Halloween Inspiration

A recent photo of Marc Jacobs' new hair color is helping me get in the Halloween spirit. Grant it Jacobs' new 'do isn't part of a costume, but it reminds me of middle school and high school when the use of spray-on hair color was popular for Halloween.


Mr. Jacobs is no stranger to costumes. Bazaar featured him in a tutu (accessorized with a cigarette and LV trunk) for the 2007 September issue:

Then there's his famous annual themed holiday party. Last year the theme was Venice Carnival. While most guest played it safe with elaborate, but unoriginal costumes, Jacobs opted to go as one of Carnival's overlooked attendees, the sidewalk pigeon.

For some more Halloween inspiration from the fashion world, check out Style.com's coverage of Allison Sarofim's legendary annual Halloween party:

CL

Bob Dylans on the Wall

Is anyone else really excited about the new (quasi)Bob Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There"? It's not that I'm Dylan's biggest fan, but I've been anticipating the opening of this movie since the beginning of summer (it should roll into at least one of ATL's "art" cinemas in mid-Nov). What got me hooked was watching a teaser from the film with Cate Blanchett as Dylan meeting Allen Ginsberg (David Cross). Blanchett is incredibly believable ... eerily so (and she was just Queen Elizabeth last week- incredibly convincing as the virgin queen, even with that horrid script).


A few weeks ago Robert Sullivan wrote a great piece on the movie and director (Todd Haynes) for the New York Times Magazine. I really liked the photograph with the six Dylans pictured with the article and thought "Hey, wouldn't that look really great on that big wall by my bed?" It really isn't a bit creepy having the fake Dylans stare down at you at night... they are much too insouciant for that. Just look at that smugness.

Now for you real music fans (not just the ones that use promo photos as room decor), to get info on the much-hyped "I'm Not There" soundtrack visit The Playlist (excellent blog) for the inside scoop.

LL

Atlanta Street Style - Sort of

It just dawned on me that here we are posting street style photos from all around the world (see previous post) while completely overlooking Atlanta style. It's true that this city isn't known for its fashion and there's no Sartorialist/Face Hunter equivalent in the southeastern U.S., but Atlanta has character. Nowhere is that more evident than the annual Little 5 Points Halloween Parade.

Last weekend we were busy cleaning the Beltline and hanging out at the Decatur Beer Festival so we missed out on the parade. Thank goodness for The Little Five Points, Atlanta Flickr group! They have some amazing images from the event that will give you a good idea of Atlanta street style - at least the kind of street style you'll see on one day out of every year in L5P.

The Village People were sporting some nice footwear and I covet that skeleton man's scalloped, black umbrella.

I really think the Seed and Feed Band's baton twirler (the one wearing the tiara) is the most talented guy in ATL - watch out, Baton Bob! To the right is a very elegant blouse worn by a not-so-elegant man with nice lashes.

A couple fashion items of note in the images below: red accessories are clearly in and scooters are the must-have of the season/year/decade. I have a feeling the scooter craze has just begun...
Ah yes, Atlanta fashion at its finest.

CL

Street Style Round-up

My favorite street styles this week:

Oslostil

The Sartorialist

Stil in Berlin

Pike/Pine

Stockholm Street Style

Face Hunter

CL

Springtime for Target

Erin Featherston will be the last Go International Designer for Target in 2007 and Jovovich-Hawk is slated to release their Go line in the spring of '08. I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed with the line-up. As much as I admire the Jovovich-Hawk collections, they have that same super-feminine, frilly style that Featherston, Alice Temperly, Patrick Robinson and Tara Jarmon favor - and it doesn't translate well for the mass market. I've had enough with the light, airy, puckered-seam silk blouses that the Go lines seem to be filled with and am ready for a stronger, darker and more structured collection.

However, the lookbook for the Jovovich-Hawk Target collaboration isn't out yet, so I could be pleasantly surprised. Here are some looks I like from their past RTW collections:

Fall 07 RTW

Spring 08 RTW

CL

Dalai Lama Style

You can just feel the excitement in the air with the Dalai Lama's visit to Atlanta. Through an initiative with Emory University, His Holiness spent three days in the city. After a one day conference on Saturday and an interfaith summit on Sunday, the Dalai Lama culminated his visit with a free public talk at Centennial Olympic Park today.

Check out Decatur Metro for a summary of the local press coverage.

Photo: Emory Wheel

Unable to attend the talk at Centennial Park, I decided to do the next best thing: honor the Dalai Lama with style. As the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism has grown in the U.S. so has the number of Tibetan import stores, which means Americans basically have unlimited access to Tibetan incense and Buddhist prayer flags. I admit that when I was in high school I jumped on the Buddhism-lite, spirituality fad and came away with a small collection of Dalai Lama books and prayer beads:


Although my interest in Buddhism has waned since then (mostly due to laziness), I still respect the Dalai Lama's openness to other cultures, religions and scientific thought. So in honor of his visit I wore my scarf that I purchased a few months ago at a Tibetan shop in Asheville. It was actually made in Nepal, but I figure it's close enough. I mean, if Tibet is the "roof of the world," then surely Nepal is the attic - or an eave of the world...

Another sign of my materialistic semi-devotion to all things Tibetan, are the mini prayer flags hanging in my loft.

So here's to you, Tenzin Gyatso (His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama)!

Good things from Sweden

Who knew that Sweden was more than Ikea and H&M? Okay, okay... everyone knows Sweden is much much more and I just sound like a narrow-minded American consumer (which I am in many ways). Apart from bringing about those two delightful shopping meccas, Sweden is a lovely haven of great design (fashion, textiles, graphics), fabulous music (yes, we are still in love with Peter, Bjorn and John), and those red fish snacks. Cath and I are constantly inspired by their aesthetic. Just yesterday I dressed with Stockholm Street Style in mind and bought tickets to see The Shout Out Louds at the Loft (Oct.31).

How is this Swedish? Jacket + scarf + leggings + flats. (P.S. the AsianCajuns have never been to Sweden, but would love to visit! So, our Swedish fashion is based on fashion blogs... purely. But we doubt we'll be disappointed when we do save up to visit).

cropped jacket:: h&m scarf:: new york & Co. tunic:: Kaleidoscope (another great Decatur boutique) leggings:: tarjay shoes:: steve and berry (SJP's line)

This is a pic of the Shout Out Louds (and a few others, I think). Do visit their website and check out more photos by Malarky (very interesting, very talented).

Halloween, the American Apparel Way

I always find American Apparel's overtly provocative ads a little on the vulgar side. Before today, I would have doubted the creativity of AA's marketing team - taking the commonplace approach of "sex sells." But today I visited the website and found American Apparel's A Hollywood Halloween. Talk about brilliant marketing. The company has come up with a number of costumes using their clothing (and a few additional accessories) to create a number of ironically cool Hollywood-inspired outfits. Hipsters all across America will love this.

Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick:


Flash Dance and Pretty Woman:

Cabaret and Ms. Monroe:
The Scooby-Doo Team:
CL

Monday: Outfit

Lar in:
necklace:: from one of those Murano stalls in Venice
cropped jacket:: h&m
gauzy tank:: h&m
jeans:: levi's
red suede booties:: newport news

Fall 07 Magazine Inspiration

I really don't know what I would do without magazines - monthly publications chock-a-block full of engaging articles and glossy images. I read my fair share of "weighty" magazines (The Economist, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair) and other types (Dwell, Domino, How, Print, Nylon, Paste), but for the most part, it's the fashion magazines (American Vogue, British Vogue, Elle, British Elle, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, Lucky, Bazaar) that I find myself looking at again and again. I love the creativity behind all the fashion spreads and never cease to be inspired by them.

Below are a few images that are going on my inspiration board for this season.

Thanks to Marc Jacobs, hats of every shape and size are back in style. The hats in the images below aren't my favorite, but I really like how much character they can add to an outfit.


The rocker-chic look never seems to go out of style - it just evolves. I like the high-waisted jeans on Charlotte Gainsbourg and the over-the-knee boots on Corinne Lee of Snowden.


Skinny jeans have gotten a bad rap lately, but I'm still a fan of them - especially pared with an over-sized coat. Skinny pants and an over-sized jacket are going on my shopping list for the fall. And both these items will be purchased once I get my next paycheck...maybe...unless something else catches my eye in latest issue of Elle - or Vogue, or Bazaar, or Marie Claire, or...


CL

Small Town Fun

Cath and I had the great disappointment of growing up in a very large, very run-of-the-mill, fairly pretentious suburb of D.C. Though it will always be home-sweet-home to us, I always kind of wished I lived in one of those fairy-tale small towns that everyone inhabits on shows like Gilmore Girls (quirky neighbors, lots of trees, diners where everyone knows you, festivals every day of the year). Lucky for us we have relocated to just such a place: Decatur, and more specifically this weekend, Oakhurst. Saturday's Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival consisted of browsing the artist market stall's (see Cath's headband from GubStuff), watching the parade (Big City Burlesque and Decatur High School's marching band is the perfect mix for any self-respecting parade), staring up at "fall" foliage (there were 3 red leaves- I swear!), and stuffing our faces at the U Joint (home to some verrry tasty burgers).

Cath in...
Jacket:: H&M
Sweater:: Target
Sex Pistols tee:: Target
Belt:: Target
checked scarf:: Urban Outfitters
sunglasses:: Urban Outfitters

Lauren in...
sunglasses:: Tarjay
vest:: Delias
shirt:: Victoria's Secret
jeans:: Targay

LL

Autumn (finally) hits ATL

Just in time for our crispy, jacket weather*: the Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival! This is the kind of wholesome fun that Fall is perfect for: parades, pumpkin carvings, freshly baked apple pie, face-painting, etc. And we figure this is the perfect way to balance out the following weekend's predicted debauchery at The Decatur Beer Festival.

*We promise more fashion-related posts and pics as soon as Cath gets back into town. I have yet to figure out how to set the timer on our camera.

LL

Russell Crowe never sees Potemkin Village

This is a little bit of an inside joke for our mom and anyone who dislikes Potemkin villages. For everyone else it's Russell Crowe eye candy.

Russell Crowe misses once in a lifetime opportunity to see Kentlands! Crowe distraught, lead away by police...

(disclaimer: totally photoshoped and made-up ... for the most part)
LL

Coffee, Eggs, and a side of Public Art, please

While dining at the scrumptious West Egg for brunch on Sunday, Cath made an excited gesture to her placemat, "It's that Atlanta Celebrates photography placemat thing!" (for more a detailed description about the project, please click here). Indeed! Instead of the usual bare formica table-top or bland, white rectangle, our plates were sitting on art! Mine had a photograph of a beaten up door and Cath's had some lovely flowers on hers. Our brunch-mate was slightly disturbed by the hairy looking man under his plate of eggs and choose to interact with his placemat by flipping it over. But any reaction is good, right? An inspiring way to shake you out of your Sunday morning loafing and get out of your coffee/chocolate-chip pancake haze.
These placemats are around town at different tasty venues for the rest of the month. Go grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy some free art!

LL

The Majestic Milkshake

A quick stop after our evening of indecent frivolity... The Majestic for the perfect night-cap: a delicious vanilla shake.

Saturday Night Frivolities

So, how excited were we about The Wren's Nest first concert in their Concert Series? Extremely!
We spent Saturday evening reveling in the beautiful garden at the Nest, alight with candles and smelling of mouth-watering, scrum-delicious barbecue. And to the delight of our ears, The League of Decency played four hours of decent and indecent music (we're not really sure when it got indecent, but they did play "Mustang Sally"- rather scandalous). The League is an incredible group of musicians, and though we don't know for sho', we think the lead singer might be Cajun.
The music was perfect, the company terrific, and food yummy...basically a perfect Saturday evening. Though well aware we would be feting outside and smearing our faces with barbecue sauce, Cath and I figured that we'd dress to the nines just because. Hence the elegant number Cath decided on and the loud green flouncy thing I have on.

Cath looking effortlessly chic in:
dress:: Banana Republic outlet
necklace:: (Canadian purchase)
shoes:: Payless
sunglasses:: Tarjay













I looooove this dress. I know it is an outrageous shade of green (with little black polka-dots- the horrors), but it is cut perfectly. And the best part? You are guaranteed to have a good time wearing something this flouncy. See below for proof (and that's without alcohol, friends):

Dress:: HM ($20!)
shoes (when on):: Tarjay (quite comfy for heels- important for dancing)

LL

Inspired by Mr. Kapranos

Photography by Terje Sorgjerd

Lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, Alex Kapranos, is a personal favorite fashion icon. He (and the rest of the Franz crew) were wearing pointed-toe oxfords and skinny trousers years before they became fashionable. One of the reasons why Kapranos' style sticks out so strongly in my mind is his obvious comfort with his look. The tight-fitting button-ups and stacked-heel boots weren't planned by a stylist and it shows. Even with his great Scottish accent and musical talents, it's Kapranos' ability to pull off a strong personal style with so much unselfconsciousness that makes him unbelievably appealing.

Below is my tribute to Alex Kapranos: tight jeans and pointed-toe shoes.


Blazer: Ann Taylor, T-Shirt: Wren's Nest, Jeans: Cheap Mondays, Boots: Bill Hallman in Little Five Points.

CL

Be Like Holly Golightly!

There are so many reasons why I love fredflare.com. But it wasn't until I saw this Breakfast at Tiffany's-inpsired eye mask that I realized it's the best online shop out there. Who else would provide such wonderful, unnecessary items? And everything on the site is pretty cheap (only $14 for the eye mask). To add to the sweetness, Fredflare also carries a Miss Golightly gold-plated name necklace. It really doesn't get better than this.

CL