Mae West on a friday

Uninspired, in a hurry to get out of the house and do some buying, and still recovering from my absolutely disgusting dream this morning where I was regurgitating whole egg yolks (even writing that made the back of my throat feel weird and pukey), I wasn't sure what to post about today... until I checked in with Style.com, and saw Mae West - these beautiful, beautiful shoes from Charlotte Olympia's Pre Fall 2013 collection. Never mind that I would step through a crack in our garden path and ruin the heel immediately; I would love to wear these shoes. I feel certain I would start dropping one-liners worthy of their namesake all over the place, glide more than walk, and be simply devastating.

I think it's good to have someone like Mae West on your mind before heading out on Friday (I'm more likely to be channelling my beloved Dorothy Parker - I don't need to tell you the consequences). Even if we don't have the shoes she inspired, we can definitely have her attitude. Below are more shoes from the collection - Starlet and Rising Star, respectively, and some other pearlers from West. Go forth and devastate!

"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."

"When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better."

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

out on the street

I find street style much more interesting than runway style. It could be partly because the models and prices make runway style seem a bit inaccessible (also a little too perfect?). But I think the main reason is that street style is such a personal expression of creativity, and every little detail has something to do with the person wearing it (and not a stylist, or a designer, or money-making, or trend-dictating); their tights might have a hole because they climbed over a fence that morning, or their shoes are shiny because they're new, or their light grey leggings have a muddy paw-print because they're that nice woman we passed on Saturday to whom Joe said hi before we could stop him (after which we beat a hasty retreat). I particularly like city style; I know there are people with an innate sense of great style who could live in a basement without tv or internet and still wear incredible stuff (like my friend Iki, who styled the ghost chips ad - damn straight, I'm proud of him!), but I'm not one of them; my clothes have always been better when I've been spending a lot of time in the city.

So anyway, here's a round up of recent street style I like from around the internet.

(I really like this woman's unexpected shoes. She probably wouldn't think it complimentary but I mean it to be; the look reminds me a teeny bit of a punk Angus Young.)

                    (Don't be fooled; those are definitely his empties - now he's fishing out some beef jerky.)

 (Canadian tuxedo - with or without the jacket - forever.)

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The last two aren't strictly what I consider to be street style; they're taken before shows, but I had to add them because I never see seventies looking shorts in denim (and they're a welcome change from Levi's cut-offs - this isn't to say I don't like the latter; I have several pairs waiting for the shop to open), and because the woman in the red dress looks just beautiful. How I would love to see someone looking like her when we go to town in half an hour! I know, be the change etc... but who can be bothered when it's this cold.

more not vintage and not clothes... and a song for wednesday

I've come to realise there's a fine line between being into movies and music in a cool way, and being a film/music-geek. I'd like to say I crossed those lines, but I don't think I was ever on the cool side of either; I've always been obsessive about music (did anyone else even know that iTunes had a tab for each song where you could fill in information about the track? I did, and I used to spend hours filling in lyrics. And we didn't have the internet then, so it was all from memory, or pausing the song every five seconds. Mm hmm), and my love of film extends from the totally inaccessibly obtuse end of the spectrum to the embarrassingly superficial - I'll watch almost anything (I have my limits; I'd rather grate my face than watch The Hangover: whatever its subtitle is). Jimmy and I decided to write down every movie we watched a couple of years ago (nerd alert! nerd alert!) and ended up well above a hundred (and that was on top of watching entire series' of now finished tv shows, and keeping up with our favourite new ones. And that was before I was a bum and a hermit).

Why am I telling you this? Because yesterday, the programme for the Auckland instalment of the New Zealand International Film Festival came out, and because my friend Tia is awesome (and possibly because my whining has adverse effects on her), two copies arrived at my little house today. What is between those covers is almost all I can concentrate on today; even typing this is killing me a bit, as I've had only the briefest flick-through, and this year will require the most careful planning yet, as I'll only be in Auckland for part of it. You already know I love Christmas. You know the song The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year? I sing that twice a year (making the sentiment a little redundant, but I have a lot of enthusiasm to spread around); at Christmas, and in the second half of July, when the film festival hits town. All of a sudden daytime movie going is considered cultured and not self-indulgent, and seeing more than one movie in a day is fandom and not loserdom, and choosing a movie is hard because there are so many great ones and not because everything has Bradley Cooper in it. All of a sudden, there are wonderful movies everywhere, and some of them are at the CIVIC. It's magic.

Here are trailers for two films that leapt out at me (and neither of which are playing when I'm there; so cruel is life). If you don't think you'll see the movie, do look up Charles Bradley's story; it will make you cry and cheer. Stand by for more (I already know there's a new Jim Jarmusch in there!), and a return to clothes (I promise).

(mid-winter) CHRISTMAS!!!

I LOOOOOOVE Christmas. I always feel a bit sad on Christmas day, knowing it's going to be a whole year before the next one, and I never make it much further than June before I start sneaking Christmas songs. This year, I've had Christmas on the brain since May, when we spent an afternoon pine-coning, and went into overdrive when it snowed, and even Jimmy has been singing carols this week (usually he has to regulate me and Christmas, or we'd have a tree up all year). I was never this excited about mid-winter Christmas in Auckland; it seems snow isn't the only benefit of a colder climate! (The southern hemisphere really needs its own carols; neither of us have ever had a white Christmas, yet the suggestion of snow means we immediately go there.) To be honest, I only realised it was the 25th today when I was looking up festive desserts for something else we're doing tonight, but still; it's the 25th of June, so every day from now we're closer to next Christmas than the last, there's a wind up that may blow the house down, snow only an hour or so away (by car), and I'm making pumpkin pie for dessert tonight. Six months to go until the real thing!!!

So instead of looking at clothes, today we're sharing a recipe adventure: mulled wine, and the pumpkin pie recipe I just found online because last time I combined two recipes and have forgotten both (don't judge me; it was a very stressful thanksgiving - and in case you're wondering, my family are not American; we just love special occasions and turkey). It's an adventure because we haven't yet made either; we haven't tweaked them to taste (just according to what we have in the cupboard), and we chose them for weird reasons (the mulled wine because the only alcohol in it is wine, and the pumpkin pie because it's eggless - one of us is allergic - and looks easy).
(Photos from Jamie Oliver and Divine Taste.)

MULLED WINE adapted from Jamie Oliver

2 oranges

1 lemon

1 lime

200g caster sugar

6 whole cloves 

c. 2 tsp cinnamon

3 fresh bay leaves

c. 2 tsp nutmeg

2 bottles red wine

vanilla

Roughly peel the fruit into wide bits, squeeze the oranges, and place in a large pot with spices and vanilla, over a medium heat. Add enough wine to cover the sugar, and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil, and let boil for about 5 minutes, until you have a thick syrup. When the syrup's ready, turn heat down to low, and add the rest of the wine. Mix and heat for about 5 minutes, and serve.

PUMPKIN PIE from Divine Taste

Crust:

1 cup flour

75g butter

1/2 tsp salt

5-7 tbsp water

Filling:

2 cups pumpkin puree

400g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp cornflour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp salt

To make the pastry - Mix the flour and salt, then cut butter into it using your fingers, until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add water, and form into a soft dough (not handling any more than necessary), then chill in the fridge for an hour or two. When the filling is ready, roll out to fit your pie dish, and put in.

To make the filling - Cut a whole pumpkin into wedges, and scoop out the seeds. Place cut-side down on a buttered baking sheet, and bake at 180 for about an hour, until soft. Mash by hand, and maybe finish in a blender to really puree it.

To make the pie - Preheat oven to 180. Add spices, cornflour, salt, and condensed milk to pumpkin, and beat until smooth. Pour into chilled crust, smooth out the top, and bake until filling is set and crust is brown (c 45 minutes). Serve with cream or yoghurt (lady says cold, but I think warm will be right nice.)

I've got the pumpkin in the oven now, and I'm going to squeeze in a nap before I make the crust, so I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow. Happy mid-winter Christmas, everybody!

(update: I realised part-way through that the recipe didn't have any sugar in it so I threw in some brown sugar; I'd guess about 3/4 cup, but I'm not sure, and then I sprinkled more on top before baking, thinking it would caramelise, but it didn't.)

progress update and L'Wren Scott

The update:

1. We're still waiting to hear back from the property manager about whether or not they'll do all of the things we would like to the premises before we move in, and if they'll agree to a year's trial. I guess I could be working on the design while we wait. I don't know what to tell you about that. Mark: 4

2. Jimmy reminded me this morning that it's been about a month since I made that appointment to see a business account advisor from the bank, and I still haven't heard from them (and I haven't rung to chase up so yeah, yeah, it's not entirely them). Mark: 6 (At least I went in to make the appointment! And I didn't ring after the first week because I couldn't find the reference number the bank lady gave me... okay.) Revised mark: 5

3. There are piles of clothes in the spare room waiting to be sorted. I think it makes sense to wait until the racks are ready to do this. Mark: 9

4. I still haven't started filling in my cash-book since the guy from IRD taught me how to use it. Mark: 7 (I know how to use it! That's worth two marks at least!)

5. I haven't done any buying in about two weeks. It's cold!!! Mark: 5 (My son's a kiwi kid, Arthur Lydiard.)

Total: 30/50 Not bad!

Anyway, I've been looking through the Resort collections and everyone's picks, and had decided I wasn't going to put up mine as well, before realising that's something I'm trying to grow out of (ie not doing something just because someone else has done it). I AM turning a significant number next month, after all (more on that in the future). But to do it a little differently, here are some looks I like a lot from L'Wren Scott's collection from Resort 2013 (not this season's), inspired by her collection of WWI and WWII propaganda. It's bright and sunny, I love the form-fit, and one of her models is black (a rarity in these collections, which just isn't good enough). Hat's off, L'Wren! (Dad joke; Hat's Off is the name of one of one of the prints... sorry.) My favourite look is the last one; beautiful and very funny.

a song for friday

Anticipation is exhausting. (Particularly when the anticipated event doesn't eventuate.) So is mourning. I'm surprised it's Friday already, but I'm glad for it. It's been one of those weeks where I've felt like I've just been passing time. It can be isolating, feeling like that when everyone else seems like they have a plan. Songs like this make me feel more like it's just a break from that plan, or any plan, and that the isolation is a chance to see things from the outside, which is often where the best view is.

These guys are touring NZ next month - I hope they're as excellent live as they are recorded. And I reckon it's time to watch Respect Yourself: The Story Of Stax Records again - it opens with Otis singing I've Been Loving You So Long at Monterey, and if you want to feel reconnected to humanity, you can't find a much better place to launch from than that (he didn't write The Dock Of The Bay until after Monterey and I don't believe he had the chance to sing it live, only recording it days before he died). If you're stuck for something to watch while hiding from the hail, I highly recommend it (but make sure you're wearing waterproof/no mascara). Oh, Otis. Sometimes I really hate aeroplanes.

James Gandolfini

It's hard to write about anything on a day when this is on my mind. I've already written everything I want to say about him elsewhere. Here I just want to acknowledge his passing, and his incredible talent. I know it sounds crazy to say this about someone you don't know personally, but I'll really miss him.

the comedown, and brightening up

I was so excited, I couldn't get to sleep last night. And then I awoke to find this:

I've never been so unhappy to see higher than anticipated temperatures. Today's sleet has been downgraded to rain. Rain! pfth (that was me spitting on the ground). I cut it out because it's just too depressing, but Sunday's forecast has the sun peeking out from behind a cloud. The sun! Spare me.

I'm definitely on the comedown. The thought of which reminds me of those crazy outfits you put on when you're hungover but not totally aware of it; like your brain is sparing you the conscious knowledge that you're being weird because it knows that you're doing your best, and the last thing you need to know is that your best looks like you let three warring two-year-olds choose your outfit. But why is it always a hungover day when you decide to debut the brightest/strangest thing in your wardrobe? I couldn't tell you.

I'm not planning a hangover, but one rarely does, so we may as well all be prepared; plus, this grey weather could use brightening. The way to wear bright and bold (and costume), and look excellent, demonstrated by Susie Bubble, Cher, Isabella Blow, and the great Vivienne Westwood (who all deserve their own posts). (The link is to Westwood's blog, which I just discovered - it's good!)

 

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God I love Cher. In case you missed it, here's the video she and Kathy Griffin made before last year's US election. And Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, because it's raining and not snowing. We deserve it.

something wicked this way comes

I mean the other wicked. Like, awesome.

Mmm hmm. Last time was so exciting it got a bit exhausting and I spent a lot of snow time asleep, but not this time. Two days, my friends. Two days to wear furs, and those crazy vintage jumpers I bought because they remind me of Ernie and Bert (which doesn't translate into being particularly wearable; I look a little too much like Ernie and Bert when I put them on - doesn't help that I like eating biscuits in bed), and warm hats, and gloves. Two days to simply BASK.

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Mulled wine and gingernuts. Louis Armstrong. Joe losing his balance on the edge of the yard under the hedge, trying to find some grass to pee on. Met service, weather gods: don't let me down. DON'T LET ME DOWN.

PS We're negotiating the lease on the shop space this week; I should be excited but this snow thing is very distracting. How does anyone get anything done when there is snow on the horizon?

the sky wore grey, you wore red

On the second consecutive stormy day, there is nothing like staying home, drinking hot lemon & barley, and wearing a big men's jersey with holes at the wrist that you can put your thumbs through.

However, this isn't always possible. Sometimes you're not unemployed. Sometimes you have to put on pants, and brave the elements. And on those days, there is nothing like red lipstick.

Actually, any day and all weather is good for any lipstick. But there's something about red lipstick on a wintry day that makes you feel like you're asserting yourself against the elements; looking the sky full in the face (assuming the lipstick is one that stays), and saying The Greyer You Get, The Better I Look, So Go Ahead. I DARE You. (Maybe best not to say this while standing near tall trees, power poles, cliffs, or sea-walls. Or at the beginning of the day. Or before getting on a bus - DEFINITELY not before that.)

I'm a big fan of lipstick, and its ability to transform. I have pink lipstick, which makes me feel '60s (and a little bit weird?), and I have purple, which makes me feel tough (partly because it's called Rebel, so I have Rebel Rebel in my head when I put it on) and I have maroon, which makes me feel like Robert Smith (I don't know why; he favours lighter colours), and I have Russian Red. But my heart belongs to MAC Ruby Woo. The lipstick of all lipsticks. Wearing anything else is just for the sake of it, and sometimes, life's too short for that. 

I'm reminded of winter school holidays one year, when I was about thirteen or fourteen. Every night, when everyone had gone to bed, I would put on a movie, and bask in my solitude. And every night of those two weeks, I watched the same movie: Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. I'd try to watch other things, but it always felt like I was just cheating myself, and after a painful fifteen minutes I'd eject it, put on Sense and Sensibility, and breathe a sigh of relief as the sound of horses' hooves and Fanny's awful voice filled the sitting-room.

Ruby Woo is like Sense and Sensibility was that year. My commitment to it is like that of Israel Dagg to a high ball. When I wear it, I feel like an ADULT. It's probably not surprising that I have two spare tubes ready for when the two in rotation run out. I often describe banana as the potato of the fruit world. Well, Ruby Woo is the banana of the lipstick world.

Anyway, all of this was supposed to be a quick introduction so I could lay this link on you, which was on Jezebel a month or so ago: an FDA chart of lead content in lipstick. 400 lipsticks have been analysed, and while no lipstick is perfect (fish scales abound, and the chemicals...), lead really ain't good, so you might wanna do a ctrl-f of what you wear, and cross your fingers.

Lastly, here's a song for a stormy day. May the rain subside, but Zeppelin and Ruby Woo rule forEVER.

icon: Alison Mosshart

First, play THIS.

The thing is, fur coats have been around, in some form or another, since the Neanderthals. Black jeans, while not quite as old, are hardly new. People have been wearing tshirts since late nineteenth century. They've been worn together by many men and women over the years. Many have swapped the fur for leather, and the tshirt for plaid. Many have let their hair live its own life.

So why does the look belong to Alison Mosshart?

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I don't know. What I do know is that when I wear my black jeans, my new fur (which I'm not supposed to have until next month), a tshirt (preferably Jimmy's Sabbath one), and ankle boots, I feel as if I'm dressed for anything; work, dinner, pub, library, wedding, funeral, school play, beach (in Dunedin). And I don't command a stage, or write excellent songs, or play the guitar like a pro. And my side project is not a band that has Jack White in it. Is it her talent? The cigarettes? Will I ever know?!

Alison Mosshart. Enigma. Style champion.

quick hi

This is really just a place-holder; I'm behind schedule today having stayed in bed this morning to finish my book (which was great - if you're looking for something to read, may I recommend The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker?) and then spent way too long drying my eyes and reading analyses of it on the internet, and we're meeting Tim, agent for what seems like every retail and office space in Dunedin, at three o'clock, to see what we can do with the empty shop we looked at back in April (which is in worse shape than a disused p lab). Wish me luck!

In the meantime, the weather has movies on my mind; I'm getting very excited with each new NZ International Film Festival announcement, and I just found out Noah Baumbach has a new movie! (which is out in the US but doesn't get here until August; must be coming by ship via every port in the world.) Anyway, if you're in Auckland and are tiring of the usual awful stuff on offer (how long can The Hangover go on?!), the Academy has this going on at the moment, and it looks pretty good. Till tomorrow, friends.

a song for wednesday (afternoon)

busyness/business

Today I'm very busy trying to be a fully-functioning human being, so this is going to be short. It's not even five pm, and I have managed to shower, half-dress, build and then maintain a fire using only two pieces of wood (besides kindling) and about a million pinecones (some of which smell like feet, curiously), and take up one skirt in my pile of altering. Did I mention I also brushed my teeth? Things are lookin' GOOD.

You may wonder how this affects you, and the shop. Well, my sewing "skills" are a bit like a Dad's rugby abilities; fine until I actually do some sewing. And my eventual plan is to offer a basic tailoring service, so if you buy a skirt but want it a little bit shorter, or want a top taken in, I can do it. I'm going to take a refresher sewing course to this end, but I'm not up to the refresher standard at present, so here we are. The skirt I just altered is mostly straight; I think the issue is more with my ironing skills than my sewing... ?

This is still barely relevant to the blog, so let me tell you about my visit to IRD last week. It was GREAT. A visit to Inland Revenue shouldn't be scary for someone like me because I believe in taxes, but the institution still has a Big Bad Wolf-ness about it. It shouldn't. If you're starting a business, and especially if you, like me, studied arts subjects and have no idea what PAYE stands for, go and see IRD. You make an appointment on the website, where they have incredibly helpful (if slightly user unfriendly) business stuff (a free downloadable cashbook, which I was then taught to use, a checklist that gives you absolutely no credit; excellent), and then someone gets in touch with you for a meeting. So now, for me, IRD has a face and another name, and that face and name answered all of my kindergarten questions without laughing, gave me great advice (especially that, with the simple nature of my business and my anal note-taking and book-keeping and respect for taxes, I probably don't need an accountant), and I can email the face and name as soon as I know enough to ask more questions.

This song has nothing to do with any of this. I just didn't know how to end this, and something about the memory of me and Jimmy in the office with IRD's face and name, with construction happening around us, made me think of FotC.

Back to being busy.

film inspiration: student exchange

Whether or not you remember Student Exchange (Mollie Miller) will probably depend on your vintage. Wikipedia tells me it was a made for tv movie that came out in 1987; I remember watching it on vhs at my cousins' house around 1989. I was too young to properly get the storyline then (watching it today was stressful; what about their early acceptances?! why can't Neil just TONE IT DOWN?!), but I distinctly remember Carol/Simone's wardrobe, and how completely amazing it was.

Fast-forward twenty-something years, and here I am, sick in bed, and still being blown away by both Carol's AND Neil's style. The hair! The hats! The super-wide belts! The colours! The hair! The scarves! THE HAIR! Why don't people wear fake plaits anymore? When did mouse stop being an acceptable main-character hair-colour? And when did fringe up become a crime?

As soon as I'm well again, I'm on the lookout for a pink bomber jacket, I'm stocking up on hair-spray, and I'm rethinking the removal of the shoulder-pads from the dresses I've bought for the shop. In the meantime, let us all enjoy these grainy screenshots I took (the version I watched hasn't been remastered; may it remain in its grainy 80s glory forever). DRESS FOR SUCCESS!