Freak on The Street

Wearing our House of Flora hats out on the town.  I think they make us look like Lego people, so we took this picture in front of a Lego display.  Christina: Rodebjer top, Erin Fetherston for Target dress, Marc x Marc Jacobs boots.  Tiffany: Topshop trench, CDG x H&M blouse, Future Classics top, Safe by Rebecca Turbow shorts, Vivienne Westwood x Melissa shoes, Antti Asplund necklaces.

I've worn everything from fake taxidermy crows and pigeons, leopard masks, and gigantic floral poofs on my head, in addition to numerous outlandish hats, but nothing has ever garnered 1/100th of the attention that this House of Flora PVC Beret gets walking down the streets of Manhattan.  Comments usually ranged from "what the hell are you wearing on your head" to "where did you get that" to wordless knocking on the hat.  More creative sidewalk commentators noted the semblance of the beret to a condom, a nipple, and a school fire bell.  Needless to say, this isn't the kind of hat to wear when you want to go unnoticed, and like our facepaint outfits, I highly suggest avoiding this look if you happen to be in the market for a suitable mate, since it will exclusively attract the attention of people you would probably rather not meet.  Seeing as I am married, and Christina is in a relationship of almost ten years, we feel open to the reckless abandon of regularly looking like complete and total freaks.  In fact, if I were to compare the look to anything, it might be Schlitze the Pinhead of Freaks (will spare you the picture as it might scare the more sensitive ones out there).

We first became obsessed with the plastic beret when we saw Helle wearing it at her gallery opening two weeks ago, and when a sweet tipster commented that we could find the hats at Opening Ceremony, we headed there immediately and picked up a matching pair of plastic berets for ourselves.  Aside from adding that certain freak-factor to our quotidian outfits, seeking out the PVC Beret also lead me to discovering the fabulousness that is the House of Flora, who not only designs hats, but jewelry, and all sorts of editorial-friendly accessories.  Based in London and designed by Flora McLean, many of the designs incorporate PVC and plastics, and in addition to designing House of Flora, McLean has collaborated with the likes of Givenchy and Blumarine.  I suggest everybody take a wander through her website to see all the magical creations she has made, and believe me, if I ever get the chance, I will be trying to acquire even more freaky plastic headgear in the very near future.  I'll just make sure to simultaneously invest in a tazer to ward off all the other freaks and creeps when I wear them.

A headpieces for the Givenchy Couture Fall 05 show.

Another plastic headband made for the Givenchy Couture Fall 05 collection.

A headpiece made for Blumarine.

House of Flora Fall 09, which features laser-cut text, stamped rubber, and mesh.

Rubber hair hat, or "hairt," made in collaboration with hairstylist Neil Moodie.  

A giant starburst headpiece, also guaranteed to get you a lot of attention.

An oversized visor

The infamous PVC Beret in black

My own grey PVC Beret at home

-Tiffany

Topped?

Topshop slash dress selling for $40.

A couple of days ago, Christina and I were doing our weekly pillage through the racks of Topshop when Christina let out a gasp,and yanked this slash dress from the shelves.  The dress in question looks exactly like the DIY Alexander Wang slash dress that Christina made two months ago, with two minor differences: the Topshop dress is slashed in the back as well as the front, and rather than cutting two columns of  slashes, the manufacturers cut one column of long slashes which were stitched together lengthwise down the middle.  I suppose it was just too simple and easy of an idea when it hit the runways not to make it straight to the high-streets, especially with all the cutting/cutout mania going on right now on the blogs.  Anyway, for those of you who claim that you are completely DIY-disabled, you can buy this pre-slashed version for $40, although I still highly recommend taking a pair of cutting shears to a black dress and giving it a go, since this is one of the easiest DIYs ever!

-Tiffany

Chain Gang

Jeffrey Campbell chain heels from Solestruck.com, Sass and Bide dress, Kate Moss for Topshop leather jacket, silver necklace designed by my mom, Iosseliani ring.

Okay, I have to admit, when Solestruck offered me a free pair of shoes, these chain heels weren't my first choice.  I was actually lusting after the other Jeffrey Campbell heels, inspired by Balmain's gem and stud adorned number.  Of course I wasn't the only one to take notice of them, and apparently they sold out within minutes, and already have a 400+ online waiting list, which means that giving them out for free to bloggers isn't exactly a top priority.  I love those shoes so much I might even end up getting on the absurd waiting list as a paying customer, but in the meantime, I chose the next best pair of JC's, a pair of strappy sandals trimmed with three different kinds of criss-crossing chain and rhinestones.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, considering that the shoe straps appear slightly chunky online, but once they arrived I knew I had made a good choice.  Not only do they fit perfectly, but they're the most comfortable pair of heels that I've ever slipped my gnarly feet into (I'm sparing you a close up of my unpedicured toes for a reason).  So comfortable, in fact, that when I met Ty from Jeffrey Campbell at the Intermezzo trade show last week, I couldn't help but rave about how I hadn't taken them off since they came out of the box.  He compared them to "tranny slippers," which I couldn't agree more with, and told me that they can barely keep any of their studded shoes in stock on Solestruck (I got the last pair of these in my size!).  Anyway, they're definitely my new go-to party shoes, and when I wore them out last night to TriBeCa Grand, they felt like a pair of fancy sneakers on the dancefloor.  I could use a couple more shoes like this in my life.  Thank you Solestruck...

The most comfortable heels I've ever worn.

-Tiffany