Trompe L'oeil

I was flipping through the March issue of Domino magazine when this amazing trompe l'oeil dress caught my eye. It reminded me of one of my very favorite Anna Sui dresses, a black and white version of the one pictured below in green. Turns out the one in this picture is a vintage dress by Roberta di Camerino, an Italian designer who famously printed faux pockets, buttons, belts and other details on clothing and handbags in the 1960s. If you look closely at the photograph, you'll notice that the entire dress is made out of one piece of fabric - the blue shirt and cuffs are even connected. It's brilliant!

In French, trompe l'oeil means "to fool the eye". Here are a few other of my favorite trompe l'oeil articles of clothing throughout the 20th Century:

Elsa Schiaparelli sweater from 1929

Vintage Roberta di Camerino dress

Anna Sui, Fall 2001


From the 2006 Roberta di Camerino collection, available in (you guessed it) Japan.

Guys & girls tuxedo T-shirts!

Yeah! What she said!

To piggy back on Lauren's post from yesterday for a second, there's a review in the Times about a show at the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art all about art collectives. The exhibit features one of my favorites, Space1026, which we were lucky enough to visit the last time we were in Philly. It also includes Fritz Haeg, who is doing some really interested things about building community and collective-ness. We feature his Edible Estates project in the new issue of ReadyMade due to hit stands any moment now (speaking of which we're having a little issue release party at El Rio on Thursday starting at 7:30 for any interested locals....)

Janfamily

I love the idea of an art collective, and have been curious to learn more about a London-based collective I recently read about called Janfamily. Founded by Royal College of Art graduates Nina Jan Beier and Marie Jan Lund, the group creates art in all mediums, including music, photography, and film. Earlier this month, they staged an event at the Tate Modern called "Clap in time", where they entered the museum and all started clapping at a specific time, inviting everyone in the building to stop what they were doing and join them.

Their book, Plans for Other Days, which you can view selected pages from on the Janfamily website, is a how-to book or according to the artists, "a list of proposals on how to relate to our surroundings", with brief instructions and photographs on topics such as "how to find what you are looking for" and "how to be in two places at the same time." Here are a couple more:

"How to try to make sense."

"How to reach for the sky."

Yay Susan!

Just wanted to point everyone to a lovely article in SF Weekly about our friend Susan O'Malley. We met Susan a few years ago in Brooklyn and we were so excited to reconnect with her when we moved back to the Bay Area. She's a wonderfully talented artist with a big brain, big heart, and a fantastically smart sense of humor (and wonder) about the world around us. The article talks about a project she's been doing as a visiting artist at the Branson School in Ross. Susan also put together the amazing show "Get Together" we had a few months ago at the Hardware Store gallery, which was a total blast. Take a few minutes to read the article and then head over to her website. It'll blow your mind.

The Finger Puppets

Yes, the finger puppet kit is technically made for kids, but we had fun assembling all our felt parts to make these cutest finger puppets. The kit came with just enough glue- I think we used every last drop!

Mini shopping spree

Yesterday evening we headed down to Serramonte for a guilt-free shopping spree at the Japanese discount store Daiso, (where almost everything costs only a buck-fifty) and here is our loot! We got a pack of candy colored sponges, some plastic folders, a paper bottle that shoots out paper streamers, a toy for the kitties, some kraft colored sticky notes, a pack of gingham twist-ties, a little wooden mushroom cell phone charm, some felt coasters and a plastic storage container with a cute felt belly band. Oh, and two "burnt wood" planks to make shelves out of. The owl bookends will be painted either black or white. (Not too into the speckled yellow look.)

We also stopped by Target while we were down there, and I picked up this cute endangered species finger puppet kit in the toy section, complete with pre-cut felt pieces and glue. I couldn't resist...

Claire McCardell, Redefining Modernism

Writing about Bonnie Cashin yesterday got me thinking about another great show I saw at FIT (back in 2000, I think) on fashion designer Claire McCardell. She was a sportswear designer in the 1930s - 50s, and is most famous for her simple tie-on and wrap-around dresses. Look at those amazing plaids! My personal favorite, the "Popover Dress," with its large pocket and attached oven mitt, was sold as a "utility garment" in the 1940s for $6.95, or around $90 in today's dollars. (Picture above taken from the Met's Costume Institute Archive.)

I guess I was half expecting to come across some great websites dedicated to her work, but I couldn't find much more than a short Wikipedia article and a few other short bios. There is a book out called Claire McCardell, Redefining Modernism that I have since reserved from the library, and she herself wrote a book in 1955 called What Shall I Wear? which I can't seem to find much information about either. Anyway, enjoy these photos, and keep your fingers crossed that someone out there is working on a more complete website documenting her life and her designs!

"Chic is where you find it."

I have been thinking a lot about the designer Bonnie Cashin recently, and was so happy when I stumbled across two incredible websites dedicated to her fashion designs from the 30s through the 70s: the Bonnie Cashin Foundation and the UCLA Library Dept. of Special Collections. Both sites document her entire design history, including her remarkable line of handbags for Coach and her "Seven Easy Pieces" concept of dressing, which I love.

I saw an amazing exhibit of her work at FIT in New York a couple years ago and completely fell in love with her designs and her theories about designing. She created utilitarian clothing and accessories that were fashionable and chic at the same time by mixing industrial hardware with leather and suede and beautiful woven textiles in simple, geometric shapes. So many of today's designers are still embracing those concepts. (The thing that got me thinking about Bonnie Cashin again was a wallet I recently purchased from Hobo that reminds me so much of something she would have done.)

In addition to the quote I mentioned above, I love that this quote by Bonnie: "Wouldn't it be nice if I could get a tweed by spinning together a bird's nest and a spider's web?" I couldn't have said it better.

Hello?

It was during the Oscars that I first saw the new commercial for Apple's iPhone. As with most of their promotional materials I thought it was a slick little ad. I also noticed that it was a complete rip-off (homage?) of one of my favorite artists, Christian Marclay.

It's hard to describe Christian's diverse body of work. He's a composer, a sculptor, a sound artist, a filmmaker, a photographer, a conceptual artist, a dj...the list kinda goes on and on. Anyway, here's a great little piece about him from one of our favorite old shows (canceled) on one of our favorite old channels (defunct). It is a nice introduction to Christian's biography and work, and it includes a little snippet of the video Apple ripped off, "Telephones" (1995).

(ps: while looking at some links I hit this, and am wondering if it sounds like Jerri Blank to anyone else...?)

(pps. Speaking of telephones, we recently got these little doozies in at the Shoppe, and I'm slightly obsessed with mine.)

Tom Bonauro Design

We had lunch with our dear friend Tom Bonauro today, and I just wanted to share some of his work- he is an amazing graphic designer who has done work for Levi's, George, Todd Oldham and others. Enjoy!

Speaking of fabric...

I am coveting these fabrics and trims over at Super Buzzy right now.

Beautiful Fabric Display at Purl Patchwork

Am feeling inspired today by this picture from the Purl Bee, where they came up with this clever way to display a wonderful collection of printed fabrics in their store by stretching them in embroidery hoops of all shapes and sizes, and hanging them by color. Just another reason to keep all your leftover fabric swatches- you never know when the smallest piece might be put to good use!

We Can't Wait...

The season premiere of the television version of "This American Life". Check out the trailer, it looks fantabulous (as expected). Starts March 22nd on Showtime.

Felt-o-rama

Had a nice weekend visiting my folks and practicing the art of felting for the very first time. The little mushrooms were made with wool roving and a felting needle, as was the little branch and bird. (The green felted bowl had been previously made by Mom.) The blue bullseye is actually a pincushion, made by knitting 4 tubes out of different colored yarn, putting them together, and felting the whole thing in the washing machine. So much fun!

Knitting Update

Here it is- my most recent knitting project, finally completed after a year and a half, or has it been two years? Anyway, I'm calling this scarf "Peppermint Twist" and it is a 1 x 2 rib with little cables on one side. I believe I originally found the pattern in Stitch 'N Bitch Nation.

And here is a pic of my next knitting project, from a book called Vintage Knits, except I'll be making this sweater in navy blue, which seems to be my color of choice recently. You'll have to check back in a year or two to see how it turns out!

Real Genius

In the most recent issue of the New Yorker, there's a fantastic article about local physicist-turned-origami master Robert J. Lang. I loved it for a number of reasons: 1. Lang's work in lasers and his student days at Caltech sound straight out of "Real Genius", 2. It provides a quick little history of origami involving kindergarten, Harry Houdini, vibrators, and a Japanese fishmonger. 3. It demonstrates how origami is the perfect marriage of art and science, and 4. It makes passing reference to a molecule named after a recent obsession of mine, R. Buckminster Fuller.

Lang has been obsessed with origami since childhood, and first made a name for himself with the cuckoo clock pictured above created from a single uncut piece of paper. Ridiculous!

Check out his website for other examples of his particular genius. Pictured below are an elk and owl of his design, along with the crease patterns used to create them.

Spools

My parents came into the city for a visit this weekend, and Mom brought me a whole bag full of beautiful perle cotton in the most gorgeous colors. They're small spools, so I'm thinking of doing some embroidery projects with them- maybe some pillowcases. I've done some weaving projects with perle cotton though, and seeing these wonderful threads really makes me want to weave again!

In other crafty news, over the past couple weeks I've been trying to practice my machine sewing a little bit everyday- so far I've made 2 practice shirts, one out of muslin and another short sleeved shirt out of some printed cotton I bought at the flea market. I'm definitely making progress, but I wouldn't look too closely at some of the seams! The next step is learning how to alter patterns, so the next shirt I make will actually fit me.

Finally, I finished a scarf yesterday that I'd started back in New York- one of those projects that I pick up every now and then when I'm at home watching TV or just needing something to keep my hands busy. I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Geeks 'R Us

There's a little Q&A feature (and a scary big picture) of Lauren and I over at GeekSugar today as part of their Love 2.0 series. In it, we talk a bit about the Curiosity Shoppe, and this here web journal, as well as a few of the geekier aspects of our lives. There are a bunch of other interesting couples featured as well, one of which includes a guy I went to college with (random). Check it out. (It'll help explain the above picture...)

Butterflies+Clovers=Spring

I know it's only the beginning of February, but I'm already itching for Spring! I spotted this cute Spring-y scarf on the J. Crew website and I'm loving the all over butterfly print with the clovers and leaves. It reminds me a little of Andy Warhol's butterfly drawings.

I swear I saw some pink cherry blossom buds starting to peek out on the trees around here, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Punxatawney Phil is right and Spring will come early this year!

Ed Emberley

I recently picked up a copy of Ed Emberley's Jumbo Jamboree Drawing Book at a giant bookstore sale and I'm so happy that I did! Ed Emberley has been creating instructional drawing books for kids since the 1960's, and I just love his illustration style and the way he breaks down all his drawings into steps like a recipe book. I used to check his books out of the library when I was little, and my favorite was the praying mantis, with its triangle head with half circles on either side for eyes. I couldn't find it in this book, but I do love this sweet fox (oops! raccoon)- especially the patch of grass he gets to stand on.