Sunday Style Roundup

Well, hello there.

Preface: We may have fallen off the old "posting"* boat, but hey, we've been otherwise occupied. Often that means someone is in the loo, but in this case, it means that .:tt:. and >rr< have been occupied with things such as Acquiring New Jobs, being Productive Members of Society (Ending World Hunger, Ending Misuse of Terrycloth Pants, etc.). But we have not forgotten entirely about you, gentle reader (oh, Miss Manners), and to that end I've put together a list of my most favorite fashion & style resources on Ye Olde Internets. Even if you just think of these sites as procrastinatory devices rather than fascinating sociological tracts, hey, at least they're marginally more edifying than Perez. Without further ado:
The Sartorialist - The most gracious documenter of street style, in his words, "started The Sartorialist simply to share photos of people that I saw on the streets of New York that I thought looked great. When I worked in the fashion industry (15 years), I always felt that there was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life." This now translates into a gorgeously simple photo blog updated daily from his travels all over, among circles high and low. He gives us thoroughly chic fashion plates and fantastic old men in hats. [see -------->]
GoFugYourself -This indispensable site is the first thing I read after I stare down my horrifying Gmail inbox. The Fug Girls knock fashion offenders neatly off their pedestals with a hearty dose of hilariousness. They're geniuses. It's addictive. I'm sure you know this already.
The New York Times Fashion & Style section - They're pretty on it in terms of mainstream fashion news, and have intelligent reporting on fashion in the real world. Their photo montages of Manhattan folk are fun too (e.g. people wearing galoshes! Or, yellow dresses! Or, white fur! I feel like New Yorkers are actually way more daring with their everyday ensembles than we Angelenos.). Plus, the Style section has articles on media, pop culture, music, blah blah, which are relatively smart. Plus, their wedding reports are unbeatable! Even my very un-cheesy stepmother reads them religiously. And let's not forget the very pretty seasonal "T" magazine they put out about fashion & style. Good times. (Hah! TIMES! I am a master of puns!)
Deeply Superficial - A graduate student of fashion theory writes this catch-all blog about "fashion theory/fashion history/fashion now." My fave combo! I'm excited to find that you can actually study fashion theory in grad school--a dream of mine--and her posts on fashion theory, recent fashion happenings and phenomena (and sample sales!) are neat.
Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture - I received this heinously expensive Scandinavian journal for a year (thanks, Mom) and now can check the super-academic articles online (or, at least, the free previews of them).
Style.com - Duh, I know. But they have all the runway shows, neat articles spotlighting industry darlings or newcomers, and it's where I can check to see things like, oh, what kind of shirt CAN I wear with my trouser-leg jeans?
Fashion Geek - I guess this is a Citysearch blog (weird), but it's got updates on the U.S. fashion scene, snarky Fashion Week reviews, notices of random fun events and music and stuff too. Whoever writes it is amusing and it does provide a nice jumble of vaguely related posts (Marc Jacobs vs Tom Ford in a "nude-off"! Latest weird trends! Gossip from the reporter! Interviews of people on the street!). Kind of like a Gawker of fashion, I guess.

OK, enough for now. I won't admit to any more of the stuff I read regularly for fear of looking like some geek who reads about the industry all day...um...so, I'm off to brave the outside and find some sushi.
xo,
> r r < *My newest favoritest randomest blog that warms the cockles of my grammar-freak heart: the blog of unnecessary quotation marks!

Martha Stewart Copped Out

I try to stick with themes. This morning, the theme that arrives time and time again, are wine glass tags.

Wine glass tags are just as they seem; little markers for the wine glass so that it doesn't get mixed up with another guest's wine glass. I thought to myself, "who puts their wine glass down?" But then it became obvious to me that when one ducks into a closet for a quick snog at a cocktail party, most people put their glasses down. It then occurred to me that you have just exchanged a lot more than spit--so why the shy behavior suddenly? BUT then I thought further and realized that it may come down to philosophy; HIS glass may be half empty.

First it started with a perusal of an old Martha Stewart Magazine. Someone requested "smart and simple" ways to make wine glass tags. The first mistake was to assume "simple" thought I. But Martha disappointed. She suggested buying silk flowers with the bendy stems to wrap around the glasses.

EWWW. Doesn't that seem a fright? I can imagine a rose growing up the side of your Burgundy and tickling your mustache.

Then I saw these, and suddenly the flower seemed downright avant garde!

I remember the good old days, when it was appropriate to drink out of "red cups" and you could just Sharpie your name on the side. Those were simpler times.

I'm not even gonna talk about these.

I've been wracking my brain to come up with a better idea. And then I had it. We've lived centuries without wine glass tags--therefore WE DO NOT NEED WINE GLASS TAGS.

As I always say, keep your wine glass close and the wine bottle closer.

.:tt:.

Holy Crap

BUTTER CUTTER!

LOVE IT.

(the all caps just goes to show.)

.:tt:.

Donatella!!1! oh, and some other stuff.

News flash: one of the salesgirls from the front (I'm at work) just ran back here to the office, whisper-shouting "Donatella's here!" Donatella. Versace. Yes. The head salesgirl started flipping out and trying wildly to get rid of the salad she was holding so she could run out to the floor--"Somebody take this! Take it! Oh god!"--since she was suddenly unable to muster the wherewithall to put it down herself. Naturally, within 30 seconds I found an excuse to trot out there myself, where, indeed, the little leathery lady with the blinding platinum hair was reigning the scene from atop her big black stilettos. Chattering in Italian to her raggedy/anorexic-looking accomplice and then adding more and more to the pile of things waiting in the arms of the fluttering salesgirl. Her voice is very deep and she looks totally, insanely, like all the pictures in the magazines. Love it.

In more useful news, there are some neat happenings coming up in L.A.:

BUY
Sample Sale
What: Loads of Vanitas dresses, N.Fem. basics, Wilen knits, and Morgan Oakley handbags priced wholesale and below.
When: Sat., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: 7600 Melrose Ave., at Curson Ave., 2nd fl., ste. n, West Hollywood (310-567-2484). http://vanitasofcalifornia.com/

HEAR
The Perils and Pleasures of Prefab Architecture
What: Free reception, book signing, and panel discussion on ecofriendly building and architecture in conjunction with the Some Assembly Required: Contemporary Prefabricated Houses exhibit.
When: Thurs., 6 p.m.
Where: MOCA Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., at San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood (310-289-5223).

> r r <

STACKme

As I mentioned in an article below, design for design's sake is not my cup-of-tea. I like design to solve a problem.

STACKme is a stacking place setting that allows for each plate and bowl to stack UP not OUT. Think NYC when suddenly there was no more land to build on--"let's go up!" the mayor might have proclaimed.

Table sprawl shall be a thing of the past; soup with a view probably even tastes better.

.:tt:.

coo.boo

I'm eternally fascinated by design. I started out as a design student before I became a chef, indeed. And though I love designers/design, I often don't agree with how they come about their designs. This particular design I will share with you falls into the "WTF?" category. I wish that he knew the subject before he designed for the subject.

It's not beautiful. It doesn't solve any "problems"--it is design for design's sake--use the brainpower to stop starvation or global warming. But then again, those are real problems--getting soup on your cookbook is much easier mountain to conquer.

coo.boo
via: Cool Hunting

.:tt:.

coo.boo Digital Cookbook
by Tim Yu, 7 February 2007



You might have heard, but soon there will no longer be a need to risk your laptop in precarious situations in the kitchen. Modeled after a spatula, coo.boo is a digital cookbook that fits into the kitchen environment better than any laptop or printed cookbook. Recipes stored on the user’s computer are automatically synchronized through a wireless docking station and displayed on the face of the device. Digital function allows the cook to choose the degree of support wanted, from simply displaying recipes to full audiovisual cooking lessons. Not fragile like other high-tech digital devices, coo.boo is washable and can be placed on the counter top or hung up next to other kitchen utensils. Designed by Philipp Gilgen, a student at the University of Applied Sciences in Northwestern Switzerland, it recently won the IF Concept Award 2007. Still in prototype stage, there is no word yet on release or price. Contact Philipp Gilgen for more info.