Go To Sleep, Pretty Baby.

Before people carried the Internet in their pockets, back in 2000 when it was still a newish medium just settling into the everyday lives of everyday folks, fashion genius photographer art mind Nick Knight co-founded SHOWstudio. It's a creative think tank of sorts where virtual media plays all nicey-nice with that immortal Siamese twin art/fashion. The projects that SHOWstudio conceives of and produces endeavor to showcase the creative process from start to finish, and their efforts have consistently pushed boundaries and raised quality standards throughout the site's years-long existence. One of the first major projects Knight and his team produced fully capitalized on the global connectivity and voyeuristic nature of the Internet. They invited nine top models to a hotel in London and primped and prepped them just as they would for any photoshoot--then they got them into bed. No, nothing untoward happened, in fact something beautiful happened.

As viewers logged on to watch the girls slumber via webcams in real time, the models slept a night's sleep in giant hotel beds. In their states of tossing slumber their hair came loose and their makeup smudged and their dresses twisted and tightened and their sheets wrinkled around them. The models' dishevelment became poetic images and time lapse films of women unraveling for all to see. The project produced both gorgeous moments in real time, and beautiful final images of silent moments stilled for good.

Check out the full project here. I am the biggest SHOWstudio fan and encourage you all to peek in on them and their genius regularly. They innovate, pioneer, and entertain with pretty playfulness. It's really something to witness.

Genetics With Brooke.

Learn something new from this old Calvin Klein jeans commercial starring Brooke Sheilds.



Now watch some more and marvel as you realize that Klein built an entire empire on pervy innuendos made by an underage model/actress with perfect DNA.



Fascinating.

I Smell Love.

Chris Cunningham, the king of creepy/pretty/genius/mind-bending video making has teamed up with Gucci to shoot a spot for their new fragrance, Flora. With Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" remixed to haunt the background, Cunningham has created a softened, glowing '70s look for the advert.



Of course, in true Cunningham fashion (see Madonna's Frozen, Bjork's All Is Full of Love, and Portishead's Only You for reference) there is some dark energy swooping in and out of the lush, petal-laden flower fields. In the longer version of the commercial, there are more than a few seconds where you aren't sure if the long-locked woman swaying in the strong breeze is going to explode or what. She winds up fine, and I assume smelling like flowers. Here's some video footage from behind the scenes on the set of the shoot. Youtube yanked the sound, but watch and be amazed by the light and floating petals and the wind machine.



I read their lips actually, and I think they saying "Blah, blah, blah, we wanted something pretty and flowery but powerful. Blah, blah, blah." My favorite part of this spot is the gorgeous lighting. Sunset? Sunrise? Glow.

Here's Donna Summer feelin' some love back in the day:



Great song and even better robot moves, Donna!

Happy Tax Day. Yes, Happy.

Here's a picture of what it used to look like to do taxes:

Receipts, a pencil, paper (what's that?), a giant adding machine, and most importantly--bobby sox. Everybody, can we make a pact to pledge at least part of our refunds to restarting the bobby sox trend? It would make me very happy.

Photo via Flickr.

I Like Wood.

Remember in school when you were forced to take Wood Shop? At least at Brooklawn Middle School it was part of the core curriculum, right after your quarter of Metals and before your time burning lasagna in Home Ec. God forbid anyone leave their tween years without knowing how to use a sanderbelt or a miter saw. Well, honestly I don't even know if those are real items or tools or whatever. I was more concerned with the massive amount of saw dust I was breathing in and avoiding chopping my fingers off like Mr. Brennan said I would if I didn't pay attention to him, which I never did. I did survive with fingers, which is lucky for me because now I can rock the friggin' awesome tree-based, multi-finger rings of the Wood Shop all stars over at Good Wood. They definitely paid attention in Shop Class. Check out their Good goods:

Multi-finger rings not quite your style? How about an engraved necklace with a Biggie charm, an old-school celly, or a fat cat?

Good Wood, indeed.


Check out the post about Good Wood over at Thrillist and then thank my friend Jenny for the tip off. She's the awesome girl with the cute hair. No, not that one...that one!

Common Goods: Square Dancing

Sometime in 1940 a group of McIntosh County, Oklahoman folks got together to do-si-do and swing their partners. They sweated through their beautifully simple, hand-sewn cotton shirts and dresses, and dampened the brown butcher paper tacked to the walls of the room for insulation. Their orchestra was a two-person band, just a guitar and a fiddle. Their faces were glistening with sweat and they were having a devil-may-care kind of a time. Here, look at them:

Amazing, right? So simply gorgeous. If all of your worldly possessions disappeared tomorrow, you could still get together with a group of people and dance until the world felt frantically full and rhythmically joyous for at least a few hours. Keep that in mind when the fear of $ comes a'calling.

I highly recommend exploring The Commons. There are gems there.

Oh Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

I can't stop listening to the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. I've always loved songs by the YYYs but never their whole albums, which tended to edge into the hard guitar territory a little too often for my taste. But, this album? Divine. Song after song is a lyrical/electronic/melodic/echo-filled adventure. Also, Karen O is my modern day Superheroine. I want to follow her every fashion instruction. I want to study her like the rare creature that she is. I heart her.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - New Music - More Music Videos

Listen to the Mistress O! Put your leather on. Rock. Hard.
I love this video so much. Sorry about the Sprite ad at the beginning. Capitalism is so lame....

Boobs on a Tee.

It fascinates me that the sight of bare breasts is still so incendiary in our culture. Men have nipples and they show them. Women have nipples and they can't show them without being summoned to court. In New York you can get 15 days in jail for showing your unclothed "private or intimate parts" and for those of us with the double XX chromosome, those parts include "that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola". Now, I don't care to show my own personal areolae in public (or necessarily to see a lot of public displays of others' aerolae), but the feminist in me fully defends a female's right to show her no-no parts if she wants to, just like any shirtless basketball-in-the-park-playing dude. Equal rights, baby. For now, rather than risking slammer time, I suggest pushing the system's buttons with t-shirts of naked boobs. Here's a few I'm fond of:

Radical anatomy + goofy tees = civilly disobedient fun. Try it! Click a pic to get yourself a boob shirt. Do it! Ok, ok. I'll settle down now.

I Like The Way He Worked It.

I've always found it quite strange that there is a serious lack of inexpensive, yet appropriate, and relatively quality work wear for young women. The hole in the market is so huge. Work clothing either makes me feel old and frumpy (which is the kiss of death for my enthusiasm for life) or breaks my bank. I always thought that Isaac Mizrahi's line for Target was a great resource for presentable work clothes that didn't instantly age me a decade and a half. That is why I'm so sad to see his line disappear from the mass retailer. You know what softens the blow though? The lovely price slashing that is happening now through April 30th on Mizrahi's Target wears. His clothes are 50% to 70% off.

I'm super excited that all of these money makin' place ensembles are less than $25. Now, if I could just find a job to wear these to...

Japan's Next Top Model.

Robots freak me out. In fourth grade I went through a phase where I was obsessed with sci-fi "the machines have taken over!" books and I just feel like it's inevitable that one day I'll have to check for electrical sockets on potential mates. Anyways, Japan is obsessed with robots. They really are. In fact, the Japanese love the idea of artificial intelligence so much that they have created a robot super model. Watch out Heidi Klum! Introducing HRP-4C:

That's her making her catwalk debut at Japanese Fashion Week a couple of weeks ago. I'm so happy that they are creating a supermodel robot. I mean we really need one of those. Especially one that walks like she has messed her pants. According to the creators it will only take about 20 to 30 years of further development to get her to move more like Naomi and less like a stinky-pantsed toddler. Actually, I have a great idea that will turn that 20 to 30 years into maybe ten minutes...Miss Jay to the rescue! Call in the ANTM walking coach to whip her into shape. Miss Jay has worked with worse.

He'll tackle the fembot and have her swishing and swaying like a real girl in no time. Then that model can seduce foreign heads of state and take over the world. Or, she can become besties with Tyra, whichever.

What's In Your Bag?

Dump the contents of anybody's bag and you can learn a lot about them. Here are some faceless portraits of people from the "What's In Your Bag" pool on Flickr.

I find these shots endlessly intriguing. Be sure to click on the pics above to scope the photographers' annotated images to see just what's bagged up and why.

She's Gonna Beat Me With Her Phone.

I think I may have discovered the reason behind all of Naomi Campbell's irrational bouts of violent rage. Her victims must have discovered this lovely nugget from the catwalker's past and threatened to spread the word:

A duet with Vanilla Ice? Oh man, if that ever got out there she'd be really mad. Wait, she's going to find me isn't she? Uh-oh...

Coming In For A Landing.

Lex Land sings the hot, hot, sexiness right out of this song. This 22 year old California native made a big impression on the folks that matter at SXSW this year and she's going to be on career-maker KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic on April 7th. I'm loving her bluesy, rolling voice and the jaded lyrics of this song. I'm also loving the new trend in beauti-full, seriously talented, female singers.

You like her as much as I do? Maybe you will also love her cutesy, crafty creations. Check out the chanteuse's necklaces and keychains available through her Etsy shop. Multi-talented. She's gonna be all blazing and on fire soon enough. Til then she's keeping her day job at Kit Kraft hobby shop in Cali and Twittering all about it. Follow her life of almost thereness but still brokeness one Tweet at a time. Fascinating.

Teach Shirts

It's time to get wild like they did back in the day.

The creators of Emperial Nation clothing are out to prove that you are never too cool to get schooled. In fact, they'll school you and make you cool(er) all at once. Started by a team of business-minded streetart buffs, the company takes inspiration for its graphic tee designs from the annals of history. Their collections are organized like history books. Topics include the Civil War, Harlem Renaissance, and the French Revolution. The rebel spirit is alive and well in their subject matter, so there's no need to worry about boring your friends with your dusty old lessons. There are plenty of gun-toting revolutionaries, rise-up types, and system stompers on the tees to keep things lively.

Tees featuring Five Points founder Paul Kelly (l) and Civil War soldier Andrew Benton (r).

Fraterni-tee: a print of Alpha Phi Alpha.

A healthy respect for the past is an important asset at any time, but our knowledge of history is usually used as a way to keep things from repeating again and again. In these times Emperial Nation's historical tees can be seen as sartorial calls to action. Need some inspiration to fight the good fight? Look down at your chest and see a portrait of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African American inter-collegiate fraternity who formed to fight racial discrimination at Cornell Univeristy in 1906. Need to do tough battle with someone or something? Check your chest and get a glimpse of Civil War soldier Andrew Benton. Feel like going gangster on someone (figuratively of course)? Wear your mugshot tee featuring a cop-captured portrait of Paul Kelly, who founded the Five Points Gang and ran New York City until the fuzz caught up with him. Maybe a mugshot tee isn't the most positive place to get inspiration for action, but it certainly is badass and when the cookies are crumbling all over, who doesn't want to feel a little badass? As long as you keep the violent tendencies to the front of your shirt, it's all good. Besides, maybe Kelly's mug will deter people from messing with you, then it's definitiely all good. You want your own histor-tee, don't you? Visit the Emperial Nation website and scope their stuff. Priced at $37 to $41 they can be a reasonable, historical investment in your future.

You Can Go Home Again.

Model Alek Wek has one of the most striking faces in the fashion business. Her distinct looks are courtesy of her Sudanese heritage. She was born a member of the Dinka tribe and fled her homeland in 1991 after war and violence tore it apart. Her discovery at an outdoor market in London in 1995 led to her to a world class modeling career and kept her from returning home for nearly 13 years. In 2008 she and her mother, who also has not been home since they fled, returned to visit family and re-see the past with BBC cameras in tow. It is amazing to watch Alek travel streets she hasn't been down since she was four, and visit the home she was born in. Also amazing are the stark differences and immense similarities between her tribal heritage and her Western life. It's all about love. Family and love.

The entire BBC piece is quite phenomenal. Click any of the screen caps above to watch video footage. In stark contrast, here is a clip of Alek doing her day job with the late great Yves Saint Laurent.



From Sudan to Saint Laurent. Fashion is a bizarre industry. Fascinating.

Top Of The Drops.

Yesterday I braved the beautiful sunshine to get a look at Topshop New York. I had every intention of going in, but the drop of the store was unbelievably successful and the queue (yes, the queue) was around the block and then some. Here's The Budget Babe's footage of the loooooong line.



A video of the line lasts 1:52, that's a long friggin' line. Despite the gorgeous line-waiting weather, I opted out of the mayhem and just poked my nose around the windows and the crowds instead.

My favorite part of the opening was actually the great tote bags that Topshop had handed out to potential shoppers in the days leading up to the event.

Each tote came with a gift card worth anywhere from $5 to $500, brilliant move because most of the people who were waiting on line said they were there to redeem the only-valid-yesterday cards. It made the event quite the scene. Well, that and tell any fashionista worth her fake hipster glasses that Kate Moss is in a ten mile radius and she'll be there. It's a given. It's a rule.

Here's a fascinating discussion about the difference between what Americans expect from their Topshop and what the British want. Apparently we need bigger dressing rooms. Not because we are bigger (yeah right!) but because we expect more space.

I'm so happy that I live here and can go at eleven AM on a Tuesday. I'll have a full report when I can shop sans stampede and overcrowding. It'll be much more thorough and less anxiety filled. Cheerio kiddies.