3.04.2010

Complementary Existence: Dollhouse & Trench











Can you believe I found another house with a door that leads to nowhere?

I don't think I've ever shared this before, but the process of finding my outfit locations is really sort of daring and whimsical. I get my camera and tripod all packed up in the car, and I drive around old downtown until I find somewhere I feel confidant getting out at. The homes are holy wow, breathtaking with lots of turn of the century architecture and my favorite scalloped shingles that remind me of an old miniature dollhouse I have hanging in my home. Despite the fact that the houses are perfect, the historic district is right on the edge of a poor community (which is where the daring part comes in). You know how it goes. When money decreases, violence increases. It's a sketchy part of town that I try not to travel too far into. There's been many times that I've found a dream spot for pictures but end up driving away because I'm too scared to deal with trouble. Although the blue house I was at today is right on the verge of that area, I couldn't resist passing it up. How could I prevent these perfect complementary colors from meeting?











When I was through with my photos and just about ready to go, I remembered my new goal to take more photos of my surrounding!! Glad I did because it helped me to find my second door to nowhere. I'm not sure how I keep finding all these doors, but I'm pretty sure they've sparked my interest to a whole new realm of photography. Now I find myself driving around neighborhoods looking for a door in the sky.

Vintage Coat: Saver's $7
Vintage Dress: Sally Jane Vintage $34
Skirt: Saver's $5
Shoes: A friends
Belt: Goodwill $1
Vintage Tooled Purse: Estate Sale $6

53 comments:

Andrea Eames said...

That orange is just glorious. I love it against that blue.

Some of the most gorgeous buildings in my city are in dodgy areas, too, and a lot of them are left to go to ruin. It's so sad. I have a dream of buying up one of those old villas one day and making it beautiful again. :)

Wonder what that mysterious door-to-nowhere was for?

Andrea xx

Emma Fick said...

Oh, my goodness, you are so fabulous, and the orange/blue complementary colors are beautiful beyond belief. So glad I found you! Follow follow follow.

Desiree said...

I LOVE old houses. You're so lucky to live in an area full of them. I also, love this trench.

Emma Fick said...

Oh, and did I mention, that purse is making me wither with envy and admiration. Great find!

M. said...

first of all, your eyes look gorgeous in these pictures!
second, I'm jealous you have the guts to just go out with your tripod, I haven't gotten that good yet hahaha
third, I love this house you found, and I love your outfit

lovelove, M.
http://marissaexplains.blogspot.com

amanda said...

so cool. i love the combo of your orange coat with the blue house (even though it reminds me of the florida gators which i do not like). it's fun getting to see all those gorgeous houses. i love old homes. our first one was built in 1918 and now we live in a renovated loft in a building built around 1900. so much character in these old places. anywho, i love your skirt and shoes. you do vintage so well.

Emily said...

Well I'm glad you ventured out to find this place! That actually looks kind of like my house-- same color and panels. Makes me miss home!

Avalonne Hall said...

You are so lucky to find such amazing places to photograph. Love the outfit. I don't wear orange... ever, but you look great in orange.

Side note: complementary is spelled with an 'e' and not 'i', because complimentary means free, whereas complementary means matching.

Yay for Sally Jane Vintage dress! I got a blouse from her store :)

Christine said...

I love the all the colors in your photos! That house is glorious. I wish Arizona had beautiful architecture like the South =(

LyddieGal said...

Great photos, your coat really is so perfect with that house!

Sarah Elizabeth said...

These photos are stunning! You look amazing and I love the colors.

Claire Nouveau said...

brilliant orange trench. and the outfit is adorable to boot! gah!
xo,
claire

mamushkamarie.blogspot.com

tess said...

love your coat great color and it goes well house color lol

Rosie said...

Gorgeous, as usual girl! I have a hand-tooled leather purse just like that from my Great Grandmother. I forgot about it until now. I'll have to whip it outfor a future photo shoot!

Hunter said...

The colors in these photos contrast beautifully. I've been thinking about finding some spots downtown where I live, because there are some very inspiring places as well, but, just the same, a lot of sketchy people. Plus IT'S COLD!

Maria Confer said...

This is awesome Starr. The colors are a perfect compliment to each other. Love the orange trench and I love how brave you are.

The house is gorgeous and I love the random door on the roof.

Lulu Letty

Mel said...

Hmm gray and orange, what a fantastic color combination! I'll have to try it someday :) Haha I love how you have time to drive around looking for places to snap pictures! I wish I could!

The Cat and The Cow said...

These colors are stunning! You look beautiful in orange and that house is my dream home!!!!

Dylana Suarez said...

That coat is such a great color! Loving it!

Amanda said...

I adore this trench! So lucky to have found that.

I wish there were old homes like that around here. I feel like the old homes that are in abundance in this area are old ranch homes that have been semi-torn down from a tornado or something!

Serina Paris said...

Wow! that is house is so enchanting, with such a mysterious door. I love your outfit and the contrast of the trench against the blue.

Ollie Otson said...

These photos look so amazing! The orange and the blue are great together.

I need to start getting out of my comfort zone and going out to find places to take photos at. I get all self conscious/embarrassed to go out into the world and take them out in the open.

Sher said...

Love the orange against the bright blue dollhouse, so pretty!

And I'm amazed at how daring you are, I'm not sure I'll like to venture out alone with my camera and tripod to take pics...it sounds quite scary!

I do adore that door to nowhere:P

xx

Diane said...

I think this is what I'm going to have to start doing for my outfit photos. I'm just going to drive around until I find a good location! I'm really glad you didn't pass this house up, despite the nearby sketchy area. Like you said, it works too well with your awesome orange coat!

And oh my gosh, that door to nowhere is creepy/EPIC. So weird but good.

mariska said...

aaahhh..totally in love with ur coat..
>.<
it's super cute..
=D

xoxo



www.greatmariska.blogspot.com
www.greatmariska.blogspot.com
www.greatmariska.blogspot.com

Harlow Darling said...

Stunning photography, the bright orange of your coat stands out so beautifully to the contrasting colors of the house!
The mystery random door is really creepy and interesting all the same, I've never seen anything like it before...

The Semi Sweet said...

There are so many places like that where I live, but I am just way too scared to venture on those parts. I love your pictures though! And your trench is just awesome. I love that color!

Rose said...

Hi there, this is my first visit to your lovely blog. That house is completely amazing! No wonder you couldnt pass up the photo opportunity. We dont have houses like this where I live, and that door in the sky...how amazing, I wonder what its purpose was!
Your outfit is amazing, the orange suits you so well.
Looking forward to your next posts :)

Rose

Diane said...

i am in love with that coat and bag! so fab as always.

MOUSEVOX VINTAGE said...

love your bag! and your trench too. i love exploring old & abandoned homes. xo

sanjeet said...

Love the orange against the bright blue dollhouse, so pretty!

fashion videos

Anonymous said...

I love hearing about your process, it sounds so charming and smart and after reading this, I'm all like: So that's how her photos are always perfect!

xo Jenny

Anonymous said...

you look fabulous!! and love that house!

caitlin said...

i am very pleased that you decided to frame your very orange trench coat (love it!) in front of that very blue house... and it really makes your eyes pop!

old abandoned houses are mysterious enough without throwing doors to nowhere in the mix... it's fascinating!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

That an awesome series of photos. That bag is just beautiful!

Anonymous said...

What a stunning house and coat,

BSB
xo
www.babysaysboutique.com

iris said...

love that contrast of colours, and I love every single piece of that outfit.
you have a great taste. :)

Eyeliah said...

that house is so seriusly dreamy, the door to nowhere is the best.

Eva said...

I love your the colour of your coat! Especially because you get all these nice vintage pieces in such good price. I wish I have more motivation to go thrifting/vintage hunting. :)

Love ur blog lots! :D

Lisa said...

You always have the best photo locations! That house is beautiful and I love the trench.

Lorena said...

BRILLIANT location choice! Just having the right colors makes such a huge difference to the quality of photos, these are all wonderful. The 'doors to nowhere' are very interesting, I suppose it would be bad if someone were sleepwalking and happened to open one of those!

http://ganymedekids.blogspot.com

Ulrika said...

Great location choice and supergreat outfit, love the trench and the bag!
xxx

http://ulrikahblog.blogspot.com/

Victoria / Justice Pirate said...

I've always adored that colour of blue mixed with that colour of orange. I used to have these platform sneakers in those colours and adored them so much (they were the most comfortable shoes). That house and the colour of it is gorgeous and so I think it was wonderful to choose that colour coat to wear against it!! you look lovely as ever!!!

el_martina said...

love your outfit and eyes!!!!!

Audrey Allure said...

Gorgeous outfit!

Just stumbled by & I love your blog! :)
- Audrey Allure <3
http://audreyallure.blogspot.com

Meg said...

your clutch is perfect! I love it so much. The random door is so strange and so interesting. It reminds me of the book House of Leaves. Amazing book

C said...

Holy balls, this is amazing. The colors of the trench and the house are stunning. Such vibrant, beautiful photos!

Nicole said...

I love this look. What a great bag. Doors that open to nowhere always creep me out a little.. why were they built? Where were they intended to lead to? It's like a riddle with no answer. Great photos!

Nico said...

What an amazing coat! I love your style.

All of your photos are amazing, you're quite the artist! <3

Twila's Vintage said...

Really am so glad you are still venturing out. These pics are seriously amazing. The color pop is so beautiful.

Oh and I am officially now in love with ellen von unwerth. I had seen the Zooey film but didnt like it as much. She makes me want to be in a pretty video soon.

Twila

Valencia Lia said...

Starr! Oh no,what can I say?? Been saying the same thing each time,but I miss you and your blog too much now. FINALLY finally I can catch up on blogs properly. Urghhhhh

Anyhow,I really love how you all can drive up to different outdoor locations and snap outfit shots. Not here from where I'm from,where you see buildings after buildings.

Adore that gorgeous bright orange trench with the gorgeous skirt and those t-strap heels! Love love those old houses behind you too!

Big hugssss <3

stephanie renee said...

I really like your khaki skirt!

Amanda said...

where is this one? I lived in downtown while I was there - first the Cathedral apartments near one of the schools (Cathedral or Episcopal,I'm not sure), then a carriage house by the art museum. I also helped renovate an old house on Daisy Bates with my exboyfriend and his mum. He lives in it now while she's trying to sell it. That whole cusp-of-a-poor-neighborhood thing is probably the big issue.

I need to stop looking through your blog - it's making me want to move back and I just got here!

I'm almost surprised I've never met you - where did you hang out? I frequented Whitewater, Pizza D, Cool Shoes... gah, all the hipster places. I guess it really was time to move!