exploring blog archives: self-constructed-freak.blogspot.com, june 2011-oct 2012

Fans of Rookie mag, come gather around: self-constructed-freak.blogspot.com is right up your alley.  This blog was created by Marlena Mayle, former Rookie contributor, to share her personal style, DIY projects, and style inspo from tumblr and the ‘80s and ‘90s (heavy on the goth rock and riot grrrrl influences).  In her words, “I like punk rock tunes, pastel hues, platform shoes, and making my own clothes. This blog is essentially me blathering on about all of the above.”

Scrolling through Marlena’s blog is a real treat.  She was so creative when it came to expressing herself through style, from wearing dresses as skirts to penciling her eyebrows pink, and she had such a refreshing way of articulating herself—she’s so cool and smart that you can’t help but want to be her best friend.  While her blog is now private, you can still see some of her posts on the web archive and on Rookie.  These are a few of my favorite looks from her blog: 

Gratuitious Photos of Models Holding Cameras

I came across this 2006 Vice editorial shot by Richard Kern while poking around the fashion spot and wow is it really of a time.  It’s split into two parts: the first is photos of models posing in their underwear with digital cameras, and the second is photos that the models throughout the week using those cameras.  

I think they were hoping that the models were leading some kind of glamorous, hedonisitic lifestyle that would lend itself to a lot of cobrasnake-esque photographs, but instead what they got back were photos of suburban houses and selfies.  In Kern’s words, the photos were “kind of boring,” but a couple commenters disagreed.  One commentor named sharma wrote that “what they chose to photograph is touching. One immitated the photographer, but for others, homes (real or desired) show what they value,” and another called out the male gaze’s impact on Kern’s decision to label the photos as boring: “Well, the photos are okay, but happens to be a bit boring (of cause not for the male readers, but that's another story)... Anyway, I live in a town that's so fucking small, that we don't even have Vice. And that's horrible. So applause to you, Vice and all the people that really tries, heh, but seriously, I love what y'all doing!”

I do love the first part of the editorial though.  The sleek cameras add a sharpness to the low-effort styling on the models that feels very futuruistic, almost cyborg-esque (shout out to Donna Haraway).  It’s sleazy yet minimal, high-concept yet low effort.  I can totally see these photos being taken today by some ketamine-obsessed 20-something hipster living in bushwick to promote their indie fashion brand on instagram.  And I’m not mad about it:   

McKayla is not impressed

 I can’t believe I almost forgot about this one.  

Back in the day I was OBSESSED with mckaylaisnotimpressed, a tumblr dedicated to photoshopping gymnast McKayla Maroney’s face onto a variety of pop culture moments, featuring the disappointed smirk she made after coming a few points short of winning gold at the 2012 Olympics. Obama leading the assault on Bin Laden, Rebecca Black singing in her car, and Psy oppa gangam style-ing in an elevator are a few instances that grace its archives, all made better with McKayla’s now infamous look of contempt.  

This meme was tremendously impactful to me on a personal level.  For the rest of the year, I refused to smile in photos, exclusively making the :-/ face whenever I had my picture taken, much to the bearevement of my parents.  I even made the face during my 8th grade graduation, and repeated it when I was handed my diploma at my high school graduation ceremony as a little inside joke with myself.  To this day, sometimes I find myself slipping into that old twisted facial expression whenever my reality disappoints me, which, frankly, is often. 

But back to the meme: for a brief, shining moment during the August of 2012, people of all nations, races, and creeds were bound together by the shared emotion that McKayla displayed.  Her face was not just used to bring an ironic juxtaposition to pop culture moments, but to also express frustrations with first world problems like when a restaurant only has Pepsi and you want Coke, or being greeted by aloof teens when entering Hollister.  McKayla is not impressed isn’t just a meme, it’s a universal feeling. 

  

exploring blog archives: bowsandarrowblog.blogspot.com, nov-dec 2011 (+ quick update!)

Bloghousehiatus is (hopefully) coming to a close (!!!)  I’ve been dealing with a pretty awful vestibular migraine/post concussion syndrome flare-up for the past two months, and while I still am far from 100%, I’ve been able to do a little bit of blogging and archiving recently which has been sooooooo nice.  The internet is quite literally my life (idc how pathetic that sounds), so I was very much going insane since I couldn’t tolerate looking at a screen at all.  I probably won’t be able to post as often or as consistently as I like for some time, but I’m glad to be able to post at least some of the time now. 

This week I’m sharing a few outfits from bowsandarrowblog.blogspot.com, a blog started by kawaii style enthusiast Lindsey Morgan.  Lindsey had a small shop on Etsy where she sold bows (duh) and other decora-esque accessories; while her etsy is no more, you can still see some of her creations on her tumblr.   Her blog was dedicated mostly to her kawaii inspirations, but she did share a few ootds as well.  Take a look below: