A Look at the Sartorialist

A wonderful profile by the NY Times LENS blog, on influential street photographer Scott Schuman of the Sartorialist. I can say that my day isn't complete without a visit to his blog, and my favorite people featured are often the laborers or those with less money, but a creative personal style. Additionally, I'm an enormous fan of all black and aviators when the rest of my closet (or life) somewhat fails me.

Accidental Love

In a world of Twilight vampire love and Bachelor and Bachelorette TV shows, glamorizing desperation, drama, and fights, real love stories like these are beyond refreshing.

"How come I didn't scare you?"
"I found you fascinating. And I was...mesmerized, I think is the right word? Asombrado."

Sugar Art

I was convinced these were either paintings, vintage earrings, or at the very least, coffee coasters. None of these above - these are cookies, created by artist and pastry chef extraordinaire, Maggie Austin. I would probably just stare at them for hours and then leave to devour the contents of my fridge because I couldn't bring myself to destroy them. At $25 a pop, they are literally too pretty to eat! I'll settle for bag of Gushers instead.

photos via Maggie Austin

Love to Hate

I want to boycott John Mayer, but I just can't shake him. I also feel this way about SF's public transportation system, but then it starts raining and I have to swallow my pride and climb on the ride from hell, so my shoes don't fill up with their own mini lakes. I love to hate you, John Mayer and SF Muni.

Lykke Li

Lykke Li and Kleerup are incredible in this, and so is this character who can levitate himself for 4:24 whilst wearing incredibly awesome high-tops, I'm fairly certain he's beating the monks in Tibet who are levitating around their temples, no disrespect meant.

Manrepelling Proudly

The enviably beautiful Charlize Theron. She has come such a long way since Mighty Joe Young. Now she's doing the impossible - saving her boyfriend from ninjas, and pulling off this delicious menswear look.

Writing on this topic made me think about a hilarious blog I came across the other day, Manrepeller. Wow, I thought, scrolling down the pages, I love so many of these looks, I must be repelling men left and right in my harem pants (or my MC Hammer pants, as someone close to me adoringly (adoringly, right...?) calls them. It's very likely that people are turning away in disgust, but I couldn't enjoy the thought of so much power resting in my MC Hammer pants and platform clogs more. No, not together, you've been spending way too much time on Manrepeller already and are overestimating my repelling power.

Girl 1: What are you wearing tonight?

Girl 2: My harem pants, blazers with extra-puffy shoulder pads, and gold gun earrings. What about you?

Girl 1: Oh, so we're man repelling tonight?

 

Men have not stopped ogling Charlize after her role in Monster, because they knew under all the makeup, overalls, and added weight, that she'd go back to looking like this, and are willing to overlook the diaper pants detail. So in short, repel away, you never know whose falling in love with your fur head piece.

 Achieve a similar looks (minus the serial killer tendencies), with Asos and Piperlime. 

 

Warehouse Paperbag Waist Harem Pants

 

ASOS Silk and Lace Mix Blazer

 

DV By Dolce Vita Pascal

Doughy Encounters of the Third Kind

 

via Oh Joy!

Hahaha! Very cute. But now I'm craving bagels and its raining horses and rhinos outside which makes my doughy escapades without a car next to impossible. Any bagel delivery spots out there, in the Bay Area? No thanks to you, GrubHub.

Living Space

photos via For the Love of Gold 

The incredibly bright pops of color and details in this otherwise basic living room is so beautiful!

The Sweet and The Sour

I couldn't sell my soul for money, but I'd consider selling it for these chocolate-covered orange peels. My soul couldn't be worth more than 15 bucks, anyways, which is the cost of the ingredients for this recipe, which would mean I'd be soul-less but sugar high after eating at least 20 of these in one sitting (the amount it would take to fill me up, I estimate).

 

images via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Essential Suede

 

via Stockholm Street Style

She makes casual look so damn fabulous. I wasn't in the market for a suede skirt since I'm trying to afford my rent and groceries this month, but this girl is making me question the necessity of shelter and food. Not a great sign. 

And a couple awesome tunes to get you through the week, which you can appreciate whether you live in a cardboard box or have any contents in your fridge.

Fenech Soler - Lies

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl ft. Q Tip and MNDR

Samantha Hahn

Samantha Hahn is an exceptional artist, whose ethereal watercolor paintings (amongst her other gorgeous work) evoke a strong but delicate female spirit. You can keep up-to-date with her work, by checking out her blog, Maquette. Happy (almost) Tuesday!

Pendant Lamps

Umbu's Etsy shop is creating the most beautiful, re-purposed pendant lamps. I feel like these would look beautiful hanging in any room of a home and mix with a variety of decor.

via sfgirlbybay

Library Love Affairs

Apparently, Carrie Bradshaw isn't the only one with dreams of getting hitched at the New York Public Library. Even us commoners have dreams of having our wedding ceremony in this beautiful building that houses history's greatest love stories of all time, and the NYPL is actually humoring us.

Via NYPL

In all honesty though, aren't these pictures gorgeous? I love the candles on the staircase and the borderline cheesy bookcase photo. Because nothing says romance like several sets of Encyclopedia Britannica...

Hoods

I'm actually a fan of the hooded dress, when done right. Case in point...

via Style with Anna

 

                                 A.                                           B.                                       C.                                                   D.

Thumbs up or Dresses A, B, and D. The hood worn up is such a unique look, while the hood worn down could look similar to a flowy cowl neck, flattering to quite a few body types. Lindsey's dress (B), looks straight out of Monty Python with her glamarmor, but I love it anyway.

Thumbs down for Dress D, who is exemplary of a hoodrat, hoodrat, hoochie mama with that dress' fit and length. And I'm not a fan of the boots with the dress, either.

One of my favorites is this batwing, black velvet Lisa Jayne Dann Velvet Hooded Dress from Asos.

You  do need to have a certain amount of courage to bear that much back, but I just love the silhouette and the velvet material.

William Fitzsimmons

The female singer's delicate voice and his soft male voice make the perfect duet. There's just something about the collaboration and combination of such different, gendered voices. Plus, the addition of the synthesizers and the more upbeat mix, really up the ante of this track.

The Modern Family

W Magazine has published an an amazing piece on nontraditional, American families, under their Family Issue Portfolio. All those profiled are celebrities of some sort, but their family situations make their experiences so relatable, they could very well be your own family. During this time of re-evaulation of the definition of family, the author brings up an excellent point - the possibilities are endless.

 via W Magazine

I Blame Coco

I'm so excited to have discovered Eliot Sumner, a female British singer, and provider of lead vocals for an amazing band that is just hitting the U.S., I Blame Coco. As if being the offspring of Sting and actress/producer Trudie Styler didn't help, Sumner has got an incredible androgynous look that seems to be creating quite a sexually-confused fan base (this assumption based off of the ever-so-reliable YouTube comments). Additionally, her smokey voice allows her sound to be reminiscent of 80's cult classic, male bands, like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode. If you think that's usually high praise for this girl, keep in mind that a former gig of hers was singing background vocals for Miike Snow's "Animal." And if that still that doesn't convince, take a look at her recent cover shoot with none other than British fashion powerhouse ASOS, and take a listen.

 

via Beauty Confessional

A True Spanish Gentleman

Today's Sartorialist post killlls me. I'm in love with this little Spanish gentleman! His burgundy jacket and pom-pom socks are incredibly adorable. Sure, his parents get hi-fives for putting him in the outfit, but he   pulls it off so well.

P.S. Don't forget to admire his comb-over! :)

via The Sartorialist

Staying Warm

With the winter season upon San Francisco, it's time to start thinking about creative ways to get warm. Sometimes, I try sticking my feet on top of my laptop. I suppose I could always try socks first, but in this technology advanced day and age, it's easy to forget common sense...

First step - layers.

via Aubrey Road

Second step - combat boots.

Its easy to shy away from this military-inspired footwear, labeling them too early 90's, Doc-Martens-looking and bulky, but I think there are definitely ways to feminize the look. Case in point. You make us proud with your green pants, Alessandra.

 Plus, the newer, distressed styles make pairing them with more feminine pieces, extremely easy.

Mia Limited Edition 

Seychelles Meteor Show III

The Ballerina Project

I'm having a little trouble finding details on the photographer, but his or her motive with the Ballerina Project seems to be to capture ballet dancers with various attitudes and moods, in an array of urban environments. I find that the images are romantic, sensual, and beautifully real, all at once. Often images of ballet dancers are highly feminized and dainty, but these photographs are much more powerful.

My dancer past always comes back to haunt me, somehow, whether with a re-run of "Center Stage" or seeing toddler ballerinas in their tutus excitedly run out of their class, onto the sidewalk. These photographs are so powerful, and their diversity with the one common tie of satin pointe shoes is incredibly touching. I would love to cover an entire wall of my apartment with them. Luckily, they can now be bought here.

 images via The Ballerina Project

Public Displays of Obsession

 via The Senses Five

If I ever manage to accumulate such an impressive shoe collection (have faith, naysayers, I'll just replace my love for eating out with Top Ramen to save - its called "Top" for a reason), displaying them in a shelf, usually host to elephants made of china and Swarovski swans, would be a such a creative way to store them. Especially one with such an antique look, like this black one.

I'd leave out the creepy doll with missing limbs and the smooshed torso, however. Even dolls deserve some dignity.

Mothers Vs. Drug Trafficking

According to Salon, the new police chief in the Mexican town of Raxedis Guadalupe Guerrero is a 20-year-old, a mother, and taking her job very seriously.

Taking over a region that has been ruined by drug violence, Marisol Valles is the first to step up to the position since the last police chief had his head delivered to the police station in an ice chest. Whether you consider Valles courageous or foolish for stepping into this incredibly dangerous, male-dominated field, the important thing is that Valles is taking a risk because she wants a brighter future for her children. With that motivation in mind, millions of women could put their skills and hard work into action, in all types of fields.

Off The Chain

 

 via Aubrey Road

The chain details in these accessories, add a heavy or delicate texture to an outfit, depending on the links' material and thickness. Mixing and matching would be fun.

Pops of Color

 

via sfgirlbybay

These poufy mcpoufster stool/footrests are so adorable, and the colors they come in and their handmade look, would make any room more approachable. I'd buy them in all the available colors if I had the available space/money!

Taking a Breather

 

 photo via The Sartorialist

A smoke, a coffee, or a phone call...we all need a break sometimes.

Scott Matthews

A true, true talent. The cello addition makes an already moving song, absolutely haunting.

Ribbon Art

image via You Are My Fave

These ribbon animals are created by artist BAKU Maeda, in an effort to capture the essence of life through simple twisting and bending of materials. They remind me of a (much upgraded) version of the 3-D paper animal and flowers I used to make when I was younger. I love the seal in the lower right corner and the green bird on the top row. If you're really up for a challenge, a ribbon animal could replace a simple bow on a gift. Let me know how that goes! ;)