Astral Boutique's blog

World Goth Day

I have just been informed that today is World Goth Day. 

Goth Prom: that's me in the middle, in 1991, with my friend Hannah and my date Bob (he's on the right- yes, that's a boy).

I wore this black leather skirt with garters for about two years straight in my teens:

I always consider this the Goth song that won the most hearts to the Cause. (I personally witnessed three conversions.) If you are on the line- to goth or not to goth?- maybe you should have a listen.



You know what they say- once a goth, always a goth.

Shine On, Moon Child

My friend Toni at Moonchild Vintage is always up to something good. Let's revel in the unparalleled beauty of her Etsy photography:

This lady lives on The Next Level. 

Check out this beautiful video for her song "Invocation of my Demon Sister":

This entrancing track is from her album, The Diary of Ic Explura, Part Two- Daughter of the Flood...

...which you can listen to in its entirety here. 

Toni also recently started a new blog, On Bread And Buttermilk Girls Confess The Zodiac, where she shares pages from her art diary:

I love the people in the world whose creativity makes you want to create. That's what it's all about right? Huge love to Toni.

The Queen Is Dead

...long live the Queen.

Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012.

Dress Up

(What the heck- how about some outfit posts?)

Going out record/thrift shopping:

Top: 1970s, thrifted

Jeans: my fave old beat up Juicy brand jeans 

Shoes: 1970s, thrifted, on their last legs but soooo beloved

Hat: 1970s, stolen from my husband

(Sometimes I have to put on jeans just to prove to myself that I CAN dress casually)

********************

Going out to run errands on a cold day:

Belt: pilfered from my own Etsy shop- you snooze you lose! 

Belt: my mom's, from the 80s

Boots: new, from a Naked Lady clothing swap party

Earrings: handmade

Hair: a huge thanks to my best ever hairdresser, Susan at Trend Cuts in Grass Valley, for whippnig my hair into shape last week, for not scolding me for letting it go for waaaaaay too long, and for giving me these awesome feathery side pieces so my updo looks fancy:

Happy Dressing Up! xoxo

 

She's A Rainbow

Thanks to my amazingly beautiful and sweet customer, Lindsey, for sending me these photos of herself in this dress:

This was a personal favorite in the shop, and I'm so glad it went to Lindsey- she wears these super colorful and artful vintage 1960s dresses so well. I think Lindsey could have a serious calling as a model if she was not so busy studying Music Production at college! The world better watch out for this talented lady... (-:

 

It's A Holly Jolly Trip To The Grocery Store

For Christmas Eve, I bought us a cherry pie and some very creamy vanilla ice cream.

I only now realized that the food I bought matches the outfit! Ha!

Chris took this as I headed up the driveway. Do you see someone special in the window? 

Happy Christmas Eve!

 

Going Christmas Shopping

Any shade of red and green says *HELLO CHRISTMAS* on December 22nd! Just use any shade in the family (maroon! aqua! pink!) and go nuts! 

Note my new boots- best thrift score ever. I named them my Moomin Boots. Headed to historic downtown Nevada City for some Christmas shopping now...

Stay Gold

Whew! My Typepad blog platform seems to have finally fixed the technical glitch that was making it take several minutes to upload each photo.... so I am hoping to put some blogs up on a more regular basis now, since that element of Frustration has been removed! (-:

As I write this, we are having a heat wave that has such mid-summer intensity that it seems funny to write about anything "Fall"-like at all! But up until a few days ago, I was pulling out the Fall dresses and exploring new ways to wear things. My latest Revelation is that the color gold breaks up brown amazingly well. I normally don't wear much brown, since I have brown hair, but I think this is the answer:

The scarf is a gift from a friend in Japan, part of an antique kimono; the boots are new, from Freestyle Clothing Exchange in Roseville, and the necklace is from the amazing  Flaming Hag Folkwear on Etsy (the Flaming Hag line is also available at Crimson and Clover in Midtown Sacramento)!

Transformations

I just got the coolest photo from one of my most stylin' customers, Chandra. She bought this here dress from me a while back:

...and she mentioned that she had a Vision for it. Now just LOOK at the amazing way that she has transformed it!

 I have to tell you that Chandra is a certified Mistress of Transformations. I always love looking at her Facebook profile pictures, because she morphs into a new character with every single one. Check out some of her styling genius:

And that's really and truly the tip of the iceberg. What a force of inspiration!

Chandra lives in Portland, Oregon, where she works as a stylist. If you good people want to get a hold of her, you can contact her at chandra.owl@gmail.com. You can also read her writings on her Tumblr here... and as if that wasn't enough amazingness to come out of one lady, she has a Tumblr here where she is gathering images that inspire a gypsy caravan trip that she is planning. Yes, you read that right. A GYPSY CARAVAN TRIP!

Oh, the places we'll go...

Fitted Out

I know, you almost gave up on me, but here I am- and with an Outfit Post, no less! 

This one was not for everyday wear... Sasha and the Shamrocks were playing a show this night, and I wanted something special, so I spent the better part of the day coming up with this outfit. I made it from a decaying red lace dress form the 60s that I had bought at a theater company's closing sale for $5.... somehow I knew it would come in handy, even though it was falling apart. The blue is from a sari dress that had a big hopeless oil stain on the front... but I loved the trim. Franken-dress!

 

 

The dress was a hit- I notice that red things generally are- friends admired it, saying it looked "like a Nordic princess" and "the national outfit of my own personal country" (ha ha). I didn't want to contradict, but my real style influence was more along the lines of the costumes from the Ballets Russes in the early 1900s.

 

Okay, obviously the Ballet Russes  needs its own post, but here's some more beautiful images, just to make your eyes happy...

 

 

 

Nope, they just don't make em like they used to.