I recently bought a the Dolce Vita remix of that fabulous YSL pump (I had at one point entertained forking over the hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the real thing so to be able to buy the knock-off for a mere $100 seemed so genius...)
Not too bad, eh?
Now, I'm completely obsessed with them but have to yet to wear them. What's the cause of this? Not a disinterest in height and how fabulous it is to tower and teeter about BUT the pump (even with a nice pair of massage-y gel inserts) is really a stand around look pretty kind of shoe - and, to be candid, it's really a stand around for about an hour before sitting for the rest of the day/evening kind of shoe. In my youth I would have endured the pain but I'm an old lady at this point and like walking too much to continue to suffer.
BUT I have found the solution: I have discovered the platform/wedge. HOW how how how how have I lived my life for so long without it??
My current love affair is with a pair of Jeffrey Campbell's I practically live in (I'm even trying to justify them as good shoes for bad winter weather... No? Maybe?)
The actual heel-to-toe difference is probably an inch but the enormous platform gives you legs for days - they're perfect with pants, with leggings, with dresses... Amazing. And the strange metal leather trim gives them that little twist. J'adore.
I am now saving my dollars to invest in a pair from Mini Market from their Spring 2010 collection, is it bad to want both colors? I love the play in color and texture and that they come higher up the ankle. I'm pretty excited about them...
The best part about the platform is that they don't have to be expensive the way a pump really needs to be. I learned both in the YSL/Dolce Vita experience and my New Years in Aldo booties that to be comfortable in a high heel it needs to be made well, that there is, in fact, an art to the pitch (the angle at which the ball of the foot hits the toe of the shoe) and more money buys you more comfort (not to mention better leather versus plastics and acrylics will mean less sweating and thus less swelling). The wedge, however, is fantastic at all price points and my favorite shoes right now are also my most affordable. Look at lines such as Mattiko , Jeffrey Campbell, Dolce Vita, Aldo, or sites such as Urban Outfitters, Top Shop, Pixie Market, LF, and Oak for awesome versions at amazing prices.
This year has been an exciting year for the female pop performer, and it's not only because Lady GaGa has taken over (although I will admit I do love her so, what a surprise). To think only a decade ago the top pop stars were blonde princesses, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore. Now, we find the expectation of the starlette being subverted, challenged. Men were doing interesting things, sure, but it was the women who took control and pushed the expectations of music and presentation into whole new places. Below I present my list of the top ten albums of the year.
1. Fever Ray Fever Ray
My love affair with Karin Dreijer Andersson (and her brother) began some years ago with my life-transforming discovery of The Knife. The weird mixture of atmospheric synth sounds, steel drums, and the unsettling treatment of Karin's voice instantly won my heart. (I would easily place Deep Cuts and Silent Shout in my top lists of the decade.) Fever Ray is Karin's solo project, the album written while she was pregnant. This detail adds an interesting twist to the deeply obsessive lyrics, easily interpreted as desparate love songs. The album is perfection from start to finish, managing to be avant-garde, moody but never overworked.
2. Micachu Jewellery
I will admit that it feels a little punk to put an album at number two that clocks in at just over 30 minutes. (I wanted to put it at number one but that felt oddly political.) However, when writing this list I couldn't help but think of it in comparison to my list last year that found Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours at number one, primarily because I couldn't stop listening to the album and found myself needing to hear it start to finish. I sincerely feel that level of passion for Jewellery: I want to hear it all day every day. It's a surprisingly fun album, managing to find cohesiveness within its discord. What could easily have been a noisy mess is, in fact, a pop triumph.
3. Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
It all begins with "Lisztomania" and once hooked you can't turn it off. Not to mention, the faint French accent is quite charming. I feel like this album was pegged as top 10 material from the moment of its release. If you somehow managed to not hear it I recommend finding it as soon as possible.
4. Florence & The Machine Lungs
Florence Welch (aka Florence is a Machine aka Florence & the Machine) likens her voice to nuns falling down a well and I don't know if a more accurate metaphor could be chosen. Lungswas a favorite from the moment I discovered it. It's a magical explosion of sound: the layering of her incredible voice, bells, organs, strange guitar sounds... it's entirely otherworldly. Songs such as "Howl" or "Cosmic Love" (and the above "Drumming Song") are also some of my favorite love songs ever written, managing to exist as entirely human despite the fantastical imagery (my love is like a...werewolf?).
5. La Roux La Roux
I first became aware of La Roux when her single "Quicksand" was included on a Kitsune Maison compilation sometime early last year. Her second single "In For The Kill" was... eh. I'll admit I was skeptical. And then La Roux was released and I had to admit that I was wrong (something I hate admitting). It is easily one of the ballsiest albums released this year. Her voice, her hair, the synths and keyboards (just listen to the amazing drum sound in "Tigerlily", it's life changing)... Somehow she manages to conjure early-80s synthpop bands such as Yaz or Erasure and still be entirely cutting edge. I have to say that the fact that she does it all in strange brightly-colored pegged suits with a gravity-defying remix of the pompidour only makes me that much more excited.
6. Miike Snow Miike Snow
Bloodshy & Avant, the geniuses that brought us the greatest pop song ever written ("Toxic", le duh), teamed up with singer Andrew Wyatt to create an incredible achievement of textural richness (written during a dark Stockholm winter you get the sense that this album was felt with eyes closed rather than composed). I had the pleasure of seeing them play Mercury Lounge some months ago and the synths actually seem to swallow you whole while Wyatt's soft voice manages to make some of the darker, more macabre lyrics seem light.
7. Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
I will admit that it wasn't until I was compiling this list that I remembered that this album even came out this year. I quickly flipped through my computer to track it down and give it a relisten and felt a little sad that I had neglected it for so many months. From start to finish it's an incredible amount of fun and Alex Kapranos's voice is just too good, somehow both rock star and showtune crooner simultaneously... I fell in love with it instantly then and I re-fell in love with it now.
8. Tegan & Sara Sainthood
I love Tegan & Sara in a borderline unnatural way so I suppose putting them on my top 10 is a little biased... Nonetheless, this album has been the only CD in my car since I saw them in New York Halloween weekend and I can still listen to it every single day and find myself excited in anticipation, so I think that's worth something. It's a compelling follow-up to 2007's The Con: while it is the first time the sister's wrote songs together (they typically write their songs separate and come together to forge a cohesive album in production) it is also each sister at her most autonomous. The voices are now noticably distinct, Tegan's a little deeper as Sara pushes the hauntingly childlike quality her voice can take further and further to great effect. I love them. You should, too.
9. Memory Tapes Seek Magic
Memory Tapes is (from what I've read) the mash-up of one-part Memory Cassettes, one-part Weird Tapes and the lead singer of Hail Social (who may or may not also be in one of those bands... I don't know). Nonetheless, this was the closest I got to a new Cut Copy album this year and it has been a surprisingly satisfying second choice. What could have easily been any other lo-fi weirdo electro project manages to be fun, quirky, and unexpected. Not to mention, the lyrics are hauntingly beautiful, despite simplicity.
10. Passion Pit Manners
As I get to the bottom of this list I realize that this was sort of the year of weirdo electronic projects... Passion Pit is no different, and while I will admit that I started as a superfan and then became incredibly self-conscious of that position and now find myself in a rather skeptical place (I think it's Memory Tapes fault... Let's blame them) I still have to admit that this album was an incredible first effort from a band that had previously been recording in their dorm rooms in Boston (and even the EP that is the product of such a set-up is amazing). The lyrics manage to be poetic and yet never try too hard, and it definitely is a daringly bold and confident album from start to finish (listen to "Sleepyhead" or "The Reeling").
Honorable Mention:
Neon Indian Psychic Chasms
Sort of like the strange lost mixed tape you discovered in your attic, this album is a continuation of the theme of weirdo lo-fi electronica that seems to dominate my top ten.
Lady GaGa The Fame Monster
Lady GaGa is sort of the woman to beat at this point in the pop world. I am embarrassed for Britney as I think of what poor Ms. Spears is going to have to do to remain "on top" (PLEASE, Circus was awkward for all of us, especially those of us who recognized just how incredible Blackout was, strange head shaving incident aside). I would have included the video for "Bad Romance" but I fear it will upstage the rest of the things on this list. (Hmmm... that statement makes me wonder if I made a mistake in not including it in the top ten proper... )
Cocoa Michelle's, located at 190 Main Street, is graciously hosting a Holiday Pop-Up Shop featuring all the fun things I've been posting about these past months... A perfect place to find that jaw-dropping gift sure to dazzle your friends and loved ones, or to pick something up just in time for a holiday party (don't forget New Year's...). Tomorrow night and next Thursday, 5:30-8:30. Stop by, bring your friends, and see, discover, explore.
Though available information is limited, from what I have uncovered Heaven Tanudiredja is a frequent collaborator with Dries Van Noten and creates these meticulous pieces using an incredible breadth of source materials demonstrating a care for design and attention to detail (one report mentions teams in charge of sourcing throughout the world including Russia and Indonesia).
His work has only recently become available within the United States, the only store mentioned being Henri Bendel's. Time for a field trip...
Bitching & Junkfood, a shop and blog, recently launched a jewelry/accessories line featuring among other things fantastic headbands made of feathers that drape across the forehead a la fringe. I find them hauntingly beautiful and have been fantasizing of the oily black one, in particular, as its shape and color generally mimics my own hair (well, my hair isn't an oily black, but... you know what I mean).
As I superfan of all things headdress related, I present three more lines I love:
1. Which Goose makes whimsical fairy crowns using twigs, silk flowers, feather butterflies, ribbons and tulles, They are charming and adorable. I love that they manage to be super feminine and evoke these fantasies of fairytales without coming off as overly cutesie.
2. Jennifer Behr's pieces are more evocative of a retro glamour, think Golden Age of Cinema, rhinestones, vintage costume jewelry, silk, velvet, and sparkle. While all of it is lovely, her more avant garde pieces are by far my favorite, for instance, a punk reworking of the turban, a pearl-studded veil.
3. Ban.Do has created somewhat of a headdress empire at this point, offering designs at a number of price points and recently adding collections of other accessories such as corsages and collars. I like that their point of view and attention to detail is apparent at all levels from their Heart by Ban.Do collection (no piece is more than $50) to their couture designs.
Just in time for holiday, Nancy Caten's latest line, Bis, uses silver-treated industrial metals to create delicate yet weighty chain necklaces that are easily layered together yet substantial enough to be worn on their own. I love the play on hard and soft, the different combination of links and the use of this very interesting chain that has rhinestones, adding a subtle sparkle. They are, in my opinion, the perfect level of feminine and at the most amazing prices.
Rhinestone necklace with mixed chain fringe, $236
Six Mixed Strand Necklace, $214
Double Strand Necklace with Black Onyx Cross Drop, $102
Today I received an email from Shopbop showing three "go anywhere" looks featuring Fall's "key pieces".
Ok, so... Where to start. I guess, yes, the thigh high boot is "in" and the military jacket and the Chanel bag that is just everywhere. But do I really need leather underpants? That I wear with said military jacket and Chanel bag AND thigh high boots? All at the same time? With lace-printed leggings? Who styled this? And then thought "this is a go anywhere look"...? She looks uncomfortable (look at the riding up, and this is just a studio shot) and, frankly, no one, not even this model should be wearing lace underpants... ever, really. (Those "shorts", by the way, retail for $755. The ways I would spend that money... not on Alexander McQueen leather "shorts".) Who is the targeted demographic? Who are they marketing it to?
This is when I get scared about the state of the Contemporary retail market. So much of it is just so strange. What if you are a girl who just wants simple silk, cashmere, chiffon, wool in black and charcoal, relaxed, easy yet still interesting, not too styled but enough to make a statement? Where do I go? I can't only wear (or afford to only wear) Isabel Marant. Perhaps I'll just have to start designing it myself...
