Dressember Week 2, Scandal & Fraulein Maria

The second week of Dressember, was full of some fun ones. Scandal broke out of the jean shirt outfit, but there was a spaghetti strap black number underneath for warmth. Reports were filed and an investigation ensued, but my name was eventually cleared and I was exonerated of all charges. I even had the Dressember creator take a peek for proof! No cheatin' here ladies and gents. Pure dedication. The photos are from instagram, so they're fun but a little pixelated. The crowd pleaser in this week was the Swedish schoolgirl/missing cast member from The Sound of Music (a.k.a. the yellow dress with the knee highs and the wide brimmed hat).  Click on any of the pics to enlarge.

I am so excited to wear pants. Heck, I'm so excited to just be able to wear whatever I want. 

- Amy

Listening to: "I Am 16 Going On 17" from The Sound of Music

Dressember Week 1, Skeletons on Motorbikes, & The Lumineers

Dressember is in full swing! And up until today the weather has been kind to my bare legs. Today, however, it's pouring rain and freezing, but I won't give into tights until absolutely necessary. Nothing like a little skin in the winter. Below is a recap of the first week of Dressember. I'm trying to mix things up even though I'm pretty much working with the exact same dresses I wore last year (see those here), so it's been fun and challenging to make old things look new and exciting. Click on the photos to enlarge. If you want to see more Dressember, just log into Instagram and search the hashtag #dressember. It's trending, baby.  


I've also been doing a lot of illustrating and painting for Hoodzpah clients recently. Above is a piece I whipped up the other night just for fun. It's a skeleton riding a vintage Norton. I realllllly wanted to keep it because I loved how it turned out, but my talented friend and fellow designer Allan Gungormez made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it. I'm going to try to get screenprints made of it however. First we have to make sure there's a high enough demand for them since screenprinting is kind of pricey. I used india ink and an ink brush for this illustration and I love the effect it had. I want to start using this more often. I'm going to try to get some work in on my portrait of Sara this weekend too! I want to have that finished before the new year. Blah, blah, blah, blah-blah-blah blah. I'm even boring myself now, so with that I'll say adieu! 


- Amy
Listening to: "Hey Ho" by The Lumineers. I've had them on loop for about a week now.






P.S. How about that snow last night in Orange County? The month I leave Lake Forest it SNOWS there. Figures. 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Second Summer, Bustin' Out The Mini Skirts & New Baubles

It's a lovely 75 degrees today in Lake Forest on this late November day, and that means bustin' out the tank tops and skirts and reveling in this "second summer." Second summer is almost better than real summer. Just at that stage in the year when you've given up hope on ever getting to slip on those daisy dukes and flowy tanks - just as you've resigned yourself to the fact that it's stockings and coats from here on out - it hits: 84 degree weather in late November. It's like thinking you ran out of cokes when you're desperately craving one, only to find a rogue lone soldier hiding in the back of the fridge behind the milk.

 I haven't posted an "outfit of the day" post in a while, and since I get to dust off my mini skirts and tanks, here we go. I have a new necklace, courtesy of the lovely Sara Wilkins, and a new bag, both of which were birthday presents and both of which were waiting to get shown off, so all the more reason. The bag is by Moda Viajando. It's made in Bali and it's a cute structured suede number with interestingly placed zippers and hot pink lining. Sara got the necklace at a cute little boutique up the street from her apartment in Portland. It's made by a local Portland jewelry designer who creates under the moniker Seaworthy, (not to be confused with the Seeworthy Project production company I have worked with in the past: one deals in beads and baubles, the other in boards and brahs). You can find her lovely things online. She makes nautical inspired jewelry that draws on art deco and native american arts with strong lines and geometric shapes. Beware: if you visit her etsy shop, you WILL need to buy something. The rest of the outfit is just a bunch of my favorite staples thrown together for comfort, style and ease.

Enjoy this lovely summer weather friends.

Bag: Moda Viajando
Skirt: BDG
Shoes: Seychelles
Rings, gift, Forever 21, and Hiya Moon
Watch: Nixon
Tank: H&M
Necklace: Seaworthy
Polish: NYC Times Square Tangerine Creme

- Amy
Listening to: "Brutal Hearts" by Bedouin Soundclash

P.S. Dressember is coming! For more details, visit Blythe Hill's site. She's the mastermind behind it all. You should participate. Just sayin. 

Dressember, Lady Gaga, and The Horror That Is Brush Script

[ Day 6. Dress: Nordstroms' Rack, Shoes: Steve Madden, Jacket: Some Chincy Brand. ]

[ Day 7. Dress: H&M, Shoes: Boutique 9 ]

Here is day 6 and 7 of Dressember. Day 7's dress is really fun because on top of having a really cool visible zipper on the back, it's got Lady Gaga-esque structured shoulders.

Today me and my lovely co-worker Blythe were commiserating over the demise of Signage and Logos everywhere. What is the cause of death? Brush Script. Yes, this font has single handedly taken over store fronts and business cards across the world and is silently but surely killing good branding. Check out our friend Shannon Leith's site dedicated to all the places Brush Script has conquered. The blog is cleverly named "Daily B.S." (hehe) Trying to find the green zone where Brush Script doesn't have a strong hold is like trying to find the Green Zone in Iraq. Brush Script is hidden EVERYWHERE!

- Amy
Listening to: Neil Young's "Hey, Hey, My, My"

Hamming It Up, Galoshes, And A Little Motorhead

Another throw back for you guys. These are some sketches that I did for my friend who was thinking of starting a production company called Badham about two or three years ago. Cool name, huh? The sketches are a little Dr. Suess-esque, which is fun.

It's raining cats and dogs outside. Blythe Hill, how did you convince me to participate in Dressember in such inclement weather!? Looks like I'm wearing galoshes with a dress tomorrow. Here are some pics from days 4 and 5 of Dressember.

[ Day 4 of Dressember ]

[ Day 5 of Dressember ]

[ I'm really diggin my new ankle cowboy boots. ]

- Amy
Listening to: Motorhead's "Ace of Spades"

Vintage Amy Art, Crazy Kentucky Skoolin', and Dressember

[ Poker With The Guys, 5"x7", pencil, c. 2002. Click to enlarge. This is drawn from an old photo I found of my Grandpa's from when he was growing up in Kansas during the Depression. ]

I know this blog is called "The Art and Musings of Amy Hood." I also know that there is probably a lot more musing than art-ing going on here. I plan to remedy this problem in the next week. While going through my art portfolio (a.k.a under my bed) trying to pick which pieces I wanted to show at tonight's art show, I hit the jackpot of old sketches and drawings. Most are from high school, all are funny. So get ready for some new old art! I dub this week "Throwback Week"


Here's one to start the week off strong. It's funny, in Kentucky they only required you to take a quarter of P.E. and a half a quarter of a quarter of art to graduate high school (on top of the usual math, social studies, science and english of course. Geez... we're not complete hicks). Yes, I said a quarter of a quarter. It was a part of a liberal arts catch all class that the freshies had to take that included dance, choir and something else. This is one of the first drawings I remember actually sitting down and taking the time to do for an assignement in said quarter of a quarter art class. It's also the first time I really realized for myself I was pretty good at art, and in a bigger way than the Homer Simpson doodles and cartoon caricatures that so impressed my classmates. This is when my childhood dreams of becoming an illustrator for Disney graduated to dreams of becoming a well rounded artist in the fashion of Michelangelo and DaVinci. (I was a pretty ambitious dreamer, obviously.) Now I still dream of being a well rounded artist, but more than anything I just want my art to speak to people (cliche alert). Really though, life is all about making connections. Art's just another way to do that.


Last but not least, It's Dressember! Dressember is like Hannakuh, except instead of a month of presents you get a month of dresses!  A plus for the fellas out there who know us ladies involved, a little less fortunate for us ladies seeing as the weather is feeling less like Orange County and more like upstate New York. You can read more about Dressember on Blythe Hill's blog. She's the inventive mind behind this fun idea. It's my second year doing it and we're two days in. Each day I'll post a photo of me freezing my arse off in a cute little dress. Here are Days 1 and 2. There's even a flickr group where you can see some of the ladies participating. Apparently Dressember has really taken the nation by storm.

[ Day 1 of Dressember. Dress: H&M, Braided Belt: Nordstrom, Tights: Betsy Johnson, and Shoes: Steve Madden.  ]

[ Day 2 of Dressember. Dress: Urban Outfitters, Shoes: Love D. ]

- Amy
Listening to: Jay Z's "Lost One"