If I Were A Girl: Gucci S/S 11

The leaves outside are still deciding which shade of  golden-yellow-with-a-touch-of-crimson they're going to wear this season and I'm already making notes on my day-to-evening ensembles for spring summer 2011.  Well, my inner girl-if-I-was-one is making notes because she and I saw the Gucci collection which opens with a tangy jolt of color mixed with bright metallic leathers and dangling tassels styled in a way that recalls Yves Saint Laurent and his fragrance, Opium, circa late 70's and we are both hooked.  

Via Style.com.

Rhyme nor Reason: Mirrored Ball

Sometimes all it takes is a dented mirrored ball to pull you right out of the mucky muck in which you're stuck.  

Rhyme nor Reason: Endora

When I am knee-deep in a particularly sticky mess of a week and I feel the stress pimples gathering forces...a covert epidermis-sion... I wish for one of my favorite good witches, Endora, to appear perched atop my desk in technicolor glory with that slash of blue eyeshadow and a flowing caftan.... I long to hear her wave all my worries away with a flick of her fingers and that voice... that incredible voice... like the clink of ice cubes in a gin and tonic.

Covet: Torchiere

When my murky Monday mood is magnified by a misty grey sky and a drop in temperature all I want is a drink and a torch song whispered in my ear but I'll settle for a flaming torchiere if it looks like this lovely Belgian bit circa 1970's available right here.

Wishful Wandering: LACMA

Seeing as I am such a manly man, today I would like to board my invisible jet for a non-stop flight to the City of Angels where, upon glitch-free arrival, I will be whisked via gold-plated limousine to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for a private viewing of Manly Pursuits: The Sporting Images of Thomas Eakins which includes this intriguing 1899 painting, Wrestlers... is this too much to ask for on a Sunday morn?

Via LACMA.

My Future Home: Stairs

I grew up on a street of single family, single level tract houses... each centered on its own green lot...the exterior design and floor plan of every third house oddly identical save for a variation in paint color.  The rooftops lined up like a horizon line of rocky tar paper interrupted occasionally by the bushy purple head of a Jacaranda tree that dared to grow taller than the others along our street.  In terms of architecture, my neighborhood was a study in suburban boredom... a row of yawn-worthy, stumpy abodes except for one house that belonged to my friend Becky.  Her house had a second story addition... one room accessed by a set of narrow, shag-carpeted stairs... in my tiny dust-speck of a world Becky's house was a mansion which is why, years later,  I still insist that my future home be high above the ground with plenty of stairs...minus the shag-carpet.

Via all the mountains.

Distraction: Birds

Continuing with my distracting interest in feathered friends.... some well accessorized beauties.

Photographs by Peter Lippmann.

Rhyme nor Reason: Adele and Fred Astaire

Just listened to a George Gershwin ditty called I'd Rather Charleston featuring Adele and Fred Astaire so wanted to share a favorite Joseph Abbe photograph of the pair circa 1926... I love the positioning of Adele's hands and that billowy sleeve and the lacquered hair and those amazing eyes that don't seem aware of her brother's gaze.

My Future Home: Library II

Okay. Okay.  Maybe I asked for a little too much when I described the library in my future home one post ago.  I'll settle for the overstuffed couch minus the comfortable chairs but can I add a row of globes though? 

Via Czech Tourism. (lets go!)

My Future Home: Library

My future home will definitely have a library.  Something simple... understated.  All I need are plenty of shelves for my rapidly growing collection of books....and a few comfortable chairs or a large overstuffed couch (or all of the above).... and good lighting... and a rolling ladder for reaching the very top shelves where I will keep all my most favorite books.

Via Curious Expeditions.

Covet: Vintage Bowl

Fell off the bandwagon and bought yet another bowl...vintage, heavy and glazed the most beautiful longan shell color (see last post).  I convinced myself I could always use another medium sized mixing bowl....perfect for whipping up a nice salad dressing or a batch of butter cream frosting plus this one has a handy pour spout and curved lip handle.... how could I resist?

Crave: Longan

When a friend gave me this bundle of branches I wasn't quite sure how to respond.  I was gracious (of course) but I wonder if she caught the look of what-the-hell-is-this that surely flickered across my face. The tea-stained color of the shell is beautiful so I figured, if anything, these will look great in a bowl on the dining table but then curiosity got the best of me and I peeled off the shell to reveal a delicious morsel within.  I was hooked.  The longan or Dragon Eye is like a homely country cousin to the showy pink hued, highly textured lychee but I'd gladly eat a bowl of this lovely fruit any day.

If I Were A Girl: Bottega Veneta Sandals

I was minding my own business walking a long upper Fifth Avenue when I spied these shimmering sandals in a store window... they called my name (well, my inner girl's name), they beckoned, they winked... tapping their collective toes impatiently as I dawdled at the window... my nose so close that I was fogging up the glass.  If I were a girl I would have to have both color ways.  The golden yellow is electric like a futuristic lemon or a butterscotch hard candy dipped in honey and placed under a super bright spot light so it glows.  These would be my day to night shoes...for every day and every night.  And what of the equally electric green version?  Why, perfect for Saint Patrick's Day of course.  Available right here.

Crave: Art Deco Vase

If I tried to squeeze another piece of pottery onto my over-laden shelves I fear that gravity might win out with a thunderous crash... so I'm left to simply admire this circa 20's Belgium beauty from afar (insert pouty face here).  Available from this New York-based dealer in all things art deco.

Distraction: Ornithologie

Maybe it was the feathered hat I was blabbering about a few posts ago or, perhaps, it was the carved eagle lectern that I'm hoping Santa stashes under my tree come December.... whatever the reason lately I've been fixating on early illustrations of birds like these wonders by Francoise Nicolas Martinet from the late 1700's.  I would love a wall covered with these exquisite images.... lined up one after the other in a neat grid... a floor to ceiling flight of fancy.  See more here.

Rhyme nor Reason: Midtown

The view from room 807... midtown Manhattan looking like neatly stacked cement blocks placed row upon row.... a cubist arrangement of perforated squares... late morning sun adding even more angles to the composition.

Crave: Eagle Lectern

Currently top of my impossible wish list since everyone needs a large scale eagle lectern... right?  Available here.

Rhyme nor Reason: Underfoot

Thanks to formative years spent in positions one through five with a stack of books crushing my boyish curls, my posture is nothing to slouch about... add to that the  fact that my head is usually safely ensconced in a haze of silver-lined clouds.... so, suffice to say, that I don't look down too often which is why I'm genuinely surprised by the wonders I find when I do.

Wishful Wandering: John Singer Sargent

My future art collection would not be complete without a painting by John Singer Sargent.  The trouble is.... which one?  I could dedicate an entire wing of my future museum to Sargent.  Since I've always admired his painterly rendering of fabrics I'm going to go with Nonchaloir (Repose)...  I could stare at that voluminous skirt for hours on end and, if I'm extra quiet, I think I can almost hear the rustle of heavy silk.

Far and Wide: Lost in Translation

Sometimes getting completely lost in a foreign country where you don't speak the language isn't such a bad thing.... one might stumble upon a shrine, a teeny tiny shop filled with the most incredible calligraphy implements,  a wall comprised of stacked sake barrels and a used bookstore with nary an english language book in sight... the trick is to not panic, to savor the discoveries and to embrace the pantomimist within. 

Rhyme nor Reason: Tokyo Banana

I'm not such a fan of super sugary sweets but I am a big fan of super duper packaging... banana with a purple bow?  Why yes please.  End result: Tokyo Banana souvenirs for all my nearest and dearest.

If I Were A Girl: Feathered Hat

I would love to know the mad hatter who created this chapeau of feathers.  The silhouette reads 20's cloche... the bell shape is simple, rounded with a short brim so the focus is the crazy mix of feathers.  Judging by the unexpected bits of banana yellow, mint green, powder blue and flourescent red peeking out I suspect a lack of ventilation in the atelier when the vat of glue was left uncovered... such wonderful patterns and colors.... like an abstract painting for atop ones head which is exactly where this hat would be if I were a girl.

Rhyme nor Reason: Fudge

Curses!  My dreams of a puplishing empire dashed with the bitter realization that someone stole my ingenious idea of combining fudge recipes with men's fashion.  Drat!

Far and Wide: Homme Blue Cafe

I thought I had discovered the one and only gay establishment in the tiny resort town of Yufuin, Japan... I imagined the single light bulb burning red late into the night as I canoondled with the locals.  Sadly, I was wrong...the cafe was simply a cafe although the "rastic" style was most charming.

Rhyme nor Reason: Winston

Now I know why I gave up smoking.  I was so worried I'd end up with a shaved head, bulging muscles and super tight denim short-shorts.  Phew.  Crisis averted.

Wishful Wandering: Art Collection

As I am 110% positive that fame and fortune and all the requisite benefits that surely come with both are waiting for me just around the corner... up ahead there... after that turn in the road... and that mud-filled ditch... I am already planning for my collection of art masterpieces and making lists in my (delusional) mind of the pieces I would like to acquire.  Currently top of my list is Caravaggio's The Conversion of Saint Paul which I remember getting very hot and bothered over during an art history lecture in college... perhaps it was the darkened lecture hall or my racing hormones but I was spell bound by the figure of Saint Paul... his supine position, outstretched arms and beautifully rendered face... all those years of Sunday school prudishness tossed out the window by one masterful painting.

Still Life: Bowl

It's a conundrum that we can live with something (or someone) day in and day out 24/7 and rarely truly see it (or them).  Perhaps this phenomena is a direct result of perspective... the object (or person) is too close to focus, the lens is blurred... or maybe familiarity is at fault and instead of seeing we simply overlook...whatever the reason I think it best to sometimes take a large step back... to look again from a different vantage point... to take in the full picture before looking closer.

Covet: Russian Textiles

I'm going to blame those carpets I shamelessly (and publicly) caressed a few posts ago because lately I have had ikat on the brain which means I've been perusing one of my favorite textile books and lusting over the images... I love the unexpected juxtaposition of ikat patterns with granny florals and polka dots and don't even get me started on the colors....in a word: delicious.  Yum.

Images from Russian Textiles: Printed Cloth for the Bazaars of Central Asia by Susan Meller.