a job i don't want....

(video still courtesy of garance dore's "pardon my french" series) 

i can't express how much i would've hated to be a model.

the blues

fyi!

if you missed out on les jeans des chanel, i am here to tell you that....

revlon made pretty much the same shade in blue slate, as chanel did in 

blue boy.

so there you go.

strangebeautiful

i've mostly gotten over the crazy nail art trend that's been sweeping the nation.

(with this exception!)

so, personally, i'm back on the solid nail color tip.

(ha!)

although i've mostly left my gothic style sensibilities where they belong, back in high school in '91, my grown up (black) heart couldn't help but flutter a little, when i saw this totally luxurious range of inky polishes from...

strangebeautiful

love these, as i do, it seems a little indulgent to invest so deeply into the nether regions of color. i know that it's dark and cold in certain parts of the world, but here in southern california, it's still warm and sunny....

a little bit of sullen contrast is good for a girl, but ten different blacks? maybe this is not what i need for the start of 2012.

lucky for me, strangebeautiful has five different "volumes", all inspired by such influences as josef albers, oscar wilde, knoll fabrics, "the dull red color of a lobster shell immediately after it has been removed from boiling water", the belly of a pigeon & aged armagnac:

damn.

decisions, decisions.

i'm leaning toward "volume 2", at the top left of the grid, above.

what's your favorite?

hey there, beauty....

as i've mentioned in the past, i don't have much expertise in beauty...

(no matter what i do with makeup, it always kind of winds up looking like i barely put any on by mid day)

but i just came across this photo on vanessa jackman's site, and really loved the look:

i love the dark eye on this pale pale girl, and minimal everything else.....

it's kind of creepy.... but accessible!

the answer is in the question

answer:

yes!

(images courtesy of miu miu)

question:

would these (lovely) images (of hailee steinfeld) make you want to buy sparkly shoes from miu miu?

(you know, it's like jeopardy.)

r.i.p. twombly

so so sad to hear of the death of one of my favorite painters, cy twombly.

valli girls

with many fashion houses are canceling their couture runway shows, it's pretty exciting that one designer is adding one to their show calendar.

here are a few of my favorite looks from giambattista valli's first couture show in paris, yesterday:

whoever cast and styled the girls is genius- sasha pivovarova's super blue eyes pop so nicely with the coral color in the second photo!

thank you, post man

it's pretty rare that i get anything in the actual mail that is exciting these days.

(i'm kind of over netflix, now that there's netflix instant.)

but today, my mail man brought me something beautiful....

the new york city ballet 2011-12 season calendar, complete with fashion-magazine quality styled photo shoot of the dancers.

i love it.

it took a serious amount of scanning/ photoshopping skills to make these photos look this good (as some of them were quite tiny on the printed page), so i thought i'd add a couple directly from the website of the photographer, henry leutwyler, which look a hell of a lot better:

i love love love the combination of vpl pieces, with more traditional dance likes like kd. the colors are just terrific.

most of you probably don't know that i spent the first 16 years of my life training to be a professional ballet dancer, so it's really nice for me to see this intersection between a couple of my life's passions: dance and style.

does anyone know who styled this shoot?? i want to write a thank you email!!

------------

however, as excited as i am about this, i don't want y'all to forget about my contest! the competition is pretty tame right now, and you've only got a day or so left! 

enter here.

love vs. love to do

my first foray into beauty writing was just posted on slow fashioned.

i really enjoyed meeting with mordechai alvow, the founder of yarok hair...

and i am absolutely obsessed with beauty blogs like into the gloss, and beauty counter at style.com.

but, you know how they say that you should "write what you know"? i think it's really true.... as much as i'm interested in hair care, and skin care, the newest lippy and of course anything nail-art-related....

i think i'll be leaving it to the experts. i can't quite wrap my head around it, and i don't think i'm adding anything really new to the conversation.

it's just not my bag.....

(this is also not my bag)

surf baby

oooooooooh.....

on one of the first spring / summery days in nyc, mac has debuted a totally inspiring collection called surf baby.

i'm ready for a beach day!

fashion is my opiate

i haven't seen this image in so many years....

i remember being totally overwhelmed by the awesomeness of this image in 2000, when it was released. that was just about the time that i was really starting to think about fashion as a career, and the power of these kind of images, and what the represented for a brand.

remember how there was so much scandal about it? 

i lived in portland, oregon at the time, and i had put this ad up on my refrigerator. i hosted a huge halloween house party that year, and i remember all the guys hanging around in the kitchen.... 

hmmm....

many thanks to lori goldstein's tumblr for the reminder!

couldn't resist

i wasn't going to say anything about the looks at the met costume ball last night...

but i think i will.

category one-
i know it's hard to find the right shoes for a ball. but try harder:

sofia, your feet are plenty big already. why exaggerate?

ditto, above.

opposite problem. it's the shoes that are too big here.

nope!

ms meester excels at making her own legs look shorter.

this photo might be better in the second category.

ick.

same general problem as sofia & mila. but with more terrible calves.

category two-
disasters:

it was nice of the royal family to donate their curtains, 

but i liked what you did with kate's dress much more.

props on the mcqueen, but i'm not feelin it.

it's so hard to pull attention away from her amazing smile, but.... 

apparently possible.

tom! how could you let this happen!??

i think you got lost. here's your map.

this is just wrong. looks good.

totally inappropriate for the occasion.

shalom! it means "goodbye" too, right?

oh doll. i love you, but... too floaty. 

not enough wiggle.

category three-
yah! is goot:

...and elson translates to "do no wrong", right?

love the contrast between sorta sweet hair and sophisticated dress.

and the bum, obviously.

this is how to do a shoe! and a leg! and a hair!

and a lip! and a waist!

class.

oh fun!! fun! i wanna hang out. k?

and this is also how to do a shoe!

(couple of points deducted for not so flattering dress for the legs.)

category four-
bam. nailed it:

amaaaaazing. love love love the hair.

the arm. the skirt.

hands down favorite. this girl is seriously growing on me.

the necklaces totally clinches it.

glaaaama!

name of the game. right. on.

i wasn't trying to be rude in the last post.

the goal has been achieved.

other thoughts?