No Pants!

Remember that post about Improv Everywhere?

It came and went. And I was unable to participate in the nude madness... :(

However, browsing through these pictures made me happy, sad and envious all at the same time!

WHAT AN EMOTIONAL ELEVATOR I AM STUCK IN! And I'm in this elevator surrounded by pant-less co-riders no less! argh!

Looks like they had a blast - trying to keep straight faces whilst attempting to stay warm and bare in the cold. It was just a tad bit nipply - NIPPY! - yesterday.

UPDATE: Those crazy Brits celebrate with no pants on, too!

Hi-Yah! Chanel's Samurai

"In a salute to luxury brand Chanel, artist Tetsuya Noguchi has created some concept samurai armor suits designed to appeal to the fashion-conscious warrior. Made from resin, cashew lacquer, cloth and glass, the exquisitely crafted protective suits sport the iconic double-C logo, allowing the wearer to flaunt his superior social status while crushing the enemy on the battlefield." Via Pink Tentacle

Well, I'd say! This is how you do your thang on the battlefield. I wouldn't mind going to or coming home from battle in this get up. Beauty is pain, right? Or at least it protects you from pain in this case.

I really love all the brute-force fashion we've been getting lately - spikes, studs, full on armor. Haute-weaponry now comes styled with monograms and stilettos!

Unkle Karl must be proud!

Lila Horn OK Please

The next few posts will be about Lila Horn, a brand that creates clothing, trinkets, scarves, jewelry and many other beautiful accessories from the craftsmanship of local artisans in developing countries.

"At Lila Horn we make globally inspired clothes that look smashing while doing good. We combine distinctive patterns, textures and techniques from around the world with energized forms and flattering fits from home. Working in developing countries with rich textile traditions, we hope to simultaneously strengthen local artisans and infuse our clothes with personality. We are excited to introduce unique, cool clothes to our friends while engaging them in the traditions we found so inspiring during our travels."

Basically, they're two amazing girls who help create and distribute the work of other amazing men and women from around the world. I was fortunate enough to have been able to go to the trunk show in NYC last month and get a couple of Lila Horn-aments.

First, I'll show you the sparkling skirt. Super comfortable, POCKETS (a must for me, personally - I never know where to put my hands, I feel like it's wrong to have them flailing awkwardly at my sides, or at least I bet they would flail awkwardly if I didn't insist on everything having pockets). Anyway, it has pockets, which is perfect. I also love the fact that the pattern of the skirt makes the waist band part look braided - such a lovely coincidental detail! If you're wondering, the second one (slightly lighter colors, circular pattern) is not mine, although I would've loved to have gotten two! It's Jessica's and she looks amazing in hers too - because I know I look better than a beauty queen on prom night. Also, it has the slightest bit of golden sparkle in the zig-zag pattern, which was wonderful for my New Year's Eve celebrations! I paired it with the double-cuffs + some black boots = grand old time!

More LH to come soon!

Obsessong of the day: Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi (this girl has got some serious personal flare)

oh P.S. Mom won the button in the Galette des Rois yesterday. Guess who got to be King? Congrats, dad (as every year)!

Fit for a king

La Galette des Rois is French. I am half French. Therefore, project!

Today, my mother and I made one (and a half) in celebration of the January tradition, commemorating the Epiphany. Now, our family is far from being religious, but when a celebration involves delicious and sweet treats, we're in.

The filling is usually a frangipane, which we sort of cheated by blending the butter, sugar and almonds.

Flattening out the phyllo dough.

Making sure to carefully seal and crimp the edges.

Our extra phyllo dough went into making a baby galette, which exploded in the oven. It was still tasty though.

A little egg wash on top to goldenize it.

Bing bang boom 30 mins in the pipin' hot oven.

THE fève. A.K.A. a cool button found in our for-all-the-buttons-and-random-small-objects-we-will-probably-never-need-bowl.

Who will be king tonight? (Well, actually that's not really hard to figure out because it's always my dad, amongst three girls), but WHO WILL HE CHOOSE TO BE HIS QUEEN? That's a fight we will have to sort out after dinner.

Song of the day: Kleerup feat. Lykke Li - Until We Bleed

Newspaper

This one's actually made from pages out of a telephone book.

Creative people rock.

Now I know this is surely an idea older than the Roman Empire (yes it is, and don't call me Shirley), but I wanted to share with you a collection of garments created entirely out of newspaper by some very imaginative designers. Feel free to contribute to the visual goodness if you have any other suggestions (a.k.a. links, images, entire sites devoted to this kind of genius?)

First three are the highest scorers on last season's Project Runway, when they had the designers create a look using only newspaper, glue and dye (if they chose to color the newspaper).

Irina Shabayeva

Gordana Gehlhausen

Christopher Straub

Izaac Mizrahi

Gary Harvey

Hugo Boss

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! (yeah... i know...)

A stunning way to start off

Thank you to V Magazine for bringing ideas such as the above to fruition.

Seductive and stunning.

V always has the coolest videos-that-accompany-the-photoshoot, anyways; this one (below) is and will always be one of my absolute favorites, starring Natalie Portman and her insane cheekbones.

Venture into 2010

Happy New Year 2010!

Last night my lovely wifey, Miss Shannon called me from Paris at midnight (her time aka 6pm NY time) - which was magical because I was still in 2009. Do you understand the magic of the situation? She was already in 2010! I asked her if she needed anything back in 2009 or if she had forgotten to do or get something but she declined, deciding instead to go full steam into the new year. No, she is not a boat. Anyway, I'm glad the new year has begun although I have yet to decide what resolutions I'll be making...

I'd also like to point out that the televised version of NYE 2010 at Times Square (congrats to Nivea and Toshiba for the amazing marketing schemes btw) has become less and less PG-13 as they continue to show couples making out for the camera because awww it's so cute we're on TV and it's new year's! Um, no. I do not want to watch you tongue your girlfriend on television while I'm trying to enjoy drinking too much champagne with some old friends. Although, I must admit, making fun of you doing so is a wonderful and hilarious distraction to the fact that you at least got up and went out. Although, I had an amazing time with the gummy bear war and champagne-pong galore (WOOOT I see rhyming is BACK in 2010).

P.S. As part of my NYE outfit, I got cuffs! As in wonder-woman. As in amazing! So very fun to wear - I felt like someone could be shooting an AK-47 at me and I would be able to deflect each and every bullet with my wrist-eye coordination. Boom!

Let the games begin!

I'd like to know how they're going to make 2011 glasses...