material concern

So, a while ago i got a great tyvek jacket at American Vintage in Hollywood: it has hand drawn wolves all over it: i love it. Maybe you are like me and have bad memories of tyvek from cheesy boys and kinda skanky girls in high school with crazy bangs: but…c’mon now.

With the weather in LA going from hot to super cool at night, its been the perfect thing to shove in my bag because it fold down to nothing and actually keeps me warm at night.

I’m not sure of the environmental impact of tyvek, but i know it lasts: in any case, I’d try to find it vintage. Here are some similarly themed ones I’ve found online:

and please if you buy the one with the dolla bills send pictures:)

So, the kate moss for topshop thing is…you know, a celebrity who could perhaps be a stylist but instead prefers to be referred to as a designer…thing.

However, if you work in fashion, you know that a person who just buys samples and tells actual designers to knock them off is usually called a Merchandiser or the Vice President.

What I do like is that kate moss openly references her style influences…and um, having designed a “celebrity” (lets be honest, a lame reality tv girl) line in my day, i prefer the: “i like this so i knocked it off” as opposed to the “i’m so hands-on on this line.” That having been said, kate moss has taste and access to awesome stuff: like the shorts here.

sorry, that was a long post to talk about some short shorts.

Thinking about Oscar Winning costume designers reminded me of Lizzy Gardiner, who won for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (with Tim Chappel, below). On the big night, she rocked a self-designed dress made of Gold American Express Cards, all in her name, all expired.

She hasn’t really gotten that many “fun” jobs since (mission:impossible and ghost rider don’t really seem as fun to do costumes as Priscilla), but i will always remember her for that dress!

As you can see from an earlier post, I got a little pissed at Vogue recently…after reading the article I commented on, I left the magazine in a corner in the living room. I picked up yesterday, and was happy to see an article about the upcoming film, Australia, primarily because it’s costume and art designer, Catherine Martin is inventive and immensely talented.
Having won Oscars for art direction/set decoration and costumes in Moulin Rouge, she also did the costumes for (earlier films) Strictly Ballroom and Romeo and Juliet.  She is creative partners with her husband, Baz Luhrmann, who was the director of those films. Their combined vision is awesome and specific and evident in all their films.

okay, this weekend in LA is all triple canopied out:

starting with Friday from 8-11 at Site LA, 2522 Sunset Blvd…

Music by Hecuba, Peter Kolovos, and Revolutionary Patriots. Videos by Dan Hoy, Jen DeNike, Keren Cytter, Ben Russell, Lucky Dragons (yeah!),Michael Robinson, and Felipe Zuniga. Flyer by the lovely Sarah Anderson. $5 suggested donation.

then, on sunday at Family: 436 N Fairfax Avenue starting at 7pm:

Gil Blank presents remote photography
Andrew Maxwell reads literary product trials
Laura Steenberge shows slides of words

Also coming Friday, Triple Canopy’s first print edition of Sumi Ink Club drawings…lovely.

We just finished watching “Be Kind Rewind, ” which i had wanted to see in theaters, but like most films, it didn’t happen. Also, it kinda came and went pretty quickly, so i didn’t really seek it out.

However, Michel Gondry’s elegantly nuanced ode to the culture of movies and story telling was so tender, sweet and whimsically shot that i was completely won over. The cast was excellent and maybe mostly I want to just plug into Michel Gondry’s mind for awhile…i guess i just have to wait for his next movie. What I love about his stuff is how he brings a touch of the fantastic to the normal, and so consistently that you are just swept up in his world without even realizing that your view has shifted.

Isaac put it better than I did, saying its a movie about “when someone starts remaking their culture but ends up remaking their history.”

very charming, but also i want to say anything with mos def is the mos with me:)

We were near the Mitsuwa grocery store today so I stocked up on a ton of Japanese magazines.

Some of the best were:

Free and Easy featuring men’s american vintage t-shirts. I’ll probably use this more as a long-term reference than as a magazine to cut up and throw away….

also Super Cawaii was pretty good… and I hadn’t seen it before which was cool…

and cutie, pictured at top is always quality.

If you are in LA, the only place I have found these magazines is at the Mitsuwa in Mar Vista, not the one in Little Tokyo. In New York, most good magazine stores in the fashion district have them…they seem to be pretty hard to find online (all the pics are from various sources online).

mama stone vintage has impeccable taste in clothes and great shoots with adorable models and perfect styling.

Also, because most pieces are sold on ebay there is a feeling that if you want it: you can get it….if you really really want it after all:)

After writing the last post, i thought about other traditional forms of craft that have observed changes in society…and i thought about African Wax prints. I have a great top that has magnets with lightning bolts in traditional wax, and we have ladybug and fish veritable wax print curtains in the living room.

I love it when it is political like this:

I couldn’t find any of the prints I’ve seen with diamond rings, cellphones, lipsticks, etc, but i did find this at Pippa Moore;

additional sites for veritable wax fabric are here and here .

If anyone has links to where i can find more politicized or modern prints I would love to see them.

Traditional rug weavers in Afganistan have a tradition of making rugs that reflect what they see: since the 80s, in many cases, they have seen war and the weapons that come with it.

Since that time the rugs have taken an graphic turn to Kalishnikovs and now to more American subjects…. including 911…they are kind of disturbing but also really amazing. I love craft work  in general but I think craft should be relevant and contemporary.

I found these on the creatively named warrug.com, but the prices are intense, like, buy a ticket to Afghanistan, have an amazing experience come back with a rug expensive.