"The Best Things to Happen to Pop Since Glittery Eyeshadow"

There are two pop singers who have taken my attention recently: Mika and Patrick Wolf. I know the latter is quite popular among other blogger-girls like myself, so I had to see what all the hubbub was about, and I must say that I am quite enamored. I was introduced to the former awhile ago by my dear friend Kate, and as far as I can tell, he is being largely ignored. Mika and Patrick Wolf's musical styles are quite similar; lovely and strange and optimistic. In addition to their musical similarities, both of these men also happen to be of quite ambiguous sexuality. This debate is fueled, I'm sure, mostly by their style of music and the accompanying lyrics, but their respective tastes in dress surely have something to do with it as well. Neither Mika nor Mr. Wolf are anything less than dapper, and I am constantly surprised by the creative and interesting things they wear.


They both do the whole suspenders-and-black-pants things so very well, and without looking even remotely silly and hipstery.

Here they are, rocking plaid in rather distinctly different ways. I like Mika's quirky but understated old man style here, with his short pants and shiny boots. Although, I must admit there is something to Mr. Wolf's typical flamboyance. You can't go wrong with a glittery chest.

And, just for fun, we have the ever-important Black and White Looking at the Camera Pictures. You are not a serious musical artist unless you have one of these tucked somewhere into the packaging of your CD.

Did you notice how gorgeous Mika's hair is?
And how excellently Patrick Wolf rocks a sweater vest with his little violin?

Whether either of them is gay or not, it doesn't really matter. I am still in love.

Maddy

The Burgundy Platforms

I am so in love with these shoes.Steve Madden "Meeting" pumps, $129.95

Every time I am on the Internet, I can't resist taking a little peek at these. It torments me so, because they are only Steve Madden, after all! I should be able to afford these! I can't help myself from constructing imaginary outfits around them, either. I see them peeking out from under the cuff of my wide-legged khakis, topped off with a tailored black button-down. And, oh, how perfectly they would complement the beige-and-red floral pencil skirt I am getting ready to make! But, alas... it looks like I am either going to be forced to sacrifice my dignity and beg my mommy to pay (like that's going to happen), or I will just have to wait until they go on clearance. Oh, the trials of my life! Sniffle... sniffle...

Maddy

Seven Things Strange

As I am sure you all have noticed, I just love talking about myself. That's the point of blogs anyway, right? So naturally, when Felice (who has the cutest name EVER) at Genuine Inspiration tagged me, I simply couldn't resist the opportunity. I must list seven things you didn't know about me. Let's see...

1. I can do some serious damage with a pint of Phish Food. If I'm sick (like now) or have PMS or am upset about something, that stuff is just gone. I know it's such a cliché, "Girls eat ice cream to feel better!" but it really does work for me. I know, I'm a weenie.

2. I have invented a plethora of extremely immature games. My personal favorite is the moustache game, which I invented in fourth grade and is still in common usage amongst my friends and I today. You hold your index finger up to your lip and stare at somebody expectantly for a little while. For some strange reason, they almost always do it back. Not only is this response an anthropological anomaly, it's also an excellent way to entertain yourself during A.P. Earth Science!

3. I have never gotten a detention. Ever. Despite all of my shenanigans and damage to the cafeteria vending machines (I wanted to see if it would take a hundred pennies instead of a dollar! You can't blame me for having scientific pursuits), teachers just love me. The trick is to get yourself pegged as a Good Child early on in life. That way, nearly everything you do will be excused, short of stabbing the janitor or something like that. Which I have never done and I don't plan to, although I suppose you never know.

4. I really wish I had been born in 1880 in Paris. Then, I could've experienced La Belle Epoque! Can you imagine? To have been there, to have been a part of that? I could've been BFFs with all the post-Impressionists, I could've lived in a squalid apartment in Montmartre, I could've been a bohemian revolutionary! Instead, I was born into this craphole of a decade. Sigh. I guess there's an upside. In the future, we have rock and roll music, indoor plumbing, Oreos, Christian Bale, and the Internet. Which are five excellent things. Okay, I'm satisfied. But still.

5. You know those superlative things they have in the year books, where everybody votes to see who is the "Best..." "Most Likely To..." etcetera? I got voted "Best Sense of Humor" along with my buddy Severin. What can I say? The people have spoken, and I am freaking hilarious.

6. Okay, this one is gonna be gross. Are you ready? I don't have armpit hair! Bizarre, I know, but rather nice, especially when wearing a swimsuit or tank top. Maybe it's a side effect of my ten-year-old-boy body.

7. My big brother Bo has Down's Syndrome and I love him to pieces. He's really, really funny, and way more popular than me. At school, I'm mostly addressed thusly: "Hey, aren't you Bo's sister? Tell him I said hi! I love that guy!" I could tell so many stories about Bo, he's so weird, but I will restrict it to a brief list of likes and dislikes. He loves The Simpsons, making fun of our little brother, ketchup, dogs, soda pop, Friends, Ben Stiller, coloring books, telling knock-knock jokes that don't make sense, and flipping people off. (He doesn't do that last one that often anymore because my mom got so mad at him about it, but it was so funny when he did. Honestly.) He hates bread, getting his DVD privileges taken away, when people fight or cry around him, math, and roller coasters.

I'm supposed to tag seven other bloggers to do this, but I don't feel like it. So I'm just leaving an open invitation here... let us know all the strange and embarrassing things about you there are! Or at least seven of them.

Posting Under the Influence

OH MY GOD I THINK I AM DYING. It seems my brain has been replaced by snot and it is all coming out of my nose. And also it feels like I am going to barf up my own throat. I'm sure you all enjoyed that description. I just took a couple extra-strength Tylenol, so prepare for a few paragraphs of crazy coming at ya.
So school has been out for a week. Yes, that's right. I am off to bigger, better, and altogether lazier pursuits. As I was signing everybody else's yearbooks (I didn't buy one, they were like 80 bucks because the cover and signature pages turn yellow if you touch them. I guess the school board decided that our memories really needed to be heat sensitive), I was thinking, "Wow. I really don't even like half of these people." I mean, what the hell do you write in creepy Kenny from health class's yearbook? 'Good times in health class, huh?' because they weren't. Kenny is the kind of guy who makes you feel like you need to put on a parka when you are wearing a tank top because he is staring at your boobs so intently, I guess to make sure they don't make any sudden movements and pull a knife on him or something. After I uncomfortably signed my name at the bottom (with the obvious exclusion of last name and phone number; I don't want any unsolicited rapings this summer, thanks), the bell rang for the end of P.E./Health class. We were subsequently carted off like cattle to participate in an outdoor carnival including all kinds of sticky, inflatable fun. My ninja friend Grant and I had a heated debate about whether those air-filled balloon boxes that you jump around in are called Moon Bounces or, as he thought, Bouncy Castles. In short, Grant is an idiot and I won. Mostly I hung out with Meagan who I haven't seen in FOREVER which was a laugh. We got cotton candy and snuck around the upstairs of the school, where nobody was and it was really funny. We saw Pirates III after school. Both of us have already seen it, we just wanted to familiarize ourselves further with the ridiculous mess of a plot that movie is. It's the kind of action movie that you have to just let happen to you. You will find excellence (and historical inaccuracies) in the places you least expect. Anyways, back to my complaining. Why do they have to drag out the last couple of weeks so agonizingly? You don't do anything except study for exams, which in my school aren't even that big of a deal. And yet, you are expected to show up as chipper as you would in September. And besides, what with the heat and my dreams of blue Popsicles, my speech has a tendency to lose its coherence as the day wears on, which can become rather embarrassing as perfectly school-appropriate words such as "organism" or "tests" rearrange their letters inside my head and come out as "orgasm" or "testes". It is a terrible affliction, but now that school is over, I haven't uttered a single heat induced obscenity. Which is nice.

To summarize: They're called Moon Bounces, Johnny Depp is foxy even in dreadlocks, blue Popsicles are delicious, my boobs can stab people of their own accord, and I'm halfway high on Tylenol so I probably shouldn't be writing things for the world to read right now.

Maddy

Moody

Where summer is concerned, most people have a tendency to lean towards the brighter end of the spectrum. It is the norm to see saturated orange and cerulean blue clashing against each other, and this is the pretty much the only time of year when canary yellow can be allowed to fly alongside flamingo pink. Gray is about the farthest color from peoples' minds. I mean, think about it; just how many gray bikinis have you seen in your life? I personally can't recall a single one. And I suppose it does make sense. After all, who wants to adorn themselves with the color of winter skies when blue summer ones are so plentiful? If you think about it, though, gray would be perfect for summer. It's casual, and comes in almost as wide an array of fabrics as white. It blends in unobtrusively with other colors, and so would not hinder the impact of your summer brights. And, most importantly, it's easy to wear. I guarantee that you can find a gray that is suitable to your skin tone, be it pale pearl or stormy charcoal. So why not?

Patrick Robinson seems to agree with me wholeheartedly. In his collection for Target, gray is the central color. This pretty little number is $24.99 on their website. I love how the skinny yoke and the silver loop belt anchor the free flowing fabric. If you're interested, go to the Target stores; they have a much bigger selection of Patrick Robinson than on the website, and it is all very reasonably priced.

With an up-to-there hemline, sweet little gathers along the sleeves and neckline, and a big, splashy sailboat print, you don't need much else to declare to the world that it is, indeed, summertime. $29.50 from Delia's.
So did you guys know that Steve Madden actually makes some really cute dresses? Because I totally thought he just stuck to the pretty but kind of slutty, moderately priced shoes territory. Well anyways, I really, really like this gray-and-black color block dress. Maye it's the satin sash, maybe it's the flat pleats, I don't know, but something about the baby doll shape with spaghetti straps just seems really easygoing and pretty and utterly perfect for summer parties. $174 on the website.

I like how these kind of look like mens' trousers, what with the pleats and angled belt loops and serious gray color. But with the covered button closure and the ones cinching the side, it takes on a more playful, girlish air that is very suitable for various summertime hijinks and romps and so forth. These are $38 by Roxy via the Nordstrom website.

And now I have to go write an English paper. Ugh, I don't care about Great Expectations! I just want to write about what colors I'm planning on wearing this summer. Does that not have as much literary merit? No? Damn it.

Maddy

(Oh, and I'm back a lot sooner than I thought I would be, for several school-related false alarms. Anyhow, here I am! Did you miss me?)

Stuck in the Middle

I realize I have not made an actual fashion-related post in like three weeks. Sorry about that one. It might actually be awhile until I'm back with real fashion-type news. When I do someday return to the usual topic of this blog (which is, in fact, clothing, and not Christian Bale) you can expect posts on the following things:

- antique shop jewelry

- wearing gray in the summer

- flower silhouettes

- ribbons

By next week, I promise I will resume with the usual loveliness in twice-a-week increments that I know all of you have come to need and love.

In order to enforce this resolution, I'm afraid Mr. Bale won't be showing his face on this blog for a little while. He has been banned for the time being, on the grounds that his personal brand of distilled perfection distracts me from fashion.

Farewell, Christian. For now.

Maddy