NYC weekend!

OMG so New York was amaazzzzzzzzinggggggg.

It's a full week later and I'm still having a hard time adjusting to real life after such a fantastic weekend. Don't you hate that? So bittersweet.

So, I took the train down to NYC last Thursday evening. After a good night's sleep, Fay and I got up, got some breakfast & coffee/tea, and went out shopping. I stupidly thought that the Noir Jewelry sample sale was LAST weekend not THIS weekend and so it made sense why the girl at the front desk seemed sort of perplexed when we popped out of the elevator. Errr... oops.

No worries! Instead we headed over to Opening Ceremony where I talked Fay into buying a really lovely Alexander Wang dress. She needed a new concert outfit! It was totally justified. Then we hit up Space.NK so I could get that Nuxe oil I've been yammering on about. After that, we had pre-Kpop-concert Korean (natch) lunch/dinner (linner? dunch?) on St. Mark's where I finally tried bibimbap (tofu!) and our waiter mixed it in front of me at our table for a hilariously and awkwardly long time. He was super nice and sort of adorable, though :)

And ohhhhhhhh the concert. It was SO, SO GOOD. I really have a thing for huge arena shows. They are so stupidly FUN, and I think that maybe BIGBANG has been the funnest one of all for me yet!




Pyrotechnics and backup dancers and blinged-out Segways and Korean popstars with giant angel wings flying over the audience? YES.

On Saturday, we slept in a little, then went to breakfast at Freemans on the LES. About halfway through our breakfast, I noticed a girl sit down next to us who looked really familiar. Turns out it as Amanda Seyfried. Pretty neat! Sometimes you forget that celebrities don't live in their own parallel universe on another planet somewhere.

After breakfast and armed with a fistful of cash from some friends (thanks again, guys!) we popped into a little pet shop and bought three bags of dog food, cat food (wet AND dry!) and dog toys and cat toys and walked them over to the Best Friends Animal Society supplies drive for pets affected by Superstorm Sandy. The sidewalk was LOADED with donated supplies and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!!

They're still looking for donations if you're interested! - http://volunteer.bestfriends.org/gettingstarted/hurricanesandy

After that, it was time for some shopping. We headed uptown where we made a stop at Ladurée. I FINALLY got myself an Othello candle, and it is just as heavenly perfect as I expected. A tea-scented black wax candle in a black ceramic jar with a gilded gold Ladurée emblem? They really should just rename it the Jenny. Oh, I also got macarons, of course!

We window shopped a bit and I tried on a hat at Barneys that I can't stop thinking about, but at $335 it's a little bit out of my budget at the moment.

Later in the evening we went out for sushi and sat near a group of people doing hilariously loud sake-bombs, then went and saw the new James Bond film in Times Square. I've never seen any of the Bond films, but I quite liked it! I might check out some of the other ones (with Daniel Craig, at least).

My 1:00PM train back to Boston didn't leave us much time on Sunday morning to do anything but get an early brunch. Next time I have to remember to book a slightly later train!

Huge, enormous, gigantic, bubbly hugs to Fay for being the best hostess/tourguide/concert buddy a girl could ask for!

So yea, post-awesome-weekend letdown is no joke. Luckily I have a few things to keep me busy, including custom Margravine orders and a baby shower this weekend. And then it's Thanksgiving! This year is flying by.

And finally, my NYC "haul" (obnoxious, I know).

Travel hairdryer that Fay picked up for me because I didn't want to carry down my beast of a hairdryer and apparently I am a princess!??! - BIGBANG crown light (EL OH EL we couldn't not) - Oribe Aprés Beach spray that Fay didn't like and gave to me (I love it!!) - Klorane travel sized dry shampoo - Gaga's Workshop @ Barneys NY tea that Fay picked up for me LAST CHRISTMAS (UM way too long in between visits!!!!!!) - Nuxe oil - Ladurée Macarons - Excessive BIGBANG crown light box (okay, I love it, I admit it, whatever, so sue me) - bottle of BLK water (they carry it at Duane Reade but it's nearly impossible to find here WTF) - and my Ladurée Othello Candle & its box :D

Well, hellooooo there, November

There is so much excitement going on this week! And it's spilling over into next!

First, we're having a Bazaar Bizarre Boston meeting this evening, where we will be discussing the nearly-final preparations for the big day - December 16th!

Then tomorrow is Election Day, as if I have to tell you. Are you sick of being bombarded with robocalls and political ads? I know I am. But I'm really excited to vote! I really love the act of voting.

On Thursday evening I am headed down to NYC to spend the weekend with my dear friend Fay. We are discussing the idea of going out on Friday and rounding up some supplies to donate to the Sandy relief effort, as there are a few locations close to Fay's apartment that are accepting donations.

Then on Friday evening, Fay and I are headed to NJ to see kpop megastars BIGBANG! Dyiinngggggg with excitement! More on this later.

Then Sunday is Miss Sarah's BDay (which I will sadly miss as I will be en route from NYC->BOS), and then Monday is my Mom's BDay!

PHEW! And we haven't even gotten to Thanksgiving, yet. November, you are a nonstop thrill ride of a month.

Speaking of Superstorm Sandy relief efforts - this is the prize duo that Alison (sewmaryann) and I (Margravine) have donated to the Gather Here Raffle:

Again, all of the vital information about the raffle can be found at Gather Here's blog here and here.

I hope whoever wins our contribution will be very excited about their prize! :)

McQueen Exhibit Recap

So the McQueen exhibit was amazing (obviously, understatement of the year, etc., etc.).



It was definitely bordering on overwhelming; there was just SO MUCH to look at and take in at once! And I was a little star-struck thinking about how McQueen himself had his hands on these pieces, some of which went on to belong to the late, great Isabella Blow and now Daphne Guinness. I was secretly hoping that by being in such close proximity to these works of art I could somehow absorb some of the amazing creative energy these people had/have. Unfortunately, all of the energy was probably being blocked and/or sucked up by that anciently old lady with the stool who insisted on wiggling her way through the crowd and planting herself directly in front of me no matter where I stood.

But I digress.

I love the way the exhibition was presented. It wasn't displayed chronologically - pieces from his graduate collection were interspersed with looks from more recent collections, tartans that first appeared in his second collection ("Highland Rape" F/W 1995/6) were placed next to ones from his "Widows of Culloden" collection (F/W 2006/7). When you saw these pieces side by side, they looked as though they could have been sent down the runway within the same show. I love how he revisited certain themes and silhouettes throughout his career. It all felt so cohesive and perfect, like a complete body of work (albeit one that was tragically cut very, very short).

One of my favorite rooms was called the "Cabinet of Curiosities" which showcased jewelry and hats and headpieces in a floor-to-ceiling cubbyhole-style arrangement. The decor was dark and the music was creepy and the videos looping on the screens scattered around the room were bordering on disturbing. It was perfect.

I was also very excited to see the hologram of Kate Moss from the end of the "Widows of Culloden" show. Something about the combination of her angelic, flowy dress and the sad music that was playing was really haunting.

Another awesome surprise was a room set up as a re-enactment of the Spring 2001 show. I like Tavi Gevinson's description:

Alexander McQueen's presentation for Spring 2001 with Michelle Olley. The space was a mirrored cube so that everyone in the audience had to get uncomfortable staring at themselves for over an hour before the lights inside the cube went up and the walls around this box in the middle came down and Michelle Olley was sitting there, a fat woman in a fashion show, moths and butterflies and tubes clinging to her. The models couldn't see out of the cube and walked around disoriented while Olley was just lying there. I think it's my favorite McQueen show. At the exhibit at the Met right now they show the video in a box complete with a mirror, it's completely mesmerizing.

The light in the box went off, leaving us all suddenly startled and staring at our own reflections. I was totally stunned right up until the point where a girl next to me took that opportunity to frantically wave her hands in the air in an attempt to get the attention of a member of her party who was at the back of the crowd. Way to ruin the moment, bozo.

In short, it was incredible. I wish I could go bakc and see it again, but the exhibit closes on 7 Aug and so that's not going to happen. I'd also would have liked to have had a private viewing, but at least I didn't have to wait in line for hours to get in.*

And of course, I had to bring home some swag:

photo and video source

Side story: As we were waiting in the horrifically long line to get in, two very generous souls who also happened to have a membership to the MET randomly picked a few of us out of line to skip the queue entirely and walk straight into the exhibit. I wanted to kiss their feet.

nyc weekend

my weekend in nyc was an incredibly fun whirlwind of friends, fashion, food and serendipity!

on friday afternoon, i got off the bus from boston and went straight to see harry potter with fay where i drank most of a giant cherry slushie. i didn't intend on getting one, it just happened! i thought hp 7 pt 2 was very good. i think i'd like to watch part 1 and part 2 back-to-back sometime.

after the movie, we met up with fay's coworkers for drinks. what started out as just "stopping by" turned into three bars and a 2am cab ride home.

on saturday am, we got starbucks, went to the post office, got some lemonade...

...and then met up with megan, ed, marissa, mary and dave and ate sandwiches in the park and then went to the metropolitan museum of art. the line for the alexander mcqueen exhibit was at least an hour and a half wait, but because that was one of the main reasons i went to nyc in the first place, i resigned myself to spending the afternoon waiting in line and fay and i bid goodbye to the rest of the group.

the moment everyone left us in line, a nice couple came over and pulled fay and i out of line, telling us that they had a museum membership and asking us if we wanted to go with them directly into the exhibit. UM, YES. YES WE WOULD, THANK YOU. so we skipped the line and spent that hour and a half in the exhibit instead of sweltering among the masses in line. we were so lucky!!

(the exhibit was incredible. i'll make a separate post about that later.)

after the museum, the 7 of us sat for awhile in central park by the boathouse, then went for pasta dinner at eataly where there seemed to be quite a wait for a table. at first they told us 45 min to an hour, but then they said "wait... are all seven of you here?" to which we replied "yes!". and so they led us up the stairs to a little, curtained, virtually private room with a giant table and an open, breezy window. UM, what luck!?!? the food was amazing and the company was perfect :)

 

after dinner, we walked a few blocks to get some gelato, natch.

i had biscotti + nutella OM NOM.

on sunday morning, fay and i went to the essex for brunch. the place was super loud (loud music and everyone yelling loudly over the loud music and each other. loud loud loud.) but the food was really good. i got eggs benedict with gravlax.

after brunch, we did some shopping including a stop at chanel where i picked up a bottle of "graphite" polish (yay!!!). in one of the shops, i fell in love with this t by alexander wang sweater. so perfect! my anonymous benefactor can feel free to drop that on my doorstep any time.

after walking around soho for awhile, we decided to go uptown and accidentally bumped into mary and marissa in the subway! we found out we were all going to the same area and so we hung out with them for a bit. we all went to kinokuniya where i found a book on how to make tiny amigurumi daschunds!!! unfortunately the directions were all in japanese :/

after finding amigurumi dogs, we found some real ones!!

there was a tiny pekingese and he/she was SO CUTE OMG

after puppies, we stopped and got some delicious macarons. i got a blood orange & chocolate, and a lavender & honey. so good! (although not as good as ladurée, of course :))

and then it was time for me to head to penn station to catch the acela back to boston. i was advised by several friends to get a window seat on the right side of the train in the quiet car, so that's what i did.

it was such a great ride home and i don't know how i'll ever go back to riding the bus!

savage beauty

i'm so excited to see the alexander mcqueen exhibit at the metropolitan museum of art in nyc on saturday that i get really wibbly every time i think about it.

i first learned about mcqueen when i was working at a bookstore and found a promo postcard for one of david lachappelle's photography books. the postcard was an image of mcqueen in a giant dress standing in front of a burning castle with a torch. he looked bananas and it was weird but i liked it. the postcard itself was torn and folded and kind of beat up, but the image was so interesting that i kept it, and his name stuck with me.

i started following his work faithfully around 2006 when his "widows of culloden" collection came out (F/W 2006/7 RTW). it's still my favorite fashion collection of all time (with givenchy S 2011 CTR (birds and crustaceans!), viktor & rolf S 2010 RTW (sculptural tulle!), gareth pugh S 2011 RTW (bill and ted university!), mcqueen F/W 2010/11 RTW (hieronymus bosch!), christian dior S 2011 CTR (fashion illustration come to life!) and chanel S 2010 CTR (robobride of frankenstein 2050!) following closely behind. among others. i love everything, really). the moment i saw how brilliantly he mixed tartans and black lace, i was completely smitten.

the thing i like most about mcqueen, and what attracted me to him in the first place, was that his style and work made me slightly uncomfortable (the aforementioned bizarre postcard, the creepy as hell blow-up-doll lips of his F/W 2009/10 RW collection, etc.) and as a result, they caused me to consider the reasons why i felt that way.

there is always a debate over whether or not fashion can ever be anything more than superficial, and i think it can. i sincerely believe that at its best, it's a fine art just like painting or photography and so therefore it certainly has the ability to convey significant messages and speak about society, the past, present, future, religion, politics, and other sometimes controversial issues that deeply move people. why not? it doesn't always have to be simply about "looking pretty" (although admittedly, in some instances it's not much more than that).

in mcqueen's case, there has always been a lot of talk over whether or not his creations were anti-women, and i've always thought that idea was pretty ludicrous. this article from jezebel pretty much nails it:

But it takes a flat mind to conflate any reference to misogyny — if that's even the right word — with an endorsement of it.

Is a bloodied woman on a runway a critique of violence, or a glamorization of it? Is it an apolitical-but-tacky shock tactic? There are some who believe that it's not fashion's project to examine or refer to social issues — that it's essentially a frivolous industry that should stick to making nicer frocks and setting hemline trends.

i still get genuinely sad when i think about his suicide, when i consider both what kind of dark place he must've been in to commit such an act, and how we'll never get to see any more of his creations. sarah burton is clearly doing an amazing job upholding the honor of his legacy while still infusing her style in the new mcqueen collections, but we'll never know what new directions he may have gone in and what genius he may have created had he lived.

i can't wait to see pieces from a range of his collections all side by side and FEEL LOTS OF FEELINGS about it.

here are two videos of his "widows of culloden" collection, if you want to see his amazing work in action:





and this is a really great video about the headpieces from that collection, created by swarovski and philip treacy (who also designed princess beatrice's notorious royal wedding hat) from nowness: