I usually am apathetic towards Spring. I enjoy Spring LIFE (tulips, bunnies…), however, I hate stuffy noses and ceaseless strings of sneezes. But if there’s anything that can get someone more excited for Spring, it’s Lula Magazine.
What was once a magazine of questionable existence to me (I used to cross my fingers that liebemarlene would post about it, since she seemed to have better luck than me at finding a copy), Lula is now mine! It appeared at the Borders near work on the exact date that the distributor gave me as its release date (yes, an embarrassing amount of effort to obtain a magazine). Although we are technically in the last month of Spring, thus making the previous anecdote irrelevant in a temporal sense, the Chicago Spring hasn’t kicked in yet. It’s the second week of May AND I am sitting on my back porch AND my nose feels like a dog’s AND I am wearing heattech tights AND legwarmers AND a scarf. Sustained warm weather, where art thou?
1. I like to imagine that Madewell is J.Crew’s rebellious little sister. I am excited for Alexa Chung for Madewell this fall (she’s fantastic!), but for now a Spring dress. That even has “Spring” in its name. Spring Garden Dress from Madewell, $145
2. The secret notes I write in the Spring have to be in pastel, otherwise someone else will deem me to have a frosty, unapproachable soul. Pastel pens for Spring! And they write on plastic! Pilot Latte Gel Ink Pens Pastel Color Series from JetPens, $18
3. If someone was picking my brain to find out what I consider to be the perfect swimsuit, they’d find a picture of this. Even though this is more of a “SUMMER” item, perhaps you people who live in warmer areas can put this to use RIGHT NOW. Perhaps it’s a good thing that I won’t be receiving mine until June (oh additional warning: it’s back ordered because there must be some global consensus that it is a perfect swimsuit). Natalie One-Piece from Anthropologie, $148
4. This reminds me of Little House on the Prairie, and how much I disliked The First Four Years, the only other Little House book that I owned. The Joyous Dress from ModCloth, $75
5. REALLY ADORABLE. I came across these when searching for new plants that I could buy-and-tend-to-and-love (R.I.P. lemon basil plant named “Cutlass”). Petit Coco Casserole Pots from Brooklyn5and10, $13
6. Is there a yellow equivalent to “nantucket red” and “cape cod blue”? Yellow Newport Cordones from TOMS, $69
7. A SECOND QUESTION: Will someone teach me how to properly ride a bike so I can go on bike adventures? Velorbis Studine Classic from Copenhagen Cyclery, $1300
Due to various circumstances (like an overpowering desire to discuss aspects of the perfect Johnny Weir party), this post is incredibly delayed. And for that, I APOLOGIZE. While I sit here, arrested in my mundane office life, exactly a week ago, I was at Bryant Park enjoying the Tracy Reese Fall 2010 show. My friend, Tiffany Rogers, Assistant Designer to Tracy Reese, invited me to the show. Past Tracy Reese collections have proven that Tracy Reese likes cute and feminine. AND has a certain obsession with florals. Going into the show, I did not know what to expect. I knew that fur and florals were somehow intertwined in her fall collection: both assumptions and intel that I had gathered from Tiffany gchat status (“fur in mouth!”). As I waited for the show to begin (my first fashion week show ever, mind you), I stared at the pretty flowery backdrop, and longed for spring. Which is an inappropriate longing considering I was about to witness a FALL show.
Soon after, however, my lust for warmer days transformed into a crave for crisp fall (and a desire to meet Julia Stiles, who was also at the show, and the teenager in me, of course, flipped out). While still maintaining her dainty aesthetic (my goodness there was a lot of lace), the Fall 2010 show was surprisingly grittier than past Tracy Reese collections.
Leopard prints, suede, and fur seamlessly unite to create a mesmerizing collection.
Oh! And the loopy scarves! How I wish I had one to hide behind!
I WAS NOT JOKING. The above is a close up of the scarf from backstage (taken by Tiffany).
Afterward, we ate a lot of meat at The Breslin (which is PERFECT INSIDE, and I WISH-I-LIVED-IN-NYC-SO-I-COULD-BE-ONE-OF-THE READERS-IN-THE-COFFEE-BAR-LOBBY-OF-THE-ACE-HOTEL), and took tiny naps before the after party at Gold Bar.
…Which, as the name implies, is filled with gold (like gold skulls, as Tiffany is demonstrating above) and wonderfully creepy paintings. Delightful.
Although he may be ranked sixth after Tuesday’s Olympics men’s short, Johnny Weir is easily the most entertaining competitor in men’s skating. For those of you unfamiliar with him, Johnny is like the product of what would happen if Lady Gaga and Patrick Wolf had a baby that flew out of the womb with ice skates. If my visual is unsatisfactory, please watch the video of his short here. Yes, those are pink tassels.
In honor of this innovative luminary with unbridled creativity and glitter (literally), I decided to cover quintessential components to the perfect Johnny Weir Party. My actions are extremely timely, as the MEN’S FREE SKATE IS TONIGHT. I highly encourage you to watch and throw your own little Johnny Weir party. Although the possibility that he will medal is slim, at least you will have a fine time celebrating Johnny Weir.
SURROUNDINGS
1. Has your rug been on the road to death? Have you always dreamed about getting a hot pink rug? Well, my friend, this is a splendid time to get a pink rug. FACT: Johnny brought pink bath mats with him to Vancouver. Mohawk Home Shag Run in Racy Pink from Target, $100
2. As I hinted moments ago, Johnny Weir is like a skating version of Lady Gaga. It is, therefore, not surprising that Johnny is a HUGE Lady Gaga fan. His love for Lady Gaga extends to the ice rink, as demonstrated in a recent performance to “Poker Face.”
FACT: Johnny brought also brought a poster of Lady Gaga to Vancouver so she could “watch over us.” Lady Gaga poster from Movie Poster USA, $7
ATTIRE
1. FACT: Johnny likes to wear shiny things. THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE WHERE IT IS APPROPRIATE TO WEAR AN AMERICAN APPAREL METALLIC BODYSUIT (with an even more inappropriate zipper!) NECESSARY ADDENDUM: Johnny also designs his own sparkly onesies, so you should take the creative liberty to further sparkle up your metallic bodysuit. Shiny Zipper-Front Bodysuit in Champagne from American Apparel, $45
World Championships 2006 from Johnny Weir Online
2. Shiny star leggings to avoid an inappropriate crotch reveal if your quadruple lutz living room impersonations go sour. Printed Shiny Leggings from American Apparel, $46
3. FACT: Johnny has been criticized for wearing fur. Silver Indigo Fox All Fur Pill Box Hat from Fur Hat World, $250
picture from delawareonline.com
4. Face and body glitter! Make Up Forever Glitters from Sephora, $13
5. Even more glitter! Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner from Sephora, $18
CONSUMABLES
1. For Johnny’s short, he wore pink tassels. Obtain some pink tassels and tie them to martini glasses, only to be filled with…
2. …lemon drop cocktails! This drink is a lemony ode to Johnny’s calming techniques. I cannot take credit for this brilliant idea is from my friend Tiffany, who is obsessed with skating and the Olympics (mutual passions?, read her blog!). We actually ran to Barcelona Bar so she could catch the end of the Pairs skating Monday. Anyways, she sent me this Johnny Weir quote yesterday:
I was nervous last night. So I Pledged everything in my room. Some people eat, some people drink — but I Pledge everything.
3. Sober Sally? Johnny loves Vitamin Water. Shots of Vitamin Water it is!
4. Apparently Johnny barely eats (which is troublesome for a Johnny Weir party), but once a year he will eat angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.
Does anyone else harbor a desire to throw a Johnny Weir party? Am I the only one?
1. Chicken Skittles from MUJI, £5.95 (football is to soccer as skittles is to bowling)
2. The Africa swimsuit by We Are Handsome, $163
3. Miso Soup Ring by SouZou Creations on etsy, $8.50
4. Candy Bar Bracelet from Dylan’s Candy Bar, $50 (Wish 1.5: That Dylan offered international shipping.)
5. MacBook Pro 17-inch from Apple, $2500 (although a plain old MacBook is much more realistic!)
6. Colour In Dress by Michiel Schuurman, €250
7. Bubble Wrap Calendar from Perpetual Kid, $20
8. ASAP/OMFG Totable from Knock Knock,$10.50
9. PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God from Barnes & Noble, $14.94
10. Kron by Kron Shoes (Amirah also requests the ability to walk properly in heels!)
1. Catcher in the Rye book cover poster from AllPosters, $30 (But you can choose from over 600 other book cover posters here.)
2. TOMS Borges Cordones, $79
3. LOMO Diana F+ CMYK camera kit from Fred Flare, $99
4. Greetings from the Ocean’s Sweaty Face: 100 McSweeney’s Postcards from Amazon, $14
5. The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov from Amazon
6. Fleet Foxes from Amazon, $13 (Maria requests it on vinyl, because she wants to get Tricia’s portable record player and play Fleet Foxes on it.)
7. Osborn Design Sneakers, $60-130
8. Buckyballs, $30
9. Cardboard Moose bust from Perpetual Kid, $48 (large)
10. Collocation NO. 14 (NATURE) Print (left and right panels) from 20×200, $20+ (photos by Mickey Smith)
In London, winter is fast approaching, and to be truly honest it’s not very motivating : it’s getting very cold (antartica-and-penguins-kind-of-cold) and the sun disappears around 4.30pm. BUT I have an unbeatable plan to keep my spirits up : drown myself into retro/vintage fashion. The theme : (it’s) only black and white (but I like it). Here is an idea of what we’re looking for :
1.Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (in French: Qui êtes vous, Polly Maggoo?) is a 1966 film directed by William Klein, about the fashion world. Very funny, and eye-popping. Sadly, there is no american release of this dvd, but you can still find great posters on amazon. Great visual inspiration !
2. Spat-like Boots : much more classy than Uncle Scrooge, don’t you think ? Plus, tall boots = warm. WARM, yes ! Beat that, UK winter !
3. Camera necklace : accessories make the difference. And sometimes I’m too lazy to take my real camera out, so this is a nice alternative.
4. Duotone tights : For schizophrenic girls, show off your legs !
5. Retro 60s dress : Arrows + Black & White = Swinging London Heaven. Wearing this is like being in a black and white picture taken in Carnaby Street in 1967. Except it’s now, and I’m just not very tanned. Bonus : wear with extra long fake lashes and lots and lots of eyeliner. Just don’t go see a sad movie, because this could end up in a scary “fake-lashes-mustache-and-panda-bear-eyes” fiasco
6. Esoteri Louboutin boots : Ok, this is just a dream, and a 700$ reality, but I can’t help it, these shoes are SO CUTE.
7. Leather Avengers boots : I know, another pair of shoes. How many feet do I have ? Just the average two, but, honestly, how can you resist such a graphic pair of boots ? (This is a winning argument for me, anything with a “graphic” edge is absolutely essential. Even a “graphic toothpick” would work on me)
8. White blazer jacket : This reminds me of the old TV serie “The Prisoner” starring co-creator Patrick McGoohan, who spend the entire serie with a drop-dead gorgeous black jacket with white hemlines. Except this jacket is mainly white, so it gets dirty quicker BUT adds a little je-ne-sais-quoi.
Voilà ! To be honest I don’t own everything on this list, but Christmas is coming in a couple of month, and I’m preparing my wish-list in advance. Just a quick advice to finish : don’t overdo it. Personnaly, I draw the line at black lipstick (Unless it’s Halloween, of course).
I have no time for witticisms and preambles! This is going to be short + sweet! I’m a woman on a mission! (If you see less of me this week, it’s all because of Number Five.)
(1) Jack Kerouac’s Invented Game of Fantasy Sports: Read the NY Time article (GO!). This is especially interesting if you are a writer or other creative-type who has an active imagination, even as an adult.
(2) Cute Outfit: Of all of the things I have seen on the internet lately, this outfit has been on my desktop waiting for me to do something with it. All I could do with it was stick it here. I found it on NYLON (which generally does a shitty job of linking to anything helpful, and which I will follow suit in in the interest of time).
(3) Twitter & Threadless: They have teamed up to turn your Tweets into Twats. Er. I mean, shirts. Just link up your twitter account with the Twitter/Threadless conglomerate, and you can nominate the tweets of yourself or your friends for T-shirt fame.
(4) Free Coldplay CD: Ahhh, I was skeptical as to the quality of something so audaciously free, but I actually like some of the live versions better than the studios. My favorite song is “Death Will Never Conquer” (in a rare change of events, the drummer, Will Champion, sings this folksy ditty). Literally, I have been playing through this + Tricia’s Lilly Allen recommendation for three days straight.
(5) The Dictionary: I am reading it. For real. Cover to cover. Six+ hours a day. And taking notes. It is exhausting. (I am scheduled to finish in one month if I continue at this rate.)
(6) The Little Prince: It’s true, as a lover of children’s books I probably should have read The Little Prince sometime long before last week. You’ll be happy to know that now that I have read it, I understand why everyone is obsessed! Such a lovely, deep story. (Go flip through it on Google Books if you haven’t read it!) A little internet research lead to the discovery that James Dean (I heart him also, btw) also loved the book, and had many passages memorized.
Remember when I got all excited about American Apparel’s Circle Scarf because you can wear it a million different ways? Well, I’ve always wanted our dear circle scarf, but I never wanted to spend the dough, and since our economy is down the tubes, maybe you don’t either!
As you have probably already deduced, you could make a circle scarf out of any long strip of fabric if you just sew one end to another. Still, I’ve come up with something even more impressive.
A pillowcase!
Cut off one end (or take out the seams), and voila, you are done.
You can spend the rest of your unemployed day creating new costumes (as you can see I’ve already become a head trauma patient and a terrorist). I actually really like the simple scarf configurations. The bestest part of this is the potential for insanely designed scarves (if you have, let’s say, a Mickey Mouse pillow case!).
Yes, that’s seriously the end of the how-to. And, no, I wasn’t feeling very modely (if you want to know the truth — MANGO SKINS CONTAIN POISON THAT HAS REDUCED MY FACE TO AN ITCHING MASS, go to wikipedia if you don’t believe me about that crazy fruit!) so these aren’t my most stunning pictures. Errrr.
Thrilling Tips: (1) If you do have a sewing machine, you can hem the end you cut (I don’t, and my scarf prevailed nonetheless). (2) Use a belt to keep a halter shirt or a skirt from falling down. It’ll work best if you put on the belt and then flap some fabric over the belt after it’s tightened. (3) Add decorative pins. (4) Speaking of pins, the side-halter and the one that goes tight around the neck were created using a strategically placed pin. (5) I used a chopstick to keep together that knot on the bathing suit style top. (6) My pillow was made of stretchy jersey fabric. This made it more flexible for cool configurations.
Finished? Here are my other Unemployment Projects.
I’ve written before about my inspiration binders and inspiration boards, and the resulting outfits such projects inspired. But now that you’re unemployed (see all unemployment projects here!) you have time to go crazy with your inspiration binders and achieve something else equally important — getting rid of all of those magazines I know you’ve been saving.
I had stacks of Print, Oprah, Real Simple, Nylon, Teen Vogue, Good, and ReadyMade (between Oprah & Teen Vogue, try to guess my age!) piling up in my shelves and taking over my life. I am a packrat, so I couldn’t just throw them away.
I made multiple binders with the following categories: Fashion (with tabs for: hair, makeup, professional clothes, socks, and awesome outfits); Recipes (real food, desserts); Crafty Inspiration (Cool Page Layouts, DIY, and Home).
Here are some excerpts from my fashion binder:
Here are some Tips & Tricks for your binder making:
Finally, a crafty reader named Ann sent me the funniest email and an awesome project. While you’re going through your magazines, cut out little squares of solid colors and use them to make or decorate something you need, like a CD rack. I’ll give you her instructions:
“After many rounds of somewhat lame cross-stitch projects, I needed something different to do, so I decided to attack my mysterious Vogue subscription (mysterious because I have no idea why they’re being sent to me because, obviously, I can’t afford anything advertised there) collection. I needed a storage solution for my cds and whatnots, but since I couldn’t find a cool box that i liked from target, I decided to grab my scissors, magazines, and glue and get to gettin.”
“First, I cut down my Quaker Oats jumbo box to about 5″ high. Then I started ripping out pages from my magazine, focusing on those pages that were mainly of one color, or of fun pattern (stripes, plaids, and flowers). Then I started cutting out 2.5″ squares from those sheets of paper. THEN I folded in the four corners, glued, flipped over, folded in the four corners again and glued, to make mini squares. THEN I sorted them into ROYGBIV order, then glued them onto the box. I cheated a bit on the long sides, but I like the finished product well enough.”
With both of these projects in hand, you should be busy for at least two days!
1. DIY Recycled Plate Cake Stand; 2. Tea’s Me Tea Set, from Rosana (which has more yummy yummy cups & things); 3. The Sweet Tooth Tunic from Mod Cloth (on sale!); 4. Kesera Tablecloth from Anthropolgie; 5. Girly Girl Gloves in Peach (not even $15! though you can only wear these types of gloves to: weddings, proms, tea parties) from Mod Cloth; 6. Alice & Friends All Dressed in Red & Ready to Mail, 10 folded notecards w/handmade envelopes from Time2Cr8 on Etsy; 7. Gourmet Tea from Tea Forte
Ah, I could not resist my cutsie title, I apologize! I love tea parties. You can have scones, cupcakes, little sandwiches without crusts, and at the same time wear ridiculously frilly dresses. As Napoleon said, “From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step” and thanks to Alice in Wonderland, I think you can take that step while drinking tea.
To highlight two of my faves from the group above:
Why I like: Vintage Alice & Wonderland! Each card is different! Space for your thoughts, such as: “COME TO MY TEA PARTY OR I’LL CHOP OFF YOUR HEAD!”
WHY I LIKE: Vintage-y; contains cupcakes; has sleeves for those of us worried about the visual attractiveness of our upper arms; on sale; unquie; sweeeet!
