Alexander Berardi

I'm just loving Alexander Berardi's Spring/Summmer 09 line. This Upper Eastside boys style blends fashion history with forward elements of modernism to create a fresh new look for today's woman.

http://houseofberardi.com/

Saving Fashion...At The Port Authority!! HUH?!

I'm there!

"Save Fashion is a fresh new kind of shop and sale that brings together today's coolest fashion brands in a space that's inspiring and unexpected. Realizing the tired sample sale and outlet vibe had run its course, Save Fashion has created the Sample Sale of our dreams—a place where all our favorite designers came together in one beautiful space and at prices we could all afford. Save Fashion will debut May 1st in New York at one of the City's most iconic destinations: the Port Authority Bus Terminal. With Save Fashion, they hope to restore the pure joy of shopping—at a grassroots level, city to city—reminding consumers and designers alike that fashion is, was, and always will be FUN."

Some of my favorites will be sold at the Port Authority from Philip Crangi jewels to Acne and Steven Alan clothes, and for a whole month starting May 1!! I'm counting down for this one...and I better not get another cold this time!

http://www.savefashion.com/

In Honor of Earth Day

I wanted to share this video with you in honor of earth day. The Guide Girls, Maxine and Winnie have created a very funny website, giving earth friendly advice, but in a very humorous way. I've actually learned a thing or two from these gals!

http://www.theguidegirls.com/#/home/

Mr Dandy On The Street, NYC

Patrick McDonald


Photo: Jesse, C.C.

What I'm Into Right Now

Check out Sarah X's, Public Personae this week...There's a certain someone you may recognize on today's post. Now that Sarah has finished her 30 day fashion challenge, she is off and running with a new idea! "What I'm Into Right Now" highlights the current favorites of Sarah's style conscious friends.

"I imagined when I started Public Personae that it wouldn’t just be about my own persona but would also often open up to discover what other style conscious friends and acquaintances might see as cool" - Sarah X

Click Public Personae below to get the details on "What I'm Into Right Now".

http://www.publicpersonae.com/blog/

6th Ave. NYC

Photo: Jesse, C.C.

13 Most Beautiful...

Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests

Ann + Paul + Edie + Billy + Susan + Dennis + Mary + Nico + Freddy + Richard +Ingrid + Lou + Jane.

I finally received my Limited Edition DVD of Andy Warhol's "13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests". With my pre-order I also received a limited edition gelatin silver print photo of Edie Sedgwick and a booklet and poster. when I opened the nicely silver packaging, It reminded me when I opened my Madonna, "Sex" book which is also silver, and was about the same size. Both 13 Most Beautiful and Sex are just wonderfully packaged...OK, I'm a sucker for organization, and first impressions!

So, I sat down and watched the DVD yesterday with my camera in hand to photograph 13 shots from the film so that I could post the photos today for everyone. Andy Warhol's Screen Tests were filmed from early 1964 - November 1966. Factory visitors who had potential "star" quality would be seated in front of a tripod mounted camera, asked to be as still as possible, and told not to blink while the camera was running, however most people blinked of course and just ended up doing their own thing. Each "star" was filmed with 100 foot rolls of film. All the screen tests were exactly the same length. The resulting films were projected in slow motion so that each lasted approximately 4 minutes, at 16 frames per second. The results were really fascinating, because within that period of time, their personalities and emotions came out...while some cried, others laughed, posed, smoked, drank, and some had a hard time looking into the camera such as Paul America, and Dennis Hopper. I personally loved Ingrid Von Schevens screen test, for her crafty finger flipping during the entire filming.

Out of 500 Screen tests these 13 are the first that have been converted over to DVDs for the public to purchase. Thanks to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and Plexifilms here in Brooklyn, NY...Their collaboration on this project has been well worth the wait since the day I pre-ordered about 3 months ago!

http://www.plexifilm.com/

Walls of Whimsy.

Recently, I discovered the great works of Tracy Kendall. A wallpaper designer, who approaches her creations as one of a kind art installations. From buttons that look like mother of pearl to, sequins, and tassels, Tracy seems to find a way to make these ordinary materials sparkle and dazzle. With a lot of patience, smarts and skill, her three dimensional wallpapers are sure to impress. As Tracy Says - "My wallpapers look so different because I’m not trying to mass-produce anything – I want them to convey a strong idea but not to dominate the room so much that that there is not room for anything else." One thing is for sure...you'll be making a little extra room for dust bunnies, so you'll have to give your house cleaner a pay increase or else you'll be cleaning off all those bunnies yourself!

http://www.tracykendall.com/

Stopping Traffic, NYC

Photos: Jesse, C.C.

Molecular Illumination

Loving Lindsey Adelman's light fixture designs! They are very retro contemporary, and each fixture contains the highest quality of material and artistry.

After Lindsey Adams Adelman completed her BA in English from Kenyon College, she worked for the Smithsonian Institution where she discovered Industrial Design when meeting an exhibition fabricator carving French fries out of foam. Inspired by the thought of an activity like this passing for a real job, she went on to earn her BFA in I.D. from the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduation, she worked for Resolute Lighting in Seattle before returning to her native New York to work for David Weeks Studio. In 2000, Weeks and Adelman founded Butter, a design studio focusing on affordable products for the home. In 2005, they said good-bye to Butter and Adelman set off to work on her own projects, including launching a successful line of hand-blown custom chandeliers as well as spending endless hours making intricate, meticulous drawings with human hair. The work has been included in the Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial and Design Miami and has received awards from the ICFF Editors, ID, Blueprint, and the Altoids Curiously Strong Designer Awards. It has been published in The New York Times, The World of Interiors, Met Home, Interior Design, Paper, Harper’s Bazaar, and American Craft, as well as in the books New Designers: Americas, Dish, and Brooklyn Design among others.

Lindsey Adelman Studio
The Old American Can Factory
studio e3bwest
232 Third Street
Brooklyn NY 11215
t 718 954 6572

http://lindseyadelman.blogspot.com/

The Window

Arriving back home in NYC late last night was really quite magical...The dramatic skyline of Manhattan from the Queensboro bridge was very surreal, especially after staying in Reno, NV for four days, where the skyline consists of a large domed casino called the Silver Legacy and several other casinos and bars scattered along Virginia street with an arched sign that reads “The Biggest Little City In the World” that greets you as you cruise under it on the main street. This is a town with a population of 300,000. The town, in which I grew up silently sits in a dry valley, 50 miles north east of the biggest little city, called Herlong CA. Let’s just say that Herlong is a complete parallel universe to New York. New York has traffic lights. Herlong has none. New York has grocery stores. Herlong has none. New York’s streets bustle with people and life. The street’s in Herlong do not have this, or any of it. Herlong has a population of about 900. Now, you get the picture?!

Almost immediately after entering Manhattan, I saw the first signs of spring. The full blooms of the cherry blossoms were a nice welcome home!! The streets were so quiet and secluded, as if we brought the stillness and isolation from the small town to the big city...not so! It occurred to me that it was midnight on a Monday; of course the streets were quiet…even in New York it gets quiet, not for very long, but there is a short window of calm that fades away swiftly by the early morning commute, sirens, horns, and yelling. As the driver zipped around the steamed filled streets taking us home to our West side apartment, I reflected upon my childhood…the small town, the boredom, and the loneliness. With these thoughts also came a surge of appreciation for my hometown…the pitch black nights, the shimmering stars, the smell of dry desert, and green pine, and an easy way of living. So, when the city gets to be too much for me, when the noise becomes too loud, I’ll wait…I’ll wait for that short window of calm, where the streets are still and the hustle and bustle rest easy.

SOHO, NYC

Photos: Jesse, C.C.

Dark...Gloomy...Frozen

I'm visiting my family for the holiday this week, so I'm sorry for the lack of post's. I'm sitting here at my sisters home with a cup of tea, looking out at all the freshly fallen snow, wondering...where in the hell is Spring?!!! I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival. Please mother nature hurry along...I want to wear my shorts, and sandals, and go to the beach! To fit this cold occasion, here are some of my other favorites from Alexey Titarenko's work. I thought these were appropriate, and matched the atmosphere where I'm at - dark...gloomy...froze. Hope you are all in a warmer location than me for this Holiday weekend. Happy Easter everyone!

Reinventing Ancient Wonders

Inspired by the Ancient Egyptian pyramids, Carly Margolis of All for the Mountain hand-carves wax into her desired shape and then cast's them in bronze, silver or gold. The result are these great dangling pieces of geometric wonders. Order your very own on line.


http://www.allforthemountain.com/

Black, White & Penny Loafers, NYC

Photo: Jesse, C.C.

Topman Opens Shop!

It's finally here! Topman. The British clothing store opened it's first shop in the U.S. yesterday in New York's SOHO. unfortunately, I'm stuck in my apartment all day and can't check out the reasonably priced Brit duds due to a horrible cold!! As soon as I'm feeling better, I'm off to Broadway and Broome for some summer clothes! Be sure to check out the site. You can order on line!

http://www.topman.com/

SOHO, NYC

Photos: Jesse, C.C.

Alexey Titarenko

Untitled (Woman on the Corner)
From the Black and While Magic series


Untitled (Woman with Umbrella)
From the Black and White Magic series


Last week I posted about the Photography show, AIPAD. Well, I felt that that show was so good I wanted to do another post on it.

My visit at the exhibition was such a success that I went a second time. The second visit was much different experience than the first, because since I had seen all of the booths the first day, I wasn't all that concerned about trying to visit each aisle. I found myself focusing in on the booths and photographs that were most intriguing to me, which resulted in me spending more time at just a few selected stall's. One of the exhibits that I found myself drawn to was that of the photographer Alexey Titarenko represented by the Nailya Alexander Gallery.

The Russian who began photographing in the 70's really knows how to capture Russia's dark dreary atmosphere. While using a slow shutter speed from 3 seconds to 3 minutes he is able to create these ghost like images, adding more of the dark creepy quality to the already shadowy, dark subjects. Some of his photos come across a bit sinister, like the one below from his City of Shadows series. These dark photographs that were taken in the early 1990's in St. Petersburg captures the times of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He describes this time as feeling empty, and the people seemed to be wandering shadows. One of the things that I like about his photographs is that they look and have a feeling of vintage, or antique. Yes, the black and white/gray adds to this, but also the cityscape of St. Petersburg is just frozen in time, along with the people, style and automobiles, which was a result of their political reality.




Nailya Alexander, the gallery owner was such a doll and spent a lot of time with me, describing Alexey's technique and giving me his back story. She currently has some great photographs in her possession.

http://www.nailyaalexandergallery.com/

http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/