spots & spaces

Joan Didion. So fucking cool. 

1. Hearing Joan Didion at the NYPL
2. It getting cold enough to put my dog in this
3. Reading Haruki Murakami’s new book

1. As you put a glass down on a table between two men in conversation, “I’m sorry to reach so close to your genitals, gentlemen.” 
2. “I love the countryside so much I masturbate to brambles.”
3. “I forgot how awesome Fritos are.” While eating generous helpings of Fritos. 

via jcrew:

Nikelle, one of our Web designers, has a serious case of the blues…
It all started when Nikelle brightened up her workspace with a pink-tinted collage in August. Then Jenny, another Web designer, threw down the gauntlet—what started as a whim became an all-out color challenge.

Nikelle explains, “Jenny picks a color and gives me some constraints to work with, like there needs to be a J.Crew product in it, there needs to be at least one three-dimensional object, etc.” She adds, “I think she just likes to boss me around.” Jenny denies the accusation.

Stay tuned for their next color-coded collaboration.

via jcrew:

we put a few guests at our spring presentation in the hot seat… NINA GARCIA, Marie Claire fashion director
Thoughts on the presentation?
I love it. It’s such a spirited collection—full of color, full of happiness.
First Fashion Week memory?
My first show was Calvin Klein, and I used a fake ticket from another editor. That’s my first memory—getting in with an adulterated ticket.

PHILIP CRANGI, jewelry designer, Giles & Brother/Philip Crangi
Thoughts on the presentation?
Gorgeous palette—very fresh. I’m loving the yellow in both the men’s and women’s collections. It’s the perfect color for my mood right now.

RICHARD HAINES, fashion illustrator
First Fashion Week memory?
Waiting for my coffee this morning. I don’t remember anything before that.
Side note: Check out Haines’s gorgeous illustrations of fashion week on his blog.

ANDY SPADE, co-founder, Partners & Spade
Favorite men’s looks?
I love the royal blue jacket. And the forest green jacket. That whole look—over the blazer with the jeans—that’s my favorite look. The chambray jacket is great too.
Favorite shoe?
The wing tips in the whiskey color (on the guy with the white jacket).

ERIC GOLDSTEIN, co-founder, The Jean Shop
Is there enough denim here for you?
There can never be enough denim.

ANONYMOUS NYPD COP
Thoughts on the presentation?
I’m just here for the air-conditioning.

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for the latest coverage of our presentation…

(select photos by Kristen Somody Whalen/J.Crew)

via jcrew:

ever since we shot our September catalog in Saint Petersburg, we’ve been obsessed with any and all things Russian…
1. Dr. Zhivago; Number one on our Netflix queue (worth it for the outfits alone).
2. Old-world charm—antique brass candlesticks.
3. Painting by Russian master Kazimir Malevich.
4. Smoky perfume inspired by Russian tea (with a “hint of shelves full of old books”).
5. The only thing fancier than a raised pinkie—a teacup from the famed Imperial Porcelain Factory in Saint Petersburg (est. 1744).
6. The ultimate foodie splurge: Russian caviar and chocolate.
7. Our take on the Russian ushanka (literally “ear hat”).
8. A forever favorite: NARS Red Square lip pencil.
9. OPI St. Petersburgandy nail polish (best name ever).
10. Chamomile, Mother Nature’s Ambien and Russia’s national flower.
11. Nothing says “I just got back from Russia” like souvenir Matryoshka dolls.
12. Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky’s most famous novel (and our prop for impressing strangers on the subway).


(post by Alexandra Andrews)

via jcrew:

As anyone who dreams of Elle Decor on an IKEA budget knows, filling a space with art isn’t exactly easy on the wallet. So when I saw how much of the decor at our new Fifth Avenue store was D.I.Y. (and good D.I.Y. at that), I harassed our store decorator Ruth for her tricks of the trade (then proceeded to spill her secrets on our blog…).

Ruth’s philosophy, it turns out, is more Marcel Duchamp than arts and crafts (sorry, put the pipe cleaners away)—repurposing everyday objects as works of art. Here’s her process in a nutshell…

Step one: Scour flea markets, vintage stores, eBay, your parents’ attic, etc., for everyday objects that look like they could moonlight as works of art.
How can you tell? Look for “pieces with sculptural silhouettes, eye-catching textures and/or colors with a story behind them,” says Ruth. Among her finds for Fifth Avenue were vintage chalkboards, jettisoned letterpress letters and industrial gears, an old-school glass beaker set and stray pieces of driftwood—even a stack of National Geographics from 1959 made the cut, thanks to those iconic yellow spines.

Step two: It’s all about presentation—if you treat it like art, it’ll look like art (it’s The Secret meets Architectural Digest, if you will).
A good rule of thumb is that everything looks better in a frame—think old letters, your childhood stamp collection—or under a bell jar. Alternatively, try arranging found objects of different shapes and sizes into little still lifes, like Ruth did with an odd assortment of wooden finials (ornamental accents you might find at the top of a bedpost). And always go for the unexpected. Case in point: The Fifth Avenue store displays paintings facing the wall because Ruth fell in love with the color and patina of the backs of the frames. And we’ve already shown you her huge textural mural of vintage gloves.

Basically, it’s all about seeing things with a new eye. And if you’re like me and would like that eye to belong to Ruth, check out the Fifth Avenue store for some more inspiration.

(post by Alexandra Andrews)

I went to this art fair tonight. It’s worth checking out—a good source for (semi-)affordable art. And free tote bags.

The new Sunday Times ethicist is a lady! And also, apparently, a humorless high school guidance counselor:

How about starting with: “Clearly what I did offended you, and I’m sorry. But to be honest, I don’t understand it as well as I’d like to. Explain it to me so I don’t make the same mistake twice.” That might get things started.

Oh good. We needed someone to step up and defend everyone’s favorite female stereotype. (I refer here to the Dour Killjoy, not the Bitch Who Needs to Get Laid. But she’s a good one too.)

Sigh. This reminds me of when the Times TV critic Alessandra Stanley wrote her remarkably unfunny rebuttal to Christopher Hitchens’ “Why Women Aren’t Funny” in Vanity Fair. Can’t the Times stop embarrassing us already and hire a writer with both a vagina and a sense of humor?

Well, I just used the word vagina in a blog post at 11pm on a Friday night. Clearly, I am the bitch who needs to get laid. And on that note, I take my leave.

But first, to give our new ethicist her fair due, I did find an article of hers from last month that sounds way cooler: “Snow-Clearing Devices, from Humble to Majestic.” Teaser: “It will be beautiful as it falls and magical as it dusts the ground…”

Pretty! Happy Menocal’s watercolor pigeons.

I must have this typography scrabble set (via design milk). I must.

personally endorsed by yours truly, intellectual snob & basket case…

• how to live, or a life of montaigne | sarah bakewell
• a guide to the good life | william irvine
• all things shining | hubert dreyfus & sean dorrance kelly
• examined lives | james miller
• the consolations of philosophy | alain de botton
• how proust can change your life | alain de botton
• on self-respect | joan didion