A different kind of cosmopolitan
Does anyone else think this exceptionally well-shot ad for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas looks like it could be a promotion for the next vampire hotel visited on True Blood?
Does anyone else think this exceptionally well-shot ad for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas looks like it could be a promotion for the next vampire hotel visited on True Blood?
The gays over at Tom & Lorenzo have turned their wit and fashionable eyes towards designer Mary Katrantzou. afro her Spring 2011 collection, Katrantzou was not just inspired by amazing examples of architecture – she turned her models into walking representations of it. Behold the lampshade skirt, the curtain scarf and the flower arrangement armband! I’m a fan, how about you?
Now this is customer service the way it was meant to be:
Dear Nicholas,
We’re so sorry but due to an inventory error we were unable to fulfill your order for a Diesel Footwear Leather Color Block Low Top Sneakers. Please note we have not charged your credit card for this item.
We apologize for this inconvenience and aim to serve you better next time you shop. We will credit your account with an additional $25.00 to use towards your next purchase on our site.
Please feel free to contact our customer care team at support@gilt.com.
Thank you,
Gilt Groupe
No, thank you, Gilt. I will absolutely be coming back to use that $25 because no one could ever accuse you of being a hassle to deal with.
The Fits.me mannequin may be the most cleverly futuristic piece of hardware I have ever seen. It is a torso equipped with motorized panels that can approximate a wide range of male body shapes. Clothing retailers can use this to create a database of photos of their garments and when a customer enters in their measurements, the correct photos is culled up. It works like this:
See? Genius. Never wonder what size is going to look best on you again! As someone who is often let down by unnecessarily boxy menswear, this could save my ass while internet shopping.
If you aren’t watching Bravo’s Work of Art, I highly suggest that you start. The premise is described as such:
In each episode, contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. The weekly assignments are exciting, original and will challenge the artists’ to push the limits of their technical skills and creative boundaries.
A slightly less flowery way of defining the show would be Project Runway for visual artists. And, by virtue of not being on Lifetime like Runway is now, the show benefits from the caliber of editing and production that PR used to have. If that wasn’t enough, it’s hosted by a woman named China Chow, a name that begs the be shouted, as the commentating gays at Tom & Lorenzo pointed out. (Personally, I think her name sounds like a dog food with Asian flair.)
Anyway, I caught a marathon of this what-I-thought-would-be-a-train-wreck-but-is-really-stupendous show over the 4th and have been hooked ever since. As Kate says, it’s a little like watching a room for of people like me. The artists are all methodical and, despite multiple neuroses, highly willing to help each other out and offer encouragement. Even the Tim Gunn stand in, Simon de Pury does a fantastic job offering mentorship and zippy little Swiss-flavored one liners.
After a four episode binge, I was jonesing for this past week’s installment. Arriving back from vacation on Thursday, I dove right in. And what awaited me was perfect. The artists were asked to travel the streets of New York in a fleet of Audis – Q5s and S4s – before arriving at the Audi Forum in Manhattan. *jealousy* They were then given half an hour to explore the dealership and come up with an idea that would translate the NY experience and time in the cars into an art work.
While the idea sounds sickeningly commercial, I will point out the BMW art cars as precedence. I will also say that the works this week are starting to exhibit the symptoms of overtaxing the creative process. That being said, my favorite contestant, Miles was able to again knock it out of the park. With the connections this show clearly has, it can only get better from here and I can’t wait to see where we go next week.
China Chow!
I love Douglas Coupland, having read Microserfs more times than I can count since middle school. I love Canada, having visited Toronto all throughout college (how I miss being just a few hours from Canada!) And, of course, I love both telecommunications and fashion in equal measure. So reading the following in an article on Alt.Engadget was like watching worlds collide:
Douglas Coupland may be best known as the author that popularized the term “Generation X,” but he’s also an artist, a designer, and a Canadian, so it makes a bit of sense that he would team up with that most iconically Canadian clothing retailer, Roots, for a new clothing line […] inspired in part by Canada’s history in telecommunications, and by Coupland’s idea that “what really links Canadians together is that we’re all far apart.”
Brilliant! The collection can be preordered via Facebook and features lots of tech-prints like television test patterns and matrices. There are also wireframe beavers on t-shirts and more than a few shopping totes in loud neon colors. My favorite item of all, the motherboard scarf, doesn’t seem to be available online (I hope just “yet.”) Prices for everything else are reasonable – gift, anyone?
Tribute to Alexander McQueen from kamila Roberti on Vimeo.
This video gives an excellent overview of all that makes Alexander McQueen’s work for the last few years great. As originally posted on alexandermcqueen.com, which is well worth visiting.
I was browsing about this afternoon, looking at uses of Posterous, a service that had escaped my notice and was luckily pointed out to me by my coworker, Nancy (“gold star for the day,” I told her.) In this state of wide-eyed absorption, I fell on to The Sartorialist, a blog that chronicles what’s being worn on the streets from New York to Cologne to Paris and beyond. It’s like walking through the city, staring at the stylish and beautiful without all the awkward eye contact (or walking.)
As someone that would like to believe himself at least a little fashion-forward and marginally on-trend, it’s refreshing to step out of Corn Field, MD and into the world. Because we all know I’d be this guy if I wouldn’t get dragged into the back of a diesel F-250 for doing it:
Would that I could...how I envy you, random Parisian.
Update: as if hell-bent on proving my point, I found this moments later from the local “newspaper:”
