BATMAN'S GIRLFRIEND

Yes I know, I really am trying to outdo myself when it comes to coming up with stupid headlines.

But anyway.


I've always found comics with a touch of film noir as well as superhero- and classic comics rather inspiring (not to mention noir flics themselves too of course). The world that's drawn, the way it's drawn. But most of all, the ladies in them.



The men in this world have troubled minds (they're most often a detective or such), they wear a trenchcoat and hat and have a weakness for alcohol and women. Or then they are the superheroes; in daytime rather regular guys, at night time worldsaving hunks. And they all have a somewhat complicated realationship to the The Woman. *

The Woman is something of a femme fatale, showing up at the office door behind a curtain of smoke.
She has a habit of getting into trouble.

Or, then she is trouble.

The Superhero Girlfriend again is rather preppy but still adventurous, hanging out on rooftops and running around dark alleys in her fitted skirt and always perfetly shiny hair while trying to find out the identity of her superhero boyfriend (while possibly getting into trouble).






Jacket and blouse - oldl H&M, Skirt - Selfmade,
Silk Bow Stockings - Vogue, Shoes - Minna Parikka

*) Most of the guys around here actually fit the first descrition pretty well - the alcohol and women but minus the trench and the hat (and without us being in Gotham city). That, and the fact that Johnny Depp is already taken -he has nothing to do with comics but is worth a mention every now and then anyway- makes me go for the option of the Superhero Hunk. I wouldn't mind being Batman's girlfriend for a while. (Preferrably -ok, only - the Bale version. Oh yeah and with a happy ending).

(The comic and film noir images are googled up and the rest of the pics taken by Ina.)

SOFT DO-WOOP SUNDAY

Today I have had an unbelievable amount of different cakes and pies (mm-mm-mm!)and can now only lie down and listen to musci that would make me want to dance a little bit.

Ctrl BG: A Shortcut to Financial News 11/29

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving weekend and got some great bargains yesterday! With the official start of the holiday season, the markets are also looking a bit brighter. Kind of.

On Monday, Citigroup was bailed out from its recent troubles, with a $20 billion capital injection from TARP in exchange for preferred shares and a government agreement to guarantee over $300 billion of their troubled assets. The shares went from $3.77 last Friday (as I remember, but could be a bit off) to $8.29 yesterday. It would've been an easy way to double your money quick! Citi was simply too big and international to be allowed to fail.

On Tuesday, the latest economic data were released, citing a 0.5% decline in GDP from July-September, more than the 0.3% announced a month ago. Home prices also dropped a whooping 17.4% from a year ago, a record decline. Along with this bad economic data however, the Fed also announced a new $800 billion program to support asset-backed securities including consumer loans and mortgage-backed securities:

• $100 billion to buy up debt issued by government-sponsored mortgage enterprises Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks
• $500 billion to buy up mortgage securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae
• $200 billion facility to support consumer finance, including student, auto, and credit card loans and loans backed by the federal Small Business Administration

Designed as a life line for consumers, it is supposed to help consumers get home, car and credit card loans easier. I haven't figured out all the implications of this program is. I am still astounded by the sudden $800 billion splurge. Last time they announced a splurged $700 billion, there were long congress hearings and deliberations for at least a week. Where was the hearing and deliberation here (or have I just been unaware of the politics?)? Regardless, this has run the financial crisis tab to $7.36 trillion- double what was spent on WW2 adjusted for inflation!

Overseas, the latest headline to up the pirate fiasco last week (not that it has gone away), is the terrorist attack in Mumbai, India. I thought that Mumbai and Delhi were pretty civilized and safe these days with their strong economic growth and development. That is why I was so shocked to hear that the city was attacked by terrorists who randomly shot at people on the streets and hijacked 2 of the most luxurious hotels there, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi, and a Jewish center, taking and killing many hostages! The latest death toll as of Saturday evening was at least 183. The terrorists, were well trained and in their 20s. They arrived in Mumbai by boat and the whole thing appeared to be very well planned. They suspect that the gunmen are from Pakistan and that this may have something to do with the dispute in Kashmir.

ALMIRA SADAR LJUBLJANA

almira sadar designs uniquely styled clothing for those who are not content with merely a superficial appearance, but buy apparel by touch. her creations are distinguished by an imaginative combination of fine materials with a special emphasis on exquisitely conceived details.

she has very nice shop on tavcarjeva ulica 6 in ljubljana. boutique was designed by sadarvuga arhitects.

TEMPORARY BOUDOIR/ STUDIO

i don't have to write anything or?



looks like i have to...
on december 6th, 2008, saturday, 6-9 pm
at F+F schule für kunst und mediendesign
flurstr. 89, 8047 zürich
the project "temporary boudoir/ studio" from mariela gemisheva

the text from the invitation:
the challenge to go to zürich and be provoked by the works of artist such as sylvie fleury and pipilotti rist...

looking at their works with the eyes from the vantage point of fashion desogner i am at exploring a new venue for interaction between fashion and art where fashion is using the aura of art while art is using the attributes associated with fashion. that is
actually the ultimate statement of my work as an artist.

by symbolically transferring my own studio from sofia to zürich and by adapting it to be a kind of a decor, which is itself a commentary on the works of sylvie fleury, pipilotti rist as well as my own, the products of this atrange communication actually become pieces of clothing and conceptual objects that are kind of self- portraiture as an artist inspired by the works of sylvie fleury and pipilotti rist. they exist within an installation in a temporary boudoir/studio space.

mariela gemisheva + project assistant bojan petrushevski

DON'T MISS IT!

hopehope adventscalendar with manadico, vestibule,aa, levi's, freitag,toujours-toi, set&sekt, radical chic, lux plus, secondseconds, duo hinterletscht, globus, no way, erbudak, lee cooper, griesbach, streetfiles, maud, dings... and OSTBLOCK starts this monday.

this nice christmas doggy mathilda brings you everyday a suprise!
don't miss it!

IN TRENDI

I have caught the flue and might give people the impression that I'm related to Rudolph and I still have a bunch of work to do so I'm mostly running around all incognito in my black uniform (no sneakers though, we have snow here so it's all winter boots now!)

So, I'll continue to rely on others to supply me with nicer pics than the ones I'd be capable of taking right now...


Our burlesque group is part of a story about burlesque in Finland in this month's Trendi magazine, togheter with Sally Vanilla, Minna Parika and Kirsi Nisonen.
(Photo by Kaapo Kamu)

I was actually sick at the photo shoot but it went quite well anyway, except for that the hairstylist didn't show up when we were to be shot! I did panic for a while since I hadn't touched my hair after the shower, it was a mess, and I only had a few of my mandatory bobby pins in my purse. Luckily I can manage pretty good by myself and with some borrowed hairspray there was no damage done :)

My black and gold corset in the photo is made by Tyra Therman btw.

(and funny enough, the hairstylist did fix some very nice glamour hair to some of the others who were photographed later but their picture is shot in such a way that the hair doens't even show...)

UMMM...

I'm not usually not much for contests and stuff but if I find myself in one it would of course be nice to, well, win or something.

So if you find me nice and fabulous and stylish and all that why don't go on and put in a little vote for me in the Supermelons Best Real Style Contest?
Time's until December 19th!
Thanks in advance, heheh :)

EDIT : ...but in order to vote you have to register first. You'll get a membership to The Supermelon then, but they won't start sending you any emails or such though.

Happy Turkey Day

While you wait for Thanksgiving dinner, here is something to oogle over.....Happy Turkey day everyone!

Image Source: Net a Porter

FINALLY

already for a long time i want to write something about fashion designer( and more ) sanja grcic.
today i found her homepage. you should have a look at her work.



at the moment she is in new york. during her three months stay in nyc she will continue to work on a project entitled avba on manhattan. avba is a traditional slovenian women's coif.

IN COLOURS

Saks Girl

I think I need to convert to Saks girl, because they are officially my favourite department store this season. After having walked through Barneys and Bloomies (judging from the crowd, I assume Neiman Marcus to be the same), I can officially say that Saks is offering the BEST deals this sale season! Earlier this month (when I was pondering over my pink skirt), they had that weekend of extra 40% off already on sale items. While everyone else is currently doing that however, Saks has moved on to taking 50% off already on sale items, there are also a LOT more on sale items too! This sale began last week (privately) for Saks card holders and I heard the Saks New York was flooded with customers, literally fighting over each other for the latest stocks as they unpacked the boxes. This week it is open to everyone and it's craaaazy (I believe they are having a "black week" instead of black friday, so better get there early!).

To begin with, the traffic on their website must be phenomenal, because the website is constantly down and I'm led to a "Sorry we're experiencing technical problems" page every few clicks. And when I DO get onto the page, it appears that many sizes are already out! Luckily for me, Saks Fifth in Chicago is not exactly the busiest department store in town (this honor belongs to Nordstroms and Bloomies) and there were still some stuff left in my size (kind of) when I visted today. So I swiped this Rebecca Taylor dress for 1/3 of the price!! I believe it was 40% off and then another 50% off. I was considering it when it was at 40% off, but when I saw it was another 50% off, it was almost a no brainer. It's not super special, but if you look at it more closely, it has mini dark purple polka dot prints on it in felt. And when you swirl, the dress swirls with you. It just feels so cute and fun! The back is also a racer back design, which I thought was very intriguing. I am super happy with this find (besides the fact that I had to get it in a 4 instead of a 2, but I figure that the dress is supposed to be a bit loose!).
What got me super psyched and smiling all the way home and then dancing around wearing them like a crazy person (in the privacy of my apartment of course) though were these Stuart Weitzman pumps (except mine are actually sling backs). I've been eying them for a week now, ever I caught sight of them on the sales rack. I asked HG what she thought and we agreed that they were very classic looking pumps and would be worth it (it was at 40% off back then). So today when I passed the shoe floor and saw that the racks (and the whole floor for that matter) was literally empty, I had to stop by and check out my shoes. Lo and behold, they were also another 50% off. I was SO psyched, I immediately picked them up and tried them on even though the store was closing then. Unfortunately they only had a size 5.5 left (I'm a 6). But since they're sling backs, I didn't think half a size mattered as I can adjust the straps. Also, I tried them on and made sure that my feet isn't sticking out the back (a big no no). While I was waiting for the sales guy to get me the full pair, I watched women all around me in a flurry grabbing and trying on shoes, furiously sweeping up 70% off Jimmy Choo boots and Louboutins in a mad rush to buy all they can before the sales people refuse to serve us. It was quite an amazing sight. THIS was what I'd imagined black friday to be- I guess there won't be much left now for black friday (we asked and they're not planning to restock, they've been on this mode all week). It's a good thing I got to my pumps on time!

It's amazing what a good bargain can do for one's constitution. As you can tell, I am still super hyped about it :D

Image Source: Saks

20 MINS

aleksandra wisniewska at blickfang fashion show.




pics from 20min.ch

MILK+WODKA GOES OSTBLOCK

i already wrote milk & wodka is going to have a exhibition at ostblock( openning on december 6th at 2 pm., exhibition till january 17th).

my friendship with roman and remo has started more then 10 years ago in ljubljana. at this time they were on the tour with there band los tres lulus. this was really great band. i am very sorry they don't exist any more.
some years later milk & wodka was born. till now they had showed there work in zürich, ljubljana, berlin, rom, vienna, hamburg, istambul.

and now is coming ostblock.
roman and remo are going to show there new works on theme " romantic and problematic in (former) eastern europe caountries from russia to cuba".

remo and roman with the los tres lulus


roman and remo as milk& wodka

The "S Dress"

Just because HG is taking a break from blogging doesn't mean that we've stopped overanalyzing fashion in our free time (our gmail chain frequently goes above the 100 limit). Our latest topic of obsession?
I like to call it the "S dress," because when HG first showed me, it reminded me of S. And when we showed it to other friends, they also thought it looked like something S would wear. I guess we all had the same look in mind- the two toned dress S wore to the Dean's dinner party at Yale (btw, it is a totally inappropriate dress for a college recruiting event).It's form fitting, sophisticated and sexy, but youthful and modern at the same time.

S continues to favour this style later in the season for Thanksgiving. Granted the skirt is overly tight and short and not exactly the most flattering dress on her (or on anyone I should think), you can see how the concept and style is very similar. And thus, the "S dress."In particular, we are loving this two toned dress by FCUK (left). I love this yellow/black contrast, while HG is thinking of the red/gray-or silver combo. The contrast and shapes makes it cute, colorful and young, but the style and cutting lends it sophistication. It is dressy enough for a nice dinner, but not so formal that you can't drop by a club afterwards. It's really quite a clever design! Sadly for me, I must be deformed, because I tried it on the other day and the fit was way off. While everywhere else fitted tightly (so tightly in fact that I couldn't even twist to zip up!), the chest part was loose. HG is still in love though and she's thinking of getting it tailored.

We also found a very similar version of this dress over at Ted Baker, though with the white t shirt top, it is much more casual and is perfect for a day out.

Image Source: Gossip Girl, ASOS and FCUK

RED

Another coincidence, although this one is not that strange since chrsitmas seasong is sneaking upon us, and we were infact throwing a so called "Little Christmas" party with our music quiz team. (My feet are the ones with the most practical shoes for the snowy evening, eh).

So everyone was actually wearing black or red or black and red (but I actually broke the code a little bit by having my beige checked skirt on.)

Little Christmas parties are always quite hilarious. I pimped our tomteluvor a bit too.


And by the way, very now and the it's good to remember not to take onself too seriously :)
Have a great week!

NEW AT OSTBLOCK

more or less every week you can find something new at ostblock.
photos from some new pieces.

wool jacket by bojan petrushevski


cotton blouse by mariela gemisheva


wool silk dress by rozalb de mura


silk blouse by aleksandra wisniewska


asymmetric trousers by mariela gemisheva


wool trousers with high waist line by rozalb de mura


wool kashmir coat by bojan petrushevski

OVERSIZED BAGS

i don't know if i like oversized bags...
but i am sure i like oversized bags from russian fashion designer sudaryanto.

ANTM Cycle 11- Spoiler!

At this point, I think I've come to accept ANTM as part of my life. Something I just mindlessly watch when it's on. You must admit, it's a nice indulgence. *spoiler alert*
Now that I've "come around" to this way of thinking, my expectations are lower and thus I thought this season's show was not bad! There was a bit of drama, there were pretty pictures, some cool themes (voting booths, award accidents, underwater eye level shots, hanging on hot air balloons etc), a bit of traveling (to Amsterdam)and some sweet prizes. They had fashion show opp prizes, shopping sprees and free designer clothes- it was pretty awesome! The window display challenge in the red light district of Amsterdam was refreshing. Plus they had a REALLY gorgeous Willy Wonka like pink runway in the finale. There was a mini "hill" at the beginning and the models had to run up it in their heels (otherwise they'd fall backwards), it was quite an entertaining scene! Though I thought at the beginning the whole space theme thing and turning a new leaf because it's the 11th cycle was a bit overplayed.
And the winner of Cycle 11 of ANTM is- McKey. She does have very stunning modelesque features and towards the end, I thought her pictures were one of the strongest.
I mean, you got to admit, she has definitely improved from her first photo at the voting booth. It looked like she had no idea....
...and then bam! Here we are. I thought she had some of the most interesting and varied poses in her shoots. She always tried new things and they worked. And did I mention her amazing features? Once they got to final 2, it was obvious who the winner is. Granted she's not who I was vouching for, I thought out of the two she deserved to win (she was a bit too tomboy for me and her walk was a bit "lurch" like as they said). By the way, I thought renaming herself McKey at the beginning was a genius move. It is SO much more interesting and memorable than Brittany.
As you may be able to tell by now, Sam wasn't my favourite girl. Everyone else loved her though, because she had the whole sunny, free California girl next door personality. Maybe I just prefer more serious, subdue personalities. Also, she just didn't LOOK like a model to me, because this girl absolutely cannot dress herself for her life. I still remember that horrible salmon colored v neck sweater and straight skirt she wore to panel, that even Tyra couldn't do anything *shiver*. I also didn't think this picture was as "all that" as all the judges thought. Though I didn't realize that she had only just turned 18 on the show, so I guess I should cut her some slack. Making it into the top 2 is pretty good (her walk was not much better than McKey's). My favourite girl was Analeigh. Maybe I just have a preference for girls with long hair? She was just so SWEET. I loved her personality. She was sweet and cute in a more subdue and quiet kind of way. She also improved dramatically. I remember how she struggled at the beginning and I totally thought she'd be sent home. Her hot air balloon picture was absolutely tragic. Her legs look cut off.
But then she survived being in the bottom two and she finally got the hang of modelling. This is my favourite picture of her. You can see the skater in her and it's so edgy even though she looks so sweet normally. Another thing I loved about her was that she knew how to dress. She's mastered the shift dress and I'm amazed at how versatile her peace pendant was with all her outfits! Too bad about the Cover Girl commercial. It really was quite awful, especially considering how she ROCKED the other commercial! A strong contestant that got weak in the end was Marjorie. I think she actually has that natural model potential that would lead her far in the real world, just not in the world of reality TV. She has that perfect awkwardness and European-ness that makes her so model- she looks modelesque just STANDING there in her windmill photo. Just don't put her in any role where she needs to speak. Her jitters really would not work... But she DOES take some AMAZING photos. I loved this one here. It is so completely convincing! Though she was visibly weaker when she turned a "new leaf," like she lost her natural ability to model (though at times I found her hunchback signature pose a bit too much and she really looks like the hunchback of Notre Dame!).

Another contestant of note was Elina, the control freak. She started out strong and she thought she was so good, but her pictures were getting a bit monotonous. The whole cultural difference and Europeans don't express themselves was a bit too much. Clarke also did not see her elimination coming after she got best photo at the under water eye level shot. I liked Sheena and how she didn't play the whole Asian card on us like Gina did. Nikeysha reminded me of Saleisha, except Saleisha is pretty IMO (they even have the same haircut and similar names!). I remember being surprised by the whole drama with Hannah even though I don't quite remember why anymore (race?). Oh and of course there was Isis. She was strong at first! I'm very impressed with how feminine she looked given that she was a man. Her attitude was also very open, brave and admirable. Wasn't there a really similar contestant before, who kind of looked like her too, took great pictures at first and then dwindled?

I liked how they showed little clips of what other contestants from past cycles are doing now in between too. It's interesting to be reminded of them and see what they're doing now. It sounds like a lot of them signed with Elite anyway, even though they didn't win. Are Elite contracts that hard to come by then?

Image Source: CWTV

WHO DOESN'T KNOW VIKI?

aw 08/09 collection from vika gazinskaya.