Solidarity

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I'm missing my old town this week. I was there for the turn of the century, for 9/11, and for the Eastern Seaboard blackout in 2003. We had our going-away party in 2008 in the middle of Hurricane Hanna. I can't help but feel like I should have been there for this, too.

Manipulated Minds Need to Make an Escape

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Blackalicious, "Swan Lake" (Solesides, 1994).

Best Foot Forward

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This has not been a very good year to be a girl in need of a new pair of tall black boots. Price tag aside, these would be a solid option, though.

Yves Saint Laurent mirrored-heel stretch leather 

knee boots, $2,295 at net-a-porter.

For old times'.

While you're there:

Pierre Hardy metallic leather patterned 

suede ankle boots, $1,595.

Everyone could use a little more Art Deco in their closet.

And (why quit while you're behind):

Christian Louboutin decoupata 

120 leather ankle boots, $1,295. 

Sort that color block trend.

The Proof's in the Pudding

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I missed this when it came out.

"Repton Boxing Club" by Alasdair McLellan for British heritage label Sunspel, featuring Ryan Pickard (2011)

Boxing is one of those old-school sports I feel like I should be repelled by -- just the thought of a broken nose makes me cringe -- but even knowing next to nothing about it I find the whole enterprise totally fascinating and even romantic. (And this is not because I watched Rocky as a kid, because I didn't.) There's so much ritual to it, and so much reverence for the past. From an outsider's perspective it seems like it requires a physical and mental discipline that verges on the religious. Maybe it's so ugly that it comes full circle to beautiful.

While we're on the topic of beautiful destruction, another movie I want to see again:

Raging Bull (1980)

We're Not Going to be Shady, Just Fierce

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I've been working on something lately that has me thinking about fashion in film, and was reminded that I need to see this documentary again.

Opening scenes from Paris is Burning (1990)

Image of the Day

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So much black and white lately. Must be the influence of all the gray winter weather we've been getting in Seattle.

Gordon Parks, Harlem Neighborhood, Harlem, New York, 1952.

If you happen to be in New York in the next two months: ICP's public installation to mark the 100-year anniversary of Parks's birth (on November 30) is up through January 18.