Bi Monthly Bangers - Jan/Feb 2019

Truth be told, January and February are probably my least favorite months out of the year. Where I live, it tends to be miserable dark and cold for both of those months. My city has also been graced with the coldest February in something like 40 years. Sorry to start this off with such a bummer. Good things can still come out of my least favorite time of year. Here are my bangers for the beginning of 2019.

Vintage Vibes

After Christmas, I don’t have much of a budget for new clothes. Also despite everyone and their dog Kondo - ing their entire lives, thrift stores in my area have been kind of lacking. So I did what any logical person would do, and cut my hair. After swearing off of having bangs, they are back. They also brought their new friend bob along too.

Late to the party, me and my partner had started watching The Marvelous Ms. Maisel on Amazon Prime. So far we have managed to marathon almost the entire first season. If you got prime and haven’t checked out this show yet do it up. The costuming and set design is superb, and the show is so funny.

Cosplay and Conventions

Beginning of the year was a dash to pull out my Hawke costume and clean it up for a really awesome Dragon Age photoshoot. If you are interested in checking out the gallery of photos I got of my Hawke you can check it out in my last blog post here. We went out to a local farm, hung out with some horses and climbed into a hayloft.

I also decided to clean out and declutter my craft room. There is so much stuff in my room that I keep holding onto, just in case I need it one day. Really I need to come to terms that if there is a day I need all those jars hiding in my closet, I’ll forget they are hiding in there and just buy more. Along with getting rid of random crafting items, I threw away some costumes in some less than great shape. It was an odd feeling throwing away my Bioshock Elizabeth costume away.

Geek Goods

So basically the only thing I have been talking about on twitter lately feels like The Umbrella Academy. In February, Netflix released their adaptation of Gerard Way’s comic. It has been a series I’ve been waiting for since I heard of it being a thing. The adaptation of the comic was great and so much fun to watch. Needing a new show to watch, do this one.

Additional Articles

Bon Appetit sister site, Healthyish, did their feel good plan for the second time this year. If you are hunting for some new, quick and relatively easy recipes you have to check them out. We also went to Jasper this winter for my partners birthday. It was my first time staying at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, and it was so lovely. Bonus points, I got to see so many animals. If you haven’t checked out this really great article on Polygon yet, do it up. You won’t be disappointed by this person very large Red Dead Redemption horse.

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Hawke

It was back in January when we ventured out to a snowy chilly photo shoot in rural Alberta. I was yet to get some good photos of my Hawke cosplay. Bioware reached out to us the year before for some promotional shooting, and I had a friend offer up her half finished costume. So since it had been almost a calendar year since I got this costume all done up, I was itching to get some photos of it.

You can check out our photographer Veronica Scallion here on Instagram
Zevran is Lyrium Ghost on Instagram
Warden is JimJam on Instagram
Flemeth is Shrimpssss on Instagram

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Vintage and Retro - Seattle

Vintage Seattle - 8 shops to check out on your next trip

A couple months back, I had written up a quick vintage shopping guide for my trip to Portland I did in 2018. Since that one was so popular, I decided it was time for round two. Seattle is another great west coast city to go to if vintage shopping is your jam. They have great food, and a bunch of really rad shops. Not being a Seattle local I can't say I am an expert of Seattle vintage shopping, but here are a few that I've checked out and loved on the couple trips I've had.

Rove Vintage. This shop is great if you are on the hunt for more of a 70s old band tee shirt vibe. This store is pretty rock n roll grunge with rows of denim and leather jackets. If you are more into a mid century aesthetic, they do have a few hidden 60s gems that hide in their rows, but I wouldn’t go out of your way if you have 0 interest in the later chunk of the century’s style. Although it is nicely located making it an easy walk from Capitol Hill, and other good nearby shops and restaurants.

Dress From Pretty Parlor
Cardigan from Dancing Days

Pretty Parlor. This shop has everything I desire in a vintage shop. Well curated pieces spanning the middle of the century. Everything is color codes and there is pretty much something for most people’s budget. Store pets?! Honestly I wish I lived in Seattle just so I could routinely visit Pretty Parlor. I suppose I will have to settle with constantly visiting their Etsy shop. Located in Capitol Hill, this place is an easy visit if you are staying in that area, or even downtown. They do have more than just really rad dresses, lingerie, shoes and handbags for femme folks. Tucked away in the back they also have a bridal section that my heart craves to see, and lots of menswear in the front of the shop. On my last visit I purchased a lovely fall colored shirt waist dress.

Revival. If you are more of a trendy instagram vintage lover, this is probably more of the place for you. Revival’s main focus seems more leaned towards local artist’s pieces which is rad as all get out. If you are very fashion forward, or have that super chic family member you need to buy a gift for, this would totally be a place I would suggest checking out. Even if you aren’t that person I would still suggest checking it out if you are in the area. They do have dedicated space for used and consigned pieces of clothing, and there were definitely some older pieces of vintage in there.

Le Frock. Come here if you have money to spend and you are all about that brand name stuff. I swooned at the rack of dress suits that I will never be able to afford (and probably fit) Le Frock is located on Pike, just down the street from Rove Vintage. I do get the sense that they are trying to gear themselves more towards class of humans who need to wear business attire most days. Still a lovely place to peek into to see if they have something on sale.

Lifelong Thrift. Okay so maybe not the type of vintage shop that the rest of the places on this list are, but still a lovely place to check out. It’s a pretty large place, stock full of stuff, so make sure you have the energy to properly look through it. It is a thrift shop after all. When I was there last, I found 2 cute velvet hats that were about 5 dollars each. If you take a look at their website, you can also see that they are a non-profit, support their local community and those with chronic illnesses.

Cardigan - Dancing Days
Skirt - Lucky Vintage

Lucky Vintage. I didn’t realize during my stay, but Lucky Vintage actually has three shops through Seattle. I had been to their Ballard location, but they also a U district and a Pioneer Square location. Their clothes span from the early 1900s up to 1990. Their Ballard location Instagram is one of my favorite accounts to follow. They are constantly posting fantastic flat lays of pieces that are currently in their store. If you spent any time with me over the holidays, or have peeks over at my social media, you’ve probably come across my cream plaid wrap skirt that I bought there. Everyone needs a wrap skirt for holiday meals in my opinion.

Trove Vintage. Up in Ballard is this very cute shop. It’s a femme dream, with soft lace and frills on dreamy vintage dresses. It is a little more on the pricier end, but very well curated. They also have a bridal section to their store too. If you have something you need a nice new (to you) dress for a special event, you might have luck here. Don’t expect to find anything masculine here though. There is pretty much no menswear to speak of here. Even finding a pair of pants will be a challenge.

Bon Voyage Vintage. It was my first trip to Seattle when I popped into Bon Voyage. If memory serves me right, we had just left the underground tour and saw that his place with still open. We peeked in and the space was full of punk kids, hanging out and drinking. Okay turns out they also have some rental space in their off hours. Fast forward to my next trip, we actually visited during store hours. So automatically this store gets bonus points for having a dog in their shop. They also had such a range of styles in their shop. Most of the things you find here will be later in the century, and more punkesque of style (see above for reference to my first visit) but they do have some more mid century stuff sprinkled through. There are a pair of wool sailor pants I had bought there with the intention of wearing all the time before losing too much weight for them.

Any of your favorite shops that aren't on this list? Let me know. I am always looking for an excuse to go to Seattle again, and check out all their good shopping.

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Bi Monthly Bangers - Nov Dec 2018

Happy New Years all you lovely human! Here are some bangers that happened in my final leg of 2018. What other rad things did ya’ll get up to?

Vintage Vibes

I found both a red plaid ankle length skirt, and a red wool shirt and cardigan combo in Nov. I wore the crap about of all of the those things because well, wool, holidays, cold, red. Why not?

In my adventure out, I also found myself a floor length vintage Eaton’s quilted housecoat. Its not in the greatest condition, but it’s very toasty and warm for the chilly Canadian winter.

If you also didn’t see in my instagram stories, I managed to snag a pair of late 40’s winter over boots. The fur is still in perfect condition. I need to replace the laces. Because I don’t have any heels to wear in them, I think I might go find some lifts that I can throw into them to wear them comfy like.

Cosplay and Conventions

Not a lot has been going on cosplay wise. The holiday season tends to be a pretty quiet time in the year for me regarding working on new costumes and going to conventions. However me and Nicole shot and sent out our Fallout themed holiday cards this year, which was lots of fun.

My Partner also got me a belt sander for Christmas! I am yet to pull it out of its box, but I am excited to do all the sanding with it over the next year.

Geek Goods

Despite how much I have been ranting about Fallout 76 on my twitter, yeah I am still playing to crap out of it. It does have its problems, but when I just want to hop into a wasteland for an hour or so, it scratches that itch.

Should we talk about how much Red Dead Redemption 2 I played in Nov? I was so looking forward to this game since I had to pre ordered in 2016. So much so, that when Amazon emailed to tell me my preorder was going to be late, I just went to EB games about bought it instead. If you love narrative games that revolves around characters and history dramas are your jam, go get it now. Feel feels about horses with me.

If you didn’t see it back in November, myself and Nicole were a couple of the titled Mass Effect Fans in Bioware’s N7 day video this year.

Switch has been just a great addition to my household. I have been playing a lot of Diablo 2 with my partner with their couch co-op. Katamari Reroll also came out in the last couple of months, and I played through the entire thing in like 48 hours.

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