Happy 2009!

Puppilotchen*

New, new, all types of new.

BostonBill

I hope you all are having a nice holiday break... and bracing yourself for the year to come! That's the rub with December-- the pacing's all wrong. Consumer hubris for 24 days, a 3-day stint of inertia, followed by the greased laundry chute of New Year preparations.

Starting tomorrow, this year will be one of the most milestoned of my life!

What I wish I were wearing, minus the whiskey tango hair. Fur vest: 80'spurple.com. Gloves: Modcloth. Cocktail ring: Girlprops. Shoes (lust! on sale!): Anthropologie. Galactic Tights: We Love Colors. Necklace, earrings: Girlprops. Dress: Delia's.

1) We're having a huge New Year's Eve party... I can't wait!

2) My sweety surprised me with a trip to Florida for my birthday (in a couple weeks!) Damn, yo!

3) I'll be graduating in March. Kaloo-kalay!

4) There are rumblings of us taking a trip to Belize shortly thereafter.

5) We're getting a dog!

6) I'll be getting my first grown-up style job.

7) I'm moving in with my sweet-tart-- and marrying him. If you could see me now, I'm sighing with bluebirds flying around my head.

Pyza*

In all the hubbub, I nearly forgot my blog's year anniversary! You can check out my first post here. Aww!!! I'd like to thank everyone who gives Spandexpony a read, and an extra special thank you to those of you who leave your comments and make a gal feel heard.

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Now see this!

Trust that if the phrase "Starkly beautiful and poignant vampire movie" strikes any chord at all with you, or even if it doesn't, you must go see "Let the Right One In". An emotionally accurate coming-of-age tale, set in the white-on-white beauty of Sweden. Also, some of the most intense aural gore I've experienced outside of having my ear to the bathroom door of a Taco Bell.

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I made you a card!

Merry Christmas, Christmas-celebrating readers!



Thanks so much for reading, and have a wonderful, wintry weekend!

Yours,

Elissa.

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Redemption!

I think every girl likes to imagine that if, given the chance to get her likeness in print, the result would be glamorous. I was keeping this as a surprise to lay on you all today--- and after seeing the results, considered keeping it a surprise.

source
Lovely, lovely, lovely. If only it had turned out more like this!

I was recently interviewed by the style editor of the Columbus, OH version of Time Out New York, which was terribly flattering and exciting, especially so because the issue comes out today, on Christmas Eve! Let it be known that both the interviewer and the photographer were lovely people. Having taken a few photos of myself, I gave the photog a few fashion-y poses, before I was told that they wanted a picture of me responding to questions. I became worried. And frozen-- answering questions thoughtfully under hot lights while someone snaps all around you is uhh--- not the way to be photographed. Especially when the photographer is on her knees the entire time, photographing you from the --- dunh dunh dunh, dreaded below-angle.

I hope I'm not over-reacting, but when I went to their website this morning to see how it turned out, I died a little bit inside.

Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. That earthworm sure can work a short skirt. I believe my desire for radical plastic surgery has been rekindled.

This paper is going to be all over town. I felt like I was being punished by the gods for my self-importance. Or that, out of the hundreds of pictures they took, if this was the best one, I must be fooling myself like drunken Baby Jane, trying to revive her act.

Even though I'd like to report that I definitely didn't, I dissolved into tears (well, I got a touch of the PMS and I've been deathly ill for about a week now, too... sigh!). I gotta hand it to my sweety. He said to me, "Do you still have that oufit?" "Yes, --sob-- no, the tights ripped and I threw them away." "You've got other tights. C'mon. Get outta bed, put that outfit on, and we'll take a proper picture of you. Everyone knows you never photograph a woman from below." My darlin' sweety. I may not have a good, expensive camera, but I do have a wonderful man.

Sweater: thrifted. Skirt: actually a figure skating dress, thrifted. Scarf: thrifted. Peacock tights: Gift from my sweety. Shoes: BCBGirls.

The interview's pretty good, though-- pasted below!

"

OFF THE RACK

Elissa Marcus

Job: OSU student and salesperson at Buy Backs

Neighborhood: Victorian Village

Hometown: Cincinnati

Label your style: "Pre-posh-terous"

What's your favorite store?

I'd say about 90 percent of my clothes are from the thrift store. I just really don't see any point in spending a lot of money on clothes.

What's your favorite thrift store?

The Volunteers of America on Indianola.

What's your favorite non-thrift store?

Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie.

What are you loving right now?

I'm really into the '20s right now, so the short hair and the short skirts and the T-straps.

What about shoes?

I sell vintage shoes online on Etsy; that helps me get rid of some of them. Because I have about 78 pairs. Which is bad. I love BCBG and BCBGirls; I like Seychelles.

What inspires your style?

I do a blog, spandexpony.blogspot.com. When I'd just moved to Columbus, I wanted to scout street style, so I was taking out my camera and taking pictures of people. And even though it might not be in the same way or with the same loudness, people are always trying to do their own thing.

THE OUTFIT:

Skirt: actually a long-sleeve figure-skating dress from a Cincinnati thrift store. "It's a little ridiculous, but I was like, 'I'm going to find a way to make that work.'"

Tights: from Macy's. "I love colorful tights. I have them in every color. And the best way to show them off is with a short skirt."

Shoes: BCBGirls from Loehmann's in New York. "It's kind of like a TJ Maxx."

Sweater: from Volunteers of America

Scarf: thrift

Earrings: a wolf design handmade by MissChicBoutique, an Etsy vendor.

Ring: from Filene's Basement. "I wear it all the time. I like jewelry that's slightly ridiculous."

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#21?

Spin magazine just released a list of their 20 Best Music Videos of 2008. Strangely missing, in my opinion (I could really do without Vampire Weekend's #19 spot bid, or Radiohead's #5) is Lykke Li's video for "I'm Good, I'm Gone". I love her giant, fluid outfit, the creepy little twins and the musclebound lasses, but the video most appeals to one of my pet causes, ageism. I love that she makes the elderly people in her video relevant, active, and able to participate in popular culture.

Also overlooked are Justice's videos for "D.V.N.O." and "D.A.N.C.E." --- both, any graphic designer/80's TV Fan/ T-shirt lover's wet dream... !

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If I could cook... (I can, but I can't)

I was looking forward to busting out one of my favorite holiday recipes: Peppermint Cookies. My favorite thing to do is to cut them into letters (usually monograms, but this year I was thinking "Mele Kalikimaka"***) and distribute them to friends and neighbors.

I don't know where this recipe is from, but if you eat them fresh from the oven, they're sooo good and crispy, but if you leave them lightly covered for a couple of days, they become gorgeously soft!

Ingredients: @ 1 cup shortening @ 1/2 cup sugar @ 1/2 cup packed brown sugar @ 2 eggs @ 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract @ 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour @ 1 teaspoon salt @ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda @ 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies @

Directions: In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add them to the creamed mixture. Stir in the crushed candies. Then, EITHER shape into a 15" roll and wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerating for 4 hours or until firm. Unwrap and cut into 1/8" slices. OR roll your dough out flat, and, with a greased cookie cutter, cut out shapes, carefully pulling the excess dough away from the outside of the cookie cutter before removing it from the dough. Place each cookie 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 6-8 minutes, until the edges brown (I find that, with my gas oven, 5:45 exactly is perfect). After they cool, ice them (sometimes I like to dye it pink) and dust the icing with any remaining candy pieces. MM! This makes, like, infinity cookies.

BUT--- I've come down with 5,000 bugs, and been told to stay home and do nothing or go to the hospital. This clip courtesy of my brother's saying, "You sweat that shite out of your system, or I'll fuckin' kick it out."

One of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, featuring two of my favorite songs (Diane is singing the last line of a New Order song). And um, no. I'm not actually feeling anything like this, at all.

So... not being able to do anything outside of look at stuff, I decided to collect some of my favorite Christmas images from Flickr and make a very involved Christmas Card-- to be debuted soon! In my searching for images, I found this lovely from Lala a Gogo--


A caramel apple covered with festive sprinkles... easy-peasy, beautiful, delicious, somewhat healthful! ... and at this point I could use all the health I can get!


***it seems now that the economy is taking a downturn, that the popularity of and taste for the "rich guy" staple of monograms is tanking, big-time. I am unwittingly following suit with my plan to decorate cookies with a "goodwill toward men" message in lieu of monograms this year...

All you want...

If all you want for Christmas is a pair of vintage shoes, damnit, you're in luck! Yours truly has just finished listing a few things in her etsy store.





And speaking of all you're wanting for Christmas, I may lose a few points with some of you now, but all I want is to hear this damn song-- but it must be out of style this season; I haven't heard it once! The shame...

Winner!

I'm away from home now, so there is no entertaining "drawing the winner" set of photos here for you today, BUT-- we have a winner, nonetheless!

... who, amongst other favorite things, loves claymation Christmas specials.




Today I drew, from a vintage, black satin, turban-style hat this contest's winner: Drew Majoulet! Congratulations, Drew! Drop me a line at spandexpony@gmail.com with your mailing address and a copy of "Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas" will soon be yours!

Thanks to everyone who participated-- have a lovely weekend!

Can you dig it?

So, the absence of "things to do" put me in a Cowboy Junkies/Red House Painters/Mazzy Star funk. I credit Lady Sovereign's new, "The Warriors"-inspired song and video for pulling me out of it:

If you've never seen "The Warriors" and you love fashion, you must watch-- the whole thing is on Youtube (the same way I caught Britney Spears' "Crossroads"-- ha!)



I especially love the purple-lame vested gang at 3:30, the American Apparel gang at 4:22, and the "Qui, moi?" gang at 8:08.

So... we're gonna have to bop if you don't enter the contest! (Some call me The Master of Segueways, but I'll settle for "A" Master).

Bomber: thrifted. Minnie Mouse tee: thrifted. Menacing Chain: thrifted. Headscarf: thrifted. Sweats: Target. Shoes: Miss Sixty.

It ends TOMORROW, December 19 at MIDNIGHT! All you have to do to enter is leave a little comment on the Contest Post about your favorite holiday doin' and one winner will be drawn at random to receive your very own keepsake copy of Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas, retailing used for $45 on Amazon, mailed just in time (I hope, but you never know this time of year) for you to enjoy it with the family (or probably not) come Kwanzaa.

Come out to plaayyyy!

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The Contest!

As a kid, my family celebrated both Hannukah and Christmas. My dad is Jewish, and my mom is an atheist-- but she did want to pass on the Christmas goodtimes that she enjoyed as a kid. My favorite things about the holiday seasons included picking dried wax off of the menorah, the Vienna Boys' Choir record my dad ritually puts on, and reading from the beautifully illustrated 1958 paperback, Jolly Old Santa Claus.

Now, one of my favorite holiday things to do (in addition to egg nog and parties) is to go to antique stores and browse their Christmas wares...

The Most Awesome Lamp, Christmasified.

I love all the greens and blues-- the room in general was kind of Floridian themed, but I took the picture mostly because I actually stifled a scream when I saw this mannequin.

Why I didn't buy this clock, I don't know. I deserve all the coal.

Take a page from Bettie's book and do Christmas, naked!

Vignette comes complete with fossilized fruit cake and a very festive sock monkey.

This ubiquitous curvy gazelle statue takes a turn for the "ohh lala" in pink, matched with its own, tonal pink tree.

Now I pose this question to all of you--- what is your favorite thing about the holiday season? Leave your answer in the comments. The drawn-at-random winner will receive the kind of holiday cheer which can only be delivered by a copy of Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas. It is a used copy of it, because I find myself gainfully employed at a used DVD place, but it is nonetheless in perfect, hilarious condition, and looking for a place on your shelf next to "A Christmas Story" and "The Santa Clause" (or next to "Baseketball" and "Bewitched", depending on how your organize your stuff)! I can't wait to hear what you come up with! Contest ends at 12am EST on December 19!



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All finished up!

I'm finally done with the quarter. I thought I'd fall into a pillowy euphoria in the absence of things-to-do, but instead, I find myself a bit irritable and discombobulated from not having a fire under my ass, oddly enough!

Here now, I'll share with you a bit of the "smoke" from that fire-- my final group design project.


Here are a few of our sketches... each group member contributed 10 designs, then cut them down to 2 apiece. On the right of each grouping (named after songs in the "Anastasia" movie) are our Romanov-eagle styled color palettes.



We had to do a few Corel Painter renderings of our sketches; this purple dress with the ermine stole was one of my favorites. In addition, technical flats, sizing specs and construction details needed to be drawn up as well. Luckily, there are people in the world who, unlike me, love to do these. Even luckier, two of these talented people were in my group!



I devoted a big chunk of my time designing some accessories... I especially like the Maltese Cross Mary Janes and the Faberge Minauderie. You can't really tell, but the pattern I made for the luggage features little Romanov eagles inside of the argyle-style diamonds.


At the last minute, we decided we needed something to divide the artistic portion of the collection from the "nuts and bolts" portion of the project, so I searched for images of a Russian passport and emblazoned the front with "Czarina", the name of the collection. On the opposite page was the "inside" of the passport, complete with our Girl's name and job description-- a way of describing our target market. You might recognize the photo inside from our project's coverpage!

...And lastly of all, the outfit I wore to do the presentation:

Dress: thrifted. Belt: Abercrombie and Fitch. Capelet: thrifted. Tights: Target. Shoes: BCBGirls, from Loehmann's.

...next up... the contest!

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When in St. Petersburg...

For our final design projects this quarter, we had to choose a movie to base a collection off of. In the mood for fur, my group of gals chose "Dr. Zhivago" at first, but somehow, it wasn't vibing with us. We needed something a bit more fanciful, with more raw material. So, we switched to the animated "Anastasia".

Here's the DVD cover (we did a lot based off of her "moppet" look early in the movie, and some evening wear based on the blue gown in this image, as well):


Here's the title page for our portfolio:

Names have been obfuscated to protect the innocent... Our "girl" is a Moscow-based gallery owner on an art-buying mission in New York, hence the passport and Kandinsky. Our looks are designed around a 3-day itinerary we made out for her filled with gallery visits, charity galas, and dinners with her Senegalese lover, Amadou...

We got a lot of inspiration for the movie, but we filled in the blanks with a bit of research into what the Romanovs were wearing during the first World War -- isn't Anastasia smart in her little sailor outfit?



We (like they) used lots and lots of Battenburg lace, sashes and other military touches like Maltese cross pins and trousers tucked into high boots. Our colors are principally white, black, gold and red, and we even have a Faberge egg bag and Romanov eagle-print set of luggage...

When what to our wondering --and slightly disappointed-- eyes should appear on the home page of Style.com on Friday, but Karl Lagerfeld's Pre-Fall 2009 collection:



Ah well... there is nothing new under the sun. But for sure, that Karl's put together something really stunning here; not as predictable as his recent collections have been.

Three-ringed, even!

As soon as I saw Britney's "Circus" video, I immediately remembered a little red blazer I have in the back of my closet...

Red blazer: thrifted, Graphite Skating Dress: American Apparel, Crochet Tights: Target, Tall Dark and Handsome Boots: Vintage, thrifted. Oh yeah. Top hat: Photoshopped.

And now I'm wanting a giant, glitzy parure, jodhpurs, sexy gloves and a mustache.

Hot albino peacock corset: louiseblack@etsy. Sextastic gloves: onlygloves.com. Mirrored booties (ooh la la!): Giuseppe Zanotti. Winged Heels: Christian Louboutin. Dancing bear charm bracelet: vickisvintagelane@etsy. Pieced blazer: L.A.M.B. Giant amazing vintage gem necklace: purpledaisyjewelry@etsy. Groucho Marx Disguise Necklace: Mine, from paraphernalia@etsy.

This next week heralds the end of the quarter but the beginning of... dunh dunh dunh, exams! I'll probably make myself scarce, but I'll be back in due time to tell you all about the upcoming contest!

Pink eye. The good kind.

I've been sneezing and sleeping and throat-hurting all day-- but on the other hand, I've had a nice long day filled with bad TV, tea, and plenty of image fodder for my budding albinism obsession:


Few know that bats are one of my favorite animals. One of my Life Plans is to research the most bat-populous places in the country (or the world, sheeit, think big!), go there, and then write a magazine article about it. This lil' chocolate-mouthed guy is a "microbat".



Albino deer are not too rare, but would be a seriously spiritual view in real life, no? Sadly, it seems that "bagging" an albino deer has some degree of cache in the hunting world. I left a few... "dissenting" comments on gloating blogs.



Another one of my Life Plans is to have a living room with aubergine walls; clear, lucite furniture and a pet albino lion.



Although (or maybe because) squirrels simultaneously have the power to make me go giddy or completely terrify me, I consider them my totem animal. I love nuts and am somewhat darty-- it seemed a good fit.


ALSO--- there is another contest brewing!!! Stay tuned!


[image via arbroath.blogspot.com, animals.desktopnexus.com, wyomingoutdoorsradio.com, dalesdesigns.net]