Bust It

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Taking the Dior Train to Marrakesh

I haven't posted much fashion lately, so to make up for it here are some pictures that are really inspiring me right now, the Dior Resort Collection of 2008. The aesthetic is very 1960's going to some exotic locale. As Galliano describes it to Anna Wintour in The September Issue, it's "taking the Dior train to Marrakesh." It's bright colors, fun embellishments, and silhouettes make me long for summer vacations to places I've only read about or seen in movies. Also I would just like to say that I can only hope some day there will actually be a Dior train. Because who wouldn't want to travel by Dior? (Also, fun side note, Carrie Bradshaw wears a jacket from this collection in the Sex and the City movie. It's the fabulous magenta swing coat with beaded sleeves she is wearing when she arrives in Mexico for her non-honeymoon.)

Just a Small Smackeral

This weekend my delightful friend Mary and I had brunch at a little gem in Manhattan called Alice's Tea Cup. Specializing in breakfast, lunch, brunch and cuteness, Alice's Tea Cup is a a treasure of a restaurant. Decorated with Alice in Wonderland in mind, the atmosphere is a sweet madcap mix of the magical and the sweet. Keyhole windows adorn the kitchen doors, quotes from the books are scrolled across the wall trim, oddities abound, and tables, chairs, and dining wares are mismatched just as you would suspect they would be at the Mad hatter's Tea Party. I tried the French toast on the suggestion from another review. It was so heavenly, I do believe there was a squeal involved on the first taste. Very much in the style of a bread pudding, the sweet concoction became richer and richer as I preceded into the ramekin's depths. By the end, I was completely stuffed and happy. Mary had the buttermilk scones with fruit preserves and cream which I tasted a piece of and they, too, were delicious. As you well may imagine, Alice's Tea Cup caters to a variety of people. There were families, to friends, to young girls birthday parties, to an adult aged party, to couples. While the delectable food is a danger in itself there is also a small gift shop at the front of the store that contains many charming tea sets and other curios that may be dangerous to the waiting guests. Speaking of waits, the wait was a bit crazy, we were given an initial estimate of about 2 hours. Luckily, I had an errand to do that cut down a large portion of that time. I'm certain that the wait took maybe an hour as other guests are prone to changing their mind after so much time. I must also say that the quality of the service and experience made the wait that much more worth it. I personally am looking forward to many return visits.



Chapter Location @ W. 73St.



The french toast. Mmmm.

Loving you is Cherry Pie

Happy Birthday Lady Gaga!

Moon Peaches

A few things that make me happy:



-Care packages from my mom.



-Appa.



-Fruit covered chairs.



-Tea cup shrubbery.



-Pink Daisy Pinwheels.


P.S. Moon Peaches are a special treat that makes Appa happy.

Hearts, Stars, and of Course, Shoes.

Friday, has finally come which means I post about some accessories. Today, I want to share with you one my favorite up and coming shoe designers, Minna Parikka. Minna designs beautifully whimsical footwear. With design details such as hearts, wings, bows and corset lacing, Minna's designs are ideal for the romantic at heart (a.k.a. me). Sadly, Minna's footwear (and gloves, knitwear, bags, and strangely whimsical, S&M-ish masks) are sold from her main store in Helsinki, Finland and several other countries, none of which include the United States. The Internet ,as usual, has to step in and save the day. Now does anyone know the currency conversion for Finland?

Tiny Dancer

March's featured model is Karlie Kloss. I suppose it can be said that Kloss really began her career as a ballerina, which I am certain has influenced her ability to exude grace while walking the runways in all the varying kinds of dangerous heels a model faces in her career as well as in scads of photo shoots. 2007 was Kloss' big breakout year. Interestingly enough, it was Teen Vogue that featured Kloss for times in 2007 that really launched her into the limelight When I think of magazines that are featuring up and coming models, my thoughts do not generally go to Teen Vogue. Not only is she a favorite at Teen Vogue but also just about every other Vogue around the world, as well as W, i-D and numerous other publications. She is also a designer darling, opening and closing for people such as Jacobs, Galliano, Lagerfeld, Mizrahi. She's the face for Marc Jacob's fragrance Lola and in her first season she closed for Calvin Klein as an exclusive. Not bad for some one who was only 15 at the time. Now 18, she is still dominating the runways and magazines. Just this month, she is featured in Vogue ironically portraying "short" in the size issue. I have chosen to feature Karlie because I have followed her since those early Teen Vogue spreads (not religiously by any means but she's been hard to miss if one pays any amount of attention to fashion). She has a very versatile and chameleon-esque look that can be sweet all American one minute then sophisticated high fashionista then devious teenager the next. What I hope is that as these young models (Karlie, Lindsey Wixson, countless others) can bear the changes that they will go through as they get older, in their bodies and (irrevocably linked to that) in their careers. I'm sure Karlie will be able to handle any thing that comes her way with the grace we are all accustomed too.

Change is Hard

She and Him is the musical duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Deschanel, an actress is probably most well known for roles in films like (500) days of summer, Elf, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, and almost famous) and M. Ward is well known in indie music as having put out a small library of work of his own, with his band, and with others like Jenny Lewis. Together, in She and Him, they create music that sounds like you've known it your entire life, like it's those classics from the 1950's and 60's you listen to when going for a drive. But at the same time, it sounds incredibly modern and completely at home on your itunes or pandorajam. Volume 2, the duo's second album, was released yesterday and of course I had to get it.

While I'm certainly not a professional music critic, I do have a few things to say about the album. While Volume 1 was wonderfully enrapturing and was undeniably the soundtrack of summer 08 for me, I have not felt that same feeling with Volume 2 yet. This album feels more 1970's to me and features a lot more instrumentation and production than the previous. I understand this may be a natural sort of progression the band wished to explore but for me, it works against what was once a more simple and expressive style. As a whole I'm not drawn into the emotions of the songs. It is perhaps less easily accessible than Volume 1. Now, don't get me wrong the songs are all still charming. I particularly like the cover of Skeeter Davis' Get along with out you now and If you can't sleep. I'm also the kind of person prone to changing my mind. If I listen to this album several more times over the upcoming weeks, it may sneak up on me and hit me like an epiphany. I certainly hope so because I do think that She and Him make beautiful music together, and even though I'm not head over heels (yet) about this album, I will always be looking forward to hearing from them. Just like you would a friend you've known your whole life who always has the latest news.

"I was in Paris but only to get your favorite Macaroons"-Chuck Bass

While personally I'm not a fan of the French macaroon for eating purposes, I can definitely get behind wearing them. The French Factory makes these sweet as a french almond based cookie Macaroon accessories. In a rainbow of colors (or flavors), you can order yourself a fashionable menu of your favorites. Just remember to remind yourself and others that they are not meant to be ingested. You can have your cookie but you can't eat it too.

An Assault on My Imagination

Anyone who knows me, can tell you that my sense of humor can often be quite macabre. This dark sense of humor perfectly lends itself to the utter enjoyment of Pushing Daisies. PD is about a man(Ned a.k.a. Lee Pace) who bakes pies and wakes the dead to solve the mystery of the deceased's murder, created by Brian Fuller, who is also responsible for the much beloved, prematurely cancelled DEAD LIKE ME. PD is a magical, witty, brilliant and some times dark TV show cancelled much too soon for several reasons. One is that the premiere season coincided with the writer's strike in Hollywood and unfortunately they were unable to return to TV until the following season. Another is that it was an incredibly expensive show to make as it was one of the most beautiful shows (tech wise) ever created. I came back week after week to watch for the unforgettable characters, the stories more witty than the last, and especially the costumes of one Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (played by Anna Friel). Dressed most often in beautifully vibrant vintage inspired ensembles, I've never loved a characters wardrobe so much. And anyone who really knows me can tell you how much I dislike the vintage store process (the smell, the price, the disorganization, it's a nightmare.) This show restores my faith in vintage clothing and in TV creator's ability to tell a beautiful fairytale murder mystery story. Now if only I could get other people besides me to watch the show.

"I think the world would be a better place if all science labs were pink"

♥ BE BOP A LULA ♥

The official description for LULA Girl of My Dreams Magazine is as follows: "Lula is created for people of the world who love fashion, music, art, & make believe. Lula is gentle, whimsical and ethereal in tone, mixing high fashion to fall in love with and interviews that feel like late night chats with people you wish you knew. Editor: Leith Clark. With international stylists, photographers, musicians, artists, illustrators, LULA is a beautiful magazine that is not only a forum for beautiful work and fresh ideas, but that reads like an honest, funny, and inspirational friend." What this fails to mention is that it is my absolute all time favorite, life affirming magazine. It only comes out twice a year and for the last 2 weeks or so I have been on pins and needles waiting for the spring 2010 issue to arrive from England (where it's published) and thankfully, for everyone, it came in last evening. Before Lula, I was utterly unaware that there was such a thing as style based magazines; let alone one that featured the kind of art, people, and fashion that I am surrounded by in my dream world. Lula is everything that I aspire to be. This is it's 10th issue and it's fifth anniversary. To celebrate, Leith Clark and staff created 7 different covers inspired by 7 different strawberry shortcake characters portrayed by 7 different models styled by 7 different design houses favored by Lula*. The issue I have features Charlotte di Calypso dressed by Moschino portraying Lemon Meringue (the ditsy model from New York City. Yea!). Can't decide which to get? Never fear, the entire photo series is in the issue. Lula has become a collectors item because of it's beauty, quality, and limited printing. This is not just my own feeling, go to eBay and see how much back issues go for. Also, I can attest to this because I have spent the last year collecting all the back issues and can proudly say I have all ten issues in really good condition (and yes it was totally worth it). Lula is magical for so many reasons and I could write for hours on end extolling its virtues. I will name a few but I dont want to give everything away and ruin all the magic. Each issue features a different bracelet or necklace on the spine, Lula sometimes features interesting guest editors who curate different issues, and it never feels pretentious. So enjoy the photos and please let me know if you would be interested in profiles or pictures of any or all of the back issues.

*The other six covers are Kim Noorda as Strawberry Shortcake dressed by Charles Anastase, Chanel Iman as Orange Blossom by Kenzo, Liu Wen as Plum Puddin' by Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti, Gierdre Dukauskaite as Lime Chiffon by Erdem, Addison Gill as Blueberry Muffin by Cacharel, and Kate Somers as Raspberry Tart by Sonia Rykiel.

p.s. The second cover photo is Raspberry Tart (pic from quietrebel).

Future Past Grand Marshalls

It's Friday dear reader, which for me means two things, hats and shoes! Today, in honor of my classes of choice, I will be posting some pretty shoes for you. Why not hats you say? Well basically, I haven't collected enough good hat pictures to post about yet; that post shall be treat down the road. My friends and I, way back in another lifetime (a.k.a. 2 years ago) decided that some day we would be Future Past Grand Marshall's of some parade or another (I'm hoping for the rose bowl). Anyway, in the event that that particular dream is realized, I already have the perfect footwear ready. A/W 2010 Balenciaga shoes are both futuristic and traditional. The parade hosts of the future will say something along the lines of "Jan, take a look at the shoes of Past Grand Marshall Robin, have you ever seen anything like it?" "Wow Bill, they are truly something special, possibly more impressive than the hovercraft float on which she sits that is powered solely by dandelions."

Tea with Mussolini Lagerfeld

Generally, I don't drink tea, but if I did I would most certainly want some of fashion's biggest names and faces hanging out in my cup. Though, maybe not Lagerfeld, he's just a pinch to judging a.k.a. terrifying for my taste.

Put a Little Spring in your Step