Friday Fashion Fantasy

Today's daydream comes from my obsession with bags, clutches, wallets, anything with lots of pockets for organization and Dooney and Bourke...

D&B Janine Satchel in Chamois or Bordaeux

D&B Medium Valerie in Bone

D&B Grommet Shopper in Blue

I'm also a fan of this, this, this, and this.Oh, and of course this.

:) Have a wonderful weekend!

What The?

I'm no fashonista, but some designers out there are losing it, have lost it, or never had it. There are a lot of What The? moments in the fashion world (not to mention society in general). So, here is the first of what may be many What The? entries. I love shoes, but damn, I love my feet more:

 Lady Gaga? Is that you?

 Instead of feet wrapping, China has gone the more humane route with these ruby slippers.

 You're eyes are not fooling you and this is not a Photoshop error, there are no heels!!

 Obviously that shoe is painful, but make sure you moisturize your heels ladies!

Um, excuse me, I think you lost something. (Taste).

*Images from Google image search for "painful shoes"

Black Cherry/White Chocolate Cupcake

It is no secret that I am a fan of cupcakes. Some legends say I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to cupcake recipes and have sent anonymous love letters to said cupcakes. I will neither confirm nor deny these rumors. I am a firm believer in the philosophy: "Cupcakes make the party." (I just made that up) But they do! Get some cute swirly cupcake holders, I have these in different sizes, add a variety of tasty treats, display a swanky cupcake menu and voila! The talk of the party is on your table.

Yesterday I was surfing around and found this wonderful website: Whipperberry. I spent a lot of time on the site, but the majority of the time was spent drooling over the above picture and setting the recipe to heart. I also printed it out, just in case. Here is the recipe for those luscious cupcakes. I'm going out of town this weekend so I'm going to have to wait until I can test these bad boys out for myself, but I can't stop thinking about them. Plus, this recipe is right up my alley: boxed cake mix, instant pudding! Sorry, I don't have time to bake from scratch. The other great attribute of this recipe is that it is very versatile. You could mix it up, add a little lemon zest, don't like black cherry? (You're strange if you don't, but your prerogative.) That's okay, choose whatever Jello-O flavor you'd like, experiment!

Ode to Old Timey Photography

I adore photography. I adore all styles of photography, except for the fashion/commercial world's obscene use of Photoshop to body shave celebrities/models. I found these gorgeous photos from Daniel A. Carrillo. He uses a photography technique originally used in the mid 1850's called the Collodion Process, also known as a Wet Plate Collodion process.

Photoshop is an amazing tool, but even it cannot produce the beauty found in these photos. I love the coloring, the tone, and the feel, but most of all I love how this process brings out the majestic quality of the eyes. Each of these photos have a similar, yet completely different feel. While the poses may be similar, the subject's eyes bring in their personalities. It's as if you can read their desires and fears through the photograph. I am enchanted.

I'd love to see this process used on Sam Elliot, Clint Eastwood, Florence Welch, Zooey Deschanel, and me (of course).  Mr. Carrillo has a show at the Greg Kucera Gallery in May 2012. I hope I find myself in Seattle around that time. Here are some more photos to enjoy...

Friday Fashion Fantasy

This week's fashion fantasy comes from Valentino. Oh, if I had the spare change...

"Modern" Art

If you ignore the safety hazards and the fact that I would be really pissed off if I got paint on my car, this is really creative and beautiful on both an artistic and societal level.

The Cool Style of Severus Snape

I saw Harry Potter last night!! I won't spoil it, but I loved every minute and I do agree with my brother that it is probably the best one. In honor of HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, I am going to forgo the Friday Fantasy Fashion post and give homage to my favorite HP character, Severus Snape. Alan Rickman, the brilliant actor who plays Severus Snape, is one of my favorite actors and is probably my favorite British actor. He does make a black wizards robe look powerful and stylish, don't you think?

My favorite moment in the novel Deathly Hallows is when Harry enters Snape's memories. We finally know the true, complicated character which is Professor Snape. Rickman reveals Snape's emotions, his undying love, his internal torture, his pain and surprising compassion perfectly; and then he reveals his patronus, cue teary eyes! I really hope he gets a nod for an award. I was thinking of those scenes on the way to work this morning and teared up again. I will miss you dear Severus, you and your furrowed brow, you and your calm, deep, stern lectures, you and your really cool ability to change into a black mist and fly, you will be missed.

The Story of Snape:



*Please click image for original source.

A Lesson from Maggie Grace

The human form is beautiful, especially a woman's form. There are some negative aspects to the degree in which today's society clings to youth and, many times, too thin body frames; however, there are many positive aspects as well. Youth should be celebrated, something the young don't realize. At least, I didn't realize it. These gorgeous pictures of Maggie Grace by Gavin Bond want me to go get some fancy clothes and get some photos done (not glamour shots!). I wonder if Mr. Bond (Gavin, not James, though I'd accept James if it was Daniel Craig) would schedule a photo shoot with me? His photographs are beautiful. Cherish your youth, no one is immune to aging and it creeps upon you with very little warning. p.s. I want these clothes.

Original source for images can be found here.

American Fashion Icon: Willow Smith

A recent article by Emily Holt for Vogue listed ten year old Willow Smith as an American Fashion Icon. Derek Lam stated that Willow Smith is "naturally talented, charismatic, unblemished optimism, with the whole wide world open to her possibilities and abilities. I think she is the future-forward American Icon."

This snippet made my stomach turn. There are many issues here I find horrifying. First and foremost, Willow is 10 and the last time I checked a ten year old was still a child. This child is full of arrogance and self entitlement, not charisma. Unblemished optimism? Shouldn't all ten year olds have unblemished optimism? Shouldn't that be celebrated for all children and fought for for the children who don't have it?

Natural Talent? Has anyone really listened to Whip My Hair? It's terrible and the video is disgusting. People wonder why our children (beginning at younger and younger ages) start drinking, try drugs, have sex, steal cars, and throw parties when the parents are out (if they're ever there at all), well this is one of the reasons. Take a walk through Target, Walmart, or any children's aisle and look at clothes designed for little girls. You'll find nothing but mini skirts, tube tops, and bikini's. I recently read an article about a five year old girl who posts (her mom does the video/posting) clips on YouTube teaching people how to apply make-up. Or how about the mother who injects her child with Botox. Better yet, ever seen Toddlers and Tiaras? Children, especially little girls, no longer have a childhood. They are sexified and taught that their beauty and worth is on the outside only. Willow Smith, her parents, and all of the other parents/managers out there who encourage this attitude are harming their children and making it harder for parents who want to give their kids a true childhood of unblemished optimism.

Friday Fashion Fantasy

If I had the money......................... (and yes, they are pics from the Harry Potter premier)

*Please click images for original source.

Gypsies, Liars, Beggers, and Thieves...DELTA and New Yorkers!!

Back from NY! Here's how it all went down, a little timeline for you...

3:30am - Wake up
6:30am - Fly to Memphis
7:45am - Land in Memphis
8:10am - Board flight to NY

Sit, sit, sit, maintenance, sit, fixed, back up, stop, pull back to gate, sit, maintenance, sit, sit, sit, maintenance needs a part that is two hours away...

10am - walk back into Memphis airport, receive six dollar "meal" voucher from Delta - purchased a muffin from Starbucks.

12pm - head back to gate, told we are boarding in 10 minutes, flight scheduled to leave at 12:30.
12:30pm - still sitting in terminal
1:00pm - still in terminal
1:10pm - I start to tear up because there's no way we're making the concert, begin plans for a night in Memphis.
1:30pm-pilots leave plane
2:00pm-pilots return to plane
2:30pm-board plane, sit on runway for 40 minutes due to weather in NY.
3:10ish-Get off the ground!!
6:30pm - Gates open (late because of weather) to concert as plane touches down in LaGuardia.

Then the planets aligned!! The van to the rental car is waiting out front, we're the only people on and I explain the situation to the driver, we'll call him Bruce. Bruce busts out his best NY driving skills and hauls ass to the rental car pick-up, completely bypassing all the other gates. He got a big tip (maybe not NY standard big, but Oklahoma big).

My husband lived on Long Island for eight years and it did not take long for him to remember the crazy aggressive driving skills that are necessary to maneuver around NY. We reach Central Park in record time and surprisingly unharmed, and then we spot it. The thick billowing, slate gray rain clouds parted, releasing a few beams of golden sun rays to the world below and what did that wondrous light caress? An open (and free) parking spot practically right in front of the Central Park entrance!

Five minutes later, Florence and all of her twirling glory appear on stage. Other than the morons holding a conversation the entire concert and the terrible sound system, Florence and the Machine were amazing. I hope to see her many more times. It's always so special when you see someone live and they sound exactly as they do in their studio recordings; that is very rare these days where even I could be a pop singer. I'd never see another concert in Central Park, not even if Frank Sinatra himself rose from the dead for one final performance, the yakking crowd and lack of speakers isn't worth the journey.