retail therapy

My shrink says it's counter-intuitive to shop when I feel bad. Her argument is that I'm only punishing myself. Whatever. I can't help myself. Like my new belt?


This is me with my boyfriend Caleb. I like this outfit because it reminds me of those pictures of my mother in the 1970's. My mom's a cool lady and a snappy dresser.

Oh and yes. The cage shirt. I wore it out once with my floral dress and I didn't realize how it could turn an otherwise timid dress into something so scandalous. Men are pervs.

Fall brings the promise of cooler weather and more layers. I can't stand having so much of my body flopping out in the summertime. The best thing I ever did was stop wearing a bra. Summertime makes women coerce their bodies into impossible shapes. Summer is sticky and lazy and hazy.

retail nightmares

working retail is soul-crushing and every action managers take is political and petty. When I worked at St. Mark's Comics, one guy put his grandmother's ashes in the bag check. There I got the best pick up line from this guy who checked out with a stack of Star Trek and hentai, alternating. He said, "I wish I were Klingon." "Sir, I don't understand." "Because if I were Klingon, I'd use my mind powers to see you naked right now"

Disgusting. You don't even want to get me started on American Apparel. Actually that was a pretty decent job all considering.

So my days of handling plastic bags with urns are over. I figure the only way to be happy and make some change is to be your own boss.

THE DUKE OF NEW YORK with BODY CHAIN

Check out who's wearing a body chain? Isaac Hayes from Escape From New York

Tights.

I know exactly where I stand on the tights-as-pants debate...

It's horrible. It's fucking heinous. I can't believe I see that shit walking down the street. I just think to myself OH MY GOD I CAN SEE YOUR ASSHOLE. If you have a beautiful body, flaunt it, but for the rest of us, when we put on tights it looks we painted over our cottage cheese asses. I have a rule for visual courtesy: tights are okay to wear as pants if your top covers the cup of your ass. If I can see twat there's a problem.

Fired.

I was let go of my job at Beacon's Closet because I'm bad on the register. I'm going to look on the bright side. At least I no longer have handle pants that have menstruation all the fuck over them.

Whatever. This just further confirms that I've been spending too much of my energy on clothes and that retail is not right for me. I'm going to make up for this terrible blow to my ego by being bitter and entertaining really destructive fantasies. I handle rejection very poorly, and I have a tendency to overreact... thus the mind-splitting hangover and the puke in the shower.

In other news, I've booked my trip to Arizona where I'll be doing lots of psychotropic drugs in the dessert. Emotionally, I need a spiritual cleansing. Spirit Quest. Sweat Lodges. Sedona.

Style Profile: Eri Wakiyama

Maybe you've noticed the new banner. It's the sickest thing ever and my awesome supertalented friend Eri did it for me.


Eri not only has some serious illustration skills--she's got a great sense of style. She's one of those transported LA ladies hacking it in the Big City. Her style is a mix of LA and Tokyo street with NYC attention to detail. Girls still in school at Parsons for fashion design and she's a finalist for a CFDA Award. Here's one of her designs:


She did a neat Tshirt for Rony's Photobooth and for $30 you can own an eri design yourself.
Check out her blog for more of her sweet stuff.

UMMMMMOOOOOLA

So. The economy sucks, doesn't it? Ive no moneysbutwait I've got a Job.

I work at Beacon's Closet. Started a couple weeks ago. It's a dream to be around so many great clothes all day. It's like a cokewhore marrying into a Columbian cartel.

My shrink says I shouldn't focus on my shopping habit-- there are more pressing matters at hand--and my boyfriend replied, "she said what?"

I like to indulge in clothes cigarettes cheese knitting sometimes-beer always-sleep internet eyecandy candy-candy stuffed animals takeout moviesmoviesmovies soap operas stories bioshock shocktarts scifi shoes potion making postcards.

so basically I like pretty, sometimes frivolous distractions from my apocalyptic point of view. So if the worlds going to end, I might as well caught dead in something decent.

Vested Interest: An evolution

There's a lot of talk about how Erin Wasson's jewelry line LowLuv copies from Bliss Lau's collection, and I suppose when you see the drapey chain it's easy to think that. My contention is that the jewelry-as-armor-or-vest thing has been around for a while. Maybe it isn't so much an issue of integrity as it is the birth of a new accessory staple.


First up:

POWERHAUS
Conventional wisdom dictates that in order to brave the three-dog nights of Montreal, one should cozy up to the fire, sip piping hot cocoa, and don chunky knitwear. Not so for Powerhaus design duo Lenny Pier Ramos and Melissa Matos—they must endure the frigid climate of their native city with vests made out of delicate silver chain slung dramatically over the shoulders. Their play on menswear won’t protect you from the cold, but perhaps that is the point. These pieces are not so much “vests” as they are meditations on the vest. By reducing the vest to the bare essentials of its form and function, Ramos and Matos realized they could interpret this staple article of clothing as a staple article of jewelry.

Powerhaus is no stranger to traversing creative boundaries. Their debut collection juxtaposed whimsical pendants with minimalist draping, creating high concept conversation pieces without being chintzy. Their sophomore collection combines not only jewelry and ready-wear, but fashion and art.

Then, Electric Feather's goes for the chain vest at the Phillips de Pury Auctions and wins big. The winning bid was $650.00.


Bliss Lau adds a little leather detail. Comes up with as many permutations as they can including my favorite (one I intend to do myself):

the diamond dress

Admit it, guys. It's a trend certainly picking up steam. Also, it's really not that hard to make. I SAID IT. No wonder people are eager to put their own spin on the chain vest.

mosquito

I made this top in the middle of a mosquito nightmare. I cropped this ugly top and crocheted a ruffle along the bottom. The pin is from a top I got off a Perks and Mini shirt I bought awhile back. I'm living in my own personal mosquito hell. But pam:

1. have you tried using a bug zapper? yes.
2. what about a fogger? yes.
3. Are you sure they're mosquito bites? Yes, I'm sure.
4. Are you sure they're not bed bugs? Yes, I see them biting me.

I've got bug in the brain. Their toxins are pulsing their way closer to my brain stem. I'm getting loopy. My whole building is getting a mosquito problem. Fuck development in Brooklyn, Jesus. I actually prayed that these things will go away. I've been bitten everywhere, including my face and eyelid. I joke that I feel like Job and that God's blighting me with brooklyn locusts. Hahaha oooh the germ of truth. Let this all end peacefully, without be poisoning my apartment.