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GYPSY TEARS

So I'm back in California... for the moment. The question at hand is WHAT NEXT?

Do I head back to New York like originally planned, try to make it in the big muggy city with a quickly dwindling bank account and no job? Or do I follow Painfully Hip's Amber to Tucson, AZ for vintage clothing awesomeness, blog city, and prickly pear cacti?

Option two is mysterious and tempting.. plus it sounds amazingly affordable, full of promise and the perfect next step in my new life's goal: Gypsydom.

Eventually I want to settle down and make a home for myself somewhere, but not just yet. I just turned 26, so my mid-twenties crisis is in full swing and I have definitely not seen enough of the world or met enough of the world's people. (Also, when 'settling down', it is usually helpful to have a location in mind.)

So Arizona may very well be the next stop on the SC train. Only time will tell, since I am as indecisive as they come, but Fortuna seems to be pointing me there, just as it pointed me to New York in June. 

On that note, don't forget to check out concreteandcashmere.com to see me compete for the Alize World Championships. The episodes are available on YouTube now as well. 

Anyway. 

With that shameless plug out of the way, how about another??

My dear friend Rory from Awesome All Day recently interviewed me for his blog on my recent experiences in glorious Jersey City. 

Without further ado:

Sapphire Cordial: Concrete and Cashmere super style soldier.

So my good bud/personal hero recently competed in a fashion duel to the death called Concrete and Cashmere. She also has a blog and fashion line called Sapphire Cordial and I’m relatively sure she is planning on taking over the world using a mixture of charm/mega talent/and bone crushing RAW POWER. I got to interview her recently after she moved to New Jersey New York!

If this interview isn’t enough for you (and trust me I would not blame you in the least), check out her website and her internet celebrity… Or just stare deeply into whatever is going on in the first photo after the jump:

HIT THE MORE BUTTON!

AAD: You’re a busy busy bee, tell me about all the different projects you’re working on?

    Well as a brand new resident of New Jersey– um I mean New York City, my most immediate project is familiarizing myself with my surroundings and trying not to look lost. I had a moment of triumph the other day when someone in Manhattan asked me for directions, but alas, it dissipated quickly when I couldn’t help them.

    As far as work goes, I’m currently assisting stylist Brea Stinson with wardrobe for various photoshoots and appearances for her clients. We recently spent an afternoon backstage at Letterman (!) sitting in a hallway putting metal studs on the shoulders of a leather Philip Lim jacket worn by r&b artist Ginuwine.
I then watched his performance in the Late Show green room while inexplicably holding a carton of half and half. (I’d also like to note my ongoing quest to find a good Temple-grade cup of coffee without resorting to Starbucks, which I have only been able to accomplish so far in Brooklyn.)

    Brea and I are also collaborating on putting together a show for New York Fashion Week. We’re seeking out venues and models and other designers, and I’m working on my Spring/Summer 2010 collection for my clothing line, Sapphire Cordial.

AAD: You recently moved from Sacramento to New York, what spurred the migration?

    My life in Sacramento had been lacking in the creative motivation department for some time, and I had been wanting a major change. Unfortunately I lacked the funds and decisiveness to do that. One night I was um ..drunkenly.. browsing the SF bay area craigslist and came across an ad for an internet based fashion reality show called Concrete + Cashmere.
   The thought of applying for Project Runway had crossed my mind in the past, but I never pursued it. I don’t even own a tv, and reality television in particular has always made me roll my eyes. But something, perhaps the gin, made me fill out the questionnaire and start the application process, and somehow about a month later I was on a plane to NY. I met some really amazing people while on the show, and I decided that the only way I could try to make a name for myself in “the fashion world” was to climb up the Empire State Building with my bare hands. My bear hands.

AAD: You promised me at one point to make me a cape with pockets… Where is it? (Here’s a clue: NOT ON MY BACK)

      Rory, capes are very delicate creatures. They have to be coaxed, romanced even, into existence. Despite my kindest and most coercive techniques, your particular cape is being very shy about making an appearance. I’ve been very understanding. Some things take time. At this rate, you should have it by… when’s your birthday?

AAD: Tell me more about the contest you were just in, was it anything like “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome”?

      Oh, Concrete + Cashmere. Despite claims to the contrary, it was the most unrealistic month of my life. So in that way, it was nothing like MM:BT.
      C+C followed the reality show “challenge” format. The contestants (there were originally 8 of us) were given a series of tasks to complete in a limited amount of time, and then we were judged on our execution of these tasks. On top of this, we were all living together and constantly surrounded by alcohol, courtesy of Alize, the commercial’s- I mean- the show’s sponsor.
      So basically, I spent the majority of June drunk on a liqueur I had previously thought was pronounced “A-leez”.
It was definitely a great learning experience and I’m glad I did it, but it was exhausting. I got pretty ill near the end of the show, and all I really wanted was to get back to tomorrow-morrow land.

AAD: As a designer/seamstress you do an extraordinary amount of sewing, more then any mere mortal could possibly manage. Are you secretly made of spiders?

Well, my fingers are. The rest of me is made of pure white light.

AAD: What blogs/fashion resources/forbidden texts do you read?

One blog I love is this brilliant internet gem you may have heard of called Painfully Hip.. no? Really? Well, its probably the most inspiring/quirky/adorably on point fashion blog out there, so if you aren’t reading it, there is something terribly wrong with you.

I also peruse The Glamourai constantly. She is full of clever little DIY projects and she makes and sells her own amazing jewelry. Yay, entrepreneurs!

A few others I frequent:

Because I’m Addicted (because I’m addicted)

Ingrid Fur (from the ever inventive Amy Hemmens)

Post Secret (which is not a fashion blog, but nevertheless inspiring beyond words)

Style.com is of course a great resource, since it has full coverage of all the big shows. I always check up on Christian Lacroix and Roberto Cavalli, since their pieces are usually deliciously unwearable.

And I’m trying to better keep up on my own blog Sapphire Cordial ahem, shameless plug.

AAD: Sometimes I dream about moving to New York and starting my own clothing line, gaining everlasting internet fame, and becoming fabulously wealthy off the proceeds… Unfortunately, I’ve been denied these dreams. What I’m really getting at is, Do you think we were switched at birth in the first step of an ongoing conspiracy to thwart my ambition?

I was hoping you wouldn’t figure that out. Shit. But truly, what’s stopping you? The only person who can deny your dreams is you, my friend. Why don’t you just get over here and fight me?

You can find more awesome Rory at Awesome All Day.  You can find me here.  And at your local dive bar.