The dress, finally

I'm back, finally. 

The dog has made his triumphant return to my boyfriend's. He's feeling much better and is up and about now. He's lost a lot of weight and is still a little shaky on his legs, but he is ready to take on squirrels just as soon as we'll let him. Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes.

So now, about that dress:

I'm typically not a Roberto Cavalli fan. I'm not one of those people who can pull off the luxe hippie look, and I'm certainly not somebody who can wear clothes that just ooze sex from every seam, so usually his stuff is a little too much for me. However, he seems to have read my post about Chihuly-inspired dressing with this dress.

Same color scheme, same long brushstrokes, same nature-inspired theme (Chihuly's is based on reeds, Cavalli's is based on the interior of a flower)... I kind of love it, even though I don't want to. Here's another picture:

While I hate the cut of the top (there's no way that can be flattering on anyone), the bottom is just so damn great that I can't stop obsessing. Would it be blasphemy to cut up a designer dress and rework the top?

Roberto, you're welcome for the inspiration. If you'd like to refer to me as your muse in the press, that would be just fine by me as long as I get an in-house discount. That sounds like a fair exchange, right?

GOOD NEWS!

Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes to our dog. It seems to have helped! We are expecting to bring a much healthier (if not totally mended) puppy back to our house late this afternoon, and we could not be more excited. I even bought doggy ice cream! 

I should be back to our regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow with a report of a Chihuly-esque dress from a designer that usually makes me shudder.

Art and News

When I turned 21 (once up a time...) my mother gave me this painting as my birthday present. I had seen this painting (River Reeds by Dale Chihuly) many many years ago, and so I knew when I picked this piece as my gift, it would be a gift that I would enjoy for many many years.

It's hanging by my couch in my den now. As I was thinking about what I wanted to write about today, I looked over at the piece and was struck by how on-trend it was. I've written about how art-inspired fashion was very popular this season, and while I can identify many designers who were directly inspired by Piet Mondrian and Richard Prince definitely influenced Marc Jacob's Louis Vuitton collection, I think this print would also be a great inspiration for a designer who isn't afraid of color. Marc, could this be for you?

Now for some news from me: I will be spending the rest of the week meeting the boyfriend's dad for the first time. I'm really nervous but also really excited. Unfortunately, this means that I will be taking a temporary break from the blog. I have been thrilled by the feedback that I've gotten from y'all and I hope that you will continue to leave me sites and notes while I'm gone. I will be checking in when I can. I should be back early to mid-week next week, so I hope that you'll at least come back then!

Cheapy Art

First of all, big apologies for no post yesterday. I burned the shit out of my fingertips last night making cornbread (which turned out crappy anyway) and it hurt way too bad for me to be able to type. Luckily my fingertips are okay and I'm back!

Secondly, I know that couture week is going on. However, I feel like I've been writing about fashion too much lately and thought that I would change it up a little bit. I may write a little bit about fashion weeks in February, but I'm staying out of this week's action other than to say breeches, Karl? Really?

So now for something completely different...

I love art, but as a broke twenty-something, I don't have the money to have a crazy collection. I have one nice Chihuly painting that was a twenty-first birthday present, but everything else in my house is a nicely framed poster of artwork that I love (Miro's Blue II hangs over my TV) or inexpensive pieces by local artists. I'm always on the lookout for places that sell great affordable art, which is part of why I think that Etsy is so awesome.

Another site that I love is 20x200.com.  I discovered this site thanks to the awesome bloggers over at Modern Art Obsession, which is a great read if you're a fan of the contemporary art scene. The idea behind 20x200 is this: each week, two pieces of art are contributed - one photo, one work on paper. They're then printed in three sizes. The smallest size is printed in batches

 of 200 for $20. A medium size is $200 for an edition of 20, and for serious collectors, an edition of two in the largest size is for $2000. Pretty cool, right? The range of artists is pretty impressive too - no huge names, but lots of up-and-comers. Plus if you don't see anything that you like one week, you only have to wait another week until a new batch is printed. Also, they

 continue to sell the older editions until they're all sold out.

This is one of my favorites from an artist named Linzie Hunter. It reminds me of some of the folk art that I've grown up with. This series is based on the subject line of spam emails that show up in her inbox. I love the idea of making something so fun out of something that annoys so many of us every day.

Here's another example of something beautiful out of something ugly. This photo is called Brooklyn Morning, and it's by a photo- grapher named Youngna Park. While I love to think that these are multi-colored balloons after a crazy party, I'm afraid that it's multi-colored latex of another sort. However, the color contrast against the gritty pavement is striking.

New editions are posted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 2 PM EST. Check it out next week to see what's new.