Preliminary holiday wardrobe thoughts…

Sab and I turned on the Bing Crosby playlist the other night and our place has been adorned in audio-merriment ever since. I prefer not to argue with my holiday anticipation, regardless of how early it arrives. Here at Tchaikovsky Darling we have 60-something days of Xmas as opposed to the usual 25. That’s where the “curious festivity” comes in.

I’m just thinking about all the jewels and pink fur I’m planning to wear once that Xmas party calendar starts exploding with potential to…well, wear jewels and pink fur. ♥

Image credit: Sigrid Agren in Numero #107, Shadows. From Modelcouture.

Recent Refinery29 Contributions…

⇒Be Still Our Hearts! Our Ode to Duskin’s Spring 2010 Line

⇒Olivia Rubin Outfits the Next Generation of Monets

⇒Aesa’s Machine De Terre Jewelry Line is Fit for Athena

⇒Tess Giberson Returns With A Spring Collection to Covet

⇒Marais’ Latest Shoe Collection Has Everything On Your Fall Checklist

⇒Hunting and Gathering Gets Glamorous Again in the Latest BlackBook

⇒Rachel Comey’s Hiking-Inspired Accessories Line

By the way, the Save Fashion opening party was an awesome success last night – Refinery29 posted some photos here. I’ll post my shots of out-of-control-interns and impeccably dressed shoppers once my camera battery is charged… the sale goes on all week, so stop by Inven.tory on Lafayette & Spring!

Save Fashion! (And other happenings)

The lovely geniuses at Refinery29 have cooked up a campaign you should know about – it’s called Save Fashion, and the latest sample sale event is kicking off this week in Soho.

The point is to make fashion inspiring and fun again, and the minds behind the project are as much authorities on inspiration and fun as they are on style. Alumni of this effort include Jeffrey Monteiro, Kiki de Montparnasse, Shipley & Halmos, Band of Outsiders, and a bunch more. Click here to learn more about the cause.

Save Fashion! November 13-22 at Inven.tory

237 Lafayette Street (between Prince and Spring Streets), NYC

Hours: Friday, 11/13 – 7:00AM – 9:00PM;
Saturday-Saturday 11/14-21, 10:00AM-9:00PM;
Sunday 11/22, 10:00AM-5:00PM

Also hella worth noting, New York Design Shop is finally up and running! I’ve been working with Jenna, the editor of this all-in-one DIY resource since late August to compile super fun, creative projects with some high fashion edge, using the fabulous range of products the company is offering. I’ll keep you guys posted on new tutorials, contests, and other stuff we’re doing over there. Check it out! ♥

Alsooo, Fusion Fashion Show 2010 is doing an open casting call Sunday, November 15th, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, 135 E. 12th St., Loeb Hall. Guys and girls – girls, bring heels. Everyone bring a photo.

A Beautiful Fall: 105 Memories

I spent fall 2009 with some of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life (and old friends who I’d run into heavy traffic for any day). Click below for 105 of my favorite fall 2009 memories.

Mata Hari Got itttt

Exotic dancer & nude model turned Parisian socialite Mata Hari (Margaretha Geertruida Zelle) is one of my favorite personalities in history. She was like a shimmering, ridiculous Libra on the surface, while inside quintessentially Leo. She’s a fascinating case study for glamour and theatrics in the late 1800’s.

One of the first exotic dancers on the scene who brought the genre into an exclusive, trendy light, Mata Hari’s life was glamorous, scandalous, and tragic. (Yesss.)

Her privileged youth disrupted by death and bankruptcy, she went from private schooling answering Army Officer Rudolf John MacLeod’s need-a-wife ad in the newspaper. The two moved to Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies). But MacLeod was a raging drunk who kept two other women on the side, so that didn’t really work out. Mata Hari distracted herself with other men and immersed herself in Indonesian dance. Through these studies she developed her early stage persona.

After her son died (rumored to be poisoned by a servant) the two divorced and MacLeod fought for custody of their daughter, using Mata Hari’s exotic profession against her in court.

Mata Hari moved to Paris to shake her stuff around, where she quickly became a star. Her jeweled bra routine won her a place in the arms of millionaires and elevated her a few rungs up the ladder of the most prominent figures in the Paris social scene.

Unfortunately, by 1910, Mata Hari’s efforts to open cross-cultural doors of dance and entertainment were brought under fire when people began to realize she’d made up most of her past… and didn’t actually know how to dance that well! Her allure got tired with some of her biggest fans as younger and more experienced imitators stepped up to steal her spotlight. Such is showbiz.

Still, she continued to sleep with high profile men and royalty, living like a queen until convicted of spying for the Germans during WWI. She was then executed by firing squad. Her last words were “Merci, monsieur,” and she blew a kiss to her lawyer before she died.

That is my kind of bedtime story.

[Info source]

Ladybirds, Lips, and Barbie Shoes

It may be because I grew up thinking I was the real-world manifestation of Jem, but a well executed pastel hair-do or set of pretty pink lips has more impact on me than the meanest pair of black studded heels. The potency of straight up girly-chic should never be underestimated.

Transitional weather illnesses have me thinking more and more how a good immune system is a pretty attractive thing as well. What better accent to fresh paint on your nails and a silk Valentino scarf? …Clever reference to silk Valentino scarf one I came across at Beacon’s Closet in Williamsburg the other day and could not live without.

Anyway, these are a few of my favorite (girly) things:

♥ Dior Addict Lip Glow

♥ Backstage at Giles – might as well editorial shots…

♥ Pink Holga cameras

♥ NaNaNail Blog (Japanese)

♥ Milly SS’10 Runway

♥ Blush Lingerie Spring 2010 Campaign

Image Sources for collage: Tumblr (various), weheartit, pearlsandtea@lj, laceandflora@lj.

Natalie or Nothing

I know the entire world is bananas over Natalie Portman, and it’s all well and justified, but I get bored with her pixie-perfect features sometimes. This, however is one case where I throw myself ecstatically on the bandwagon. Her V cover is absolute magic. Killer jawlines do the job.

Image from Fashion Copious.

And curiously enough, within the same general color scheme, I found these bird-in-a-jar earring sets from Juicy Couture today that I thought were packaged charmingly enough to bypass the awful design of the jewelry itself! I think more things should be pitched to consumers in overwhelming packaging. Especially that involving animals depicted in appetizing colors surrounded by glass. Tres romantic.

Super Spooky: Halloween 2009

For the first time in years, I spent Halloween neck deep in frivolity in addition to jewels! It was a three night throw-down for the loyal patrons, DJs, and notorious mascots of Mehanata, dressed up as everything from nihilists to maharajahs. Click below for three nights’ worth of photographic evidence.

Disturbingly Bulgarian Birthday Re-visited.

Finally, photos from the most epic birthday of my twenty-five years, which made me wonder if life is actually becoming a cleverly written musical where, in the quarter century scene, all major characters from the past five years merge in a high speed folk-y circle-dance. Perfect.

Photos below…

Late October Diary: Ai Jing Solo Exhibition

On the 27th I took a late evening stroll to Soho with Sab for Ai Jing’s solo exhibition (Ai Want To Love) at BoConcept, curated by our most adored Sally Wu. Ai is an acclaimed pop-star-gone-painter who moved to New York in 1997 from China, where she’d already gained enough cred to be called one of the most influential female artists in history.

With multiple albums and film appearances behind her, Ai took up her own brand of pop-inspired mixed media art, using stencil-cut letters, paint, and various mediums to comment (in this case) about modern society’s inability to express love.

The paintings fit seamlessly above the BoConcept furniture line–a tailored contemporary habitat: bright yellow, cerulean blue, and shimmering gold canvas with messages ranging from “I want to eat you” to “LOVE” backwards, punctuating the very concepts of modern urban living.

1001 Drunk Text Messages: The Modern Legend

Last Halloween’s college girl, spandex-scraps interpretation of Scheherazade, with culturally inaccurate jewelry and stick-on nails. Horrified? Still better than your average genie-in-a-bottle costume! And at the time the point of it all was being covered in jewels and metallics, as to mask the jilted lover within. My knight in shining armor was across the city pissing on doors and courting Swedish women while I got drunk on Asahi and txted him 1001 stories.

I was riding an elevator close to 5AM that fateful November 1st and a charming, intoxicated (probably) fine arts major dressed like a certified nurse engaged me in the following conversation:

CN: (Holding himself up with both hands) What the fxck are you, Princess Jasmine?
Me: Scheherazade.
CN: What?
Me: The Persian queen who…
CN: SO YOU’RE LIKE… Princess Jasmine’s cousin.
Me: Not really.
CN: Say hi to fxcking Raja for me!
Me: (Making a graceful exit on floor 5). I will!

I do love a good faerie tale.

Check out the latest Halloween special I contributed to on Refinery29–Stylish Spooks: Runway Looks Are Haute for Halloween–and find some costume inspiration on the runway… And stay tuned to see what historically inaccurate concoction I dress up as this year!