The purpose of this intermittent feature is:
- to draw style inspiration from the world of words. I'll be taking a favorite book and using it to create an outfit.
- to create wearable outfits (not costumes!), with things I already own.
WHO: Witch Baby, a.k.a. Lily or Nina Bruja.
WHY? To me, Witch Baby represents the relentless search to grow into our true selves. In some ways, she reminds me of the Coyote/trickster figure found in so many cultures' folkore -- sometimes things need to be broken before we can approach the fragments with fresh eyes and build something new.
HER LOOK/STYLE: She has tilty purple eyes, tangly hair, and curling toes like cashew nuts. She simultaneously wants to burrow into the earth and ascend on wings. She carries a bat-shaped backpack (a nod to one of her family names, Bat). In "Witch Baby," one of her prized possessions is a shirt embroidered by Angel Juan's mother. In "Missing Angel Juan," Weetzie gifts her with a skeleton charm bracelet before she heads to New York.
QUOTES:
"My mother says that pain is hidden in everyone you see. She says try to imagine it like big bunches of flowers that everyone is carrying around with them. Think of your pain like a big bunch of red roses, a beautiful thorn necklace. Everyone has one." - Angel Juan
"I remembered the way I'd seen the world when I was young. I'd seen the smoke and the pain in the streets, heard the roaring under the earth, felt the rage beneath the surface of everything, most people pretending it wasn't there. Only those who are so shaken or so brave can wear it in their eyes. The way you wear it in your eyes."
"Dear Angel Juan,
You used to guard my sleep like a panther biting back my pain with the edge of your teeth. You carried me into the dark dream jungle, loping past the hungry vines, crossing the shiny fish-scale river. We left my tears behind in a chiming silver pool. We left my sorrow in the muddy hollows. When I woke up you were next to me, damp and matted, your eyes hazy, trying to remember the way I clung to you, how far down we went."
WHAT I WORE:
- purple plaid, purple to represent Witch Baby's beautiful eyes. I thought plaid shirts might be Witch Baby's style, too ... I definitely don't picture her dressing in a stereotypically feminine way. After all, she likes slithering through mud and playing the drums, and I doubt she does these things in a frou-frou dress. (Not that either activity can't be enjoyed in a frou-frou dress, mind you.)
- tee with an angel. It represents both Angel Juan and Witch Baby's own pair of wings (mentioned in "Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys.")
- tiny rose earrings. Roses, as the classic symbol of love and as a key fairytale element, are woven throughout Block's work.
Planet Gold buttondown, Macy's
Jedidiah tee, Ross
Any book you'd like to see me take on?
What an awesome outfit inspiration! I had such an obsession with those books when I was going through my baby goth/emo-lite phase. That makes them sound trite and poorly written, but they're great, just a part of my past. Now I need to reread them!
ReplyDeleteGreat inspiration - especially if it comes from books that you love reading!!
ReplyDeleteYou should do a hunger games inspiration!
Ooh, I like the idea of a "Hunger Games" post. :)
ReplyDeleteErin - I really enjoyed putting this post together, and already have some other favorite books in mind for inspiration. I agree that Block is a great writer - the books have held up over the years, unlike some stuff you go back to and realize it's terrible. I think Block just released a new book that she said is the book she's been trying to write for 20 years ... definitely adding that to my reading list!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love this idea, it's so fun and different! Plus, I've never heard of these books, so now I've got to make a trip to the books store, it sounds quite interesting! I'd recommended the Dresden Files, since the series is one of my favorite fiction reads, but sweatpants and cowboy boots are just never a good look.^_^ (And now I've revealed how much of I nerd I truly am....)
ReplyDeleteI really like the purple plaid over the graphic tee, the plaid shirt picks out the dark lines of the tee shirt.
Thanks, Katie! I don't think I have enough style mojo to make sweatpants and cowboy boots look chic. :p I've heard of the Dresden Files, but haven't read them. Will add to my miles-long books-to-read list ...
ReplyDeletep.s. Nerds are ALWAYS welcome here. :)