AUTO PORTRAIT: A HOLIDAY TALE

We're in Bill Cunningham's On The Street in the Style Section of today's New York Times! (See the little watermarked gothic T in the lower right hand corner of the photo above and Bill's name in really tiny letters in the lower left?)

In his voiceover to the video about today's column, called Jollytown, Bill Cunningham said: "The delightful exception to basic black are New Yorkers in eye-catching felt helmets and other colorful clothes like Santa costumes." We're in the center (natch!) directly under the text. He snapped us last Saturday as we emerged from Barney's on Madison Avenue wearing our fabulous felt flapper helmets (try saying that three times rapidly) designed by Carol Markel, the wonderfully talented artist/milliner.  To see her own blog post about today's paper, click here.

Two of our pals also appear in today's paper: Suzanne Golden and her friend Victor appear in the fourth photo to the right of us, and Christina Viera appears in the third photo to the left of us. (And all three have appeared in Idiosyncratic Fashionistas at one time or another.)

We don't seem to be able to embed the video for you, but below is the link to it. (We appear at the 2:30 point. Sorry - there's a little ad you have to watch first.)

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/12/21/fashion/100000001970253/bill-cunningham-jollytown.html

'How did this happen?!', some of you might ask. Well, kiddies, sit down with your egg nog in one hand and your mouse or touch pad in the other, and we'll tell you.

It all started when we got this idea that we should have a car for Christmas.

In the New Age spirit of visualization and positive thinking, we thought we should be prepared for the automobile to happen.  And to help us focus our thoughts on cars, we should wear Carol Markel's auto helmets. The car we envisioned should be red, for Christmas, and because it's a gift, it should be wrapped in a bow. Below, here we are, doing our visualization exercise.

And waddya know...???!!!  It works!!!!
Here we are in a shiny new red Mercedes SL550 Roadster!

We figured as long as we were visualizing, we should just go for it! With a sticker price starting at $105,000, we just might be test-driving ourselves off our own fiscal cliff!

Jean has Eartha Kitt's "Santa, Baby" playing in her head.

Valerie is dreaming that she could actually drive a car on the streets of Manhattan.

Having checked the virtual automobile off our "wish list", we were free to wander up and down Madison Avenue. We went to Barney's to view Simon Doonan's high tech Christmas windows featuring Disney's Electric Holiday. In Chelsea Passage on the 9th floor, we perused the Mickey and Minnie Mouse memorabilia of our youth side-by-side with modern Disney creations like little white vinyl Pillsbury dough boy-like faceless creatures decorated by designers like Diana von Furstenburg, and came away with marvelous helium balloons.  On the main floor, for the second year in a row, Valerie drooled over - but did not buy - marvelous Balenciaga gauntlets that would go SO well with the car!

As we were leaving Barney's, balloons trailing behind us through the revolving doors, we remarked in astonishment to one another (like, Du-Uh) that sometimes Mr. Bill hangs out in front of Barney's. Quickly scanning the horizon, however, Valerie said "but apparently today is not one of those days". And that's when we just about stepped on his toes, he was that close to us. (Gotta get new glasses. These clearly aren't working anymore.) Bill's face lit up when he saw us and he asked us all about our hats.  When he asked who made them, Valerie whipped out our post card-sized business card (don't leave home without it) and wrote Carol Markel's name on it. And you know the rest ...

After that, there was nothing left to do but have a celebratory cocktail, so off we went.  We ran into Brandon Acton-Bond on Fifth Avenue, engaged in some big-time schmoozing and then headed right to The Modern where Jean had the South by Southwest - Gran Centenario Plata tequila, P&H hibiscus syrup, lime and mint - and Valerie had a slightly revised version of the Vesper Royale, a heady combination of cilantro-infused Tanqueray gin, vodka, suze liquer and champagne (maybe a little more champagne next time, and a little less vodka...). We each also enjoyed a bowl of The Modern's marvelously delicious wild mushroom soup and wonderfully crusty bread.

Since almost literally bumping into Mr. Bill last week, we continued our visualization exercises throughout the week, this time visualizing ourselves in the Style Section. We even dreamed up a title page. We thought The Year in Style would be nice.

Waddya know? That worked too!

Happy holidays to all of our friends, family, followers and fellow fashionistas! We're excited to see what new adventures 2013 will bring. Stay tuned!

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AND FOR OUR FELLOW NUMBERS FANS OUT THERE IN THE ETHER

As we've pointed out ad nauseum, we had 10/11/12 this year, and 12/12/12 this year, but we're sort of running out of the fabulous numbers that the early part of the century allows. Having said that, however, we would like to point out that we currently have 553 followers (thank you all very much for accompanying us on our little adventures), and we would really love it if we could have 555 followers by Christmas Day. We're hoping (or rather, visualizing) that someone will kindly do us that honor.

What we wore:

Valerie wore Carol Markel's hat; vintage wheel-shaped earrings by Robert Lee Morris; vintage silk coat by Elizabeth Arden; black faux fur jacket by Issey Miyake; wheel-shaped brooches from the Museum of Modern Art; red leather gloves; Comme des Garcons pants; Arche ankle boots.

Jean wore Carol Markel's hat; lacquer necklace and earrings from Heydari (a wonderful boutique in Washington's Union Station); High Use coat; black W118 by Walter Baker slacks; black Kyodan peplum jacket; black with red gauntlet gloves (from an antique shop in Cold Spring, NY); red Tignanello cross-body bag; Underground black & white creepers from Trash and Vaudeville; vintage bakelite rings and bracelet; black vintage glasses from Fabulous Fanny's (updated with a Verilux prescription).

Sharp and Flat

Why is this lady smiling? Because she found flat shoes that not only fit comfortably (OMG!), they look kinda cool (NOT like they came from the orthopedist's), and were well priced. That IS something to smile about. Wonders never cease!

Women of a certain age learn that the best strategy for buying shoes is to snap them up when they're available, because they're never available when you need them. Especially - ahem! - when they are on sale for $30 a pair. The first time you buy comfortable shoes, you INVEST, thinking the comfort will be worth the extraordinary price. Only after you discover that your $400 investments make you wince do you realize that price often has little to do with quality or comfort, and then you allow yourself to go back to cheaper brands. If you buy ten pairs of $30 shoes, and only five of them are comfortable, you've still bought five pairs of shoes for $300, instead of one infuriating, repulsive, falsely advertised pair for $400.

Valerie recently came across several pairs of shoes she could actually get happy about, and bought them, the way one puts in a supply of bread and eggs before a snowstorm. The hilarious perforated shoes above are made by Bernie Mev. You can tell by the color that they were from an end-of-season sale (and $30 is definitely an end-of-season price). The soles look a lot like sneaker soles, but they're discreet and shapely. Here in New York, they're not exactly appropriate now, although an enterprising person could dye them black and probably wear them now. Or dye them red, or green, or blue.....

Now, these half black half white shoes didn't cost $30, but they were 1/3 off. The shoes and the box are stamped APARTMENT, a new Korean brand. The soles, covered by the leather uppers, are made of cork, so they're light and forgiving. There's also a nice little pad in the insole for extra comfort. The wide toes turn up, and add to their flavor. They tie with black laces, but come with white laces as well, so in fact one could use both color ties to riff off the black and white leather. They're from Opening Ceremony, where we went to see the new Yoko Ono men's wear, so Ms. Ono gets the credit for connecting Valerie to these shoes.

Just had to dress up the shoes a little bit to put them in context.

And these get dressed up too, before going out.

Here's what the perforated shoes look like as part of an outfit. Readers may choose to tone it down a little bit...

And here's an outfit for the two-toned shoes...

See? You CAN have little old lady feet and still enjoy wearing shoes!

(And just by the by, shoe designers, there are little YOUNG ladies who can't wear heels either [we know because they've told us so], so your market for flats is bigger than you think!)

BONUS SHOES

This is the other pair of $30 shoes, made by Spring Step. No outfit needed for these - they go very well with standard black. The thick soles are wonderfully shock absorbent, but notice how nicely the soles are integrated into the design. The tall synthetic sole can also be a plus on a rainy day. There's a nice diagonal line across the instep, kind of reminiscent of Cydwok shoes. These look like they could use a bit of revamping. The buckle is decorative, and may eventually be removed (maybe with one of those devices they use to snap locks?), and Valerie never met a shoe she didn't think she could improve with magic marker. These could easily go dark gray or black. They have a glazed finish, and might need a bit of sandpapering to take color more evenly. Of course, laziness is an important factor in any design project, so they might just stay as they are....

Jean's 2 cents:

Given all the negativity of recent news stories, I wanted to inject as much levity as possible into this posting. In the spirit of the season, I wanted to report on the demented trend south of the border for elf-like footwear! The new craze in Matehuala, Mexico for extremely long boot extensions makes for some really far out footwear.  Although none of them can compare with Valerie's shoes, some might give her a run for her money!

Young men in this farming town in northeast Mexico have developed an obsession with pointed footwear with toes so long, they turn up in a giant spiral.

Now, this is a craze I can really get behind. They compete in dance competitions wearing their outrageous footwear which may extend as long as 35". Made of foam or covered garden hoses, the extensions are lightweight but can be rather awkward.  Each troupe has its own distinctive uniforms to match or contrast with their fancy shoes.

Who knows how long it will take for the fad to spread to the US? Can't you just picture street dancers and rappers in these magical shoes?  And the risk of getting them caught in a subway door will make rush hour much more interesting! This duo added matching hats to complete their outfits.

Adios, amigos! (Photos courtesy of AP.)

12-12-12

Well, you can't say nobody told you. We hope you remembered to mark 12-12-12 in some enjoyable way, because the next 12-12-12 won't come till 2112. (Doesn't 2112 have a great symmetry to it?)

We were delighted to discover that we are not the only ones with number fixations. News agencies reported that the number of weddings was something like double the usual. Click here for a slide show of 12-12-12 weddings around the world, from the Huffington Post. Some people attended the 12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy. Click here for 140 concert photos, also from the Huffington Post.

As for us, we got small, to use the old Steve Martin phrase. We got together a very small group of people, joining three of our friends for marvelous cocktails to celebrate the auspicious date.

Above, Jean, Susan Troxell and Helen Uffner. The venue for our little get-together? 2nd Floor on Clinton, a lovely cocktail lounge and speakeasy located on the second floor at  67 Clinton Street on the Lower East Side. In true speakeasy stye, you have to enter through Barramundi, walk through the bar to the back, go through an easy to miss doorway on the left marked "Private" and ascend the staircase to enter. (http://2ndflooronclinton.com) We had previously reported on a cooking class and birthday dinner on the rooftop space by the Dumpling Diva, Marja Samsom, and owner of the space, Tony Powe, with JR, Shawn, Mark and George.

Above, Valerie joins Susan and Helen for a photo. We had a lovely table at the front of the space overlooking the street below. It was quite the international crowd: Susan is from England; Helen hails from Belgium and Marja Samsom, as everyone knows, is from Holland. Rather than being intimidated, we (the Brooklynite and the Washingtonian) felt right at home. Below, Marja, Susan and Helen.

It made for rather eclectic conversation with overlapping versions of Six Degrees of Separation. 2nd Floor on Clinton was the perfect locale, because you can actually carry on a conversation and hear what everyone is saying.  How novel!

The setting is sophisticated but  not overdone. Tables are situated just far enough apart that you aren't listening to the conversations of other patrons but close enough to be intimate. Comfortable seating with sufficient table space for drinks (see opening shot and photo below), a wide selection of heavenly alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink concoctions, and wonderful background music that sets the mood but doesn't dominate the space? What a simple recipe for a memorable evening!  Go to bottom of post for descriptions of some of the cocktails.  The wonderful pine scent of the holiday wreaths and Christmas tree added to the holiday atmosphere.

Unbeknownst to us when we first accosted Susan Troxell last September on Lafayette Street, there were myriad connections among the three of us and mutual friends. We saw Susan walking up the street looking like a million bucks (or in her case, a million British pounds) and asked if we might take her photo for one of our Silver Foxes features. She'd just been to the Diana Vreeland documentary The Eye Must Travel at the Angelika and recommended it so highly, we had to go.

Avid readers will recall that is where we met dandy Patrick McDonald, illustrator extraordinaire Robert Richards, performer Joey Arias and society hairdresser Steven Knoll. (Here's a link if you'd like to have a look: http://idiosyncraticfashionistas.blogspot.com/2012/09/diana-vreeland-eye-has-to-travel.html)

Imagine our surprise to learn that Susan not only knows Marja from the Kitchen Club but also knows Tony Powe from their hometown of Devon. An added degree of separation? Helen Uffner (who readers will also remember owns Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing, the costume rental service) is friends with one of Tony's business partners from one of his West Village eateries. What are the chances that all three of them would converge with us and Tony on 12/12/12? Here we frame the Dumpling Diva herself, who regaled us with tales of her recent trip to Moscow!

Oh dear. We seem to have neglected to mention the cocktails and how delicious they were, and how beautifully presented. To give you some idea, below is the Kyoto, with a fresh leaf of shiso both flavoring and decorating it. (Scroll down to the bottom to see all the drinks and their ingredients.)

A champion bunch shepherded us through our evening - Ektoras Binikos, our mixologist, flanked by Susan Miller (left) and Karen Whitelaw (right), who knew the drinks inside and out, and made sure we had everything we needed.

When "the dark prince of mixology" himself, Ektoras Binikos, came to the table to chat, it turned out that he was a total pussy cat and that Helen Uffner had traveled to the Greek Islands of his birth and Susan is scheduled to do a Greek Island cruise later this year. Our heads were spinning trying to keep track of all the inter-connections. The scent of the preparation of spicy mulled wine added another holiday element to our visit. Mulled wine is hard to come by, since it's so labor intensive. Everyone has his or her own preferred wines and spices to use, so in New York you're unlikely to come across exactly the same flavor twice. Below, a cup of mulled wine, steam still rising.

Jean enjoys the aroma of the apricots, cherries and spices in the mulled wine.

And just before we departed, Tony treated us to little tumblers of home made egg nog.

What a jolly evening it was. As we were leaving, we noticed the marvelous, large, decadent floral arrangement on the bar, the scene of the crime.

With a lot of laughter, we descended the stairs into the night with Susan, Helen and Valerie sharing a cab uptown and Jean and Marja walking together across Rivington Street before heading home to their respective abodes.

What we're wearing:

Jean is wearing a Maria Del Greco hat with vintage bakelite pin;  Top Shop jacket; black resin skull necklace (gift from Jodi Head); brass and pearl skull earrings by Kirsten Hawthorne; Brigitte harem pants; Underground creepers; and vintage bakelite rings.

Valerie is wearing an unlabeled vintage white leather hat; black and white plastic target earrings; white print jacket by Brigitte; black shirt by Issey Miyake; black pants by Comme des Garcons; black suede shoes by Arche.

Cocktails at 2nd Floor on Clinton:

The Kyoto: Shiso infused vodka, cointreau, lime, yuzu, shiso, pasteurized egg whites, yuzu bitters.
2nd Floor Sparkler: Cava, Aperol, Orange Curacao, Verjus, Orange Bitters.
James Delancey: New Amsterdam Gin, Velvet Falernum, Verjus, Orange Bitters.
Frida's Thorns: Herradura Blanco, Cointreau, Sour Cherry Juice, Lime, Yuzu, Ginger, Gum Arabic, Cherry Bitters, Smoked Sea Salt.
Apricot and Cherry Spiced Mulled Wine: Red Wine, White Wine, Moscato di Asti, Apricot Brandy, Cherry Brandy, Oranges, Cherries, Apricots, Anice, Cloves, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Home Spiced Bitters.
Holiday Egg Nog:  Cognac Pierre Ferand Amber Fine 80, Rhum JM VSOP, Michter's Bourbon, Cream, Eggs (pasteurized), Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, Orange Zest, Jerry Thomas Decater Bitters.

MANY THANKS TO JODEL MINTEL, WHO HAD THE PRESENCE OF MIND TO CAPTURE 12:12 ON 12/12/12 ON AN INSTAGRAM (OUR SECOND PHOTO), AND KINDLY SENT IT TO US!!!!

Come for the Fun, Stay for the Art: Night at The Asia Society

PLUS:
THE WHINE BAR
Valerie's Trip to the Post Office

Last week we went to the Asia Society intending to enjoy their holiday party - which we did - but we also wound up seeing an engrossing art exhibition by Lin Tianmiao, one of China's premier female artists. Words like "dark" and "brooding" and "portentous" characterize her work, which is deeply psychological, and not easily explained. A lot of Lin's work comes out of a childhood spent sewing and winding thread, which she found to be oppressive. Today, Lin continues to do a lot of sewing and thread winding, and the way she transforms those childhood tasks and incorporates them into her art is both fascinating and discomfiting.

We both fell in love with the high-collared dress below, one of several in the exhibition, but the dress also appears in a series of videos (a collaboration with her video artist husband), which are riveting, and by turns both dreamlike and vaguely nightmarish.

The Asia Society thoughtfully provided the video below on their website, which gives a nice overview of the exhibition. There's a tiny snippet of the dream/nightmare videos (that's what you see in the still), but not enough. We sat in a darkened room for a good five minutes watching several simultaneous videos, shifting focus frequently to make sure not to miss anything.

If you're in New York, try to see this show. We were lucky to have a docent, who was able to fill us in on a lot of background information, which added an extra dimension to our visit. Try to get a docent-led tour if possible.



Meanwhile, downstairs, there was a party going on. To paraphrase Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, it featured "a few of our favorite things": art, a museum store, jazz band and cocktails. What's not to like? The crowd was a crazy salad of ages, genders and nationalities. The gent in our opening photo told us he was with an Italian circus. Here's a closeup of two of his fabulous rings, one a silver cicada.

In the museum store, we met Harshita Lohia (left) with one of the store's employees.  They are both  modeling her scarfs. They fold flat, but they are three lengths of cloth sewn together to form triangular tubes, which gives them three dimensionality when worn.

This gives you a good idea of the range of designs of Harshita's graphic textiles.

This wonderfully dapper gent also works at the store. First we liked his glasses.

Then we loved his tattoos. He was about to get the last one, to complete the set, on the back of his head.

Here's the jazz quartet who kept the mood light and frothy.

This young couple was enjoying the evening and the crowd.

We admired so many people. Here was one of the women whose hair and outfit we loved. The crowding made it difficult to set up photographs, so we didn't take as many as we would have liked. And we know someone took pictures of us with our cameras, but they have disappeared!

If you stand long enough in one place, you'll run into everyone you know. Valerie ran into her former chiropractor, Alex (far left - former has to do with insurance, not with Alex, who is fabulous).

The gent standing with Alex was wearing a knit cap on which he had chain-stitched Keith Haring characters. The gent was wonderfully obliging and gracious when we asked to photograph his Radiant Baby.

Jean got some Christmas shopping done. Here, Patty Lee is demonstrating and selling her line of wrapping cloths. You can see they're rolled up, and tied with elastic bands ending in spiral balls, a perfect finishing touch to a beautiful product. The Asia Society gift shop was full of creative holiday gifts.

After we exited the party, we headed to one of our favorite diners for our usual late night repast: a BLT (Valerie) and a grilled cheese on whole wheat toast (Jean).

What we're wearing:

Jean is wearing a Maria Del Greco hat with vintage bakelite pin; Topshop jacket; Issey Miyake pants; Trippen boots; black 1950s plastic gumball necklace; vintage black and white polka dot metal earrings; vintage bakelite rings.

Valerie is wearing an unlabeled vintage hat, Issey Miyake vest, Miyake dress and Arche shoes.

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THE WHINE BAR

HO HO HO?

Valerie met her neighbor today in the elevator. Amazingly, he asked if she was celebrating 12/12/12. A fellow celebrant! A short discussion ensued, and he said he was sending all his Christmas cards out today so they would be postmarked 12/12/12. 'What a great idea', said Valerie, who had NO hope of doing the same. 'I hope I get something postmarked 12/12/12', continued her neighbor.
A great fan of interesting numbers, when Valerie arrived in her apartment, she opened a blank Christmas card, wrote on it 'your wish has been granted', and addressed it to her neighbor. Because the card was over the standard weight and size, she put two gorgeous stamps on it - one of Edith Piaf and one of Miles Davis. Then she went to the post office and stood in line for about twenty minutes to make sure the envelope was hand-canceled. A roving postal assistant was helpfully answering questions as people stood on line, making sure they had proper forms, sufficient postage, etc. Valerie asked if she had enough postage, and was assured that she did. 'And if I want it canceled by hand, can you help me with that?', she asked, hopefully. But for that the assistant said she had to continue to stand in line.

When it was her turn, she asked the postal assistant behind the counter to cancel the stamps by hand, to reflect the 12/12/12 date. 'We don't do that anymore', he said, looking her in the eye. Changing the subject to one he liked better, he said 'This is heavy. There's an extra charge for that. What's in here? Electronics?' When he weighed it, he found that no extra postage was required. 'Because it's the holiday, I'll stamp it for you', he said, and he did, with a cancellation stamp that had been on his desk in full view the whole time. Which was great, except that the stamps are black, and the all-important date was on the black stamps, not the white envelope, so the date was illegible. Pressing her luck, Valerie asked if he could do it again where the date would be visible. NO, came the answer. 'I can only do it once. The purpose is to cancel the stamps, not to date the envelope. I can't cancel an empty space. Is there anything else you need today?' He eyed her again.

?????????

Now, readers, how many of you have received envelopes with no cancellations at all or a dozen cancellations too many? What do you think would happen to a postal assistant if he put a cancellation on an empty space? Do you think they would send him to jail?

Do you think they would fire him?

Or send him for retraining? Is there a line in the postal assistant handbook that reads 'Don't even think of putting excess cancellations on someone's envelope if you know what's good for you'? Might someone take advantage of his kindness, cutting out the 12/12 postmark and pasting it to an envelope really mailed out on 12/13?

And how many of you have been told your mail 'must be postmarked by [fill in the date]' to be eligible for something or other? If the post office makes black stamps, and cancels them with black ink, how are you supposed to know if you're the million dollar winner or the million dollar loser? (And if you lose on that technicality, can you sue the post office?)

So what did Valerie do? Nothing. If this had been Fedex or UPS, she would have appealed to the manager. But this is the post office, which still has not delivered the birthday card she sent to Jean three weeks ago, with more than enough postage and a return address, and... Oh... because it's the holiday, let's not even go into the other stuff.

Here's to the late, great Ray Heatherton, The Merry Mailman. We miss him.