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I had a birthday back at the beginning of this month. Rang in my late 20s with Proenza Schouler wide leg silk trousers (secondhand, Wasteland), vintage top with mother of pearl button detail (also via Wasteland), brand new Dries Van Noten five inch pumps with ribbons (not visible, sorry, will share later), and hours of dancing until it hurt too much to dance anymore.

Seriously, these pants saw some Janet in "I Get So Lonely" leg breakdown action.

I read this Collector's Weekly article on Frida Kahlo's wardrobe, which just blew me away with the gorgeous pictures and ideas about clothing and bodies and disability. (There are some amazing articles on CW! -- last one I read before this was about getting addicted to opium via collecting opium paraphernalia.) Feeling so inspired by Frida, and with a party in the works, I suddenly just knew what I needed to do: braided floral headpiece.

I did not want it to be a costume of Frida, though. I just wanted to execute the design challenge of this hairstyle. So, I finally took these Proenza pants to be hemmed, located an appropriate top, and picked out flowers at my favorite florist in San Francisco, Birch. My bff helped with the braiding and floral arranging on my head (as well as the hosting of said dance party). It was one of the highlights of the night for us to make this idea become a reality.

It made for a memorable birthday. So did my lovely gift of a Kaoru ring (from one of the best shops in San Francisco: Cotton Sheep) to add to my small but growing gold band collection. The two other rings that make up this collections are seen in the upper right photo, of my hair dress rehearsal from the day before the party.

The nice thing about creating a floral headpiece, is that you get to have a cute little bouquet for the morning after the dance party.


If you'd like to see shit like this in real time, plus a lot of plants, patterns, and buildings (now featuring moments in the American South) you can find me on instagram @loveshipsusie.