Crispin Crunch

I've always had this weird aversion to the name Crispin.

This is probably largely thanks to that actor Crispin Glover, who always plays some icky, creepy character on the silver screen.

It also doesn't have much of a nice ring to it.

However, I was recently wronged when happily introduced to L.A.-based label Crispin & Basilio, the baby of designer Donny Barrios. Cool fact: The label's moniker comes from two fictional characters from a 19th century Filipino novel. Barrios spent the first interim of his career working in the merchandising department of J. Crew before becoming the head menswear designer for an Angeleno contemporary clothing brand, which was then followed by the establishment of his own collection.

The reason I heart C&B is because it's contemporary and casual enough without ever becoming boring or shapeless. It's wearable and it's admirable in design and construction. It is always something -- feminine, intellegent, interesting -- without crossing the line of overkill. It's so L.A. without leaving out New York.

And hey, anyone who gets NYLON's vote gets mine, too.












I'm Lovin' it: House par-tay at Big Brother K's digs tonight. Haven't seen everyone all together since a few of the crew came back from a month in Thailand, so it'll be good times for sure. Also, any illustration by the Israeli-born artist Tomer Hanuka. His shizz is rad. And he did the album art for Aesop rock's album "Bazooka Tooth".










I'm Over it: The construction behind and beside my building. I'm cool for noise because my suite faces away from it, but the semi-trucks blocking our alley and entrance to the underground are not cool at all.


Music of the Day: Listen to the group Glideascope from the UK. Their tracks are backed by serious instrumentals from violins to cellos to saxophones to violas to flutes. It's all downtempo, trip-hoppy type stuff -- the kind of muzzak you'd hear on the L.A. radio station "Modern Becomes Eclectic".







* Photos property of blaec.com, revolveclothing.com, singer22.com, lostateminor.com, bbc.co.uk, amateurillustrator.com, formatmag.com, trip-hop.net and are used solely for commentary purposes