Monthly Archives: August 2012

Playa Fashion.

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For starters, I don’t mean “playa” as in a guy who dates a bunch of women, but I DO mean “playa” as in Spanish for “beach.” All year long I prepare and get excited to go home to the Black Rock Desert for Burning Man. The Burning Man festival is held on an ancient dried lake bed, therefore this particular desert is known as a “playa.” Now that that is covered… on the playa we love our fashion endeavors. Some go for silly, some go for sexy, some go for WOW and some go for nothing (aka their birthday suit!)

Here are some of my other fun fashion ensembles on the playa:

A handkerchief and goggles are essential on the playa due to copious amounts of DUST in the air at all times. You never know when the winds will pick up and send a white out dust storm over the city. If you are caught without goggles and a dust mask, you are pretty much screwed. In this last photo, it was early sunrise and it was wicked cold out, so I used my handkerchief to keep my face warm.

I’ve been lagging on my posts recently due to heavy crafting and creating this year’s fashion. I’ve spent hours upon hours putting work into next week’s garb, so hopefully I’ll get some awesome photos out there to show for it. I most likely won’t have any posts for about two weeks, since I am leaving on Sunday for this year’s festival and as soon as I come back, I am immediately back to school. Busy busy! Stay tuned in the future for some awesome pics from Burning Man 2012, my 4th year!

Madonna reads my blog.

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So, a recent article from August 4th shows Madonna wearing the exact same Jeffrey Campbell shoes I’ve been rocking for months. The only possible explanation is that clearly she reads my blog and follows my style.

Madonna, stepping out in the Prickly shoe, by Jeffrey Campbell. (As seen on MY feet months earlier.)

Thanks Madonna, I’m really flattered. ;)

Leopard love.

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Going out for a night on the town calls for an edgy, fashion forward ensemble that is sure to turn heads. For this night I chose to embrace my love for leopard print.

This outfit screams fashion forward, fashion savvy and fashionista! I found the shirt at a small boutique in downtown LA and it was priced at $72, which is CRAZY. It’s not a name brand, it’s not quality material and it’s NOT worth $72!!! The guy running the joint tells me he’ll give it to me for $55, which is STILL crazy. I continued about the store and then found the same shirt on a mannequin, and I sighed heavily… once I see something ON a mannequin a new wave of “must have” comes over me. I decided to try it on…. JUST TO SEE how it looks on me, you know? Of course I was falling for this shirt, and I was falling hard. It truly was love at first sight, I just tried to ignore it. I finally asked the guy, “How about you give this to me for $40…” I was hoping he’d say no, because I really didn’t even want to spend $40 on a shirt. Of course he said okay! Even at $40 this shirt is overpriced considering the quality (its polyester), but I justified the cost due to the unique appeal.

Gold accessories matched the leopard and black perfectly. The necklaces are from a flea market, the big gold pyramid ring is from a sample sale, and the gold cuff is from H&M.

I wanted my hair to be sleek, sexy, voluminous and high fashion. I pulled the sides tight and pinned them underneath the teased hair at the crown of my head.

On my ear is an ear cuff I found on Etsy from the seller Antickquities. It is made with brass clock hands. This ear piece has a steampunk feel and is definitely a unique detail of the outfit. This piece actually came with another, to wear on the other ear, but I’m only wearing one at a time. The pieces were a great bargain at $11.

My leopard pants were found at TJ Maxx for 20 bucks, total score! The entire outfit tops my gorgeous Jeffrey Campbell spiked Lita’s for that really edgy feel.

My cute lil bag is a leather Betsey Johnson bag that retails for $200. I happen to work with the lady who reps Betsey Johnson and Steve Madden here in LA, and she totally hooked me up with this bag for $20!!!! A huge part of my fashion skills are made up of hunting, finding and scoring deals. You can do this by shopping at off price stores like Ross, TJ Maxx or Marshalls OR at smaller private boutiques you can sometimes bargain with them. Many boutiques and shops in downtown LA are totally down for bargaining, like the shirt from this outfit. Thrift stores are another great place to score amazing finds for dirt cheap.

The outfit was a hit and really fits my personality. Another fashion mission, accomplished.

It’s that time of year…

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August is a special month for me. It is a month where creativity explodes and styling is put into over time. The more creative and avant garde, the better! August is the month when I make my annual trip to the middle of the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada for the Burning Man festival. Burning Man in short, is a massive art festival/ social experiment in the middle of the barren desert that focuses on self reliance and self expression. The festival showcases all things extreme… the art, the people, the FASHION! No dress code, no rules, the fashion is created from the creative minds of the participants and their passions.

You can truly wear WHATEVER your heart desires in a judgement free zone. Judgement is out the door in a place where everyone looks so different and there is no “norm.” If you feel comfortable and happy wearing a potato sack, a ball gown or a speedo and a cape, then you are encouraged to do what YOU want to do and wear what YOU want to wear. Black Rock City is a society filled with citizens and participants wearing what they want to wear and not having to conform to social norms and rules of socially acceptable fashion.

Black Rock City (the name of makeshift city that is the Burning Man festival), where the fashion is one of my favorite elements of the festival. Click to see it bigger.

I have a particular love for burlesque fashion and retro pin up styling. Burning Man allows me to take my love of burlesque costuming and be able to strut my stuff in it, all day and all night. Dressing in burlesque makes me feel good. I feel sexy, I feel beautiful, and all around I just feel so womanly. I can’t exactly throw on a pair of fishnets, booty shorts and a corset and go to class in it, in the default world. Thus, my love for a more “costumey” wardrobe flourishes this time of year.

We had a “red night” in my camp this past year so I took the opportunity to break out my fabulous red satin corset and pull it all together for probably one of my best burn outfits yet!

My devil horned fascinator was a gift I received from my friend Candace for my birthday and the corset I found on eBay. In fact, I think 75% of my ensemble came from eBay from my dreads… to my boots!

The corset is a cheapy, made with plastic boning, so it has lost a lot of its shape over time, however a cheap corset is the way to go when you’re taking it to the harsh, dusty elements of the Black Rock desert! The “bustle” on my bottom is merely a yard of red sparkly fabric that I just safety pinned to the back of my ruffled booty shorts.

And let me just tell you about these boots. These AMAZING boots have made it to the playa THREE times (heading for a forth in a few weeks!) and been on my feet to countless clubs, festivals, dance parties and social day events. I found these beauties on eBay years ago for a mere twenty bucks and they were brand new!!! Yes that’s right, $20!!!! They are branded Hot Topic, and these boots were easily $80 in the store. I absolutely LOVE these boots and would easily name them the greatest pair of boots I have ever owned, which is difficult to say, due to a lot of really cool boots in my life. I love these boots SO much, that I went on another search for a back up pair. After only a few months of looking, sure enough I came across another pair on eBay, brand new and in my exact size. I paid a little more for the second pair at around 50, but sooo sooooooo worth it! I haven’t unwrapped them from their tissue paper housings yet. They just sit in a box in my closet waiting for their day to take on a lead role in my life: Rebecca’s bad ass, all terrain, ground stomping, ass kicking, platform boots.

Two of my camp mates looking equally as impressive in their black and red ensembles. This photo really captures the beauty and fun of fashion at Burning Man. We all have very different looks and styles, yet we all fit one theme and look incredible! Everyone in the whole camp looked so awesome on our “red night.”

This outfit was hands down one of the funnest ensembles I’ve thrown together at the Burn. I felt it truly matched my personality with it’s glitzy glamor, the feminine sex appeal and with that touch of “edgy, bad girl.” If I could dress to my personality regularly, you’d see a lot of this look. I’m definitely going to shoot for more burlesque styling at the upcoming burn since I enjoyed it so much last year. On an end note, red is totally my color.