i wore the album out

 

Rasputina -- Sister Kinderhook

{Antique Edwardian floral gown; inherited bead necklace from my grandmother; 1920s millinery flowers in hair; old riding boots.}

Blanche -- If We Can't Trust the Doctors

{Antique Edwardian lace dress; Chelsea Crew boots.}

The Gun Club -- Miami

{1950s shorts.}

    Music has always been my chief sustenance; it inspires, influences, or compliments most every creative endeavor I pursue. Here are some outfits I've been donning (on those increasingly rare days when I am actually getting dressed and going out, rather than staying slip-clad and lazy in the garden) and my "sounds of summer" albums which influenced them. 

    With Sister Kinderhook, Rasputina really went all-out with their very peculiar and lovely 19th century magic, and even added heavy shades of pastoralism to the mix (my favorite!). There's nothing that feels so wonderfully right at the end of a long hot day as putting on an antique cotton slip and sitting out in my garden to watch the bats at dusk while Sister Kinderhook plays softly. 

    Blanche remains one of my most favorite bands, despite their obscurity and fleeting career. So few artists think to marry the Gothic with country-western, and even fewer do it so cleverly and with such talent. With Blanche, I can have my beehives and tear-in-my-beer sorrow, and my Victorian lace and collapsing farmhouses. I used to want to be in a band when I was younger, but since Blanche basically went ahead and put all my aesthetic fancies into musical form, I am content to do other things with my time.

    Finally, the Gun Club's Miami is simply the ultimate driving soundtrack for me. I suppose it's got a rambling, raucous, feral, but tortured spirit in the vein of Hank that matches the sultry summer days and endless car trips through the lush wild foliage. I live in rural Vermont (obviously, I hope) where we have to drive a lot to get anywhere; it sure is beautiful this time of year, to see the mountains draped so in veritable jungles. But the oppressiveness of a deeply rural existence can get to ya, too; the knowledge of all I'm missing out on, brought to my door each day via the internet, and the seductively gorgeous (but no less dangerous!) lazy allure of a dead-end existence.

What are your own summer anthem albums? Do you often dress with songs or music styles in mind? I am all ears!