Some Day

Jasper Johns Flag (MoMA, New York)

Eddie Vedder I Am a Patriot MP3
Pearl Jam Patriot MP3

Man's Got Style

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You might think Pacific Standard has all got poncey and posey this week with the predominance of fashion-related posts. Don't think that. I write about whatever comes to mind—it really is by random chance. This stuff has come up lately for whatever reason, and I think it's worth noting.

In any case, here's a video from the International Herald Tribune of Lanvin's Alber Elbaz explaining his cruise collection. It's interesting to hear him talk about his work—the dude is a genius, pure and simple, as you can see in the smattering of looks above from over the past several years. He's also just a funny little guy, like a Triplets of Belleville-style rendering of what a master tailor should look like. Check it out:

Sunshine & Sunshine

If Sunshine & Shadow gets more press, Lily Raskind might literally catch on fire. This morning her screen-printed denim bags are featured in The New York Times' style section. Check it out here.

More press clips, plus current and past collections at sunshineandshadow.com (design by me).

Some Joseph Looking For A Manger

This is completely out of season, but I was thinking about McCabe & Mrs. Miller recently.



The movie takes place in Eastern Washington in the early 1880s, not long before Washington got its statehood. The set was built in British Columbia in a town founded by draft resistors. Leonard Cohen's music throughout is mind-blowing. The opening credit scene is maybe my favorite of all time, and a really beautiful use of Helvetica (actually it might be Akzidenz...?), an interesting juxtaposition of modernism and the frontier. I don't love every Robert Altman movie, but this one is truly sublime.

That is the first time I have ever used the word sublime seriously.

TOH-toh-KYE-oh

Impulse is a womenswear boutique in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, named one of the top ten avant garde boutiques in the country by Lucky magazine, in the company of shops such as Opening Ceremony and Bird. As far as I know, Impulse was one of the first such boutiques to use only a blog as its online presence. When customers saw something they liked on the blog, they would call owner/proprietor Jill Wenger and order it. That was working almost too well because after awhile Jill had people calling her from all over the world and it became clear she needed to expand. Thusly, Totokaelo.com was born.

Jill and I met up a few times in New York and I designed the site with her input, based on the idea that she wanted to retain the blog, but also allow online ordering. Most of all, she wanted to foster a sense of community among the various people around the Northwest and everywhere else who were into the clothes, commenting on the blog, and taking an active interest in what was coming next.

The site was super-expertly coded by Jennifer Maas. It's in beta mode at the moment but it is taking off extremely quickly—there are already thousands of members and it just launched last month. Basically what you do is go to the site, fill out a little membership application, and then you can post a photo and a profile, view other members' profiles, and browse and shop from the site. It's kind of like a mini-Facebook for this interesting, forward-thinking corner of the fashion community.

I'm predicting big, big things.

Check it out at Totokaelo.com

Hi, We're in Delaware

Not the state—the water gap. This weekend we took our rig for a little test run over to the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border for a one-night, high-speed camping trip at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

It is surprisingly close (an hour and a half from NYC) and surprisingly remote-feeling once you're there.

Emily stress-fractured her foot walking around the hard-ass streets of New York in flats the day we went to galleries and MOMA with my mom, and has had to wear a little boot thing, so we weren't able to hike, but it was a fun drive and nice to get out of the city for a minute.

We lucked out with the weather, and these little guys were going nuts among the flowers at the edge of the Delaware River.

The closest town to Dingman's Ferry, where we camped, is Milford, PA—home of Gifford Pinchot, the former Pennsylvania governor, conservation pioneer, and namesake of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Southwest Washington State. Since we were high-speed camping (sleeping in a campsite but eating all our meals in town, so we only have to bring a tent, sleeping bags, and a lantern), we had some beers and nachos at one of the local restaurants and a good breakfast Sunday morning at the diner.

The car held up very well and got almost 23 miles per gallon. Not bad for a truck. The only thing we noticed is that there seems to be some minor problems with the electrical system—the windows sometimes lock by themselves. Note to self: no driving off bridges.