When I was growing up I felt that I had been born in the wrong decade; I knew that my true self belonged in an era of free love and bell bottom jeans. Just about every Halloween of my adolescence was spent dressed up as a hippie. Pretty soon that outfit of work jeans, men’s button down shirts and long, wild hair became my everyday attire. When I was in middle school, I inherited a record player from my grandparents and started to collect records through garage sales, resale shops and my parent’s own collection (which was tragically reduced in a garage sale that happened before I knew the value they possessed). There were three records in heavy rotation at that time: the self-titled Boston album, and two by Janis Joplin (Pearl and In Concert). I adored Janis. I wanted to be Janis. I wanted to have a voice that conveyed so much strong emotion and I wanted to look just as badass when I sang. I wanted to wear layers and layers of seed bead necklaces and jackets with large fur collars. I wanted my life to be as exciting as hers had seemed and I wanted to drive a wildly decorated Porche.
Janis Joplin has been and will always be the ultimate image of cool in my mind.
I’m not able to replicate her fantastic style due to lack of imagination and, honestly, appropriate occasions but there is still an essence I can try to capture. I decided to do my first Assemblog du Jour themed around my love of Janis and the era of Free Love as a belated birthday present to one of the many amazing women that helped me become who I am today.
Tofufilly 