Sometimes Life Really Shouldn’t Imitate Art

Clearly I am all for life imitating art, art imitating life, art in life, and style driven in equal parts by beauty, enthusiasm and a good sense of humor.  Still, the two are not entirely interchangeable and it seems lately like some people could use a little reminding about where the line is, however faint it may be.

On Tuesday, for the London premiere of Snow White and the Huntsmen, the stars showed up decked out in full Gothic glory.  I have been waiting not so patiently for the movie to come out.  I love that kind of dark Gothic drama.  On film.  And I admire actors like Christian Bale, or even Sascha Baron Cohen, who stay in character when appearing in public while promoting a film.  But Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron’s dresses weren’t in character, they were simply misguided.  Somehow when Rooney Mara tries this type of thing, the whole look is so completely of a piece, and so genuine to her style, that for me it works.  But Stewart and Theron have their own looks which work for them, and this is not it.

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Let’s Face It, There’s Always Something Else To Shop For, And It’s Target Time

I don’t know about you, but I have a had to institute a moratorium on spending on spring clothing and accessories.  I have no reasonable excuse for buying anything else.  So, trying to steer clear of my favorite websites, I thought it was time to check out the Shops at Target.  Without question, my favorite is the Privet House shop (I’m not a dog owner, and after my dear friend was awoken on Mother’s Day by a poop covered dog who had been sick in his crate the night before and let out by a mischievous five year old, I have no interest in becoming one — so I have an aversion to the Polka Dog Bakery shop without even checking it out so it could be just lovely but I wouldn’t know).  The Webster shop is a little preppy for my taste, but there is some nice merchandise if you go for that kind of thing.

Not surprisingly, many of the Privet House items have sold out, but there are still some cute pieces left.  The dishes, napkins and glasses are very pretty.  Admittedly, at this point nice melamine dishes are a dime a dozen, except that they aren’t remotely a dime a dozen so the Target prices for these dishes makes them pretty hard to resist.  $15.99 for a set of four dinner plates isn’t half bad given that comparable French Bull melamine dishes, while beautiful, retail for  $11.00 each.  The bad news is out of four styles of printed melamine dinner plates, only one is still available online.  Truth be told, it’s my favorite of the four.

Privet House at Target Brown Toile Dinner Plates

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An Assortment Of Mints Because Everyone Loves Style From The Stars

Stylemint.  Shoemint.  Jewelmint.  And now Homemint.  Enough already.

T-shirts designed by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

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How’s This For Funny – Make Your Guests Sit Under A Pooping Bird While Eating Dinner

Priceless … design with a sense of humor.  It’s not everyone who is able to design products or spaces which are both beautiful and playful, make you smile but can also be taken seriously for their aesthetic.  When done well, I’m in love.  So check these out.

1.  The Bird Poop Chandelier by Wyatt Little.  As the mother of a five year old boy, if I never heard anyone say the word poop again it would be too soon.  But I love this light fixture.  I am also partial to all fixtures and accessories that feature birds (yup, that would make thedesign fetishes deer, owls, birds and mushrooms and I’m sure I’m forgetting something – I am generous when it comes to my obsessions).  This particular fixture rocks.

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Is It The New Shape Of The Magazine Industry … Domino Is Back

As a dedicated lover of shopping for things to make life more beautiful, I was extremely sad to say goodbye to Domino magazine (especially when they fulfilled the rest of my pre-paid subscription with something I had absolutely no interest in, but that’s another story).  But the mourning is over and Domino is back.  I think more than being a commentary on the home design business, the relaunch is an interesting commentary on the state of publishing and more specifically of magazine publishing.  Everyone knows that with consumers turning toward online media, they are leaving paper behind and leaving newspapers and magazines struggling.  That results in a game on the part of publishers that’s fairly interesting to watch, the game of trying to figure out how to stay alive, stay relevant, carve a niche that can’t be filled online.

In one such effort, Conde Nast shuttered Gourmet  magazine, only to relaunch it as a mobile app with only a limited number of special issues available at newsstands.  Their strategy with Domino  is somewhat similar.  Sadly, that means that it is not the return of the Domino that many of us knew and loved.  The new Domino will consist only of a limited number of special issues available exclusively through newsstands.  The first issue, entitled Domino Quick Fixes, on newsstands through mid-July, is a thick book and sells for $10.99, and like most special issues has fewer ad pages than the typical monthly magazine.  The next issue is due this fall.

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It’s On Your Face Folks, So Make Sure It’s The Look You Want

So today I finally had to break down and buy a new phone.  I had an iPhone 3S.  I have no idea when I got it.  Years ago.  But lately it has decided that it’s not terribly interested in connecting anymore.  Anything that doesn’t require an internet connection — great!  Making calls — no so great.  Texting — good luck.  Since the new phone, a 4S, is a different shape from my old phone, buying a new phone meant suddenly needing to buy a new case as well.  (In fact, buying a new phone seems to cost at least $100 in hidden fees in top of the $199 it claims it’s going to cost you if you renew your contract, but that’s another conversation altogether.)  And buying a new case got me to thinking about how significant a choice that has become.  The phone, after all, spends an enormous amount of time hanging out next to your face, so selection of a case represents an important opportunity to make an aesthetic statement about your identity.

We have AT&T — which may have great service in other parts of the country but is really an inexplicably stupid choice in this corner of the northeast since the coverage and service on Verizon are infinitely better, and yet, it’s what we have — so my experience of looking at cases while purchasing the phone itself is specific to the AT&T store.  I have no idea what they do or don’t offer, for example, in the Verizon store.  But in the AT&T store, any sales person doing the job right will try to sell you a case when you’re buying the phone.  The thought of walking out of the AT&T store and dropping that brand new iPhone without a case onto the ground and shattering it before getting around to purchasing Apple Care gives me an anxiety attack.  The offerings in the store, however, seem to be very pretty but simple cases in various colors that start at $35, a clear plastic protective sticker for the front and back of the phone for $30 (yeah, $30), or a screen protector for $20.  Which, in this day and age, is all just silliness.

There are a lot of truly great covers out there if you want your phone to have some personality, but if you’re less choosy, it really only needs to cost a few dollars on Amazon.com.

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This Spring Give Your Kitchen A White Out

Say what you will about her, but I tell you, my girl Martha always comes through.  Whatever else you may think, there’s no denying the girl knows how to do things right (or how to get someone else to do things for you … but still right).  My new obsession in kitchen style is whiteware.  It seems to me that one major advantage of adorning your kitchen with serving pieces, bowls, vases, out of porcelain, glass, white glass and crystal (or any subset thereof) is that in addition to looking clean, sleek and classy, chances are pretty good that whatever the decor in your kitchen right now, the new items will work with it, so you don’t have to go throwing away and replacing everything right away.  You can replace your possessions slowly over time, and if the trend changes before you finish replacing everything, chances are your whiteware or glassware will still work pretty well with whatever the new fad is.  After all, style is important, but versatility can be helpful.

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Nuria Mora … Beauty On An Old Wall

Ironically, nothing makes me more angry at people who deface buildings with random spray paint scrawl messes than discovering really great street art.  Folks, when you make it look ugly, you ruin it for everyone when you give graffiti a bad name.  You can’t really call Nuria Mora’s work graffiti.  But she’s not really doing murals either.  The Spanish artist (featured on Design Milk on Wednesday) has an incredibly distinct style of street art, striking both for its uniqueness and its beauty.  She has developed her art simultaneously within the gallery and on the streets, but it is her work in public spaces I find most exciting.  She breathes new life into run down buildings and walls around the world.

Photo Credit Dug da Bug

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All The Cool Kids Report For Art Class

Generally I find the aesthetics of a product almost more important than the product itself.  So you’ve got to appreciate a clever and visually engaging concept regardless of whether the product is a hit or a miss.  The Seoul, Korea, based beauty label Too Cool For School is one of the cutest concepts I’ve seen in a while.

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The Story Of A $1310 Graffiti Covered Bag

Last month, as part of Paris Fashion Week, the Louvre’s Musee Des Arts Decoratifs hosted a photocall in honor of the opening of its Louis Vuitton-Marc Jacobs  exhibition running from March 9 through September 16.  The exhibition relates the 143 year history of the fashion house through the lens of two men, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs.

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