Planet Yearn

My boyfriend made the awful mistake of showing me this video the other day...



... and now the slow and steady thrum of thoughts that tell me to get giant, statement glasses a la Iris Apfel, Joy Venturini Bianchi or this lovely lady has now elevated itself to a whir. Tragically, these frames are hard to find--- go to any eyeglasses store, in-person or online, looking for "unique frames" and they show you options that look like they were made for for a fifty-something art teacher from New Mexico, or a graying European techno-enthusiast.

So... it's off to do some creative hunting.

I'm much opposed to American Apparel's foray into vintage, however, unwillingly I'm into these:

Kind of sporty looking, and not terribly adherent to the aviator trend. Unique enough to be different, but versatile enough to stand up to casual wear and business, feminine (though not girly) frocks or a t-shirt, blazer and jeans. Long-lasting wear, my friends, long-lasting wear.

I love the color of these (blue eyes, blue glasses... mmm?), and they also come in purple, red, yellow, and green, but I have a sneaking suspicion that these tread to closely into bandwagon-iness... Also, they could do terrible things to a face which is neither relatively narrow nor particularly angular. They're a pretty decent deal at $50, and I assume returnable, so an experiment may be on.

The "vintage Cazal" search on my Ebay is well, well worn... I ran into a guy on the street once who was wearing a pair matched with a sleek grey suit and the demurest pair of Ice Creams I'd ever seen. I've been obsessed with their angular coolness ever since. I still have yet to find Ebay Cazals that suit my parameters exactly, but they are definitely a trip to look through.

On my glasses-browsing journeys, I always notice that sunglasses styles tend to be more experimental than regular eyeglass styles... is there anything preventing getting their lenses removed and replaced with prescription ones?

I've been obsessed with clear and white frames for glasses for awhile (wood, too, if you can ever find a pair!) However, on a fair blonde such as myself, the effect can sometimes be milky and washed-out. These Chloe sunglasses from 80's Purple have a heavy opacity to the frame which make it a more promising white-framed bet for me, and coupled with the bronze... I think the effect could be youthful, intelligent and subtly funky, like a Sixties aristocratish academic type who has an in with the Middle Eastern art crowd.

Holy crap! Not sure if they pass the long-lasting test, but if $385 (their latest bid) were disposable to me, I would get them right this second, then switch to a wardrobe of exclusively grey, white and black.

Claw Money is getting to be one of my favorite brands of jewelry, but they also have these, the holy grail of sunglasses too. I love the idea of red frames, but they always seem to remind me of Sally Jesse Raphael. These are more rock show than talk show (I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!) and I believe, with clear prescription lenses could be fun and robot-y as opposed to vaguely Kanye-like in their sunglassed rendition.

Anyone else out there have some good ideas? Or better yet--- great pictures?

I leave you now with the most adorable video by one of my favorite glasses-wearers--- whose glasses inexplicably turn to shades and then back...




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Gimme some mo!

While our own US Vogue is having its own problems (profits way down, job cuts at Conde Nast), U.K. Vogue is stepping up their game -- to the extreeeeeme! -- with this Roald Dahl-inspired shoot...

Ahh! The first couple of creepiness! What Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood wish they could've been...

Check out the rest at Wicked Halo. A healthy dose of a sense of humor and theatricality go hand in hand with great style, in my opinion, yet so often lacks in fashion editorials. In my goings-around at work, I've found the same is true for music; there's no end to bands with punctuation marks in their names, fast hair, and steely glares for their liner notes.

Here, a video from Busta (somewhat reminiscent of the photos above), whose got it all: not only music artistry, but a sense of humor and the willingness to be ridiculous-- and maybe even creepy.

Busta Rhymes |MTV Music


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Smells like a winner!

Finally, I'm getting down to business and picking a winner for last month's contest.

This slightly-melted-record bowl that I received as a Christmas gift last year is finally getting its time in the sun. Everyone's names are folded inside...

Maybe you're wondering what else I'm wearing? Here I am in my building's creepy, gross basement breaking two of my steadfast fashion rules: No light denim, and no leggings with short skirts. Very teeny-boppery, both of them, but with a big slouchy bomber, less so? Boots: UO. Leggings: gift from my Ma. Skirt: thrifted. Sweater: thrifted. Scarf: the bottom of a dress I cut off. Bomber: thrifted.

Ahem. Let's get to picking!




























Congratulations, Caroline! Send me your address and "The Tin Man" is yours!

Thanks to everyone else who entered the contest as well, I promise it won't be the last!

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Perfection!

For a couple of years now, I've been casually searching for the perfect pair of black boots. I'm more of a brown girl, so having them wasn't that important to me. But lately the search has hit a fever pitch, mostly because the perfect boot is so very hard to find.

I hate slouchy boots.

Dear God. What hath Naughty Monkey wrought?

I hate towering platforms and heels (look great, but I'm no dominatrix-who-lunches).

Fucking... ow!!!

Although these are probably the most tasteful rendition I've seen in awhile, I still hate tops of boots that slant towards the back (unless my name is Linda Carter):

From Diesel... Nearly perfect, except for that darned slanted top and the weird, mannish pitch of the arch.

Adding to my design-related churlishness, most boots are either over $200 (since when are Steve Madden and Nine West teetering on unaffordable? Know your places!), or under $60 and look cheap. For me, black clothing, and in particular shoes, must never look cheap!

But lo and behold, I find These:

All the elements of perfection: Nearly mint, Etienne Aigner, a buckled strap that is more elegant than Hot Topic, a level top of the boot, almond toe, walkable height, in my size...and also $35 from SaintChicago. I hearby declare that Etsy is the only place I will ever buy anything, again.


PS-- The winner of the Red Shoe/Zooey Deschanel in "Tin Man" contest will be announced in my next post! Sorry to keep you all waiting!
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Coincidences, coincidences!

On spring break back in March, my sugah and I went to visit my brother in New York. We were tooling around Williamsburg waiting for some vintage store to open... and this older lady in head-to-toe hot-pink strolls by. I asked if I could take her photo, she was so fun to look at, and she said that she found it funny that people always wanted to take her photo, and yes of course.

Sorry for the awful photo, m'dear.

Then, today, on a chance trip to Advanced Style, recognition bells went off in my head as I saw my Pink Lady again, but this time in leopard! -- A woman after my own heart.



So, yes, Leonora, people do like to take your picture. And readers, the world at times is quite small indeed!

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Let me count the ways!

The lovely and talented Sal of Already Pretty has tagged me with the "Why I Love My State" meme. I put together a little photo scavenger hunt, with my stand-in drugstore digital camera, of the reasons I love Ohio, now.

1. We're Blue!

Friends and I toasting the announcement of Ohio's turning blue this Tuesday.

2. It's been clear, sunny, and 70-some, non-humid degrees for at least a week. Ahhh!

Barnes and Noble at the South Campus Gateway. They masquerade as the historic Long's bookstore, because their sign is just that great.

3. Some of the most rewarding thrifting in the country. "I'd wager it!" I say, pulling on my handlebar mustache and sneering to reveal a mouth full of thrifted, gold caps.

The Volunteers of America on Indianola, my favoritest thrift store in town. Fun game: guess which of the sweaters in this photo I came away with?

4. Best... trees... ever! Oh flaming maple! Oh ghostly sycamore! Oh oak, putting the "oak" in "ochre"!

The South Oval facing Mirror Lake on the Ohio State University campus. I swear their trees keep their colors longer than any others!

5. Gas has turned its frown upside down, and at the majority of gas stations, has slipped well below $2/gallon. Now, a roadtrip to one of our many haunted prisons and abandoned amusement parks is well in order!

Yep, you're reading that right! $1.93 a gallon today.

Now, to complete the circle and pass the meme along, I nominate Lily, Caroline, Marcine, Missa, and Isabel, who, while not from the States, certainly lives in a locality. Show us around, ladies!