50 Lashings

Don't Blink! stars Linda Evangelista and famed artist Kabuki's incredible makeup. Keep your eyes peeled and watch Linda E. transform.


Kabuki is a master of maquillage. Here is more of his incredible lash heavy work:

See all of these images and more at KabukiMagic.com.

Advanced Screening

Silk screening is an elevated art form and Reckon does it well. They print popstars, philosophers, comedians, and artists onto totes, tees, tot clothes, and pillows for under $30.





Click any of the images for details on how to snag em.

See-Line Woman

There almost aren't words for how much I love Nina Simone. Almost. The High Priestess of Soul sang emotion into songs like no one else. Whether it was her exuberant joy or bone-breaking sadness, you can feel it hit your eardrums and go straight for your gut. Her music is simple and made of pure talent, it defies time and genre. Today Simone's songs are inspiring fresh art. The contemporary remixes of her older works are some of my favorite sonic experiences and shouldn't be missed, but nothing compares to Ms. Simone doing Ms. Simone. With a glittering shimmy, a sly shake, and a firm grasp on everyone around her, Nina takes her song "See-Line Woman" for a live ride:

I love how much she's glittering, but how tough she's being. This video only confirms my theory that everyone needs a little Nina in their lives, even babies. If you've got a tiny tot to dress, get them in a Nina Simone onesie from Reckon pronto.

They'll be shimmying and shaking in no time. Well, they'll probably do that anyway, but now they'll look super-cool doing it!

No Isaac Cake If You Don't Finish Your Viktor and Rolf Stamppot!

Over on Style.com, they've compiled a couture cookbook. In their newest feature various fashion plates teach you how to make plates of their favorite recipes for the Holiday Season.

I personally can't wait to try Viktor and Rolf's Boerenkool Stamppot. I figure if they are serving it, it must come with a side of fashion fantasy fries or something. Donna Karan's Green Juice looks a little healthy for the Holidays, but it will help you flush out after indulging in Isaac M.'s Banana Rum Coconut Layer Cake.

Shout out to Garance Dore who can officially call herself a stylecon, now that she's given her recipe for Panna Cotta and looks ever so glam-cool in the featured photo. Head on over to Style.com to scope Dore's coolness and to get your fashion-forward recipes.

All photos from Style.com

Gift It: Retro Hairpins

Good packaging makes even the mundane spectacular. These Alma hairpins from Mexico City are the real deal: Just a simple bobby pin in a pretty package. The gorgeous design on the box hasn't changed since the 1930's. If it ain't broke, right? They make ideal stocking-stuffers for any girl with love for the glam life. At $5 a pop you can afford to hand them out to all of your special someones. I spotted these at the awesome store/curated gift shop Kiosk in Soho. You can get your own via their site by clicking the image above.

Marilyn Christmas!

Artist Marylin Minter has created a Christmas Tree cool enough for the secular fashionista. It's a giant die-cut wall decal. You can have a merry sticker on your wall instead of pine needles stuck in your carpet. Minter's work is always a full-on texture explosion, where you get to see the nitty-gritty of the beautiful. Here pine branches in close-up can be decorated with four slightly creepy stick-on ornaments, and topped off with a star of lips and teeth clenching pearls and gold. If the full kit's $100 price tag is a bit steep for you, you can spend a 10-bucker and get the star sold separately.

In fact, the star's not particularly seasonal when taken out of context. I say spend a few Hamiltons and start yourself a gallery of Minter sickers.

Here's a few other Marilyn Minter pieces just because I love them:



You can see more of Minter's work at the site of super-cool downtown gallery Salon 94.

Click any of the above images for full details or ordering information.

Fashion Crush: Alexander Fury

I was just catching up on the footage from SHOWstudio's excellent "Let There Be Light". I loved the concept behind the project: complete and total behind-the-scenes access to a Nick Knight photoshoot, but it turns out I love the site's Fashion Director Alexander Fury even more.

Click to play video of Alex. The "Balenciaga Dress" bit is my fave.

At first glance his extra tight jeans and neo-80s-asymmetrical haircut made me wary, but one listen to his super-accent, and a quick minute witnessing his self-conscious gestures made me fall truly, madly, deeply. Alex is more than a cutie; he knows his stuff. I feel like I'm back in Art History lecture listening to him extol the virtues of a dress with a full explanation of its historical references, craftsmanship, materials, and cultural significance. He obviously loves fashion in that endearingly dorky way that makes me feel better about my own obsession. I heart Alex. Please sir, may I have some more?

Type it To Me

A bookshelf arranged by Post Typography to spell "HOME" for a design exhibition.

I like clever, and graphic design is full of clever. Not too much clever, of course. In the good stuff the clever is balanced out by actual smarts and classic design sense. Clever for clever's sake always makes me think of that scene in Fight Club where Tyler Durden turns to Jack on the airplane after he made a little joke about single-serving friends and says, "Very clever. How's that working out for you? Being clever?" Jack is flummoxed and his clever moment evaporates under scrutiny.

Post Typogrpahy's stationery system: Business cards, letterhead, and snail mailers.

Nobody's going to vaporize the work of Post Typography. The Baltimore-based graphic design studio started by duo Nolen Strals and Bruce Willen has all the ingredients for lasting impact: smarts, sight, and humor. They spilt thier time between illustrating for The New York Times and designing posters for punk bands.

Illustration for an article about two partisan Bush-bashing books in The New York Times



Concert poster for the band Les Savy Fav.

They also find time to throw in a little apparel decortating, post-it note wallpapering, and vandalizing. Good times.

Mmmm, yes.

I could listen to legendary stylecon Diana Vreeland talk for hours about any little thing. Her moneyed accent dips deep and comes out a little raspy then hangs in the air like thick smoke circles. Her liberal use of a purring "mmmm" as punctuation is full-on ear candy. In her tenure as a force of fashion she coined some of the most genius quotes: "Blue jeans are the most beautiful thing since the gondola." "People who eat white bread have no dreams." Mmmmm.

Editor's Note: The original video that I had posted here has disappeared into the internet ether. And, while the man asking the questions seems more intent on answering them, this interview is divinely longer and yields more Vreelandisms than the previous one. Also, it takes place in her incredible Manhattan apartment and gives you a great view of her art collection. The last few minutes where she talks about wanting to be a surfer are not to be missed.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Veruschka is not a woman you would expect to fade into the background. The '60s supermodel has been a striking, uniquely beautiful muse to Richard Avedon, David Bailey, and other kings of fashion photography for decades. Her otherworldly features and insane yoga-induced flexibility always made her a stand-out stunner, but now she spends her days trying really hard to blend in.

Her art wolrd collaborations with Holger Trulzsch are slightly creepy but incredibly impressive. Veruschka does the impossible and disappears in plain sight under Trulzsch's awe-inspiring body paint. Her state of camouflage is completely convincing, and often you can't tell where the supermodel ends and the background begins. I suppose that it must be nice for a woman who has captivated crowds and cultivated stares her whole life to go unnoticed. The images are kind of like a fashion version of Where's Waldo?. Peruse her portfolio and play find the supermodel. I swear she's not in some of those shots...

Dos and Don'ts? Total Do!

Glamour Magazine's Dos and Don'ts were one of my favorite things growing up. While other nine-year-olds were actually splashing in the waves at the Jersey Shore, I was sandside reveling in the unusually high ratio of don'ts to dos that existed in Seaside Heights, NJ. I loved the back-of-the-mag feature. Of course the dos were helpful and totally doable, but the don'ts were pure finger-pointing, hysterical fun.

Glamour has added a whole new exciting dimension to the feature. It now exists as an interactive gallery where you can do some Don'tspotting of your own and upload candid snaps of the fashion statements that should have pled the Fifth. You can also post the dos of course, but we all know we're really there to see real-life mullets, exposed thong straps, cottage cheese thighs encased in gold lame, and oodles of plumber's crack. Once photos are uploaded the whole viewing population can rate the mishaps and crown ultimate don'ts (okay, and do's). It's all a bunch of nostalgic fun. So don't waste time, get Don'tspotting!

Gift It: Plates that Pop

I purchased these Warhol lip plates at the Whitney Museum a few months back and have been getting mouths full of compliments on them ever since. I put them on the coffee table for use as coasters and they are quite the conversation piece.

Want a sundae in a fitting dish? Scoop up the Warhol banana bowls for some seriously well-served splits.

Each set of serving ware won't set you back more than $20. Click the images above for ordering information.

Secret Society

Economic Downturn beware: your slumping, dipping dive cannot fully penetrate the shield of super-wealth. Most people with mega-money will hold on to their big bucks as they always have. It is more than likely that the women who have afforded couture before will still be shelling out sacks of cash for frocks custom made to fit them like a second skin. Who are the people who keep couture de rigueur? Watch this excellent BBC expose to find out.

Want more haute stuff? Here's parts two, three, four, five, and six.

About Face

 

Rupert Shrive's art is an undoing of something that's already been done. He paints portraits, or copies of familiar works from the annals of art history on brown paper and then crinkles, crumples, and crushes them. Sometimes he shoves the finished paintings into ceramic sea shells or cracked ostrich eggs, or bursts them through a broken wall, making them look like emerging life forms. There's enough glamour in his pieces to make the damage an appealing contrast to the prettiness that somehow still sticks around. They remind me of a perfectly made-up face that is just begging for a smudging. 

Shrive's damaged goods are on display at Orel Art Gallery in Paris through December 20th. Do a little desktop traveling and check out the gallery's website. It'll definitely save you on airfare.

Image: RupertShrive.com

Tina, Head-Turner

I love a good swan story. Tina Fey was never quite the ugly duckling, but hearing of her transformation from well-rounded writer-genius to hottie writer-star-genius is quite inspiring. I'm a fan, as is the whole world, and this month's really great Maureen Dowd-penned Vanity Fair cover story only makes me love Tina more. 

I literally had a Lemon moment and nearly snort/choked on my sandwich when Tina said, “Because of the Greek-girl thing, I have, like, boobs and butt,” so “I only have two speeds— either matronly or a little too slutty. I have to be steered away from cheetah print.” Every woman should be steered away from cheetah print.

Kidding Around

This is golden. It's a copy of a kindergarten year book photo from my alma mater, Littleton Elementary School. A friend of mine's sister is a member of this sharply dressed class of 1969, and when he showed it to me I knew I had to share it with you. Click the image to enlarge the photo and check out the stylin' duds these kids are rocking. I love the blond kid in the top row, third from left. Those glasses are so classy with that turtleneck! And the ties and colors on the rest of the kids? Too good. Don't miss Mrs. Zulauf, top left. Her collar is seriously out of this groovy world.

From Muse to Museums

Lee Miller could have entered the history books as "gorgeous model/muse/lover of surrealist photographer Man Ray," but her talents and bravado refused to remain in that little box. Miller went from sitting in front of a camera to manning one.


Her fashion images alone were beautiful but her World War II photography was groundbreaking. As one of the first women to document combat, she brought an outsider's eye and heart to the scene. What she showed the world through her lens was the impact of war on the lives of servicewomen, civilians, on the streets, on the churches and on public buildings.

While her photos came with a slight soft side, Lee herself was tough as nails. She roughed it like all the rest of the guys, looting bombed out liquor stores to mix her fellow photogs drinks, and dining on shell-shot beef stew while she ducked gunfire. She was at home on the battlefield and on the pages of Vogue. A retrospective of Miller's work is on view at the Jeu de Paume in Paris in honor of the centenary of her birth. Stateside you can see Miller's work in collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, SFMOMA, and the Getty among others.

All images from the Lee Miller Archives, click any image for more information.

Gift It: Subscribe

I'm a hardcore magazine addict. It's an affliction I've suffered with from a very young age. I'd head out on foot to the nearest 7-Eleven with my allowance all balled up in my fourth-grader fist and plunk it on the counter in exchange for a fresh copy of Vogue. Now, with magazine sales in decline, subscriptions to certain pubs are even cheaper than the prices I used to pay way back when. I was flipping through the newly relaunched Interview Magazine this weekend and a sub card slipped out that offered 12 issues of the oversize mag for $8. The website says $9.97, but that's still a great deal. Sign up a friend and let them remember you fondly once a month as they flip through Fabien Baron's latest art-directed issue. You can pick up the most current copy and wrap it up so that you don't feel empty handed. Or, you can spring for a back issue on a topic of interest and make them happy now and later.

One/One-Thousand: REED + RADER

Photo Duo Pamela Reed and Matthew Rader (REED + RADER) are fresh faces in fashion photography. The 25-year-old recent SVA grads were just featured as one of the 13 Emerging Artists in American Photo Magazine's 30th anniversary issue. They combine their fairly common fashion photography style with hot graphics to make a new statement in the pages of fringe magazines. My favorite examples of their work feature teeny-tiny replicated pattens of femmes, but they don't reproduce so well here. You can see them in all of their glory at R+R's special site, which includes a blog by their studio cat, and an opportunity for you to play fancy photo editor and take a virtual flip through their portfolio. Fun stuff happens at around the 3:12 mark.

She's Doing Quite Well

Emily Wells is the rising princess of DIY. As a musician in search of that ever-elusive beast called Creative Control, she's sacrificed big-bucks record deals and shiny new instruments to forge her own path. She's driven herself around the country on tiny tours, built her own recording studio, and I'd be willing to bet cash that she twists her own dreadlocks. Her music sounds homemade in the best way possible, right up there with other do-it-yourself goddesses like M.I.A. and Peaches, but with a slightly gentler vibe. She works hard for her sound and it shows.

She's also a singular wardrobe sensation. Whether she looks hip-hop tough in a tilted trucker, or she rocks tutus over jeans, Emily's definitely creatively controlling her outfits. While sometimes her look can be a little "hacky-sack-out-back-behind-the-dorms-later?" in a weird way I find it appealing. It looks like fun and reminds me of college. Also, I will forever have respect for a girl who records a crazy-cool cover of Biggie's "Juicy" with a heavy beat and haunting vocals (check it out here on her MySpace page).

Her new album is called The Symphonies:Dreams, Memories, & Parties and one listen will prove all of Emily's hard work has paid off.