OrthodoxBlonde

Our girl Tuesday

orthodoxblonde — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:53:40 +0000

I was walking to work this morning and literally had to cross the street to take this picture when this woman caught my eye.

I love the way all the patterns work together without matching exactly.

More truthtelling

orthodoxblonde — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:45:51 +0000

As alluded to in a previous post, I give you the pursephone:

Lesser of two evils

orthodoxblonde — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:29:54 +0000

This post doesn’t have anything to do with fashion or style, but I just can’t help myself. This window caught my eye this morning on the way to work:

Maybe it was because the weather is revolting (again) today, but I was desperately craving another cup of coffee this morning even though I’d already had my customary latte at home. So it was either take this picture, or give in and go across the street to Starbucks and by a sub-par latte from a corporate behemoth.

I thought the picture and the unrelated blog was the lesser of two evils.

Whatever the reason, Sur la Table’s window filled me with such longing that I literally wanted to stand there–palms and face smooshed against the glass–and pine away for a few minutes. Again, the picture seemed more dignified.

My sister and I have begun holding a deathbed vigil for our little Krups espresso machine at home. I usually get up later than my sister, and so she makes the first latte of the morning, while I make the second latte when I get up. (Sum total, we average about three lattes a morning, with Jill drinking two and me drinking one). But this morning I beat her to the kitchen, and I got the first latte. And in drinking, realized that the first latte–in comparison with the second latte–is much better. Not to mention that it takes longer for the espresso to brew on the second round, and you really have to coax it along for the third.

Of course, it’s just a little cheap machine we got at Bed Bath & Beyond, and you get what you pay for. But, then again, we only bought it last September and I think we’ve already worn it out–we drink that much coffee.

Eye-spy: A man in a brown fur coat, purple kilt, black leg warmers, and brown hiking boots getting into the driver’s seat of an SUV. I tell you no lies.

Burton and Budweiser

orthodoxblonde — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:54:37 +0000

A couple months ago a colleague of mine in London blogged about finding an ad in Time Out London that featured a voucher for a free pint of beer. She’s originally from the US, and societal norms being what they are here, she opined that such a thing “would never happen in the US.”

She’s probably right. But the recent window displays for the Burton store in Soho have led me to wonder if she might maybe be wrong.

The display consists of a series of four store-front windows all featuring some sort of depiction of snowboard-frat-house-x-games life. Which obviously includes Budweiser. Lots and lots of Budweiser.

Even more strange, it also includes Dirty Dancing.

Of course this leads to all sorts of interesting questions:

Did Budweiser pay for the product placement in Burton’s windows?
Is it an ethical use of advertising?
Does Burton’s intended target market really watch Dirty Dancing?

Stage dancing

orthodoxblonde — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:53:42 +0000

While I did spend most of the weekend sleeping off the Benadryl, I did manage a few hours of lucidity to go to the Shoutoutoutoutout/120 Days show at the Mercury Lounge on Saturday night.

But perhaps I wasn’t as with it as I thought since I actually ended up dancing on the stage at the end of the 120 Days set.

That’s right, that would be me in the back in another plaid moment (brought to you by Forever 21).

The picture is from another blogger’s review of the show. It’s a pretty accurate review–both bands were awesome–and I concur with the Holy Fuck touring recommendation. But I would like to make the disclaimer that I didn’t climb up on stage until the last song when I was invited and lifted up by the lead singer.

So there.

Pop quiz

orthodoxblonde — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:06:22 +0000

You know you’re feeling better again when:

(a) You listen to the Beach Boys on your walk to work.

(b) You choose to wear your brand new, screaming red tights.

(d) All of the above.

I’ve been feeling the colored tights vibe for a while now. But I hesitated over the color. I ended up defaulting to red (the obvious choice), but I seriously considered purple. But purple–but particularly purple tights–is so 80′s, and I’m skittish of looking too costume-y. And too trendy since retro 80′s is so big now.

I thought about green tights, too. But in junior high I had a green, corduroy shirt dress from Eddie Bauer that I wore with matching green tights–and I want to say green loafers, but surely even at 12 I had better style sense that?!?

(Although, I should cut myself a little slack since my mom went through this period of dressing me in preppy Dockers plaid shirts and khakis–and penny loafers. (Oh god, the green loafers might be true!) So, I strongly suspect that the entire green outfit may have been selected and orchestrated by her. But even so, I was the one who walked out the front door wearing it.)

Anyway, kids at school used to tease me when I wore the outfit and called me (not surprisingly, or unfairly, for that matter) the “jolly green giant.” In short, it’s enough to put a person off green tights for life.

When I put on the red tights this morning I had a moment of doubt, and it occurred to me that I would have to be very careful about what I wore with them lest it degenerate into looking like a rogue elf from Santa’s work shop.

So, now I’m thinking that the solution to the colored tights quandry might be bright cobalt blue tights. Blue tights aren’t associated with any fairy-tale creatures like giants and elves, are they?

Benadryl coma

orthodoxblonde — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:43:36 +0000

Sorry for the paucity of posts but I’ve been under the weather with allergies the last few days. Pictures to come when my eyes are less red and itchy, and my nose less runny.

Am I missing something?

orthodoxblonde — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:23:35 +0000

Because somebody(ies) is missing their shoes.

I see this all the time, in many different places, and I’ve always wondered:

What does it mean?
Why do people feel compelled to get rid of discarded shoes by looping them over telephone wires, or abandoning them by the side of the road?
When people discard their shoes in such a manner, do they bring new shoes along to change into? Or do they walk away barefoot?

Shopping pet peeve #649

orthodoxblonde — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 18:44:51 +0000

Web sites for clothing stores that are not actually functioning catalog sites–much less a functioning e-commerce site. Case in point: Uniqlo.

It was only through sheer persistence that I found the image below for a friend of mine who’s revving up to make his first suit purchase. (A big day in a man’s style life-cycle.) To get it, I had to sit through the “Uniqlo Look Spring 2007″ flash presentation and then take a screen-shot of the desired outfit. But there’s no price information, no sizing information, and no fabric/garment information.

I also wanted to see the woven shirt selection but did not have the patience for the “Experience Uniqlo Explorer.”

Never mind the fact that I’m not ready to buy yet. I’m getting ready to buy, and clothing web sites like Uniqlo’s help me not at all. Rather than luring me into the store to make a purchase, the frustration turns me off the brand as a whole.

The slim cut of the suit, though, is a winner. Big fan. And I will be reccomending it to my friend.

Other fashion branding funny business: Ck in2u

It may actually be a great perfume, but I suspect that the marketing campaign will be a flop. The original CK One campaign was targeted to the last mass media generation, Generation X. The Millennials are the first long-tail generation. They are a whole bunch of fragmented, niche audiences. Not one big audience like when the Gen X-ers were 20-somethings. (I would argue now, by the way, that the 30-something Gen X-ers are also niche audiences. The only mass media generation left are the Boomers.)

Millennials love being talked to by advertisers in campaigns that cater to a specific demographic subset. But it’s when advertisers try talking to all 20-somethings at the same time, that they feel they are being “talked at” and are turned off.

Of course, I could be way off base here and misunderstand the marketing message since I’m not a Gen-Xer, not a Millennial, have never worn CK One, and will probably never wear CK in2u. (If only because the name offends my grammatical sensibilities.)

Color story

orthodoxblonde — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:37:04 +0000

She said she double-checked the use of color with her sister (who said it was “Rockin!”) before she went out the door. As a fellow enthusiast of using color(s) to accessorize an outfit, I have also done the exact same thing with my sister. It’s a fine line, and she walks it well.

I love the gloves.