September 2010 Archives

Just in time for the end of fashion week and right when I finished reading The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, Marc Jacobs opened his latest namesake boutique, Bookmarc, featuring--you guessed it!--books, and lots of 'em. The petite corner shop replaces the former Biography Bookshop (newly relocated and renamed) and features a well-edited selection of art tomes and colorful paperbacks in addition to Marc's signature assortment of motley accessories (think journals, pencils, and cute book bags), which are specifically designed for and sold exclusively at the store. Also worth noting: Bookmarc carries Olympia Le-Tan's fantastically clever, hand-made and embroidered book clutches. I've got my eye on Mr. Dracula below...

... I love your Spring/Summer 2011 collection!!

(Love your fall collection, too).

I met Carlen Altman a few years ago during an improv class at Upright Citizens Brigade. We made each other laugh and may or may not have caused our teacher to quit halfway through our term (our teacher's hatred for both our constant snickering and a rather infamous--and well loved--Catholic School Girls sketch was no secret). Carlen always liked to call me a "beauty doll", which I thought was special until I realized she called everyone a beauty doll. Sometimes she would say it sweetly with a smile and other times like she was about to slice my throat open with a pencil. Either way, I found it endearing.

After several years in the big, bad city, Carlen has gone on to helm a variety of fantastic projects, one of which is her line of Jewish Rosaries. She was also featured in a bunch of cute outfits for a Lucky magazine spread awhile back. When I ran into her last night, she was wearing some of her newly designed pieces, and folks, they BLEW MY MIND. What you see above is a large, silver ring with a bearded man holding a tablet. What you don't see is that the beard can move up and down... like the man is ranting, chomping, or laughing at you from that middle finger. It's GENIUS.

Carlen also designed a zig-zag necklace (seen in the photo above) that transforms into a star, which you can see below.

She also has a chuckling pharaoh ring and a pyramid ring that opens up to reveal a mummy inside. Fantastic!!

All of these new pieces as well as a few more from her "Jew-elry" collection should be available soon. You should check out her blog for updates (and for a good laugh). This beauty doll is a serious riot.

Last Wednesday, my friend, Deirdre Corley, and I decided to put our freelance hours to use by hitting up Mario Batali's new Italian behemoth, Eataly. "All in the name of research!" we decreed while trying to figure out the best way to eat our way through the place on a limited budget. I can tell you right now that our wallets (and tummies) were extremely happy.

Now, I know there's been a bit of a backlash (this being New York, of course) that Eataly is too big and brash. That it's a vanity project. That it's nothing more than a gimmicky mega-store ready to rob your soul. Really people, this is midtown. Aren't we used to this by now? Also, who doesn't want freshly made mozzarella, interesting varieties of pasta you can't find in this country, and a vegetable butcher who'll cut your stuff for free? Yeah, maybe it all sounds a little "boo-zhee." Maybe you don't care about silky chocolate gelato or honey robbed from a eucalyptus tree. But maybe you don't know you want this stuff yet. Maybe you just need to try. it. Trust me when I type this: you do. You really, really do.

Upon opening the heavy metal doors on 23rd Street (or 5th Avenue or 24th Street--this place wraps around the block), you're greeted by bright lights and a culinary wonderland explosion. There are lobster mushrooms mingling with morels, white asparagus pointing at eggplants; there's a cheese man who'll tell you what you want based on what you like, and a vegetable butcher waiting for you to throw her some artichokes. If you're overwhelmed at this point--we were--you can take a breather at any one of the dozen standing tables next to the mozza man and order yourself a glass a wine and some freshly sliced cheese and meat. We would have done this if Martha Stewart hadn't been taking over the place with her camera crew and whatnot. Thanks for nothin', Lady M!

Once you're out of the cheese n' veggie area, you're confronted with more dairy delights to your right as well as mini desserts behind glass, a panini station, honey and jams galore, a gelateria, and the Lavazza coffee bar beyond that which seemed to be packed on our way in and out.

Lots more after the jump...

I was at a wedding recently where many of the women looked relaxed, chic, and completely comfortable in what they were wearing. Usually, there's a lot of fuss, constant fluffing, and the frenetic taming of frippery. Not so at this wedding. One young lady was wearing a long silk dress, beautifully constructed and minimally adorned. Another had on a simple, roomy shift in a muted color that hit just above her knees. Ditto for another in simple sleeves and an unobtrusive print. All of this unfussy loveliness was the work of Vena Cava. It's also worth noting that most of the fashionable wedding guests were from Southern California. I'm probably not the first New Yorker to admit it, but LA style is kind of where it's at right now.

Thus, it came as no surprise that Vena Cava's Spring/Summer 2011 collection--designed in SoCal, of course--was all about laid-back, ladylike style. Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock (whose smiling sets of parents cheered them on from the front row along with indie lasses Annie Clark of St. Vincent and Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces) were inspired by the 1980's Memphis Group design movement headed by legendary Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass. The Memphis movement is characterized by vibrant geometric shapes that are meant to be humorous, thought-provoking, and modernist in nature. Vena Cava constructed their own hanging structures in the middle of the runway, the models providing slow-gliding punches of red and gray between them. Makes me want to pack up and write poetry in Laurel Canyon by day, sip Prosecco on a succulent-strewn Silverlake patio by night...

Happy Post-Labor Day to you! This is my favorite time of year. Everything starts to take on a newer, cooler sheen as we glide out of summer and into fall. This back-to-school time of year is all about new beginnings. It's about sloughing off the mosquitos, preparing to layer back into the cozy, and really mapping out how you want to live out the latter part of the year. For me, the end of summer and beginning of autumn should always be celebrated with brunch.

I gathered with some of my friends in the backyard of a sleepy, homespun cafe nestled within Brooklyn's forgotten Navy Yards. We sipped Bloody Marys and thick coffee in the shade of a birdhouse tree while the sun made lazy patterns across the metal table. It was breezy and quiet, the air often punctuated by the sounds of our laughter or the constant clanking of forks on the one plate with the vanishing sourdough pancake. We strolled onto the cobblestoned street, said hello to bikers in their braids and Belstaff, and then made our way to the Admiral's Mansion.

Then, via bike, truck, and taxi, we journeyed to the more industrial part of Brooklyn to tap dance along the concrete, pastel popsicles in hand...

YES. To all of this.

From Maira Kalman's And the Pursuit of Happiness (via sfgirlbybay).

Kyoto has these 11 things:

1. Trees that look like they're about to explode.

2. Smiling eighty year-olds on bikes.

3. Giggling geisha.

4. Dancing Care Bears.

The Dancing Bears of Kyoto from Verbose Coma on Vimeo.

5. Darkened alleyways that are both clean and safe.

6. Mysterious black cats and curious black birds that follow you in empty parks.

7. Restaurants on the 10th floors of office buildings that let you fry as much as you want tempura-style at your table for 90 minutes. Plus a button that you push for beer.

September is my Christmas and New Year's all rolled into one. As a lifelong magazine lover (and hoarder), this is the month when the fashion and design Santas bestow us with their most triumphant, ad-strewn gifts. I've thumbed through almost all of the gigantasaurus beauty bibles, dogeared the best of the bountiful spreads, but the one I keep going back to is also the slimmest and least ad-heavy of the bunch. Say hello to Tokion magazine's new incarnation, FACTORY. Filled with wearable, well-styled clothes, pencil illustrations by Jenny Mörtsell, and some lovely fashion collages by Peggy Wolf, this is the little fashion gift that keeps on giving.

DANIELS are Daniel and Daniel. One is from Massachusetts, the other is from Alabama, but they both live and work in Los Angeles. Together DANIELS direct, animate, shoot, edit, and sometimes act in groundbreaking music videos for the likes of New York's The Hundred in the Hands and Reykjavik's FM Belfast. Their narratives are full of fine young things of the Williamsburg variety frolicking hazed and haphazard through darkened streets, claustrophobic dance parties, and within the seemingly private confines of their bedrooms. Hypnotic, creepy, and often explosively beautiful, DANIELS are two dudes who are double-handedly making music videos matter again.

Must have these beauties from Tatty Devine's new collection!