If I had a thought bubble, this is what it would look like.

Well friends I am off for a month to enjoy some blue skies, canoes, and wheat fields.

While I am away please enjoy this picture of the President of the International Egg Art Guild.

The 50’s come to the rescue.

So I found something to wear to the wedding: A 50’s prom dress. It cost $30, is the colour of cheez wiz, fits like a glove and is very celebratory. What was I stressing about? I should have just gone to Temple of the Modern Girl (2695 Main Street, Vancouver) in the first place.

Below, a selection of prom dresses from eBay and the silver shoes I will be wearing with the cheeze wiz dress. I just wanted to note that I shortened my dress to give it a more modern silhouette and I think it’s also important to balance out the kitsch factor with some contemporary shoes and no jewelry.

Boring Sex

Have you noticed that there’s nothing really new in the world of lingerie? No progression? I think lingerie may be stagnant.

I was watching an Agent Provocateur fashion show (don’t ask) and nothing was really happening. How many variations on the garter belt can there be? Isn’t there anything new that is sexy? Is it really just corsets and merry widows? I was in an Agent Provocateur store not long ago and it seemed very, how do I say it… mall sexy.

I know I have been a bit of a one woman Kostas Murkudis fan club recently but I have always liked the work he did for Schiesser underwear in Germany. What I like is that he uses the same fabrics for the men’s and women’s line and yet the men’s stuff doesn’t seem fey. It still retains it’s masculinity. Sensual. Something that seems to be missing from the lingerie business these days.

Mayle.

So I have been doing a lot of research lately trying to find the perfect dress for a wedding (see previous post) and though I am having no luck finding anything in my size or price range (Am I fat and cheap?  That’s depressing.) I have picked out some nice things for fall.

Most of it is from Mayle, which is perfection. And I’m happy they have a website now.

Also a pick from Tucker by Gaby Basora which I swiped off style.com’s blog. Great fabrics, oddly frumpy website. I think this stuff is all about context. If I saw a whole rack of it in a department store I might cringe, but a few select pieces hanging on their own would win me over.

Funny enough the Tucker stuff is sold at Project No. 8 in New York which also sells my Kostas Murkudis dress from last post. Good job NYC.

Kostas Murkudis

I have to go to a wedding this summer (who doesn’t) and it’s a daytime/outdoors/winery kind of thing.

Impossible to find a dress for. I went to one of the luxury department stores here in town and though it has really great service (so, not Holt Renfrew) the sales woman kept trying to guide me to Armani (I’m not the Mother of the Bride!) or Cavalli (uh, no).

Impossible to find something sweet and formal but in a champagne and bocce way. I quite like the following dress but no one sells it online. Desperate. Please help.

Orange juice, Italian style.

Years ago, I had a picture of a juice stand in Naples that was, I think, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I think about it all the time, and have become obsessed with a certain kind of wall-mounted citrus press that doesn’t seem to exist outside of Italy. A reasonable facsimile of the original juice stand can be seen below.

I have also become enamoured with the mesh bags that citrus fruit comes in. Like the table skirts of a few months ago, I can’t help but feeling like there is potential in them somewhere.

Is it hubba hubba, or hubbah hubbah?

I know it’s pretty lazy to just show you things from other blogs… but these girls from garance dore are incredible!

Oh France, you are making me go all lesbian.

Jackets out of swimming pools and other amazing tricks.

This picture (from online magazine polar inertia) has a jacket in it somewhere. I don’t mean literally of course. But there is inspiration for a garment somewhere in the details.

shoes for summer

Here are my shoe picks for this summer:

I thought I was sick of ballet flats…but there you go. Also, the tennis shoes by Bensimon have been a longtime favorite, but somehow I forgot about them. I’ll also pull out my Erin Templeton lace-up sandals from a few years ago. I am going on an epic road trip this summer and these shoes will take care of all my city/country needs.

Yves Saint Laurent Funeral

I was looking at pictures from Yves Saint Laurent’s funeral, and it got me thinking about the serious nature of death. Seriously.

When I read the obits and death notices in the paper I notice a lot of “celebrations of life” rather than funerals, as though the sadness and loss can be chased away by some funny anecdotes and a sing along. I think a funeral and all the heaviness that goes with it might have some value. Because let’s face it: when you die, you are gone forever and that sucks.

So back to the Yves Saint Laurent funeral. It looked very French and very formal. Mourners lining the road, navy suits and black ties, flag draped coffin, sunglasses, cathedral. As it should be. I think it expressed the importance of the man and the importance of the loss. There is a place for formality, for tradition and for ritual. For me, funerals are one of the last places where I think these traditions actually help people cope. Funerals do not try to put a sunny face on death.

On a fashion note (this was a fashion funeral after all) I think Claudia Schiffer and Catherine Deneuve looked fantastic. France has incredible florists as evidenced by Catherine Deneuve’s wheat sheaf. Ines De La Fressange also looked great, but alas, no good photos.