Cat and Mouse Game

I am about to move to a much colder climate, and as I pack up all my worldly possessions, I'm wondering what I'm going to be wearing though the long Swedish winter.  Fall is fun, winter is oppressive.  However, looking at Lars Andersson's latest video lookbook has made me feel a bit more inspired.  Lars is Swedish, so he must know the old adage, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."  Therefore he provides a perfect way to counter the elements in style: layer upon layer of thick, lush, heavy knits.  In his video, two models chase each other across the rooftops of New York wearing his dramatic creations, which have the practicality of warmth, yet are still elegant, moody, dark, and romantic.  Hoping to master this look by the time deep dark December rolls around.

-Tiffany

This Week

This week is my last week in New York before leaving for Stockholm for six months.  I've been trying to get out as much as possible, but yesterday's sudden winter storm put a damper on my night's Halloween plans.  I refuse to let any other evenings go to waste, and will be stopping by these two parties and encourage you to join.

Although many chose to forgo Halloween festivities altogether, it has always been one of my favorite holidays, mainly because it involved collecting candy by the bag full. Figuring out costumes can be tough, but luckily I have a full drawer of old Six Six Sick outfits that can dress me for many Halloweens to come.  Tomorrow I plan on joining Occupy Halloween for the Halloween Parade, and then heading over to Patricia Field's Halloween bash at Co-op.

On Thursday, I'm planning on stopping by the YPX MOCA Gala, where there will be an open bar and dim sum from 7-9pm.  This year will be celebrating honorees who have made significant contributions in the Digital Arena.  Tickets are available here.

-Tiffany

Dip Dye

Dip Dye courtesy of Arrojo. East West sheer top, Joomi Lim cuff, Triskaidekaphobia necklace.

A little while back, I had the pleasure of getting my hair cut at my favorite salon, Arrojo.  They recently invited me back to test out their new Goldwell Coloring service, and I jumped at the opportunity to finally get the violet-blue dip dye job that I've been secretly longing to get for the past year.  While I used to dye my hair all the time as teenager, I haven't done it in about 8 years, and the main thing that's stopped me is my disapproving husband, who fears that I will look like the angsty teen that I once was.  Well, Jimmy happens to already be far away in Sweden (I'll be joining him on Friday), and only has a vague idea of what I've just done to my hair.

Inspired by the candy-colored hair at the recent Meadham Kirchhoff shows, as well as some photos from The Neverending Story blog, I brought some pictures to my dear friend Ashley Kowalski, who is one of the most in-demand colorists at Arrojo.  It took a whopping four hours, but with the help of her assistant Jamie, Ashley managed to produce the dip-dye color of my dreams.  Thanks so much Ashley, Jamie, and everyone at Arrojo!  I'll let you know how Jimmy reacts when I see him...

Inspiration snatched from The Neverending Story.

Ashley started by bleaching my hair to blonde, which took about two and a half hours!

After my hair was properly bleached, Ashley mixed some Goldwell purple and blue colors together.

Waiting for the dye to set

Dip Dye hair flip!

-Tiffany

Season of the Sea Witch

Last week, I stopped by the Langolier's showroom to view the new Spring collection, and of  course pre-order some jewelry for myself. Designed by my friends Zon and Pam, the collection started as a series of pieces based on knits, mixing knit chain, knit fabric, and metal castings of knit thread.  While the collection is still heavily based in these textile oriented roots, I'm awestruck by how much they've managed to develop this concept and expand their collection with other ideas that compliment their base collection.  This season's show-stopper is the Ursula the Sea Witch inspired breastplate necklace and matching earring set, which both look like slightly malevolent yet majestic gills, worthy of the wickedest sea witch.  The giant necklace is of course suspended from a net of knit chain. Another example of Pam and Zon's ingenuity comes in the form of intricately patterned metal mesh bracelets that were made from weaving gold and silver chain together.  The amount of anal-retentive labor required to produce such a piece is pretty much beyond my comprehension.  I naturally couldn't leave without ordering something, and I can't wait for my Ursula gill earrings to arrive this spring.  If you also feel like you cannot live without some Langoliers, you can find their pieces on their online shop.

-Tiffany

Six Six Sick Presents NOMIA!

After months of talk and planning, we're incredibly excited for our party this Thursday for NOMIA, a New York based women's wear collection designed by our talented (and drop-dead gorgeous!) friend Yara Flinn.  We'll be screening the new NOMIA Fall/Winter Collection Video, and toasting with complementary Asahi Beer and an open vodka bar from 10-11PM.  Just in case you're not familiar with NOMIA, here's a peek at the new Spring collection, which centers around an agate digital print applied to minimalist, body-conscious silhouettes.  I'm personally obsessed with the dresses with agate panels.  Hope to see you on Thursday at Anchor Bar!

-Tiffany

POP SOUK!

Lovely Becca of Chromat modeling one of her head pieces, and a Triskaidekaphobia tooth necklace, hidden by her hair!

Yesterday afternoon fabulous freaks from all corners of the city descended on Hiro Ballroom for the first ever installment of Ladyfag's Pop Souk pop-up market.  We were there selling both Triskaidekaphobia and Arms and Armory alongside some of our favorite nightlife and daylife friends, and I have to say it was definitely the most fun collection of bright new talent, dirt cheap designer finds, out-there outfits, and of course, straight-up random realness/weirdness.  Chris Habana was there selling eyeball necklaces alongside antiques, Chromat was peddling outrageous cage gear, Patricia Field set up a booth full of candy-colored glitter wigs, and half naked men sauntered through the stalls modeling three-foot high feather headdresses.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by. We can't wait for the next one!

Part of our Triskaidekaphobia Booth

The Arms and Armory section

Shoppers in the main ballroom

Zana stopped by, wearing one of her own signature leather creations.

This dude was walking around

Hiraku was working the Patricia Field booth, wearing a spider-web top of his own creation!

Naomi Yasuda at her Nail Art booth

-Tiffany

Serious Styling at the Manhattan Vintage Trade Show

Amy Van Doran from The Way We Wore wearing a vintage hat that she altered with a plastic lobster.

Three times a year, vintage sellers and lovers alike gather at the The Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show at Metropolitan Pavilion.  The organizers are kind enough to send me press passes to the shows, but unfortunately most vendors won't allow photographs of their precious wares, which designers often buy to replicate for their own collections. So, this year, I grabbed my gay husband to gawk at the inspiring inventory as well as all the incredibly dressed ladies turned out in all of their vintage finery.  I'm seriously surprised that I didn't run into any street style bloggers at the show, as I think the women I saw today were much more creatively dressed than the majority of the label-obsessed ladies swanning for the cameras in front of Lincoln Center.  Here is just a small sampling of my favorite outfits of the day.

If you missed this weekend's show, do not fret. There will be a Manhattan Vintage Holiday Pop-up Sale at Chelsea Market from December 7-10th.  And, if you're a hardcore vintage junkie, Augusta Auctions will be holding their seasonal clothing auction on November 2nd at St. Paul's Auditorium, featuring items from the Brooklyn Museum, and various vintage archives.  They were sweet enough to let me take some photos of some of the pieces that will be at the auction, and you can view the entire catalog online.

Goldie Rush of The Way We Wore. I loved her vintage knit sweater!

A flappers dress, and beaded purses that will be on auction at Augusta Auctions.

A beaded bolero from August Auctions

An authentic Zoot Suit from Augusta Auctions

-Tiffany

Brave New Heights

Alejandro Ingelmo's shoes will always lift you to acrophobic new heights, and this season will send you straight into the stratosphere, with space-age designs resting on 5-6 inch heels.  I was particularly drawn to the metallic silver pairs, which have David Bowie glam-rock appeal, updated with a contemporary spin.  I do have to warn you though, after trying on a few pairs at the store, I did get a whiff of vertigo as I tottered around on the stilt-like heels.  Not for the timid, or those with a poor sense of balance.

-Tiffany

True Blood

What better way to celebrate Halloween than with a psychedelic romp through the graveyard?  Blood is  the New Black's new "Nocte Virginis" video and accompanying lookbook, directed by Jesus Rivera of Demonbabies, was inspired by the campy horror films of director Jean Rollin.  Long before True Blood, Rollin perfected the art of the silly, sexy vampire genre, producing a long repertoire of cult horror films.  It looks like blood suckers won't be going out of style anytime soon, and the trippy occultist theme seems to be the perfect match for the new Holiday collection.  As always, BITNB taps different artists to design their tees every season, and this new collection includes prints by Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fumi Nakamura, and of course Demonbabies.  All of the tees featured in the lookbook will be arriving in stores on October 31st, right in time to get your sacrificial virgin look on.

-Tiffany