Here I am at the Shop Social mixer at the posh W Hotel. Hosted by Chictopia.com and DNA (designers + artists), this event gave me the chance to chat with fellow bloggers and touch base with some great local designers.
I’m wearing:
vintage Levi Strauss canvas work pants from the nineteen-teens. Seriously. I purchased them at last spring’s Vintage Clothing Expo. The vendors had acquired them from an estate sale, and these Most Favored of Trousers came with two photographs dated 1921 that showed the original owner chilling serenely by an untouched creek wearing my new pants. They put me back, if memory serves, $75, which seems like a steal considering that they’ve already held up well for nearly or more than 100 years. Legit. Their color is much more green in real life.
a red, v-neck cardigan worn backwards, acquired last week from a street-side free pile. People throw away the best stuff. Yes, I washed it.
black leather bondage heels from Nine West, purchased probably two years ago. I love these shoes. I spent almost $100 on them–which I never do, I very rarely spend that much on anything, though I know that’s not that much for shoes–but I had had had to have them.
black leather, studded belt, borrowed from Hannah. Tee hee, thanks Hannah! (I’m house- and cat-sitting for Hannah Banana right now so this borrowing-of-belts is news to her*wink*.)
Coincidentally, Hannah B also hand-made that rad, red necklace. Hannha, hannah, hannah.
After I took this get-up to a vaudeville-like, circusy, carnivalesque revue called Hello Folly! at Amnesia in SF. Highly enjoyable, it was a mix of performance art, folk opera, and music. It was also awesome.
It was awesome touching face-to-face base with Alex and Amy and Jenny, seeing Liz again, meeting Jen Jennings of Serial Cultura and Alyssa Nicole, who were all sweet as pie and oh-so talented. These photos come courtesy of Kristine Kirong over at Chictopia. Thank you again Kristine for the wonderful pics.
It was awesome as always to see the Folk Opera. I love you all madly.
It began when Ralph Lauren sent these beautiful, sparking creations down the runway for his Spring 2009 show–a show which really should be admired in its entirety, if you have the time and inclination. However irrationally, my heart took a hit when I saw these.
Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! /Bright and yellow, hard and cold
I mean, I know they’re probably challenging to credibly wear in the real world, but, come on: huminah, huminah, huminah.
And when Chloé (also S/S 2009) sent these wow-diculous trousers (below) down the runway, I only thought of Ralph’s and how I longed to hold them in my ams.
Molten, graven, hammered and rolled, /Heavy to get and light to hold,
Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold, /Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled,
This is a palpable, almost painful, desire for gold lamé and/or gold sequin pants. And I drooled a little every time I saw this perfect pair.
Spurned by young, but hung by old/ To the verge of a church yard mold;
But I’d nearly shaken it, really I had. The daydreams and yearnings had become almost infrequent. But now I’m going through Lanvin’s Spring 2010 RTW collection, because I love Alber Elbaz and you will see more of this soon, and these two jumpsuits throw me back into the whirlwind of unrequited, unreasonable want.
Price of many a crime untold./ Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!
As a side note Iris Strubegger is awesome. And alas Alber Elbaz always makes me covet things I’ll never touch. Where are my gold pants?
Good or bad a thousand fold!/ How widely it agencies vary,
I would also be happy to give home to these versions below from Kenzo Spring 2010, another recent reminder of this year-plus-old obsession.
To save, to ruin, to curse, to bless, /As even its minted coins express:
Now stamped with the image of Queen Bess, /And now of a bloody Mary.
So doled or stolen, bartered or borrowed, I would very much like to own a my own pair of not-at-all-practical, gold, crazy pants. Please. Thank you. That is all.
Notes: The poem quoted, in its entirety, throughout the photo captions, is “Gold” by Thomas Hood (23 May 1799-3 May 1845). All runway images are taken from style.com. The model wearing those perfect gold trousers on the runway is the same model wearing them in the Ralph Lauren ad, Valentina Zelyaeva.
“I am a woman who enjoys herself very much; sometimes I lose, sometimes I win.”–Mata Hari
Bug Under Glass monarch with vintage map of California, $48
Here are a few interrelated images to provide additional inspiration for your quickly encroaching week. I will attempt to make “Inspiration Sunday” a weekly thing. Which leads into… What else would you guys like to see from me? What should I be writing about that I haven’t yet?
I appreciate everyone who reads and want to keep y’all interested. Send me your thoughts, ideas, and so on in the comments section please.
Utilitarian Franchise human lung and heart growing wild flowers and orchids with butterflies, silk screened wall hanging, $35
My own inspiration for this post? Bodies, butterflies, and wanderlust.
I’ve been working lately on getting my body strong again, walking and wondering thru town, enjoying the beauty of spring in the Bay. The monarchs are rolling through town. I’ve seen three perfect specimens in Berkeley in as many days.
Who else has spotted the colorful fluttering of warm weather butterflies around town?
I’ve also been thinking a lot lately about travel and camping. “Camping,” specifically, keeps coming up in conversation so this may be a good cue that I need to get out of dodge for a few days and put some dirt under my feet.
Selflesh, hand embroidered archival print of a rare vintage star map in the form of an anatomical heart, with red thread that radiates from the North Star, $30
The Bug Under Glass studio is located in San Francisco and here you can find beautiful specimens, butterflies and beetles, in amazing color and richly detailed. The Bug Under Glass studio offers museum quality specimens and museum quality frames and framing practices. Furthermore, this is a Green Certified business and all of the insects are farm raised, not wild caught, from forest conservation programs around the world. Biologist Kevin Clarke will also gladly work with customers for tailored home displays or one-of-a-kind gifts. I love how unique and well-crafted his displays are. These go beyond your typical bug-in-a-box presentations. This one is my favorite. Y’all already know how I have a thing for beetles.
I’m a little bit obsessed with The Utilitarian Franchise. Based in San Francisco, they make compelling and strangely beautiful screen printed pillows and canvases that feature animal-human hybrids and more traditional nature imagery. I love the Professor Tucan and Lion Baby pillows, but I think this Jellyfish in Armor is my favorite. I love the one I featured above as well. Honestly, again, I’m kind of obsessed with their stuff. I’d buy out the whole stock if such a thing were doable.
Okay, so Selflesh isn’t actually a Bay Area artist. I just realized this. Somehow, because I love her stuff obviously, her etsy shop was put in the list of my (Bay Area) favorites. But, whatever, I do what I want. Maine-based artist Shannon Rankin makes fine art, embellished, and limited edition prints. A lot of her collage work includes maps, which I love; I love maps. Images of the body (hands, heads, anatomical hearts) and images of birds are also big themes in her work. Again: love, love, love. So what if she lives in Maine? One of my best friends is from Maine.
I love the idea of repurposing old clothes, knickknacks, belts, and so on and giving them new life: turning that maxi into a mini, morphing by mere placement that too-small belt into a suggestive leather necklace , making that single, once-favored earring into a now-favorite pendant.
But recently I’ve been marinating on ways to move beyond these simple changes. (mmm, mmm, mmm…)
A beanie and scarf woven from rubber bands
See, my friend Julia Campbell,1 a young and funny woman, an awesome artist studying at the University of Iowa, she posted the above photo on her facebook page a while back. Yes, that is a beanie and scarf made entirely from rubber bands. Yes, she admitted the beanie was quite uncomfortable to wear. Still though, doesn’t she look adorable in it?
Here, at least, wearability isn’t really the point. Créativité, passion, action: voila, les buts, n’est-ce pas?
I love the creativity it took to make this: to look at some everyday, useful item and see the possibility for some completely different something. I think fashion is the perfect foray for these types of adventures.
And then Julia went ahead and fashioned a fancy raincoat from trashbags. I know this may not be an entirely new concept2–use what you’ve got, necessity’s a mother, yada yada–but I think sometimes, on a practical level, we see a pipe and all we think to is tobacco and smoke, whatever else Freud might say.
Overturn the dominent paradigm, stay dry in the rain.
And her trash bag slicker immediately made me think of this, which will be of course “worth” thousands of trash bags:
Michael Kors, Fall/Winter 2010
For my part, I have been building what I call the Island of Mismatched Earrings collar. I’ve been wanting one of those big ol’ “statement necklaces,” or bibs, or collars, or whatever the kids are calling these heavy duty décolletage decorators, dreaming of owning something like this or this or this. Only, you know, free and DIY. Because I am poor.
Apologies, apologies for the subpar picture quality; this pic was taken with my humble phone. Yes, that is a fuzzy blue statue of the Virgin Mary. What?
It’s still a work in progress, as I think it will only look better as it’s filled out with more and more widowed earrings. This will happen organically and eventually. I’m constantly losing earrings, even when I put on those little rubber backies. The base of the bib is a structured velvet belt that was just a tad too small to actually wear and still expect to breathe. So with some strategic pleats, and a few stitches to keep it secure, the once-belt-now-bib has a shape that rounds my shoulders and lies flat across my collar bone.
And I’m literally writing this post and Jezebel turns me on to this madness:
Dudes, this is a halter top made entirely out of tampons.
I’ll say again, it’s a halter top made entirely out of TAMPONS! Walter Raes is a British designer who creates crazy-sauce fashion out of household and industrial materials. According to his website, “he takes the disposable remnants of our everyday lives to create his brilliant pieces, explorations in form and function.” THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE.
Giddy Spinster Reclaimed Stiletto Planter and Succulent, $95
Giddy Spinster is based in Berkeley and uses used/upcycled stripper heels (let’s be honest) to make these rad planters that are “about hard-working women, the increasingly artificial nature of American femininity, and the impossible images that women face in our society.” Smart. And her bio leads me to believe we’ve got similar life philosophies and would probably have fun over drinks.
All this talk reminds me too of a particular YA book where, in one scene, the protagonist and a few side characters sewed dozens of Matchbox toy cars and Micro Machines onto a dress for some crazy assignment. Maybe one of the girls was studying fashion? If anyone can tell me the title, they’ll get 5 personalized haikus written by yours truly. Just leave your spot-on answer or nice-try guess in the comments.
Giddy Spinster Space Egg White Stiletto Succulent Planter, $79
Admission: I know Julia because she was BFF with my kid sister when they were in like 2nd and 3rd grade. I would babysit the two of them. The fact that she, and my kid sis obvs, are old enough to be intelligent, dynamic women in their own right makes me feel kind of old. Hi Girls.
After all, Project Runway’s MO is often “make clothes from shit that would never normally be used to make clothes.” But this is reality vs. Reality TV, which we all know are two very different things.;-)
I still have yet to see Tim Burton’s latest. Seriously y’all, who’s down for going with me? Out of those of you who have seen it, what did everyone think?
iKtizo Alice in Wonderland with Mushroom cell phone charm/keychain, as you like it, $7.50
“‘It was much pleasanter at home,’ thought poor Alice, ‘when one wasn’t always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn’t gone down that rabbit-hole — and yet — and yet — it’s rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I’ll write one.’
Dangs World mini French lace flower posts, $4.75
So when I was younger, I was a bit obsessed with the Lewis Carrol tome, reading the books multiple times and even picking up biographies on Carroll and the real-life Alice. In the seventh grade, for Halloween, I made my own Red Queen card soldier costume. And then I wore it to school. WORST IDEA EVER. I don’t know if you know this, but you can’t sit down in a card soldier costume. At least not the one I made out of cardboard. I think I spent most of that day either kneeling painfully next to my desk or awkwardly and embarrassingly half-naked (in a leotard) after I finally gave up and took off the costume part of the costume. As if it wasn’t bad enough just being 13, when everything on your body and face is either too small or too big. Sigh.
Mama's Little Babies Red Queen Broach, $25
“The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round.”
Decibel Productions Mushroom Pendant, $24
Still while doing the google search for Alice quotes for this post–blogging is hard work, friends!–it dawned on me that I haven’t read this book–or the others–since I was 13. Like seeing the Burton remake, I think this is an oversight that should be remedied and attended to soon.
Who Made It 3-tiered antique jewelry stand, $70.50
“‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where–‘ said Alice.
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.
‘–so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation.
‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.'”
For now, I’ll have to settle for staring at these Wonderland-appropriate pieces, all made by Bay Area-based artists. I’ve said it before, but support local artists. Even if you don’t stay local, you can do better than mass produced stuff. Head to the bottom of the post for brief blurbs on the artists featured and links to their work, all via etsy.com with the exception of the cupcakes. Etsy.com is a wonderful resource for scouting all kinds of one-of-a-kind, artisan-created goods.
Sweet Ride Mocha mini cupcakes, Belgian dark chocolate cake and espresso-infused frosting, $2 each
“Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next.”
Steampunk Supply, large grab bag of antique watch parts,$20
“Oh my ears and whiskers!”
FaerySpell Creations, Mad Hatter hat, $69
Twinkle twinkle little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!...
Up above the world you fly
like a tea tray in the sky
Iva's Creations White Rabbit figurine, vintage spice tin and paper mache, $68.95
Laura Walls Taylor makes ceramic and porcelain housewares and jewelry with quaint charm and simplicity. While the piece I’ve featured here is one of her great “message bowls,” her other pieces may feature woodland creature or classic tattoo motifs. I couldn’t find any single piece priced more than $60. In other words? a steal.
For that special geek in your life, iKtizo offers adorable charms in the likeness of all the favorite superhero, Star Trek, Star Wars, comic book, and video game characters. My personal fave? This Link (Legend’s of Zelda) charm.
At Dang’s World you’ll find a darling abundance of studs and cocktail rings worthy of a garden party or simple tea.
Based out of Santa Cruz, Mama’s Little Babies makes handmade, vintage, illustration jewelry. Quirky and literate, these pieces are made using Victorian Era images which are printed onto plastic and then finished with carefully chosen, high quality materials. All of these pieces are pure fantasy and fun but indulgently inexpensive. Check out the Tattoo Guy Earrings and all of her Alice and Friends creations.
Decibel Productions is based in San Francisco and offers creative, go-big-or-go-home fashion, jewelry and accessories that are steampunk, music and dance inspired. These are not pieces for the wall-flower but are described, aptly I think, as “wearable hedonism.” These pieces are unique and standout. On a separate note, I love the name. My friend Scott has called me Decibelle for years on account of my loud voice.
Who Made It makes these awesome jewelry stands from antique pieces. Some of them are magnetized or feature rows of drilled holes for your dangly earrings. This is all you really need to know. Each piece is a as stellar as this one.
So have you seen the Sweet Ride girls? They drive around in this lavendar delivery truck with hot rod flames and sell delicious, made-from-scratch cupcakes and treats. With a focus on quality and flavor, if you’re lucky enough to run into these lovely ladies, stop whatever you’re doing, and buy a gourmet cupcake, sweetie pie, old-fashioned banana pudding, or chocolate mousse. You’ll thank me, I promise. And could their name be any more perfect?
For the DIY-er out there, Steampunk Supply is your source for antique and vintage watch and pocket watch parts, clock parts, keys, buttons and charms for jewelry and art projects. And like all my featured artists, this supplier is Bay Area-based.
Faeryspell Creations sells one of a kind, original pieces created with love and magic and made with designer and vintage fabrics, bridal quality silk flowers, ribbons and laces, and parts of vintage and antique jewelry. You can find all kinds of Alice in Wonderland themed things right now as well. So obsessives like myself may want to take a look.
At Iva’s Creations, you’ll find an eclectic mix of original folk art, inspired by the holidays, the Victorian age and times past.
Quick, said the bird... 