THOSE FREEWHEELIN' FALL DAYS

A year after I graduated from college I was working at an internet start-up in Manhattan.  My co-workers and I hung out every night after work at this bar called Billy Marks 2, where Darren would feed the jukebox quarters to play "Electric Barbarella" by Duran Duran and I drank endless gin and tonics.  On warm Fall nights when we left the bar I didn't want the evening to end so I'd walk 82 blocks up Broadway to my apartment in Morningside Heights.  I'd pass through Times Square and the Upper West Side before stopping at Koronet for an enormous slice of greasy, flavorless pizza.  Then the next morning, slightly hungover, I'd put on this skirt, a ridiculously itchy Abercrombie & Fitch wool sweater and a pair of black loafers, and then buy a Venti coffee from Starbucks and head into the subway.

(Holy guacamole I look tired!)

(Skirt, vintage, quite frankly I can't believe it still fits; sweater, H&M; shirt, F21 (studding mine); purse, Oryany, a gift from Mr. Brass Knuckles; shoes, Jeffrey Campbell; bracelets, Pandora, Alex+Ani, Target, Louis Vuitton; ring, Icing.  The LV ID bracelet was a generous gift from an old boss, this woman also gave me La Perla lingerie sets and Prada shoes and my first design job).

Have a great weekend, Knuckles!

ELLO GOVNA

Hello Knuckles! 

 Fall is officially here!  The air is getting crisp and the September issues are out!

On Sunday afternoon I was perusing the New York Times Style Magazine Men's Fall Fashion edition, and one spread completely stopped me in my tracks: the new Prada campaign featuring Gary Oldman, Jamie Bell, Garrett Hedlund and Willem Dafoe:

Seriously you guys, I had to stop reading the magazine to look up the campaign online:

(All photos Tumblr; there are tons more and they are all crazypants AWESOME)

The colors, the clothes, the people, the poses... I'm totally obsessed.  It's steampunk Commissioner Gordon and the Green Goblin!

Prada posted a making-of video and it is mesmerizing.  It's what I imagine Queen Victoria's Next Top Model would've been like in 1862:


Anyhow, if Mr. Brass Knuckles showed up wearing any of this stuff I would probably make fun of him.

This weekend was all about enjoying the weather:

(I get a total kick out of this photo.  Most fashion bloggers get photographed against the most amazing urban backdrops; here I am with my STROLLER at the MALL, buahah!).

"Hey Brass Knuckles, what's that on the ground?"

(Top: sunglasses, Times Square kiosk; blouse, H&M; tank top, Hanes; belt, Banana Republic; jeans, Chip and Pepper; shoes, MIA.  

Bottom: sunglasses, Carrera; blouse, Express; pants, American Apparel; necklace, Tuleste Market; shoes, 9 West).

None of this clothing is all that sentimental.  The oldest thing is the silk floral jacket.  I bought it eons ago and it's always been kinda "meh."  It comes out every so often and... I am boring myself talking about it.

That is all, internets.  You may now return to more exciting and/or informative time-wasting.

I [HEART] NY

I can't believe it's already been 11 years since the attacks on the WTC!

At the time I was barely employed and living in in a tiny studio apartment in Williamsburg.  That morning I had overslept and everyone was frantically trying to get ahold of me, but of course cellphone calls weren't going through.

My boyfriend at the time came over and turned on the TV, and we watched the news in horror.  Then we rode our bikes down to a decrepit waterfront park on the East River where a crowd had gathered, to see smoke and ashes and exchange hugs with strangers.

My memories from that day aren't as harrowing as those of a lot of New Yorkers, and for that I'm grateful.  I may not live in New York anymore but it's still my favorite city in the world!

When I first moved there I remember sitting in the subway and writing myself a set of goals in a velour Hello Kitty notebook.  I tore that page out and I still have it.  The gist of it was:

1) Find a career that I like

2) Find a cool dude

3) Stop biting my fingernails

4) Do something creative

5) Have fun!

When I left a few years later, I was able to cross off all of the goals on my list except one (in retrospect, I may have over-done #5).  

And that's why you never see any cool nail art on this blog.

Happy Tuesday, Knuckles!

A DOLLHOUSE WORLD

CoStar is very creative and has a great eye for photographs.  She often steals our camera or iPhones and takes beautiful pictures of the most mundane things, like a dining room chair:

A self-portrait through the TV:

Or her baby brother (so small back then!)

(All photos Instagram mine)

So while I was browsing through our little point-and-shoot the other day, I almost fell out of my chair in delight when I saw that she had taken photos of Barbie in her dollhouse:

I loved this idea, and wanted to enter her world myself.  Don't you just love my chandelier?

(Dress, Aryn K; necklace, Tuleste Market; shoes, Chanel; scarf around ankle, Hermes)

I purchased the dress from Akira last year, and it's one of my favorites even though it's only made one appearance so far (at a company retreat, no less).  The shoes were a gift from my sister-in-law.  They are the original FLOs (For Limo Only) but I feel like a friggin basketball wife whenever I wear them.  The Hermes Twilly scarf was my first orange-box purchase; I bought it ages ago at the Hermes store on Via Sant' Andrea in Milan.  Nowadays the only things I buy that come in orange boxes are Doritos Locos Tacos from the Bell.

Have a great weekend Little Knuckles!