The Petite Sophist

Pins

2011-06-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

I'm on Pinterest now, go deal with it!

Posh

2011-04-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

How old do I have to be before I can dress like this daily without it being an unbelievable reverse case of 'mutton-dressed-as-lamb'? (Answer: "Victoria Beckham.")

Bons

2011-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

One thing I really love is personal style 'secrets' -- like when you read in a magazine or Into the Gloss or whatever and Sophia Coppola is offering little nuggets of wisdom that make no sense like "I rub lemon juice on my face each night before bed, and I never wear blue because it makes your veins look prominent and I only use Swedish egg white soap to remove my eye makeup" and it's like a weird glimpse into their twisted psyche. But what I really love is when that life advice and hard-earned 'secrets' to style are served up by icons in a bullet-pointed list of little witty declarative Oscar Wilde bons mots. When I was a kid, I had this book, which I used to read and re-read and love without even understanding the diva culture it was mocking:
Here's an awesome post of excerpts from it -- magnifique! Simon Doonan has good ones too -- listen up girls! Thongs are over and tattoos are trying too hard!
So courtesy of this girl's blog, here's a fab alphabetical list from Marlene Dietrich. My personal favorites:

K - Kisses

Don't waste them. But don't count them.

L - Lukewarm

When this adjective applies to your feelings, stop feeling whatever you are feeling.

M - Make-up

Too bad most of us need it.

N - Nail Polish

Dark nail polish is vulgar.

P - Pants

In Texas when you say that a man is beautiful or handsome, you simply say: "His pants fit him."

Rod

2011-02-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, Rodarte for Opening Ceremony just captured my imagination. In addition to nude lace trousers (above) there are:

Buttonhole-peeper cotton Weimar tights,

Paisley carpetbagger Durango ankle boots,

And a tubular belt bag. Color me impressed.

Now

2011-02-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm real interested in:

dainty golden rings

weird two-layer manicures

bullet boobs

Nick Offerman

these high-heeled bunny slippers

this darling made-to-order dress

and riding breeches, the big floppy-sided kind like on the Vintage Vixen.

Also, right now, really into deep Etsying, I go on epic spirit quests on Etsy and come out the other side with stuff like this:

A vintage charm bracelet with Expressionistic depictions of the sins forbidden by each of the Ten Commandments. It's only $15, maybe I need it? The Ninth Commandment, the one about bearing false witness, is missing, which is too bad, because I'd really like to see what a depiction of someone 'bearing false witness' would be like.

Blog

2011-01-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

Combination Out With The Old and Spring Cleaning, here's every image that I saved for my blog, but didn't use for it, in 2010.

Lula

2011-01-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

You slags like Lula magazine? Sure you do, it's cute and stuff! I've just placed issues #3 (Karen Elson in a tree), #5 (K.Dunst is a sweetie pie pie), #6 (Siri Tollerod doing Daisies) and #7 (Audrey Marnay is a witch!) up for sale on eBay, so if you're into that kind of thing, you can buy one from me and help a sister out.

Bernie

2011-01-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

Of all the outfits Bernadette Peters wears in 'The Jerk,' the one I would most like to wear is the strapless creme dress with the Isadora Duncan chiffon scarf and the glued-on boob-rhinestone, above. She wears it when they go out to dinner and there are snails on her plate. (My second choice would be the single-shouldered, ditsy-print, midriff-baring two-piece playsuit she wears while throwing knives.) Seriously, who costume-designed that shizz, give that lady (?) an award.

Bernadette Peters is kind of my role model for being petite et bloussant avec panache, n'est-ce pas? I think I'm going to start a series on this blog where I highlight tiny treats with bodacious natural racks like Bernie, who are prominent outside of the adult film industry.

Tired

2011-01-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

So far, 2011 has been Ruff Stuff for me. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that this blog is an abandoned baby, because I'm too emotionally exhausted all the time to type about even my favorite thing, the thing that engages me when everything else barely registers (I am talking about shoes). These boots, like, move me -- but I'm too tired to tell you why. So just look at them.

Web

2011-01-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

When you take goth shit and do it in non-goth colors, you usually end up with something pretty epic. See: spiderweb tights.

Happy

2010-12-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Eve! Have fun tonight -- let's talk resolutions soon, babies.

Wire

2010-12-29T19:01:00.000-08:00

This year I've gone a little bit mad for the idea of monogramming -- signet rings, handkerchiefs, backpack satchels (sweet fancy Moses, I've been thinking about that pack all year and I can still taste it on the tip of my tongue), etc. I haven't yet reached the Sex and the City nameplate phase, but I just discovered this website which offers names and initals formed out of wire and shaped into necklaces, bracelets, etc. I really want my three initials on a stickpin (above)! To put on coats! And seriously, it's only like $20.
They can also do phrases, but only up to 20 letters. I very badly wanted to have my all-time favorite motto, from Rocky Horror Picture Show, emblazoned in gold-filled wire:

"It's not easy having a good time."

But it's too long! Truly, it's not easy finding a life motto that will fit onto an item of novelty jewelry. Please leave your suggestions for phrases to live one's life by, under 20 character's excluding spaces, in the comments section.

Green

2010-12-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the new Spandex Pony, I've got these Prada S/S11 eyeglasses in my brain -- I like the green ones.

Knick

2010-12-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Today's post on historical knickers goes out to Silver Falls -- I think she'd enjoy them. My real underpinnings passion is for brassieres but occasionally a stellar pair of panties (ew, I said 'panties'!) compels me, and these are pretty weirdly distinctive and affordable (you know, relatively).

The Henry ones make me laugh.

Bolynderpants!

Love

2010-12-26T11:49:00.001-08:00

Merry X-mas, y'all, please enjoy R. Kelly's new seasonal jam.

Pouf

2010-12-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

My latest late night brainstorm: I get my hands on a Moroccan leather pouf and use my off-season clothing to stuff it -- shorts and filmy dresses in the winter, sweaters and tights in the summer -- thereby creating a combination attractive decor element and storage solution, so much better than an ugly tupperware tub I have to stow out of sight. Admit it, I'm a genius -- I can't wait to put this plan into effect.

Pick

2010-12-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

Pixie Market is on my wavelength lately with separates in the perfect peaches, camels, mustards, khakis and classic red and all the asymmetrical detailing and juxtaposed textural embellishment a girl could ever need. Le sigh.

Braid

2010-12-15T08:47:00.001-08:00

Loving these gross artificial braid necklaces. I'm working on an outfit designed to keep men away and it involves mule clogs with socks and one of these babies.

Fox

2010-12-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

The wells of blogging inspiration have been running seriously dry for me lately, but this little 18-year-old Scandinavian fox on Hel Looks is making me cry with a perfect poem of an outfit -- the coat in that weirdo chartreuse/bronze/golden olive-y color (I love that color), the complimentary bronzey brown scarf, the boxy beige leather bag, the white lace bralet over a black top (?!) and those gorgeous opened-up labial rips in her jeans (how did she even do that? I wanna do that!). And it's all held down with sober black man-shoes. I just don't even have any words, it's so subdued and classic yet weird and original. So there you go.

Fancy

2010-11-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

I'd like a fancy pair of colorful, dainty leather gloves -- these peach ones are perfect (I love the scooped shape at the top).

Perfect

2010-11-25T13:32:00.000-08:00

The perfect X-mas gift - a fragrance that smells like me.

Ink

2010-11-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

If you find yourself strolling past a Sephora any time soon, I'd really recommend popping in and asking the sales associate for a free sample of Boscia's luminizing black mineral mask. Having tested it I can say with authority that it really doesn't seem to do anything, but that the inky, opaque color, the sharp herbal smell and the sensation of peeling it off your face like Scotch tape are all awesome and make for a fun night in.

Glove

2010-11-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

At first I thought this Marc by Marc Jacobs cap paid lip service to the Schiaparelli glove hat, but further investigation reveals that she never actually did one (she did do a shoe hat). But Dolce and Gabbana did, in a collection very much in homage to her:

It's also very Azumi and David (I just love them).

Liz

2010-11-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

I'm too full of various woes to blog -- too full, in fact, to do anything except watch '30 Rock' streaming on Netflix, episode after episode. Everybody, please watch 30 Rock -- I was Liz Lemon for Halloween and was distressed by how few people are actually familiar with the show. You're just depriving yourselves.

Nude

2010-10-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

Obviously I can't stop thinking about wacky pants. These arty Quail crepe pants have the same ankle-ties as those Built By Wendys I liked but the flowy drapey material might be more flattering, plus they come in this awesome almond-peach-nudie shade that I love. I could put some sweater tights on under these and be pretty comfy in them all winter, I think. They'd also make nice 'formal trousers' to wear with heels and a pretty blouse for when you want to be difficult at somebody's wedding.

Imagine them tucked into riding boots, all spilling out languidly over the lip of the boot and quavering in the breeze.

Yarn

2010-10-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

These Karen Walker yarn-shouldered things are killing me, they're so good. Kind of A. Wang football-meets-maribou-luxury-meets-Muppets. I'm still deciding whether or not the fringed poufs would fight with my boobs, but I'd be willing to chance it for this kind of deranged slouchy elegance.
Something this nutty-yet-daytime-casual can really bring your look to the next level.

Oh yeah.

Spin

2010-10-11T20:06:00.001-07:00

Everybody shut up because I need to tell you something important right now:
These are Goody Spin Pins , they cost six bucks and they're amazing. Because I spent my adolescence/college experience with cropped or bobbed hair I never learned how to 'do hairstyles' and now I'm at about age 14 on the learning curve. All my bun attempts so far have been what I would evocatively describe as 'Helen Keller-y' and they all fall out after forty minutes, but today I jammed these two little double-helix pins into my wadded-up hair and made a ballerinariffic bun that lasted all damn day! What a fucking elegant little device! Love it, I would do an unpaid commercial for these things. (The only other product I would do unpaid advertising for is the Instead cup -- ladies, stop punishing your cookie with tampers and get on this bandwagon -- I've used them for like five years and I'd rather die than ever, ever use a tampon again. I'm serious.)

Vog

2010-09-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm crazy now, but something about the vaulted shape of that heel and instep makes these cloggy Clockwork Orange chunkers kind of appealing, kind of Marc Jacobs nurse-shoe-y. They also have black but that's dull and orange but that takes it to far into clown shoe territory. Or maybe it's already there. I just don't know anymore, you guys. Sort of like exploring 'the pink of goth,' I've been really understanding the 'ugly of pretty' lately.

Bib

2010-09-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Also in the category of 'weird leather accessories,' this droopy, luggage-colored, studded, basketweave leather lobster bib. Inscrutable. I love it. Hey, how come nobody makes like really soft buttery leather/suede scarves? I bet one of those would feel pretty good wrapped around your throat on a bone-chilly night. I'll look into it.

Belt

2010-09-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

God, I love Zana Bayne's harnesses. The dove grey takes it from 'bondage daddy accoutrement' to 'curve-defining luxury body belt' to be worn over burgundy silk dresses and things. I'd want one bad but then I remember that my huge boobs nudge any kind of suspender strap pornographically to the outside of my body and then I look like Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS.

Collage

2010-09-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Will you look, just look at this gorgeous collage printed on a luxey silk scarf? I think it's just splendid and in an amazing hazy color palette that would look so good scrunched up around your neck.

Braids

2010-09-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

All my friends know how my dearest wish is to be able to do my hair in Yulia Tymoshenko head-braids, and I'm finally getting there! They're still wee, but it's not to shabby, as you can see in these unflattering webcam shots (I got a webcam, and video-chatting with far-away friends is my new favorite.)

Yeah!

Green

2010-08-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

I'm going out on a limb here and saying that I think the particular not-too-bright emerald/bottle green of this nail polish and these tights is going to be huge for fall. I feel pretty pleased with my wardrobe of beloved standards for fall, but a few touches of green will really garnish things up.
Aviator caps probably won't be huge for fall, but I really like them:

Five

2010-08-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

Fashion kind of dies for me in the summer. When it's really hot I only feel comfortable in about five articles of clothing and I just wear them every day in different combinations -- thrift store khaki shorts, Russian sleeveless telnyashka tank, American Apparel sheer jersey t-shirts and a chambray skirt I got at Target, always, always worn with Dr. Scholls exercise sandals:

God, it's so boring. I really want to get to fall. Confidential to all the girls that hate to wear their underwires in the sweltering heat:
Chantelle is making these bras now, out of what they call '3D spacer fabric,' which is fucking miraculous space-age porous foam material that breathes really well. I have this bra and it's changing my summertime life -- the only thing is that they're so thin that if you go into a chilly air-conditioned room you'll nip out like crazy. But who cares (not me!).

Big

2010-08-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

Want some big pants.

Glamor

2010-08-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched The Wyvern Mystery -- it's a BBC adaptation of a very Jane Eyre-esque J.S. LeFanu novel, starring Naomi Watts. It struggles at time with made-for-tv quality but overall I thought it was quite good. Naomi really impressed me with her highwire emotionality -- I can see how she really made Funny Games, she's very good at getting shriek-y and hysterical and having it register as realistic rather than absurd (but I'm still never going to watch Funny Games). Here's a nice review.
A detail that I really liked was the beauty decision in the movie -- it's difficult to see from this jenky screencap but they gave Naomi a very historically-accurate clean face, no lashes or lip color at all, and it's great. She looks like the naturally pretty lady she is, living in the appropriate time period, when only whores used cosmetics. It often bothers me when the current ideal of cosmetic beauty is projected onto women in period films -- the first time I really ever noticed it was seeing The Searchers -- that movie has phenomenal costume direction, everybody's convincingly sweaty and their clothes are dirty and timeworn and rumpled and patched, but the homesteader mother still has a thick, greasy swipe of '50s whale blubber red lipstick, out there in their log cabin in the middle of dry, arid NOTHING. Even the Native American girls wear red lips in that movie.

When I say that commitment to glamor over the logical actualization of the historical setting 'bothers me' I really mean 'it's paradoxically the best thing about golden age cinema,' too. It's like that scene in Unzipped when Isaac Mizrahi is talking about his inspirations for his arctic line and he's discussing the 1935 Call of the Wild where the actress is freezing in the snow with perfect eyebrows, lined lips and porcelain skin:

That rules too.

Avenue

2010-08-04T19:03:00.001-07:00

I went to watch On The Avenue today and I nearly did a spit take when I saw Alice Faye in her Lady Gaga vinyl fetish leg-o'-mutton governess frock in this opening scene. In my head I (erroneously?) associate this kind of fetish fashion as originating in Weimar Berlin, so it's not unheard of in 1937, but it seems fairly outre for a major motion picture. I bet some budding pervert saw this with his parents when he was, like, 6, and it totally changed his life trajectory in meaningful ways, and then finally the '70s happened and he went to town and became one of those weird Puppy Papers BDSM guys. Later on in the movies a chorus line dances in short black vinyl graduation gowns (and matching vinyl caps).
Anyway, this is a very pleasing, snappy musical with well-known Irving Berlin songs, and it also has some pretty astounding numbers by the Ritz Brothers, who are identical triplet comedians/singers/dancers. That's a triple-triple threat, guys.

Suede

2010-07-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

July turned out kind of smutty on the blog, and I think I'm just gonna roll with it. Eroticism is a very personal thing. To me, these Colin Stuart boots (in burgundy) from Vicky's Secret are the perfect thing to give to a lady when you really want to slip it to her in a complicated way that takes most of the day -- they say, 'I find your body deeply exciting,' without also adding, 'and I see you as a substitute for a stripper.' It's because they're suede -- suede classes things up considerably. Probably because it doesn't wipe clean. (Yeah, I went there.) I love, love, love patent leather, but only in a low, sensible shoe. Tall, sexy shoes should all be in suede and flat, everyday shoes should be in patent leather. Undermining expectation is, to me, the essence of style. That's advice you can take to the bank, ladies. We have a system, am I right?

p.s. For more style advice that I totally support, check out Bekah Brunstetter's fashion posts on her blog. I totally want to be friends with her.

Cherry

2010-07-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Can I really wear cherry red, high-waisted, long-butt cropped trousers?
And, just because I can wear something, should I?

Sophia

2010-07-21T22:37:00.001-07:00

Hey dirty girls/boys/other! You wanna buy a corset? I thought so. I'm selling a fly one here. Go check it out, I won't tell anybody. These make great presents if your girl's a freak in the bedroom, you know what I'm sayin'?

Yeah, I knew you did. Anyway, tell your friends!

Lost

2010-07-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty busy having an awesome summer but I can always brake for amazing shoes. These Repettos are ridiculous -- I just finished Alan Moore's fab Lost Girls trilogy and they totally are giving me the naughty Victoriana vibe of the books. Great shoes to wear with a smile and nothing else.

The thing I really liked about Lost Girls, besides the clever scrambling of time-worn childrens' tales, was the exploration of that familiar pornographic trope of absolutely everyone in the world being super-horny and open to sex with anyone, all the time. It's what we all like best about smut, I think -- that concept of all our propositions being met with extreme zeal and zero shame, nervousness or disappointment, of sex being easy -- because of course it isn't.

Baby

2010-07-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Clogblog

2010-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

You guys already know how I feel about comfort clogs, but I've sort of become deeply enamoured of the whole 'rusticated clog boot' thing that's happening right now -- I might have to get myself a pair. Here's a primer on clog types:

These remind me of the Victoria's Secret catalogue and frosted hair -- they're worse than the classic Dansko nurse clog, if that's even possible. Kate Beckinsale (it's you, right?), you look like five kinds of bimbo, and your manfriend is wearing flippies. I'm really disappointed in you.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, you look cute. Your clogs are making me think about Rachel Comey and other pedigreed shoe designers I appreciate instead of about 'comfort footwear.' And your little cuddlepal's boots are rugged and sculptural and Heidi-without-the-cutesieness and I approve of them very highly. And that's really my final word on clogs.

Leather

2010-06-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

For an avowed vegetarian I've got a real bad attitude about leather -- I really don't think there's any viable alternative that's as sturdy and long-lived as real leather for shoes and bags and accessories. Everything else just falls apart. This belt is super-sharp (the double buckle I've seen around a lot, Karen Walker and lots of designers doing a double-buckle belt): I also really love this braided cuff:
And the brand's name, 'Death and Texas' -- how good is that?

Self-image

2010-06-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

My celebrity lookalike, three perspectives:

Eric

2010-06-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry, everybody, sorry, Jezebel devotees -- I'm not ready to give the finger to old AA yet -- they still make the best t-shirts, hoodies, tights and men's briefs money can buy and they always have my favorite magazine in stock. BUTT magazine is doing all these merch collaborations with American Apparel and it's so fucking smart it's killing me. They just unveiled these pin-up towels -- they come in five flavors of twink/beefcake and of course I'm partial to the two beary ones. Remember those beach towels that had Raymond Pettibon/Ed Ruscha/etc. images printed on them? Good idea, but this one's better -- this would be my ultimate beach towel.

Lamour

2010-06-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

This tropical lampoon with Dorothy Lamour is the highlight of an otherwise serviceable-but-not-great 1948 screwball comedy called On Our Merry Way.

Eagle

2010-06-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

When my boyfriend goes on trips he leaves the watch I gave him here with me, and I wear it, and it looks good on me, so I've been shopping around for an oversized, rugged man-watch of my own to dwarf my lady-wrist. So far I really dig this Illuminati-esque Stuhrling with its splashes of safety orange (my favorite):
The key here is that bulbous wind-up dial, it's so big, it looks like a tooth! It also has a second hand and a date-keeper -- that is useful! Women's watched don't come with any of that shizz! It also comes in these weird colorways:

I can't decide if those rivets on the band are too douchey, though. I want a 'boyfriend watch,' not a 'my boyfriend's a tool' watch.

Rain

2010-06-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's been raining for weeks straight here in Portland -- yesterday, June 10th, it was 60 degrees and pouring. I can feel people beginning to turn on each other. I'm dead serious. Wish I had a fashion rain cape to get me through it.

Plain

2010-06-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping a log of all my frivolous purchases and I a) spend too much money and b) buy too much retail. I'm sick of feeling like a corporate shill so I'm trying to make more of a concerted effort to buy second-hand or 'indie' (really don't like that term) when I buy my needful things so I'm supporting talented individual, small-business owners and charitable foundations instead of multinational corporations (yeah, I know, fucking revolutionary). I just purchased the exquisite false knit scarf, above, in this shade of amazing golden green from plainMADE studio here in Portland. I didn't think I was the type of lady who spends $40 on a silken scarf but I guess you learn something new about yourself every day, and it's quite frankly fabulous. It also came packaged adorably -- I really recommend their stuff (you might remember their super-secret hood from last winter).
Now I'm working hard at finding the most attractive, non-old-lady ways to incorporate the scarf in my wardrobe. Here are some tutorial pages on classy scarf-ties:

The seventies were kind of the silk scarf's apex, weren't they?

Top

2010-06-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Remember my carefully designed topless swimsuit idea? American Apparel is showing it off to its full effect! I told you, this shit's gonna be big. p.s I bought this American Apparel bottom in this color, it's rad.

Tassel

2010-05-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

I recently jettisoned most of my high school/college-acquired jewelry because I felt that it no longer met the needs of contemporary me. Boring, middle-of-the-road jewelry is one of my least favorite things (nothing muddles up your look like too much 'ok' jewelry, in my opinion -- and besides the occasional bulky/signet-y ring it is unconscionable on men -- no earrings, necklaces or (ick) bracelets, period!) so I don't wear much of it -- I just have one pair of crazy earrings, a big crazy amber cube ring that I got in Krakow and two drapey cleavage-dippy Forever 21 necklaces, but I'd like to have some more options that say 'discerning adult Lily.' These tassel-y things from A Little Hamster are speaking to me, and they're affordable, too -- are tassels more or less cliché than triangular used-car-lot flags right now?

Sperry

2010-05-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

Every outfit I tried on today looked way better when I mentally subbed in a pair of weirdly colorful Sperry Top-Siders. I think they're a good idea.

Alisa

2010-05-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Austin gets credit for discovering SuperAlisa -- she's the 'Tatar M.I.A.' (his words). This second song, "Tatarstan Supergood," is just her rapping the names of several prominent Tatars over and over and it's crazy catchy:

It's 'Tatar,' everybody, not 'Tartar,' as in the sauce. Get educated about former Soviet ethnic minorities!

Andy

2010-05-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been getting most of my 'fashion theory' from the Andy Rooney segments that cover topics of personal style. I'm with him on shoes -- they never fit my gosh-darn feet right.

Thus

2010-05-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Now I know I've had this blog for too long because I can't remember if I ever posted on this before, but every once in a while I see a Balthus oil painting (like at the Chicago Art Institute, maybe?), bop myself on the forehead and say "That's the perfect way to dress!" Stay with me here -- Balthus is one sick fuck (and I mean that in the best way) but you -- grown-lady you -- dressing like a European midcentury little girl, in comfortably swingy A-line skirts, little blouses, cardigans and smart little jackets, all in cheerful but not overbearing colors, with flat shoes and a side part is a delightful, slightly bookish, fetching spring look that highlights your delectable bare calves, your delicate limbs, and your toothsome, naturalistic beauty.
These outfits are all so good because they're not overtly precious -- they're feminine but without all the ridiculous trappings of adult womanhood that are synonymous with this time period (heels, corset, a faceful of makeup). They're also not "I'm a pwetty widdle girl"-type grossness -- these girls who I want you to dress like, paradoxically, dress like little ladies. Just functional and streamlined, with pleasing color combinations. I also advocate a lack of concern for posture -- go ahead and lounge.
I would be judicious with your use of white knee high socks, though, because I feel that pushes things over into Lolita-tacky territory (fine if that's what you're going for, but that's not what this is about). Peter Pan collars are also on a case-by-case basis.
Look at her, she's like the only Anthropologie model who's actually cool (because she's 10). I love it.

Mix

2010-05-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Do you know that I did Wardrobe Remix for about six months in the summer/fall of 2008? It's true -- sort of am embarrassing thing to cop to, but I was 'between boyfriends' and it really helped me pass the time while being lonely/sad/devastated. I recommend it for that -- keeps you off the streets and you get some freebie compliments to boot (and also sometimes fetishists of whatever thing you happen to be -- in my case, bespectacled, chesty and frequently wearing Keds -- will add you to their photo-pools and make you feel sexually attractive again. And then you block them.).
Anyway, I was thinking about my summer wardrobe options and I went back to my old WR photos to remember how to look nice in the summertime. These are my three 'greatest hits.' I didn't smile in my WR photos because that ain't 'fierce,' and because I was super turned off by the cutesy-wutsey China Doll poses so many chicks so in their photos -- sheesh, what, is your life a Seventeen magazine?

I miss my short hair sometimes. I don't really love to post photos of myself on here but I'm so confident about my super low readership that I don't even need to bother to Photoshop a koala head or whatever over my face. Did/do any of you use Wardrobe Remix?

Bike

2010-05-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

I've lived in Portland for almost five years and I've ridden my bike here maybe eight times. I know, I know, I'm a bad person -- but you don't know what it's like, Portland bike culture, how off-puttingly ubiquitous it is and what a slippery, slippery slope, too. There's this whole culture among the young people of riding your bike around everywhere (with no helmet, so you look cool) and being super smug about it and knowing how to eat a burrito WHILE you ride your bike and putting all your money into buying weird new bike parts and building bikes from scratch and going on kooky naked bike rides and talking about them forever and ever and going outside to gawk at somebody's parked bike because it's some fucking Italian brand -- it's all so dorky and it turns me off. Also, I've never been the steadiest Sally on a bicycle (shut up, I have thick glasses and I was an 'indoor kid') and people tend to assume a level of bike competency I don't have, which makes for awkward group bike rides. Also, I'm easily spooked and I have to keep my biking to low-traffic areas or I'm afraid I'll spazz out and fall off my bike. Also also, I like to wear fancy little outfits and being sweaty and windblown on a 'cycle' doesn't go with my 'look.' And I sunburn easily, ok? And when I ride over bumpy stretches it makes my boobs bounce uncomfortably!

So wah wah, I'm a pussy. I decided as much the other day and resolved to actually ride my bike more, at least just the short distance to work (I like to be contrary. When everybody crowds around me and chides, "Lily, Lily, why don't you ride your bike, it's so silly!" I get defensive and go "Everybody just leave me alone! I'll never ride a bike!" And then much later I decide at my own convenience that it makes sense.). But let's backtrack a little and go back to the issue of helmets: nobody in Portland wears them, which is wack. You have to protect your mind-grapes, everybody. But most helmets make you look like a asshole space alien, and I hate having to wear anything I think is ugly, even if it's functional or orthotic or 'for sports' or whatever (I'm still looking for decent-looking running shoes). Here are a few good-looking helmets that eschew the whole 'extraneous biomorphic forms of plastic pasted all over everything in clashing colors' aesthetic that has grown up around 'sporting' gear (god, I hate it).

My friend has this Bern 'Muse' helmet in matte black and it looks fucking equestrian fab. These seem to cost around $50-80 online:

I just bought this Bell helmet online for only $30 (because it's pink, I guess? Girls are so lame.). The other colors cost $40.
Giro makes cutie-pie helmets in nice colors for around $45, like this matte black gold-flecked one:
Or glossy white for a Mod Scooter look, easily visible to oncoming cars:

Or this one, which looks like one of those weird leather wrestling helmets. If I hadn't already bought the pink one I'd get this:

A final word on bike helmets: I don't want to see you in those twisted H.R. Giger helmets and I also don't want to see any of those bullshit screenprinted ones with butterflies or little abstract patterns. They're not quite as ugly as a cracked-open melon all over the pavement, but it's close, ok?

Chic

2010-05-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Our plans changed a little due to volcanic madness -- Irish airspace was closed so we were able to get a refund on our plane tickets and we went to sunny Chicago, instead! It was pretty great -- a lot of shopping, eating sushi and Russian food, drinking two glasses of wine and then visiting the Art Institute, exploring various neighborhoods and enclaves, and watching Dancing with the Stars in the hotel at night. A smattering of highlights:

This John Graham painting at the Art Institute ruled. Reminds me of 'Pepperland.'

So did this painting of Judith with the head of Holofernes. You go, girl.

We saw this baby at the Field Museum -- she's a 42,000 year old freeze-dried mammoth named Lyuba.

We visited the cool International Museum of Surgical Science, which has a marvelous tradition of devoting a portion of its space to fine art exhibits that address medical topics -- so smart for a primarily scientific/history museum to do! Up now is a fabulous, well-presented show of 'bejeweled blemishes' by Lauren Kalman that I just loved.

So now that I'm back I see that I'm getting more weird Chinese spam comments than usual -- what, am I gonna have to install one of those pass-check things that make you type the word 'foonvart' into the box to leave your comment? I'll do it, as soon as I figure out how!

Ireland

2010-04-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wha?! I'm off on another trip 'round the world! Sometimes I get depressed and think of myself as a desperately poor victim of the recession but then I realize that through a series of unusual circumstances I still get to go on amazingly fun trips all the time. And I've got my health, too. Hooray! Take care, little lambs -- I'll see you in May!

Tar

2010-04-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Whoa! What am I even looking at here? It's like a Hudson blanket refashioned into a Tarzan dress -- and I'm liking it! Guess how much this costs? $1,155! It's a crazy world -- somebody ought to sell tickets (for $1,155!). (It's Blouson Noir at Opening Ceremony, in case you're rushing out to buy one.)
Meanwhile at Opening Ceremony, the Where the Wild Things Are faux fur collaboration line has been reduced to a mere $138 and $87, respectively:

Maybe I have terrible taste now, or maybe I'm filled with anxiety about baring my body in the coming summer months (I tried on a bikini yesterday and I swear to you, to me the mirror image of my butt looked like the butt of a middle-aged mom, with dimpled thighs and squared-off hips and an ass that drops off like a cliff, which is what I heard Edith Head said about Barbara Stanwyck's ass. Yikes.) but I'm sort of digging the snuggly enveloping absurdity of these pieces. I'm seeing that fur skirt with a striped sailor top (I wear those with everything, all the time) and burgundy tights and roper boots and it looks pretty cute in my mind. I don't know, what do you all -- excuse me, all y'all -- think? About summer butts, fur skirts, the movie Where the Wild Things Are (I felt that it was misrepresented in advertising as a children's movie and is more accurately a movie about childhood, and that showing it to actual children is tantamount to showing a room full of people tripping out on acid a movie about the experience of tripping out on acid -- just a terrible, terrible idea), or any of it?

Comme

2010-04-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Gawd, Comme des Garcons heart-icon fake Chucks? In natural canvas with a black tab up the back? How great are they? At Tobi -- about $90 now, maybe I can afford some when they go on sale.

Bag

2010-04-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

I saw the black leather shopping bag above, by Slow and Steady Wins The Race, and I was taken, charmed by its insoucience, its wit, its texture -- so clever, so reminiscent of favored design duo Azumi and David... wait a second....That's Azumi and David's leather shopping bag (if you don't know them you have to go peruse their wares -- they're sort of like if Robert Gober had gone into fashion design instead of installation art)-- I don't really know whose came first and who is biting whose style, since SSWTR and A'n'D work in a very similar conceptual mode, but I'm inclined to side with the latter since they're the only MARRIED design team I know:

Seriously, how cute? How cute are they?

Homme

2010-04-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

The major reason that male homosexuality is so threatening to the patriarchy is that it promotes a system of same-gender static, glamorized, artificialized sexual objectification that challenges the relevance and appropriateness of display of strictly the female form in such a manner and the supposed 'inalienable decorative beauty' of the feminine body. Think about it. These wacky manpanties are Greg Homme and you can get them at Freshpair. (I really wonder what they look like in the back.)

Cape

2010-04-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's almost summer, short shorts, sunglasses, gladiator sandals, ice cream cones, Coconut Records yadda yadda yadda, but listen up: remember how obsessed with capes you were this winter, and you saw all those girls in their capes and they looked so good? Do you remember? This Pendleton Woolen Mills cape is $55 and it used to be $238. That's 76.890% off. It's effin' quality and lovely and Little Red Riding Hood-esque and has a "stand-up collar, jaunty patch pockets and button front." If you were a shrewd thing you'd buy it and tuck it away for next winter. Ants versus grasshoppers.

Lucifer

2010-04-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

I found this on Cat Party; Sixpack France, a t-shirt company, has made a t-shirt out of the killer jacket graphic from Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising:

I'm admittedly a sucker for this kind of stuff -- it appeals heavily to my movie-nerd tendencies (deep down, I'm Bruce Vilanch).
They also offer a few other exceptionally smooth filmic tees (Fantastic Planet, Fast Times @ Ridgemont, La Chinoise, El Topo):

Dolphin

2010-04-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

Because the front of your leg is more alluring than the side of your leg, Rachel Comey reverse-dolphin shorts, genius! at La Garconne. Rachel Comey is officially my favorite out-of-reach designer -- I can't dream of affording her bewitchingly mannish shoes, delicate silk reverse-dolphin shorts or assymetrical alpaca-fur vests, but I still dream about them nightly. (Does anyone else feel a sense of unease about the impending warm weather? Summer for me is a time of feeling impossibly frumpy and sexually unappealing while also attracting unwanted solicitations from gross old men in my neighborhood and I am not looking forward to it.)

Natalie

2010-04-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

My co-worker gave me a stack of early Bust magazines and in one of them I spied this marvelous photo of lesbo aesthete Natalie Barney -- it was taken in 1902! Look at her, she looks like the long-lost Brat Packer. Go read all about her, she was a freewheeling, nonmonogamous gay slut and also used to go with Romaine Brooks, so chic!

Caboose

2010-04-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

There's nothing I love more than huge, nana-ish high-waisted swim bottoms and these Hayden-Harnett ones are delish, plus the loud print and ruffling details get people to look at your caboose instead of your jugs for once. (They also sell the matching tops for if you have problems attracting attention to your jugs.)

Boris

2010-04-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

My fave publication Butt just hipped me to the graceful, explicit work of Boris Torres; go check it!

Skunk

2010-03-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

You know this early-2000s skanktrap two-tone underlayer skunk look, popularized by Suicide Girls, BMX/tattoo models, promotional liquor spokesgirls and your brother's ridiculous girlfriend? Not to be confused with the Daphne Guinness haute Neapolitan skunk:
Here, let me refresh your memory a little more:

It's harsh, I know, peroxide/black, and it usually comes with mangled brows and a spray tan and a tattoo with the word "Daddy" in it and a lot of other horrible infractions. But stay with me here: don't you think that a subtler version, in two gently contrasted shades of mousy brown, could be sort of ridiculously chic on all those bangy A.P.C./Steven Alan/Lula/Francoise Hardy girls out there?

(These images are all from CopenhagenStreetStyle.) This is just an idea I had last night when I was falling asleep, so maybe it's not a good one, but I'm picturing it and I like what I see. Also, who could ask for a more low-impact, low-maintenance hair change -- demipermanent dye, you know, so it just faaaaaaaades out, no roots, no shit? Just think about it, ok? That's all I'm saying.

Core

2010-03-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm probably the only person in the world who prefers the Smashing Pumpkins AFTER they went goth-tronic, but I still think this video is a total treat, with all its filmic nods and Billy Corgan doing his Nosferatu/Hellraiser thing!

Ginger

2010-03-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

I'm into the nautical/crazy loop-tie situation on these pants, but are they too mumsy? They would be the way I'd wear them (with platform slides and an orchid cotton v-neck, so Oprah). They're 'only' $128 at Anthropologie right now.
Sifting through expensive retail goods on the internet satisfies my 'curatorial eye,' but it's no match for the bonkers thrill of finding something nuttily perfect and unexpected at a thrift store, a garage sale, on the street, at a NLP (Naked Lady Party, you guys). For $10 I just made mine a vintage gingerbread-colored leather overall-skirt, which comes across as a mix of this:

But sexy, you know? I could never have fathomed such a garment but now I don't know how I survived without it. Remember, retail is for suckers!

Skeg

2010-03-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

I've never been a ''skirt with black leggings and flats' girl (I just K.I.S.S. and wear tights), but something about the comfy spartan efficiency of these combo mini+legging things are looking really good to me. I have like a feeling that these are going to be 'a big thing' (in my world if nothing else). This is from Soma Intimates, but they're popping up all over. As soon as American Apparel rolls out a version we'll be golden. What do you guys think?

Scallop

2010-03-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

I saw this little ice cream scoop of a Ted Baker dress at Nordstrom today and I had to share -- scallops are a trend I'm so on board with, I'm always down with contrast piping, and the scalloped Peter Pan collar? Forget it! If I didn't think marriage was such a dirty sham I would buy this as my wedding dress.

Bosyork

2010-03-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

I'm back! We spent a week in Boston and New York City. I missed my first flight, played in the snow, saw my first penis on Chat Roulette, laughed with friends, rode on a Chinatown express bus from Boston to New York, saw two exemplary Paul Delvaux paintings, smelled the Gowanus canal, ate Tibetan food, ate cannoli, went to a Williamsburg Naked Lady Party, bought recycled yarn socks at Muji, saw Shutter Island, ate more amazing food (Snacky! Baba! Buddha Bodai!), watched rats frolic in the subway and came home.

Here's J.D. and me at some Civil War monument in Boston. It was hella cold there:

We swung by the storied Gowanus canal:Check out these sweet frames at Fabulous Fanny's, which is a paradise of wacky vintage glasses:
Here's a great William Kentridge we saw at MoMA:
And here's Marina Abramovic, who we also saw there:
Cool!

Holiday

2010-03-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm going to Boston to visit friends (!) and I'll be back, sometime. Love, Lily

Yeah

2010-03-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

I simply must have a new swimsuit this summer -- my current one is all frayed and compromised and I hate it. J. Crew is pulling out some hella cute colors -- this top is available in a D-cup size (woo hoo!) and I want to buy it in a rosy fleshtone and wear it with bright tropical bottoms for that topless effect. Yeah baby!

Reeves

2010-03-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend admonished me to 'put my sweet lips a little closer to the phone' last night and then he was surprised that I didn't know this great Jim Reeves song. Now I'm surprised you don't know it.

Piko

2010-02-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

I saw a girl walking down Burnside in these grey Pikolinos and as merely acceptable as they look in this photo, they were incredibly cute and striking in person, enough for me to swivel my head around and be like, "damn, girl!". The other day my friend made an offhand comment about how "shoes are [my] hobby" and I was sort of borderline offended. What am I, super boring or something?

Warb

2010-02-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

I've ordered my share of eyeglasses through jenky Chinese sites, with mixed results (Zenni is the best -- go there if you're gonna do it) but the styles and quality leave a bit to be desired sometimes -- Warby Parker is a slick online optical shop with a host of super-sweet frames, and they'll sell you a pair with your scrip in them for a paltry $95. I was all excited until I realized they couldn't fill my super-high prescription, but the rest of you blindies should have at it.

Val

2010-02-14T03:12:00.000-08:00

The Iron Chic did a fab post on shit she really loves, and I thought it was very timely for Valentine's Day. I think V-Day is bullshit but I do love a lot of stereotypical "Valentine's Day" things like lingerie, chocolate and sex toys. So here's a short list of a few of my very favorite things (besides the obvious ones, like my family, friends and boyfriend, fluffy animals and Mindy Kaling's Twitter):
Erotica: I'm halfway through this book -- I love a bit of smut classed up with a famous author's name.
15th-century Netherlandish Art: van der Weyden, Memling, van Eyck, van der Goes -- educate yourselves! Go check out a good book from the library (or better yet, fly to the Prado) because all these internet scans are way too shitty to properly appreciate this kind of technical mastery.
Stephen Fry: I love everything the man has ever done. Have you seen his current show, Q.I.? It's the best!
Dilettante Milk Chocolate-Ensconced Bing Cherries: They sell them at the Trader Joe's in a tub and if I buy them I always end up eating all of them within a day or two.
Crazy Underwear That I Will Probably Never Even Leave The House In: Aubade, Simone Perele, Huit and Marlies Dekkers make the best ones.
Seaweed: it's the miracle vegetable of the sea! I make seaweed salad or I put it in my miso soup.

Bruce McCulloch: Love, love, love him. Get his two spoken-word albums, "Shame-Based Man" and "Drunk Baby Project" and you'll be glad you did.
De-veganizing: I love to get vegan cookbooks from the library and then make the recipes with real milk, yogurt or butter, partly because I like recipes that are healthy and veggie-heavy (so many vegetarian cookbooks are full of recipes for "Cheesy cheesy pie") and partly to be contradictory.
Blondies: Adult men with naturally blonde, wiry hair and pink, piggy, windburned skin. Even better if they're wearing glasses with thick, dark plastic frames (for contrast).
This vibrator: I expended a ton of effort keeping this blog a secret from my mom for the past two years, and it's all so that I could recommend this superlative vibrator, the LayaSpot. It's like $50, and it won't break, ever. I had mine for 5+ years until it was done in by an impromptu trip through the wash cycle -- who knows how long it would have lived otherwise?

Happy Valentine's Day, lovies!

Crazy

2010-02-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

Skinny jeans are getting bo-ring -- I'm ready a new silhouette in butt-coverings. Weird pants -- is it time again? From American Apparel and Built by Wendy.

Viv

2010-02-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

These Vivienne Westwood x Melissa rainboots -- OMG. Total Barbie shoes. I want.

Unreal

2010-02-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Asos.com has this UNREAL t.b.a. dress -- it's $90 on sale and they don't even have my size anymore, but isn't it perfection, with its sloping shoulders, chunky knit and curved A. Wang sleeves? It's my Platonic ideal of a Breton stripe dress. Ridiculous. Outrageous. Ludacris. Fabolous.

Vuk

2010-02-08T17:09:00.000-08:00

Vuk Vidor

Repro

2010-02-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

Amazing reproductions of ancient Roman and 17th and 18th century European shoes, by Sarah Juniper. I'd wear all of them.

Wee

2010-02-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Surefire Valentine's Day gift: Pee Wee Herman Abstinence ring:I also want a Pee Wee shirt ultra bad:

Aren't you glad Pee Wee's back?

Pack

2010-02-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

My appetite for footwear truly knows no bounds. These cute li'l packer boots are made for female Civil War reenactors (?) and are only $50. They're reminding me of those little Loeffler Randall lace-up short boots.

Sun

2010-01-29T00:39:00.000-08:00

So after a lot of muddling about it I got fitted for contact lenses, and even though I had to be practically hypnotized in order to pop them in correctly, I'm finally wearing them around. Sadly, it's not exactly a She's All That scenario, but it's still fun to address the new stranger in the mirror. Now what I want is eye makeup and sunglasses! If I could have any pair of sunglasses in the world, I'd want these Dries van Noten ones from last fall:
Or, alternatively, the sunglasses Jane Wyman wore in Magnificent Obsession:

But for under $20, please.

Dejeuner

2010-01-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

Don't get too normal, though.

Square

2010-01-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

Yeah, everybody, why don't you cut your hair, put on some real shoes, get off the drugs and just act normal for once in your life?

Cable

2010-01-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

My new favorite thing to wear is a pair of WII military-issue men's navy blue wool swimming trunks that I found at the Bins, over tights with flats or boots. I'm calling them 'cold pants.' You can jump on the bandwagon with these adorbs knit shorts from Fremont at Pixie Market. (It might be true that I dress skankier in the winter than the summer, because short-shorts with bare legs is a personal "I feel uncomfortable," but short-shorts with colored tights is more of an "I feel sexy and awesome.")

Mayhem

2010-01-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

These Maud openwork booties at Pixie Market are so cool that they've already sold out. Seriously, though, how rad are these? I'm a huge fan of footwear that's complicated and unusual while also being comfy and easy to walk in. That ankle-height is perfection, too -- you could wear these all summer with short shorts and all winter with tights or jeans.

Damn.

Kells

2010-01-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

I've been obsessed with R&B superstar and acquitted statutory rapist R. Kelly since his last major album, 2007's "Double Up." Hip-hopera magnum opus Trapped in the Closet is like the Moby Dick of Kells -- stuffed with greatness but also largely exhausting and inaccessible. If you ask me, his true gift lies in his ability to imbue seemingly standard yet servicable R&B grooves about getting freaky in the club with adroit verbal bons mots and semantic puzzles that spiral out of control with their own glib genius, and also his proficiency with indescribably, inventively filthy sexual innuendo (on "Whole Lotta Kisses" he makes reference to "bury[ing] myself up in you/as if you were my grave" -- yikes!). The thing about R. Kelly is that he is basically a Kool Keith-caliber, deep-down, "I'm above the swimming pool/dressed up like Dracula" weirdo who made it huge by keeping his freak flag under wraps through the nineties and then busting it out after mega-stardom was already his. Or did he just finally lose it after he made his first million? Either way, it's pretty smart.

Between his new album "Untitled," the unreleased "12 Play: 4th Quarter" that preceded it and his Gangsta Grillz mix tape, my head is spinning with so much rich new material. Do yourself a favor and familiarize yourself with the cuts below, then after that you're probably gonna want to download "4th Quarter" and some of his back catalogue as well. (Warning: every R. Kelly album has one or two terrible, cheesy songs about the spirituality of true love or the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre or some other I Believe I Can Fly/All Dogs Go To Heaven bullpucky. Avoid these -- they're the worst and they will always kill your dance party.)

Pussy Cry:

At The Same Time:

Wanna Make A Baby:

And the extremely similar:
Pregnant

Might Be Mine:

Saddle

2010-01-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

Via The Shiny Squirrel, these perfect saddle shoes are Vans. They're so sleek and perfect with an almond toe -- I've been looking for a nice saddle-shoe style for a while, I'll have to keep these on my list.

View

2010-01-10T18:47:00.000-08:00

A View to a Kill is the only James Bond film I recognize as legitimate cinema and the title sequence is 40% of that. (For the record, I saw that first Daniel Craig film with the terrible name and found it horrifically offensive morally/aesthetically and also shockingly rife with barely-suppressed homophobia, but I am staunchly in favor of Chiwetel Ejiofor or Idris Elba for First Black James Bond).

Tit

2010-01-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

This lady is singing my song -- I think part of my obsession with following fat studies (I am obsessed with it -- did you not know?) is that large natural breasts have become culturally demonized and shamed in the same way as fat bodies -- portrayed as gauche, grotesque, cheap, low, oversexualized and underintellectualized, and unworthy of fine things and haute couture, which Venetia touches upon in her article. I cannot wait for somebody to write a book that firmly explores the connections between the transgressive 'fat' body and the transgression of 'oversize' breasts. Don't make me do it myself, guys!

Also, If a stranger ever tried to motorboat me I believe I would arrange to have him killed.

Watch

2010-01-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

In Kiev there's a big monument to Soviet womanhood called the 'Rodina Mat' ' (the 'Mother Country') and in the base of it there's a museum about World War II, where I saw and (illegally) snapped a photo of this Soviet pilot watch -- the yellow-tinted glass is extra-thick and jewel-faceted, and notice how the dial is rotated 90 degrees, so you can read the time while your hand is on the clutch or whatever pilots have? I would do literally anything to own this spectacular watch. Anyway, these Unearthen gem-face watches are putting me in mind of it (except they aren't as cool and I don't really like bracelet watchbands):

Happy New Year!

End

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Out with the old and in with the new -- here is every saved image from my 'blog pictures to use' folder that I never did use in 2009. Happy New Year, everyone!