth-Hippie-Geek-Faerie ways. Perhaps if I were more mainstream, I would be in love with the same things everyone else was. For instance, when I was about 14, I went through a brief stage where I wanted to be like the other teenagers, so I convinced myself that I loved ringer tees with smiley face daisies on them. Now, of course, I don't own a single smiley. I don't even have a smiley button on my messenger bag (Heavens know I have every other sort of button!).

The big trend that I don't understand is flip-flops. Not the shoes themselves, I wore my fair share as a kid and a teen and the only reason I don't wear them anymore is that they don't last long when gravel is involved, so I prefer sturdy leather sandals these days. What boggles my mind is how they've gone from being a cheap Summer shoe to some sort of bizarre cultural icon. I've seen flip-flop jewelry, beads, cell phone dangles, cell phone cozies, party invitations (made on actual flip-flops for some unfathomable reason. Who uses a shoe as a part invite?), and heaven only knows what else. What is it about those simple little shoes that makes people say "Not only do I want to wear that on my feet, I want to surround myself with it!"?

I mean no offense to those of you who are currently enamored of flip-flops, but I'm pretty sure that within a few years, the culture as a whole will ask "Why were we so into that?" Kind of like how I look back at the 90s and wonder why I thought that suede lace and pony bead necklaces were so cool.

Another thing that I don't understand is cupcakes. I've seen a lot of cupcake stuff lately. Don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes. As a food. They're delicious, just the right size, and yes, they're even cute. But cute enough that I would want to wear them? Not really. Food is for my belly, not the outside of my body. Maybe I'd be more into it if I was part of the culture of cute, but I tend more towards the Gothy "These skull beads are the coolest thing ever" mold of fashion. The Lady of the Manners may have adopted the term Cupcake Goth, but I'm afraid it really doesn't apply to me.

And the last thing that I don't quite get is the connection between indie designers and cute forest animals. I mean, I like it. A lot of the jewelry and other things I see with sparrows, owls, deer and such really appeals to the nature-lover in me. I just don't understand why it's so prevalent. Sometimes I feel out of place when I look at other peoples' sites and they've got trees with birds, and little loopy vines, and I have... a really Gothed-out faerie. I guess that's the same part of me that felt like I had to buy ringer-tees as a 14 year old to fit in (for the record, it didn't help). My main thing is that I'm curious as to how it started. Did one or two people make products with cute woodlands creatures, and then a bunch of others decided to follow suit? Or was it one of those spontaneous inspiration things? Or are the sort of people who like to run indie businesses also the sort of people who love the adorable wild animals?

I guess that's enough about me feeling out of touch. Now allow me to make up for it with some Cool Things! The first is this awesome Raven pendant. Ravens are something that I "get!" The second is Tea Forte. I'd love to try their teas, just to see those cool bags in action! And the third is this really wicked Skeleton Angel t-shirt. Wings and skeletons! Two of my favorite things together in one awesome shirt!

Fashionable Friday -- DIY for Summer!

The Summer fashion forecast calls for Do-It-Yourself to be hot, and the Summer meteorological forecast calls for the weather to be hot. You know what this means, don't you? DIY t-shirts!

Well, actually, it means DIY whatever you have the awesome skills to make. After all, if you can sew yourself up some cute cotton sundresses, all the more power to ya. But sewing is an expensive addiction. DIY t-shirts are a little easier to attain, since most of them can be done without a sewing machine, or with those tissue paper patterns that your cats might like to shred (my cat Topher thinks that tissue paper is its own food group).

You might be tempted to buy t-shirts that someone else has already Done It Themselves to, but honestly, modifying your own t-shirts is not that hard. Your local craft store is full of dyes, paints, markers and other items that you can use to add pizazz without altering the original shape of the t-shirt. Or you can get wild and crazy and start cutting up your shirts to make them into something different.

If that's the route you want to take, I recommend the book Generation T by Megan Nicolay. I purchased it after a friend showed me the super-cute top that she'd made, and even though I can't cut a straight line to save my life, I was able to make two shirts in one evening. The nice thing is that a lot of the projects only require a t-shirt, a pair of scissors, and maybe a ruler. Even many of the more complicated ones can be done without any sewing.

If you don't have any previous sewing or DIY experience, I recommend practicing first on shirts you don't care about, so that if you have to keep cutting a little off to get the bottom even and soon you're all the way up to the collar, you haven't ruined an awesome shirt. If you don't have any cruddy shirts lying around to butcher, you can either hit the thrift store and get some for as cheap as .50, or you can wait for the craft store to put shirts on sale for 2/$5. If you're slightly evil like me, you can raid your husband's clothing, pick out all the shirts that he hasn't worn in a year, flutter your eyelashes, and say "Love, can I cut these up?"

Once you feel confident enough to take your scissors to perfectly good and lovable shirts, you may find that your desire to DIY-up some tees may outstrip your collection. Then there's only one thing to do (other than raid your husband's shirts again...)... SHOP!

Needless to say, there are tons of places you can go to buy t-shirts, from department stores to gift shops, swap meets, craft fairs, thrift stores, yard sales, conventions, in fact, it is probably harder to find someplace that doesn't sell t-shirts. But this column would be boring without links to a few places on-line to buy t-shirts, so let's get to it.

I love to browse Etsy and I'm always finding cool t-shirts on there. Many of them are screen-printed or otherwise decorated with the works of other artistic people, which makes for some extra-awesome DIY styles.

Squidfire has all kinds of cool t-shirts, and they're supposed to have new designs coming soon. Hurrah!

I like Off World Designs for geeky, gothy, and fantasy t-shirts. As an added bonus, they have a pretty big "clearance" section!

On the other hand, if you're looking for Lovecraftian tees, you absolutely cannot go wrong with the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. Their shirts rock and they are cool people to shop with.

Rotem Gear has some pretty cool shirts, and some pretty funny ones, and some just plain pretty ones. I'd like to get their dragonfly haiku shirt to wear to my L5R game. Yes, I AM so geeky that I occasionally pick my clothes based on the character I play. Moving on...

We've only scratched the surface of the t-shirts available on-line, of course. With services like CafePress around, it's very easy for artists and clever people to put their work on shirts and make them available to the world, and I think that's pretty awesome. Anything that helps me diversify my wardrobe makes me a happy girl. Do you have a favorite t-shirt source that you'd like to share?

Although I enjoy doing DIY tees, my main thing is, obviously, DIY jewelry. You might want some nice designs to go with your rockin' new Summer look. Earrings are always a good way to accessorize a more casual outfit. Spiral Bracelets and Dragonscale Bracelets add some spark. And of course, nothing is better for warm weather than a flirty Anklet.

Now I might just go break out my scissors and make a shirt to wear this weekend!