"Bad For You" - Haley Bonar

This is such an adorable, simple song. The message is clear and concise: everything's bad for you. I listen to it with a smile, having grown up eating dirt along with carrots straight from the garden and spending my time singing and talking to myself in the woods day after day. It's no secret that we've become much more protective of our health and safety in recent decades, and often for good reason, but doesn't it sometimes seem a little excessive? That's what this song means to me: maybe it's not actually all that bad?

I loved envisioning what the wise grown-up singing this song would wear. Very proper, very modest, very smart, but perhaps a little off - she takes everything a little too far, both in her wardrobe and her advice. This Moschino Cheap & Chic dress gives a hint that the wearer is a little off-balance with it's quirky blocks of color and that surprise pop of yellow. The look is put over the top with this outrageous Meadham Kirchhoff faux fur coat, evoking a crazed monster. Everything really is bad for you after all, it seems. 

Listen to a live version of the song here.

Moschino Cheap & Chic lace cocktail dress / Meadham Kirchhoff  faux fur coat / Rupert Sanderson pumps / Alexander Wang leather wallet / Rebecca Minkoff sunglasses
Everything's Bad For You 

"Manchester" - Kishi Bashi

 

 

Not sure if you've heard, but it's going to be 75 degrees this week in Minneapolis. HOHHH MY GEE. Finally. This summer is going to be fantastic - I've got an anniversary vacation coming up, loads of local concerts to go to, Tough Mudder, and Bonnaroo. And that's all before June! Summer is the best. You know what else is the best? This song. I think I found my song of the summer - and it's only March!

 

This is yet another "instant love" songs. I think I'm starting to understand the formula I need for me to feel an attachment to a song. It usually involves at least one of the following: hopeless and/or beautiful declarations of love; an infectious melody that builds on itself with grand instrumentation; the ability to spark the desire for me to stand up and twirl around until the song is over. Kishi Bashi has included all of these qualities in "Manchester".

 

The song begins with a dreamy string and percussion sound and builds into the chorus, when Kishi Bashi sings "Oh, hello/will you be mine?/I haven't felt this alive in a long time". And what makes one feel more alive than sporting some high waisted geometric printed shorts and a cutout blouse? P.S. - "Oh, hello" is one of my favorite ways to begin any story, conversation, anything.

 

Please listen to the song here (along with other tracks from his Room For Dream EP).

"Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye

Have you guys heard this song by Gotye? Have you seen the incredible video? This has quickly become my new favorite song, and Gotye's album, Making Mirrors, has been played on repeat while I'm at work. My only complaint is that I'm just now discovering this fantastic artist. But now that I have, it's only fitting that I pay him tribute with a new outfit!


This is a breakup song, but one of those awesome "good riddance" breakup songs that you sing along to once you've realized you're much better off without him. With that in mind, I thought it best to style this look based on a sexy, look-what-you're-missing dress. I didn't want it to be that simple, however. It's too easy to just do a sexy red dress and some killer stillettos. I want to add a bit more character, so I chose a more twee version of a sexy red dress (put a bird on it!), some cutesy Alex and Chloe heart earrings, and an adorably chic Marc Jacobs clutch. Then, to toughen it up and make the sex appeal undeniable, I included the DSquared stilettos and Alexander Wang leather jacket.


I would kill to accidentally run into an ex in this outfit, and I would have this song playing in my head as I did.