Happy things

I was trying to take a picture of this rad tote my friend J. Penry made in conjunction with the awesome Wicker Man inspired art show The Ritual which was recently at the By and By gallery on Grand Street.



Unfortunately there was a little interference.



Apparently Omar doesn't like the idea of me taking pictures of any cat but him. And so, I'm pleased to introduce the newest member of the Hames/Ragon household, little Omar Little. Sound familiar? He's named after this guy:



Look it's everyone's favorite shotgun toting, drug dealer robbing, Baltimore bad ass and one of the greatest television characters of all time! No big deal. I was thinking about naming him Mouzone after my other favorite gunman from the show, but the Nation of Islam goes a little too deep for my taste.

Oh and also in the tote picture please allow me to point out the amazing old Howard Stern pin Sean found in one of his dresser drawers. Sean's a huge old Howard fan who even went to one of his rallies back in the day. I charmed him in part by mentioning I had just listened to Artie talk about his book on the air when I spied Sean's copy of "Too Fat to Fish" by his bedside on my first night over. Sean may not realize this, but that pin is going to live on my tote for the next long while.

Anyway, expect more kitten pictures soon and some pictures of beer bongs for old times sake (some things never change, like my friends and their love of non-traditional beer ingestion.)

Gee thanks Ebay, now I'm drowning in a repetitive sea of bullshit!

All I wanted to do was sell a fucking vintage Chanel skirt! Thanks for going after the little guy instead of the Hong Kong dicks that actually sell fake goods on Ebay. I'm pissed as all get out.

Also, isn't this the longest most repetitive email you've ever read? It took all my strength not to reply with "Eat a dick."

Dear Beverly,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to the listing restriction you are
experiencing. I can certainly understand your concerns about having
certain selling restrictions on your eBay account. However, having
reviewed your account thoroughly, I have come to the conclusion that the
restrictions were properly placed and will remain active. Please
understand the restrictions placed on your account are not accusations
of you personally nor do they affect your standing as a valued eBay
customer. The restrictions are proactive means of assisting eBay to
reduce fraud and negative buying experiences on the site. This selling
limit is not a disciplinary action; it is a default account state.
Every seller on eBay has been faced with this restriction at some point
or another as their account has grown. Eventually the seller can request
to have their account reviewed and cleared to sell these items in larger
quantities.

In order to maintain a safe and positive trading environment, all eBay
accounts have standard protective limits that pertain to certain items.
These limits impact the number of certain types of items you may list or
revise in a rolling 30-day period.

Once you have reached your limit, the system will notify you and you
will need to wait a minimum of 30 days before attempting to list or
revise these types of items.

This restriction was not directed specifically to your account and is
not due to any action, listing, violation, feedback, etc., of your own.
It also does not affect your account status in any way; it only affects
your listing ability for certain items. The restriction is part of a
site-wide initiative that we've implemented; all sellers that sell
certain types of items on our site have experienced this restriction at
one time or another.

eBay is committed to reducing fraud and negative buying experiences on
the site; this includes preventing the sale of counterfeits and other
unlawful goods on our platform. The sale of counterfeits on eBay
violates our business ethics, undermines the eBay Community's
confidence, and harms our buyers, legitimate sellers, and eBay.

The placement of these restrictions is just one of the ways that eBay is
attempting to fight counterfeits on the site. These restrictions affect
certain types or categories of goods, such as clothing, shoes, jewelry,
or watches, that eBay understands from rights owners as typically being
targeted by counterfeiters.

Again, this restriction only affects certain types of items, ones that
typically have been targeted by counterfeiters. You should still be able
to list and/or revise other items without experiencing these
restrictions.

Please understand that we're not questioning the authenticity of your
items. Once you have reached your limit, you will not be able to list or
revise any more of these types of items, regardless of the item's
authenticity.

We are not able to be more specific at this time about the precise
application of these restrictions; the restrictions impact a wide
variety of items and the affected items are likely to change over time.
The limits are also variable in nature and will be different depending
on the situation and on the types of items being listed.

These restrictions are a proactive means to reduce fraud and negative
buying experiences on the site; they will help increase buyer trust,
resulting in greater loyalty and purchasing activity for legitimate
sellers. We know that initiatives to combat fraud may cause
inconveniences for legitimate sellers, but these initiatives will also
benefit sellers with an increase in buyer demand for legitimate goods.

We want our sellers to build an established history of selling, both in
general and in these types of items, before we remove these restrictions
from their account. When sellers have sufficiently established a
positive history of selling along with a good history of policy
compliance, they may request to have these restrictions removed.
Basically, we want our sellers to establish a positive selling record on
our site before selling these types of items in larger quantities.

This is a standard protective limit that is on all eBay accounts to
begin with for certain types of items. This restriction limits the
number of certain items that can be listed in a 30 day period. Please
keep in mind that the majority of items permissible on eBay are not
subject to this limit and can be listed without restrictions.

After a careful review of your account and history with us, we have
determined that this restriction will remain on your account.

Criteria used in our investigation include, but are not limited to, the
following factors:
-- Selling history (minimum three months) and activity as a seller on
the site
****-- Selling history for these types of items (Need more selling
history for these types of items)
****-- Positive selling feedback (Need more selling feedback)
-- Any feedback questioning the authenticity of your items
-- No unresolved disputes with buyers
-- Compliance with eBay policies
-- Account in good standing
-- PayPal verified
-- DSR for Item as Described

I put stars in front of the specific criteria that applies to you. Not
only is this part of the initial reason your account was restricted, but
it's what you will need to pay attention to and work on for now to have
these limits raised in the future.

These are just some of the things we look for when making the decision
to remove your limits or not. They don't all apply to you. Some other
things we look for include your violation history as well as any blocks
on your account.

Even though the limits on your account remain active, you can still
build a positive selling history by listing other items. You can
list/relist/revise similar items 30 days after receiving the first
message. You received the block on 12/16/09, so you should be able to
list again on 01/15/10.

I would definitely recommend you sell other items until your limits can
be raised. This will help you build up your selling feedback and will
potentially decrease your chances of getting these blocks on your
account. Once you build up more of an established selling history, you
will not receive those blocks.

I do understand how frustrating it is to have the restriction on your
account. The best thing you can do right now is continue working within
these limits, list the items you can, and continue building a positive
selling history and policy compliance history. I would also suggest
contacting us again after several months have passed to review your
account again. At that point we could potentially raise your limits.

If you have any further questions regarding your selling limits, please
click on the link below for more information.

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/selling-restrictions.html

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Aunika


eBay Customer Support
_____________________________________________

(6757770)



Original Message Follows:
------------------------

Form Message: %42223% 061001
D_ID010620101345D_ID/W_ID189147377W_ID/S_ID000S_ID
Subject: IV%X10151 Question About Listing [#US 100770T ?01 ]

User Feedback: 85
User State: ?01


Browser info: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US;
rv:1.9.1.6) Gecko/20091201 Firefox/3.5.6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

Topics > Question About Listing

Message: I have a restriction on my account. I believe it is because I
occasionally sell designer items in addition to vintage. There have
been no questions as to the authenticity of any items I sell and I run a
very well respected store-front in New York City. I would very much
like to continue selling on Ebay and this restriction hampers my ability
to do so. My business depends on the ability to sell items online as
well as in my retail storefront.

Please review my restriction as I would like to have it lifted as soon
as possible. I have all positive feedback and don't appreciated being
restricted when having done nothing but follow the rules.

Thank you.

Hidden ASSets (yeah, it's that kind of pun)

I learned something during the two and a half years I worked as a shop girl at Barneys New York, fashion trends are dictated by the bodies and neurosises of middle-aged white woman. Everything on the sales floor was designed to hide a bulging belly and a flat ass and compliment the legs and occasionally the bust. There are two body types that seem to pervail among that consumer set, one is that peskily annoying kind called "perfect" gained from daily gym routines and some expensive surgical sculpting and the other is the "apple". Apples gain weight in their stomach and chest yet always manage to have a pair of gorgeous legs. It's a bewildering genetic mishap, but it seems to be the norm in a lot of white ladies and guess what, most of the super rich ladies in New York are white ladies (well that or Jews, and lord I wish the Jewish conspiracy was real because I would take my piece of that pie in a minute.)

My job at Barneys was essentially making these women feel good about themselves. Complimenting their bodies and catering to their insecuritie. Often this was done at the expense of my own pride. Nothing beats having a woman ask you what your pant size is. If you tell them a 28 then they invariably answer that they must be a 27 then. They want to be skinnier than you, prettier than you, more stylish that you. Richer than you isn't enough, it's a competition and since they are paying your bills via commission, you have to let them win.

So what do you do? You pull things from the rack and tell them how much you wish you could have them. Accent their privileges. Tell them they are crazy if they say anything negative about their portly mid-section and in the case of the "perfects" you don't bad an eyelash when they "accidentally" open the fitting room door with no shirt or bra on top. I've seen more pairs of fake tits working in retail than your average porn addict. My favorite kind of breast implants are the ones on older ladies, I love a 53-year-old with the tits of a 22-year-old. Also, these women tend to wear lace or other types of see-through thongs so you have to be prepared to catch glimpses of snatch, hairless or not.

One thing almost of all these women had in common was a severe case of ass-anxiety. If they had any roundness in backside they would lament it's hugeosity. If it was tiny and flat like most of the asses than came through the Barneys sales floor they would flock to the ugliest and most embellished of jeans. Being exposed to such extreme tactical body-consciousness made me look at the way everyone dresses differently. Suddenly I saw everything in terms of smoke and mirrors, a plan for attact. The body an assemblage of shapes and sections trying to reach an idealized whole, and the ass just gets left out of the equation. I won't go into the psychology of white ladies and their butts, but it's deep and weird. While I feel this anguished game of body camoflauge is acceptable in the elder New York rank and file, it really upsets me when I see the younger, much more stylish generation hiding their behinds and embracing styles that negate them entirely.

Long blazers, harem pants, drop-crotch, tulip skirts, draped wraps and cardigans, these styles line the racks of New York cool style-hegemonist boutiques. They are an all-out assault on the visibility of a woman's ass. Recently I was at an art opening, the crowd was full of fashionable ladies with nary a curve of rump in site. Maybe it's a backlash from the booty-licious high-waist trend, maybe it's flat-assed white girls hiding what they lack, embracing a trend much like their elders embraced the trapeze dress that's all about hiding. Not that flowy is the only order, there were plenty of skin-tight bandage dresses at that opening, but all of them were paired with loose-fitting long blazers that completely covered the wearers butt.

Fashion 101 teaches us girls that you are supposed to choose legs or tits, when dressing in a revealing manner, but what about the ass? The A has been left out of the precious equation of T and A. Then again, tits have been embattled for about a decade now, a bony sternum seen as infinitely more desirable in too many young girl's eyes than a lucious pair of melons. With most of the low-cut draped tops being bra-suicide, those of us with tits have had to sit back and let certain styles pass us by, but now, seriously, what the fuck do they want me to wear?

Not that skin isn't in. The mid-riff is back, cut-outs are all the rage, and the dueling throw-back Kellys (Bundy and Kapowski) are all the word amongst the collegiate fashion blog set. The ribcage has made a serious comeback as well, but while I don't know any dude who doesn't appreciate a well-placed flash of skin, it seems like the math is all wrong. Maybe I'm just a simpleton. I come from the meat and potatoes sexuality of the midwest where the best is in the basics. I don't' particularly see the difference between a young girl wearing an oversize blazer over her ass and an older woman hiding in a tunic and leggings. Nothing is intrinsically wrong with either look, but good lord, when you are in your 20s why hide that sweet sweet behind?

Take this girl for example. I get the genius weirdness of these extreme drop-crotch Commes Des Garcons pants, but I wonder what she looks like from behind. I'm sure she has a lithe lovely body and she just looks like a rectangle. Sure, it's not always about sex, but squarepants are for cartoons, not for a lady. Then again, maybe I'm just on the pervy side and want to be able to imagine what attractive people look like without their clothes.


Probably something like this. Seriously, is this the standard? Does Oak really want to sell me these pants by representing the fact that they make an ass invisible? Is it the cut or the casting, but either way, it bums out my bum.

Actually I'll probably be putting my feelings about Oak into words very shortly and unfortunately they won't be of the nice variety. They have the worst merchandising I've ever seen in the Bond Street store and their buys are boring as fuck.

Frankly I think this whole oversize blazer trend makes everyone except for supermodels look like they raided their mom's old closet stash.

Maybe I lack refinement but to me it looked like Chloe's Spring 2010 collection was gearing up for "Chicos kind of day."

Closet Rocks

aka another "Fuck you, buy me" post regarding Ebay.

I've got another post up on the Vice blog:
entitled Closet Rocks

It's what is most likely going to be the first of several Ebay posts. Essentially I am sick of blogs like Refinery29 posting Ebay scores that aren't deals and frankly are kind of lame in the realm of what I'd call I "score."

If you've spent about five minutes reading this blog you'd understand that there has been one underlying theme in my life for the past year and a half. I'm broke. In fact I don't technically have any expendable income that I should be spending on clothes, but guess what? I am a partner in a clothing store. I have worked in retail since I was fifteen. I'm around clothing all the time and it makes me want more. Plus almost everything I own I've put into my business and the rest of it is covered in holes and stains.

So, that makes it perfectly okay to troll Ebay for goods like this Black Sabbath promo necklace I've got coming in the mail, right?

And this Slayer number that arrived today:


Okay, okay, so this is just another case of Justification 101, but the post is primarily in the vein of an earlier one I did over here on Reality No-Show that got quite a few responses via the comments and in the real world amongst my friends who, like me, are dorky enough to talk about our blogs off the internet (I know, right?)

Two more things

Ryan Turner's Outcast collection dropped @ Urban Outfitters.

I blogged about it for Vice You Don't Have to Slam Junk to Wear Leather

I'm sick. And Europa is having an inspection so the downstairs will be closed so I won't be DJing the Saint Vitus show tonight, but of course I'm still dragging my half dead ass there. Can't be missed!

Check out my write-up at Vice as well (yes, yes I know, I need some original Reality No Show content soon.)

Saint Vitus History Lesson



I heart Wino!!!!

Blogging about blogging on another blog

Ouch, I know. I am the anti-poacher too. Maybe it's a sensitivity to fashion blogs that are merely repostings of other fashion blogs or just image selections. I'm a grump, a writer. Not that my posts on here seem to consist of anything aside from links to my Vice posts. What can I say? Now that I'm quasi-professional I give them a lot of the goods. But even more, I can't say that I would ever interview someone for this blog, I'd feel like I was wasting their time. After all this is pretty much an exercise in me, my thoughts and opinions. But Vice has an actual readership that counts above the low hundreds and that makes it worthwhile to bug someone to talk to me about stuff I think is cool.

So I interviewed Jack from Endless Blockades about his awesome blog. Afterall, if I just reposted a few of my favorite awesome images that I found on his blog I'd be doing everything I hate. But what makes his site so addictive is that it relies on submissions as well as forums. It's not like some fashion blogs where someone just went to Style.com and picked out a few designer looks from the most recent fashion week. There is actual love, care, and time in seeking out these images from all over the world. And there is such pride in the submitters and makers.

Anyway, pointless rant aside, here's the link to my interview with Jack of Endless Blockades on Vice

Endless Blockades

Samantha Pleet Redux

I wrote a fairly detailed behind-the-scenes post about the Samantha Pleet presentation over on the Vice Blog but I took too many pictures for just one post. I avoided including too many photos of the lovely Louise and Angela because of another behind-the-scenes that will be posted as soon as Angela finishes the Cheek-ie lookbook. Louise was one of the lovely models and I got the most power shots of her and I already wrote about her photo opening. I mean hell, I love these ladies, but I've got to diversify a little bit. But here I have free reign to talk about my friends as much as I want. Professionalism be damned!

Pleet's collection was adorable. Decade-spanning yet clean, it was solid and totally wearable, something I can't given enough praise for. Not only was it wearable, but it was wantable...as in I WANT so many pieces.

You can take a look at her complete Spring 2010 lookbook here. There are some winners that weren't featured in the presentation like these lovely pieces:



I can't help it, I've been feeling printed pants so hard lately. I keep buying them via thrift and not wearing them but admiring them on others. I don't know what's keeping me from them...

In my official write-up I didn't include the magical film attached to the collection directed by my friend David Black and Jacqueline Di Milia. Sonically it's not my bag but the tune is appropriate nonetheless.

Samantha Pleet - Spring 2010 from Samantha Pleet on Vimeo.

Turner styling.


A convenient pose with lookbook


Louise's legs in the leaf romper that she eventually changed out of for another look.


Coco looking way too bored.


Angela looking unconvinced about this hairstyle.


Man busts and hat assortment.


Look, it's a naked Carlen!


The set was pretty special.


More of Coco sitting around looking bored albeit gorgeous. Energy!


Lovely ladies/buddies


Louise has the best "work it" face, pure gold.


Sweets!


Last minute primping


Lineup


Champing

Odyn Vovk up on Vice!

The behind-the-scenes rundown of the Odyn Vovk show is posted up on Vice.

Click here to check it out, there are tons of pics too!

I didn't get any pics at the afterparty because I was too busy DJing, my camera was almost dead, and everyone fucking hung out in the back yard where I couldn't go because I was tied to the decks! Bummer. Still it was a blast. Playing Immortal and Mayhem at Sweet and Vicious was extremely satisfying although it seemed to bum out the staff pretty heavily aside from my buddy Brain who dug it. And there is nothing like having a crowd of your own kind in a bar that doesn't cater to you. A girl I recognized as a former customer at The Good The Bad & The Ugly came up and gushed about hearing Burzum. I gushed back, excited that she caught it. And I doubt those turntables have seen an Asschapel LP since well, when Stefan and I DJed the Kylesa afterparty on Halloween there nearly four years ago.


I'll post some of the outtakes from the Vice piece later, including my favorite category of photo, unflattering pictures of male models.

Warehouse of Horrors

So I meant to post this last week. I wrote it for the Vice Blog but we didn't have time to post it before the sale ended (for some reason people don't work on Labor Day...weird.) I thought all was lost in the holiday time crunch until I remembered, oh yeah, wait, I have my own blog that I neglect and I can post things on it...doy.



I recently bad-mouthed the Barneys Warehouse sale. Well time to come clean, I caved and I went. It was every bit as terrifying as I remembered although I managed to go late enough so I missed the line which sometimes wraps around the block. Waiting in line to spend money...not my idea of a good time. Upon entering through security I saw my sanctuary shining right in front of me. The shoes.



The shoes at the warehouse sale are the best bargain and the items least likely to be totally ravaged by the horders. I've got big fucking feet, years of retail, including two plus at the main Barneys New York location, has expanded them to between a size 10 or 10 1/2. Thankfully not a lot of other women do and the few in need of clodhoppers aren't into giant platform insanity that makes their already big feet look monstrous. I don't mind it, I think they balance out my hips, but maybe that's just one of those things I tell myself to feel okay about something I can't change.



After navigating the shelves of shoes you grab a single you like and wait in line with a bunch of impatient women until a stock person emerges from a gigantic stockroom, takes your shoe, and hopefully returns with it's mate in a box. One year I found my dream shoes only to have the stock girl tell me the mate was MIA forever. Bummercity. A tense middle-aged woman dressed in all-black with what looked like meth scratches on her face kept pacing behind me asking every stock girl who came out if they had her shoes, accusing every non-white female of being the person who helped her although none of them had. Thankfully they found the mates to my potential scores trauma-free and of course my broke-ass being there in the name of research (I swear!) fell in love with a pair.

This was my first warehouse sale as a non-employee having avoided it for the past few seasons. The Warehouse Sale is kind of a crock, at least for the first couple of weeks. Nothing is cheaper in the warehouse than it is during the final markdown period in the stores. The same goes for Century 21 by the way. In fact at times items in that discount department store sell for more than the final markdown price the retailers unloading their goods sell them for in their own shops. And during sale time at Barneys there is at least a modicum of order. There is no reason to descend into the chaos which is a million times worse than any sample sale I've ever been too. Not that it's the staff's fault, controlling the masses of women who clutch desperately onto their Balenciaga sweaters marked down to $394 from $1200 is pretty much impossible. Clothing litters the floor, the jeans table is one giant knot of denim and keeping the shoe selection properly divided by size is literally a full-time job.

The concept of "cheap" is of course relative. As is the idea of a "deal." In fashion this becomes even more skewed when one takes into consideration the justifications for pricing: quality, rarity, status, concept, etc. Still, there is a bottom line for most everyone when it comes to purchasing things and even if the whopping $1290 pricetag on a pair of handwoven Bottega Veneta printed leather platform sandals can be justified in the painstaking crafting it still doesn't make me any more apt to spend two months rent on them. Comparatively, their final in-store markdown of $354 may seem like a bargain but that still doesn't make me able to afford them. However, this is where the Warehouse Sale has it's merit. As the days count down towards the end of the sale the prices drop. First a sign is posted by the shoe section that says "50% off marked down price" then the "50% is crossed out and replaced with a "60%", then in the final days the "60%" turns into a magical "75%" and there you are, at the finish line. Barneys will not sell you goods any cheaper than what is essentially 75% off of 75% off of retail. The clothing is quicker to be marked down going straight from 50% off to 75%. Seem too much of a hassle to negotiate? I don't blame you. But there are dedicated fans of the stalk and shop. Men and women who covet an item, visit it, watch it as the markdowns progress, waiting for the last possible moment to purchase it. Some cave before the warehouse sale. Some cave during the first round of markdowns. It's all a game of chance. The longer you wait the greater the possibility that someone else will swoop up and pick up the item. Barneys relies on this shopper paranoia during the first week of the sale.

The paranoia essentially worked on me. I visited the sale on Friday when the shoes were still at 60% off. I found the aforementioned Bottega Veneta printed leather platform sandals. I did the math, 60% off of $354 was just barely within range of what I could pay but more than I should. But they were calling to me and I couldn't resist. So beautiful, so tall, I imagined them with tights in the fall, with shorts next summer, told myself even though they were floral printed it wasn't "too floral". Convinced myself the style looked vintage enough not to be out of style ever. Fuck it, I knew I was getting them as soon as I found them.



I tried to shop the rest of the sale and quickly got discouraged. Everything I wanted was still $600. Fuck that. And yes, I could have bought a pair of jeans for $40 but did I really need them? Somehow they didn't seem as special next to a rack of tattered Vionnet silk gowns. Hell I almost bought a silver metallic knit Dries Van Noten skirt that looked terrible on me just because it was gonna cost me less than $100. In such an atmosphere it is difficult to judge anything on it's own merits. Everything is relative and suddenly it seems okay to spend $80 on a Stella McCartney t-shirt because you know it's the only thing from the line you'll be able to afford.



Thankfully common sense won over my desire to own designer goods. I got in the treacherously long line and waited for twenty minutes before I was rung up. The cashier mistakenly took 75% off the shoes instead of 60% and suddenly I was out of there having paid $108 for a pair of platforms that originally retailed at $1290.



End Note:

The shoes I scored were the Bottega Veneta fisherman's sandal. I wore them tonight actually. Sean and I went to some art openings and then Morimoto. We got out of dinner just as it started to rain, about 10:45. We were in the Meatpacking District right when Fashion's Night Out ended. Getting a cab was a fucking nightmare but the shoes looked amazing with my olive tights and plum jacket. Hurrah!

Also, this sale ended up costing me an extra $100 since someone swiped my meds from my purse. Yeah, I know, not my wallet but a bottle of a very non-recreational anti-anxiety medication and another bottle that contained 1/2 of a klonopin...not a very recreational dosage. Fuckers!

ODYN VOVK

Ahh, black metal and fashion, the two have flirted, well maybe the flirtation is a little one-sided. For every designer or stylist who has done a black metal inspired line/shoot/runway show I don't think there has been any album dedications in return. But the grim gotta wear something and occasionally the grim just happened to be inspired menswear designers like Austin Sherbanenko.



This season's Odyn Vovk runway show is at the St Marks Church on 09/09/09 and the afterparty is at Sweet and Vicious at 10 pm, DJed by yours truely.

I am incredibly stoked to be DJing this afterparty. It's a rare occassion when I can get away with DJing nothing but metal. The fashion week crowd isn't going to complain, it's thematic with the show. Anyone even slightly familiar with the line will not be expecting much else. Still after getting off the phone with my buddy Ryan Turner who is once again producing the show, my brain is pulsating ideas. Black metal and the darker side of thrash plus some more menacing Alice Cooper tunes. This is going to be fun...the list is forming...Emperor, Bathory, Whiplash, Darkthrone, Hellhammer, Blessed Death, Metallica, Savatage, Force, Sacrilege...sigh...

Oh and there is no uptight RSVP/invite only vibe to the afterparty so hopefully everyone will come from the show plus hopefully some stragglers from the Genesis P.Orridge opening I may be cursed to miss!

Store whoring

I started a blog for Fox and Fawn. It's good great fun. I just yammer away about all the amazing things we have in the store that I think you should buy. Basically half of the time I'm probably going to be shouting, "TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I TAKE IT HOME!" It's one hell of a struggle, letting things sell. This is a business though, not my personal closet, but sometimes it's tough.

Not that resisting temptation is the most difficult part of my first foray into business partnership. We've had a few bumps but everything has been straightened out. It's scary to be stepping into this role right now with all the economy hellfire that's been spread. Honestly I'm hopeful and we're doing all right. Summer is always hard, I mean think about it, what costs more, a tank top or a jacket? People buy more clothing in the fall because they wear more, like literally wear more items at a time. The equation seems obvious but you'd be surprised how many people outside of retail don't understand that summers are rough.

But...thankfully they aren't too rough. The store has had a wealth of good stuff coming in and we've been able to keep up stock which is important because since we are dirt cheap the seriously amazing stuff gets snatched up pretty much immediately.

It's so scary but at the same time so much more satisfying knowing that you are building something that is yours and one other person's. Something that can and will sustain you and feed you and house you. Every drop of energy we put in goes back to us and we put everything we have back into the store. It's a cycle and it can and will be exhausting at times I'm sure, but after working for other people for so many years, I'm glad I have it this way, for better or worse and thankfully it looks like the former is taking the lead.

NEWS!!!

So I've got something exciting to share with all of you. I'm working my way into becoming a partner in my friend Marissa's vintage store, Fox and Fawn. Over the next couple of months expect lots of updates, photos, and fun times. I'm spending my summer on Suffolk Street (112 Suffolk) to be exact. I'm very very excited. We have a lot of plans in the works and aim to keep it the most gently priced vintage store this (or any side) of the East River. We also buy from the public so if you have rad threads that you want some cash for or if you want to trade them in for new ones come by. I'll be in the store Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturdays, but we're open seven days a week.

In other news I'm going to New Orleans the 11-16. If anyone has any tips or pointers let me know. Sean and I will be DJing at the Saint on the 12th and 13th.


Oh and I bought this on Ebay...and yes, I took of the tanktop halfway through the night. Summer finally, hallelujah! Mama's finally gonna start working again.

Out of Africa

Angela, Audrey, and I went to an Afro-Carribean street fair in front of BAM on Sunday. It was the first day I was feeling remotely better from my second resurgence of the swine flu. We came expecting to find this guy:


He was pictured in the advert on BAM's website but unforunately the only fabric vendors were pretty unimpressive. Most of the places in Harlem have better selections.

Still we had a grand old time. Drinking out of coconuts and perusing jewelry. I discovered bean pie and bought some sweet leather earrings.


Audrey and I bought matching rings.


Segregation is finally over! Southern lady friend tattoos.


Dude on stilts. No big deal.


I know a few people who belong at the Jerk Center...(Audrey isn't one)


The scene


Jewelry booth, Audrey looked like the cutest power lesbian ever.


Lightswitch covers


Extreme purse


This booth was pumping out the best of tunes.

Audrey took some pictures too:

Modeling the earrings I bought, they matched the extreme purse.


This guy was hawking cakes (I bought a bean pie from his stand) by telling everyone, "My red velvet is chocolate baby." Nice.

Someone buy these please

Because they won't fit me:




Only $24.99

You've got 28 hours left.

Gossip Girl

Wow...okay...I will officially start this off by calling my boyfriend Sean a hero. I dragged him to the Tribeca Grand Hotel for a screening of the 80s flashback episode of Gossip Girl last night. I watched the first season because my friend Meredith was the assistant stylist and a few friends were extras. Plus my friend Abigail's clothing line, Lorick was featured as Blair's mom's designs. I don't watch it anymore. I gave up. Something about breathlessly watching the dramas of Manhattan teenagers unfold makes me feel dirty. I understand the appeal and yeah, yeah Chuck Bass is a rad character. You know, before they were famous, literally weeks before the first episode aired, I saw Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick at the Cast's fashion show at the St Mark's Church. They were ahead of me in the bathroom line. I recognized them because Meredith, my friend who worked on the show, had shown us the pilot episode. She had warned us that this show was guaranteed to be huge and we enjoyed the camp. Plus the kids were a lot naughtier in the pilot, smoking weed on the street and doing all sorts of fun illegal kid things before the network stepped in and put on the brakes.

Anyway, so I recognized them. They were both totally short but good-looking enough. No one knew who they were yet so no girls were screaming or swooning. They were guests of the show's stylists and just looked sorta lost. Anyway, back to the bathroom line. Now I can't verify a damn thing and I know this ain't a gossip blog, but seriously. One of the two went in first and spent forever in there. When he finally came out he passed something via handshake to the other and then other dude spent forever in the bathroom. I was annoyed but also proud of these little future stars, doing what appeared to most likely be blow in the bathroom of a church at the onset of fashion week. It actually made me want to watch the show before I got overwhelmed with trying to keep up.

So last night we went to the screening. Sean had never seen a single episode and I have no idea what's going on this season apart from the teasers I see when I watch Top Model on the CW. I tried to explain to him what was going on but quickly gave up. Thankfully his penis didn't fall off and he emerged from the experience still a man. And a good sport at that. I owe him like 10 noise shows for this one.

I didn't take pictures because there was some fancy society blog already doing so. They did a very different write up of the event. But hey, they sure as hell love Abigail!

Guest of a Guest

I'm sure you're enthralled.

Tidbits

I present some uncategorizable sights.


"Original Demon Slayer" from dinner @ Zenkichi


Normally I don't like the idea of fish coming out of my crotch but I was helpless when confronted with these pants at Fox and Fawn.


This girl has the worst tattoo I have ever seen. It's hard sneaking up on drunk chicks to take pictures of them without their knowledge. Her friend told me to stop taking photos of her drunk friend and not to embarrass her any more than she already had embarrassed herself. This girl was going nuts and was seriously aggro. Plus I didn't quite get the leather shirt. I guess it goes to show, no matter how annoying/Matrix dressed/shittily tattooed you may be, a good friend is a good friend. I've seen this girl around like 20 times since that night and she's been much better behaved. But she still has a faceless chick spread eagle on her arm.


This is Luna. She is my boyfriend's roommate's cat. Glenn found her after she'd been hit by a car. She's a former bodega cat and he nursed her back to health. She's missing a lot of teeth so her tongue has a tendancy to loll out, especially when she's sleeping.


These are some pics from The Milestone that didn't make it into the Vice article. Crass = Grass.


Anarchy = Gay.


Danzig = knocked out by a goat (according the Andy the Doorbum @ The Milestone.)