the tale of the ombre tight disaster

It all started out according to plan: Rit dye, salt, measuring cup, oven mit.

I went with the off white version. 

My little cup of black dye. 

Here is the 'ombre' version hanging in my garage to drip dry.

Here is the 'tie dye' version crumpled in a ball.

The ombre version later on that night. 

You may be thinking to yourself, well fashionhead, these certainly do not look ombre to me. No need to get a dictionary to check the definition people. Cause these tights were a straight up disaster.

Well maybe disaster is putting it a bit harshly. When purplish-grey tights that make your legs look really bruised come into fashion, I'll be the first one ready...

Sigh, they had such potential too. 

Shirt - Express

Skirt - AA

Shoes - Steve Madden

Dress - Lux from UO

Shoes - Kate & Kelly or Kelly & Kate or something from DSW

Shirt - Jagermiester compliments of my dad the bartender

Flannel - Triple Five Soul

Skirt - AA

Boots - Blowfish

I know they're not like awful or anything, just pretty far from what I had set out to accomplish. I don't know, maybe they're still wearable? Thoughts? Opinions? I'm not giving up on this concept though. I fully plan on trying it again. The dye box said to add detergent and I feel that's what made the tights all spotty so next time I'm skipping that part.

I tried to find a more picture friendly background, so I took the pictures this time in front of my closet with my mom's old vanity chair, you know to spice things up. I forgot to clean up all the crap around my feet though. But I think the spot has potential...

Peace and DIY setbacks,

TheFashionHead

stop making sense

Is it just me, or is this season of project runway kinda ...lame? I don't really love any of the contestants and I haven't seen any awesome outfits. But then again, the challenges have been kinda weird. The Olympic one tonight was bizarre. I like normal challenges where they make pretty clothes.

I dyed tights tonight! I got 2 pairs of off white tights and black dye. The first pair, I tried to do the gradient I had planned to. I don't think its going to turn out really well. I think I dipped the tights too deep into the dye, so they may end up looking all black. The directions said to let them hang for an hour or two, then take them down and rinse them out. I didn't like the way they looked after two hours so I am going to leave them hanging overnight. I'm not sure if this will effect the tights or the dye. We'll see tomorrow, I guess. On the second pair of tights I just crumpled them up and stuck them into the dye. I left them in a little crumpled ball for about two hours, then I rinsed them out. They're hanging dry. I hope they will look kind of tie dyed on.

It's getting late. I'm going to bed. I just wanted to express my hatred for that commercial with the two girls in the dorm room. They 'dance off' while decorating their gigantic dorm room. I'm not sure what annoys me about the commercial the most - I like the song, the decorations they're using are alright. Maybe it's because my freshman dorm room wasn't much bigger then my closet at home and the fact they are portraying dorm room as giant white well lit rooms is a giant lie. Stop lying commercials. Stop giving freshman false dorm room hope.

Peace and bedtime,

TheFashionHead

a possible solution...

...to my Margiela shoe OBSESSION:

They are the Triumphh from the king of knock-offs, Mr. Steve Madden. Obv I love the Margiels more but the thicker strap across the toes might make them easier to walk in and therefore a bit more practical. They're only available for pre-order now and they won't be shipped until October sometime. But since they cost approx 1/5 of the real Margielas I found on yoox or eluxury or something, these lovlies are actually do-able. They also come in black suede (kinda boring) and purple suede (surprisingly cute and interesting). I would most likely stick with the taupe.

Looks like it might a Steve Madden fall....

These are the Ginn bootie. Personally, I like the black version better but I put this picture up because the bronze metallic showed off the details better. Definitely a possibility..

Ah and here we have the Midory peep toe bootie. They have it in a bunch of colors and fabrics, but I am drawn to this black patent. The black and pewter leather ones are nice too, but they are a bit too similar to my other Steve Madden peep toe booties. Plus this one would look good with the whole skinny jean, motorcycle jacket, rock star boyfriend look I'm going for.

Here is the famous SATC knock-off heel, the Maddiee. I figure if I went crazy and got it in the green snake, it would look so .. knock-off-y. These would definitely add some visual interest to any plain outfit. And I'm not usually a green snakeskin kinda girl, but I could see myself in these.

(All pictures from SteveMadden.com)

Last night I went to the craft store and bought black dye, and also a kind of bleach dye. I also bought more suede straps to make more headbands (!!) and necklace clasps so I can stop using string and scissors every time I want to put my homemade necklaces on or take them off. I also went to CVS and bought off-white tights (and deodorant and sour watermelons) to begin my DIY ombre tights experiment. Hopefully tonight!

Peace and cheap knock-offs,

TheFashionHead

another diy!

Holy crap, how cool are these tights? And I'm definitely not a colored tights kinda gal but I could totally see myself in some of these...

Well, maybe not these pink/purple ones, but keep reading...

Purple into white, I think I could pull that one off...

Grey into peach-y. Mmm.

Anything into white looks nice and do-able.

Beautiful colors and a bold statement.

Wouldn't wear this color combination but it's still pretty...

I like.

(pictures from elle.com)

I like the ones with white or grey fading into another color, like orange, pink or light blue. While I was looking around on the Internet for tights like these I came across a DIY from the coveted. All you need is a pair of light colored pantyhose (they say white works best so I'm going to start out with white but I would like to do a light grey pair as well), powered dye in a pretty color, salt, and a bucket. The coveted says to wet the pantyhose first and then dip the stocking into the dye as far as you want the color to go. Then she says to hang the pantyhose in the shower for an hour or so and let gravity create the gradient for you. Her results are here.

I also found another method earlier and I forget the site. They recommended white pantyhose as well. And you'll still need a box of dye, salt, and a bucket. Rinse the tights first then dip the tights into the bucket as far as you want the color to go. Pull the tights out slowly so the feet remain in the dye much longer then the top. You can repeat this process if you are not satisfied with the color. When you are done, wash off the tights but don't ring them out. Hang to dry.

I think I might follow this second method since it seems like it won't create as big of a dye mess as the first. Or maybe I'll go nuts and do both. I'm going to head to CVS and get white tights, and to the craft store to get the dye. Which color? I think I'll probably be boring and start off with a black dye and do a white faded into black look. It seems to be the more wearable. I'll have to get a bucket somewhere but I need a cooler for this weekend so WalMart, here I come. I have a lot left to do this week (make 6 pounds of chicken nuggets, regular and buffalo, for this weekend, get a cooler, buy beer, dye my hair, get my eyebrows done, try to fix my pedicure without actually getting another one, buy some cheap-o F21 dresses for this weekend, take my bff out to dinner for her bday...) so this project will definitely not get done this week but perhaps next week!

Peace and do-it-yourself-ness,

TheFashionHead

headbands!

Last night I took my sister to the mall. I didn't really need anything and I probably shouldn't have bought anything but oh well. We went to Urban. Most times I walk around that store and look at the semi-strange items and don't see anything worth trying on. Unfortunately for my bank account (which is now $600 richer, thanks to le government, score) I found a ton of really cute shirts and dresses last night. I checked on the website and neither of the two dresses I ended up buying are on there. They would be pretty hard to describe so, well I just won't. Maybe there will be pictures soon. They're both by Lux, undoubtedly my favorite dress brand. I also picked up three long necklaces, two gold and one silver with leaves and birds on them. I am really trying to get my jewelry collection up to speed before the summer. Then we hit up Old Navy and I picked up this really cute yellow and green head scarf. There's no picture of that on the site either. Grr.. What is a post without pretty pictures? Not actually owning a camera severely limits my picture posting ability.


Then I dragged my sister into Michael's real quick so I could get my hippie headband materials. I found this awesome leather cord combo pack, with 9 foot cords of brown, tan, and black leather. That was pretty much all I needed... I made the headband prototype today in between cleaning my room and downloading music. I really wanted to post a picture of it but like I said before, no camera. Then I remembered my webcam..

Here it is! This is my best attempt to do the 'casual look away from the camera' that fashiontoast does so well. I am really pleased with it, especially for the first try. I just braided all 3 of the colors together.

I got pretty fancy here and I braided a hair elastic into the headband so it would sit tight on my head. I left room at the ends to tie it in the back and cover up the elastic. I wasn't sure how much cord I would need but not that I know, I'll be able to make more easily. I am definitely going to incorporate beads into my next one. I may have to change my material because I noticed that the leather had stained my hands while I was braiding it and a stained forehead is probably an unattractive look... DIY mission: pretty successful.

Peace and headbands,

TheFashionHead

etsy and diy inspiration

As promised, here are a few of the many post earrings that caught my eye on Etsy yesterday.

Little White Vintage Rose - niftythriftyowl, LP Records - sypria

Pom Pom's - Dangsworld, Sunset and Tree Button Art - ttgart, Itty Bitty Turquoise Studs - wildflowerdesigns

Soar Studs - the intuitive garden, Tiny Tulip Garden - Anna Tillett

They had so many adorable options. I am having trouble narrowing it down... I really love the Pom Pom ones. And the Itty Bitty Turquoise ones. (ok so I love anything tie dye and anything turquoise..) And the birdy ones. Oh, and the flower fabric ones. And the white rose ones are so delicate looking... Those LP ones are really neat looking, definitely a conversation starter... And the little tree and sunset ones... Like I said, narrowing it down is going to be a problem.

While browsing the website, looking for the perfect hippie headband, I really caught the do-it-yourself vibe and decided that I'm going to make my own headband. Hello, weekend project. My plan is to get some leather-ish strands from AC Moore, maybe some hemp as well, and either make 2 separate braided headbands or braid the leather and hemp together. I still have a lot of leftover white and turquoise beads from my necklace making so I'm thinking I'll try to incorporate them into the braid as well to give the headband a little weight and hopefully make it stay on my head better. Feathers? Maybe. I'll post pictures when it's all done. If my beer tab necklaces are any indication, these headbands will be a raging success.

Peace and creativity,

TheFashionHead

she's crafty

How adorable is this Thorn beer tab necklace? I really miss being in college and this necklace definitely remind me of it. It's a neat way to make something trashy and fun look elegant (well, at least in my slightly strange opinion).

What I do not enjoy is the $231 price tag (on sale for $115 at shopbop but still a tad pricy for me). I'm all about buying expensive things but usually clothes, purses, and shoes take precedence over jewelry so I really don't end up with much $$ leftover for jewelry. So while I am on my self imposed no spending weekend I am going to head over to the craft store to pick up some necklace chains and silver or maybe gold spray paint to construct my own. If they turn out well I plan on making them for my college ladies at our upcoming reunion in Chicago (the main reason behind my budget cut). So I'll post pics of my version of this fabulous necklace once I get some time to make them.

Peace and beer tabs,

TheFashionHead