Find of the Day

We had a perfectly lovely time at the Felt Club today. The Shrine Auditorium was full to the hilt of crafty folks selling their goods. I was very pleased with the variety of merchandise, and the care and professionalism that was displayed. My absolute favorite find today is the local illustrator Catia Chien. She makes dreamy watercolors that remind me of the feeling of comfort and delight that I got as a child looking at the illustrations of Jessie Wilcox Smith and others of her era. Catia Chien's whimsical drawings are very differnt from those in A Child's Garden of Verses, but they evoke the same delight in me, which I find is not as common a feeling as an adult, and perhaps that is why I'm so excited to shaire my find. She has prints and other little gifts avaliable on her website so check it out!

xoxo,
marion

Art Avaliable online at www.catiachien.com

From 52 to 48 With Love

See if you can find me here!

It's Holiday Bazaar Season!

xoxo,
marion

An Open Letter to Vinyl Leggings

Dear Miss Leggings,

I've been seeing you around town a lot lately. It appears that the rumors I heard earlier this year about you going back to your day job were false, and you are still going out every night getting sweaty on the dance floors of Los Angeles. You've left your old friends back at the dimly lit, gay friendly goth club, and have ventured out onto the red carpet with a new entourage of B-list celebrities. But I know the truth about you Vinyl Leggings. I know why you only come in black and why only Rihanna looks even passably good in you.

You are a cruel mistress, Miss Leggings. Even smart and normally stylish people are drawn to hold their breathes, clench their asses, and attempt to pull you on inch by inch. And even though the results aren't pretty, you have pulled the vinyl over their eyes. Maybe it's because they have to continue to hold their breath while wearing you that your victims feel like you make them appear slimmer, but those of us who haven't fallen prey to you know the truth. You caress every dimple of cellulite of every ass that has ever met you and you highlight every inch of what would otherwise be barely perceptible fat with a ray of black molten light that is terrifying to behold.
And as if that weren't enough, your betrayal of your new friends doesn't end there. In your endless lust for attention you have convinced these poor souls to let every inch of you be seen. Instead of hiding you under a dress like your cousin Cotton Leggings, these acolytes of the cult of Vinyl are wearing you with little t-shirts and tank tops that further reveal the havoc you have wreaked on their posteriors.

You must have slipped something into the Vodka Redbulls of stylists everywhere because they are saying all sorts of great things about you, that you are rock-star chic, versatile, and great for pairing with sweaters for a great "mix of textures". Maybe I'm just not chic enough to understand where you are coming from Vinyl Leggings... is there something more to you that I just don't understand? No! I wont allow you to pull me into your web of deceit. You must go I'm afraid. There isn't room in this town for the both of us, and there isn't room in you for anyone.

xoxo,
marion

Dark Riders

I'm so sad I didn't find this in time for Halloween! But the line by Rick Owens, drkshdw, perfectly combines two of my favorite things: high fashion and nerdy fantasy. Perhaps the always too cool for school Mr. Owens would balk at me calling his designs "nerdy", but really... fur lined druid hoodies? Yeah, that's about as nerd chic as you can get outside of Comic-Con. Either way I think it's a fantastic concept that the designer pulls off with his classic rock star touch. And apparently others agree because the line is notoriously hard to find, and sells out even with it's "not for the average budget" prices. I don't know about you, but I think that this may inspire a little sewing project of my own...

xoxo,
marion

find drkshdw at OakNYC

Life in the City of Angels

Well, I thought I'd post a little picture blog of life in Los Angeles so far...

they love them some Obama here :)

kelly looking angsty with his Jens Lekman record he rediscovered

paint/table

me/curtain

my lovely big closet has it's own little window...

we left our computer desk... we brought our booze...

neighborhood

Leftenant Tibbins

we are the one on the right

this is our mailslot. you should send us mail.

We Miss You Guys!!!
XOXO,
Marion & Kelly & Tibbs

4554 St Elmo Drive

Terrific Traipsing Boots!

This time of year makes me want to go traipsing through the woods. Take the road less traveled if you will, maybe read a little Robert Frost on a convenient log. And to do this you really do need the perfect boots. Mine are a pair of brown leather, Oxford style ankle boots from J.Crew that I've had since high school. They are sturdy and worn and have the perfect forest green laces. However, if for some reason those boots were stolen, and the thief left 500 bucks in their place, I would go out and purchase the above pictured boots by Devotte. As far as I am concerned the mourning process for my much loved high school boots would be short lived if I could replace them with these babies! The perfect boots for women should ideally fall somewhere between Anne of Green Gables and Annie Oakley, and I think this pair does exactly that. *sigh* I suppose I shouldn't moon over these boots for too long, my actual boots might get jealous, and I wouldn't want to trip on that walk in the woods.

xoxo
Marion

So Mad Men!

I think I know what the designer was watching on hulu when she sketched out this little number! It's exactly what Joan Holloway would wear as she breezes through the office on Mad Men. It's on sale right now at J.crew and I confess that I'm totally coveting it! hm... purple or navy blue?

xoxo

marion

forget variety!

While I usually profess a love for variety, I think I could probably live on the bean&cheese Torta from Tortas de Mexico for the rest of my life. Or at least the rest of my life in L.A. In fact, when i raise this sandwich to my lips I no longer pity vegetarians! In fact I raise my glass to them! This restaurant in Pasadena is not actually a vegetarian restaurant, but the three best things on the menu most certainly are. In addition to the bean and cheese torta that I get, Kelly has developed an almost unnatural love for the chile relleno torta (pictured above in all it's glory) and when I do need a little variety I get the cheese and chile filled tamales. So if you find yourself hungry from all that shopping on Colorado Blvd. try to avoid the queue at The Cheesecake Factory and head down the street to Tortas de Mexico.

Tortas de Mexico
on the corner of Holly and Fair Oaks in Pasadena

Images from Spring RTW '09

So I want to share a few of my favorite images from fashion week this week! I just now got a chance to sit and peruse the merchandise, and while I haven't yet found any full lines that I like in their entirety there are quite a few nice pieces to reference for Spring. The color palate was very muted and cool for the most part, which some people made work and left others a little flat. Here are some of my favorites:

Beautiful full sleeves at Monique Lhuillier
Youthful mix of prints at Rachel Comey
Summer casual at Jenni Kayne

Frills at 3.1 Phillip Lim

Lovely evening wear at Carolina Herrera
Unappologetic glamor at Marchesa
I loved seeing a few more black models on the runway this season... two favorite new faces are Yordanos Teshager at Sophie Theallet (who featured all black models) and Lakshmi Menon at Carolina Herrera


Ok, and last but perhaps my favorite of this season so far, Chris Benz. Forget what I said about not seeing a whole runway that I liked, everything he sent down was totally inspired. I really think he is coming into his own as a young designer, and his spot on color pallet and intellectual yet wearable clothes are wonderful to see.



See Style.com for full coverage of the Spring runways!

xoxo,
marion