Bridget Foley Is Angry with Michelle Obama

January 25, 2013, 9:44 am

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WWD's Executive Editor Bridget Foley sounded off about Michelle Obama's request to have twelve designers make potential dresses for the inauguration. She wrote that "the whole thing would be merely silly and undignified if it weren't so disrespectful of the time and resources of others, some of whom have little of both at their disposal." The article kind of reads like she's mad that WWD didn't get the scoop on Michelle's dress, and designers do this all the time for celebrities, so we're not really buying it.
 

We've been waiting for someone to wear an outfit featuring those wonderful Dior floral-printed satin duchesse skirts. Thank god for LeeLee Sobieski. [via The Cut]


Here's Kate Moss covering the new issue of Love. Get it, girl. [via Fashionista]


There will be a new version of Vogue UK which will be called Miss Vogue. According to the website, the mag "will have the intelligence and authority of the mother magazine mixed with the creativity and budget awareness relevant to a younger reader." This should be interesting. [via Fashionista]



Conan seems to have taken that Kevin Dior thing to heart: here's a video of him interviewing "Joe Galliano," John Galliano's brother. [via Team Coco]

Here's something we never thought would happen: the Hermès x Comme des Garçons scarf collection! It's limited edition and will be available at Dover Street Market on February 6th. [via High Snobette]


Here's the first look at the new Lanvin campaign. [via Design Scene]

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We're In "Friend-Love" With Comic Artist Yumi Sakugawa

January 25, 2013, 10:30 am

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California-based comic artist and illustrator Yumi Sakugawa's work has featured everything from lonely one-eyed monsters to an ode to The Baby-Sitters Club character Claudia Kishi. Her off-beat comics that explore the trials and tribulations of human interaction have been featured in Sadie Magazine and The Rumpus and her comic zine Mundane Fortunes for the Next Ten Billion Years And Other Stories was chosen as a Notable Comic of 2012 by the Best American Comics anthology. We talked to Sakugawa about unrequited friend love, meditation, and exploring relationships in outer space.

How did you first get started drawing comics? Is it something you've always done?

I always enjoyed drawing and writing as a kid. I think even at a young age I was just making up stories in drawings and writing and I just didn't know that I was making comics. It was just my way of expressing myself. For the longest time in my early 20's, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I was torn between different mediums -- I wanted to be an artist, I wanted to be a playwright, an illustrator.  It wasn't until after I graduated that everything came together in my head and I wanted to be a comic book artist. I didn't have to choose between drawing and writing -- I could combine the two perfectly in one medium.

When it comes to writing and drawing your comics, what comes first: the images or the words? 

More often than not it's usually the writing. One famous cartoonist said, "I'm a writer who happens to like to draw," or something to that effect, and I relate to that sentiment really well. I think before I start any story the writing has to be very clear in my head, whether it is the dialogue or the text or even just the narrative structure.  

Many of your shorter comics, like "Mermaid" and "Full Moon" for example, are very poetic. Do you find that your writing style tends to lean towards more of a simple, poetic composition when you're writing?

I think that's actually a very recent thing. I think my comics before have usually just been straight-forward prose. I guess this is a new direction. I'm not really sure where I'm going to take it, or whether it's just a phase that I want to keep pursuing. I guess it's the state of mind I am in right now where I don't necessarily want to say too much in my comics in terms of text -- [I] want to be more simple with my words. I find that even the finished form of the comics are very short but they actually started out much longer. I really take a lot of joy in shaving off words until a three paragraph text sort of becomes two sentences or a paragraph condenses itself into one sentence.

I absolutely loved your "I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You" comic. What was the inspiration behind that?

Well, I've definitely had many unrequited friend loves throughout my life [laughs]. I think it was inspired by hanging out with a college friend and talking about college -- the things I did in college that you don't really get [to do] in the adult world, the "real world." It got me thinking about college-specific emotions that I experienced during my early twenties that I don't experience as much these days. I think in college -- as with a lot of people who have just graduated from high school and are entering this new phase of their lives -- I felt this overwhelming desire to be understood by somebody or to feel a connection with somebody that wasn't necessarily a crush or a romantic love, but just wanting somebody to really "get" me.

I wanted to explore that idea because in many ways an unrequited friend love is sadder than an unrequited crush because with an unrequited crush, it happens all the time so it's sort of understandable that you don't fit a person's particular guidelines for a romantic partner or a soulmate. With a friendship it's much more general and the guidelines aren't so strict, so it's a greater blow to not have your friend crush requited. [The comic was] definitely based on several friend crushes I've had in my younger years -- some names I won't reveal.

A lot of your comics deal with human connections and relationships and the distances that can exist between people -- you've even written about people going into outer space! Are you typically drawn to the subject of intimate relationships and how they evolve?

I'm very interested in different ways people try to connect to each other or feel disconnected to each other. I actually don't know why I write about space so much. I guess one major influence for me is Ray Bradbury. I loved reading his stories in high school that explored human relationships, love and loss and connection in this fantastic context of outer space or Mars colonies.

Those fantastical backdrops [outer space] hone in on the nature of whatever connection that might be on your mind, whether it's someone you feel close to or someone you love that's very far away or someone who's sort of passed on to another phase of his or her life that you're no longer a part of.

Your guides to meditating are beautiful. How does meditating affect your process as an artist?

I've been inspired by a book written by film director David Lynch called Catching The Big Fish. He wrote this amazing book, which I actually consumed in audiobook form -- I recommend it because David Lynch has such an amazing reading voice -- and he writes about how transcendental meditation helps him as an artist and his creative process. Reading that definitely inspired me to take meditation seriously on a daily basis. For me, meditation helps in so many ways. It's like setting the reset button on your brain. It's so easy for us with our smart phones and computers and daily schedules to get distracted and bogged down by so much of the daily bullshit that we have to go through. Meditation is just this amazing, simple way to completely clear your head and deepen your creativity. As superstitious as this sounds, it's a great way for me to receive messages on a subconscious level of what to do next, whether it's in my artwork or in my life. 

Who are some of your favorite comic artists?

There's this Japanese female manga artist named Moto Hagio whose short stories and graphic novels were recently released in its English translation by Fantagraphics. They released her collection A Drunken Dream and Other Stories and this full-length, ginormous graphic novel Heart of Thomas. I came across her stories last year and they were so amazing and I was shocked that I hadn't heard about her more and that she isn't more famous. Another graphic artist I really love is Rutu Modan. She wrote and drew Exit Wound. Definitely Blankets by Craig Thompson, I think that was the first indie graphic novel I read that wasn't a manga or a Marvel Comic. And Adrian Tomine was one of the first indie comic artists that inspired me to pursue comic books.

Are there any upcoming projects that you're working on that we should look out for?

I'm in the process of doing a print version of "I Think I'm In Friend-Love With You" because a lot of people have asked about it. I definitely want to make more follow-ups to zines that I've released about meditation and self-love and all that other good stuff. Definitely more short comics and zine collections. I'll also be tabling at different zine conventions in the next few months. In February I'll be tabling at the LA Zine Fest, in April I'll be tabling at the Brooklyn Zine Fest, in May I'll be tabling at the Toronto Comics and Arts Festival, which I'm really excited about. I'm also working on a long-term book contract. I guess you could say it's a graphic novel. It's a complete secret -- I haven't told anyone about the story!

Tubular Bells Comes Back to Haunt You

January 25, 2013, 11:35 am

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Remember Tubular Bells? What a blast from the past. Mike Oldfield, the dude that recorded it back in the 70s, is releasing a new(ish) studio album called Tubular Beats on February 5.  Featuring one new song plus several new versions and remixes of Oldfield classics, "Beats" was recorded with help from acclaimed German producer/composer Torsten Stenzel. The new track, "Never Too Late," features vocals by the Finish singer-songwriter Tarja Turnen.  The original album -- the inaugural release on Richard Branson's Virgin Records -- came out on May 25, 1973, and has since sold over 16 million copies worldwide.  Popularized by and sometimes referred to as the "theme" to the classic horror film The Exorcist, the album also launched at least two music genres: prog-rock and new age. -- Gary Pini

'90s Hip-Hop X Star Wars

January 25, 2013, 12:00 pm

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In this weekly column, MC/DJ Hesta Prynn pairs pop culture stories with an original playlist.

It's official! Star Trek director J.J. (Jar Jar?) Abrams will indeed be directing the upcoming Star Wars film. One man now officially holds the keys to both nerd culture franchises at the same damn time. While the dorks tear each other to shreds on the message boards, I decided to take this opportunity to assign some of my favorite Star Wars characters their '90s hip-hop theme songs. Limiting it to five was the hard part, getting excited for the new movie is going to be easy. In a galaxy far far away, I urge the Abrams haters to chill 'til the next episode.

1. Han Solo: Q-Tip, "Viv'rant Thing"

If Star Wars had hip-hop superlatives, Han Solo would win Most Likely to Release a Solo Album Pre-Maturely Much to the Chagrin of His Bandmates. Q-Tip's smooth, impossible-not-to-love first single is just right for the man who is clearly the suavest character in the universe. This song would play the first time Han Solo kicks it to Princess Leia.

2. Darth Vader: Beastie Boys, "Sabotage"

This Sith Lord is literally going H.A.M. at all times. In a pre-Kanye world, choosing a theme song for the greatest villain ever was not easy. Equal parts punk, hardcore and hip-hop, "Sabotage" is perhaps the most aggressive record of the decade -- perfect for the former Jedi knight who fell to the Dark Side.

3. R2-D2: Skee-Lo, "I Wish"

If one were able to successfully translate the blips and bloops that make up this Droid's language, and if one did so in the backdrop of a '90s hip-hop universe, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that he might express the sentiment "I wish I were a little bit taller, I wish I were a baller, I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her."

4. Luke Skywalker: Notorious B.I.G., "Juicy"

Star Wars invented the remix on coming of age, and Luke Skywalker is at the center of this. "Juicy" is the anthem for coming up and coming in to your own. Once a bratty boy, Luke accepts his Jedi lineage and fulfills his destiny of beating the Sith. Biggie, too, came from humble beginnings and went on to achieve legendary status.

5. Jabba the Hutt: Big Pun, "Still Not a Player"

Quite obviously the Big Pun of the franchise, Jabba the Hutt illustrates a classic case of "don't hate the player, hate the game." A gangster in the literal sense of the word, Jabba is the Star Wars character who would probably fit into '90s hip-hop culture the best. This timeless NYC classic actually boasts the lyric, "Even Luke be like, 'Don't stop, get it get it!'"

Five Reasons You Need to See Fruitvale

January 25, 2013, 1:00 pm

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Let's face it: before Sundance actually kicked off, all predictions for who -- or what -- would break out or recommendations for whom to watch were mostly based on well-informed hunches (see our Fifteen Sundance Faces to Watch HERE). But, now that the festival is entering its final days, the dust is starting to settle and we have a better idea about which films and which actors will be on everyone's lips in 2013. And so far, it appears that one of those films is Fruitvale, starring Michael B. Jordan (who, incidentally, made it onto our own list). Here are five reasons why you need to check it out when it hits theaters.

1. Because, after an early purchase by the Weinstein Company, all bets are on this movie to be the star of Sundance. We expect Fruitvale to be taking home one or two festival awards by the end of the weekend.

2- The film is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African American from the Bay area who was senselessly killed in a train station on New Years Day back in 2009. The gritty original clip was first put on YouTube after several witnesses recorded the incident, leading it to serve as a rallying cry against police brutality. 

3. Director Ryan Coogler is one to watch. A first-time director, the 26-year-old football star almost became a scientist but found his true calling as a filmmaker. "Its a film I was born to make," he told us.  

4. The cast. Led by actor Michael B Jordan -- potentially the next Denzel Washington or Liam Neeson of our generation with his onscreen gravitas -- the film also includes performances by Octavia Spencer (who plays Oscar's mother) and Melonie Diaz, who gives a standout performance as his girlfriend and the mother of his child.

5. Because the story of Oscar Grant cannot happen again in real life.

Above: Michael B. Jordan. Photo by Henny Garfunkel

The Best, Worst, and Weirdest From the Week.

January 25, 2013, 1:30 pm

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Best Coverage of Hillary Clinton's Benghazi Hearing: Feministing's GIF roundup. Listening to white Republican men go on and on and on never looked so good. -- Elizabeth Thompson

Best Instagram Post: Egyptian Lover showed up to soundcheck at P.S. 1's dome on Sunday to find these speakers. (But hey, those are obelisks, not pyramids!) -- Jonah Wolf

Best Music Festival Line-Up: Governors Ball, which features Kanye, Kings of Leon, Nas, The xx, Azealia Banks, Kendrick Lamar, Dirty Projectors, Local Natives and a buttload more. Sorry, Coachella. -- Abby Schreiber

Best Colbert Report Guest Ever: Tavi Gevinson, who gave Stephen Colbert a Harry Styles-esque makeover and assured him he had a show for "Cool Dads." -- Hazel Cills

Best Nicorette Chewing: Obama during the inaugural parade. You KNOW he was out on the balcony of the Lincoln bedroom having a celebratory Marlboro Monday night. -- E.T.


Worst Book Cover Re-Designs: These terrible new covers for The Bell Jar, Anne of Green Gables, and other classics look more like Gossip Girl books than feminist classics. -- H.C.

Biggest Scandal We Just Couldn't Bring Ourselves To Care About: Beyoncé lip-syncing the National Anthem during the inauguration. Eh. -- E.T.

Best Clip We Watched All Week: The fake commercial for "Birth Control on the Bottom" yogurt. -- A.S.

7 Fashion Designers Who Have Costumed Movies

January 25, 2013, 1:49 pm

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Miuccia Prada designed many of the costumes featured in Baz Luhrmann's upcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby but this isn't the first time a high-profile fashion designer has helped costume a major film production. Below, take a look at the some of the most memorable pairings of fashion in film as designers try their hand at costuming. 

Jean Paul Gaultier for The Fifth Element

Haute-couturier Jean Paul Gaultier designed many of the iconic, uber-futuristic costumes featured in Luc Besson's 1997 film The Fifth Element. Included in the 954 costumes Gaultier created for the film are the cruise attendants' purple uniforms, Chris Tucker's leopard bodysuit, and Milla Jovovich's infamous revealing white bandage ensemble. If these costumes aren't what fashion in the future looks like, we don't know if we want to live in that future. We just won't live in it!

Manolo Blahnik for Marie Antoinette

Sofia Coppola enlisted Manolo Blahnik to design shoes fit for a queen for her 2006 film Marie Antoinette. The result? Frilly, candy-colored shoes so decorative they could have been toppings on a cake. We hope these come back in style. Tomorrow.

Hubert de Givenchy for Sabrina, Funny Face, and Breakfast At Tiffany's

Hubert de Givenchy met Audrey Hepburn in 1953 while designing costumes for the film Sabrina, including the iconic red gown pictured above. He went on to costume her in nearly all of her films and was responsible for one of the most iconic pieces of fashion in the history of cinema -- Hepburn's Little Black Dress in Breakfast At Tiffany's. What a classy, classy man.

Rodarte for Black Swan

Design duo (and sisters) Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte designed some of the gorgeous ballet costumes in the 2010 film Black Swan, starring (Rodarte friend) Natalie Portman. The Mulleavy sisters altered their initial designs to fit the unique needs of the dancers, constructing head pieces out of burnt copper and layering tulle to make tutus as light as possible. The product was a series of ballerina outfits both delicate and, ultimately, somewhat sinister. (Though these horror-film loving sisters probably didn't care about blood getting on their tutus.)

Raf Simons for Jill Sander for I Am Love

Costume designer Antonella Cannarozzi called on Raf Simons for Jil Sander to outfit Tilda Swinton's wardrobe for the film. Swinton, who plays a wealthy matriarch of a Milanese family whose trade is in the fashion business, dons some classically minimalist looks for the film that can only be the work of Raf Simons. The men's wardrobe in the movie was also designed by a high profile designer, Silvia Venturini Fendi, who oversees Fendi's accessories. 

Giorgio Armani for American Gigolo

Although the film as a whole was costumed by Bernadene C. Mann, the Armani suits that Richard Gere wears in American Gigolo not only contributed to the overall definition of his stylish and narcissistic character, it also helped spark the 1980's trend in impeccable suit tailoring by Italian designers. To this day, American Gigolo always brings the work of Giorgio Armani to mind. Well, sex probably comes to mind first... but also Armani.

Raf Simons for Body Art

Raf Simons is costuming again for the upcoming Luca Guadigno film Body Art, starring Isabelle Huppert as a body artist and Sigourney Weaver as a journalist. Whether or not the costumes will exhibit the decadent aesthetic of Christian Dior, the house Simons now helms, isn't certain, but we know one thing: they're going to be really, really beautiful. 

Manti Te'o Is So Not Gay, Beyonce-Gate + More

January 25, 2013, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: The Lonely Island, Adam Levine + Kendrick Lamar Redefine "YOLO"

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Welcome to our Friday GIF roundup, featuring a collection of this week's most important, amusing and/or newsy GIFs and GIF sets by Mike Hayes of Buzzfeed and Gifhound.

GIFs. Yes. The week's best. Yes. Scroll to the bottom if you're missing the presidential inauguration...

It's cold in New Jersey. But don't worry, if your a dog who's been left out in the cold Cory Booker is coming to save you. [GIFhound]

Top TV mom on Tumblr. I'm serious. [Peoplemag]

Jon Stewart on crafting website Etsy. [Havelogicwilltravel]

Well done, dog. [GifDistrict]

You can have a pet fox. [Digg]

Manti Te'o is so not gay. Soooooo not gay. [@BuzzfeedSports]

Anderson weighed in on the whole Beyonce lip-synch errrr, gate. You can all shut up now, haters. [gifsfln]

You know, nobody really followed up with Jimmy Carter about the whole Beyonce thing. [FamousBeyonceFans]

In other Inauguration pop culture news, Malia Obama became everybody's favorite '90s kid this week. [LipGallagher]

And last but not least, one final thought about Beyonce from Uncle Joe...[Buzzfeed]

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The Lonely Island, Adam Levine + Kendrick Lamar Redefine "YOLO"

January 28, 2013, 5:30 am

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You shoulda' stayed up to watch Saturday Night Live. One of the funniest bits was the return of The Lonely Island with Adam Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone -- accompanied by the night's special guests Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar -- in a video for "YOLO" from their upcoming third album. Of course they've twisted the meaning of the already idiotic acronym, but maybe this clip can save some lives. Show it to school kids so they'll think twice before they go to a sauna. It's the perfect PSA.

Dot Com's Best 30 Rock Lines

January 28, 2013, 5:55 am

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The Lonely Island returned to SNL this weekend with their new digital short for "YOLO," featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar. You oughta look out, kids.
 
Authentic Weather App by Tobias van Schneider. [LaughterKey]

OK! [RatsOff]

Macaulay Culkin: AKA Ryan Buscemi AKA Steve Gosling. [DailyDot]

Look at this giant lemon! [Flavorpill]
Sorry, not sorry. [ThisIsntHappiness]

Shh, go back to sleep. [Reddit]

Pee-Wee Herman cycling suit. [LaughingSquid]


A supercut of Dot Com's and best obnoxious-intellectual-guy lines. The show's last episode is on Thursday. :( :( :( :( [Vulture]
 
Free Valentine's Day gift idea. [Megret]

Lena Dunham Leaves Her Fucking Mark

January 28, 2013, 9:00 am

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Hannah Horvath has a problem: She desperately wants to be a writer but has nothing to say. A cocky blog editor named Jame suggests she try a threesome or do a bunch of cocaine because, well, at least then she'd have a story to tell. The logic is lowbrow ("the magic happens outside of your comfort zone," Jame explains) but the message resonates with Hannah who feels chickenhearted compared to her peers. With little hesitation, she scores cocaine from local junkie Laird and enlists Elijah as her drug buddy. Let the bender begin.

From a viewer's standpoint, this is where the magic happens. In the series' sharpest scenes yet, Lena Dunham and Andrew Rannells, who plays Elijah, give a lesson in how to act like you're on drugs. It's artful, hilarious and impressively believable, which is no easy task. In the middle of a weird confession session ("I just wanna raise show dogs," Elijah moans) the duo realize they should be writing these thoughts down. Obviously. But a pen and paper is so Gen X. "Leave your mark, Hannah," Elijah beckons to her, gesturing toward the blank walls. "Leave your fucking mark!"

This, however poignant, is only the beginning. The pair venture to a party at Greenhouse to see AndrewAndrew DJ and Hannah trades shirts with a pony-tailed rave spirit on the dance floor. They circle back to the bathroom to cut lines on a toilet seat and engage in standard newbie rave conversation ("You look so beautiful," "We have so many fuckin' memories," and so on) until Elijah confesses that he had sex with Marnie. This does not go over well. Hannah spins into hot flashes and screams at Elijah that she hates him.

Later, at the drugstore, blame ensues: Hannah interrogates Elijah about Marnie and he blames her for taking the situation personally. But is it really wrong for Hannah to feel hurt? After all, isn't that why Elijah and Marnie didn't tell her in the first place? For Hannah, finding out her ex-boyfriend was gay left her feeling vulnerable enough; she didn't need Marnie to make her feel worse. The fact is, Elijah isn't the real issue here. You get the sense that Hannah and Marnie have always been competitive, and I sympathize with Hannah in this scenario. There were plenty of men for Marnie to rebound from Charlie with that wouldn't have hurt her best friend.

Plus, let's get real for a second. Marnie's a little off her rocker these days. In this episode, she falls into the arms of douche-y artist Booth Jonathan whose single redeeming moment is when he tells Marnie her generation tends to give up on their passions the minute they have to struggle (zing!). But it's all downhill from there. After a tour of his creepy apartment and a claustrophobic art installation that blares Duncan Sheik's "Barely Breathing" in a tiny box full of TVs, Marnie emerges and tells him he's "so fucking talented." They proceed to have hideous sex under the gaze of a strange doll while Booth asks Marnie to describe what it's thinking. Afterward, they have a completely stupid conversation about the '90s that probably made the Buzzfeed staff cringe. Frankly, the only thing that could make Booth's character more intolerable is if he hit it off with Thomas John. Oh god, please, no.

Then the doorbell rings. It's Hannah, Elijah and junkie Laird, whom they picked up at the drugstore after discovering he'd been guiltily following them around since he sold them drugs. Hannah's on a mission to shame Marnie for the Elijah fiasco, but also to relieve herself of some of the guilt she's carried around since Marnie moved out. In a single breath, Hannah unloads all of her vulnerability, insecurity and guilt onto Marnie, labeling her the "bad friend" and booting Elijah out of her apartment (alright, a little extreme). After she and Laird leave, they wind up kissing in front of his door. But knowing Hannah, it won't last. She's not ready for love, not even with the junkie.

Let's step back for a moment and applaud Dunham for this satire-soaked episode. It's one eye-roll after another: First, the corny underground blog, then the corny rave with the corny iPad DJs, and finally, the corny art by the corny artist. It's vanity on parade, and it's funny because it's true. Brimming with affectation and pretentiousness, Dunham brilliantly parodies this generation's odd exhibitionism. And if it's her way of telling us to take ourselves a little less seriously, well, she's got a point.

Dunham admits that much of the show is autobiographical, so I can't help but wonder if this episode was written from personal experience. In fact, I can picture it: In search of interesting stories and writerly validation, Dunham hits the downtown club scene with one of her quirky gay ex-boyfriends. In the middle of exchanging spurious coke-fueled emotional banter, he lays it all out. "Leave your mark, Lena. Leave your fucking mark." And Girls was born.

This Eyelash Jewlery Makes Us Want A Cocktail, Stat.

January 28, 2013, 9:24 am

≫ Next: The Meatball Shop Guys Talk Late Night Bites And Olive Oil Massages

≪ Previous: Lena Dunham Leaves Her Fucking Mark

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If the hamburger eye made us hungry, this eyelash jewelry by Natalie Russo makes us want a fruity cocktail. [via Fashionista]


According to Cathy Horyn, Dior Couture is raking in the dough and has more orders than it can fill. We're hoping that means we'll be seeing lots of Dior at the Oscars.

  
Here's your daily dose of male models acting out and  f***ing up a hotel room in Milan for indie label Contemporary Standard. [via Fashionisto] 


Courtney Love has sort of taken up her old feud (that we didn't know existed) with Gwen Stefani -- telling ABC News that she "would've never really bet on Gwen" and that Stefani's husband, Gavin Rossdale, "runs the Gwen show, that's him. He runs the clothing line, he f**king built that up, he has nothing else to do." [via The Cut]


Betsey Johnson changed her mind and will show at Fashion Week, revealing "I just could not stay away...I wanted to do this for myself and for all of my fans to show that I've still got it and I am not going anywhere." Yay! [via Fashionista]
 

A bag from Vittorio Missoni's flight was found on the island of Curaçao, which is around 124 miles from Los Roques. Investigators are now combing over the area to look for more clues. [via Fashionista]


Can Humberto Leon and Carol Lim please just take over our closet? We want these Kenzo x Helios Plimsoll sneakers just like we want everything else they design. [via HypeBeast]

The Meatball Shop Guys Talk Late Night Bites And Olive Oil Massages

January 28, 2013, 10:35 am

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Each week in our new Off Duty series, we'll talk to some of our favorite chefs and industry folk around the country to find out their secret late-night spots where they like to grab a bite and a pint when their kitchens are finally closed. Next up: Michael Chernow and Daniel Holzman, the dapper dudes behind the wildly-successful The Meatball Shop.

Michael Chernow:

What places do you like to go to when your kitchen is closed?
I love Frank Restaurant on Second Ave. between Fifth and Sixth St. -- it's got to be one of my top five favorite restaurants in New York. I used to work there, too. They are open til four o'clock in the morning on the weekends and until 1 o'clock on the weekdays. It's an Italian restaurant and they do a dish called the rigatoni ragu that inspired the Meatball Shop, actually. It's an incredible dish. It's very simple -- just meatballs and pork sausage in a red sauce with ragu. In my opinion, it doesn't really get any better than that.

What's your favorite thing to order?
I worked there for years and now that I don't work there anymore, I always get the rigatoni ragu but when I ate there on a regular basis, they have a dish there called Fava e Cicoria and it's a fava bean soup with roasted vegetables and you kind of dip the vegetables in the soup. It's a classic Pugliese dish and spectacular. I used to eat that regularly.

How did you first discover Frank? Did you go there to eat before you started working there?
I was working at other restaurants and nightclubs and it was this under-the-radar hot spot in the East Village. I really wanted to work there. I was 20 when I got hired and stayed there for about eight years.

Do you have any fun memories or anecdotes from nights spent there?
Do you want me to be totally honest with you or keep it PG-13?

Be honest!
When I first started working at Frank, it was definitely a late-night spot and I was also a bit of a maniac at that stage in my life. The first year I worked there when I was about 21-years-old, we all got drunk after work and I got a full-body massage in olive oil on the big community table.

Daniel Holzman:

What's your favorite spot, Daniel?
I definitely like Barrio Chino. I literally have no idea when I first went there or who brought me there. I actually have no memory of most of the times I've gone to or left Barrio Chino. It's a tiny little restaurant on Broome St. Great little Mexican joint. The margaritas are really delicious, the people who work there are really cool, and the food's tasty and cheap.

What are your favorite things to order?
The calamari salad. The margaritas are also pretty special. They have about eight different types of margaritas and I happen to like the elderflower version.


Any fun anecdotes?
I'm so sorry to do this to you and normally I would have stories but I'm completely drawing a blank.

Michael: The last time we were at Barrio Chino, it was definitely an experience.

Daniel: I was more drunk than I've ever been in my life. We brought the Jägermeister with us. I don't suggest that.

Frank, 88 Second Ave., NY; Mon-Thurs, 10:30am-1am; Fri-Sat, 10:30am-2am; Sun, 10:30am-midnight

Barrio Chino, 253 Broome St., NY; Mon-Fri, 11:30am-1am; Sat-Sun, 10am-1am

More From Our Off Duty Series

AndrewAndrew Talk To Us About Their Cameo On Girls

January 28, 2013, 11:15 am

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≪ Previous: The Meatball Shop Guys Talk Late Night Bites And Olive Oil Massages

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If you happened to watch Girls last night (or even if you didn't), you may have noticed two familiar faces: AndrewAndrew, our theater critics and longtime Friends of PAPER. For those who live in New York, AndrewAndrew are regular presences in the nightlife scene -- often behind the DJ booth -- but for those who don't, you may be scratching your head and wondering, "Who the hell are those two?" We had the chance to chat with the "brand consultants and iPad DJs" -- as Elijah puts it -- and hear about the moment Lena Dunham first spotted them, what filming at Greenhouse was like at 7am and what one of their mothers said after she watched the show.

How did the cameo first come about?
It was confusing because I remember our manager shot us a text and said, "Do you know Lena Dunham?" And we were like, "Oh yeah, she's on that show," and she said, "Okay, I'm working on something [with Lena]." Our manager made it seem like we had partied with Lena and we had met her before -- it was very mysterious how it panned out -- so it came as a shock when we were in the makeup room, after having no sleep, and Lena told us this whole backstory. Lena had seen us reviewing theater [for PAPER] at Lincoln Center and she said to her friend, "Look at those two weirdos" and her friend said, "No that's AndrewAndrew." After that, Lena told us, "I became obsessed and started googling you and Facebook stalking you," which is kind of amazing to hear, and she just wrote us into the show.

What was filming like?

It was scary because we got the script a day before and we were both so nervous because we thought we'd have lines and we didn't, thank God, because I don't know if we could've handled that. We had to be on set at 7am and I think we had DJ'd the night before, too, so it was ridiculous.

We were there all day -- definitely for a solid twelve hours if not longer. I remember being kind of terrified because the final shot they did of us -- they didn't end up using it -- was a shot overhead almost from our perspective. They wanted to style the booth and asked us what would be in it and there was this consternation about getting an ice bucket of champagne and glasses and then at the last minute, someone threw cherries in the glasses and I thought, "Ugh, we would never have cherries in the glasses." I was in the mindset of "This has to be real."

Did you see the episode for the first time last night?
Yeah, last night was the first time we saw the final edit. I think we shot it eight months ago. What's amazing is that after the show, so many people are tweeting "is AndrewAndrew real?" That's got to be our favorite side effect of being on the show. I think that's the best question anyone has ever asked about us.

Were those real people in the club or just a shitload of extras?

[Extras.] Their casting was so spot-on in terms of getting people who looked good and dressed like they were at a club at 4 in the morning.

I love being in nightclubs in the off-hours because there's something magical about the fact that in nightclubs, for a window of time, a small amount of distance becomes incredibly important. For four hours a night, the difference between being outside and being inside the nightclub and the difference between being in the club and in the VIP room becomes incredibly huge. So I love going to places like Greenhouse in the morning because you see it without all of its "hair and make-up" [so-to-speak].

What did you think of your description on the show as "brand consultants and iPad DJs?"
[It felt like] not only did we have to talk about ourselves but it was almost like Andrew Rannells [Elijah] was doing our business for us -- it was like he was reading our bio or our business card. The fact that he flushed us out and said we were brand consultants as well as DJs blew our mind.

[At the time we were filming], we didn't even know Andrew Rannells was going to be on the show. We know him primarily from [being in] Book of Mormon so when we got into the make-up trailer at 5:30 am and saw him staring back at us in the mirror, we kind of freaked out.

And what did you think of that conversation between Hannah and Elijah when they're wondering whether you have sex with each other? Do people ask you that?

The whole AndrewAndrew experiment-project-lifestyle, whatever you want to call it, spans this grand anthropological-sociological experiment and we discovered things about the way that people react when something is out of the ordinary. Apparently people lose all sense of decorum. I would never ask anybody upon meeting them what they do with their genitalia.

Were you fans of the show before you filmed your cameo?

We've definitely seen a good chunk of episodes and it's the kind of show that if you miss a couple of episodes, you're out of the loop about what's happening. It's such a cultural touchstone right now. Just don't watch it with your mother. We may have watched it with one of our mothers. We may also have gotten a disturbing phone call from one of our mothers after she saw the show. She was proud [of us] but also said, "It was lovely seeing you two -- is that really what the dating scene is like these days?" That's such a mom thing to say. This is the same mother who didn't like The Sopranos because she "didn't care for that type of person." So she has a history of not being able to stomach culturally-significant television.

Also just the fact that we've been DJing like this for 14 years -- it's nice to still be relevant. Previously, we also had a cameo on Gossip Girl and our goal is to make a career out of playing ourselves on TV shows. We wanna DJ victrolas on Boardwalk Empire and DJ lutes while wearing jester hats on Game of Thrones. 

What was your biggest or craziest party night á la Hannah and Elijah?

The thing with being working DJs, the craziness really happens after 4 am and after we invite friends back to our place. [One night] we went to a premiere of our friend's play and the play itself featured group sex, murder -- it was a really crazy show. We ended up back at our place after three iterations of after-parties and within five minutes of being in the apartment, Andrew had sabered a bottle of champagne, I had cut my hand trying to serve someone scotch, then  someone tipped over the ice bucket and the champagne ended up all over the floor. The coat rack fell down and everyone's coats were soaking in the champagne. There was a three-way in our bathroom and I think someone was taking a shower, too.

Photo by Carly Otness/BFANYC.com

Celebrate the Life and Music of Joe Strummer & The Clash

January 28, 2013, 1:30 pm

≫ Next: Kids These Days Don't Know Who Elvis Is

≪ Previous: AndrewAndrew Talk To Us About Their Cameo On Girls

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Fans of The Clash will be out in force for a big celebration of the UK band and vocalist, Joe Strummer, who died in 2002. On Tuesday, January 29, head over to The Bowery Electric (327 Bowery) for a fundraising event to raise money for "Strummerville: The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music" with host Matt Pinfield and an all-star band featuring Todd Youth (Danzig), Tad Kubler (The Hold Steady), Mackie Jayson (Cro-Mags), Randy Schrager (Scissor Sisters), Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams), Sam Hopkins (Caveman) and Derek Cruz (Jesse Malin). There's also a monster list of special guests as well as a special appearance by The Young Things. HERE's all the details.

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Kids These Days Don't Know Who Elvis Is

January 29, 2013, 6:30 am

≫ Next: Tame Impala Is Hot for Teacher

≪ Previous: Celebrate the Life and Music of Joe Strummer & The Clash

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Jimmy Kimmel went around asking kids if they know who Elvis is. The results kinda bum us out but our favorite response was, "He's a famous singer with a random scarf." [via Jimmy Kimmel Live]

Ikea snowman. [via Scandinavian Kitchen; Thanks, Gary!]

Sisqo and Ebert: Internet -- let's make this happen. [via Jordan Cohen]

This looks like a real fun time. [via Tall Whitney]

Our new must-have sweatshirt. [via Trill Adam Clark]

Some of the queens from RuPaul's Drag Race stopped by the Buzzfeed office and gave their editors drag makeovers. Ladies -- can you come to PAPER next? [via Buzzfeed]

Hunky Steve Buscemi. [via 100 Years of Lolitude]

Love the shirt, love the moves. [via Coin Farts]

Amy Poehler is writing her first book! It'll be "memoir-esque." [via Vulture]

In case you missed it, Courtney Love performed an acoustic(?) rendition of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" at a Sundance party. No comment. [via Vulture]
 No shade. [via Rats Off]

Yeah, yeah, we know you've thought "Gangnam Style" has been played out ever since you saw, like, seven Psys on Halloween but -- hear us out -- this paper flipbook "Gangnam Style" that has all of Psy's moves and every scene from the video is awesome. [via Hyper Vocal]

Ben & Jerry's are unveiling a special 30 Rock-themed flavor this Thursday in honor of the show's final episode. Here's hoping it has something to do with 'Sabor de Soledad.' [via Ben & Jerry's]

Tame Impala Is Hot for Teacher

January 29, 2013, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Gisele's House Now Has a Moat

≪ Previous: Kids These Days Don't Know Who Elvis Is

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Hot for teacher? Tame Impala just released this clip for "Mind Mischief" off their Lonerism album and, though the track's pretty mellow, there's still plenty of sex and drugs to go around. While it starts off with live action, right before the kid gets to third base, there's a switch over to animation. The Perth, Australia, band records for Modular Recordings -- home to Cut Copy, The Presets, The Whitest Boy Alive, etc. -- and they'll be in NYC on February 19 at Terminal 5 (610 West 56th Street).

Gisele's House Now Has a Moat

January 29, 2013, 9:12 am

≫ Next: Watch the Trailer for Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo

≪ Previous: Tame Impala Is Hot for Teacher

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Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady just finished working on their 22,000-square-foot home in LA. The home includes eight bedrooms, a six-car garage, a wine cellar, a gym, a pool, a mini-castle for their kids and -- wait for it -- a moat. [via The Cut]


Tom Ford and Justin Timberlake are collaborating to "provide made-to-measure tailoring, including eveningwear, suiting, shirting, ties, shoes and accessories that will be a focal point of [Timberlake's upcoming album] The 20/20 Experience." We're assuming that means Justin will be wearing a lot of Tom Ford in all of his videos? [via LA Times]


Lorraine Kirke -- mother of Jemima Kirke, aka "Jessa" on Girls -- chose this week to expand her shop, Geminola, which sells re-purposed vintage clothes. As The Cut points out, this is very good timing given that Jessa sort of opened a vintage shop on Girls this week.  

The CFDA is partnering with Organic Avenue to offer models 50% discounts on all Organic Avenue food during fashion week. Can the CFDA partner with us so we can have a 50% discount on the burritos? [via Fashionista]


Bloomberg wrote about why Chanel ain't launching e-commerce any time soon. The answer -- which we all could have guessed sans investigation --  is that they want to retain an air of exclusivity. [via Fashionista]

 

Love these videos that Adam Morley and Dulcie Cowling did with Rankin's Hunger magazine. They tackle prints, accessories and color in a non-pretentious way that made us laugh out loud. [via It's Nice That]


KCD just launched their own platform for live-streaming many of the NYFW shows. You can find it here. [The Cut] 


This Titanium Utility Ring = woah. [via uncrate]


British footwear designer Kurt Geiger opened an NYC boutique at 375 Bleecker just in time for fashion week. We hear they have a secret garden in the back of the shop that will be the site of tea parties during NYFW (and it's heated!). [via press release]

Watch the Trailer for Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo

January 29, 2013, 11:25 am

≫ Next: Tegan and Sara Will Never Play Ping-Pong With the Black Keys

≪ Previous: Gisele's House Now Has a Moat

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French filmmaker Michel Gondry is back with a dreamy new romantic film titled Mood Indigo, starring Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris. Judging by the trailer (which features what appears to be an underwater wedding, flying cloud cars, and ice skaters that can be spun like a record) this will be a tres tres Gondry affair. The movie is based on the Boris Vian novel L'Écume des Jours which tells the story of a man who must keep his wife from dying by constantly surrounding her with flowers. (Maybe bring a Kleenex with you to the theater?) Check it all out above.

Tegan and Sara Will Never Play Ping-Pong With the Black Keys

January 29, 2013, 11:50 am

≫ Next: We Can't Stop Listening To "The Blow" by YADi

≪ Previous: Watch the Trailer for Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo

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Canadian rock twins Tegan & Sara's seventh studio album Heartthrob, out today, is their largest selection of shiny, radio-friendly pop cuts to date. Working with producer Greg Kurstin, who's previously lent his talent to pop songstresses like Ke$ha, Pink, and Marina and the Diamonds, the duo have created a number of boppy songs whose hooks are likely to burrow deep inside your head...and stay there (lyrics like "I want you close, I want you / I won't treat you like you're typical" from "Closer" are particularly ear worm-y). We talked more with Tegan about the band's new sound on Heartthrob, how she and Sara survive life on tour, and why she'll never play ping pong with The Killers or The Black Keys. Read on.

Tell me a little bit about your new album, Heartthrob, and your recording process this time around. What was that like?

Neither of us were that interested in writing guitar songs so there was a lot of synth and a lot of keyboards. Sara really encouraged me to write about something other than break-ups, because that's pretty much all I ever do. On a lot of the tracks, like "Closer", and "Drove Me Wild," and "Love They Say," I tried to write about romance. You know, like the idea of hooking up, or fantasizing about being with someone, or getting closer, being nostalgic about first crushes, the time before breaking-up and rejection. And with Sara, I encouraged her to do more traditional structures and not get bogged down in writing overly thoughtful, intense, cryptic, deep album cuts. We've also been writing with tons of pop people -- Sara recently worked on a Carley Rae Jepsen song.

As soon as we met [our producer, Greg Kurstin], he sat us down and was like, "You've held yourselves back, we get it. You wanted to be indie, you wanted to be credible. You're writing pop songs, go for it! Don't intentionally set your sights low, aim for the stars and see what happens." At that point, we recognized we had been a little bit self-deprecating, and a little bit like, "We'll never be successful, why even try?" And you know what? Fuck it. I am thirty two years old, I don't care. Let's just try and see what happens.

How was it working on the album considering that you live in L.A. and Vancouver and your sister lives in New York and Montreal?
 
We got a lot of air miles, that's how it worked. I also think that the major [benefit] of us living so far from one another is that there's a forced exile at the end of a tour. I feel that way about everyone we tour with. It becomes so normal for you to be around each other that it's almost instinct that you end up spending time together when you're home, and I think for Sara and I, and our relationship, and in terms of our daily lives, it's cool that we have so much space between us and we are able to distance ourselves from each other when we are off the road. I think it's made our working relationship that much healthier. Also, Sara hangs out in a different city, and the industry is different, and the vibe is different and she's interested in different music and I think that helps make our band more interesting.

Music video for "Closer"

So what's the adjustment process like when you go on tour and suddenly are spending so much time together?

At this point, I think I know exactly what it will be like when I get on the road. I think we really respect each other's space and when we're together, we enjoy each other more because it's all fresh and new. The flip side of it is, we've also learned where each other's buttons are. It's very easy for me to find what can annoy Sara very quickly. But I've learned that it's more peaceful and it's creatively more satisfying to not have that tension and stress all the time. We're kind of like animals in a way -- as long as we're entertained and trained properly, we don't lash out at each other. But some days I'm just annoyed in general -- it's like everyone annoys me.

It must be hard because you probably don't have much privacy or alone time on tour.
 
Yeah, there's something so inhumane about putting twelve people on a bus. It's just not normal. Especially in the UK, the drives aren't that long between two cities, so most nights we get to the next venue and park, and I'll wake up at three or four in morning, and it's quiet. You aren't allowed to run the generators in the UK in the buses, so there's stale air, and I have to listen to all the guys snoring, and just the smell!

What helps you survive life on the road?

Number one must-bring on the road -- besides your cell phone or clothes -- is your own bedding. Just imagine the shit that happens on those buses! We also carry an assortment of board games like Bananagrams and Scrabble. We were really into Scrabble and then everybody got really competitive, and when I say everyone, I mean Sara and our guitar player, Ted. But I dated someone who played Scrabble competitively, so I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. I just don't like playing with anyone who's too intense. And on tours with The Killers and The Black Keys, the bands traveled with ping-pong tables and I absolutely refuse to play with anybody because they guys get so competitive. It's unreal. It's like everybody is standing around the table with their dicks out and I cannot handle it. But on days off, I take everybody bowling and I think I am the third best out of the fourteen [people on tour].

Photo by Lindsey Byrnes