Summertime Clothes

I've been wondering why I love Animal Collective's Summertime Clothes so much. It just dawned on me - it's all about the senses.

Summertime Clothes

Animal Collective

Sweet summer night and I'm stripped to my sheets
Forehead is leaking, my AC squeaks and
A voice from the clock says, "You're not gonna get tired"
My bed is a pool and the walls are on fire
Soak my head in the sink for a while
Chills on my neck and it makes me smile but
My bones have to move and my skin's gotta breathe
You pick up the phone and I'm so relieved
You slide down your stairs to the heated street
And the sun has left us with slippery feet
And I want to walk around with you
And I want to walk around with you
And be here with you, we're goin'

It doesn't really matter, I'll go where you feel
Hunt for the breeze, get a midnight meal
I point in the windows, you point out the parks
Rip off your sleeves and I'll ditch my socks
We'll dance to the songs from the cars as they pass
Weave through the cardboard, smell that trash
Walking around in our summertime clothes,
Nowhere to go while our bodies glow
And we'll greet the dawn in its morning blues
With purple yawn, you'll be sleeping soon
And I want to walk around with you
And I want to walk around with you

When the sun goes down, we'll go out again
Don't cool off, I like your warmth

Let's leave the sound of the heat for the sound of the rain
It's easy to sleep when it wets my brain
It covers my rest with a saccharine sheen
Kissing the wind through my window screen
The restlessness calls us, that I cannot hide
So much on my mind that it spills outside
Do you want to go stroll down the financial street?
Our clothes might get soaked, but the buildings sleep
And there's no one pushing for a place
As we end up at an easy pace
And I want to walk around with you
And I want to walk around with you
I want to walk around with you
Just you, just you, just you...

The official video. It's a trip.

Sales From the Crypt

Whenever I go to the LA County Coroner's office in Boyle Heights, it's never for a happy story. And the place is kind of spooky...

But I found the silver lining! That's right. Behind that spooky door lies a campy gift shop. It's called Skeletons In the Closet, located just inside the old LA General Hospital.

The beach towels are bestsellers. They can't keep em in stock. The coroner t-shirt is just as popular.Chick here to visit the shop online!

Strip Teese

Dita Von Teese was incredible at the Avalon in Hollywood.
It was a sold out show!

I wanted to pay homage to Dita's look, so I channeled my inner pinup & a bit of Laura Harring in Mulholland Drive. I curled my hair with hot rollers & tossed it about. Dress is Bebe, shoes Christian Louboutin, earrings F21 & the purse was $1 at Target!

As anticipation mounted, the bar featured her signature cocktail the Cointreau Teese. If you like sweet drinks this one's for you!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz Cointreau

3/4 oz Apple juice

1/2 oz Monin violet syrup

1/2 oz Fresh lemon juice

Channeling Dita while waiting for the show to begin!

I don't normally wear red lipstick so I bought some wet n' wild. Worked great. Cheap & fantastic!

Here she is! Check out her teensy waist. Fab!

Just a tease folks. Wish I had more pics of her to show off. I was asked to turn off my camera!

One more snap while checking my lipstick.

Savile Rogue

Dressed smart like a London bloke.
Before he speak his suit bespoke.

When I heard Kanye sing these words to American Boy I nearly lost it. Then I saw him sporting this tweed bespoke suit. Love!

Borrowing the words of Thomas Mahon of English Cut:

'Bespoke' is actually a term which dates from the 17th century, when tailors held the full lengths of cloth in their premises. When a customer chose a length of material, it was said to have “been spoken for”. Hence a tailor who makes your clothes individually, to your specific personal requirements, is called "bespoke". This is unlike “made-to-measure”, which simply uses a basic, pre-existing template pattern, which is then adjusted to roughly your individual measurements.

Let's tour some of London's most respected bespoke tailors. Shall we?

We'll begin with a legend. Anderson and Sheppard opened its doors in 1906. Clients include - take a deep breath - Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Duke Ellington, Sir Laurence Olivier, Ralph Fiennes, Prince Charles & Gary Cooper (pictured below).

At one point, Ralph Lauren tried to buy the company for $5 million. When he was turned down, he launched his Purple Label line. Below is an impeccable A&S suit and the tailors at work.

Let's change gears a bit to visit cutting edge bespoke tailor Sir Tom Baker. He's based in Soho and his clients include Mick Jagger, Robert Plant & Depeche Mode.

Sir Baker does “the London Cut”: narrow shoulders, narrow sleeve, high armhole, long vents and quite a long skirt to the jacket.

Now for the rockstar look. Same standards, different details.

Sir Baker describes his style as “a combination of Dickens and rock’n’roll. I like to fit a suit right to the bone…but pull the cake out of the oven just before it burns." Yeow!

Let's move to Savile Row, the famous street in London where bespoke is said to have originated. Kilgour outfitted Cary Grant in the film, North By Northwest. Grant is considered one of the most stylish leading men of the silver screen and this suit is his most famous.

To quote Todd McEwen:
“North By Northwest isn’t a film about what happens to Cary Grant, it’s about what happens to his suit.”

Daniel Craig & Jude Law are modern-day clients of Kilgour.

Bespoke suits are a serious investment, easily costing thousands of dollars because of the time and work involved. I just love learning about the details, since I'm obsessed with them. To me, three pieces of info below would sell me in a heartbeat.

1. A bespoke suit always allows for three inches of adjustment to the main seams, in case your weight fluctuates.

2. The devil is in the details. (check how the fabric lines up)

left: good

right: bad

3. A bespoke tailor understands the human body contains no angles, all curves.

Sigh.

Winston = Happiness

I've been following Winston's life for a while. He eats bananas & mashed potatoes & sneezes in bunches. He doesn't follow laser lights or bat much at toys. He's adorably odd. His daddy blogs for VH1 and talks about Winston at fourfour.

Winston as rice krispy treat.

Winston has a hamburger head! Put some ketchup & mustard on him and I'll eat him up.

Winston as E.T.
Winston as a baby. Aww.

And the finale... Winston chirping!

How To Make a Record

I woke up after 12 hours of sleep. 1/2 a day. Pad groggily downstairs, sip a vanilla latte. Wonder who's playing the incredible blues coming out of the tv. Once my eyes can focus, the jumpy b&w video show the labor-intensive work involved in making records. The song is Will There Be Enough Water by The Dead Weather.


Below is a video from the 30's featuring Duke Ellington & record-making. Did it provide inspiration for their video?

You Can Do It: Fab Hair & Makeup

Question I always get: Who does your hair & makeup?

Answer: When I'm in studio, I get my hair & makeup done. When I'm in the field, I do it myself... and I'm usually in the field!

I love going to the makeup counter at MAC & getting my makeup done. Even better? Going to the salon for full hair and makeup. (Btw, Shannon at Jose Eber does my cuts!)

I've been dying to learn how to do different looks myself for some time and just found my teacher! Miss Chievous has fantastic tutorials on youtube.

From the the author: I am honestly not one who spends a huge amount of time fixing elaborate hairstyles, I much prefer simple and effortless looks that remain stylish but don't require a lot of patience. I also don't have many hair tools to my disposal, so I make do with a crappy hair dryer and a crappy iron for now.

Perfect!


If you do any of the looks, please post photos for me!

Dancing Machines

We celebrated Jaime's birthday this past weekend with great friends, food, birthday cake and her pup Buddy. MJ + Motley Crue on vinyl meant dancing was definitely in order.

Old Boys Club

These images are from the book Take Ivy, which is out of print & sells for outrageous bucks on ebay. The shots are from the sixties, when Japanese photographer T. Hashiyada traveled to America to photograph the fashion of ivy league schools.

I believe my obsession with trad/prep style started last winter when I heard Vampire Weekend's music. The boys with their adorable prep looks just about killed me.

A bit of googling turned up endless blogs teaching me more than I ever knew about men's fashion. The authors have impeccable taste, like the classic idea of buying the best you can afford and then wearing it into the ground proudly.

Square-toed shoes will get you kicked out of the club. Below is a do.

Two blogs mentioned recently in the New York Times are A Continuous Lean & The Trad. I have a soft spot for Tin Tin, because I remember when he first started blogging. He's always been an incredible storyteller, but when I returned today - a year later - his photojournalism blew me away. Top-notch.

Here are some snapshots from their blogs.

The tie above is from J. Press, a company that sells classic American clothing and made to measure suits. The kind of stuff you wear into the ground.

While most of em seem to be East Coasters, there are a few old boys here in the Southland. Check out Laguna Beach Trad. You'll see it's not just about fashion, but a way of life.