Friday, July 31, 2009

Riding In Style



Barton and I commute like many fellow fashionistas.  Our prefered mode of transportation is bicycle.  And although I know it's dorky to wear a helmet: I don't want my brains to fall out of my skull when someone doors me and I have to swerve into traffic causing me to hit a pothole AND crash my bike CAUSING me to be hit by the on-coming bus!  Yeah.  You think about it too.   

So I wear a helmet.  And frankly I'm disappointed in all you so-called designers out there for not coming up with something that doesn't look like a tribal tattoo.  Bike helmets are ugly.  And as much as it hurts my pride - it saves my life.  And I never ride without it.

Here are some folks who feel that the options out there are a little less than stellar and are doing something about it:

"Brainwear for smart people" based in Denmark



Riding Pretty
Santa Cruz based shop.  6 colors to choose from.  $54.99




Nutcase Helmets $50



Sawaka Furno
"Cycling in style" £60 (One of my favorites)



Rifla
"...a concept company by Kathleen Scully provides women’s cycling helmets and accessories for the fashion conscious consumer where we erase the boundaries between race style and street style.  We provide style, safety and sustainability with innovative technology bringing cycling to a whole new level of chic for the eco-fashion conscious commuter."



Get on your bikes and ride!

Love you, mean it

Emily


post inspired by the uniform project

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Too Good To Pass Up

Sorry ladies/gents, I don't have time for more right now. Work is beating me like a two-legged dog in a rat race. But this was too good to pass up:

"As you may recall, this elite club — or organization or cult of douchebag-ery or whatever you call it — facilitates fiery, passionate love between women who work in fashion and men who work in finance by bringing them together in fancy private mixers, not unlike Patti's soirĂ©es on Millionaire Matchmaker (we imagine — we proudly do not speak from firsthand experience for either situation). Apparently the club took a little hiatus when the economy collapsed and shamed or newly broke bankers went into summer hibernation, leading to a dearth of desirables in the dating pool, and possibly a spike in crap relationships" (The Cut). Read more here.

Oh yes, it's true. My dreams of being a kept woman are SO close I can taste them ;) They taste a little like marshmallows. J.I.C.

Love you, mean it

Emily

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

On Your Knees

So I don't know if designers think we're doing alot of stuff on our knees. Or if they are merely encouraging more kneeling behavior. Regardless, padded knees are "in."


marc by marc jacobs a/w 2010


Some of my favorite past-times are on my knees... Like gardening, looking in the bottom of my closet, searching for my other shoe... umm, getting into the lower cupboards where we keep our cans. Ya know, lots of stuff. So I was pleased to see these knee saving fashion items. I for one, like to keep my knees protected.



marc by marc jacobs from a spread in teen vogue.


hansel from basel


anzevino and florence




Get on your knees ladies...


Love you, mean it

Emily



p.s. reanimated from Trend De La Creme.

Monday, July 27, 2009

"I Cannot Be That Cool"

What little girl out there has not wanted to be a princess? Or at least taken some Disney movie idiom to heart. I know my sisters and I belted out "Part of Your World" on every car ride where the cassette soundtrack was available.

But then we grew up. We realized love isn't prescribed to us, there is no such thing as "the one" and that things don't always work out into happily ever after. Disney fooled us.

So in some small way Diane Goldstein is getting back at the idea of Princesses and the true loves that make their stories so intriguing. In her series, Fallen Princesses, she explores the after-thoughts not mentioned by the stories we memorized as kids.




This reminds me of my briefly lived music career. I broke up with my first love, cut my hair, got some bad tattoos and went to art school. My initial idea of love was ruined. If I didn't write crappy songs about him I probably would have exploded. It reminds me of one song in particular where I wrote: "I'm not Rapunzel anymore, I cannot be that cool. It's hard enough to be the only living fairy-tale in High School." Needless to say, I grew out of that. But not the sentiment ;)



Love you, mean it

Emily



Post inspired by Fashion156

Sunday, July 26, 2009

APAture Runway III

APAture Runway III is the third annual fashion show of emerging Asian American designers.   IN SAN FRANCISCO.  Whaaaaaahhh??




The lineup includes:

Heather Guevarra (Gingerbread Clothing), Amy M. Ho, Faithy Leong, Jarvinia Li, I Shan Liou, Loretta K Nguyen (fiftyseven-thirtythree), Erica Varize (Evarize), Brian Yee (Bok Choy Apparel), and Shani Solomon (MXW).

All proceeds of this show benefit KSW's 11th Annual APAture, "a multidisciplinary arts festival of emerging Asian Pacific American artists, happening September 17-26" (Kearney Street Calendar).

Advance tickets are available here for $8.  Tickets are available at the door for $10-12 sliding scale.

APAture Runway III
Saturday, August 8th, 7:30pm - 10:30pm
SOMArts Cultural Center
934 Brannan St., SF

Barton, this is my formal invitation to you.  If you aren't my date to this I'm going to swallow some broken glass.



Love you, mean it (broken glass style)

Emily

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Devo

So I FULLY understand that this movie will sort of ruin a subculture. But it looks adorable. And it will probably be the best thing Ellen Page has done since Juno. Annnd I love Drew Barrymore more than I love most things...




Sooooo. Go see this October 9th. Eve is in it. Her character's name is Rosa Sparks... Hmm Mmm, I thought the same thing....


Love you, mean it

Emily

Friday, July 24, 2009

Bigger Faster Stronger

I would like to talk about something that means a lot to me: Big hair statements (yes, I am a shallow bitch). Being that women's hair is thickest and shiniest when we're 15 - most of us are out of luck. Last time I got my hair DID I asked my stylist what I could throw onto this mop to make it look gigantic-er. The only problem was that the hair product had to be vegan. Being vegan himself he mentioned Bumble and Bumble. Apparently a lot of their products are vegan and, according to most hair dressers I know, totally bitchin. I ended up opting with B&B's Multi-Talented Hair Sculpting Gel.


This guy is "the multi-talented sculpting medium that molds firm and shiny shapes, or brushes into soft, yet still-shapely forms (and it's alcohol free)" (B&B). My stylist says to use it on my roots for optimum results. The gel drys sorta quick so just sprinkle some water on your hands and rub them together when it starts to dry.

This product has the CAG stamp of approval and will only take 24 dollarinis out of your coin purse.

Today I went for a big hair statement (not necessarily BIG hair). Barton and I stopped into H&M last night coz she needed tights (who doesn't) and we got sucked in by the lovely Carrie Bradshaw flowers they had for sale there (pictured below).




[BARTON: YOUR PHOTO HERE]

I like these flowers because they come with both pins for your lapel and clips for your hair (so they, like the gel, are multi-talented). They come in a variety of colors and only cost $5.

My hair-look for the day is an office-friendly version of two ladies: the lovely Carmen Miranda and Miss Amy Winehouse. I've always loved Carmen...


...but Amy was a recently acquired taste.


My boyfriend and I caught her act on the PS3 game Sing Star (like Karaoke in the comfort of your favorite bar: your living room). While I'm still not a fan of "Rehab," I do enjoy a handful of her soulier, girl-group tunes. Namely "Back to Black." And I'm just typing to say, Barton, you were right. She does sorta rule in that I'm-too-effed-up-to-function sort of Chan Marshall way.


Love you, mean it

Emily

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

dear creatures

One time I had a dream that the Grand Ole Opry was still cool and that Dolly Parton still dressed like she did in the 70s and everything was awesome...

Then I woke up and realized I was just dreaming about Dear Creatures.




"Dear Creatures is for vibrant individuals who desire unique clothing that reflects their personal freshness and charm" (dear creatures). When they aren't drawing inspiration from Americana, Zooey Deschanel, Valley of the Dolls, Sharon Tate and early Pricilla Presley they are getting press from every which way. They have been featured in magazines and online periodicals such as Lucky, LA2Day, Mod Life, Vice, Who What Wear, Pipeline, Bust, Daily Candy and are mid-hugungous commercial campaign for Cotton featuring Miss Deschanel.

I love them this summer and so should you. Here's why:








This is basically what I want to look like for the rest of the summer. It reminds me of Jenny Lewis, Loretta Lynn and Mayella Ewell all wrapped up in one. It makes me want to throw on a pair of teen-hooker sunglasses, some roller skates and un-button the last four buttons on a plaid shirt and tie it up. I would skate around singing Patsy Cline and wondering why people don't realize "That's not a hole-in-the-wall, That's rollergirl!" (it works on sooo many levels - think about it).

Buy some Dear Creatures here. Your Mint Juleps may just depend on it.



Love you, mean it

Emily

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Kicharee

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit an Ayurvedic practitioner (a really old Indian medicinal practice). Not because I'm not feeling well and not because I'm a hippy (I staunchly deny both). But because I was interested. Like I've mentioned before, I'm pretty firey. So it didn't surprise me to learn about my fire (pitta) earth (kapha) combination. Already being a vegan, I think I had a food death wish trying to follow my dosha, but here I am. Awkwardly flailing towards a healthier existence.


I tried this recipe out last night called Kicharee. Basically it's a rice and mung dhal which is very good for balancing whatever your dosha may be. It is used as a cleansing diet for detoxification and is suitable for people with weak digestion. I added a bit to the recipe (of course) but here she is, in all her lentilly glory:

Kicharee:

1 c basmati rice (I used brown)
1/2 c mung dhal (yellow split)
6 c water
1 tbsp coconut oil (I suppose you could use olive but I've been super into coconut oil lately)
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp curry powder/paste
salt to taste
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
Half small onion
1/2 slivered almonds (omit for detoxification diet)
1/2 bunch kale chopped

Rinse rice and dhal in a heavy bottom pot, remove water after rinsing. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmer for about 45 minutes until mixture looks like a thick porridge. Stir occasionally and add more water towards the end if necessary. When it is ready, stir in kale until it turns slightly soggy and bright green.

In the last 20 minutes of cooking the dhal separately heat oil in a small pot, add mustard seeds, saute over low heat until the mustard seeds pop. Add cumin seeds, wait until it pops. Add ginger, onion, tumeric and curry. Cook until onion is transparent.

In the last 10 minutes toast almonds in the oven until slightly brown (I toasted them on 400˚ for about 5-10 minutes). Add ginger mixture to dhal. Sprinkle with cilantro and almonds. Enjoy!




I would say this serves 3-4 people. My boyfriend and I split it for dinner and both had some for lunch the next day. I hope you like it!



Love you, mean it

Emily



for this and other recipes go here. all photos were found on google images.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Leggy Leggy Leggy

I waffle back and forth about leggings. I'm the kind of girl who likes to wear my pants "dick tight," as my boyfriend lovingly puts it. But I'm not so sure about leggings? What is the protocol? Where is the line between fashion and trashin?

Don't get me wrong. I still wear em. But when I see faux-shionistas prancing about with their garanimals outfit in lacey mid-calf leggings: a little part of me dies inside because I too, am wearing leggings. Isn't there some miss manners etiquette to wearing them?? Am I totally wrong for wearing leggings still?

Anyway, I saw these little wonders and it made me happy that I haven't thrown all my leggings away. There are still some awesome leggings out there. They probably just don't have lace on the bottom...




These cuties are made by Anzevino and Florence and can be found on 80's Purple for about $75 (hence my latest DIY endeavour will probably be to recreate them).

William Anzenvio and Richard Florence, a dichotomy of "Warhol and Thoreau" (azfn), met in 2000 and stumbled into fashion together. Anzenvio resides on the east coast and Florence on the west. This opposition follows their work as they explore fashion, often working with synthetic verses organic. Their shop opened on Hollywood Blvd last December. For those of us not lucky enough to have a personal jet JUST for shopping can buy their clothing here.

Check out some of my personal picks:

Modular Hemp Dress:




Synthetic Memory Fabric Dress:



Women's Vase Jumper:



Ice Cream Dress (previously posted):



All these and more can be found at: 80's Purple.



Love you, mean it

Emily

Friday, July 17, 2009

greenery




love you, mean it.

barton

Just Like Honey....


I wouldn't really qualify myself as a make-up girl.  But I do leave the house everyday with mascara on.  And although I don't buy my mascara from Urban Decay I do buy a great many other of their products.  Why?  


Because so many of them are vegan!

Their credo is simply: "We don't do animal testing.  
How could anyone?"



Urban Decay has a section on their website strictly for vegans too.  The section includes a vegan look book and a printable vegan shopping list for their products.

Here are some of my favorite vegan items:




Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half Baked $16




24/7 Glide on Eyeliner in Graffiti (the pictured bright green) $16




Their Cream Eyeshadow in Mushroom (dark grey shimmer) $17.  This shit is bomb.  It won't flake off onto your face after you've finished everything else like some powder shadows.  My gurl Dina is keen on Midnight Rodeo (a pink shimmer). She swears up and down about it.



Lipstick in Revolution: true red $22 (pictured in middle).

TODAY I am wearing:




Eyeshadow Primer Potion $17. This stuff is also amazing. Basically you put it on pre-shadow and it's like some magical mystical glue that causes your shadow to stay bright and beautiful all day and not sneak into your lid creases!



Smoke Out Eye Pencil in Smoke Out $9 - $14.  This comes complete with blender stick at the opposite end.  Make sure to sharpen this puppy every time for primo results.



DEluxe Eyeshadow in Honey $18 (not pictured).  Honey is a bright, brassy gold color.  Great for gals with green eyes like me.


Check out the Urban Decay section next time you're in Sephora.  They love animals, just like you!


love you, mean it

Emily