Top 10 of 2010

Major Headphones courtesy of Marshall Headphones, Revival dress courtesy of International Playground, T by Alexander Wang cape, Ostwald Helgason x ASOS leggings, Topshop Unique heels, Ideeen necklace, Triskaidekaphobia cast cuff.

A few weeks ago, while Christina and I were DJing an event, some dorko who thought he was tech-savvy managed to crack my headphone jack in half. Seeing as the headphone jack is made out of metal, he was either really strong, or really clumsy (probably both). Either way, I still don't know exactly how it happened. By some weird stroke of luck, I happened to attend an event for Marshall Headphones the same evening, where I received a replacement headphone jack, which happened to be attached to a really nice pair of new headphones. They're huge, with soft squishy ear cushions, that encase you in your own little world of sound, the way good headphones should. They're a bit much to wear outside, but when I do, I feel like a proper music geek. Here's what I've been listening on my new headphones, my Top 10 albums/songs of 2010. What was on your Top 10 list?

Beach House- Jimmy doesn't really like Beach House very much, even less after I've played the entire album on repeat hoping to hypnotize him into loving it ("Come on! You'll love it! Just give it a chance!"). Why doesn't that work? I guess Beach House isn't for everybody; they're a bit dour, and maybe even a downer, but it's such beautiful music.




Gorillaz- I really enjoyed this album, especially the songs they did with Little Dragon, who definitely deserves the exposure. To Binge might be my favorite song of the year




The Drums- Of course I had to include my BFFs. Congratulations to the boys, who were on the cover of NME twice this year!



The Morning Benders- I saw them play on Governors Island this summer, and it was pure magic. Excuses is my favorite song on the album, but the rest of it is equally excellent.



Hot Chip- I just about love everything they touch. One Life Stand is a staple every time I DJ.



Ariel Pink- This was our soundtrack for the summer. I hear he's playing a NYE party in Bushwick, and I'm a little bit disappointed that I won't be able to attend.



Vampire Weekend- Loving these prepster in spite of every instinct telling me that I should hate them.



Robyn- The most pure and perfect pop.



The Radio Dept.- Classic Indie Swedish rock. Also a bit of a downer. Still, one of the albums that Jimmy and I both love.



LCD Soundsystem- No Top 10 list would be complete without this quintessential New York album.

-Tiffany

In The New Year

I know you're all probably planning what you'll be doing for New Year's Eve, and if you're in New York, we'll be celebrating all across town. We're hosting Webster Hall with the Bloody Beetroots for the first part of the evening, before heading over to Don Hills, where we will be ringing in the new year with about a million of our friends. Admission is $20 if you RSVP to donhillsnye2011@gmail.com, which is probably the cheapest doors in town. Hope to see you there! Happy New Year!

RSVP TO DONHILLSNYE2011@GMAIL.COM
$20 FOR ADMISSION

DJs
GREG K, CREEP, BECKA DIAMOND, MATT KAYS, MAY KWOK, WILLIAM STRENG, JAPANSTER, SEAN FIGHTCATS

HOSTs
NUR KHAN, TODD SMOLAR, COLE MOHR, SIX SIX SICK, #TOP8, KRISTIN, NICOLLETTE, DANA, GIGI

-Tiffany

Swedish Christmas Table

Jimmy has this special way of looking like a teenage ax-murderer in every single photograph I ever take of him. I wore my Lanvin x H&M tee, Viktor & Rolf x H&M skirt, and a Ophelie Hats beret and Saks Fifth Avenue scarf, which were Christmas gifts.

For Christmas, my family and I went up to Woodstock, New York to celebrate, with Jimmy taking charge of presenting an eleven-course traditional Swedish Jul smorgasbord. We made the tough decision of not going back to Stockholm for Christmas, since we were just there in August, and we're pretty happy we didn't go, seeing how backed up flight travel in Europe has been in the past week. To make up for it, Jimmy recreated the meal that his grandmother usually cooks, making nine of the eleven dishes from scratch. The menu included a smoked eight pound ham, Swedish meatballs, Janssons Frestelse (a potato gratin), two types of pickled herring, gravlax, pickled red cabbage, beet salad, kale, and knäckebröd.

It was one the of the best Christmases I've ever had, even though we ended up having to drive back to New York City in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2010. The car ride took seven hours rather than the usual two, and we passed--literally--hundreds of stopped, stuck, and stalled cars on the road. At one point we got stuck at a gas station, and Jimmy and my brother had to get out and push the car out of the snow. So much for avoiding the terrible weather in Europe. Anyhow, we got the (slightly late) White Christmas that we both had been wishing for, and did make it home safely. Hope you all had a wonderful holidays!

The full spread

Gravlax, herring, meatballs, and plenty of Aquavit of course!

-Tiffany

Crochet City

It is officially winter now, and therefore it is officially the season to start knitting again (at least in my mind, knitting is a seasonal activity). I've already started making myself a new cardigan, as well as gradually accumulating bits of knit inspiration from across the internet. By far the most inspiring find of late is the work of crochet artist Agata Olek. I've been wondering for some time who was responsible for the completely yarn covered bike that has been parked outside of the Acne store on Greene St. for the past few months, and I recently discovered that it is just one of many pieces by the prolific New York-based artist.

Olek crochets multicolored yarn encasements around everything within arms reach, ranging from cars, bathroom sinks, fully furnished rooms, and the people around her. She claims that she chose the medium because it enables her to create her work while watching movies, which is, in my opinion, a good enough reason to become an artist or designer (or any type of freelancer for that matter!). One of her most inspiring recent projects took place at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, where people were encouraged to bring their old clothes to be recycled and knit by Olek into a new wearable piece of art. If you don't know how to knit or crochet already, this certainly should be inspiration to learn how!

-Tiffany

LE NEZ DE TYCHO

Metal nipple pasties cast in silver or gold. All photographs by Samantha West.

I recently started working as the Head of Sales for Bijules, designed by friend Jules Kim. If you haven't heard of the line yet, you most certainly have seen it without realizing it; Jules has been designing for five years now, and has a client base that includes Beyonce, Katy Perry, Karen O, and just about every other A-list pop star on the charts right now (I heard that even little Willow Smith just borrowed some pieces).

As an expansion of her Bijules line, Jules has created her first Bijules Haute collection of fine jewelry, which is cast entirely from gold and sterling silver, yet remains entirely within the spirit of Jules's provocative and boundary-pushing aesthetic. The collection was inspired by Danish alchemist Tycho Brahe, who lost his nose in a gruesome duel, and who proceeded to replace it with a prosthetic nose made of gold. In turn, Jules has cast several parts of her own body, and turned them into highly personalized pieces of jewelry.

The most standard (but certainly not simple) piece in the collection is the articulated finger ring, which is molded from Jules's own finger. The collection then moves on to force us to rethink what we typically consider jewelry. There's a gold contact lens that can be worn in the eye (although with some admitted pain and discomfort), there's a smoking lip with an attached cigarette holder, meant to adorn your upper lip as you smoke, and then there's a pair of metal nipple-shaped pasties, which need no explanation. Since many of these pieces are meant to be objets d'art, Jules has also created a chess set with a matching handkerchief chess board, and a set of dueling debutant gloves, whose fingers are filled with 24 karat gold shot to make it a dangerous (and deadly expensive) weapon. Take a good look at the lookbook (modeled by Jules herself), I guarantee you won't be seeing anything like it anywhere else.

The smoking lip, demonstrated with a lit cigarette

Left: The golden contact lens. Right: The chess set

Left: the dueling debutante gloves, filled with gold shot. Right: the articulated finger ring.

-Tiffany

ZANA!

I know this has already been posted far and wide across the blogosphere, but I have to put in a good word for my friend and fellow blogger Zana Bayne. I've always been a fan of her leather harnesses, and her ever-evolving designs, that have imaginatively reconceptualized different ways to adorn the human body. From her original harnesses, Zana has gone on to create more complex designs that form leather pentagrams, ribcages, and collars, not to mention adding some new accessories to her repertoire like suspenders and spats. I know she's been hard at work at her studio for the past few months, and it's lovely to see everything come together in this gorgeous lookbook, shot by our friend Char Alfonzo. The new collection will be available on Zana's webshop starting on January 1st.

-Tiffany

Masterpiece Theater

This curious goat-man was in charge of the guestlist

A few nights ago, I stopped by Allegra LaViola Gallery for the opening of Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw's show, Imeday, Imeday, Ollarday, Icklenay (Pig Latin for "dime, dime, dollar, nickle). Allegra has allowed the artist to completely re-make the gallery into an alternative reality which includes a pig atop a baby grand piano, a bird lady perched on a wall, live chickens, and a literally movable feast set on a dining table attached to a car lift. Dinner guests were actually elevated above the hoi polloi of the gallery crowd mid-meal, and were served their entrees while they were essentially suspended in mid-air. The whole experience is unlike anything I've every seen before in an art gallery, and I highly suggest you stop by if you're in town. Tickets are available to attend the dinners for $100 each, and while I think they are almost all sold out, there will be one more dinner open for public viewing on Wednesday, January 12th. Here are some Hipstamatic photos I took, as well as a video of Allegra explaining the exhibition.

A server standing on a ladder to serve dinner guests on the elevated dinner table

The artist Paul Outlaw (right) holding a live chicken who burst from a paper-mache egg as part of the evening's festivities

A view of the dinner guests from below the table

Artists Paul Outlaw and Jennifer Catron in costumes they created for the event

The pig, sitting atop the baby grand, heckled visitors as they entered the gallery

The cat lady, sitting atop the faux book-shelves

The bird lady, who presided over the three golden eggs

This man dressed in animal skins rode around the gallery on a scooter all night

One of the performers, dressed in a suit that was printed to blend in with the wallpaper


A sneak peak of the show by Loren J. Munk

-Tiffany

Reminder: Gifts Galore & Cupcakes Tonight at International Playground!

Triskaidekaphobia buckle ring

Just a wee reminder that tonight is the opening party for the Gifts Galore pop-up shop at International Playground. We will be selling our line, Triskaideaphobia, alongside some of our good friends and favorite designers, including Blood is the New Black, Digby & Iona, Collina Strada, and Chris Habana (just to name a few). We will also be DJing tonight alongside Michael T. Stop by anytime between 7-9 for booze, vegan cupcakes from Bird's Eye Maple, and plenty of gorgeous gifts for your loved ones (or for yourself). Here's a very small sampling of what will be available at the pop-up.

Fractal ring

Digby and Iona filigree spyglass necklace

Thief and Bandit Necklace

-Tiffany

How About Some Howkapow?

Award-winning Scottish knitwear designer Eleanor Bolton's coil necklace. All photos courtesy of Howkapow.

As a jewelry designer, I see plenty of jewelry everyday, and more often than not feel nonplussed. Sometimes I feel like being a jewelry designer is like being a drummer; every jerk in the world thinks that they can do it, but very few actually know how to do it with skill. I know that's a real asshole kind of thing to say, but I'm just trying to keep it real. Anyway, it makes it all the more refreshing when you do come upon new and interesting talent, and Howkapow is full of it. Howkapow is a U.K. based webshop run by husband and wife team Cat and Rog, who only showcase the work of the most interesting breakthrough talents around them. Here are a few of my favorite jewelry and accessory finds on the site. Howkapow also stocks plenty of adorable home decor items too--make sure to take a peek!

Eleanor Bolton coiled bangle

Inca Starzinsky's postage stamp scarf


Barcelona based designer Gonzalo Cutrina's Giant Nile Fish necklace
Gonzalo Cutrina's Disco Pterodactyl necklace



Lucy Peacock's acrylic and metal Harlequin 10 Panel necklace

-Tiffany

Chris Habana Party at Anchor Bar This Thursday

This Thursday, we'll be throwing our bi-weekly party at Anchor Bar (310 Spring St) for our incredibly talented friend, Chris Habana, and his Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 collections. The party coincides with Chris's jewelry pop-up store, The Box (129 Rivington), which features his designs, alongside Christina's line, Arms and Armory, and other local talents Bijules, Bliss Lau, Bevel and Elizabeth Knight. Chris will DJ with Atom and Michael Cavadias, and there will be plenty of Grey Goose to go around. I hear he'll also be giving guests special discount coupons for The Box, so you must stop by! Here are some photos that Christina's boyfriend James took of the popup.

Chris Habana

Arms and Armory

Bevel

Bliss Lau

Bijules

Elizabeth Knight

-Tiffany