Pretty Lady


It's exciting when someone you know if featured in the NYTimes website.
Christene Barberich is the Fashion Director of refinery29.com - a fantastic fashion web rag (I write for them sometimes). Here's a story on her fashion life.
Christene has such pretty coloring, and clothes, and I love her haircut. She has the perfect blend of auburn and wave. Lucky.
LA in fall is crisp and reminds me of walking to the bus stop with my dad and the dog, hanging out with the kids and singing songs and laughing at Phil (the dog) because he was dirty and had anger management issues. Super early September days, LA as a child.
New York in fall is serious anticipation - for snow, for Christmas decorations, for freezing temps and praying for no pneumonia. Excitement and anxiety and changing leaves.

What have I been doing?

Time has been quite a lull lately. A lull in terms of blog posting, but not, apparently, a lull in terms of eating.
Things we've been doing: working, walking up the Silverlake hills and around the Silverlake reservoir, making super spicy pumpkin curry soup, wearing orange Dries Van Noten sweaters, looking at old photos, watching a dvd, buying Juniper Ridge sweet grass incense fromDriftwood, eating sweet Seitenbacher muesli from Three Squares Bakery, dreaming of Isabel Marant jackets, cleaning the house and making it prettier...



My Favorite Pizza: An International List


1. Pizza al Volo, Campo Santa Margherita, Venice, Italy. Best spicy Diavola slice. I ate there practically every day for a year. That's the stuff dreams are made of.

2. Joe's Pizza on Mercer Street, New York NY. I guess I prefer it by the slice.

3. Ricotta Pizza at Place whose Name Shall be Forgotten, Ischia, Italy. Made by a pair of the nerdiest twin brothers you've ever seen. Homemade ricotta.

4. Pepe's Pizza, New Haven, CT. Clam and Garlic and the Salami. One of each!

5. Lucali Pizza, Henry Street, Brooklyn, NY

The Cambridge Cake


One of my favorite things to do, always, has been to sit and read (I know, I know...this is soooo internetty) Julia Child's "The Way to Cook." No, no I'm not embarking on some gimicky personal cooking challenge to keep myself occupied. Rather, I am just recounting something I enjoy to do on days when there isn't much to do except think about cooking. I am planning a "Paris" themed dinner for next week for some friends who sadly have had to postpone their France trip due to some untimely issues, let's say, and so I'm treating them to some good old French standards. So, to whom do I turn to? Julia, of course!
Reading through "TWTC" is something I've always done, as long as the book has been around (well, around me). When I was fifteen I had my birthday off from school for a semester break. I remember it was a cold January day in LA and, having just finished finals and not really wanting to do anything other than stay in and bake myself a fancy cake - specifically the s0-called "Cambridge Cake" that is the cover star of TWTC's Cakes & Cookies section (page 454). This is what we did and still do at my mother's house - there is no cable, no video games, nothing to do but to bake elaborate dishes and play canasta. I remember when my lovely mother brought home the tome that is Julia Child's "The Way to Cook." I thought it one of the most beautiful cookbooks I had ever seen. Up until then she just had her copy of "The Joy of Cooking" which was held together with brown packing tape and had family recipes up and down the inner covers. That book, her old Julia cookbooks of course, which I actually never really picked up until that movie came out last year, a collection of hilarious Time Life "Cookbooks of the World," and maybe some Wolfgang Puck books which were cute and had great recipes, but were nothing like this one. "The Way to Cook" was the biggest cookbook I had ever seen, and had such sumptuous photos and so charmingly written. I think I've read it cover to cover 1,000 times over my lifetime. When I moved back to LA in June and into my own house she gave me my very own copy.
Back when I was fifteen and drooling over the pictures in TWTC, the Cambridge Cake was my favorite page. The walls and ribbons of black chocolate, layers and layers of beautiful Genoise cake tied up in bows of creamy, mocha-y French buttercream frosting. I determined that day, my fifteenth birthday, that, fuck it, I'm going to make this cake. It's just a bloody cake, how hard could it be? Well, it took me all day and looked nothing like the picture, but it was damn good. My chocolate wall was cracked and uneven, but my cake was moist and the buttercream buttery and smooth. I was quite proud of myself, having mastered making madeleines and cookies of all kinds, this cake was a triumph. A delicious, delicious triumph.

It's almost that Time of Year

When all the good movies come out!!!
Coen Brothers+Western=Best movies ever! Does "The Big Lebowski" count? Yes!!!
Can't wait for their version of "True Grit."
Just finished reading "True Grit." Well, listened to, if we are being completely honest here. I downloaded it because it is narrated by Donna Tartt, one of my favorite writers. She gives a wonderful interpretation and performance being the voice of the 14 year old heroine, Mattie Ross. And I'm super duper excited for the Coen Brothers take on this, with Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin. I never saw the John Wayne version and I don't know if I will. I might just re-listen/read the book. It's really fantastic, action packed and funny. Mattie's voice is dry and straightforward, a real character, and the wild wild west setting is pure dusty excitement. I think the young Jodie Foster would have been perfect for this part. I hope the girl they picked can do the Mattie Ross in my head justice. This is a plum role for a young actress, but she's such an iconic character that it's going to be hard for her to get in the critics' good graces.

What's Doing Today

After reading about Leonard Koren's house in the New York Times I am not determined to at least look at all his precious little books about design, and design philosophy.

And This lady from a still from a Garance Dore film from Sonia Rykiel's fashion show. I think I know who this is but I can't remember her name. She looks like Lisa Mayock and has a great haircut. I am collecting curly haired pictures because I've broken the first rule of being a woman which is cutting my own hair and now I need a genius pair of sheers to bring me back to the light.

And finally Luise Rainer. She looks like my friend Tanya (or, vice versa rather), and was stunning in "The Great Ziegfeld." She was the first woman to win two Oscars back to back and then disappeared from the scene. The first Winona Ryder type, pre-Audrey Hepburn waif.


mas rojo



From Scott the Sartorialist, of course.
I love love love this lady in red.
I love her curly hair, and her paleness.
I've said it before, I'll say it again.
Where oh where is my red dress?

On another note, I'm loving my new Vena Cava green cape jacket.
Highly recommend it for it's coziness and it's ability to just make any outfit look awesome.

Better Red or Dead

I need more red clothes in my life.
Don't you?
Like this dress on eBay.
I wonder if it's still up...
Or like this Karen Elson from Pair-Ee.
Pretty!
The shoes that started it all?
I'm sure Garbo's not wearing red here.
It's too flashy for her.
But she doesn't need it anyways.
Love you Greta.

Starts and ends in the same breath.

The seventies trend is now over.
Fashion show month is coming to a close,
and there are so many things to remember for next spring
fashion wise.
Color, no color. 70s, 90s. etc etc.

I predict the next things on the runways will be
our father's clothes.
per Dries van Noten.
Big body con backlash
slouchy Anna Karina sweaters
lightweight wide and low pants
le smoking
etc etc etc.

The seventies are over. Long live the seventies.
Sorry Marc Jacobs.
In my opinion, it's Dries always leading the pack.
I must admit this S11 collection of DVN wasn't my favorite
it felt a little all over the place
and I hate his colors
but I like the slouchiness of it.
And come to think of it,
very similar to ideas in Celine,
though Phoebe Philo seems quite rigid in her style.
I admire the change she's bringing to the ladies of fashion
who were clearly starving for a change from the rocknroll Wang/Balmain look.
And thank god for Phoebe for coming on the scene so strongly.
I was counting the minutes till the Wang look took its last gasp.
So now we are in a camel dream
and headed towards a looser aesthetic,
which makes me happy.
For a season we will have 70s
and Diane Keaton
whom every girl worth her necktie worships.
But then it will evolve into a looser, more laidback look.
Maybe California is getting to me.
I wear my Clu sweatpants a lot these days
as they pass for cigarette pants quite well
and no one can tell that they are actually made of sweatshirt material.
Love that.

Rain in LA!


I love it when it rains in Los Angeles.
The weather can be so tedious here.
Hot hot hot, or lately grey grey grey.
Rain is always a welcomed happening in the desert.
I like the chance to wear a coat,
and listen to the drops on my roof,
and know that tomorrow everything is going to be refreshed and green,
and probably sunny.
And that's when I'm happy to see the sun.

The last time I saw rain was the day we drove north out of New York City to Providence.
For the last time!

splat


Just getting into this show called 'Dexter.'
I have a pretty tv
but I prefer to snuggle with my warm laptop next to my warm man
and watch this increasingly disturbing show.
I think it gives me nightmares.

yikes stripes


Doesn't this collage from vogue.com depicting this seasons bold strips thing
remind you of this Sean Scully from the Modern Fort Worth collection

and all the rest of them from my previous post on Sean Scully?

Dries and Rochas

My two absolute favorite collections (sorry, Miuch)
can't wait to discuss.
Rochas is an A+! I looooove Zanini and am newly obsessed with his
spectacular sister.
Head scarves!
I love Mark Holgate's review on vogue.com.
Will write more later.
xoxo


Zanini's sister and muse, Miki. Love her. Who is she??

such a tassle

prediction: tassle necklaces will be everywhere.
Oscar de la Renta, Vena Cava, and...someone else I can't recall.
All have them on their runway.
What's with the tassle?

I am waiting

I am just tired right now,
but feel like writing something down.
These are things I like at the very moment.

Nan Kempner's debutante gown.
Boxing art.
Anita Berber. She was so skinny because she was on drugs and died at 29. But she is certainly iconic now.
Models of my childhood, muted colors, fall is coming but the leaves don't change in California.
And of course the simplicity of this magazine cover makes me eternally happy.
One headline, one model, beautiful and simple and elegant and calm.
I don't know yet what I think of next season's fashions. I kind of don't care, it's all kind of dull to me, except the Vena Cava, the Proenza, and I'm waiting for the Prada, the Dries, the Isabel Marant, and more street pictures from Paris. That's what is exciting to me. These are people who always do wonderful things that predict the future. Of what we are going to wear, which is a secure feeling. But I think what I love most of all of these designers is the colors they choose. The neons of PS, the orange and chartreuse of Vena Cava, the reds and browns of Prada, and the purples, greens, pinks, and again orange of Dries Van Noten. And Isabel, well I just like to watch the feeding frenzy. She's a master at creating that. As is my former employer Jane Mayle who's opening up a pop up any day now, and the blogs are already wagging. I can sense that the Mayleophiles (Maylentologists?) are starting to feel that familiar lurch but that it's now accompanied by a subtle choke. They worked hard on releasing their obsessions and funneling those dollars on new, other designers, but now JM is popping back up with expensive frocks and shoes by Sigerson Morrison. I personally am feeling excitement and also a sense that I kind of want to stay out of the whole thing. But, if she does do another wool trench coat like the one I missed in those final days, I will bite.
And, for the finale, this watch from OK. I've always had a crush on it.

And the lyrics to this song...can you help but sing it? So beautiful and calming.

(M. Jagger/K. Richards)

I am waiting, I am waiting (all year, all year)
I am waiting, I am waiting (all year, all year)
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere

You can't hold out, you can't hold out
all year, all year
You can't hold out, you can't hold out
all year, all year
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere

See it come along and
don't know where it's from
Oh, yes you will find out

Well, it happens all the time
It's censored from our minds
You'll find out

Slow or fast, slow or fast
all year, all year
End at last, end at last
all year, all year
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere

Stand up coming years
and escalation fears
Oh, yes we will find out

Well, like a WINTER STORM
Fears will pierce your bones
You'll find out

Oh we're waiting, oh we're waiting
all year, all year
Oh we're waiting, oh we're waiting
all year, all year
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere
Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere

Oh we're waiting, oh we're waiting
Oh we're waiting, oh were waiting...

chanel

Ines de la Fressange was the Chanel model of the 80s.
She was in almost every campaign throughout that decade.
They should bring her back. I enjoy sophisticated models who are womanly and command respect, or whatever it is, rather than the stick figures rock star babies that are everywhere these days. Dree Hemingway? Give me a break. That girl needs to learn how to read.






Shalom, Christy Turlington, Kristen McMenamy were the Chanel models of the 90s.
These are the earliest Chanel ads I can remember. The red hair, the inception of my obsession with Shalom and little black dresses.

Vini Vidi Vena!

The colors are all my favorite colors,
especially the poppy red,
and the head wraps are soon going to be everywhere,
just wait and see.
The new textures and materials they are working with
make me happy - linen, net, and whatever silk that dress above is made of.
The ease and simplicity of this collection
harkens to the early days of VC,
when they were pulling these
seemingly randomly out of the air
and creating completely new things
that influence fashion so much
but their inception, their VC beginnings,
are rarely acknowledged.
These are girls who have more power than anyone may realize.
This top is a redo, I think, of something they made in one of their earliest collections,
with a zipper all the way up the back,
and a gorgeous abbreviated scoop neck.
I love this version.
My mother lusts over this shirt so much
that I gave it to her.
And, I'm hoping these are the pants I've been begging them to make again!
I think they might be!!!
Another item my mother and I both wear and cherish,
and that is what makes Vena Cava so awesome,
is that mothers and daughters and sisters and friends
all kinds of women
can wear their clothes-
though it's true they do cut for a certain body type,
which makes sense-
however, their collections usually strive for an ageless quality
that steers clear of trends and moments,
and inspires people to read more and take better care of the clothes they have
for these are clothes and ideas that will last a lifetime.
I have VC pieces that are from their very first collection
that I still wear
that still get me stopped on the street.
I wish I had this one dress from their first collaboration post-Parsons,
the one Sophie lent me for her graduation party.
I have a polaroid of it.
A knit sheath, long sleeves, high neck, black with brown strips of fabric sewn on
like armour or stained glass.
I would still wear that dress.
I think she sewed it herself.
New show collab with 10over6.
I love the thirties/forties, Kate Hepburn post tennis vibe.
And these yellow killers. Love a yellow sandal!

La la la love it!

Perfect hem to shoe angles.
Simple tribalish prints that remind me of Sophie's mom's couch.
Love this material, like I said.
What is it? Whatever it is it shall have a home in my closet.
I'm buying a new hanger today.
Huge fan of the coral lip. My favorite is Lipstick Queen Coral Sinner.
According to vogue.com the makeup is this:
ON LIPS: M.A.C. Morange and Neon Orange lipstick. “We tried red and brown first, but that coral orange just felt right,” says McCulloch, who blended the shades together before pressing them onto the lip with his fingertip.


Awesome jewelry by Heather Kosch for Vena Cava
Perfect white linen jacket. Shall be my first suit?
I love this material. Reminds me of Fortuny.
Hello yellow!
I've been wanting this skirt for so long.
Tucker did a similarish version of a flowing silk skirt to the mid calf,
very seventies and great.
A non-purchased regret that shall be remedied.
Awesome!

Images lifted mostly from vogue.com.