Boulder and the Beautiful

I make up a lot of words. That’s because I am a writer, and writers think they have the right (er, wright? See, here I go again) to make up words.
For example:
Schmancing: Smoking whilst dancing.
Beturning: When you buy something with the explicit intention of returning it after one use.

My latest Aimeeism (also a word I made up) is fash-back, similar to a flashback, but with regards to fashion.
Here is your fash-back of the day.

My uncle sent a Life magazine published in 1948. I thumbed through and found some stylings rather cool for 60 years ago. And today. This is a trend I wouldn’t mind bringing back. (Much better than skinny jeans with Keds, ahem, Misha Barton, ack!)  

Could it be that all of these lovely ladies just so happen to have perfectly placed natural moles? Oh no, these are Adhesive Beauty Patches!

Wait, did that say frilly petticoats and long swirling skirts?
Obviously I love anything that accessorizes that look. And these are almost like mini tattoos.
I especially like the little people-shaped ones. I want to put one dancing on my eyebrow. Or up my nose. But then, I guess that’s not “ultra-feminine” and sexy. Hmm, maybe put it somewhere secret and make a “Where’s Waldo?” game out of it?
Maybe not.
Still. I see a market.

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My family banned greeting cards several years ago. We are funamentally opposed to dumping four bucks on an unoriginal piece of paper that will be chucked in the trash can momentarily (sorry, it’s true — I come from a long-line of obsessive thrower-awayers. I’m not even sure my parents kept my childhood photos). Instead, we give each other that $4 in cash and hand-write a personal letter.

Although recently, on the tail of the Green Take-Over, we started writing shorter letters. You know, to save on ink and paper, thus increasing the cash gift by about a quarter. This eventually morphed into three letters “HBD” (short for happy birthday) scrawled on the package of (unwrapped, of course) gifts — and an ecard waiting for me in my inbox, along with my 34,000 other e-mails of the day.

Someecards is my favorite sarcastic ecard site, “when you care enough to press send.” Aw. So thoughtful.

Here are a few of the cards I think are just tops.

And a great one for those mass birthday cards you get at work:

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My latest obsession: the interesting-print heels by none other than Carlos Santana.
I’m not a big fan of celeb clothing lines. There’s just something poser-ish about saying you’re wearing J-Lo pants or trying to smell like Britney Spears in a jar.
Regardless, these shoes are smooth… just like the ocean under the moon.
Oh yes I di-id just say that.

www.carlosshoes.com

Seen at Macy’s

Note: Don’t the shoes above somehow resemble Santana in this picture? Like if a dude could be a heel somehow… something… whatever. Forget I even brought it up.  

Aqua leopard heels, $88. Two of the coolest color combos: aqua blue and leopard print. I like how the seeming clashing patterns actually work together beautifully.

Pink leopard, $88. A pinky version of the aqua heels.

Lilac Holo print, $110 – an edgy twist on old-school Mary Janes.

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Seriously. Is there a furries convention in town or something?
This was at the recent Broomfield Bash.

And yes, I regret even knowing what a furries convention is, much less bringing it up.
So I’m sorry.

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My fashion column this week is about kid fashion, and how perhaps kids have better style sense than we do. I mean, kids really express themselves with their clothing choices. They’re fearless. They break boundaries. And little girls tend to wear a lot of tutus. 

My friend, Kirsta, has a 3-year-old, Addy, and a 22-month-old, Ben. (Note: I don’t understand why when you have a child, you suddenly get all weird and start counting age by months. I think that makes me about 700 weeks old or so.)

Anyhow, a huge criteria for Addy’s style choices is color. Addy wears pink. If she doesn’t have something pink in her outfit, she carries a pink blanket (that’s how kids accessorize), even if it’s day 17 of days above 90 degrees. 

In Kirsta’s words:
“Ben, on the other hand, needs colors that hide dirt well.  This is really why boys wear camo.  It hides dirt as well as it hides men playing in the mountains.  This way, you don’t have to change their clothes after they’ve been outside for only 10 minutes.”

Another must-have accessory is stickers. Stickers, stickers, everywhere. An errant sticker marks the side of Kirsta’s toilet. They litter the backyard. There is a sticker stuck to the baseboard of the wall behind Addy’s bed. Stickers are the biggest laundry challenge that Kirsta currently faces.

Then there is my friend, Angela, who has three daughters. I assume that means three times as many stickers and pink blankey accessories. As Angela so diplomatically puts it, her girls “have their own fashion sense.” A few weeks ago, that meant one daughter wore a T-shirt, snow pant and princess gloves to church.

Add fairy wings, socks on the hands and a winter beanie and you’ve got the perfect combo.

As a kid, I was obsessed with fabrics, so I wore my satin nightgowns over everything. I also went through a “Little House on the Prairie” phase (call it Prairie Chic), and I wore my petticoat gratuitously.

My friend Annie remembers her sister used to purposely wear mismatched shoes and socks. Like a red sock and yellow shoe (Keds, baby) on one foot and a red shoe and yellow sock on the other foot. That and a Bam-Bam ponytail and the top of her head and she was ready to roll. 

When my friend Brittany thinks about kid style, she immediately thinks of the children she nannies. Ben used to dress like Steve from “Blue’s Clues” when he was a toddler. Then, when Jimmy Neutron became popular, he made Brittany spike his hair with gel like Jimmy’s.
His sister, Cristina ,  wears bathing suits and tutus for every occassion. But of course, I find nothing odd about that.

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Yay! Let us welcome the return of the Boulder and the Beautiful blog with a creepy fish costume, seen on Pearl Street this afternoon.

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This blog has been down for a few months, but it is back in action.
I apologize for the technical difficulties.

Live fast, die pretty.