Cupcakes and Satin

Christopher Kane’s collection for the Versace little sister line, Versus has a definite point of view. Limited but bold in shape, details and color, it makes quite an impact and even if most of us can’t pull of all the body con, it makes me long for the full skirts he calls “cupcake” skirts, more turquoise and bright red in my wardrobe and stylishly sci-fi bombshell cut out necklines. His grommet, alligator, and neon collection for Topshop was equally yummy though a bit outside my budget sadly.

Click here to see the rest of Christopher Kane for Versus

Kenya Inspired Design

In this recent sea of minimalism, Suno’s stimulating collection jumped right out at me. While everyone’s been predicting a Chinois trend, I was still all about Africa (blame it on the stylings of Precious Ramotswe) and clearly on the same wavelength as designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty (so technically this is a style icon male and female entry and you, know what? I went to high school with an Erin Beatty, so I wonder…)

Anyways, fellow Cheyenne Mountain alumni or not, I think I would literally wear every piece from this fall/winter delivery. Every piece!! And that’s rare. The Suno name is a new one for me, but looking at the archives, they are clearly designers I wish I had discovered sooner. The prints are incredible, and inspired by years of Osterweis collecting textiles from visits to Kenya. Absolutely beautiful.

Click here to see the rest of Suno

Builder of the Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved third wife Mumtaz Mahal, said of the magnificent structure this:

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator’s glory.

I hope some day to see the popular site myself, which I suppose is more likely than my other wish: to someday have something equally epic built in my honor.

Click here to see the rest of Shah Jahan

R.I.P. Taco Titan

To the disgust of most of my high falootin’ friends, I was front and center for the grand reopening of the local Taco Bell/KFC – not for the buckets of greasy chicken but for the sweet, sweet processed faux Mexican that has peppered my life with flavor ever since I was a kid learning bad eating habits. The founder of Taco Bell, businessman Glen Bell, recently passed away the age of 86. According to his Time obituary he lived quite an adventurous life “riding the rails” and such before he opened his first taco stand in San Bernardino. Say what you will about fast food, and I might agree with you even on some finer points, but I’d still like to honor the man that made the burrito supreme happen. Rest in peace, Taco Titan.

Amazing Costume Designer

Becoming a crazy warlord queen has never been at the top of my list of things to do – but if it was guaranteed that all my extreme headgear would be designed by Danilo Donati, I might just reconsider my priorities in life.

It was, funnily enough, one of his least revered films (Red Sonja) that got me into the man’s work. Featuring an achingly bad performance by Sandahl Bergman and a lanky Bridgitte Neilson who is out-shined by her monumental mullet (seriously it’s so long and crazy it takes mullets beyond ugly, beyond so ugly it’s kitschy and cool, and brings them to someplace special), Red Sonja is no masterpiece, but the costumes are the stuff of big necklace and golden spiked dreams.

With a little research I found that Donati was also responsible for the costumes in some of my favorite Fellini films, many of the films of Pasolini, and the disappointingly boring but visually wowing Caligula (see stills below/after jump). He also was behind the Roberto Benigni Pinocchio, right before he passed away, but before you judge him for it, you have to admit that funky suit is phenomenal. In 2007, Italians got to see his work in the Costume a corte exhibit, of which I found a few photos online here. I am so in love!

Click here to see the rest of Danilo Donati

Cosby Sweater Guy

The holidays bring good tidings, joy and awesomely bad sweaters. Hosting a bad holiday sweater party has even become something of a fad (I’ll be attending one soon in bejeweled teal). Of course ,the king of the awesomely bad sweater is Koos van den Akker, Dutchman and wild visionary with knit.

Not familiar with the name? Well, his vibrant, wacky sweaters were best known as the Bill Cosby sweaters on the hit sitcom. Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic for a blast from the past of family togetherness in brownstones, but don’t those garish sweaters just feel so right right now?

A look through his fashion archives proves he can also mix some crazy for us women.

Click here to see the rest of Koos Van Den Akker

of Dateline NBC

While I truly do love Jim Morrison (not only do we share the same birthday – we also have the same name! I’ve even been to his grave!), I’m also a huge fan of Dateline NBC correspondent Keith Morrison. It’s not smugness or incredulity (exactly) that you’re detecting in his voice; it’s just his unique aristocrat-specializing-in-drama tone. Love it!

Little did I know that Bill Hader is also a fan! Below/after the jump are a compilation of clips, the top three feature the man himself (for those of you unfamiliar with his work); the last two are Hader’s not-quite-spot-on-in-but-accurate-enough impersonation. Enjoy!

Click here to see the rest of Keith Morrison

This is almost too easy. The douche bag empire built upon the 'heritage' of the real Don Ed Hardy (a famous tattoo artist who is not, as one would have to assume, dead – which must make his daily episodes grave-rolling a bit spooky to witness) has become, in the wrinkly, orange and predatory claws of French grossy Christian Audigier a tacky, garish and omnipresent style nightmare… They've even come out with an expansive array of Ed Hardy beverages, including (but not limited to) a vodka (see the banner hanging outside our neighborhood's brightest spot, Club Europa) and a “celebrity” energy drink.

Be sure to watch this Ed Hardy boys video for more laughs at the brand's expense.

Whatever your opinion of the television series and movies that gained wider popularity and recognition than their source material, you really should take a look at the wry and darkly hilarious work of Chas Addams.

A beloved cartoonist for the New Yorker, who relished in presenting a humorously macabre image to the public (he'd have his photo taken with a collection of crossbows or wearing a suit of armor), Addams created his most famous fictional family with the help of friend Ray Bradbury.

I would leaf through my dad's collection of his cartoons and laugh and laugh as a little girl, and I still find them wonderful.