you won't lose the beat if you just keep clapping your hands

Off to Seatown for Spring Break. Have a lovely one!

P.S. Turn on your boob tubes at 6:30 tomorrow night to MTV. I'm going to be on Teen Cribs!

awakening

3 quick things for today.


1. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts- Crimson & Clover. Ever since I saw the Runaways, I've begun to have a minor obsession with Joan Jett/The Blackhearts/The Runaways. This song is so simple, but it's really catchy, too. Plus, Joan Jett was and always will be undeniably hot.

2. This photo from Jak & Jil. I don't know what I like so much about it. It isn't even a picture of the whole outfit, yet scrolling through that blog it immediately left an impression on me and I kept coming back to look at it.


3. The burgers at The Pink Pony in the Lower East Side for a pretty decent $12. They blow my mind. Next time you're in NYC, stop by Ludlow St. and Houston. It's definitely worth it.

the monkey doesn't fit in the suitcase

In the summer of 2005, a 15-year old California girl met a photographer, Mark Hunter, at a Blood Brothers concert at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. Her name was Cory Kennedy. He took some photos of her to put on his website and they exchanged phone numbers. In 2006, she started an internship at his office, and they soon stared dating. Fast forward a few years, and Mark Hunter, who now uses the moniker "Cobrasnake", and Cory Kennedy, become huge stars. Cory Kennedy has starred in several ad campaigns and has graced the cover of a number of magazines, such as Nylon and Women's Wear Daily. The Cobrasnake's website, featuring photos he takes of parties and events he attends, gets 20,000 hits a day. The Cobrasnake has gotten so famous, in fact, that he's launched a vintage clothing shop. Each item is one-of-a-kind and handpicked by Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter himself. It's mostly sweaters and t-shirts with pretty decent pricetags. The t-shirts go from anywhere from about $30-$40, and there's even men's clothing! Every item is photographed by the Cobrasnake, and some pieces are even modeled by some of his Los Angeles hipster friends, such as Peaches Geldof. I know I'd like to buy each piece in the store. Maybe even the men's stuff, too.

Cory Kennedy and the Cobrasnake photo from here, photo collage from the cobra shop website.

funny faces in the mirror of the bathroom

Oh, the world of fashion models. I'll always be fascinated by them. Maybe it's because of their beauty, or their style. Why this is, I don't think I'll ever really know, but I know there are some out there that are most definitely my all-time favorites.



Freja Beha Erichsen. This Danish beaut was discovered on the street while a modeling agent passed by her in a taxi. In 2005, she made her debut on the runways of Prada, Miu Miu, and Louis Vuitton. She's starred in hundreds of campaigns, such as Chanel, Gucci, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, among others. Freja started out with long hair and bangs, and cut it short (like the above pictures) later on in her career, and I miss her bangs. She's the main reason I got mine. It's okay, though, because she's got killer style to boot.



Lara Stone. The 26-year-old been on the scene for quite a while now, but just recently she really hit it big. With the return of curves, she's the frontrunner. The Dutch model was discovered at the age of 12 in the Paris subways. She entered the Elite Model Look contest in 1999, and although she didn't win, she impressed Elite executives anyways and soon found herself signed to the Elite agency. For years she struggled in the modeling world, and in 2006, she signed with IMG and before she knew it she was opening for the Givenchy couture show in Paris. She's been in campaigns and walked the runway for some of the biggest designers out there. Her distinct look is due to her wide gap in between her front teeth and curvaceous physique, which designers love. She also has unusually small feet for her 5'10" frame- size 7, and because of that she has said that the only thing going through her mind as she walks down the runway is "Do not fall, do not fall."



Abbey Lee Kershaw. She was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1987. Miss Abbey got her big break by winning the Girlfriend CoverGirl Model Search in 2004. She's appeared in ad campaigns for Gucci, D & G and Ck Jeans. At the Alexander McQueen Spring 2009 runway show in Paris, Abbey got people talking when she fainted just as she exited the runway. This was said to have been because of "a combination of high heels and a tight corset". Whatever the reason was, it never phased her, and she's one of the most coveted faces in fashion today.


P.S. This was quite a while ago, but a few weeks ago it was my birthday!

All model photos from weheartit.com

careless in our summer clothes

Spent a lovely day around Soho with my lovely friends, Caroline, Leila, and the Gotham Hipster (she's the one in the middle of the above picture!). We met up in Topshop and walked up a building to a sketchy roof with graffiti on it, and it was a magical place and we took lots of pictures. Next, we wandered into a few stores, such as Madewell (the Alexa Chung line isn't out yet!), A.P.C., and the Garment Room, a vintage store in a setting of graffiti by street artists. We saw the Runaways, which was definetly up to my expectations, and then we went to the new John Varvatos store that used to be CBGB's. I wish it had never closed to begin with, but they did a good job of keeping lots of the elements of the old venue. After, we went our seperate ways (Miss Gotham Hipster: via bus, of course). Although it was gray and cold outside (for spring, dangflabbit!), it was still tons of fun!

don't look now but i lost my shoe

James De La Vega. A street artist that currently lives in Harlem. He often does chalk drawings on sidewalks or murals on the sides of buildings. His chalk drawings are usually accompanied by little messages, like "Become Your Dream". Many of his drawings are of fish inside fishbowls. His art is quite simple, but Christie's has sold lots of his work for thousands of dollars. In July 2003, he was charged with vandalism for a mural he painted on a blank wall in the Bronx, and eventually sentenced to 50 hours of community service, but he's still a working artist today.

Recently, he's been hitting up the Upper East Side, and I've thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of his pieces. Below, a combination of phone shots and camera shots of a few drawings I've seen.





First photo.

lace

So last night, I crawl into bed and realize I'm not tired, and I notice a few weeks old Spring Fashion New York Magazine next to my bed. I flip through and stop at a one-page interview of the fashion director of Vogue Nippon, Anna Dello Russo. I read the interview and was thoroughly disappointed. This lady runs a high fashion magazine, yet I feel she doesn't know how to put an outfit together. She says a few things I'm completely blown away by and 100% agree with, but other times I'm left dumbfounded- and not in a good way. So, in conclusion, I still have mixed feelings about her. Here, a breakdown in case you missed it.

Things I Was Blown Away By-

• "I don't want to be cool! I want to be fashion." This is basically my motto.
  
• How many pairs (of shoes)? Hundreds? "Noooo. Thousands." She loves shoes, as every woman should unless there's something wrong with their head.
  
• "I buy mostly all my collection from the stores." She obviously has a passion for her expensive designer clothes- such a passion that she has to buy them, not borrow them, which is what I would do if I were her and had the money.
• How many times a day do you change during Fashion Week? "Two or three." Once, again, she's in love with fashion. That's good.

Things I Was Dumbfounded By (And Not In A Good Way)-

• "I remember going to school with my collection of Fendi bags...I was, I think, 12." Oh, that's nice, you were born rich, too. I mean it's not a big deal at all to have a Fendi collection when you're 12, right? No, not at all.
  
• What do you wear on the weekends? "I wear fleece from Abercrombie." She's an Aberzombie, too?! The editor of a high fashion magazine should know better. It's obnoxious, overpriced, and worst of all- generic. I guarantee you Anna Wintour would never be caught dead in this appalling label.
• You still like to dress in complete looks- but from the runway. "I always do that." Okay, so she's into the runway, as she should be, because she is a fashion director, but this leaves me wondering. Does she actually have her own sense of style? Can she actually put a look together that wasn't created by someone else? Also, if you're going to wear a complete look from the runway, at least make it worthwhile. Why spend thousands of dollars on one look that isn't even that fabulous? For example, below, when she wore a simple, basic Lanvin cocktail dress. Give 100% Anna! Why half-ass it?

Meh.

First photo, second photo.

What I'm Listening To Right Now

Daniel Victor Snaith a.k.a. Caribou or Manitoba is a true genius. He was born in 1978 in Ontario. His family is full of mathematicians, and he completed his Ph. D. in mathematics, and I believe it shows in his music. He creates very interesting, intricate electronic songs, almost like each one is as thought of about as a work of fine art. I'm not really into electronic to begin with, but this guy has me changing my mind. His new album, Swim, drops April 20th in the U.S. Also check out: She's The One, Sandy


California's Best Coast, fronted by the beautiful Bethany Cosentino, is a fresh, new band with a fresh, new sound. She says their songs are about “summer and the sun and the ocean and being a lazy creep,” with “drums, beach boys bass lines, and other amazing things”, and she couldn't have put it any better. They have a very garagey-beachy sound. So far they've only released EP's and singles that started dropping in October, so I sure hope there's a full-length album in the works soon. Also check out: Sun Was High (So Was I), When I'm With You

winners

Because K. Lagz never half-asses.



I always hold pretty high expectations for all of Chanel's shows, and Tuesday's did not disappoint, scenery-wise. They room was set to about 28 degrees farenheit, and models walked around a giant iceberg. The floor was actually covered in an inch or so of water. The iceberg was actually a combination of ice and snow ("snice"), and was sent to Paris all the way from Sweden just for the show. It weighed 265 tons and was 28 feet high. It was also carved by 25 sculptors from seperate parts of the world in six days.

And we still wonder where all the ice went...?

As for the clothes, very typical Chanel. Lots of black and white, tweed, fur (faux) etc. I was nervous to see that lots of the beginning looks featured pants made out of all fur. I didn't not know where Karl was going with those, but I'm sure it was a superior inter-galactic fashion concept that I will never understand. The rest of the show was alright, I suppose. I do know that those boots will be everywhere come next season. It was very trendy and sophisticated, as always. Karl kept true to Chanel's roots, but still updated the look and made it edgy (again). I do believe that Karl Lagerfeld is a genius and superhero, but I would like to see him think outside of the box just a little bit more than usual. But don't think that I don't still worship him anymore.




(Click to enlarge.)

First photo from The Cut. All runway photos from style.com

ripped at the seams

Thirteen years ago today, one of the most influential rappers of all time, The Notorious B.I.G., was shot and pronounced dead early in the morning.

R.I.P. Biggie.

The Evolution of Rihanna

I suppose when Rihanna started out in the biz a few years ago, she had her own distinct style. Not one that I was particularly fond of, but she had her own thing. In 2007, for the Nickelodeon Awards, she revealed a shorter, hipper hair cut. I started to like her look then, and she had her own style then, too, she just updated a bit to be more relevant, which I completely understand. In 2009, she cuts her hair shorter, a bit Agyness-Deyn-like. I absolutely loved her hair at this point, as this was the time in my life when I was infatuated with Aggy. Then, she shaves half her head, and gives herself a faux/mohawk (who even knows what the hell that's supposed to be called), and puts blond streaks in it, and from then on, she follows up with weird outfits to boot.

Let me express my opinion on this matter a little differently. I don't actually believe in the word "weird", because you can't criticize what other people are really in to. Just because whatever this said person is doing or saying is something you wouldn't do, doesn't mean it isn't right. That's what they like, and you can't stand in their way. Besides, we're all a little out of the ordinary. What is "normal" anyways? But anyways, back to Rihanna, the reason I started this post in the first place.

I'm going to call her outifts now, just this once, "weird" because I know she isn't true to her own opinion anymore. She's lost sense of her own style, and now she only wears what is in style or a modified version of what Lady Gaga would wear. She did indeed update her wardrobe a bit, just to fit in a bit better in the business, but now, she's overdone it. I liked her look in 2007, when she had her own style and still managed to look good. What ever happened to the real Rihanna?

Below- the shifting looks of Rihanna.


2005

2007

2009

2009

2009

2010

Photos from here, here, here, here, here...and The Cut!

the whole world's just a little oyster for snow white and her poison apple

Randy Jackson dons a Play by Comme Des Garcons cardigan on American Idol right now. Despite the show being full of bad karaoke (with the exception of a rare few talents *cough Lilly Scott cough*), this sole sweater alone will keep me coming back for more.

Photo courtesy of Fox

i can be a freak every day of the week

You've really outdone yourself now, haven't you J?

Photo from style.com

i just feel like turtles aren't just roaming around new york city

Shoes have always been a girl thing. It's sort of a broad statement as not every woman likes them, but often it's true. It's very common a woman has twenty pairs of shoes. With the success of Sex and the City in the late 90's and early 2000's, the women's shoe scene exploded. Suddenly every woman and their mother needed a pair of Manolos. This may still be the case in many people's minds, but for a certain group of people, the tables have turned. I think it may only be a NYC-based teenage boy thing, but I'm afraid it may be catching on.

In 2004, a Harvard college student, Mark Zuckerberg, was bored in his dorm room one night and decided to conduct on experiment. He soon created Facebook, and it became a world-wide success. One of the features of Facebook is "groups". They can be anywhere from a fan page or something people don't like at all ("I Hate Getting Texts That Only Say 'K'"). One popular group, Buying and Selling Kicks NYC, is a group that's a store as well. Members post pictures of their limited edition Nikes or other sneakers and other members bid on them in the comments, and the seller and the lucky winner meet up and exchange the shoes and the money. Sometimes, the seller will not ask for money but for an iPod or gift cards or a trade for another pair, and so on.

Rare, good-condition, Nike SB's can sell for up to hundreds of dollars, just like designer women's heels. Lots of people, male and female collect shoes, but now teenage boys don't collect. It's an addiction. They will be on NDSBG Marketplace (another Facebook group) or Buying and Selling Kicks NYC, 24/7, even during school hours, uploading, commenting, buying. They'll spend their month's allowance on a pair of sneakers.

Somewhere, somehow, shoes became a guy thing, too.

First photo from here, second photo from planetdunks.com.