29 posts tagged “style”
It feels good to be back in California.
Sometimes, it just feels like the kind of day that requires a spiked headband.
Lace is here in a big way, in case you hadn't heard. I've been wanting to get my hands on this lace bodysuit from American Apparel, but have settled for a less constricting version I found at H&M for $20. There's something about a lace top that's so feminine and equally versatile. In short: loves it.
I came across this article in the NY Times earlier today about American style, and I thought it was pretty good.
U.S.A. All the Way, by Walter Kirn
American style — basic American style, the American style that goes back to Henry Ford’s cars, James Dean’s T-shirt and the Timex watch — is not a pose but an adaptation to basic, fundamental challenges. Take jeans, our sartorial signature and our most influential contribution to the modern global wardrobe. They may sell for hundreds of dollars in swank boutiques from Boston to Buenos Aires, but it must be remembered that they originated as work wear for 19th-century laborers who valued them not for their color or silhouette but for their riveted ruggedness. Cowboy hats, truckers’ wallets, nylon windbreakers and Converse high-tops, to mention just a random sampling of the wearable artifacts that have come to define our nation’s aesthetic, were inspired by necessity rather than an intent to catch the eye. Design for design’s sake, our history suggests, is not an American priority. Instead, we design things to do a certain job (whether it’s in a mine, an office or a basketball arena), and when we devise a solution to the challenge, especially one that’s ingenious, simple or cheap, the result is a forward leap in style that may not even seem like one at first. (Until the Japanese trend scouts come along and hawk it in Tokyo department stores.)
Lately, we seem to be doing our job well. Sorry, you prophets of cultural decline, but American style is on a roll again, exuding a new energy and confidence that’s not only reshaping fashion but also affecting cuisine, technology, art and architecture. Let’s begin at the bottom, with the lowly hamburger, which is American style on a bun. Given up eating at McDonald’s? Don’t. Thanks to a drive to boost its brand, the new Angus Burger actually tastes like beef, its fries have retained their minimalist perfection, and its recession-friendly prices suddenly have a charming retro feel. Meanwhile, over at Whole Foods Market, a gourmet populism has arisen based on supplying elite organic ingredients in amiably packaged abundance. Ace Hotel, a small Portland, Ore.-based lodging chain, has done something similar, renovating buildings in cities like Seattle, New York and Palm Springs, Calif., in a manner that preserves their local color while updating them with hipster eclecticism, all while keeping the room rates reasonable. It’s a peculiarly American strategy, combining our fondness for respecting tradition with our libertarian playfulness and our utilitarian good sense.
And then there’s Apple, Apple the Almighty, no longer just a computer and phone producer but a high-tech fashion house that works in microchips, L.C.D.’s and polymers, introducing its hottest new lines with high-impact music and theatrics that outmatch the hottest Paris runway shows. Apple, like Ace and Levi’s, affects a populist sensibility (its products work simply and want to be your friend) burnished with a rounded space-age look that subtly portends a nerdy rapture: Mac users will ascend to techie godhood, if only they keep trading up their laptops. And there we have it: the secret spiritual promise, traceable to our nation’s religious origins, that subtly underlies American style and fuels its resurgent allure. American style whispers of a day when all will be attractive, healthy and competent, when style as we know it — that urge to differentiate — will finally prove obsolete because all will be equal, idols every one.
Never mind that when I sit like this, my legs cramp up and my thighs smush together...
I love the adorable mix of sexy and sweet in knee high socks:
