Black on Black

She came in with the strangest outfits and you could tell she was just trying on identities and being a total geek but people found it endearing.

from here

As a recent college graduate living in new york, I have been closely following Girls, Lena Dunham's new TV show featuring recent college graduates trying to figure out who they are and what they're doing in New York. I can't decide if its an opportunity for introspection, or too close for comfort, but this description by Jemima Kirke of Lena Dunham's high school years has really resonated.

This blog has been a bit schitzophrenic- sometimes I like to think of myself as a grungy minimalist, other times a classicist, other times a roadie for the grateful dead.  At times this feels like a failure of personal style. But I like to look at it this way - I am trying on various identities, and I am moving from one to another with each outfit.

Black on Black

Santa

Reading this blog post on the santa annas brought me back to my childhood christmases, on my visits with my dad to my wacky grandmother's place down in southern california. I remember my uncle complaining that in LA, you wake up and its sunny, you go to sleep and its sunny. In this land, the santa anna winds become our version of a 'noreasterner.

This Christmas I'll be at home back in the northern part of the state. No Santa Annas but probably a lot of rain. I cant wait to see the centuries old oak trees sitting in the fields, which finally free of leaves expose their most sculptural form.

natural, easy, chic.

Unfussy chic hairstyle.  Not too polished, but healthy, not the I-haven't-washed-or-brushed-my hair-in-weeks (I think its time for that look to be on its way out)

So Simple, So Perfect

This photo literally stopped me in my tracks when I first saw it., and I still find it completely arresting. It's clean, its sexy, its not fussy. Even the hair- its freshly washed and neatly brushed. Maybe next summer i'll be feeling the waves again, but this is perfect for the transition to winter, for having the hair that your mother told you to have.

parisian style

Inez de la Fressange.

A model for how to dress for the city.

Autumn in the Big Apple

To be honest, being in the city in the summer makes me feel like a fish out of water. While the Loving Spoonful made it seem romantic, I'm struggling to see the allure. I put on my white flowy shirts, my jean shorts, let my air hair dry into my best imitation of beachy curls- and all I feel is that I should be back home, pedaling around on my cruiser, rolling down addison on my longboard. I long for the dappled sunshine of Palo Alto, or the salty smell of Santa Cruz.

But fall. Fall will be the season of New York. When the leaves get crispy the cement skyscrapers will stand in perfect opposition. I will wear blazers and wool sweaters and I will drink hot chocolate. I'll step on the leaves with my leather boots, and I will wear suede. Yes, suede.

Summers winding down

...and I never got a chance to go inner tubing with a drink in hand. This has been a pretty incredibly summer, but can there ever be too many of those moments? Those ones with the sun on your skin, the water beneath you?

Chic

Damn chic.

Wisdom of the Water

from fresh every day

Jessica De Ruiter

I've been closely following this girl before I even knew her name. I, like so many others, was instantly taken with the original image in domino. Her style was masculine, classic, and still sexy. A few more photos on the Sartorialist and I was a goner. Back in the summer of 09 Refinery 29 did a tour of her home and her outfits became my shopping guide. She even got a shout out from Garance Dore.

One of my favorite blogs, Tomboy Style, scored an interview with this amazing lady. So great to hear her voice, and to learn that she went through a grunge-meets-claudia-schiffer phase in the 90s.

The Forth

I had a surprisingly wonderful day in San Francisco. In the morning my plans fell through, but by the afternoon I was holding a tallboy on a rooftop in San Francisco, seeing old friends and watching the clouds across the bay.

Catherine from Rickshaw Design appears to have had an equally amazing day right north across the bridge. Bolinas is one of my favorite little salty surf towns. My family used to rent a house up there during the summer and I can still remember the anticipation in the death defying drive.

clamshells and cashmere

"an endless summer of canoes and clamshells and cocktails on the porch calls for an effortless wardrobe of August-night cashmere and sunday afternoon skirts bursting with hydrangeas"

-US Vogue, June 2004

anouk aimee

simple peasant shirt

Brand Management

"It's crucial for luxury brands to be consistent and authentic," he said. "They become cultural reference points as the world shifts. It's not that they don't take account of cultural forces, but they can't react. They have to be beacons of a certain point of view."

-Colin Mitchell of Ogilvy's Global Strategy and Planning Group

I've always been fascinated with the business side behind the fashion, particularly how these companies shape their brands. Thus I've been closely following the coverage of Millward Brown's list of most valuable brands. I thought that this article in the Atlantic did a good job of providing insight into the brains that powered Louis Vuitton to the top of the luxury companies.