(not so) random links

still laying low. but in the meantime, some links: -thanks to a post on kottke.org, i found a blog called wear palettes, which pulls color palettes from the sartorialst. color me unsurprised: there's a lot of drab and black representin'. i wonder what the palettes would look like from say, the facehunter, hel-looks, or the ultra-colorful fak!?

-continuing the street fashion theme: put feet first is a street fashion site that focuses on what is arguably one of the most telling parts of a person's outfit/wardrobe...one's footwear. it reminds me of what mai's been doing for quite some time on fashioni.st (the last photo in each of her posts is typically a shot of the shoes being worn by those she shoots).

-i totally knew i was on to something when i thrifted that early 90s "fresh price of bel-air"-esque african-print denim mini-vest at goodwill some months back! the funky, fresh hip-hop look circa 1992 is bound for a resurgence, if the club night named after the same year going down of late in manhattan is any indication (via the new york times). i mean, after the recent rash of nu-rave...what would you expect? what are you yearning to have make a redux (that hasn't come back already)?

-that (so-called) luxury stuff you love is likely made in china on the sly, though many luxury companies claim otherwise in their marketing spiel to justify their exorbitant prices, or so says this op-ed piece from the NY times.

reviewed by me for you: new york look book

it's been a while, but here comes another installment of …reviewed by me, for you! more to come in the coming days and weeks. i've got a backlog!

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new york look book: a gallery of street fashion by amy larocca & jake chessum:
not sure how i came across this new tome, i pretty sure i stumbled across it on amazon.com. good old amazon most likely recommended it to me based upon my other purchases (isn't that nice? i'm always lurking around over there...i'm OBSESSED with books).
tis an offshoot of new york magazine's look book street fashion feature, the archives of which can also be found right here. i've been checking in with said archives regularly the past couple of years, and i was delighted to see that they had been compiled into an actual, factual book. the internet is more than fine and dandy, but there's something temporary, ethereal, and changeable about it, just as it's nature, whereas a book is a tangible record. me likey.
i believe that this street fashion photo book is better than many i have seen. why? well, here's the theory i'm positing:
-the white backgrounds give the portraits a clean feel, undistracted by cluttered backgrounds (i like these sorts of street portraits both ways, actually (sometimes the background gives a mood, or sets the scene or says a lot about the individual)), but here it works, and it sets the new york magazine look book photos apart from the pack as a result. one could argue that the white backgrounds let the clothes (and the people wearing them) do the talking.
-the book has short interviews with the individuals, which give a deeper look into their style and their life on the whole. why they wear what they wear, what their clothes say about who they are. i've said it about a million times before: clothing is more than just shaped pieces of fabric we use to cover our bodies...it is a form of symbolism which defines who we are and how we want to be perceived by the world at large. the words add something to the photographs...they make the person more real, and their portrait that much more rich.
-it's about new york. a portrait of the people of new york is a portrait of new york as a whole. 'nuff said. (damn i miss that place! good thing i'll be visiting in two weeks, starting nov. 7th!)
-the people pictured in the book are diverse: it's not all ridiculously rich, young, skinny people clothed in the latest designer threads or all coked-up hipsters. it's young, old, rich, poor, all colors, all styles, all everything. again, a reflection of NYC as a whole. LOVE it.
-the back has a shopping guide, broken up into sections by NYC neighborhood. nice!

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here's a small peek at some of the pages and the terrific portraits. check out the quote on the middle one.

(not so) random links

halloween is almost here, people! i feel like i wear a costume every day (i'm dressed as/am impersonating myself, natch!), so i don't often feel the desire to go crazy with the costumes and halloween stuff, but YOU can! my 2007 halloween suggestions for you include:

-this senator larry craig mugshot mask (via boing boing)

-or perhaps this michael jackson fright mask (oooh!! SCARY!!) (also via boing boing)

-woof! meow! (via swissmiss, via whip up)

-or these DIY options with directions delivered via video, from threadbanger: fairy wings, a mummy, and a pirate (ARRR!)...

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-ever fancied the idea of making your own street fashion website, so you can celebrate who and what is haute in your hometown? laura of tagtraeumerin runs tragfläche (leipzig, germany), and has recently made a post addressing that very subject, how to make a street fashion website. thanks, (again) laura!

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"it shows how much people are inspired by real people and don't follow blindly what magazines say"-yvan rodic of facehunter, in a NYLON magazine q&a with the social/street fashion photographers hailed at the from the street to the night exhibition, at colette in paris

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make your own simple yet sassilicious hair do-hickies, with the help of rakia and her fashion tips, over at fly. they feature feathers! so like a little facinator, really!

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zappos knows how to give good customer service, and then some. other retailers should take note, and follow suit.

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according to a new book by dana thomas called deluxe: how luxury lost it's luster, luxury isn't that luxurious anymore. that italian bag you just threw down US$1200 for? it cost $100 to manufacture in china. if you're willing to pay that much for something so cheaply made, the joke's on you. (via boing boing)