Sunday, July 6, 2008

rockabilly will never die

Those of you who know me well know that I am a total rockabilly girl.

While I do love a whole lot of different kinds of music- I was raised by/around musicians, I was extensively exposed to everything from The Beatles to Bach to Black Sabbath at a very young age- rockabilly music is the music that has my heart.

It's my earliest musical memory (I can clearly remember sitting at my Pop's feet, playing on the floor with my toys while he strummed on his acoustic guitar & sang Bobby Fulller and Buddy Holly and Ricky Nelson tunes) It's the soundtrack of a very innocent and happy time for me. It's the music that fills me up with excitement & joy. It's my go-to music when I am needing a spark of life in a dreary world.


(click the pic for details & ordering info on all pieces)

Rockabilly & pin up fashion has gotten very trendy in recent years, and this is a double-edged sword switchblade for me.

On the one hand, it can be annoying when something that you genuinely love is turned into a trend... you'll see people who have never even heard the word 'rockabilly' before suddenly sporting the head-to-toe rockabilly style bought right off the mannequin. It's one thing to incorporate some fun & trendy pieces to your own personal style, but quite another to sport a full-on trend costume with no personal point of view, just because it's currently cool.

On the other hand, it means that the availability of really great retro & rockabilly inspired pieces is high, and the prices lower because of it. Which means that I can suddenly find all kinds of things retro and rockabilly easily, and at good prices to boot. So I try to look at it as a blessing from the fashion gods, and grab up what I can while it's hot, so that even after the trendsters move on to something else I'll have reaped some really nice stuff in that trendy period. Bonus.

That said, I love absolutely everything in this set, everything. I only wish I could afford to buy it all! One thing I love about mid-century fashion is how flattering it is to a woman's natural curves. These are not clothes that you have to starve yourself to get into- nay, think about the hot, curvy bods of Marilyn, Bettie, and Rita and you'll see how these clothes are designed for sexy curvaceousness. Very feminine. These are clothes for boobs and a butt.

The dress was the starting point here but as soon as I added the guitar I couldn't help but think of the sweet & sassy looks of Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee. The rest came from there. I think my favorite piece is that retro tattoo inspired parasol. I've been wanting to get a nice parasol to battle the blazing desert sun rays we have out here, and if I could afford it right now this one (or maybe the version in nude, can't decide which I like better) from Happy Trails would be the one. Love it. And those shoes are so great, and come in several really sweet colors. If they had the red pair in my size I'm afraid I would have ordered them on the spot, heh.

As spring and summer have progressed I have also been dreaming of wearing big, flowery blooms in my hair like the blood-red orchid in this set... in fact, I recently ordered a big red rose and a set of smaller white gardenias- both for the hair- from Daddy-O's and I can't wait to get them. I'll wear them to glam up my favorite skinny jeans or to add some retro allure to one of my summer sundresses. Also I have been looking for a sexy little red purse and fell in love with this one and could not resist it. Bad Shady!

And now cats & kittens, I'll leave you with these immortal words from the Stray Cats:

Well my baby and me went out late Saturday night,

I had my hair piled high, my baby just looked so right,
Well, pick you up at ten gotta have you home by two,
Momma don't know what I got in store for you,
But that's all right cause we're looking as cool as can be.

And you know what comes next...

5 comments:

Candice DeVille said...

Shady, these new style posts rock! I am so impressed by your picks and I think I would wear just about all of them. Perhaps we are style soul sister *wink*.

Anonymous said...

aqRockabilly to me seems like a perfect lifestyle; the music and fashion are like a completed collection; nothing to add to, just done and ready to be savoured and enjoyed, over and over again. Contrary to rock and pop that keep branching off and developing. What I always hate about trends is the production of cheapo rip-off replicas of the real thing. Like remakes of transistor radios, car interiors and of course clothes. It may be affordable but I regard it as fake. The real 1950's stuff has soul, the replicas don't have that.

Shady said...

SK Mama... thanks :D Wow that is a MAJOR compliment coming from you!! I am getting ready to help my friend with an online boutique that she is launching (I'm going to be scouting out vintage pieces for her to sell), and so fashion & clothing have been on my mind constantly lately, hence all the style stuff. I love it, so addicting!

Netherest... yes I agree, I have never, ever been to a rockabilly-type event (a live show, car shows, etc) where everyone was not smiling and upbeat and just giving off joyful vibes. It's such a feel-good culture. And I agree with you about replicas to a degree, but then, I also do not have the $$$ to buy the original goods (not at this point at least, maybe someday I hope!) And rather than buy imitation knock-offs, I like to try to find stuff that is more of a modern, original interpretation of the classics, not just a cheap looking copy. If that makes sense. At least, until I can afford to buy the real deal! Til then it's bargain shopping for me, alas.

richardttu said...

Well, um, it looks nice. Okay, lets face it, I do not know anything about fashion, but I promised I would comment more often.

--Richard

Shady said...

Thanks Richard ;)