Danish Modern
(products from Maslo Jewelry and Dot & Bo)
Not only has Ms. Wearstler been my favorite interior designer for forever, ever since she began making clothing and accessories, she’s been one of my top fashion designers as well. Her jewelry is special because each piece is like a miniature diorama of her specific style- Hollywood Regency with a dash of deco, and overtones of modern expressionism and surrealism. It’s like an art history class in a necklace. Here are my favorites of the current crop: lots of yummy black and white with cobalt blue. I call the look “Graphic Harlequin”.
For today’s Home post, I wanted another shopping spree (since I’m broke, might as well have the fake kind). I wanted to check out Ferm Living, as I’ve seen it all over the web. I love the clean Danish design, but I also love the fun colors, the “right now” colors of poppy pastels and rich mustard yellow. I also love the contrast of all the black and white pieces. The graphic elements also play to my mid-century aesthetic. Here is what I “bought” on my spree: (all images from Ferm Living website)
I enjoy movies, which is why you’ll see them here a lot. This past weekend I watched Oblivion with Tom Cruise. Let me preface this post by saying I am not a fan of Tom Cruise. I’ve always felt there was something shady about him (even before the press began bringing out his crazy). That said, I must begrudgingly admit that he can be a good actor. This was one of those movies.
This movie is, number one, full of EXCELLENT special effects. Wow. Second, it has a terrific storyline that takes the dystopian story and takes out all the displaced people, adds in lots of really cool tech, and spins a couple twists that leave you with a feeling of ‘awesome’. Very different than the others, but no less effective. Liked it a lot.
This led me to thinking about was our love of dystopian movies/TV shows in general. Why do we, human beings, love survival stories? I believe it might be our basic survival instinct. We have come so far in advancements that we no longer have to fight so hard to survive. A primitive part of us actually might miss it (does that sound nuts?). We love seeing characters build new civilizations and battle the elements/aliens/funky creatures/each other. Maybe it’s also why some of us like to “rough it”. Whatever it is, it’s entertaining stuff. I recommend it.
When I can only travel to Manhattan for a day, there is an itinerary I tend to follow to get full use of my time. Everyone has favorites and because I can only get up the NYC a few times a year, I must maximum what I have.
Here are my favorite shopping stops for a day trip (with a side trip to Williamsburg, Brooklyn):
1. M & J Trim, Midtown, 6th Avenue (very close to my school, Parsons):
This is a trim store with the most delightful stock of ribbon, buttons, and other odds & ends that interior & fashion designers need to make their creations unique. I love this store most for the buttons, as I use them in my jewelry making, but I love every department here and enjoy browsing through their amazing selection.
2. Pippin Vintage, Chelsea, W. 17th Street:
This is my favorite resource for vintage costume jewelry. They always have beautiful and original stock, which changes on the regular. Funky, fun, and in great condition, their merchandise is well-priced as well.
3. Beacon’s Closet, Williamsburg, N. 11th St.:
Beacon’s Closet has several locations in Brooklyn, but I like this one the best. It’s a massive consignment store that has a mix of modern labels in excellent condition and vintage. There’s shoes and accessories galore as well. They do a good job organizing by color (though not by size- though this may have changed since the last time I was there). A definite stop for any bargain fashion shoppers.
Other than these three biggies, I also try to hit a magazine stand for any obscure publications I can’t get at home. For food, well, that is a different story. Most of the time I’m strapped for cash, so I go for hole-in-the-wall pizza (the best ever!). Then I usually splurge for some kind of extravagant dessert, but that changes each time. Go with your gut here and look around. There’s so many choices.
Manhattan is best done in a week if you have the time (and have never been). For full disclosure of my NYC favorites, that will be in another post. Have a great weekend!
I have been looking for a replacement for a defunct perfume scent for awhile now. It was purchased by an ex-best friend (long story), and left with me. Smelling it reminds me of her and our good times together (not the bad, obviously). I LUUUUUUURRRRRVE the smell, but it’s down to the last few drops and you can’t get it anymore. It was from the British brand, Be Never, which was an off-shoot of Lush for a few years. They had a shop on Carnaby Street in London.
Anyway, since they no longer exist, I’ve been searching voraciously for a suitable substitute. The thing is, it’s a special scent. It’s mainly a citrus scent (more lemony than grapefruit I would say), but it has a very sweet floral element as well. The ingredients indicate this is jasmine, ylang-ylang, and rose absolute.
So when I was searching Lush’s website on a whim today, I came across Gorilla perfumes…by the people who did Be Never. This scent gave me pause:
(image and description from lush.com)
•How sweet it is: A romantic, floral fragrance with a fresh lemony top note.
•The symbol of romance: Rose absolute is considered an aphrodisiac, and an ancient symbol of love and innocence.
•Main notes: Lemon, bergamot, fennel, lavender, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, sandalwood and musk.
That sounds extremely similar, doesn’t it? Sounds like I need to check it out…
The Adventures of an English Rose 
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