Tuesday February 9 2010
my girl pammy and i made this playlist of 90s indie stuff for fun. i had been listening to a bunch of best coast, dum dum girls and vivian girls and found myself re-listening to some of the girls i grew up on (give or take a little elastica and pj harvey!). i'm not in any way suggesting that those artists have any direct correlation or derive any inspiration from the ones we comped, i just felt some of the same spirit there and wanted to share some gems that are likely long forgotten.
you can download it here
Monday February 8 2010
i did a bit of reporting for the fantastic online shop la garçonne last week. check it out here! now excuse me while i run out and buy something in green! (no seriously. i really want the proenza shoes that look like sea snakes)
Saturday February 6 2010
captivating
spied this playing in a loop on a tv screen at the MoMA yesterday. the pioneering modern dancer loïe fuller performing the serpentine dance, filmed by the lumière brothers at the end of the 19th century and colored by hand, frame by frame.
Thursday February 4 2010
lena's tumblr
BOYS ... DO YOU EVER FIND THE TIME
classic looks on some classic men
Wednesday February 3 2010
THE MANIPULATOR
cian clued me in to the former existence of this large format magazine. so i did what any bad friend would do and managed to obtain a copy before he did. the manipulator is set to relaunch later this year, and i am curious about what it is going to look like. i think that part of the charm of the old magazine, besides the scale and design, are the ad campaigns. the pet shop boys pictured above, for instance. what a beautiful and perfect ad. or naomi in ozbek. or a 6 page guess campaign starring, inexplicably, tom skerritt. however i am not sure that i need to see the same 2010 ad campaigns that appear in, say, vogue, turning up on 2 and a half foot by 3 and half foot sheets of paper. minor concerns i guess. there are currently 11 issues up for bid on eBay, GO!
Monday February 1 2010
POOF
gotta love an expensive upskirt. left, by acne, right, pic by mr. newton. making those lv shoes look good.
Friday January 29 2010
first look at acne pre fall 2010 ...
via vogue.com. so where's the rest of the pictures, yo??
Thursday January 28 2010
i can still remember the first time i ever heard young marble giants. my boyfriend had made me a mix and i was listening to it as i was falling asleep. i sat straight up in bed. the song that played was called 'eating noddemix'. the most minimal melodic pop, like something i had no idea i was looking for, a new world.
pic via discogs
after years of having the colossal youth lp, i recently picked up the 'final day' 7". the cover is beautiful and simple, and fits another piece into their mystery. it reads:
Colossal statue of a youth c. 590 B.C. marble 3.05 m.
Pit east of Temple of Poseidon, Sounion
Athens, National Museum
Young marble giants greeted the sailor from Cape Sounion as he entered the home stretch to Athens. Two basic intuitions of Greek art - tensed vitality and geometric structuring - are as yet disunited: the sculptor partly carves, partly maps an abstract concept of human form on to the rectangular block.
Richter, Kouroi figs. 33- 9.
and that's just part of the beauty of being able to have these things in these formats.
Wednesday January 27 2010
J.D.'S HOMOPUNK HITPARADE
Pleasure Dome presents this special contribution to this years Super 8 festival!
Films are being projected from their original prints so this really is a treat from the punk pioneers themselves!
This is a rare chance to catch the early films of Toronto’s original queer punk provocateurs: the J.Ds crew. From the mid eighties to early nineties these films acted as an extension of the DIY punk and zine printing being made by the Toronto youth. Like the zines themselves, their films helped reclaim the images of gay culture that were often being appropriated by punk culture — as well as addressing the homoerotic nature of the punk scene in its relentless suppression. Bratty, and energetic — these films showcase the beginning of the now infamous and legendary punk icons and their contribution to the conception of queer subculture. This subculture further challenged the segregation existing within the gay community itself. In addition to the J.D’s crew, long time Super 8 filmmaker John Porter will showcase his rarely screened Fifth Column at The Funnel which features an obscure sound recording of the group playing early unrecorded material at the east-end Super 8 hangout. Other works include Slam, I know what it's like to be dead, Boy/Girl by Bruce LaBruce, Pepper and Bruce's Home Movies by BlaB and Pepper, and Sexbombs and Young Boys in the Spring by Candy Von Pauker — creator of the notorious Dr. Smith zine, plus an entirely new movie by J.D’s co-creator G.B Jones herself — Outtakes is her first film since completing her epic The Lollipop Generation in 2008.
Make Movies, Everybody!
Showing Friday January 29 @ 201 Niagara St, 11pm
Admission is 5 bux
Tuesday January 26 2010
african industrial?
the two bracelets on the right are actually constructed out of elephant tail hair! don't they look like rubber or leather? apparently they are for luck. traditionally the metal bits would also be made of hair, but the gold and silver wire just takes them into a different realm. these would look pretty cool all piled together i think. there is something that is familiar and unfamiliar about them, at the same time.
pics via eBay
Monday January 25 2010
take a listen to holy ghost! working on some vocals they had recorded, as sung by caroline from chairlift. THEY ARE FREAKING GORGEOUS!!! <3 x a lot
also they are saying their lp is done. looking forward to hearing it!
Sunday January 24 2010
SUEDE
in the few runway vids i've watched recently, 90s music has been cropping up in soundtracks. like nirvana and stuff like that. from the same era, how about something with a little sex and grandeur?
seems like this aspect of the 90s has been overshadowed by things like grunge. obviously suede were not as well known to the general populace, so their aesthetic may be a bit harder to pin down.
single design for so young, so classic.
Saturday January 23 2010
beyond cool
i had saved the above pic of stefano pilati and melanie ward (right? pretty sure it's her) some time last spring or summer and vowed to post it at a time that made sense, like when it was cold. to me that image embodies the best kind of understated, strongly individual personal styling. i love it. yesterday i checked out the ysl fall 2010 menswear shows and noticed that their looks have carried over to the runway! note the jumpsuit/ boxy jacket/ white t combo, palette, fastenings, layering and looseness. i tend to think critics never like men's ysl collections but i am in love with this stuff. seems to stride a difficult line between ease and eccentricity. guy in the shearling is kinda the male jacquelin jablonsky, no?
stefano pilati and melanie ward by hanneli, runway pics from gq.com
ps i am djing in the gladstone ballroom tonight with my girls, pam and diana, as part of the come up to my room festivities! stop in!
Friday January 22 2010
awesome!! the mix i recorded for aritzia late last year has been in rotation at their stores for a little bit now, and has just been made available for stream and download via their website! hope you like it :)
also i'm playin in the drake lounge tonite, and pammm has her lipstick cherry party in the underground with jacques l. dorsey.
Thursday January 21 2010
coming soon: trash diamonds, the sequel.
sterling silver safety pin earring with cast silver gem.
excuse the lame photo, it's kinda hard to take pics of the side of your own head! and yes, i have those weird connect-y earlobes. on the other side i usually wear a single trash diamond stud, though wearing the safety pin makes me wish i had multiple piercings or something. these should be available late february.
so safety pin jewelry extends beyond punk, tom binns and versace. here are two 14k gold safety pins by cartier (top) and tiffany (bottom) that i found on eBay and are evidently from the 1920s to the 1950s. i wonder what they were used for - as fastenings? hat pins? or merely decorative? i'm surprised at the use of 14kt gold (as i wouldn't think it would stand up to repeated bending), though that wire gauge looks pretty serious!
Tuesday January 19 2010
THE ART OF VINTAGE LEATHER JACKETS
i came across this fascinating blog whilst looking into the history of leather daddies today. actually it's a bit more boring than that. i guess i have a tendency to think in overreaching patterns. so naturally i wonder, when something like leather and studs becomes a big fashion trend again, well why does that happen? i think about how design relates to people's lives, what impressions clothing conveys, what people want to convey when they wear certain things. i'm curious about the point at which things exit subculture or utility and enter the mainstream and larger scale social mimicry. i'm sure none of this matters to anyone (especially the people who create and wear these trends, it's probably more generally reactive), but my mind drifts in these directions. i think about "rock style" and its cliches, the pursuit of "cool", and trace it back to outlaws and rebels, punk, bikers, adoption of intimidating decoration like studs, spikes and chainmail (armour), utilitarianism, thrifting, leather daddies, illicit sex in war times (see the night porter and tom of finland movie) ... etc etc etc. it goes on. i bet valerie steele has a book on the matter that i can pick up.
anyway, this blog belongs to a toronto gent who happens to have one of the biggest collections of vintage leathers?! some great anecdotes re: leather working, design details, history and sociology, toronto garment making history, toronto vintage and a fantastic image archive. i really have to sit down and read it all, but i do have to say his take on the popularity of americana and the economic downturn was interesting.
all pics via the art of vintage leather jackets blog. the back of the navy and cream one depicts daffy duck bowling a strike and is festooned with studs. amazing.
Monday January 18 2010
punk, constantly being recontextualized, restyled and reused. here is a fashion spread from 1986, day glo and graphic.
the face magazine, february 1986
photography nick knight, styling simon foxton
text by jon savage. neville brody was art director at the time.
Sunday January 17 2010
THE PASTELS
oO HAI ... CUTE!
i have never seen a pastels video before, and i am totally getting why pam wanted to throw aggi off the bridge. that look just doesn't ever get tired does it?
working on a couple indie pop mixes of different flavors at the moment ... and it's all taking me back. look out for the finished results in february and march!! also i am djing this tuesday jan 19 at david phillips' HEARTACHE night (at the beaver), with danny b ... check it out
![](http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs121.snc3/16831_10150178260930001_663995000_10702402_6253049_n.jpg")
Saturday January 16 2010
little by little ... more and more new things from hercules and love affair
listen to samples of mixes from what i am guessing is the forthcoming single on new imprint mr. intl, previously only available mixed into the sidetracked release
also i don't live anywhere near LA but .... great fucking flyer!!!!!
had to be posted. house of house at a club called rhonda in LA tonite
Friday January 15 2010
BLACK TAMBOURINE
i had a couple issues of chickfactor back in the zine days of yore. i recall them talking a lot about various twee and indie pop band members and crushes and stuff. black tambourine was one of those bands, and "throw aggi off the bridge" was one of those songs. i didn't know the song till much later, but when i hear it, it makes me think of chickfactor.
what was it i saw in new york?
i'm not the same no more
when i get back to london from outer space
will it fall into place?
also be sure to check out shawn belschwender's hilariously bitchy comics on the alt stars of the day ("pavement boy"!)
you're in my magazine
are you talking to me?
Thursday January 14 2010
BEAT HAPPENING
like actual music videos! (... well, super lo fi ones but you know what i mean)
too good.
Wednesday January 13 2010
this seems to be a fun game for bloggers to play every season - spot the balenciaga influence? (though i am certainly not passing any judgment on originality!)
balenciaga pre fall 2010 - gerhard richter's abstract work? (just a thought)
from left, thing i kept from the MoMA retrospective in 2002 picturing abstraktes bild, 1992, balenciaga pre fall 2010 (via style.com), eis II, 2003 (via artnet)
Tuesday January 12 2010
live and direct from sweden! acne ss 10 shoe preview!! (actually posted at carolinesmode way back in sept but i haven't seen a bunch of these!!!)
also if you're a size 8, some amazing vintage awkward charles jourdan shoes at eBay
cloggy and sporty, here and here
Sunday January 10 2010
indelible fashion moments and my impressionable youth
the face magazine, august 1992
photography corinne day, styling melanie ward
pretty sure that this spread is missing a page because i cut out a really great shot for a school project
Friday January 8 2010
who wore it better?! stella mccartney gown on left, dj harvey, and on right, karmen p
stella mccartney of course being sir paul mccartney's daughter and establishing herself as a fab fashion designer in her own right throughout the naughties, and dj harvey being one of the most influential underground djs, with his sarcastic disco mix being one of the most studied of the past decade.
Thursday January 7 2010
my first dj gig of 2010!! come out and make it a good one!
w/ the ladies, pam + diana
kate lanphear/ jak & jil fan art poster by diana mcnally
Wednesday January 6 2010
andy b and crew got a new blog!
herc & love affair blog: IN LOVE WITH HERCULES
<3 <3 <3
Tuesday January 5 2010
addendum to that apparent moschino belt trend: the ones that say something other than moschino
way cuter! can't remember where i got the pic, sorry!
Monday January 4 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! HAPPY NEW DECADE!
new news coming soon! xo
Monday December 28 2009
CAT LADY!!!!
70s panther scarf top by estevez at posh vintage, spring 2010 kitty pants by miu miu (via style.com)
i was looking at the miu miu collection thinking, "geez some of these colors and repeat nudie and kitty patterns are reminding me an awful lot of john wesley's paintings". i had bought the ps1 book that they had released to coincide with a retropective of his work in 2000 at mirvish books. i had never heard of him or seen his work previous to that point (and i must say, i miss that store - you can pick up a lot during those curious browsing trips!) but was super attracted to the flat, odd and often humorous paintings.
lo and behold, i just found out that john wesley actually provided the prints for that collection! and that fondazione prada presented an exhibition of his work this past year! and there's a book!
above, miu miu spring 2010 (via style.com), and john wesley, dream of frogs, 1965 (via the daily beast)
above clockwise, two french girls eating a flower, 1992, hungarian dog wrestler, 1974, go down go down you little red rising sun, 1971, slave, 1971, turkey, 1965, dogs in retreat, 1988 (also look up plague, one my faves but i don't have a good pic of it)
"When post-global-warming anthropologists begin paddling through the streets of Manhattan in search of visible evidence that this republic was... the cosmopolitan democracy that it purported to be," writes Dave Hickey of this work, "one can only hope that the earnest scientists will stumble across a trove of Wesley's paintings in some tenth-floor loft. If they do, they will almost immediately begin to think better of us. They will think, Hey! These weren't such bad dudes! How could they be? They were cool, generous, and urbane; they encouraged high spirits and valued sex enough to make it elegant and funny."
Thursday December 24 2009
nice!!
so simple, with a great contrast between a giant, practical tread and a skinny high heel. good design, thumbs up!
CAMILLA SKOVGAARD at LUISA VIA ROMA
Tuesday December 22 2009
TONITE!!
Sunday December 20 2009
MICHAEL CLARK
beautiful man
beautiful movements
i've had the great fortune of seeing the entirety of 'hail the new puritan' by charles atlas, starring michael clark and leigh bowery, with music by the fall and glenn branca. for the most part this film only gets screened at art shows and film fests. someone has put several portions of the film of youtube, which i am very happy about. (07/01/10 - vids removed from youtube!) i've been told that this was shown on public access tv in the early 80s. it is wonderful and strange and funny, and the work of bowery, clark and atlas has been profoundly affecting. i can't help but be amused when i think of today's pop stars touting themselves as "avant garde" and calling themselves "artists" ... and i see this, made privately and un-commercially almost 30 years ago. it's a beautiful thing.
Friday December 18 2009
GOOD NEWS FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO EAT!
guu izakaya from vancouver has opened a location in toronto and they brought 2 of their main chefs with them!!! favorable review HERE, and it is located at 398 church st, south of carlton. mmmmmm!!!!!
Thursday December 17 2009
HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR ... new stuff, live
Thursday December 17 2009
aaaah aaah acneeeee
gotta love their sleek and contemporary take on clothing and shoes matched with outsized and outrageous jewelry, not to mention price points that go from steal to splurge
michael zobel for acne obsidian, diamond, silver and gold ring via browns (£3425) + acne resin and silver plated brass ring via acne online ($60)
Wednesday December 16 2009
oh wowowowow
sunray cuff by maniamania, image via zimmermann
and lots of pics of upcoming (bananas, huge, metal and crystal) pieces at anywho ... wish the jewelry pics were more detailed cuz the stuff looks amazing!!
Wednesday December 16 2009
looks like margiela (aka DIESEL) has reissued the iconic tabi boot ... with one of those frickin white stitches at the back now! hate to say it but ... LAME!
image via la garconne
Sunday December 13 2009
sunrise house (about a minute and a half in)
tiago's rearranged reissue of the vision - shardé now available via tu rong at piccadilly (uk) and turntable lab (na). apparently you can jam this one at either 33 (for uber downtempo balearic vibes) or 45 (for something closer to what the orig was)
Friday December 11 2009
bad taste?
nathalie du pasquier, memphis design for bodum (they're napkin holders! but i think they'd make really nice cuffs!)
and memphis' predecessor, studio alchimia (i have no idea what these are)
if memphis isn't jogging any images in your mind, google image "sottsass, carlton" and surely you will remember
liberate design: memphis + alchimia
Wednesday December 9 2009
pretty sweet.
turn on, tune in, drop out
acid washed - general motors, detroit, america (2009) via record makers
also, via jerfy
phillip glass - geometry of circles, sesame street (1979)
Tuesday December 8 2009
i'm dropping off more of some of the sold out jewelry items to delphic later today - cocktail rings, silver tabs (only for the holidays, not doing these again) and hopefully silver jewel stud earrings next week. get em now i didn't make that many. also in the new year look for additions to the trash diamonds range, fun collabos with friends and new new shit altogether!!
also this week: djing with my girls at the ossington on friday for GIRLS' NIGHT OUT and djing with my boys at the boat on saturday for BANG THE PARTY!! come by say hey!
Friday December 4 2009
we've heard alot about tina chow, the beauty and style icon yadda yadda ... but geez, what about her jewelry design?! it was stunning!
silver + crystal
if you have several hundred to spare, here is the listing, via eBay
Wednesday December 2 2009
super clever and sinister take on the classic spoon ring - oh come on! you know the SPOON RING
knuckle cutlery by jesse harris
altho i guess it IS a butter knife ... so maybe not that sinister
Monday November 30 2009
my mother took me to holt renfrew all through my childhood and adolescence. i seem to recall there being one in fairview mall, so that gives you an indication of how long ago that was.
i remember seeing robert clergerie shoes in the 90s. their awkward soles were reminding me of some things i've seen repeated many times since ... recently at acne, opening ceremony etc. i looked em up on ebay and found they are still producing shoes that look exactly as they did in the 90s?!
for the most part clergerie shoes are hellz ugly, striding that fine line where eccentric granny or late 80s/ early 90s art dealer meets straight up orthopedic. it's a questionable look, for sure, but i am totally down for eccentric granny and late 80s/ early 90s gallerist. i suppose a proper image is difficult to conjure if you're not old like me - but think pared down avant romanticism, callaghan, complice, romeo gigli, and possibly even giorgio armani (who i was mostly dismissive of as boring working woman gear whilst growing up, however the subtleties of what he does are stamping a strong and heretofore untapped aesthetic in my mind. do people even care about collecting armani!??).
anyway, here are a really nice pair of robert clergerie brown suede clogs. picture with some sort of tactile (i'd say washed silk or wool jersey), tight maxi dress and the large silver necklace in the post below:
Thursday November 26 2009
some really gorgeous sculpture and jewelry at maryam nassir zadeh
sculpture no.8 by phillip lowe
geometric silver necklace by elena estaun sanchez
despite the amount of merchandise i am constantly faced with, i don't find myself WANTING very much of it. it was different with this store - i wanted the stuff on the walls, the stuff on the floors, the stuff on the tables ... seriously nice shop.
Tuesday November 24 2009
i don't really ever want to profile "women of style", but leonor scherrer is SCOR-CHINNNNGGGGG
in maxi-givenchy, a head wrap ... and a smile (via style). like a billion times more interesting than another 20 yr old in a mini skirt and studs.
more pics of the super hotness at tfs
Thursday November 19 2009
color ways
saved this 80s metal mesh versace auction from eBay a few years ago. loooove this color combo. perfect navy and olive.
guessing it is from around this era. great combinations of color and textures.
see also in a flatter manner, this mugler ad (from lucas ossendrijver's office pics in the selby).
