How many times have you had your shoemaker polish your shoes, only to find the rough blims and tears on the scuffed toes pop up after the first wearing, making your shoes look as old as they really are? Having never found a shoemaker who solved the problem, we decided to experiment on a few…
Read More
When I wore my iPhone stuck to a velcro forearm band to a friend’s house, she said “How can you wear such an ugly thing?”; it’s terrible!” Terrible? Lighten up! It is actually an amazing device. I workout hard, cook, and do chores with it and it has yet to come off. It’s like a big Apple watch whose serious advantages trump its looks. As with everything I buy, I hacked it a bit, and pushed its limits.
Read More
“Girl prisons” are publications so full of notions of “the right way to be a girl”, so fierce with implicit “shoulds” and shame as to become a”prison” in the reader’s mind. Girl and other kinds of Prisons are so woven through our culture, we are always on the lookout for ones that liberate rather than imprison. Our new favorite: MAN REPELLER.
Read More
I’m always on the lookout for gifts I can stockpile for unexpected occasions, that have a wide reach in terms of “giveability” to different kinds of people. My trove includes a number of items in our shop, from books to the great knives. Recently, I stumbled on another goody: stylish temporary tattoos.
Read More
We have Jason Kottke to thank for chosing the choicests bits of Elle’s hilarious interview with Fran Lebowitz about fashion. But even then, it’s worth reading every bit of her unique LOL commentary.
Read More
(Video link HERE.) We discovered performance artist Nick Cave recently and are smitten. As one YouTube commenter wrote: “imagine a world where people wore these to work … lol that would colour up our lives a little”. It’s not just the joy the his Sound Suits evoke; we’re inspired by how the first Sound Suit…
Read More
(Video link HERE.) Insanely beautiful and daring. The absence of any sound except the simple piano accompaniment punches up the stark black and white imagery as Sutton carves across snowbanks and threads through barren trees trailing a roostertail of powered crystals. May your Monday be this luminous. —Susan Dworski via Nowness
Read More
The other day at Artists and Craftsman, we noticed the cashier’s ever-ready note pad —his hand — and were reminded of the many ways we’ve used our hands. We mentioned this to Sinnae Choi, Improvised Life’s brilliant aide-de-camp, and she wrote some seriously powerful words about just what hands can do, and be.
Read More
A while ago, we met an old friend for dinner who had recently lost his wife of sixty years. When we’d called to tell him we’d heard the news and to offer anything — to bring him food, come by to give him a hug, take him out to dinner — THAT’S what he said he wanted:…
Read More
Lately, we’ve been on the hunt for a practical pair of walking boots for our suddently-sensitive with a tender sprained tendon. “Tie shoes are best”, said the physical therapist, “for support”. Ugh. Combat boots seem a stylish possibility but so many seem kind of tough looking. Until we stumbled on a lovely solve: grosgrain ribbon…
Read More
During dark winter, I recommend using hits of brilliant color across bare skin and hair to brighten things up a bit, especially for holiday parties. I suppose you could call these beauty tips, but they’re also all about breaking the rules and trying out the unexpected. Unlike what maddening women’s magazines might tell you, there is…
Read More
Beard Baubles, tiny ornaments to festoon a holiday beard, have become such a rage, they’ve completely sold out! Who knew that beard decorations would become a sartorial expression. We’re thinking it may have been fueled by Will It Beard, a brilliant tumblr devoted to ingenious beard apparel. We’ve found a set 30 Small Glass Mini…
Read More
Once, necessary functional objects were quiet tokens of personal style. Wrist watches, cigarette lighters, address books and compacts brought glamour and pleasure to everyday rituals. But they are fading away. To fill the void, Laura Handler designed something personal, portable and beautiful, that can’t be replaced by a cell phone or a plastic disposable. The…
Read More
Human invention and creativity applied to holiday hair-do’s. Pure wonder! via Chris Eldredge
Read More
When we saw this photo of Mae West’s shoes, our mind got boggled. Were these wild sculptures meant to be stylish OR were they a strange solution to the impossibility of walking in the lower, steeply-angled silver shoe — a less fearsome, more wearable shoe added right on top? It turns out something of both:…
Read More
At Carnegie Mellon University’s yearly Lunar Gala Fashion Show, Industrial Designer Miriam Buchwald showcased COCOON, her line of dresses made totally of hot glue. She didn’t hot glue fabric. She MADE the textiles out of hot-glue, which has expanded our view of hot glue’s possibility greatly, way beyond crafty Martha Stewart.
Read More
Recently, we came across a portfolio of images created by legendary photographer Inge Morath in collaboration with the ever-illuminating Saul Steinberg. In the Mask Series. paper bags and pieces of cardboard totally change ordinarily dressed people into OTHER….
Read More
The weather’s so beautifu, it makes us think of going on a road trip. Dave Hax’s fast-and-minimalist packing job begs the question: What do we REALLY need to take with us? via i.imgur Thanks Holton!
Read More
We WISH that we could see people who had adorned themselves like this — with stars, stripes, zigzags, more —as we wander the city. Such possibilities. We envision the top one as wondrous tattoos.
Read More