Girl Gang

I can't get enough of these rad photographs by Chrissie White for Rookie Mag. Rookie Mag's theme this month is girl gang and while I'm excited to see what they do next month, I'm going to miss seeing retro tough girls like these.

Skies Less Crowded

Come late fall I'm never to be found without a cozy knit within reach. Around the house (and even on occasion on road trips) I keep a blanket handy. Partly because I get cold but also perhaps fleeting days and skeletal trees make me feel in need of some comfort. Certain sweaters and fabrics can hug you like a best friend.

Outfit details:

Good Night Day cowl scarf

ASOS cardigan

ASOS dress

Tabio tights

Seychelles oxfords

Rebecca Minkoff backpack

Black Apple

I've posted on her before, but I'm still such a fan of the lovely, painter Emily of Black Apple shoppe.

Now A Forest Tall And Well

It's funny how we celebrate all these leaf-y deaths each fall; playing in their mass graves and gleefully crunching them underfoot. We have no respect for the colorful corpses--making them unwilling models in so many photographs. But the beauty they cast with their last breaths is undeniable...

Outfit details:

toggle coat c/o Modcloth

ASOS brocade dress

ASOS tobacco tights

Seychelles oxfords

purse c/o Lulu*s

Lush "love" ring

Girlfriends Material Giveaway

This week I've partnered with Girlfriends Material for another giveaway! Girlfriends Material believes doesn't mean sacrificing comfort (and I have to say their draped cardigan that I own, is ridiculously cozy). They have the perfect knits and scarves to help you survive winter weather. We're drawing two winners for $80 to spend on clothing in the shop.

To Enter:

-register for Girlfriends Material here OR "like" them on Facebook

-that's it! just leave a comment letting me know you're registered

-you will be entered to win twice if you register & "like" on Facebook, open to International readers, the winners will be notified via e-mail on 12/6

By Lonely Hour And Darkened Room

With the Thanksgiving holiday our house has been overflowing with relatives, their pets, and good food. I think I enjoy the near-constant smell of food cooking in this season as much as I enjoy actually eating it. There's just something very comforting about walking downstairs in the morning to the luring scent of fresh cinnamon rolls or coming inside from a brisk walk to be greeted by a freshly baked pie and homemade whipping cream. Autumnal treats are the best...

Outfit details:

UO bomber

Topshop dress

tights c/o Chicwish

Seychelles wedges

Deux Lux purse

Lush rings

*most of these pics were taken by my sister

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

by Nan Lawson

Culdesac

I don't usually post children's clothes, but the Culdesac line is anything but typical kids clothes. The line started after new parents Hayley and Cameron Barker grew frustrated trying to find clothes for their son Ender. The result is a collection full of incredibly stylish clothes that re-envision adult basics for a child's wardrobe--nearly everything is complete with the perfect oversize pockets. While very modern in design, I do get a vintage feel from the collection (perhaps because historically children were dressed more androgynous and also rather like miniature adults). Additionally, the clothes are produced from start to finish locally; the sewers are even women who work from home. While I don't have children on my horizon, this is how I would dress them--maybe I can start shopping now as an aunt...

Scarf Saturday

by jill willcott

mikaela of frambroise fashion

by yuli bow

little doodles

kertiii

by amanda berglund

pop pop portraits

freida photographed by street style aesthetic

by tonbongirl

All About Eve

All About Eve is a stylish, witty film starring the indomitable Bette Davis (as Margo Channing), backed by an impressive cast of supporting actors. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, it has been referred to as the "best film ever made about American theatre." The dialogue won an Academy award and is still being referenced today; "buckle up it's going to be a bumpy night" has become dialect. But to simply view the movie as a clever insider's view of theatre and backstage backstabbing is to miss the director's intent and deeper themes within the work.

The movie acts as parable for American culture and is an almost cautionary tale of our obsession with the self-made man. While we are shown an intimate portrait of the theatre, the theatre itself is a microcosm where the drive to succeed is viewed under a microscope by those who have felt its sting. For Eve her success as an actress is her only measure of worth and she finds no value in others; they're merely tools to an end or obstacles in her way. Of course, someone as manipulative as that is bound to find their equal--in Eve's case a Machiavellian theatre critic, Addison De Witt. The sympathetic characters of the film have achieved success, but without the neurotic focus and drive of Eve; while Margot slips from star into growing obscurity during the film, she still has the relationships of those she loves around her. In sharp contrast, Eve reaches the pinnacle of her career only to appear exhausted with her life (Eve is left intentionally opaque; mostly viewed through the eyes of other characters the viewer often must choose to interpret her actions and guess at her reasoning). The emotional cost of reaching seems a heavy price, but once you've sold your soul to the devil there is no going back and the modern Mephistopheles that is Addison De Witt has every intention on collecting on his star, Eve.

Critical viewers will also note the clever staging and repeated visual themes within the movie. For example, the presence of mirrors in key scenes (from Eve's first introduction to Margo and her friends backstage to the first cracks in Eve's character as she poses in front of one with an appropriated gown from Margo's closet and even the final scene where Phoebe bows to an imagined audience while holding Eve's trophy) is more than casual chance. The mirrors reflect the external focus of those main characters often caught in the reflection; Eve is obsessed with her image, not her physical beauty (it would be pithy to write off the characters as so shallow and basic as that), but acclaim and recognition.

There is a good deal more that could be said of the film, but like most good movies it would be better to just watch it than to talk about it...










All About Eve, film stills by me