apparel

The Subversive Power of Post-Its

Some unusual Post-It notes written by kid’s express heartening views and strategies about living.

Spring Sightings of Clever Improvised Looks

With the spring collections typically flaunting the glories of what is polished and planned, we think Tommy Ton’s street-style photography beautifully captures the other side of fashion week – that which is joyously improvised…

String Bag: an Endlessly Useful, Stylish Shape Shifter

I’ve long been a fan of the classic, humble string bag that changes structure according to its contents. Space-saving for the minimalist and super-light for the traveler, string bags save on plastic and paper bags – and they look great (a black one makes a great evening bag).

Arm-Knitting (No Needles Necessary)

Of all the examples of stripping away the unnecessary, arm-knitting has to be among the coolest and most sensual. Needles gone, YOU become the tool for making.

Fab: An Old Shearling Coat Turned Inside-Out

Interior Designer Suzanne Shaker gave an old shearling coat new life to by turning it inside out, transforming it completely. She said people are constantly stopping her to ask where she bought it. We asked her to send pictures and how she did it. Here’s what she wrote:

‘Will It Beard’s Strangely Inspiring Beard Improvisations

Will It Beard features a completely unique beard of the week, or perhaps better put: an iteration of the same beard, that of Pierce Thiot. He and his wife Stacy imagine a new beard embellishment to put in his beard every week and she photographs it. The resultings are curiously uplifting.

Stylishly Graphical Tatoos, Mehndi and Otherwise

These tattooed fingers reminded us of a stylish, graphic inversion of the classic temporary Mehndi tattoos with which Indian women adorn their hands, do-able even with impermanent markers. Looking for HOW we might doing something like this, we stumbled on applicators for henna at Etsy and a picture that tells the whole story.

A Necklace of Linked Bracelets (and Charms and Memories)

Pamela Hovland spotted this very cool necklace made from mismatched bracelets linked together using their existing fasteners, an idea that holds possibilities for transforming all kinds of jewelry

Mindshift: Imagine Wearing Someone Else’s Outfit (or Body)

Artist Qozop juxtaposed the dress of youths with that of their elders in an project designed to show that societal beliefs and traditions are often reflected through the clothing we wear, especially in Asian cultures. By swapping the clothing of youths and their elderly relatives, Qozop literally places them in the others shoes. We’ve been using Qozop’s strategy as an interesting exercise in imagination.

Were our bodies the original artist’s canvas?

Perhaps it was seeing how artist Jean Cocteau painted right on walls that got us thinking of directly embellishing our skin with designs, whether permanent or not. We admire the way these three stately men had made glorious attire out of nothing but lines and dots (fur hats and shoes notwithstanding). The body was, perhaps,…

Valentine? A Ring Festooned with Flowers (or Herbs)

This would make an awfully sweet Valentine gift, do-able despite the massive snow (there ARE flowers in the stores; even the ordinary winter ones could work…just tuck a few sprigs in your love’s ring). Or how about fresh thyme sprigs? Fragrant! via Quitokeeto

Reinvention: Sewing with Rescued Materials

A reader alerted us to Maya Donenfeld’s great book Reinvention: Sewing with Rescued Materials. Donenfeld writes the popular blog Mayamade. We are impressed by her philosophy which underlies every project: to create something new from what already exists. She loves the challenge of making “something out of nothing” (and so do we).

Tattooed Freckles…Freckle Tattoo

In addition to her promotion of toast as comfort food, we also dig restaurant-owner Giulietta Carrelli’s freckles tattooed on her cheeks, yet another innovative, curiously pragmatic cosmetic tattoo. Don’t got freckles? Tattoo them.

Inspired, Inspiring Humans of New York, and Elsewhere

Even though we live in New York, we are smitten with Humans of New York, a blog which documents just that, that incredbly varied iterations of human-ness one finds on the streets of New York, all with a story. It doesn’t stop at New York either. Photographer Brandon Stanton posts images of strangers he’s met elsewhere,…

how to stretch tight shoes: 5 fails yield one great solution

Having invested in a pair of expensive Jimmy Choo shoes I thought would take me everywhere, I was dismayed to discover, after wearing them out a few times, that they were painfully tight. I went on a quest to stretch them and discovered that much of the accepted wisdom about how to stretch tight shoes DID NOT work. Here’s the one that did.

rick owens’ step-dancing big girls fashion show

(Video link here.) Fashion designer Rick Owen’s blew fashionistas away with his rad fashion show in Paris recently, where models were real-girl step dancers. They brought fierce energy and Africa-rooted moves to the usual fashion show venue. They also showed that Owens’ designs work just fine on all sorts of bodies, breaking the usual svelt…

Not Vital’s Toupee solution: hair sculpture hats

Swiss artist Not Vital devised a very strange, er, hair sculpture, an inspired wighat much better than the trying-to-look-like-a-full-head-o-hair-but-definitely-ain’t matted ‘rugs’ we see on occasion.
Why not toupee sculptures?

What’s in Your Stuff? precious metals in your phone

(Video link here.) This cool little video will open your eyes to the treasures that lie hidden inside the mobile phone you hold in your hand daily, especially precious metals, which are a limited resource. What’s In My Stuff? is an interdisciplinary research project which brings together scientists and artists to explore public awareness of the rare and…

how to wax suede and give it a fab new look UPDATE

Checking out the “ingredients” of a product —whether food or object— can yield a lot of information about how the thing is made, and inspire ideas for riffs and innovation on the theme. While shopping for pair of boots online, I stumbled on a pair by designer Martin Margiela made of “waxed suede”. Waxed suede?…

graffiti artist’s custom tool coat for making art on-the-fly

Dig this brilliantly-devised graffiti artists coat, lined with cans of colored spray paint: genius! It is the perfect example of devising/hacking/creating tools for your own unique needs and vision. It reminds us this principle from Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto for Growth: Make your own tools. Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even…

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