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]