[DAILY OUTFIT] When I Grow Up...

I'm turning 27 in a week. Just three years shy of 30 and I don't really feel like an adult. For a few years now, I've been expecting this AH-HA! moment where things fall into place and everything is clearer (like when I realized I was gay). But, no, the giant hand of adulthood has yet to hit me over the head.

I'm sure this outfit, and various others in my closet, do nothing to help my cause. I've tried dressing "older" and putting away clothing that obviously came from the Juniors section in hopes of tempting the adulthood fairy to sprinkle me with her magic dust. However, I always come back to my poofy skirts, graphic shirts and hair bows - it's what I like, it's what feels the most me.



I finally got around to reading my backlog of magazines and found an article in November's ELLE that made me wonder if the adulthood fairy has retired. It seems I'm not the only 20-something who hasn't quite felt that official "I am a Grown Up" moment. A couple of -Ologists have discovered that our brains continue to develop well into our twenties, and are calling this stage of our lives emerging adulthood.

Sociologists explain that the AH-HA! moment of adulthood as made up - historically and socially - of five things: (1) Moving out, (2) Getting married, (3) Finishing higher education, (4) Financial independence, and (5) Having kids. Because our world has changed so much over the past couple of decades and there are more choices now, twenty-somethings are doing this at an ever decreasing rate.

Personally, I'm not married and I don't want kids, I only hold an Associate's (for now) but I live in an apartment with my girlfriend and we financially support ourselves. So where does that leave me?



The article asserts that it's okay if you're twenty-something and exploring your options - it's actually the best time to do it. From experience, I can attest that trying different paths and weighing all your options can be freeing yet overwhelming. I agree with the author's conclusion of a "strategic searching" so you don't feel like you've wasted an entire decade and have nothing to show for it (like I do in my most depressing moments).

But then the paradox: "How can you sincerely throw yourself into testing alternative ways of living if you're always shooting for a certain outcome?" However, I believe that because of our humanity, we always have an outcome - no matter how vague - in mind. Even when we're out exploring, we're looking for that career path makes us happy (or rich), we're looking for that person who clicks and melts our insides, and we're slowly building the life we want. Remember, "not all who wander are lost."

In college, I had a professor who always said "when I grow" when we touched on interesting new jobs or skills in the fashion industry. I feel she had the right mindset: maybe the idea of growing up and adulthood has become antiquated, pushed aside by a better idea that we can explore our options until we die.

I personally have come to believe that growing up is as simple as working, becoming financially independent and contributing to society. If you're doing it form your parent's basement, if you're doing it with a partner (or three), if you're doing it in hot pink tights and a candy skull shirt - who cares??

Outfit: Shirt & Tights via Walmart Juniors, Skirt via JC Penney Juniors, Jacket c/o my sister who studded it, Boots via DiscountWomensDressShoes.com & Hair Bow via Incorrigible Dames (got it at a Burlesque Show).

[STYLE ICON] Little Red Riding Hood is All Grown Up & Dressing Like a Rock Star

ABC's Once Upon a Time aired it's mid-season premiere on Sunday, which re-ups Alex's and my TV tradition. While we don't have a lot of shows where we mutually geek out, we are both very much into fairy tales which means we both hate missing an episode. She's a big Disney geek (like her mom) though I enjoy the modernization of the characters juxtaposed with the development of their back stories in the magic realm.

Speaking of character modernization, I love Red Riding Hood's transformation from little girl lost in the woods to hipster-rebel-girl werewolf (yet still maintains a caring demeanor). And while she still has her hooded cloak from the old realm, her collection of hats during the first season more than compensates in our world.

Like her bloody past as the very wolf she feared, Ruby's style is dark and edgy with glimpses of rebellions red in her hair. With red and black as her main color palette, it's no surprise that I would gravitate to the character's style at the beginning. But as the story progressed, her closet also grew with touches of lacy goth, rocker jackets, fashionable slouchy sweaters and trendy sheer tops.

Because she has everything I would love to have in my own wardrobe, and still manages to stay loyal and caring despite the hungry wolf that lives inside her, I've added Once Upon a Time's Ruby a.k.a. Red Riding Hood to my Style Icons.



P.S. Don't blame me if you see red streaks in my hair soon.

[STREET SNAP] Photographer Ambrea Dean, Caught in Rows of Books & Magazines

Location: Half Price Books in North Dallas
Website: PhotographybyAmbreanDean.tumblr.com

[DAILY OUTFIT] Fighting Evil (Design) By The Moonlight

I can't believe I haven't touched my blog in a month! And it's not from lack of wanting or lack of ideas, just a slight lack of time and energy. I guess I should thank the universe, though, for the influx of graphic and web design jobs.

I've kept it pretty casual for the past few weeks as my work keeps me chained to my laptop. Apart from family and close friends, I haven't really gone out. I wonder if all freelancers hit this point where their work becomes their life and life becomes work. I'm trying to move past it.



I do have a few new articles of clothing, however, that I've picked up here and there. The melting lip effect on this shirt caught my eye on a recent trip to Wal-Mart. Their desire to keep up with trends is notable but they're oversaturated with animal print.

The necklace - an ode to my childhood - is based on Sailor Moon's transformation brooch. Oh how I've wanted to cosplay her (and Sailor Pluto and Sailor Uranus) but the necklace will have to do for now. With the Sailor Moon reboot in the works, there's more merchandise appearing at conventions and online. My collection (currently a hat, a necklace, two keychains and two plushies) might build up faster than I expected.

And In a Small Way, I Rejoined the Legion of Cosplayers at AnimeFest

These are pictures from AnimeFest weekend this past Labor Day (way late). I did my first cosplay in years, though, I'm not sure it really counts as it wasn't an anime character. I was Gaz from Invader Zim, partially because it was an inexpensive cosplay I could throw together in two days and partially because my friend Allison already had a Dib cosplay ready to go.

The dress, I bought at some discount store years ago. I ordered the striped tights and shirt from Ebay for under $10 for both. The boots were also bought on Ebay but months ago. Unlike some cosplayers, the hair is actually mine and took three hours to get that purple (and one week to wash out). Finally, her necklace was a craft project I undertook the night before. Never having worked with Sculpey glitter clay, I wish I had known it would take an hour to kneed, and that it picks up little pieces of dirt easily. However, the giant charm is still good after two months.

For those who don't know Invader Zim, our characters are brother and sister, and Dib foils alien Zim's (horribly laid out) plans to take over Earth. Not wanting to be left out, Alex bought a Zim hat. There are plans to actually make her a full on cosplay for future conventions which means I'm not retiring the Gaz outfit just yet. Plus, I liked the few times we got stopped for pictures (style blogger much? lol).

The appreciation wasn't one-sided, of course, as I was snapping a few cosplayers who caught my eye, mainly characters I like from various series, anime and not.

Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo	Elegant Harley Quinn from Batman
Dark Magician Girl from Yu-Gi-Oh!	Sailor Pluto & Sailor Uranus
Awesomely Done Beetlejuice Cast
Tony Stark, Girly Thor & Girly Loki	Seto Kaiba & Bakura also from Yu-Gi-Oh!