Happy Friday! OBEY Me.

My girl Nat is now the west coast PR manager for Lifetime Collective and bunch of other like brands, one being Shepard Fairey's OBEY.

She recently sent me a look book of the newest women's clothing and accessories collection from OBEY -- I was so pleasantly surprised to learn of this womenswear! And I couldn't believe just how much of it I wanted.

Even more than an original of Fairey's Hope poster of Obama (alright, maybe that's a lie).

The point is that this collection of OBEY clothes is affordable and would look good on any street, in much the same way an Andre the Giant poster looks good on any downtown derelict wall.

Happy Friday!

xo
Haute Hippie



















I'm Lovin' it: Meeting with Bob Rennie in an hour to pick his brain about arts and culture. Stoked!


I'm Over it: Can't get into a regular sleep schedule of late. Ack.


Track of the Day: "Arcade Precinct" by Nineteen Nineties. Catchy. It's got a bit of a G Love and Special Sauce sound to it, but more rock-like than funk-like.






* Photos property of OBEY and are used solely for commentary purposes

And So I Rise.

According to Flare magazine's fashion director Elizabeth Cabral yesterday evening, the scuba trend is a big one this season.

When you think of a traditional scuba suit, you think form-fitting, durable fabrics, piping, stitching and, on occasion, a bright pop of color.

If I decide to lay off the carbs sometime soon, I just might take a dive (har, har) into the trend and move away from those loose silhouettes I'm so fond of. My girl Ovitch does the body-con look like no other, so scuba-ing is definitely her aesthetic bag.

Instead of going full form-fitting, I wouldn't mind taking a risk with this frock from Seneca Rising, which has a breezier top portion and tighter bottom. I appreciate the dress up-dress down option of this particular piece, simply because it just makes it easy to wear with either flat sandals or wedges.

I'd go with the wedge, though, and with these Topshop ones, nonetheless.

Time to take the plunge, right?






I'm Lovin' it: Meeting yoga guru Eoin Finn and his wife Insiya a few weeks ago. Never have I met such a couple so in tune and so blissfully happy! Their good vibes feel like some kind of zen baptism. I like their Hammock Manifesto initiative, too. Basically, they set up hammocks in the middle of urban cities and encourage go, go, go downtown types to take a few minutes to relax and sway for awhile.


I'm Over it: Fall throughs.


Track of the Day: "Voyage" by Charlotte Gainsbourg. Unlike what I'm used to from Gainsbourg. This is so tribal! Energizing.







* Photos property of bonadrag.com, topshop.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Luck Be A Lady(bug) Tonight.

Have you smiled today?

If not, this photo taken by Joy Harmon Prouty at Wildflowers Photography will definitely make you in an instant.

Happy happy, joy joy!





* Photo property of Joy Harmon Prouty, wildflowersphotos.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

The Ghost Who Walks.

If there's any music you need to purchase for 2010, it's The Ghost Who Walks from multi-hyphenate, Karen Elson, who happens to be the super model wife of Jack White of The White Stripes.

Hubby White produced his wifey's first debut album, but that doesn't lend any more clout to the fact that Elson is musically talented already, with a pretty but strong voice and capable guitars fingers. She already entrenched herself in the music scene by being a part of NYC entertaining troupe Citizens Band, with whom she performed and composed songs.

She also has the most amazing red hair, might I add.

Picture Perfect.

My buddy Luker just finished a three-week trip to the Middle East and came back with some stunning photos of the people, of the beaches, of the ruins, of the graffiti, of a day-to-day life I feel we know so little about.

He's quite the lensman for someone who doesn't shoot for a living...and from what I hear, it was quite the trip.














* Photos property of Luke Aulin and are used solely for commentary purposes

Tit for Tuttle.

Victoria Bartlett of VPL obviously knew something I didn't: L.D. Tuttle.

This mind-blowing brand from Los Angeles designer Tiffany Tuttle -- who has cobbled for the runways of Helmut Lang, Rebecca Taylor and now VPL -- just released its Fall 2010 collection and, man, it's a footwear doozy.

Tuttle works hand-dyed goatskins and calfskins for that soft, worn-in look, combining them with high or low, yet strong-looking heels and wedges and edgy, but practical shoe shapes. There is color amongst the neutrals, too, like yellows and blues and greens, but they're muted for the Fall '10 season.

The collection is pretty unbelievable -- and pretty much has usurped Nicholas Kirkwood as my favorite shoe brand, at least for the time being.

I couldn't pick just one to like a lot, so here are a lot for you to look at.













I'm Lovin' it: Getting ahead on work during a long weekend is actually kind of liberating.


I'm Over it: Oh, the grind.


Track of the Day: "Stop for a Minute" by Keane, featuring K'Naan. A new sound from Keane...and a new haircut for him, too.





* Photos property of L.D. Tuttle, refinery29pipeline.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Winter's Bone.

As a pre-teen, I rebelled just a little bit by voraciously reading as many book series by V.C. Andrews as possible: Flowers in the Attic (The Dollangangers), Heaven (The Casteels), Dawn (The Cutlers) and Melody (The Logans).

There was everything a curious young adolescent wanted to know about...and maybe just a little too much (read: incest).

One of my favorites of the V.C. Andrews canon was the Casteel family series, whose protagonist/heroine was Heaven Leigh Casteel, a pretty girl from the backwoods who eventually finds out her actual relatives are a blue blood Bostonian family. But, of course, there are plenty of deep, dark secrets and skeletons in the closet.

Guess it was simpler being Heaven Casteel from the backwoods. But I digress.

Winter's Bone is a Cannes Film Festival winner that is getting major buzz. Jennifer Lawrence plays Ree Dolly, a girl from the Ozark Mountains on a mission to find her drug dealer father and deliver him to the authorities. Unless he's found, her family loses their home.

And, of course, like V.C. Andrew's Casteel series, there are plenty of deep, dark secrets and skeletons in the closet for Ree to discover.

What's in that backwoods water, anyway?? This film looks damn good.






* Photo property of fantasticfiction.co.uk and is used solely for commentary purposes

In Limbo.

The month of May in this fair city of mine is a time of uncertainty when it comes to attire.

It's that limbo stage (both weather and sartorially-speaking), at time when Monday will downpour, Tuesday will be sunny, Wednesday will be windy, Thursday will be all three and the weekend is an annoying climate guessing game (the reliability of the Weather Network on Channel 18 is about, oh, nil).

For example, this morning I left my place to have a work session with my girl Berry wearing a sweatshirt dress with short sleeves over short leggings with my white oxfords. The short sleeves and short leggings were for ventilation purposes as it was sunny, but the sweatshirt material and closed-toe shoes were because I wasn't quite sure how finicky the weather gods were going to be.

Just as I thought, the weather gods changed their minds. It's now cloudy AND windy.

This is a longwinded way of saying that everyone should have an appropriate (yet light) cover up to throw on or take off during this weather-mutable month, like this Fairground Cotton Crochet Hooded Cardigan from Asos or this Fringed Festival Cardigan, also from Asos.

I'm also digging this Rad by Rad Hourani Black Jersey Cardigan.

Talk about the perfect cover up.







I'm Lovin' it: The concert list of bands coming into town: Local Natives, LCD Soundsystem, The National, Caribou, Broken Social Scene, Broken Bells and Vampire Weekend with Beach House. Yeeeeeeeeeees.


I'm Over it: Went to pump gas into my car today and got a little on my shoe. My car now stinks like ethanol. Not a good thing.


Track of the Day: "Shadow People" by Dr. Dog. Just some good and basic guitar, drums and vocals. Reminds me of Joel Plaskett, and that's a good thing.



Dr Dog - Shadow People - Funny bloopers R us


* Photos property of asos.com, oaknyc.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Sweet Caroline.

Caroline Sieber, super stylist (to stars like Emma Watson) and Chanel ambassador (to Kaiser Karl), turned up at the Chanel Cruise 2011 show in St. Tropez last week outfitted in, well, Chanel.





The collection was pretty and light and airy, as I'd expect any cruise collection to be. Some of it is wearable, though a bit of it -- like some high-waisted pants and crop tops -- are made for those only with model-like proportions.

The foot jewellery that had me salivating; it was very Eastern-inspired. I was slightly uncomfortable checking out all the models' feet in each shot -- it was almost like having a weird fetish! -- but honestly, I was just looking at the foot accessories.








Monsieur Lagerfeld also did a 17-minute short film called "Remember Now", starring Abbey Lee Kershaw, Freha Beha Erichsen, Heidi Mount, Magdalena Frackowiak, Pascal Greggory and Elisa Sednaoui, who is STUNNING.

Lagerfeld makes an appearance in the end, resplendent in his white suit and white ponytail, and ready to welcome everyone to St. Tropez.






* Photos property of style.com, nitrolicious.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Mos Dub.

My buddy Arooparoop sent an email to a group of us with a link to the new Mos Dub mixtape by Max Tannone and note saying:

"This works...enjoy."

I didn't have time to click on the link for a listen at the time, but over the weekend I picked up the latest issue of Vice Magazine, which had this compelling review on Mos Dub by a critic named Fellatio Keyes:


"You know what the world doesn't really need? A bunch of songs that mash up the black guy from Be Kind Rewind with dub. Max Tannone's the one-man gimmick machine behind the supremely lame and tame Jaydiohead remixes. With this new release, he vanquishes all doubt and proves his disdain for awesome, interesting music by embracing mediocrity like it's a lifestyle choice. Sometimes it's like these crappy mash-up DJs are hell-bent on making every sound wave on the planet supremely boring."


Piqued by such abrasive words, I came home, finally clicked on the link sent by Arooparoop and decided that, yes, it works for the most part (in that "oh, this is sorta different" way).

Plus can you really trust the review of a music critic named Fellatio Keyes? Clever name, though.

Aaaaaaanyway...enjoy.






* Photo property of Max Tannone and is used solely for commentary purposes

Big and Strappin'.

Strappy shoes are one of those things that can look good...or really, really bad.

Case in point, I have a pair of silver strappies with clear heels and thin ties that go all the way up the leg. Granted, they were from my high school grad night, but still: really, really bad.

My other point is that a slew of summer sandals are coming out with straps, but thick, durable ones (that are sometimes buckled to hell).

It appears that people remain obsessed with the whole gladiator trend (can the gladiator hotness of Russell Crowe and one Gerard Butler have contributed to this infatuation?) and, like skinny jeans, is a probably a trend that won't die a fast death (like Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus).

This wedged Jeffrey Campbell and this camel-colored, soft suede versions are prime reasons why.

Are you not entertained?!







I'm Lovin' it: Hi, new Cynthia Rowley for Roxy gladiator (surprise, surprise) sandals. You will make my summer complete. (Thanks, Kelly E.!)




I'm Over it: [blank today]


Track of the Day: Welcome back, Broken Social Scene. Their new Forgiveness Rock Record, which came out on my birthday this year, is superb.






* Photos property of Jeffrey Campbell, Haute Hippie and are used solely for commentary purposes. Shoes gifted by Roxy.