because

from Dutch (makeup)artist Ellis Faas

thinking ahead: boot edition

aerosoles

sanita
swedish hasbeens
sorel

sorel

presented without comment

fingers crossed

I'm about to do something big.
Posting will be light to none for the next 10 days.
Have a happy Fashion Week, NYers!

men of the cloth

MEN OF THE CLOTH is the story of three humble and accomplished master tailors who create masterpieces of elegance and style to clothe the human body. Working with the skill of engineers and the soul of philosophers, Italian artisans Nino Corvato, Checchino Fonticoli and Joe Centofanti celebrate the individual in both mind and body.

By weaving together the individual stories of these master tailors, MEN OF THE CLOTH unfolds the whole tapestry of their lives, unravels the mystery of their artistry and reveals how their passionate devotion to their craft is akin to a religion.

Tailoring as we know it began with the Italian Renaissance — in the age of Raffaello and Donatello — when the art and science of tailoring became a highly specialized, complex, and jealously guarded craft. And it dovetails with the rise of Humanism and the accentuation and glorification of the human form.

But starting in the mid-20th century, in the wake of the growth of ready-to-wear clothing and the industrialization of the tailoring trade, many of these Old World artisans had to abandon their beloved craft. Italian tailors were forced to leave their towns and even their country, and to forfeit their dreams in order to work in factories. They were casualties of the industrial advances and global economic changes which continue to the present day.

MEN OF THE CLOTH is a film about how these master tailors are navigating their challenging role in the 21st century.

trailer here

long weekend in Ithaca

had a chance to check out the new Rem Koolhaas addition to the architecture school

chairs all ready
looking as nervous and serious as the students

Great article on the "green" cred of organic textiles - cotton, bamboo, wool, soy, etc.
If it were a FB relationship status, it would be "it's complicated".

window sails II

So I finally got the necessary supplies to finish my curtain project (previously glimpsed here).

Do to issues with being a crap photographer, these photos are presented in black and white. "How to" to follow soon.

open

closed

a little of both

draping detail

in action

interview tomorrow

any guesses where?

dog names

Zipper
Buttons
Grommet
Velcro

working on

learning how to knit in esoteric ways

working on

random roundup

things I am in "like" with:


this cake from the blog Poires au Chocolat
(check it out - everything she makes is so amazing)

the Lola "Latin Quarter dance heel" from the dancewear company Tic Tac Toes
(continuing on my tango tangent)



the Emmanuelle mitered stripe shirt



Beatles lyrics in trees



lacing samples from Ashley's Book of Knots

makeup monday

I have blush on my eyelids (and my cheeks, duh). It's not pink, but more of a brick color. I thought it would look like some disease, but actual came out quite pretty, and pleasantly retro. I think it brings out the blue eyes.

Gee, I am freckly :)

Lately, as it is towards summer's end, I have lots of "character" in my skin that helps keep me from looking overly made-up. I like it with a side of side braid.

tutorial by Lisa Eldridge

laundry fail.

My sweater came out of the wash with about 10 (!) little holes.
Good thing I was kind of over it anyway.
I thought I'd try to patch it ... but the results ...
well, I won't be posting them here.



this picture was the best thing to come of it

dress your chair in cashmere

What? You don't have a cashmere slipcover for that chair you originally bought at IKEA for $9.99 in 1998?

Made this little thing last week for the husband. It's his home desk chair and he (rightly) complained that sitting for hours on solid plastic is not very comfortable. I looked in my scrap box and decided I might as well turn up the luxury knob, since I've been "sitting" on this fabric since I left my cashmere job two years ago.

Turns out it's pretty easy to make slipcovers if you have some basic sewing skills. The only complicated part was getting the dart to mitre around the corner, and sewing the elastic at the bottom opening. If I did it again, I would use some quilt batting to beef up the whole thing. Oh well, c'est la vie!

ta. da.

definitely more comfortable now ...
only problem is that it might tempt you towards nudism

supplies!

happy mail

I was looking back through my posts to find where I wrote about Anokhi after returning from India. Turns out I never did! Shame on me. (Info on Anokhi here.) I bought many many things from the store in Udaipur. But apparently not enough to satiate my wood block print love. So when I learned my dear friend Ellen was headed to India on a business trip, I made a leetle request ...

boxer haul(!)
unfortunately Anokhi doesn't sell in the states
but if you or a friend are headed to India...

can I wear these as shorts? like, outside?

getting all fancy with the photography

it's a cinch

today's thrift store find:

I have to hold myself back every time I go to the thrift store; I want to buy all the cool stuff even if it doesn't fit me (confession: sometimes I buy it anyway). I work with a lot of vintage clothes at my day job as a patternmaker - what the industry generously calls "inspiration" but would more accurately be called plagiarism. I hate copying a dress outright for a company, but I learn a lot from doing it and sometimes it can lead to interesting ideas - inspiration minus the quotations.

I've toyed with the idea of selling some of these thrifted things in the SERA shop
. . . what do y'all think?

favorite hair

if mine was straight I could do the front bits, but it's murder with curls

rainy day outfit idea

Sorel

ASOS

what else to do today but online shop?

summer

subtitle: retro swimsuits, I told you so!

many thanks to the optical illusion refraction in bringing you this photo

"your cuticles look like little moons"

another cool way to paint your nails
(love it with the dark red!)

instructions here

fall inspiration

flamenco

flamenco


perennial fave martha graham

I love the strength of the body language, the colors, and the use of the skirts in emphasizing movements. Ruffles and fringe anyone?

window sails

a little project I'm working on ... to be continued

freehand embroidery

Sometime last year I decided to take up embroidery and bought this really thorough book on technique with my B&N gift card. I also bought a hoop and some threads, then kind of never did anything with any of it.

But I've been feeling more of an embroidery vibe lately - it has the pleasant monotony of knitting but is more open-ended. So I started kind of freehand embroidering without a plan and ended up making this pillow.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I decided to use the limits of the hoop to define an embroidered zone, which gives it a modern feel to me. I'm thinking of making a few more for the shop if anyone is interested. I have some new yellow linen that I think would look good with only the flower bits. Something cheery for sliding into fall weather!

happy anniversary

a belated post on the "paper" gift I gave L. for our 1st wedding anniversary

just need to get it suitably framed, and we will finally have something to hang over the couch

WPA era posters

gathered these images a while back when thinking about "decorating" the apartment...

for the living room
(fell in love with the national park series on our road trip in '06)

for a kid's room (or, you know, just me)

for the bathroom

accent with neon

A month or so ago I suddenly wanted, no needed, to have my nails painted red. L. and I were headed away for our anniversary trip to the North Fork and I was having a retro glamour moment. (I may have tied a scarf around my head at one point). After fucking up painting my non-dominant hand, I decided to try those weird polish stickers that I'd seen in the drugstore. I bought the only red they had, which really turned out to be a neon tomato color! It's kinda awesome, but hard to look at.


Suddenly today I got the idea to do just the tips of the nails. It's a bizarre combo of the natural and artificial and it feels very "now" as the fashion people say. I fully expect to start a trend with this.

(Looks great offset by the gray color palette I otherwise favor.)