The New Wave

Nylon TV

2011-06-18T19:11:00.001-07:00

Styled this video for Nylon TV. If the clothes credits are not on there yet, they will be soon (they forgot to put them on).

Mexico

2011-03-23T09:40:00.001-07:00

Wow. Mexico was beautiful, you guys. Really, really special. Hard to really communicate without images, so I made a little movie. Enjoy!

MEXICO

2011-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

It has been a very long winter here in NYC and as we roll into March, I am really getting sick of my winter uniform. THANKFULLY my friend Ana and I have booked a trip to Mexico, somewhere I have never been (besides an afternoon in Baja) to escape the cold and sit on a beach. In less than a week we will be heading off for Quintana Roo and exploring the ancient ruins and cenotes. I am so excited that I started packing a week early (something I never do, much to my mom's dismay) and going through all my summer clothes. I was envisioning bright prints in geometric and ethnic patterns to match the landscape. I put together a little mood board representing what I would want to bring if money was no object.

Mexico Moodboard by nouvell_vague featuring chain jewelry

Winter wonderland

2011-01-29T14:11:00.001-08:00

The winter here has been pretty brutal. Snowiest January on record, I'm living in my Hunter boots. I've been staying in a lot and trying to be productive.

Believe it or not, these last three photos were taken on my HTC G2 with the Retro camera app, a really brilliant program.

Lady Jane Lingerie Collection 2

2011-01-29T11:43:00.000-08:00

I'm working on some patterns for my 2nd "collection" for Lady Jane Lingerie (I suppose it can't really be called a collection as it's only two pieces but whatever). I'm finally making a bra. Fitting bras is really challenging and to make it authentically vintage means sacrificing some of the advances in fit that have been developed over the past 70+ years. But, hopefully they will look great anyway. Here are some initial sketches. All designs were adapted from vintage 30's and 40's patterns.

Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes

2010-12-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

I was in London recently and got to see an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum about Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes. Admittedly, I did not know much about him and mostly only knew about the Ballet Russes as an inspiration for Yves Saint Laurent's groundbreaking 1976 collection. This was a truly fascinating exhibition that explored the Ballet Russes influence on modern art, fashion, music, and culture. The costumes, reflecting the surrealist and art nouveau movements that were happening at the time, were the highlight for me, as well as the fashion illustrations by George Barbier.

Pieces from YSL's collection

2010-11-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot to post this shoot that I did with Katie Coleslaw for her and Georgina Bacchus's magazine Nothing Bad this summer. We did the shoot in Coney Island and the designers are all local and mostly Brooklyn-based.

I turned 30

2010-11-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

I know this blog is boringsville lately... winter is aiming to be long so hopefully shall pick up a bit.

I turned 30 last weekend. I was so scared of it for some reason and not looking forward to it, but then it happened and I was into it... the majority of my friends have reached this milestone already and say that life is so much better in your 30's... so I'm looking forward to what this shall bring.

Fashion week Sept. 2010

2010-09-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

I had a whirlwind week for S/S '11 Fashion week and clocked in somewhere around 15 presentations. Lots of stuff to look forward to this spring. Here are some of my favs of stuff that I actually saw in person.

Samantha Pleet (obvs)

Jonathan Simkhai (up and comer, totally different from last season, one to watch for sure)

Timo Weiland, loving the print

Katie Gallagher (really want her to get big this season! Has got to be more commercial though)

Rachel Antonoff, want this whole collection!!

Vintage re-selling

2010-08-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

I have mixed feelings about vintage re-selling. In one sense, it is something I do myself, scouring flea markets and thrift stores for good finds to sell on my Etsy site.

But then, you get people who buy stuff from your Etsy, complain about shipping price, and then turn around and sell it for more on Ebay?

I am always so happy when I make a vintage sale because I expect it to go to someone that is gong to love and cherish that item. It kind of makes my heart sink to see this happen.

My original item:

It's new ebay listing:

How does everyone else feel about this?

Current Style Inspiration: Fried Green Tomatoes

2010-07-13T16:34:00.001-07:00

Totally into that hole rural down south 30's floral summer dress look right now. I know this movie was totally cheeseball chick flick (though they TOTALLY downplayed the lesbian angle, which was very forthright in the book), but stylistically it was total eye candy.

Swimsuits

2010-07-01T12:10:00.001-07:00

A shoot I styled is up on Refinery 29! Photography by James Ryang and art direction by Keren Richter.

Bling!

2010-06-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

I'm styling another shoot (last one will be up shortly), this time for my friends Katie and Georgina's web magazine Nothing Bad, and I've been pulling some great local designers for it. I just wanted to share a couple of the great local jewelry designers that I've discovered and am using in the shoot:

Kiel Mead

I am dying over Kiel Meade and his awesome hand-cast jewelry. I mean, a retainer necklace, are you kidding me? Definitely on my must-own list. Also, he's a babe. Just saying.

All for the Mountain

One look at these guys website and I KNEW I had to pull their jewelry. Its super raw and modern and a little bit masculine. Go visit just for their illustrations, they are killer.

American High Style

2010-06-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

I recently visited the Brooklyn Museum for some vintage eye candy. My favs? The Schiaparelli stuff and the unreal Steven Arpad shoes, totally surreal! Seeing as how these are from the 30's I would call Alexander McQueens Spring 2010 shoes pretty tame.

I don't have time to type up much stuff so I'll just post some photos. Go visit for yourself if you're in the area, its on through the summer.

Charles James Butterfly Dress

Charles James 4 leaf clover dress

Schiaparelli ensemble

Steven Arpad shoes

more Steven Arpad

Scaasi

Much more on my Flickr

New listings at Etsy!

2010-05-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

Finally got a chance to update my Etsy site with some recent vintage finds. More handmade stuff coming soon when I get the time... but for now we've got some lovely summer goodies. Particularly excited about the Renee Marciel dress and the vintage 50's swimsuit!

Bi-coastal

2010-05-22T11:39:00.001-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time back and forth between California and New York lately, more than I have in the past 8 years really... was there in September, then March, and will be going back again in June for a wedding. I love NYC but lately Cali has been making me nostalgic for my youth which seemed infinitely less complicated. I'm totally feeling this bi-coastal necklace by Maya Brenner.

Japan!

2010-05-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, a whole month without a post... things have been kinda busy in my world. The Ivana Helsinki/Love Contemporary store closed, sadly, because they were not able to hammer down the terms of their lease. They are hoping to reopen, but in the mean time I am going to help them with social networking stuff and magazine coordination. I also started working at Greenpoint accessories store Old Hollywood, which is a really rad place (more on that for another post), and am working part time at a non-profit org. on Wall Street. Between all those things, I managed to squeeze in a trip to Japan, where I have been wanting to go pretty much for as long as I can remember.

The discussion about Japan started because my friend Heather was about to get a new job, and I had just lost my hours at IH/LC, and I had received an email alert in my inbox about round trip tickets to Tokyo from NYC for $450, an unbelievably low fare. I forwarded it to Heather with a casual remark along the lines of "if only you got your new job, we should go, but we'd have to go like next week." Heather took me seriously, but unfortunately, she didn't find out about the new job till about a week and a half later, at which point, the cheap tickets were gone... but were still not outrageously expensive, so when she finally did find out that she got the job, we restarted the conversation. Before we knew it, Monday afternoon we purchased the tickets and Friday morning we were on a plane! It was the most spur of the moment, spontaneous trip that either of us had ever taken, but we both decided that it was the best impulse buy we ever made.

I am fortunate to have family in Tokyo, my cousin and his wife live there with their two kids Kio and Aki, who are ridiculously cute, and they had a big, centrally located apartment in a neighborhood called Yotsuya with a guest bedroom and bath. Better than a hotel, for sure! We bought Japan Rail Passes which give you free rides on all JR trains for a week, so we decided to take a couple days to explore Kyoto and Nara as well.

A long post about what we did will probably never get finished, so I'll say this about Japan...

-People there are incredibly friendly, courteous, and nice. Americans might see this as being a bit phony, but honestly, I have to believe that most of them act this way because that is how they genuinely are. When on trains everyone would ask us where we were from and how we liked Japan. When we were looking at our maps and trying to figure out where we were, often times people would come over to us and ask if we needed any help, and more often than not would walk us to our destination. When I misplaced my camera while getting off a train from Nara to Kyoto, everyone on the car got up out of their seat to help me look for it, and the train security guard ran down the platform to give it to me as someone had found it and turned it in. Everywhere is very safe, bikes are unlocked, there is very very little crime. We were never sexually harassed or made to feel at risk. Apart from the language barrier, I felt really comfortable there.

-Getting by without Japanese was ok. While its true that it can be difficult to travel without knowing Japanese, in the main tourist cities (i.e. where we went), it was not a huge problem. Most people spoke a little English, and its amazing how far hand motions and a Japanese phrasebook will take you. We had very little misunderstandings and were able to figure things out. The most difficult thing was trying to find vegetarian food for Heather, and often times she ended up just getting udon soup with tofu. I usually did not know what the hell I was ordering and would just point at something on the menu and hope for the best! Usually everything I got was delicious.

-Japan is weird! The weirdest thing we did was we went to a neighborhood called Akihabara and went to a maid cafe... Akihabara is the "anime" neighborhood and guys there are really into girls who dress as maids. You come into the cafe and they say "welcome home master!" and do all sorts of weird stuff. You can read about them here. There was lots of other things that we perceived as weird, such as the toilets which were either super high tech with buttons and heated toilet seats and bidets and music to cover the sound of you doing your business, or they were "japanese style" holes in the ground which were essentially female urinals. Weird!

Anyways here's a little movie I took of our trip, it sums everything up pretty well. Enjoy!

Heather and Rachel in Japan! from Rachel Hill on Vimeo.

Going once, going twice, SOLD!

2010-03-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

By a stroke of luck, I was browsing some blogs Tuesday night and found out about an auction being held the following day of items from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection. The Brooklyn Museum had decided last year to integrate their collection into the Costume Collection at the Met, and thus items that were perceived as duplicates or not valuable to the collection were set to be auctioned. I was totally unaware that the Brooklyn Museum even had a costume collection! According to the NY Times, the collection was considered one of the best in the world, but had not been on view in more than a decade, and the cost of maintaining the collection had become too great.

I had the afternoon free (well, there were probably better things I could have been doing) so decided to go check it out, especially as there were some absolutely stunning items that I just wanted to look at and be lucky enough to see in person.

Sadly because I am lazy I did not get there in time for the preview, wherein I could have tried on some of these amazing vintage dresses. Fortunately the company running the auction, August Auctions, had a catalog online of many of the items very well photographed.

I got there just as the auctions were getting underway and got my paddle (my first real live auction! Much more exhilarating than ebay!) and took a seat. The audience was filled with many professional vintage dealers as well as other enthousiasts like Lyn Yaeger. The first hour or so was vintage textiles, many of which were hundreds of years old... very very beautiful items, but not really something I was interested in for myself. You would not believe how much money some of these things went for! A confederate flag went for something like $10,000. As soon as I heard some of these figures people were bidding I knew I was in a little over my head, but I hoped maybe I would get lucky somewhere down the line once they started on the clothing, especially on the non-designer stuff.

I came close, a couple of times. I nearly won this beautiful 30's beaded dress for $175, but then someone went to $200 and I was out. It sold for $200.

I'm most bummed about the two following auctions... one was a lot that I did not bid on which was a lot of 4 vintage kimonos that went for $100... I almost bid but the gavel came down too fast. Bargain! The other one was a lot that I did bid on and lost, for two Zandra Rhodes dresses. Zandra Rhodes was a famous British designer in the 70's and her stuff, as I understand it, is very hard to find. I went up to $200 but was outbid, and I think they went for $250. In retrospect, I only wanted the black one for myself, and probably could have sold the blue one for the price of these two combined. But that's the thing with the live auction, its all over in the blink of an eye and there's no time to hesitate. I've never been much of a gambler so as soon as stuff got over $200 I started to shy away.

Overall, there was a bargain here and there (a 60's Pierre Cardin pantsuit went for $90), but most everything else went for obscene, obscene amounts of money. Still it was tons of fun and a great way to see some amazing historical pieces. I highly recommend checking out the auction galleries from the Augusta site. There's also a few, not that great photos on my Flickr.

Workin' for the weekend

2010-03-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

My time is up at Erin Fetherston and after a week in California I now have a new job at the Ivana Helsinki/Love Contemporary concept shop. What started out as a pop-up has now become a permanent location. The space functions as a retail fashion store for Finnish designer Paola Sahonen, a sex toy shop, and an event space... all brought together by the new magazine Love Contemporary for which Paola is the creative director. I'm so excited to work there! The clothes are great and are all made in Finland.

Like Erin, for every collection Paola does a video which encapsulates the story of the collection. I am loving this video for the Spring/Summer collection. Also, I want that pouffy polka dot dress. And the romper.

I'm not dead

2010-02-15T19:29:00.001-08:00

It has been a while, hasn't it? There's so much I want to post but I've been extremely busy working and have gone out of town and we had a death in the family and lots of other stuff... so no time to write. I've been working w/Erin Fetherston for the past couple months and its been a really great learning experience, albeit long hours and lots of stress. We had our show last night, and, if I do say so myself, the design team accomplished a thing of beauty. If this was my wardrobe for the next 5 years I think I could die happy (although they didn't put a lot of my favorite pieces in the show).

I also started another blog to vent frustration that I am running with my friend Heather, but even that one has been suffering due to lack of time. When winter is over hopefully I will come back to life.

Top 10 Records that Changed My Life, Part 1

2010-01-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, my little blog, you are 1 today.

If I had been writing this blog 10 years ago, it would most definitely be a music blog. Of course, something of that nature didn't really exist yet. We had livejournal but the whole RSS thing hadn't really taken off. Anyways, most people here (and many of my IRL friends included) don't realize this but I was a very web 1.0 person and actually had a very well trafficked music site that I ran between 97-99 in the Bay Area. Music was, and still is, a huge part of my life, but something happened in the last 4-5 years or so where I stopped being all that interested in new stuff coming out. I used to spend all my expendable cash on music, and now its rare that I'll buy a new release and only go properly record shopping once or twice a year, and usually in the used section. Of course, I think its natural to connect to music so much when you are young, when you are constantly hearing new things and connecting to a subculture in a meaningful way, and that experience decreases in importance as you get older (and realize that all those bands you loved ripped off older, better bands from years prior). It does get to a point where you've heard it all before, which is how I've found myself primarily interested in really, really old rock and roll records these days. Perhaps the same will happen with fashion one day, where I've really seen it all before, but at the moment it still inspires me and that's why I'm always writing about it.

That said, I still listen to music all the time and find myself going back to those records that inspired me or changed me somehow in my youth. Given that I have (according to my Itunes) 31 full days worth of music (that's 24 hours a day), not counting all my vinyl, I am constantly rediscovering things. I was recently challeged by a friend, to commemorate the end of the decade, to pick the 10 records that changed my life. These are not, by any means, my favorite records, but I think they represent interesting landmarks in the progression of my music tastes, as well as the path I have taken through life. Its an interesting way to sum up your life history, really.

1. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People

I do believe this is the first "alternative" record I ever purchased (on CD). Growing up where I did, music on Top 40 radio in the late 80's and early 90's was mostly R&B and Hip-Hop... you know, Boyz II Men and the like. I did, admittedly, love that stuff. Not denying. Can't say Boyz II Men, TLC, or En Vogue changed my life though. Fortunately, there was the one kid in 5th grade who had the cool older sister who turned him on to stuff like Nirvana and R.E.M. and he, in turn, got the whole class into it. While I appreciated Nirvana, it was R.E.M. that did it for me, this record in particular. While in retrospect this album is really ballad heavy and not the best R.E.M. album ever, I think the pre-teen in me identified with the subtle themes of alientation. I mean, come on, Everybody Hurts? Me too, Michael Stipe, me too. BTW, I was totally NOT aware that Michael Stipe was gay at this point and was convinced we were gonna get married. This was also before he shaved his head and got all anorexic looking, so give me a break.

2. AFI - Answer That and Stay Fashionable

I know, I know, AFI... they suck right? Well, honestly, yeah, they do now, but back when they were a hardcore band and I was 14 and a kinda weird kid stuck in a preppy school full of strangers that hated me, AFI was the BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME EVER. Back in about '95 I struck up a friendship with an 8th grader named Nathan (still a friend of mine, he's getting married this year, HI NATHAN) who was in my carpool. Noting my interest in "alternative music" (by this time, Kurt Cobain had died, grunge was all the rage, everyone wanted to go to Seattle and no ones jeans fit properly), Nathan started making me tapes of bands that he liked, local bands that he was going to see at this place Gilman street that I'd heard so much about but was not allowed to go to. First tape he made me was AFI's Answer That and Stay Fashionable backed with NOFX's Punk in Drublic (still one of the greatest album titles of all time). More tapes followed, and soon enough I was with Nathan at my first Gilman show featuring AFI and Screw 32. Soon enough I had sold most of my "mainstream" rock records which included pretty much all the grunge stuff and became very concerned with this so-called phenomenon of selling out (kinda wish I hadn't sold all those records... eventually had to buy back my Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins CDs). Many many many more shows followed and in a 4 year period I probably saw just about every local punk, ska, and hardcore band in the Bay Area, opening up a whole new world and group of friends for me. Most of the people I associate with today had the same kind of experience as a teen, so really, I would have to admit that AFI Answer That and Stay Fashionable changed my life.

Fun side note, I saw AFI for what was the first time in approximately 11 years back this summer at Reading Festival in England. Of all the bands to come out of that period in my life, they are not the one that I am wishing was still around. That said, it was pretty hilarious, and they actually played some songs I knew. Plus, I can drink legally now! Oh, and apparently Davey Havoc is gay now too. WTF why is everyone I had a crush on gay?!?!

3. Sleater-Kinney- Dig Me Out

I was unfortunately a little late on the whole riot grrl movement, which is sad because I think I totally would have been into it had it not been before my time. I did eventually get into all those bands a bit later but in retrospect, a lot of that music is pretty terrible. I do cringe a little when bands like Bratmobile come up on my Ipod. That said, Sleater-Kinney was another animal entirely, especially by the time this record came out. Although they were initially lumped in as part of the riot grrl movement, this album is in no way a riot grrl album, and is instead about relationships and heartbreak. I don't think I really understood that about this record until later, but its one of those records that you can listen to over and over again and new layers emerge, both lyrically and sonically. Anyways, once I got turned onto S-K I back tracked and got into all the old Kill Rock Stars and K records stuff and before you knew it I was a women's studies major in college. A lot of good that did me, but still, definitely a big part of who I am today. I will also never forget the Gilman St. Punk Prom that S-K played in '97, up there in my top 10 shows of all time.

4. The Clash - London Calling

This is a pretty stereotypical album to put on your Top Albums that Changed My Life list but it really did! As I was starting to get into punk rock, the Clash in general, and this album in particular, kept getting referenced to by every bands liner notes and every zine's album reviews, so it was only a matter of time until I got around to it. They quickly became my favorite band of all time (though I think I have decided, in later years, that they are not all that musically sophisticated, but nevermind) and there was a period for about a year that they were all I listened to. They were also the entry point into loads of other, mostly British, Clash-influenced groups that I later discovered and for a few years there became a major Anglophile, mod haircut and Fred Perry and copies of the Face magazine... thanks to Joe Strummer and Co. That wore off by the time I actually went and lived there (man... Manchester, what a fucking bummer that place is, false advertising!) but this album and this band were a huge influence on me.

Oh, and one time when I was 19 I met Joe Strummer. A friend of mine called me on his cell at about 1am on the train back from Long Island saying that a friend of his had seen JS at Shout!, a mod club that Heather and I would somtimes frequent. We threw on some clothes and hopped on the subway to find Joe completely shit faced at the bar. We saw him do another 7-8 shots over the course of the evening, ending in a major face plant. It was pretty crazy, and a bit of a heart break. He wrote me a note on a napkin that I have somewhere and taught me how to dance. Please pardon my appearance here, I had literally peeled off my PJ's and apparently got dressed in the dark (whoops, white bra sheer top) and didn't bother to run a comb through my hair.

5. Elliot Smith - Either/Or

I bought this record at the now long gone Lookout! Record shop in Berkeley. I'm not sure why I bought it... I think I had heard a girl I volunteered with talking about it, or maybe because it was on Kill Rock Stars, or maybe because Elliott looks pretty bad-ass on the cover. Anyways, it was totally not what I expected, but I became instantly obsessed with it. Up until this point in my teenage years, pretty much everything I had been listening to was loud and fast and over the top, so it was refreshing to hear something so minimal and beautiful. His shows were always incredibly special and intimate and the audience connected with him in a way that I had never quite experienced. To this day I still am not into very many singer-songwriters, but Elliott really made quiet the new loud for me. Its still the music I put on when I am having a sad day. Elliott's death hit me really hard, even harder than Joe Strummer.

Year in Review

2009-12-31T10:58:00.001-08:00

Another year has gone by. In a way, so much has happened, and in another, I am right back where I started. Its been tough, that's for sure.

This year I:
-lost my job
-decided to switch careers
-spent 11 months on unemployment while I started my career over again
-launched a lingerie line
-went back to school full time for the summer
-moved to London and back
-got a tattoo
-had several failed romances
-spent time in Stockholm, Paris, Portland, the Bay Area, and upstate NY
-started a blog and bought a new computer
-had a major falling out with a best friend

As you can see, there's been a lot of negative stuff that's happened, but if anything I am optimistic that 2010 will be my year. I mean, it has to be right? I will also be turning 30 next year, and from what most of my friends in their 30's tell me, this is when life is supposed to get good.

Here's best wishes to everyone for a better year ahead.

The Gown

2009-12-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

I've had a week of "staycation" here in Brooklyn and have been going a little stir crazy. At first it was nice but then I got sick and broke and it got really cold out, so I have been trying to busy myself with my "to do" sewing pile. Ever since my trip to Paris this summer and my trip to the Vionnet exhibit, I had wanted to get a 30's dress, but my first attempt ended up being a cheap polyester number on ebay that was actually from the 70's (the seller reimbursed me, always check for labels cause not everyone selling on ebay is an expert). By a stroke of good luck, while browsing one of my favorite vintage shops Twisters back in my hometown of Berkeley, CA, this fall I stumbled upon this gown on the sale rack for $20. It needed some work, so it sat in my "to fix" pile for ages, because, honestly, where am I going to wear this? But this afternoon I finally fixed her all up so she's ready to wear. This is officially the oldest piece of clothing that I own, and may never be worn, but its beautiful to have around, if only to admire.

What's the oldest item in your closet?

A Labour of Love, indeed

2009-12-23T20:45:00.001-08:00

Back around December of 2007, having recently quit my non-profit job and wanting to do something else, I dreamed of opening a boutique filled with all my favorite things. I'd be my own boss and get to spend my days surrounded by a collection that I curated. I spent hours and hours researching what lines I would carry, what kind of fixtures I'd have, what wallpaper I wanted. I even started scouting locations and made a phone call to inquire about the cost of a well-located vacant storefront on Havemeyer Street. Unfortunately, health problems and a sinking economy put that dream on hold indefinitely, as I saw many of my favorite Brooklyn stores shut their doors over the course of the next year.

If I ever did open a store, however, I would only hope that it would look something like Labour of Love, a somewhat new independent boutique in London. I've always identified more with London style than I have with New York, and this shop really personifies that look and spirit. It's located within spitting distance of my old apartment in Angel Islington, which would have been really dangerous had it existed when I lived there in 2003-4. The actual brick-and-morter store is a well-curated collection of clothing, accessories, books, objects, and music... a portion of which is thankfully available on their e-shop. Browsing the site has made me really miss London.

Items in this set:
Miriam Ocariz black scalloped skirt, 470 GBP
Finsk Angular cut-out platform shoes, 235 GBP
King Red and white 'Band Leader' cardigan, 196 GBP
Labour of Love White silk patterned shirt, 131 GBP
Gaspard Yurkievich Tights, 88 GBP
Gemma Lister black sequin necklace, 40 GBP
Labour of Love khaki ruffle bib fronted shirt, 87 GBP

It's an Addiction

2009-12-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

I love jewelry with a sense of humor. I also love painkillers. So naturally I fell in love with these Cast of Vices necklaces from Oak: comes in Vicodin, Oxycontin, and Percocet (the Xanax was sold out... perhaps this is the prescription of choice in Williamsburg?).

Top 10 Vintage sellers on Etsy, Part 2

2009-12-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Time for part 2 of my favorite vintage sellers on Etsy; this time, day wear! This was a harder list for me to compile than part 1. Personally most of the vintage I collect is evening wear... part of that is personal preference and part of that is because evening wear tends to be in better shape than day wear. People wore their day wear until it was in tatters, which means that, despite quality fabrics and careful construction, there is not all that much day wear around pre 1960's when clothing started being mass produced, more synthetic fabrics used, and cost of clothing became cheaper. That said, there are still some great pieces out there (many of my favorite vintage day wear is from the 80's) that you can integrate into your wardrobe. Here are some always reliable sources:

Fab Gabs Vintage

This shop, based out of Oregon City (where?), has a great selection of well-priced pieces, many of which feel totally modern. I am especially loving their outerwear.

Allentown Company Inc

A lot of bloggers have written about their love for Allentown Company's shop, which is also very fairly priced and is known for a great selection of shoes. I don't know much about the shop owner but she keeps a nice flickr blog and a twitter with shop updates. Check out that vintage Lanvin shirt dress!

Catbooks 1940s

An oddly named shop (especially since they don't carry much from the 40's), Catbooks 1940s is on the higher end of vintage carrying many designer labels from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. She's also one of the founding members of the Vintage Fashion Guild who originally sold on ebay and has since made the move to Etsy. Many really extraordinary and unique items here, in the higher price range.

Light Years Vintage

Originally a brick and morter shop based out of Memphis (one of my favorite cities in America), Light Years Vintage has some out of control vintage jewelry and items from the 60's and 70's. Tons of this stuff has been copied by modern designers, naturally.

Solanah

You probably know Solanah from her excellent blog, Vixen Vintage, where she models an obscene number of hats, but she also runs a small, well-curated shop on Etsy. You can get a preview of what she's selling that week by following her blog, and if something strikes your fancy, put in a request to reserve. Ah, to live near Portland's seemingly endless vintage resources...

So go get shopping!

Top 10 Vintage sellers on Etsy, Part 1

2009-12-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

If you are a vintage clothing junkie, you've probably noticed that there is now a ton of amazing vintage on Etsy now. Part of that is the site's growth in general, and part of that is due to a number of vintage dealers defecting from ebay as a result of increased fees. As a New Yorker, the internet is pretty much the only place to get affordable vintage these days (most NY shops are overpriced) so I spend a lot of free time scrolling through Etsy and day dreaming. Here are, in no particular order, my favorite Etsy vintage shops (this post will come in 2 parts, one this week and one next). First up, let's look at my top shops for (mostly) formal wear:

Timeless Vixen

This shop is also on ebay but they reserve some absurdly stunning stuff for their Etsy store. They're based in California and must have some ridiculous connections in Hollywood to get their mitts on these amazing pieces. Prices are pretty up there, so this is really a shop to just admire or maybe save for a special occasion.

Dear Golden

Dear Golden seems to focus on the 30's-50's, a little less eveningwear focused than the shop above so you're sure to find something wearable (my favorites are still the evening wear though, naturally). Prices are reasonable and few things are over $100.

13 Bees

I can never get enough black cocktail dresses. This shop has a seemingly endless supply. Oh hey 13 bees, I've got spare room in my closet if you wanna send me some? Wink wink. Prices are expensive but not unreachable, and there are some really fun pieces from the 30's and 40's.

Jumbalaya

These guys also have an active ebay shop, but they have a small, well, curated collection over on Etsy. Again, very expensive here, but its hard to put a price on some of these beauties.

Land of 1000 Dresses

Pretty self-explanatory here... too many to pick from.

Next time... every day wear!

Alexandra Grecco Trunk Show

2009-11-23T13:02:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago I was thrilled to attend the trunk show for my friend Alexandra at a new Williamsburg boutique Charlie and Sam (my new favorite store). It was a great setting for the launch of Alex's new vintage-inspired line, composed of rompers, dresses, shorts and tops in velvet, jersey, silk, and even sequins.

This is my favorite piece although it wasn't on display in the trunk show.

I loved all the scalloped details.

Alex is doing a whole spring line which will be available in stores come 2010. Keep an eye on this one ladies and gentlemen! You can buy her fall line now in her etsy shop.

and for some further reading, here is this week's Links à la Mode:

Links à la Mode : November 19th

Awakened Aesthetic: – Eco-Friendly Stocking Stuffers (Part I)

Crisis in Denim: – Crisis in Denim: I make gentle fun of a Banana Republic ‘rewards’ card I received in the mail, that seems designed to make me think I accomplished something by shopping at BR and earning ‘rewards’ points, by riffing on the president’s Yes We Can slogan.

dramatis personae: – the Hat’s Out of the Bag! by Michelle at Wicked Whimsy

Fashion X K8: – The importance of Fashion Ad Campaigns and analyzing the collective subconcious of fashion consumers. I beg the question, what makes a great Fashion Ad.

Further Ado: – With many of their paper equivalents going bust, Further Ado finds 5 great online fashion magazines to keep you satisfied.

Grit and Glamour: – yesterday The Psychology of Lace Lace, in spite of its implied fragility, holds very special power in the sartorial world.

Idiosyncratic Style – Infatuation List: Five Fall Fashion Favorites

Independent Fashion Bloggers – Fashion Blogging : The Road Ahead

kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS: – Interview with Lauren Jones of mydearthing

Mystery Creature: – I love vintage, I love handmade… but I don’t love Etsy, as much as I want to.

Oranges and Apples: – What drives fashion bloggers? Oranges and Apples in the Scotsman

Random Fashion Coolness: – Musings on the power-partnerships in the Blogosphere

Shoe Daydreams: – Collaborations and “inspiration”

slsvgg fashion: – An interview with Gossip Girl actress LEIGHTON MEESTER, on her style

Somewhere over the Skyline…: – rugality? Sustainability? The Recession! – Thoughts & Recommendations on Sustainable/Vintage Lifestyles

Super Kawaii Mama: – Meet the Dr. of Dames and her new book Our Girl’s – Aussie Pin Up’s of the 40’s & 50’s

THE COVETED: – Benefits of Chilly Days… Coats!

The Curvy Fashionista – Got the Plus Size Bridal Dress woes? Enter in Cc.Elaine- A studio dedicated to the Curvy.Confident.Chic. Plus Size Bride

The New Wave: – Underwear as Outerwear: How to wear this spring’s runway trend using vintage pieces.

The Pixelated Blonde – Fashion: it’s an individual thing – a look at how to be stylish whilst maintaining one’s individuality.

White Rabbit: – Lookbook.nu vs. Flickr’s Wardrobe Remix – the battle of “What I wore today” sites

Wicked Whimsy: – Rene Geneva Designs – featuring a local, woman run eco-friendly design house that makes gorgeous clothes to boot!

File under "Things I Don't Need"

2009-11-19T19:55:00.001-08:00

Oh really, I need more 50's party dresses, ebay? Ok, fine.

Hiiiiiiii Lorrie Debb silk faille dress! Now someone better invite me to a friggin' holiday party or its gonna be a one person party with me and my dress in my apartment this winter, mmm-kay?

From the mokoko vintage store on ebay.

A weekend in the Catskills

2009-11-16T09:33:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a near-perfect weekend in the Catskills for my 29th birthday. I invited 10 friends, some of whom had never met, up to a cabin that I rented in Prattsville, NY, for an overnight stay. It was gorgeous. It rained Saturday night but by Sunday it had cleared up and it was nearly t-shirt weather. I have started seeing a new guy who just happens to be an avid outdoorsman and he brought all kinds of guns for us to play with. Not surprisingly I was a really bad shot. Oh well, I tried.

We saw all kinds of animals (country mice, wood peckers, deer, horses, etc.), drank cider with brandy, toasted marshmallows, told ghost stories, played Scrabble, ate meatballs, sat by the fire, and sang karaoke. Everyone helped out and everyone got along. We also went up to the tallest waterfall in NY State, Kaaterskill Falls. Alex fell in the water and lost his glasses.

I barely ever get to leave the city, I really need to do this more often.

Underwear as outerwear

2009-11-12T06:57:00.001-08:00

Its no secret that I love lingerie, I've done plenty of posts about it and and even developed some vintage tap pants (new website coming soon, it is looking bad ass!). Needless to say, I am very excited about some of the new lingerie-inspired styles coming out for spring. The detailing on some of these pieces is so gorgeous, looking through the spring Paris shows my mind was basically exploding all over the wall. Forget spring, I want to wear this now. Let's take a look at some of the highlights shall we?

Can we start with Dior? OMG, want this whole collection, but check it out! Hello, John you stole my vintage 40's tap pants idea! I love these paired with the delicate boustier blouse, I totally need to get the balls to wear my tap pants as outerwear.

You can get great vintage styles like these from a number of places:

Elegant Satin/Silk Tap Panties

Van Raalte SHEERIO Tap Panties

1930's Pink Silk Tap Pants with Lace

OLGA Vintage 1960s Black Panti-Slip Sexy Mini Slip with Lace Trim

My next favorite look from the Dior show was the following:

Now this look is a little risqué for every day but without the sheerness you could totally wear this. Perhaps in a silk crepe... Lyell does a cute one for Urban Outfitters in a similar style:

Fletcher by Lyell for Urban Outfitters Silk Jumper

The other show where lingerie inspiration featured prominently was the Dolce and Gabbana show. There was a mix of really masculine pieces with the really feminine lingerie-inspired pieces that I think worked well.

I think the trick to this look is layering of various lingerie pieces so that its not too sheer. Layer several slips over each other with varying lengths so that you create tiers. Mix lace and satin materials so that you can see the satin through the lace, etc. Ideas of some layering pieces:

Vintage Black Lace Lingerie

Sexy 50s Burlesque Black/Red Lace Lingerie Top Slip

Vintage Black Lace slip dress

Vintage Nude Satin Slip/Nightgown

As long as it doesn't get too cold this winter I am going to try to incorporate some of my vintage lingerie pieces into my regular wardrobe somehow. Otherwise no one will ever get to see them but me!

All runway images courtesy of Style.com.

Who wore it best?

2009-11-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Weirdly enough, Heidi Klum and Seal stole my costume idea! She must read my blog. Who wore it best?

Thanks to Gemma for sending the photo.

YSL Parisienne Party

2009-10-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I got to go to a whole half an hour of the YSL Parisienne party. Due to a PR nightmare at the door we ended up waiting outside for nearly the whole party. Pretty disappointing as I'd been looking forward to it all month and all my friends, who had arrived on time (I'd waited for some latecomers) got in immediately. Despite nearly having a panic attack it was pretty neat once I got in. It was at the Angel Orensanz Center, a former synagogue in the Lower East Side, a perfect setting for a decadent masquerade ball. Everyone really made an effort to dress up and it was great. Its so rare that people do these days.

Photo courtesy of High Snobette

Here are some photos of my friends, all a wee bit tipsy since they'd been in since 9. Oh well, they got the hangovers and I didn't!

I am going to be a crow for halloween, basically I have a lot of feather action happening and a leather mask. What are you going to be?

Links à la Mode

2009-10-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

I recently joined the Independent Fashion Bloggers community and was flattered to be featured in this weeks Links à la Mode! For those of you new here, thanks for coming. I don't always write about fashion but hopefully you will be entertained regardless!

Links à la Mode : October 22nd

A Typical Atypical – Make me a… 1940’s wartime woman

Awakened Aesthetic – Men need sexy shoes too! Awakened Aesthetic searches for the best men’s dress shoes…and all of them are vegan.

Bobbins and Bombshells – Sharin Foo of The Raveonettes. A modern Hitchcock Blonde with a guitar.

Fashion in my eyes – Revlon fantasy eyelashes review and giveaway

Fashion is My Crush – DIY Embellished Vest: make your own hardware strewn vest with some beads, studs & chains.

Fasshonaburu – Alyssa & Vyque go to the local Shecky’s Girl’s Night Out

ferOHHHsh – Blatant Designer Knockoffs- Not just in the back of vans anymore.

Further Ado – Investment dressing – is it a real investment, or another women’s magazine catch-phrase used to encourage us to buy, buy, buy?

Idiosyncratic Style – Q & A with amazing photographer Dana Brushette

kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS – Emily Howse A look at an up-and-coming fashion graduate with a taste for ethical production, architectural inspired pieces, and plenty of ruffles.

Little Miss Makeup – Brown is the new gray! Learn how to do a smoky eye for daytime.

Oranges and Apples – The Capsule Wardrobe Challenge: Roundup and Reflections

Prom Mafia – 80s Done Right: How to Rock the 80s Fashion Trend

Retro Chick – Win an organic cotton jumper, worth £70 from Urban Buzz

slsvgg Fashion – Lily Allen’s jewellery line has finally been released in Selfridges

Style Amor – Need Costume inspiration with a bad ass fashionable twist?

Style Symmetry – Three Ways to Wear a Plaid Blazer This Season!

Styletastic – A roundup of SS2010 runway shoes – what will we all be wanting to wear on our feet next summer? (Or not as the case may be)

The Coveted – Behind the Scenes at Christian Francis Roth

The New Wave – DIY Halloween inspiration from the S/S 2010 runway shows

The Working Wardrobe – Something to Remember: Your Work Attire Not Only Represents You, It Represents Your Workplace. Think Before You Dress.

Halloween Inspiration from the S/S 2010 Runway shows

2009-10-14T19:55:00.001-07:00

It's nearly my favorite holiday, Halloween! In the past few years I've tried to steer away from the stereotypical "sexy ______" or "slutty ________" costumes in favor of costumes that are a little more creative, and hopefully, more in the "spooky" Halloween spirit. What I do love about Halloween is that its an excuse to wear just about ANYTHING and get away with it. I have a lot of stuff in my apartment that I would love to wear every day but would get me nothing but weird looks and comments (especially my hats from the 30's!). So I usually take the opportunity to go ALL OUT and over the top. In a way, this is a lot like what designers do on the runway, its their one opportunity to present their creative vision, though much of the time its not looks that their customers will ever wear top-to-toe. In that spirit, let's get creative and take a look at some of the runway shows for inspiration for Halloween costumes this year (most images courtesy of nymag.com).

Yohji Yamamoto Haute Zombie

Yohji sent a parade of zombies down the runway for S/S 2010, and these looks are some great inspiration for zombie costumes for Halloween. All you need for this look is the hair and makeup, and then some slick, tailored clothes to hack up a bit (might wanna try the thrift store and find some nice tailored menswear instead of hacking up anything too expensive!). Tada, Haute Zombie!

Alexander McQueen Futuristic Alien/Sea Creature

By far one of the weirder shows this season (we'd expect nothing less), McQueen's theatric show is great inspiration for a futuristic, alien-inspired costume. Metallic fabrics, tin foil, cellophane, and wire should help you create a look inspired by this show. The wire should also help in making one of these hairstyles!

Anne Demeulemeester Bondage Gimp

S&M looks are always popular for Halloween (just ask my friend Lou who works in a latex shop, they get very busy this time of year!), but you can totally do it with some style a la Ms. Demeulemeester. Belts, chains, zips, leather, latex... just make it look scary not skanky, please!

Comme Des Garcons Scary Clown

Nothing is scarier than a clown, right? With the right wig and a mix of bright colors, clown make-up, and a creepy smile, you'll be scaring all the fashionistas on your block.

Gareth Pugh Swamp Thing

You HAVE to look at these close up to appreciate the make up but this show was super creepy! These looks at the end screamed "swamp thing" to me. You're gonna need to do some crazy shredding to get this look, and many yards of jersey.

Givenchy Goth Conehead

I always end up seeing some coneheads on Halloween, I'm not quite sure why, such an old movie and not particularly scary but I guess its an easy costume to do. But how about let's spook it up a little bit and be Givenchy Goth Coneheads? Mostly the same, except goth-er. That's more like it!

Marc Jacobs Ghost/Ice Princess

You don't need to be in black to be scary, as Marc Jacobs showed us this spring. These eerie looks were inspired by Kabuki girls, but I think they kinda look like ice princesses or ghosts! You don't need to hide under a sheet to be a ghost, just a flowy chiffon white or ice blue dress and some white face make up. YES!

Charlie Le Mindu Cousin It

Addams Family members are always popular on Halloween, and make a great group costume. Coustin It, the overly hairy member of the Addams extended family, is a relatively easy costume to do, but why not take it to the next level a la Charlie Le Mindu and rock those hair extensions EVERYWHERE?

Giles Deacon Spider-Woman

Finally, if you're not going to do a full-on costume, why not just embrace some Halloween-inspired prints? Spiders, bats, ghosts, witches, any of these motifs done in a creative way is a good effort.

Annick Rosenfield photoshoot

2009-10-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

I did a quick photoshoot on Friday with my friend Annick who recently finished her MFA at the School of Visual Arts. The first half of the shoot was to build her portfolio in hopes of getting some work with a men's magazine. Now I'm not really a men's magazine type nor had I ever done anything like this before but given the opportunity to do some more nice shoots with Lady Jane Lingerie I couldn't refuse. Beware, the following is a little NSFW!

I just think this is such a pretty shot I don't even care if I'm in my bra.

The other photos were the first in a series that she is hoping to submit to W magazine on the theme of excess... and who better to represent excess than me in all my vintage clothes.

We may do an elaboration on these photos later, can't wait. Thanks Annick! Go check out her website her work is lovely.

Vintage dress twins!

2009-10-02T09:00:00.001-07:00

I know one of the appeals of shopping vintage, to many people, is that your item is potentially one of a kind, but you know what I really love? Finding dress twins! I've done this several times (usually at the Manhattan Vintage Clothing show) but never got to document it until now. About a year ago I picked up this little cotton embroidered dress (from the early 60's I'd say) from the Brooklyn Flea for $40:

Then, this summer while at Beyond Retro off Brick Lane in London, I spotted its twin!

Twinnie here was selling for a ridiculous £60, but such is the way things go in London. Not like I really needed another one but it would have been nice to reunite them. So, go visit my twin dress the next time you are at Beyond Retro, if you're ever there. Does anyone have a similar story?

Zac Posen accessories

2009-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hi, I haven't had any ideas of what to post here lately. I'm interning 2 days a week at a trend forecasting company, basically cropping photos all day but its fun so far, eye candy all day long. Its nice to look at the shows in high resolution.

I've been working mainly on accessories, my favorites from New York Fashion Week were the laser-cut brooches at Zac Posen, I hope to see this ripped off soon on Etsy? I didn't really like the actual clothes that much but these pins rule.

50's styling shoot

2009-09-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

I finally got my photos from my 2nd styling shoot for my LCF course. My model was Gabrielle Bassett, I think she did a great job (she did her own hair and makeup!).

The assignment was to do a 40's, 50's, or 80's themed photo shoot. I decided to go with what I knew best, though if 60's were an option I probably would have done that instead. The idea that I had was to do a "night and day" theme, where not only would we do night and day looks, but they would represent two sides to the girls personality. In other words, daytime was a new look silouette and very sweet. Nighttime was a wiggle silhouette and a little bit naughty. Here is the story board that I put together:

We combined items from both my and Gabie's closet to get the final looks. I had 4 looks ready to go but we were only allowed to do 2. We got to use the LCF studio which was amazing! The only thing I was a little bummed about was that the black dress was a bit wrinkled, they didn't have a steamer there.

PORTLAND!

2009-09-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

Dudes, lots has changed in the past few weeks! As I mentioned, I left England. It was sad, but what can you do... I am looking forward to new things and pursuing a real job instead of, say, working in a crap pub for 5.75 an hour cash in hand. I actually got a couple of job offers in England before they learned that I was only on a tourist visa. Damn, why do I always have to be so honest with people?

It was good to get back to the states in time to go to Automne and Graham's wedding in Portland. I don't really know these kids too well, but Automne and I had been corresponding via emails and blogs and what not so I felt like I knew what I could expect from them. I'd never been to Portland before but it also lived up to expectations: lots of vegan fixed gear kids, lots of bums/homeless people, lots of vegan/hippy shit, but... LOTS of amazing vintage shopping. As Elizabeth put it, it is ENDLESS and AMAZING.

First, the wedding... Automne's dress was OOC (out of control) radness, it was a purple, floor length number that she customized with tons of fabric flowers. And she wore matching pink and purple chiffon veil. They made a ZINE complete with mixed CD (which, sadly, I think I left in my hotel, ARGHHH!) and they even did a blog with profiles of all the wedding guests. The actual ceremony was the best part, I think... very informal and sweet and they wrote their own vows. They even had a "wedding manifesto." It ruled. I won't post my photos cause theirs are better but be sure to check it out.

The rest of the trip we spent riding bikes and vintage shopping. There were, fortunately, a good number of stores near our hotel which is where I made my purchases. First up, and best really, was Bombshell Vintage. There was a great selection of midcentury stuff, it was on the expensive side for Portland but cheap for someone coming from London and New York. I bought a 40's black silk dress and a 50's Lorrie Deb chiffon dress that I ended up wearing to the wedding. Came in at under $100, not bad.

Next up down the block was a shop called Zeno Oddities, which was an odd assortment of records, vintage, and other, well, "oddities." The guy who ran this shop was obviously much more interested in the records, but there was a nice, very small assortment of vintage, including a 40's dress that I picked up for $30 (score!). He gave me $2 off because a button fell off, pays to be a seamstress.

Further along Burnside was Hattie's Vintage. This was by and large the most expensive of the vintage shops we hit, but they had a nice selection.

I tried on a couple of 30's dresses including this black bias-cut number (very Madeleine Vionnet!)... I still can't get the hang of a long hem though so I left it there, even though it was really cool. Plus I'd already spend over $100.

The last store on this stretch was one called Rock and Rose. It was pretty mediocre, lots of vintage tees and stuff of that nature. Ana found some stuff though for cheap. I still have a hard time accepting that 90's stuff can be called "vintage" now.

The next day we ventured over to the Hawthorne District, which reminded me a lot of Telegraph Ave. in my hometown, Berkeley, CA, and lived up to a lot of Portland stereotypes. Behold:

I died a little inside. Aaaanyways, there were outlets of Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads (both in Berkeley as well) around here which we skipped but we did check out Red Light, which we were told was Portland's answer to Beacon's Closet. There was lots to look through here, also lots of crap and clothes from a few years ago. I had my eye out for things I could re-sell since I'd already spent my clothing budget for myself the day prior... I found an Emma Domb 50's dress for $20 and a couple of other things but determined that they were not really saleable so left them all behind... I'm still thinking about them days later and wondering if I made a mistake. Oh well, you never know!

Monday Ana and I went for a bike ride with rented bikes from the hotel. We rode for about 2 hours along the river.

On Tuesday I checked out Fringe Vintage, which was cute but not really worth writing home about. Not enough mid century. Nice merchandising, though. After that I met up with Elizabeth and we had tacos. She was being shy for some reason.

Then it was off to California, they put me on the smallest plane ever and it was super claustrophobic.

You could see Mt. St. Helens.

Waning days of summer

2009-08-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it kids, the last week of my stay in England. I am totally bummed out. I have been pounding the pavement for the last week and a half in search of a job that might pay me in cash (since I don't have a work visa), but alas, these are hard to come by in the days of recession and EU expansion, and I came up empty handed, so the logical thing to do is pack it all up again and head home. I wish I had the money to continue my education, and stay on here a bit longer, but unless I wanted to do something drastic (i.e. fake marriage, or fake national insurance number, even riskier), there is not much more I can do. I guess I am just a little scared about having to face real life again, find a job in a new career in such a hostile economic climate, and get back in the rat-race New York City frame of mind. Last week I sent a text message to my friend saying we should move to LA, half kidding, but actually half serious. Like I had said in the beginning of the summer, NYC to me is a real love/hate relationship, and next week will be my 10 year anniversary of moving to the city in the first place. Maybe it is time to move on.

Before I pack up everything here in London I did an obligatory weekend in Stockholm, where I got to visit my lovely Swedish friends and bask in the glory of the Swedish summer sun. It being late August there was not the near 24 hour light that there is around June, but it was still a beautiful time of year to visit. I came in on Thursday afternoon and met Sara, suitcase in hand, to hike down to the waterfront and take a swim. It was freezing. I went in for about 30 seconds and hopped out, while Sara was more brave and went in for several dips. Phil showed up and we drank Pimm's and lemonade (Phil's duty free gift from me) and some fruit.

Friday afternoon I met up with Emil for some brunch and then a walk up to Observatory park near Odenplan. We had not seen each other since San Francisco so it was nice to see each other on the other side of the world in a completely different context. We brainstormed Iphone applications and get-rich-quick schemes. Needless to say, we did not come up with any in the 2 hour period.

Later that evening I met up with Phil to attend the Grolsch block party, which is basically a few different businesses in the "Sofo" (south of Folkunsgatan) area of Stockholm which were giving away a few free beers. Free beer or booze of any kind is a very rare occurance in Sweden, and by law you have to be on the list because it is listed as a private event. As a result, any free beer that appears usually disappears immediately. Fortunately Phil was able to get me into the Beyond Retro party where I did a little drunk shopping (no purchasing) and attempted to watch the burlesque show but everyone in Sweden is too tall so I could not see anything.

Later that evening I went to go meet up with Sara for her boyfriend Igor's birthday party, which was at a restaurant called Allmanna Galleriet 925. It was a really cool place, hidden within an office building next to a porn shop (Sara had to come get me from the subway since I would never have found it on my own). We played Swedish round-table ping pong (weird tradition where you get three or more people playing ping pong and run around the table, hard to explain) and had a few more beers.

Saturday Phil and I had some Thai food and then went into town to go shopping. I was very good and only bought a couple of 150- K tops at the new Weekday shop. On the way home, we walked along the water at Hornstull and accidentally came upon a giant Swedish food festival called Smaklust. Every area of Sweden was represented and there were hundreds of vendors with their local specialities for sampling. I had just eaten the leftovers from my Thai lunch so was not hungry but got some ice cream and sampled about a dozen cheeses and different kinds of sausage. Phil had a Gotland lamb burger. We knew we would have to come back the next day with a proper appetite and bring friends.

We went to a Stockholm institution Saturday night, Debaser, one of the first places I'd ever been in Stockholm. In the summer they have a huge beer garden that stays open until around 3am, without any fear of being shut down for noise complaints because they are basically on a little island not near any businesses. There were rumors that Debaser was going to shut because the city was re-constructing the Slussen area but it seems red tape has stalled that process and Debaser continues to thrive. I made Sara and Phil balance drinks on their heads in tribute to my well-known party trick. They need some practice.

Sunday it was back to Smaklust where Phil, Emil, Sara and I came hungry and left satisfied. Emil and I sampled what was one of the more bizarre things I have ever eaten, it was a moose burger with lingonberry dressing, but this was not just your ordinary moose burger, it was in the shape of a moose with a moose shaped matching bun. The vendor apparently had a patent on this design and was very proud of his invention. He was also wearing a hat made out of Swedish flatbread.

Verdict: Moose are delicious. Phil had a reindeer wrap, and Sara had a Swedish traditional dish that translates to a "bodycake," which is basically a mashed potato ball stuffed with meat (pork in this case), boiled and then eaten with cream and lingonberry jam. Not especially healthy, but really, really tasty. I had all kinds of random animals today, I will not go into more detail so as not to offend my vegetarian friends.

And that was that... said goodbye to my Swedish friends and hoped to see them soon as I headed off back to London, carrying sausage, goats cheese, and carrot chutney with me (carrot chutney seized by airport security a few hours later sadly). The older we get, the less and less we see each other, it is a bit sad.

Sara said that to go to graduate school in Sweden is free and they admit foreign students. Maybe I will apply for next year.

House of Holland Tights

2009-08-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

My week has had a lot of ups and downs (I'm done with school, and the reality of life is setting in again, more on that another time) so there's nothing like a little retail therapy. I went all the way over to Selfridges today to pick up a pair of the limited-edition Henry Holland tights by Pretty Polly. Since these tights were made in England I was a bit afraid they were gonna be a fortune (Chanel tights, anyone?) so told myself that if they were anywhere over 30 quid I was going to have to walk away.

But imagine my delight when I found them, they were only £10! Not only that, but they came in the most amazing packaging, full size coffee cups with lids that said "caution, hot tights." Many of them were also hand signed by Henry.

I'm starting to get what my marketing tutor was saying about good packaging giving products "added value."

All told, since said tights were a third of what I was expecting, I let myself have a pair in pink, purple and black. It really is a neat technique, they used different deniers of the same color of fabric to create what looks like different shades.

These are very limited edition and I believe you can only get them in Selfridges, so hop to it!

Ruffle my feathers

2009-08-10T08:43:00.001-07:00

There was this girl with a feathered collar on Face Hunter last winter that everyone was obsessed with, including me... where could we get such a thing?

There was one on Pixie Market that was really expensive and a few, not quite as cool ones on Etsy. I never bought one and pretty much forgot about it, until I was at Spitalfields yesterday and came across Lulu O'Neil's booth, a 50-year old charming Scottish lady who makes burlesque-inspired accessories, where I found a version of said feather collar for a reasonable 25 squids.

Yes, that's me in no make-up.

Sadly all she has is a Myspace page (Myspace? Hello, so 2006...) but I'm sure she would do a custom order.

In other news, I have exactly one week left of school! Terrifying. Where did the summer go? Its job hunting time again, sigh.

Design class final project

2009-08-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

I am winding down my time at school and have just turned in my final project for Design process class. The idea of this class was to teach you the process through which designers come up with a collection. Obviously, this is different for anyone, but there are certain pathways through which one comes up with a design concept that has a cohesive theme, tone, color palette, and consumer. Of course I decided to do lingerie and my collection is very "me." I thought maybe I should try to do something to challenge myself a little more but you go with what you like, right? I named my fictional brand "Chelsea Violet." The first thing to think about is your consumer. My consumer was a ladylike, sensual woman who is confident and comfortable in her own skin. She is happy. She enjoys the finer things like perfumes, afternoon tea and fresh flowers. Basically a modern, very English woman who purchases lingerie for herself and not for a man (though if I man gets to see them, its a bonus!). I got my inspiration through visiting the antiques flea markets around London and Paris, fashion editorials by Gemma Booth, and look books by Chantal Thomass who I have mentioned a lot on this blog.

The name Chelsea Violet refers to a few things. Chelsea is just a name that I like and that I found to be quintessentially English. Violet has to do with the color palette, which is based around the violet color (basically various shades of purple, lilac, etc.), and of course flowers which are very much an inspiration for the silhouette and fabrics. Also, violet is somewhere in between pink, which is the color of very sweet, innocent lingerie, and black, which is supposed to be the naughty kind. This collection falls somewhere in between.

I'd never done much drawing before this class so doing the technical drawings was definitely a learning experience. Lingerie is probably a little easier than drawing complex garments like a suit or something but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out in the end. I did the technical drawings by hand and then scanned them into Illustrator where I colored them.

And finally, the fashion illustration... this was a hard part for me and I owe my friend Margarita for helping me figure out how to translate a flat design (one of the more complicated ones at that) onto a body. I wish I had had something better than markers to color it in but that's all I brought. Would have looked a lot nicer with water colors.

That's it!

One more week of class and then I'm done... and will have to figure out what the hell I am doing next. Not even sure if I'm ready to move back to America yet, but may have to. Not sure what the future will bring.

Patterned tights round-up

2009-08-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hello! Its been a while. Things are crazy busy with school and all my projects are due this week and next. My design project is almost done, I can't wait to put it up here.

I was gonna write more about France... but am gonna skip it. What I will mention is that I got some amazing new Chantal Thomass tights while I was there (had nearly bought some at Century 21 in New York a few months ago and decided not to as I was having a particularly broke day, then once I figured out how hard they are to find outside of France was kicking myself). But at last, I found a couple pairs in the sale at Galleries Lafayette:

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a total legwear maniac and am always on the lookout for new, creative brands. I wanted to run down some recent finds as well as some brands I'm coveting. A while ago I wrote about Hansel from Basel. I recently got a pair of stockings from acclaimed Scottish brand Bebaroque on sale at Asos:

These are pretty much the hottest stockings ever and a car with a couple of girls pulled up next to me and asked where I got them as I was swishing down the street. Bebaroque make tons of cool tights as well, such as the following:

Next up on my list is a brand I found from France called Les Queues Des Sardinnes. As of now they don't have anyone that stocks them outside of France but I have a feeling that will change. A lot of their designs border on the creepy side but I think that adds to their appeal! You can order them internationally through SuicidalShop:

Another foreign, hard to find brand out of Finland is Zukale & Huoviala. They make great printed tights with simple line illustrations. Hard to find as well but you can order them on the Finnish Design shop website.

Finally, to round off this round-up, I'm loving these peacock-printed tights from Look from London... a generally cheesy label (and not actually from London which adds to the cheese factor) but am liking these ones that they have on offer at Mod Cloth:

Hope that was some good legwear inspiration. My advice is to always buy an extra pair with these brands, if you can afford it... legwear is fleeting and when your pair ladders you never know if you'll be able to get another!

Paris and Madeleine Vionnet, puriste de la mode

2009-07-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Paris on Sunday night. I went for 5 days, it was an included trip as part of my fashion program. It was exhausting and expensive but worth it I think. I've never loved Paris having had many a bad experience there being followed by strange men and treated rudely by Parisians but I think I had a more positive experience this time.

We were taken to the Musee D'Orsay, the Palais Royale, the Marais, the Cligancourt market, as well as various other tourist attractions. But for me the highlight by far was the Vionnet exhibition at the Musee de la Mode et du Textile. Famous for the "bias cut," Madeleine Vionnet’s sophisticated approach to couture remains a pervasive influence today. Eschewing artificial and restrictive padding and stiffening, she liberated the female form with designs that integrated movement and comfort into women’s fashion. She also championed unusual fabrics that were luxurious and sensual yet simple and modern—chiffon, silk, crêpe de chine, gabardine, and satin. Her most revolutionary creations—the handkerchief dress, cowl neck, and halter top—cling to and seamlessly move with the wearer. Vionnet’s principles of elegance, movement, architectural form, and timeless style continue to inform contemporary fashion.

What struck me most about this exhibit, apart from the sheer beauty of the dresses, was how modern most of them seemed and could still be worn today as though they were fresh off the runway. Galliano was apparently very influenced by Vionnet in his first few collections.

The level of detail and the workmanship on these dresses was totally stunning. Sadly not all the dresses are available for viewing on the website but there is a book coming out in September (they wanted 75 euros for it in Paris, but you can get it for $47 on Amazon, naturally) by Pamela Golbin with great photos of most of the dresses from the exhibition.

Its on through January 2010 so if you are in Paris any time soon you definitely must see it! Everyone is predicting the 30's will be very big next year (partially as a result of this show) so go scour ebay before everyone else does.

More stuff about Paris next entry.

Getting inspiration

2009-07-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to doing an entry. Instead of homework I suppose which I have put off all weekend with the exception of trying to get "inspiration" by first hitting the Angel Antiques Market on Saturday and then the Clerkenwell Vintage Fair on Sunday. I don't really like when people apologize for not posting or whatever since a blog is just a blog and you do it when you have time or feel like writing, unless you're getting paid. So no apologies. I have been having fun and going out and learning and doing stuff and generally having a good time.

School is waaayyyy more intensive than I thought it would be, I have six courses and assignments for all of them: European Culture and History, Fashion Marketing, Product Development, Fashion Forecasting, The Design Process, and Styling. And so far I have been slacking on pretty much all of them and not entirely liking what I am doing. We did our first shoot for fashion styling, it was kind of hilarious being dressed like this in Shephards Bush, kind of a FAIL. People kept shouting Lady Gaga at me.

The class I'm finding the most confusing is Fashion Forecasting, which I thought I would be really good at, but I really don't understand how trends are forecasted, especially colors. Basically it seems like 2-3 industry experts decide and then everyone else listens to them and decides that SALMON IS IN FOR S/S '11. Huh? I wear the same colors all the time and wear clothes for years, does that make me not fashion forward? We have to pick a couple trends that will be popular 2 years from now and make illustrated mood boards around the themes. I am TOTALLY dreading that one. I am also having a hard time getting used to this style of education. I am sort of used to being lectured to and having exams and cramming etc... not forced to be creative all day long: its exhausting! This is why my friend Margarita says art school doesn't work. Anyways...

Here is a photo set from the days past two events. Naturally, after blowing too much money on vintage this weekend I am now going to PARIS for 5 days with my program. God help me. Oh and befor the photo set let's have one of those American-in-London teenage humor moments.

LOL, Laycock.

THANK YOU GOODNIGHT!

Advanced Style

2009-07-09T23:33:00.001-07:00

I promise a new, actual entry this weekend but in the mean time I just wanted to re-post an amazing new street style blog called Advanced Style. Too many street style blogs just feature teenagers and 20 somethings, what about all those stylish grandmas out there? This one is for them!

Hi I'm back

2009-06-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have internet! I am finally reunited with all my friends like gmail, facebook, flickr, google reader, and um, gchat. I guess I don't really use that many web pages but with a pay-as-you-go phone and no internet I was feeling really out of touch with everyone from back home, so hopefully that will now change.

So its been week 2 of fashion school and its been rather bizarre and weird to say the least. It feels very strange to be drawing in class and making collages of magazine cut outs when one is used to sitting in lectures and having in-depth conversations about health policy in the EU (which, to be fair, I was often spacing out on and probably making doodles in my notebook). It also is just strange to be a full time student again, especially starting from scratch in the way that I am and realizing that I don't really know all that much about fashion at all, at least compared with some of the tutors that I'm learning from.

Today we had a design process class where I was presented with the dreaded task of having to DRAW SOMETHING. Thankfully it turned out ok and I was actually pretty impressed by myself though I do recall I just mostly plagiarized a set of vintage shoes that I had seen in a shop in Berkeley. But hey, look ma, I can draw!

Apart from school, I am finally set up with a new cheapie bike (a 60's German bike that I purchased from a guy in London Fields), a new IKEA mattress so as to not break my back again, and now internet at last, I am starting to feel more at home. Now if only I could get a bank account!

I'm seeing Blur on Friday. I am also already causing mischief. I love London.

'Ello, gov'ner!

2009-06-19T08:44:00.001-07:00

...long blogging pause...

Yes, a lot has changed in the past couple weeks. I subletted my apartment, packed up all my things, and hopped the pond with 4 suitcases in tow for what will likely be about 3 months, but may be longer if I find some kind of work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back in London.

It feels quite natural to be living here again and sort of like I never left, although I'm still feeling a bit culture-shocked for the time being. I have had no internet and am here in the back of a sad-looking Wetherspoon's (a chain of pubs in the UK known for low prices but also for a rather trashy clientelle) off Stoke Newington High Street, near the room I have rented for the summer. Its with a bunch of randoms (a Swedish-Columbian couple and a British guy who I have yet to meet) but its fine so far. It smells a bit funny and there is no living room but we have a nice little garden and my rent has been halved from what it was in Brooklyn so it can't be all bad. The neighborhood I'm living in, according to the map, is known as "Shacklewell" but I believe it is lumped in as part of Dalston, what I figure it kind of the "Bushwick" of London, i.e. kind of underdeveloped but lots of people my age living here and lots of house parties and what not. Its taking some getting used to, especially because last time I lived in London I had a really central apartment in a posh neighborhood. But its ok because most of my friends live within walking distance, which is a nice change from how London used to be! I am looking into getting a bicycle once my bank account is out of the red so I think that should make my life complete.

Orientation for my program at London College of Fashion starts on Monday. It is very weird to think that I am a student again! Hoping not to be the oldest one there.

More once I get internets!

Jeremy Scott SS09

2009-06-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

Mr. Scott, you have taken me by surprise. Normally your clothes are a little outrageous (and not in a good way), but lookee at the cool prints that you did for spring! Roses and airplanes? Gas pumps? I'm sold! Proof that there is some good fashion coming out of helLA.

Images courtesy of Revolve.

2009-06-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many people actually read this (Google Analytics says like 20 a day? Sigh...) BUT... I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop of all in-stock items. Cleaning house before UK! Buy now! great deals on vintage!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
ladyjanedesigns.etsy.com

Top ten things I will miss about New York in Summer

2009-06-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

1. The beach. Sorry, England, your beaches are kind of pathetic.

2. Roof parties. These have evaporated someone in Williamsburg but still happen in Bushwick to some degree. Nothing will compare to summer of '03 roof parties, from which the following is my favorite picture. Epic.

3. BBQ's. OK, they do this in the UK a little bit but I think it is more of an art over here. Not quite as much as in the South where they actually have the culinary tradition but there is nothing quite like cooking outside with all your close friends.

4. McCarren Park hangin'. Is Hoxton Square the equivalent? Please update me.

5. Free summer shows at McCarren Pool. OK, so this is getting moved this year to the waterfront, I have no idea if it will be as fun, but it was great to have your Sunday Afternoon sorted every weekend.

6. 4th of July. Every one has days off and the day usually consists of #2 and #3. Plus the sky explodes. Awesome.

7. Vespa and Bicycle riding.

8. Roof top pools. You have to be sneaky to get in, but once you are, I think the photo says it all.

9. Admiring the view.

10. Friends. I will miss you lots.

New York, New York

2009-05-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Today it was beautiful and instead of going to the gym I opted to take my bicycle out and go on a ride. My intention was to just ride over the Pulaski bridge into Queens, get a coffee on Vernon Boulevard, and ride back, but once I was over the bridge I got into a groove and, feeling good about my decision to skip the gym, kept on going. Vernon Boulevard now has a bike lane and its a great route, taking you near the water and is very well paved. I rode by a cute park called Queensbridge Park where there were lots of BBQ's happening, and a few blocks after that, I saw the entrance for the bridge to Roosevelt Island.

Please excuse shoddy camera phone photos, I was not expecting to have anything to write about today.

Now I have lived here for 10 years and have been to all five boroughs but admit I had never been to Roosevelt Island (the small island in the East River between Queens and Manhattan) before today. I am sad that I never went because it really is the cutest thing ever. There is TONS of green space, a bike path that goes around the entire island (did it all), barely any traffic or noise, and a few random restaurants and shops. I stopped into the Roosevelt Island thrift store, which I had heard good things about. It was kind of a dump, but I managed to find a cute 50's floral dress for $5 which I will probably resell. The woman literally gave me the change for my $10 bill out of her BRA that's how ghetto it was. It really felt like you were in a small town, except with million dollar condos.

I stopped at the islands one coffee shop (Starbucks, sadly) and listened to some live country music that was happening on the plaza. There were gorgeous views across the whole island. People were fishing and having picnics and generally enjoying the day.

As most of my friends know, I recently made the decision to leave New York for a while. My relationship with this city is based on love and hate. On days like today, even by myself, its hard not to fall in love. Ten years here and there are still new areas to explore, restaurants to try, stores to check out, and people to meet. But at other times, it kicks my ass and I finally reached a point this spring where I had had enough. No job, no man, no money, this city has teased me with a multitude of possibilities, dangled them in front of my face, and then taken them away. I suppose its not totally fair to blame New York, though most of my friends often do, but sometimes its hard not to. This city has its odds stacked against you and there really is some truth in the saying that if you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere. Sadly, in my case, I haven't really "made it" here so New York and I are gonna go on a little break. Not a break up... I am keeping my apartment, though others will be living in it, and the majority of my stuff is staying here. But the time has come for a change and London is calling again.

See you soon New York. Don't miss me too much.

You know what I did last week?

2009-05-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Margaret and I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go see Green Day in Central Park and re-live the 90's. Though, in fairness, I have not really stopped listening to Green Day since the 90's and have appreciation for all of their records, even the ones no one bought except me. I regaled her with stories of weird Green Day connections from the Bay Area (seeing Mike Dirnt at the DMV, a friend of a friend being Billie Joe's son's skateboarding teacher (really, skateboarding teacher?)) while we waited the 2 long hours for their set to start. We had to put up with obnoxious teenagers and TV personalities but were rewarded with around 6 songs and the spectacle of Green Day doing an interview on a very G-rated show (needless to say, I don't think they will be asked back). Oh, did you know teenagers still dye their hair with Manic Panic? It's nice to know things never change.

Oh, and Billie Joe... still foxy. Eyeliner and all. Just sayin'. Unfortunately, still married. Sigh.

Lingerie is up on Etsy

2009-05-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun photo shoot this past week with Erin Barry. I asked my friends Alexandra and Marta to be the models and we shot it in Marta's apartment and backyard, much to the amusement of her neighbors. The ladies were great together and super good sports about the near-nudity. Alex also did some masterful photoshopping (sorry, no more naughty bits!) and made this amazing collage

They're now up at my brand new etsy shop.

Tip: google your brand name before you start a line, or you may never find out that your name is already claimed by a fugly bespoke lingerie line, a stripper supplies shop, and a masectomy bra supplier. GREAT. Name's already on the labels though so oh well. Any ideas for next time?

YES my Mom finally scanned my Senior Year Prom Photo!

2009-05-23T00:02:00.001-07:00

Its a Mod, Mod World

The nail in the coffin

2009-05-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon I got called by my temp agency, who had not called me in almost 4 months despite nearly two years of faithful service, with a 4 day placement at a charity on Wall Street, doing straight data entry. The problem? Data entry makes me want to shoot myself in the face after doing it for a couple hours and I end up constantly looking for ways to distract myself. But I took the job anyway cause, hell, I needed the money and had spent half the money I had made at Artists and Fleas this weekend on a pair of shoes at Topshop (typical).

After I got through the 8 hours without managing to jump out the 16th story window, I got a call from my agency saying that I was not needed back at this assignment for the rest of the week, and that they had said I work too slowly and was on the internet. Seriously?!?!? Who is programmed to be able to bang out data all day long quickly and without error? Apparently not me. I was also pissed at how non-confrontational this was, the company calling my agency instead of criticizing me to my face and demanding I do better.

Whatever, screw it. I am so over working for non-profits. If it means doing data entry all day when I am so capable of doing more then I don't really want any part of it.

On the way home I saw this coffin set up on Wall Street. I'm not really sure what it was for but I felt it was a sign.

Launching Lady Jane Lingerie

2009-05-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Kim and I did a stall at the new outdoor location for Artists and Fleas yesterday. It was the unofficial "launch" of Lady Jane Lingerie, i.e. the first time it was officially for sale. Although I did fairly well at the market, I wasn't totally happy because I didn't sell any knickers. Its ok though, I didn't really see an outdoor market as being an ideal venue to sell underwear, it being rather high end and all. Everyone who passed it though stopped to pet it and say "aw, cute!" before passing by to the next booth. Despite cold weather and a looming threat of rain, a lot of people stopped by due to the proximity of the Greenpoint brunch nexis (i.e. Enid's, Park Luncheonette, Five Leaves and Lokal). In fact a good number of my sales seemed to be post-brunch drunk shopping. Drunk shoppers are the BEST! Oh but I got a lot of mosquito bites on my feet. Itchy.

What sort of struck me about the lack of lingerie sales was how many women were like "oh, I don't really wear 'lingerie,' I'm just kind of a cotton panties gal." This seems to be a pretty pervasive attitude in America, even among women who are really fashion-forward, which to be is kind of surprising. It's one of the reasons I decided to start the line, because I didn't really see a style like this one available in America and thought it should be. All we've got is Victoria's Secret and a bunch of high-end European imports.

I personally wear fancy lingerie for a number of reasons, one being a general interest in fashion, and of course the way proper lingerie can enhance your outfit, but mostly because it makes you feel a little special. A little secret that only you know about. And, if someone does see it, woohoo! So, ladies of America, I encourage you to throw out those faded cotton panties and invest in something pretty. For inspiration, here are some of my favorite import lingerie lines. Some are a little pricey but well worth it:

Ayten Gasson

Central Saint Martins graduate Ayten Gasson has been specializing in luxury hand made pure silk lingerie since 2004. Each piece is hand made to ensure a perfect, comfortable, and elegant finish. Shapes and styles are sourced from vintage lingerie patterns to create individual yet exquisite pieces in 100% silk.

What Katie Did

What Katie Did produce two collections a year which are stocked in boutiques worldwide. Their designs are not simply inspired by the 40s and 50s but actually made using vintage patterns adapted for women of today. As far as possible they stick to using fabrics and manufacturing methods which were available at that time.

What Katie Did also look to the past for inspiration in other areas of our business including customer service. Because they're a small company each and every order is processed with ultimate care and personalised service is offered throughout.

Hopeless Hotel

This is a line out of Australia. They specialise in high end lingerie and sleepwear, handcrafted from silk, organic cotton and the softest bamboo jersey, with exquisite detailing and vintage flair. Most garments are made to order, allowing clients to choose different colour-ways and ensuring a perfect fit. The line is designed and produced by Gabrielle Adamidis in Melbourne, Australia. Gabrielle has been sewing her own clothes since age 14, and has been formally trained in dress-making and pattern-making. She sells her stuff on Etsy and also through her own site.

Myla

Myla is almost as big as Agent Provacteur in the UK but personally I think it is a bit higher quality and better fitting. They started out with a store in Notting Hill around 1999 and have since expanded to 14 boutiques and concessions and also have a store in NYC on the Upper East Side. They are not as retro as some of the other lines I have mentioned but I like them for that, they do high-end without being cliche or trashy at all.

Mimi Holliday

Mimi Holliday is a diffusion line from higher-priced line Damaris. Hearts, bows, polka dots and lace are strong themes throughout the Mimi Holliday lingerie collections. They are also always made of silk which I love.

Fifi Chachnil

One of the French masters! The French know their underthings. Fifi Chachnil first started her lingerie collection in 1996 and immediately started selling to boutiques in Tokyo, New York and London. Fifi's famous lingerie label is well known for her glourious feminine designs, her sense of humour combined with style. Her passion for music, romance, fashion and theatre have all been influences.

Chantal Thomass

I LOVE how French designer Chantal Thomass's photoshoot are styled. To die for! She's also done a line for Victoria's Secret. I found some of her stockings at Century 21 a few months ago but didn't buy them because I was poor. Kicking myself now.

LouLou Loves You

This list would not be complete without a shout-out to my friend Lou over in London who makes the most gorgeous pin-up style lingerie, all by hand in her at-home studio. Lou totally inspired me to start my little line and I am totally indebted to her for that.

So ladies, go out and buy some new underwear. Even if you're single like me. You'll feel special, I promise.

My lingerie is here!

2009-05-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

OMG they look so great, I am so excited!

A proper photo shoot will take place next week that will showcase them better but here's a little photobooth preview (I love this feature of my new Mac!)

Best fwends

2009-05-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends. I may not have as many as some people but I have had the same three best friends for the past 10 years. In terms of girl friendships, from what I understand, that is extremely rare and very precious. These girls have been with me through good times and bad. They are all extremely different and know me in different ways. I don't know where I would be without them.

I bought a scanner along with my new MacBook this week and have been looking through all my old photos (pre digital camera, yo) and have been finding some classics. Be warned: unflattering photos and hairdos!

Have you told your girlfriends you love them today?

Me & Megan circa 1997

Me and Megan in London, 2001

Me and Heather, 2000

Me and Megan, 2000

Me, Heather, Ana, and Megan Callow, missing in action somewhere in SF

Me and Heather, 1999

Me and Megan 1998. SWF all the way! On our way to a Rancid show, no joke.

Heather and Megan, 2003, one of their first encounters

Me and Ana, 2003

All together, 2008.

I love you guys.

Prom!

2009-05-13T10:06:00.001-07:00

Most non-Americans are probably familiar with the American tradition of prom, as made popular by many 80's John Hughes movies and so forth. Despite being pretty much a loser in high school I still partook in the tradition and went both Junior and Senior years, with the same guy (my friend Nathan, who in typical John Hughes fashion, I of course had a crush on).

I was at a Betsey Johnson sample sale last week and picked up 3 so-called "prom dresses." I was also in the midst of many a young teenager scrambling for a $50 prom bargain. I talked about Betsey Johnson a lot in my fashion production class trying to figure out just how it was that she was able to produce such a cheaply made product (and the same one over and over season after season really) and get away with charging $455 for it (the retail price of the dress worn above). Seriously, $455 for Made in China? The fact is that her target customer, the high school prom-goer, does not know very much about clothing quality or construction and would not know the true value of her garment. Sadly, the high school girls who were not wise to the sample sale were probably picking up these dresses at the retail store for full price, feeling giddy about it only to show up at their prom looking like every single other girl. I have my love for Betsey but really wouldn't you rather wear something one of a kind?

Naturally, in high school, I did not have $455 for a Betsey prom dress nor did I probably know of a single designer to begin with; though my interest in and knowledge of vintage has come a long way since, I picked up my junior year prom dress at a cheap vintage store for what I recall was about $35. It was a 50's cotton day dress which I still own to this day and wore to work last summer. My shoes were loaners from my mom, and Nathan and I drove my 1981 Volvo to make a one and a half hour appearance at prom.

Sadly, my senior year prom photo (60's mod style, pretty fucking amazing) is at my parent's house and my mom's scanner is broken, I'm bugging her to get it fixed. I'll post it on Flickr later when she gets around to it.

If I could do it all over again though, I think I would have worn something a little more evening. Like I said, my vintage knowledge was limited and I didn't really know all that much difference between a day dress and an evening dress. Since then I've collected all kinds of vintage evening wear that, since I do not have any proms left to go to, I usually just wear to the bar. Here is just a sampling of some of my favorite vintage formal wear that I have in my collection.

P.S. I wrote this entry on my brand new MACBOOK! I am so excited. It is kinda tiny (13" white one) but oh so fast. I had my Powerbook for a good 7 years. Goodbye, old friend, you served me well, but I've moved on to a younger, sexier model.

P.P.S. My lingerie line launches TOMORROW!

Sandals

2009-05-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

The gladiator sandal. Its back. It makes me want to vom (to borrow a phrase from the Brits). These suckers took over Williamsburg last summer and it was a Greco-Roman nightmare. Especially when it came in this incarnation:

Those are CHANEL, btw. Why, Karl, why??? These belong in the same category as Uggs and Crocs. Oh and this season they are STUDDED. God help us. But I digress... the question is, how do we avoid these god awful sandals but still give our tootsies a little breathing room in the hot New York summer? Here are my best bets for not ugly summer sandals:

Jeffrey Campbell

Maison Martin Margiela

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Repetto

Remember, kids, friends don't let friends wear gladiators.

Lulu Finder

2009-05-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

This is Alexandra, she's Samantha's other assistant. Not only is she a total dreamboat she is also super talented! Here are some of my favorites from her etsy shop, which is very reasonably priced (too reasonable if you ask me!):

We've made loose plans to do a booth together at Artists and Fleas sometime at the end of May. She also has a really good looking blog.

A Tour of East Williamsburg Bizarro Businesses, Episode 4

2009-05-01T06:43:00.001-07:00

Oh, my precious little neighborhood, gotta love it.

I live in a little bit of a no-man's land over here, my closest restaurants are a divey diner and a McDonalds (although a nice little hip cafe just opened, thank god). With no good bodegas or supermakets in sight, I was super excited when a new dollar store opened up 2 blocks away, what kind of goodies would there be inside?

I was initially intrigued by this sign on the window promoting all the things you could possibly need for a luau party.

Sweet, cause I have been DYING to have a luau party. Once inside, I started in the food aisles, and came upon some dollar cereal. Is this Honey Nut Cheerios? Oh, no, pardon me, Honey Nut Scooters! Next to some Honey Nut Cheerios.

Then I was thinking, you know what would be totally awesome, if they had some Oxyclean. Oh wait, its TOTALLY AWESOME OXYGEN BASE CLEANER.

They had a whole aisle dedicated to stuff for weddings. Cause nothing says classy wedding like stuff from the dollar store.

Nearly bought this for a bridal shower for my friend Sam, obedience training whistle for your new husband:

And finally, as promised, the luau supplies section. Even better than I could have imagined.

Vintage lingerie

2009-04-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

After working with Samantha for a few months I have learned a lot about the business of being in apparel manufacturing, and I think I'm ready to do a little something myself. I've been totally obsessed with vintage lingerie for years, yet its hard to find these designs reproduced (cause really, do you wanna buy a pair of used underwear? gross). This weekend I visited the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show to get some prototypes.

These beauties are called "tap pants" and they were produced in the 20's or 30's. Good examples have really beautiful embroidery and are made of silk or rayon. They fit super high on the waist and generally close with buttons. Next week I'm taking my tax return money and meeting with a manufacturer to see if they can copy the pattern and produce a small run. In the future I'd like to do a few more pieces, maybe a onesie such as this?

I'm really excited about this project! I figure the worst that could happen is that they don't sell and then I just have an unlimited supply of gifts to give my friends. More on this when I meet with the factory.

New Dress project completed

2009-04-20T16:04:00.001-07:00

I finished my summer dress:

I love how many vintage patterns translate into modern designs as long as you pick the right fabric. Oh, and in this case, take the hem up about 6 inches.

Drunk guys on Friday night

2009-04-18T08:31:00.001-07:00

Friday night from Rachel Hill on Vimeo.

A Tour of East Williamsburg Bizarro Businesses, Episode 3

2009-04-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Oh you know you have been missing this segment of my blog...

So today in America is the day that you have to file your taxes. My parents accountant still does mine, cause I am useless like that. Aaaanyways around New Years this new tax place opened up on Graham:

Sorry for the far away picture, I didn't want to startle random hipster guy hanging out in front. So its a little weird enough that its a tax place but also a travel agency... I get it, real estate is expensive, let's bundle several businesses into one storefront at once, cause once you find out what your refund is going to be, how about blowing it all on a trip to Atlantic city (Caesar's Express busses leaving daily)? Sounds good to me, though I'm gonna blow my refund on... rent, probably. BUT the real hilarity of this place lies in their promo people who have been stalking the Graham subway station (and Lorimer, it seems, where the below photo was taken), in the following outfit:

Not like this could ever be a good look for anyone, but it really was sad... there they were, through snow, sleet, and rain in their ugly draped blue velour schmatta (yiddish for "rag," my mom loved using this one to describe the clothes I would wear in high school during the punk rock years) and foam Statue of Liberty hats handing out $50 coupons for your tax preparation. They even had blue tarps to wrap around themselves for when it rained, so basically they ended up looking like crazy homeless people with novelty Statue of Liberty hats. People took note of them for the first week or two, but after that, everyone, including myself, made their best attempt to ignore them and their coupons. I would pull out my phone or look down at my ipod as I exited the train station, hoping that I would not have to make eye contact with the Statue. Please, no, I don't need a coupon, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!

Today I snapped a farewell picture of the Statue guy (most of the time it was a woman) as I am hoping April 15th will be the end of his reign haunting my train stop. Goodbye, Liberty tax guy, I don't know what you did to deserve having to stand in the snow in that outfit for three months but I hope that it paid off.

Lavender for Spring

2009-04-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

From left to right: Dress, Lover, Net-a-porter; Dress, Luella, Net-a-porter; Knit cardigan, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel, Net-a-porter; Shoes, Luella; Top, Eley Kishimoto; Skirt, Valentino, Colette.

Purple haze

2009-04-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Spring is around the corner (right, mother nature? I am so sick of my winter coats I want to burn them all and yet you still make me wear them!) and all of a sudden I've become obsessed with purple, specifically, lavender and lilac. I don't really have that much of it in my wardrobe so I've been on the hunt (related post with a Polyvore set coming soon). I went fabric shopping today for a great lavender cotton to make a cute summer dress, but instead walked out of Mood with what is possibly the greatest silk cotton blend fabric of all time ever:

I am going to make this with it. Short post, going to get started on it now, maybe finished in time for a wedding I'm going to on Saturday. Photos when finished!

Baking with Rachel

2009-04-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight is Passover, and though I am not a very observant Jew anymore, I do tend to enjoy any holiday that revolves around eating and getting drunk (there are 4 glasses of wine specified in the Passover ritual). I got invited to a big dinner party at Samantha's and last night we had an epic shopping trip at one of the coolest grocery stores I have ever been to, Fairway Supermarket in Red Hook. I didn't bring my camera and we were too frantically trying to find everything on her list but you should go sometime.

Anyway, I did tend to hate Passover growing up because its a lot of sitting around reading from the special book (the Haggadah) for hours before you actually get to eat, and all the food gets cold. BUT it was the one time in the year that my mom would make this amazing dessert which I whipped up (literally) for the first time today without a recipe and mostly from memory. It is probably one of my favorite desserts ever, seriously try making this ASAP. Kosher for Passover for all my heebs!

You will need:
6 eggs
sugar (regular and confectioners)
cream of tartar
heavy whipping cream
big ol' bar of chocolate (I prefer dark)
strawberries

equipment:
Standing mixer or a hand mixer (I only have a hand mixer it works fine)
cake tins or a baking sheet
parchment paper
spatula

So first you are going to separate the egg yolks from the whites. Use the egg yokes for an omelette sometime (Rachael Ray says you can freeze them!) and put the whites in a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of cream of tartar, or salt if you don't have. Whip them with the mixer until they are kind of a foamy, frothy texture. Then you're gonna add a cup and a half of regular sugar, little by little. Keep mixing and in the end you should get a creamy texture that will keep shape when you move it around. I forgot to take a picture at this point, oops. Oh, I also added a little vanilla at the end, makes everything better always.

Trace a large circle (I just traced the bottom of my cake tin) on your parchment paper to make a lining for your cake tin, or your baking sheet, and leave it on there. With a spatula spoon some of the egg white mixture onto the paper and smooth it down flat-ish. Make sure you like the shape as it will tend to bake in this shape. Put it into a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat after 20 minutes to 275 and then let it bake another 20-30 mins or so. It should look crispy and brown-ish and will be chewy on the inside. I was able to make 3 meringues out of the 6 egg whites that I whipped up. Here is what they look like:

Let them cool, my mom tended to let them cool overnight but you don't have to. Be gentle with them as they may crack.

While my meringues were baking, I whipped up my heavy whipping cream with about a half cup of confectioners sugar. I don't like super sweet whipped cream but you can add more to taste. Don't eat all your whipped cream before you finish the dessert! Also, you can cut up your strawberries now. The ones I got were not that sweet, wish I had remembered to get them when I was at Fairway.

Once your meringues are cooled off enough you can start to melt down your chocolate in a saucepan. Use super low heat you don't want your chocolate to burn! You can add a bit of water or milk to make it smoother but don't use too much. Once its melted (keep the heat on throughout this part) you can start to build the layers of your dessert. I find its easiest to go: meringue, chocolate, whipped cream, strawberries. You should also wait a minute to put on whipped cream after you put on the chocolate because if its too hot your whipped cream will melt a little as mine did. Try not to eat all your melted chocolate while you are making this!

The finished result is a little messy, which is fine because its really hard to cut this thing and will end up basically as a big strawberry/chocolate/whipped cream/meringue-y mess but that's ok because you are about to experience what heaven tastes like. It took all my willpower to not eat this before I brought it over to Sam's house. I did, however, get to lick my saucepan and whipped cream bowl clean.

The Unemployment club

2009-04-07T19:26:00.001-07:00

Sunday Alex and I went to Motorino for dinner. We are both members of the unemployment club, but he is in fact a CARD CARRYING MEMBER, as in, debit card provided by the NYSDL. Thanks for the pizza Governor Patterson!

A Day at Urban Outfitters

2009-04-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

Today Samantha and I went to Philadelphia to meet with Urban Outfitters. I recently finished my fashion production class at FIT and was curious to see how a line gets produced on a corporate level. We took the train out in the morning and got picked up by Samantha's mom at the train station, and got driven to the Urban Outfitters headquarters. They have the coolest offices ever. I believe they are in some converted naval buildings and are bright and airy and industrial looking. You can see the naval ships outside of the window. They also have a really nice cafeteria, gym, magazine shop, and coffee shop on site. Seemed like a really cool place to work. Everyone there is young and hip, naturally.

First up with met with Samantha's merchandiser and technical designer to discuss a new design for the current season. This romper has become a best seller and is sold out online and at most stores so they decided to do a new style right away. They are going to make it in a knit so we picked out a fabric and fiddled with the sketch and made some measurements on the dressform.

After that, we went to go get the samples for the holiday 09 delivery. We brought them to a fitting area and me and another girl tried them on (their sample size is my size). Some of the stuff looked great and fit amazing. Some stuff clearly needed some revision and refitting. I was amazed how good some of the samples were considering they were first run samples.

After that we had a meeting with the production team to present the styles. They had a fit model come in and try on all the available styles. It was very interesting to learn how they adjusted styles to fit their price points. Some fabric choices and detailing had to be compromised. For example, they decided to make larger size quilting on the two quilted items because that would bring down the price of the labor. They also had to cut some fabrications because they were not affordable (such as an amazing peplum trench coat in coated canvas, fortunately Samantha got to keep the sample).

The production team liked most of the stuff and decided to go ahead with 10 of the 13-14 styles that were presented. Before we left we got to raid their samples and retrieve some of Samantha's rejected styles from past seasons. They will be great for fabric or style reference.

After a long day, we took the train back home. Very tired.

The obligatory Topshop post

2009-04-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

OK, I admit it, I have been waiting for this freakin' Topshop to open for 8 years. Since 2001 (my first stint living in London) I was thinking to myself, why isn't there a Topshop on Broadway? New Yorkers would dig that. I'm not sure why it took them so long to finally do it, I mean, while you were sleeping Phillip Green H&M kinda took over the world... that could have been you dude!

I know Topshop is kinda over rated, and at this point has become overpriced, but I do sort of credit it for what might be considered my fashion "awakening." Back in the 90's, I lived in Berkeley, California, a town known more for writers, activists, and hippies than for fashion. I wore some vintage clothes, black jeans, and tons of punk band t-shirts, and that's pretty much it. I bought my first years prom dress (a 50's day dress) at a thrift store and the next year my 60's shift was from ebay. Flash forward a couple years and this west coast girl was living in East London, going to clubs like Trash and Candybox (aka Scandi-box) and all of a sudden my 90's west coast wardrobe just didn't cut it anymore. I actually remember sitting with Megan and looking at all the crazy outfits going by at Trash. All of a sudden we looked at each other and said simultaneously, "we need to go SHOPPING."

Ever since then, Topshop was my go-to place in London, the Oxford Street store was only about 10 minutes from the LSE where I did my graduate degree several years later and I was, admittedly, in there probably at least once every two weeks. They really know how to keep you coming in there... they do really have something for everyone and the stock is always changing so if you don't buy the item you're thinking about right away, chances are it won't be there next time you visit. They would have a section in the Oxford Circus location called "last chance to buy," which would contain the last few sizes of certain styles, a real genious strategy really when you think about it because they didn't even have to put them on sale for people (myself included) to decide that its "now or never" and usually choose "now." Cheeky.

Anyways, I was working for Samantha yesterday and didn't want to go anywhere near the 2.5 hour long wait to get in, but had some free time today and couldn't resist a first visit. I didn't bring my camera but there are plenty of pictures on Racked or The Cut. I waited about 20 minutes in line outside, but was actually grateful for the crowd control, because once you got in, it was pretty mellow in there, everything was well organized and most items were available in all sizes. They had a lot of stuff that had sold out on the Topshop website and most of the stuff that was on the website looked WAY better in person. Sadly, it's kind of a small store (only about 1/4 of the size of Oxford Circus) and for some reason, they are WAY into the 90's trend that is happening right now. Seriously, the 90's? This is retro now? I'm sorry but this was the worst decade for fashion EVER. I wish I had a photo of me in my Bat Mitzvah dress circa 1993 because I swear they were selling the exact same dress.

Fortunately, it was not all bad, and I walked away with some goodies:

How great is that silk top? Reminds me of Lyell. It did come out to be rather expensive, but overall I had a good experience. I even got away with getting a 10% student discount with my FIT non-credit course card. Sweet.

So thanks Phillip, I could do without the 90's revival but I am sure I will be back.

Nylon 10th Anniversary

2009-04-01T13:39:00.001-07:00

Heather took me as her +1 to the Nylon 10th Anniversary party last night. It was pretty fun, from what I can remember.

Somehow we ended up at the same table as Lydia Hearst. Her dress was OUT OF CONTROL AMAZING. Not something I think I would wear but definitely a work of art. She was nice enough to let me take a picture of it.

Oh and there were some other people there like Jenny from Gossip Girl, ahem, I mean Taylor Momson. Didn't catch her drinking, boo.

The major bummer? NO LI-LO!!! She was on the cover this month so I was totally hoping to have a Li-Lo trainwreck to report on but no dice. Oh well. I did somehow end up with a bottle of Stoli Citrus in my bag at the end of the evening, so all in all a good party.

Erin Barry photoshoot

2009-03-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

My new friend Erin did a really fun shoot with me at my house and nearby to build her portfolio. She has a great eye for composition and color. All items are from my wardrobe and all are vintage with the exception of the hat which is American Apparel. We also did a short video in black in white (very "nouvelle vague") that she is setting to music, will post when its finished! Thanks Erin!

Market Publique shop is a go!

2009-03-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

So I mentioned how I was cleaning out my closet and selling stuff left and right. Some stuff though just seemed like a shame to let go to second-hand shops for pennies on the dollar, so instead I am putting some pieces up (including some pieces new to me that I picked up at Beacon's) on a new website called Market Publique. MP is a new website started up by some kids in New York (I believe) that is essentially an Ebay exclusively for vintage. The format is great and you can sell stuff for fixed price or auction style. The great thing about it is that it is curated so not just anyone can be a seller (fortunately they approved me, perhaps it will get more exclusive as the site grows) and items will be of high quality. I think I am going to focus on shoes because they are easy for me to photograph on my own.

More stuff will be coming soon (as with any of these sites, listing takes a while). But here's what I have up so far!

Rite of Passage

2009-03-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

As one of the only 20-somethings living in Brooklyn without a tattoo, I've always had a sort of ambivalent relationship with them. I've seen so many kids getting tattoos on a whim, when they were too young, without significant thought or consideration. I always thought this was sad. An exboyfriend of mine had once gotten a number 13 tattoo simply because it was Friday the 13th and a tattoo shop was running a $13 special. Then again, lots of people had such beautiful designs that really made a statement about who they were, and I always admired their guts. I knew I always wanted one, but went back and forth about where to put it or what to get. After several years of having the same design in mind, and after an evening of conversation with Megan over drinks at Roebling Tea Room, I decided it was high time to make it permanent. I don't know why now, perhaps because my life is sort of in a weird limbo period right now where I'm making lots of existential decisions, but for some reason my fear of permanence disappeared (hopefully not temporarily).

I did a lot of research on the internet to find an artist. Fortunately here in New York we have lots of talented artists with all different styles. I decided I would be more comfortable with a female artist since getting a tattoo is sort of an intimate experience and I wanted to be as calm as possible. I also wanted an artist that had a sort of "illustration-y" kind of style. I hate all those gothic devils and goblins like tattoos, and I also didn't want an artist who would have thought my design was kinda girly (it is, I admit it, what other kind would I get really?). It was this image, along with a number of positive reviews I read on the internet, that made me decide to see Joy Rumore at 1228 Tattoo on Havemeyer street:

Totally amazing. And the rest of her portfolio is great too. A couple of weeks ago I went down to her shop to consult with her about the tattoo. I brought in some images that I had found on the net (thanks, Google images!) and a rough idea of what I wanted. I put down a $50 deposit for the artwork and we made an appointment for Friday night the 27th.

And last night we made it permanent. Megan came with me as moral support (thanks Megan you are the best!). The tattoo took about an hour. After going over her drawing and fiddling with the stencil, I lay down in her chair on my side and she went to work. The first 15 minutes were the hardest. Part of this had to be the group of people hanging out in the shop and trying to talk to Joy while she was working on me which I found very distracting. She didn't, but it made it hard to try to calm down and distract myself from the pain. After they left it got easier. I stopped breathing so deeply and started chatting to Joy. She has herniated discs in her back so we talked about that a lot. Its a very hard career to have when you have back problems. Her problem seems to be a lot worse than mine and the surgery that she may have in the future a lot more serious. Once we got to talking I calmed down a lot and the tattoo went more quickly. I'm not sure I could have sat there for much more than an hour (my other foot completely fell asleep and I got drenched in sweat from being nervous) but it was totally not as bad as I thought it would be.

Ta da! The red part is not red shading but a bit of blood that will eventually go away. I am still totally sore and a little in shock but I am so happy with how it turned out and thankful to Joy for getting what I wanted to do.

Journey across the River

2009-03-24T18:47:00.001-07:00

I have two job interviews tomorrow so am thus looking for an excuse to procrastinate rather than prep for them, so here's a blog entry I meant to write a few weeks ago (I have no camera for now, so old material must do!).

Every New York vintage-loving girl knows that good vintage in this city comes at a price, whether it be through digging through bins of ugly donated t-shirts at your local Salvation Army in search of that rare gem (which you rarely find since someone else got to it first), or though paying through the teeth for a garment from one of the dozens of overpriced "vintage" stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Personally, I generally avoid both of those avenues and stick with shopping at stores in Berkeley when I am visiting my parents, events like the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show (also generally overpriced, but known for some good deals, and an endless supply of vintage eye candy) or the odd flea market here or there (which, of course, are not real "flea markets" as they are known in other parts of the country where it might actually be possible to score a cute 50's dress for $10). And of course there is Ebay, but all too often the bidding war gets out of control and by the time your item reaches your door you get that buyers remorse that I was talking about a few entries back...

So what other options does a New York girl have? But of course, the Vintage Road Trip! Unfortunately for me, the road trip generally requires a car, unless you are traveling to somewhere that is accessible by public transportation. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you a somewhat untapped vintage fashion destination: Jersey City! Yes, New Jersey, home of the Sopranos and Bruce Springstein. Back in the day, I used to go to Jersey once in a while to go to a show at Maxwell's, but these days, I have pretty much no motivation to go there. Not to be a Jersey racist or anything but I've seen what kind of characters that state turns out and it ain't pretty (the exception being my mother, sorry mom you are cool (but you don't read my blog, I hope (can you tell I really like parentheses?))).

So it was to my surprise that there were supposedly some decent vintage stores in Jersey. A few weeks ago, intrigued by a Craigslist ad I saw for a store going out of business (sad), I decided to check out what Jersey City had to offer, and promised myself I would spend no more than $20 if I were to find something I liked. The journey took a miniscule 50 minutes from the moment I left my doorstep to the moment I stepped out of the Jersey City PATH station. The first stop was the aforementioned closing store called World of Style Vintage. Sadly, though everything was 1/2 off, there was not much stuff to be had, and the atmosphere was weird... it was based out of a hair salon and there was one lady there getting her hair did and she and her hairdresser were talking about cheating on their boyfriends or something. It was sufficiently Jersey trashy. After a few awkward minutes listening in on their conversation, I left for my second destination, Another Man's Treasure.

NOW we're talking. This store has that incredibly sweet, homey vibe that I love about most of the vintage shops in Berkeley. Whereas many of the New York shops tend to feel more boutique-y, AMT has little vintage knick-knacks and a portable record player that I believe was playing the Smiths when I walked through the door.

While the prices were certainly not cheap, they were a far cry from what you would find in the city (I saw a mint condition Suzy Perette for $75). The pretty cocktail dresses were calling my name, but were unfortunately out of my $20 self-proclaimed budget, so I instead opted for a more practical 80's tiered blouse for $15. I would LOVE to copy this blouse in silk crepe if I ever end up designing a line:

Oh, and did I mention this store is owned and operated by a super cute British guy? Oh yeah, and his wife I think, but yeah, he was nice.

Check out the try-on room!

I wish this was my bedroom.

As for the rest of Jersey City, I cannot say, the shop owner told me of another good store called Hala Vintage but as I had pretty much reached my budget limit I opted out. The good news for those not willing to make the journey is that AMT will be bringing their stuff to the Manhattan Vintage show in April so look for their booth.

Thanks for the top AMT!

I was gonna post some pictures from SXSW but...

2009-03-22T16:38:00.001-07:00

...when I went to get my camera out of my bag it was NOT THERE! I was looking through videos while I was waiting for the plane so I am assuming it fell out of my bag while I was on it. JFK airport is a nightmare and I am guessing it is very unlikely I will see it again. So sad, so many great videos of crazy shit that happened. This, on top of missing my 7am flight this morning, has made this a rather shitty day. TRAVEL FAIL. You will never get to see my pictures of Dave Navarro and his nipple rings, a Japanese all-girl marching band that plays in bikinis, Monotonix moving their show out of the club and traveling down Red River street, and perhaps most tragically of all, my video of a rooster wandering around and crowing in East Austin.

Honestly I did not have that great a time this year. My New York girls did not come so I spent a lot of time on my own since other friends were working or playing shows. I spent half of the time running around trying to meet up with people and by the end of the day my feet were always so sore and achy that I was limping. Also was totally ignored by both exes who happened to be in town (this is what happens when you date boys in bands nearly exclusively... SXSW becomes a minefield) and all those free drinks + boys being lame = DRUNKEN CRAZY TEXT MESSAGES (whoops). I hate boys.

Highlight: Dan and I seeing the Queers @ Red 7. OMG I loved that band, they look and sounded the same, it was rad.
Lowlight: Waiting 2 hours at the Fader Fort to apparently see Kanye West, who I could give a shit about, then giving up after 2 hours of nothing. And missing flight and losing camera and boy drama. Yeah.

I don't think I will be going back next year. Now for a nice long bath...

Binge and Purge

2009-03-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

You know what I love almost as much as buying clothes? Getting rid of clothes! Weird, right? But something about deciding to part with a piece of clothing, though sometimes difficult, is overall extremely satisfying. Over the past few weeks, as part of general spring cleaning, being strapped for cash, and preparing to move to London for the summer (don't get excited/sad just yet, this is only a thought and not yet a reality, more on that in another post) I have been purging my closet of items that I infrequently or no longer wear. I am trying to get rid of at least 3 items per day. This might seem like a lot, but if you know me and have seen my closet, it makes more sense. This is anything from an AIDS Walk sweatshirt I got for free (off to Salvation Army), to some rather neat vintage items that I just don't generally wear (such as this 80's leather jacket).

In this age of the "recessionista" (I hate that word), I think a lot of clothes-minded people are considering what it means to live with less. What this means varies from person to person. To me, it has meant avoiding the cheap, high-street stores like Forever 21, H&M, and the like, where purchases tend to be badly thought out and impulsive, ending with buyers remorse and items that either sit in your closet or fall apart after a normal amount of wear. I'm trying to focus more on pieces that are versatile, well-made, and more of an investment (financial and emotional). I'm also trying to envision a life where I could live out of a few suitcases and feel satisfied with my wardrobe and not feel like I have nothing to wear.

Thus, after years of binging started this major purge. Ebay, Etsy, Beacon's Closet, Buffalo Exchange, and finally Salvation Army have been my friends. Unfortunately nothing is selling for quite as much as I would like it to (with some exceptions, god bless "buy it now"). But generally its selling, and if it's not worth anything, I have no problem giving it away. In a discussion with one of Samantha's other fashion-addicted assistants, we both agreed that it was rare that you "miss" something once it is gone.

I recently started a new FIT class on Fashion Production in preparation for my potential career change-up and have been learning a lot about what drives people (in particular, women) to buy. Something I thought was interesting was this: When men go into a store, if they find what they are looking for and it fits when they try it on, 75% of the time they buy it. Women, on the other hand, will only buy this item 25% of the time, and a quarter of those will return the item later on. In other words, for many women, shopping is emotional rather than utilitarian: we shop as a leisure activity, as sport, because are are marketed to and because we care more about how we are perceived on the basis of appearance. As someone interested in fashion business, this is useful information to decide what to design or what to carry. At the same time, its also useful to assess what drives me to buy and helps me to stop and think whether I really want or need this item.

Its baby steps, surely, and I still expect to give in to my emotional shopping needs every once in a while. After all, that Paypal money was burning a hole in my e-wallet:

Oh hai beautiful Eley Kishimoto shoes, thanks for being on super-sale and for accepting Paypal!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my friends?

2009-03-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I do.

Heather and Megan Karaoke from Rachel Hill on Vimeo.

The Man Who Loved Yngve

2009-03-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Just got back from my weekly visit to Scandinavia House for their film series (I take myself every Saturday) having seen what was one of the best movies I have seen in ages. I doubt they will ever release this film in the States, as is what happens with most great foreign films unless they are in French. But if you find a way to make it happen, I highly recommend checking out The Man Who Loved Yngve. It actually reminded me a lot of one of my favorite Scandinavian films ever, Fucking Åmål, Lukas Moodyson's film from a decade earlier, sharing many themes and a style that shifts seamlessly between comedy and drama. Synopsis from the Nordic Film Institute:

The third most successful Norwegian film of 2008 (171,000 admissions as of July 2008), The Man Who Loved Yngve is based on Tore Renberg's novel of the same name which sold over 100,000 copies in Norway. Producer Yngve Sæther, a personal friend to Renberg, immediately saw the potential for a film version and convinced the novelist to tackle the screen adaptation.

What attracted Sæther to the project was the opportunity to make a coming of age film ‘with a real authenticity, a film that would have a mature feel and at the same time the energy of the youth, like Truffaut's Les 400 coups, or Coppola's Rumble Fish. "It took Renberg another three to four years to make the script work for the screen.

The Man Who Loves Yngve is set in November 1989. The Berlin wall collapses. In Stavanger town, Jarle Klepp (17) has no idea that everything is about to change. So far he has got everything; the best girlfriend in the world, and the world's coolest buddy. Together they will soon launch Stavanger's toughest punk band, "Mattias Rust Band". But then the new boy in class, Yngve, appears. He is not like anyone else, and Jarle is confused. Slowly but steadily Jarle lets everyone around him down, and finds out what it means to stand alone.

Film debutant Kristiansen, originally from Stavanger like Renberg, and a big music fan, was brought on board, although he hadn't finished his studies at the National Film School in Lillehammer. But Sæther and Renberg were convinced by the energy of his short films. Finding the right actors aged 18-19, especially new faces, was another major challenge and casting in the Stavanger area lasted several months. "We did find those actors at the end," notes Sæther. "That's why the film works."

Hansel from Basel

2009-03-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Samantha gave me some knee-high socks from a label called Hansel and Basel. As a tights and socks fanatic I was intrigued to learn of an indie legwear label that I hadn't heard of before. The label is based out of LA and was started two years ago by Hannah Byun, who had worked in the hosiery industry before that in production. She has four collections so far, each of which has a theme (S/S 08 for example was inspired by "Mondrian, sherbert stripes, and springtime picnics!"). Some of my favorites:

In addition to the ones Sam gave me I picked up the spats knee highs in black and white:

Oh and that's a new bag I made for my Etsy site (going up soon) and will also be available at Treehouse.

A side note, what is with "tights fetishists"? I recently decided to stop participating in the Wardrobe Remix group on flickr because of all the tights fetish dudes lurking around there. Seriously, tights? The male pysche never ceases to confound and amaze me.

DIY Luella Headpiece

2009-03-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

Luella S/S 09 was my favorite collection of the spring... sums up pretty much everything I go for: girly, ruffled, vintage-inspired, and chock-full of beautiful color combinations that you may never have thought of. However, my favorite thing of all were the bows with the veils that most of the models wore in their hair.

I loved too that many of them were shaped like vintage bow-ties. This is also featured on the new cover of Lula magazine. Figuring that they would never be affordable, but looked pretty simple to make, I gave it a try myself. I picked up some taffeta (polyester, silk was too expensive), veiling, and a hair clip and voila!

The next one I make I am going to have to fiddle with the veiling a little bit cause I am not loving how it is lying against my face but it works for now. Can't wait for spring so I can rock these with a little dress or something.

It snowed today

2009-03-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

It snowed lots, to be precise. NYC public schools closed for the first time in 5 years. I, however, still went to my internship, like a good girl. It was damn cold.

This is what it looked like when I looked out my window in the morning:

Then, once I got outside my door:

Chip the scooter was hiding under his cover.

Wahhhhh I am cold...

This taxi driver is probably PISSED.

But you know who is enjoying today? These two:

The end.

The Rachel show episode 1

2009-03-01T08:59:00.001-08:00

I've actually been making a few of these videos but this one is the most entertaining so far...

The Rachel Show from Rachel Hill on Vimeo.

Reverse French Manicure

2009-02-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

I saw this somewhere else and then on Fashionista today:

Love it. Tried to do it myself but it was total manicure fail. There must be some trick?

Adventures in the Romper Room

2009-02-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

So, after 4 years of higher education, 2 degrees, and 4+ years as a working professional, I have once again become an intern. As my degree of interest in the non-profit world has waned (no doubt due to the 2+ years of rejection whilst searching for a new permanent job), I have often thought about what else I could with my time that I would find fulfilling. In other words, if I was not going to be able to change the world via public policy analysis, in what other field would I excel?

I'd been kicking around the idea of opening a boutique for some years, but that has been put on the backburner for a while, what with the shrinking economy and my shrinking mutual funds making that an impossibility for now. Over the summer I took some classes at FIT on fashion business, and as I found myself unemployed since mid-January with little to no prospects, decided now would be the time to pursue it. If I'm not going to be making any money, I might as well be learning something.

Enter Samantha Pleet. I'd admired Samantha's work for some time... she has a style that is distinctly Brooklyn and she makes vintage-influenced clothes for girls and guys that are totally recognizable and unique. Also her signature is the romper which is one of my favorite things to wear. Anyway, I emailed Samantha (who's studio is based about 20 minute walk from my apartment) to see if she needed any interns at the moment. I told her I could work 2-3 days a week, on a temporary basis, and that I was looking for permanent work but could work with her as long as I was unemployed. She said she liked my aesthetic and that she could definitely use the help, so a couple weeks ago I became one of her assistants. Yes, world, I am a 28 year old intern. To be honest, its ok. In a way, unless I don't think about the fact that I am not getting paid, its fun and not at all demeaning; and the work so far has been a lot more varied and interesting than most of the temp work that I've done in offices.

This past week we were preparing for Samantha's show and party at the Tribeca Grand. Well, not show rather, but presentation. She put together a video of people wearing the clothes, and models stood around wearing pieces, including me, which made me a little uncomfortable, but it was kinda fun. Here are some photos of the models getting ready and the party itself.

I'm not sure what will happen now that the crazyness of fashion week is over, but I'm sure there's much more work to do and much more to learn. I actually have a lot of ideas about how she can make the business run more efficiently. There are a lot more similarities than you would think between running a fashion business and running a non-profit... keeping track of every expense, finding creative ways to make the most out of limited resources, finding people with money and influence to help you out, etc... who knows where this will lead...

A Tour of East Williamsburg Bizarro Businesses, Part 2

2009-02-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

This has to be one of my favorite businesses on Graham Avenue. First, let's start with the name: Kitty's Cards 'n Things. Emphasis on the "Things." Though it first appears to just be a simple card and photo shop, Kitty's Cards 'n Things is provides a plethora of goods and services. Along with "greeting cards," "back packs," "passport photos," and "video transfer," signs on the door claim that Kitty's also offers XXX and Kung Fu DVD's (starting at $5.99, a bargain!), watch bands and batteries, and if you go inside, you will also discover a large selection of bongs and pipes. Perhaps this is what is meant by "Gifts and Toys." They should mention this is gifts for your stoner cousin who goes to high school in New Jersey. Who, while you're there, would also totally appreciate some lottery tickets. Come to think of it, I feel like this is the kind of business a stoner kid from New Jersey would probably open.

On a somewhat related topic, it has been noted by myself that East Williamsburg local bar Sweet Ups now has a sign declaring it is open at noon every day. Considering they don't really serve food there, what exactly is the point of this? Are we hipsters unemployed in such quantities that we have been driven to drink at all hours of the day? The evidence, as several daytime walk-bys have suggested, points to not yet. But maybe soon.

Rebecca Turbow's A/W 09 Presentation

2009-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Wowza, Turbow, you definitely stepped up your game. I'm not very good at writing about fashion in an editorial way so all I wil say about this collection is that it is mature, tailored, and very wearable. And the fabrics! No more jersey! I totally want me some A/W 09 Rebecca Turbow love...

This top was my favorite piece from the collection. I totally want to make a skirt inspired by this top.

This statement "fan" necklace made a lot of appearances in the collection.

Twigs Salon

2009-02-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

Years ago, I worked at a hair salon in the East Village called Soon Beauty Lab. It was a pretty decent place to work, and there were some really talented hairdressers that worked there, but the structure and style of the salon was not the best fit for everyone employed there. So in December, three of the most talented (and coolest, in my fair opinion), opened their own salon on E. 11th Street between A and B. Twigs Salon has a completely different aesthetic than Soon (and a different attitude, as well). Most of their furnishings were picked up on Ebay and in thrift stores. They even have a vintage bar in the lower level where you can help yourself to a beer or some wine while you get your hair did.

The atmosphere is casual, warm, rustic, and mid-century, but not gimmicky or pretentious. I'm so proud of my friends for making their vision come to life. I wish I could do the same!

I took these pictures on Wednesday afternoon when I stopped by to have Julie cut my bangs. Alyssa, Dion, and Evie the doggy were there too to see Janell, and Heather stopped by so we could hang out and enjoy the amazing 65 degree day.

Unemployment entertainment

2009-02-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

It's week 4 of official unemployment. The first week was nice, the second week I had a house guest to entertain me, but weeks 3 and 4 have been pretty fucking boring, in all honesty. Between applying for the odd job here and there (its slim pickings out there on the internet, today I emailed a contact at AIDS Walk to see if they were hiring and I am supposed to get an interview to be a sign and poster distributor...wooooooo) I am trying to find different ways to pass the time. Trying as hard as possible to avoid shopping, I have been sewing (some, not tons), cleaning & reorganizing, reading (and yes, watching lots of tv), working out, but probably mostly cooking and baking. Cookies from scratch, muffins from scratch, gnocchi from scratch, and today, bolognese sauce from scratch.

Though I've always enjoyed cooking, this is a huge departure from the kind of food I was eating while employed, which generally consisted of food that I could either pop in the microwave, oven or pot and go lie in bed till it was ready. I am making way more than I can actually eat myself. Now I know what a 50's housewife must have felt like.

I have never felt so much that I need a purpose in life.

Scooters and Mortality

2009-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

Since I was a teenager I have been obsessed with Vespa scooters. Obviously this had something to do with my "mod phase" and too many viewings of Quadrophenia. I had visions of myself zipping around San Francisco in a mini dress and big sunglasses.

So, much to my mother's dismay, I bought my first Vespa, a 1979 P200E when I was 19 years old with money I had saved up from my Bat Mitzvah. $3,000 seems like not that much money in grown-up figures but to a teenager it was a fortune so I was able to save it that long. It cost about $1900 and then about $600 in repairs to make it (nearly) perfect. I bought it over the summer when I was living at my parents house, so once I went back to NY for school I knew I had to have another one, so I did some research and found a shop in Germany that would sell me a 1973 Rally 200 (my favorite make) for $1800 including shipping. This is the bike that I have been driving around for the past eight years.

But as the years go on, I find myself riding it less and less. I find myself favoring my bicycle for short trips around the neighborhood, and end up taking the subway into the city. Today it was unusually warm so I decided to take him out (first time since November) to the Brooklyn Flea market in Dumbo. BIG MISTAKE. A couple miles into the trip, Chip (his name) started backfiring and eventually refused to stay on. I was stranded in a pretty desolate party of Williamsburg near no subways and wearing 4" heeled boots. Fabulous. I locked him to a pole and found a bus stop and am now waiting till Tuesday when Brooklyn Bretta, my repair shop, gets my voicemail when they open, hoping he will still be there and in one piece.

I had forgotten but I had had the same problem with Chip over the summer and had to get him picked up again, this time in front of my house. I am wondering if maybe Chip's life is close to finished. He is nearly 36 after all. There are plenty of Vespas out on the road that are older than that, and since the engine is so simple, it is generally believed that with regular maintenance you can keep a Vespa running indefinitely. However, this comes at a time when I have been riding less and, for some reason, getting more and more scared to ride at all. After back surgery #3 last year I think I became a little more cautious and conscious of my own mortality. And frankly, riding around New York on a Vespa, while convenient, is becoming less and less fun and more and more just plain scary. There are 2-foot deep pot holes everywhere, cars drive too fast and honk at you or cut you off if you're not driving fast enough according to their liking, pedestrians and bikes dart out into the street without looking, and even other motorcycles can be assholes. I've never had a real accident, though I've fallen off a couple times, but the close calls are more than I could count.

So basically, I'm starting to consider selling Chip. He is my baby and I love having him around, but lately I've been feeling like a car might be a better bet for me. I could carry groceries and run errands in it, drive it in the winter, and take trips out of town. It would be more expensive for sure, so probably not realistic until I get a new job, but maybe I need to come to grips that its time to let this scooter fulfill some other kids Quadrophenia dreams. If they can get him running, that is...

Chip, I hope you are safe down there on the fringe of Williamsburg and Clinton Hill. May you be safe from thieves and vandals.

A Tour of East Williamsburg Bizarro Businesses, Part 1

2009-02-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

I live in a corner of Brooklyn often referred to the "3rd Stop" or "East Williamsburg." Technically I live in Greenpoint according to my zip code but my closest L train stop is the Graham Ave. stop. It is a mix of 20-something and 30-something hipsters, old Italian people, and Poles. The latter two were obviously here first. Naturally, the make-up of businesses in the area generally reflects this mix. Next to newcomer coffee shops like Variety and boutiques like Treehouse, you will have places like Grande Memorial, for all your funeral and tombstone needs ("For 24-hour service call Jerry!" a sign proclaims). But perhaps because of the changing nature of the neighborhood, Grande Memorial is maybe not getting as much business as it used to... not enough 20-something kids OD'ing on heroin unfortunately. So what does Grande Memorial do? They decide to supplement their tombstone business by SELLING BREAD. Take a good look at photo number two below and you can see fresh loaves of French Rustica nestled alongside a stone statue of Jesus:

Good thinking, Grande Memorial. Now next time I am browsing tombstones I'll remember to pick up a couple baguettes.

Stay tuned for more installments of WEIRD EAST WILLIAMSBURG BUSINESSES.

Angela Spencers Irresistable Stuff

2009-02-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

As shops and magazines are already pushing spring clothing at us, we here in New York are still in the throes of winter. Today was a balmy 28 degrees for a high, only to continue (if we are to believe the groundhog) for at least another month and a half. Harsh, mother nature, harsh. One of the problems with the lack of winter clothes in stores around this time of year is this is when I find I am constantly losing my winter accessories like scarves, hats, and gloves. My biggest casualty so far of the year was a super-long, super-warm black and white A.P.C. scarf that I picked up at a sample sale last winter, only to be left at Barden's Boudoir in London one night and is probably being worn by some lucky Locust fan (yes, I got talked into seeing the Locust) or perhaps a dandy Turkish man on the Kingsland Road. Though I was upset about that, I am also mourning the loss of my hat by the talented Angela Spencer. I discovered Angela and her line Angela Spencers Irresistable Stuff (A.S.I.S.) at the Brooklyn Lyceum Craft Market in December where I had a table. I did what I often tend to do which is spend all my money I make at craft fairs on other vendors crafts, but my hat by Angela was definitely the favorite thing I purchased.

Not only does she make fabulous stuff for winter but she also has launched a collection of one-of-a-king fancy crocheted collars made of vintage cotton for spring:

I especially love Angela's line because lot of indie knitwear out there tends to look a little artsy-crafty/hippy-dippy but A.S.I.S. is in single-color yarns in practical, basic colors. I miss my A.S.I.S. hat and hope to buy another one again soon.

City Hall in the snow

2009-02-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

Two tone tights, the compromise

2009-02-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

So everyone has seen the amazing 2-tone Chanel tights from F/W 08:

Drool. Some people thought, hey, they're tights, even though they're from Chanel, how expensive could they really be? Oh, snap, $350 on Ebay, nevermind. So, what other options do we have? Some ladies tried to make their own, others (including myself) picked up the cheapo not nearly as cool version by Urban Outfitters:

Sadly, not only did these not quite look right because the front was sheer instead of creme colored, but because the front was so sheer, they snagged and laddered during the first wear. $5 not very well spent if I do say so myself.

The compromise? I found some from Wolford on Ebay ($40) that, while not exactly the same, have the same effect and are much thicker and higher quality than the UO ones:

Hat: Brooklyn Handknit; Scarf: by the amazing Kim of Tiny Hearts on Etsy; Jacket: Mischen; Gloves: Leather Gloves Online; Shorts: Topshop; Tights: Wolford; Boots: Vintage; Bag: Self-made; Umbrella: Amazon. Really!

And yes, I am wearing shorts in the snow, dammit. Bundle up on your neck and head and you'll be ok, generally.