Friday, June 27, 2014

Gisele Cuts Her Hair


Balenciaga always offers up provocative print ads ... this one is that and more. What did she do with the hair, I wonder.

Girls

Vogue in Spring
I've been going through piles of magazine pages that have been pulled, and I had nearly forgotten about my wonderful Girls! I've now viewed both seasons twice ... maybe thrice ... times through. Without spoiling the end of Season Two for any of you who haven't seen it, I even described the final scene to my college-bound niece, who will leave a boyfriend back home. Hey, you gotta go do what you have to do no matter how hot the guy is that you are leaving behind. And this is certainly the case for Hannah who considers her acceptance into the Iowa writing program that she herself can't believe that she's been accepted into.

My favorite episode of Season Two is the one where a frustrated Hannah decides to tempt Adam away from rehearsal by taking a sexual walk through memory lane. She's convinced that Adam isn't making time for her because their sex life has become routine. Her solution: vamp it up. And the scene that ensues is hilarious. Because if they were on the edge before, it was because it was happening organically, and they didn't know each other very well. Now into the relationship, the universe has shifted. And her attempt to recapture what can never be duplicated is a comedy of errors. Though I have never acted that scene out per se, I have been up to no-good and have found the manipulation of what should be left to chance/timing/fate has been a disastrous, muffled, mumbled attempt to recreate something that was only meant to be magic.
 So now we have Hannah and Adam on opposite sides of the ... tub. What will become of them? I heartedly believe that Hannah should go to Iowa ... I know I wouldn't pass that opportunity up! And Adam, he's the loyal sort of guy. And for all of his strangeness, I think that he's for real. And Hannah needs to mindful of that. She is the one that needs to grow-up. And yes, this is so important to consider!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Dries Van Noten: His House, Were It Mine

Vogue Sometime-Spring-Sometime
Sitting in my small, but cozy, apartment in the middle of a big city, this view looks like one that I would trade for in a heart-beat. Although I enjoy the symmetry of geometrically laid-out French gardens, it is this more lushful explosion of bountiful greens, colors, heights, ground covers, and perfectly designed madness. I could get lost in this secret garden certainly. The English garden.

It is the home of Dries Van Noten, a designer. The house is Ringenhof, set in a 55-acre park on the outskirts of the medieval town of Lier in Belgium. The article gives many details of the renovations of the home and grounds from the time that Van Noten and his partner purchased it, which is interesting, I suppose, but the fact that a suburb lies just beyond the gardens on one side and a commercial street with car dealers on the other, is incredible. It truly is a secret tucked into ordinary life. One I would like emulate in my own space in the middle of a city.

I love how the interiors of the home reflect the blooms that dominate the grounds. The one room, pictured just left, looks like the interior of a heart. I imagine that it is very comforting to sit in its warmth ... going out to buy paint to cover my own walls later, I wonder if I could go so far as this? I cover my own walls with deep, intense colors to create warmth, though I've never gone to such a rosy hue.

The house and grounds aren't only feminine, in the orangerie (can you imagine?!), great sculpted heroes have been plucked from a bank entry to protect oranges now. I also enjoy architectural remnants to occupy my space. The history of what they have been before and the warmth that they lend given their years and wear, comfort me.

It's a lovely home. The old girl is dressed up nicely.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Jack White's Lazaretto

Rolling Stone 5 June 2014
I've been waiting for Jack to return. And I received the magazine before I had the record in hand. So it was kind of interesting to read him before the listen.

Of all of the tidbits that surfaced in the interview- most notably his relationship with Meg White, or lack thereof, his keen eye to antique mechanical devices, and his Catholic upbringing in Detroit- it's his view of the sexes that I found ... charming. 

He 'has spoken in interviews about the death of chivalry and how "natural ideas and natural instincts in the male or female personalities" are "being sacrificed for the idea of equality".' Why charming? Because he recognizes the difference and celebrates it. He regards those who see his work as misogynist to be unaware of his body of work and the women that he has worked along side. And I will tell you that Jack White was not on my radar much until he put out that record with Loretta Lynn. I fell in love with it ... not so much a country fan, but enough that I would give it a listen, the record embodied all that is Loretta Lynn, her fierce strength and femininity, and a slight scorch that is White's manly brand. He did the same for Karen Elson's, his ex-wife's, album. I probably wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't been for the fact that I knew he would be layered through it. For that, it doesn't only honor the difference between the sexes, it pulls out the best part of each to make the perfect storm of sound.

As for Lazaretto, which has since been released, I've listened to it ... oh, about 30 times. I'm still stuck on the title track and have listened to it more than the whole. The video for it is mesmerizing. The images are sharp, slightly perverse, and so cool. Jack's guitar doesn't put blisters on my fingers as I'm not playing it, but it puts them on my heart. It heats to a boil and blisters ... no tonic could soothe it except to listen to it again.

I would love to be a nail in one of Jack's beloved restoration projects, beautifully restored, and tucked in a corner of his work space. I can imagine the magic that he produces there and the wonderful freedom it would demonstrate of a man with talents to make everything around him better than they were ever intended to become.



Saturday, June 14, 2014

Kate Winslet

Harper's Bazaar July 2014

Kate is stunning in this photograph- known for being 'round,' she is all line and angle, which mirrors the strength she portrays, even when vulnerable, in all of her films. She is Batman, and she has the dress to show for it (hey! her eyeliner has a bat wing to it).

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Pharrell's Headdress


UK ELLE July 2014
Pharrell is beauty in this photograph. I don't understand the hullabaloo about it being an affront to Native Americans. We have become, as a culture, so sensitive to so much that we have become insensitive. It would be one thing if the headdress were being decimated, but it isn't. In fact, I think that it honors what is essentially the very essence of America ... ingenuity, strength, creativity. And who's more American than Pharrell? He was a part of two of the biggest pop songs of the summer of 2013, and his 'Happy' is a unifying anthem that crosses geography, race, genre ... you name it. Come on.