Shell of Light

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Isabel Marant.

Trying To Let It Go

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Octo Octa "I'm Trying" from the "Let Me See You" 12"
(2011, 100% Silk). Video by Christopher Cote.

Free downloads here.

Bending Light

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The Plumen 001 light bulb, designed by Samuel Wilkinson for Hulger, uses 80% less energy and lasts 8 times longer than regular light bulbs. It also just looks cool, and recently won the Brit Insurance Design of the Year Award in the Product category.

I don't think they're available in the US yet but you can get more info here.

Image of the Day

.The Barneys windows downtown are really cool right now, they all have fluorescent lightbulbs wrapped in colored cellophane. This photo doesn't really do it justice and I actually think the Lanvin window is my favorite, I just snapped this quickly yesterday on the way to a meeting. Anyway they're worth a look if you're downtown – I might take some more pics if I get the chance. (See some process shots at our friend Ashley's blog – she works on the Barneys windows.)

Image Collector

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Some images that have caught my eye recently from around the world wide internet:

Street fashion shot at Jak & Jil

Photo by Valéry Lorenzo.

Rowena Sartin FW2010 – photo by Kyle Johnson. I love that shirt thing (not for me, for a lady, in case that is somehow unclear). Via ʜᴎᴦᴙ ᴳᵀᴴᴿ

Vintage Porsche (I think it's a 912 or a maybe a 911t?) via JJJJound

Unpublished photo of Isabeli Fontana in Alaïa by Ezra Petronio, from the forthcoming Self Service issue 33. (More on that later.)

Someone's Life by Gerard Malanga, published by Mörel (via The Silver Lining)

Bike shelf

Christian Rizzo | l’association Fragile: b.c, janvier 1545, fontainebleau at On The Boards through Sunday. Really deserves its own post.

EL GUINCHO | Bombay from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral. Not really into the song but I like the vidoe. Via Wooooo.

Bonus Cat

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Inez and her friend the goose lamp find a spot in the sun

Night Flight

After Maya and Alex's wedding and reception, everyone went to a bar in Killington for pizza and beer.

Alex's mom Dot brought these mini candle-powered hot air balloons over from England. Basically you light the candle, hold onto the balloon, and wait for it to inflate.

At the right moment, you let go, and they drift slowly upward.

They get up really far before they burn out. I was kind of worried about sending a ball of fire over the national forest. In fact, I kind of had reservations about the whole thing. But it had just rained and was wet enough not to be a fire hazard, and apparently they're bio-degradable, so when the remnants fall to earth, they (hopefully) don't muck up the place too much or for very long. They let off a really warm light and floated quietly away—a great end to the night.

Some things I got Emily for her birthday.

La Perla.

Requisite lighting-related gifts.
Silver-Dipped Light Bulbs (not real silver, that's just what they call them), and a Porcelain Owl Lamp which combines two of Emily's major obsessions: Owls; Various Forms of Muted Lighting.

Streetwise book
I had been looking for this book forever, and finally found it at Left Bank Books in the West Village (the owner is originally from Eugene, Oregon). Mary Ellen Mark was kind enough to sign it for me. More on Streetwise in a future post.

Black Pumps.

"About a Son" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" DVDs.
These covers go together pretty well—maybe they should package them together as a special edition.

Issey Miyake Pleats Please dress.
It's basically just a big piece of really intricately pleated fabric, and comes with a booklet showing sixty different ways you can wear it. (Photo of Racquel Zimmerman in Issey Miyake by David Sims, from Future Shock, in V45.)