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Thursday , October 23, 2008

nogoodforme Superlatives: Fall Fashion Essentials

In truth, this entry is doing double-duty, because someone once Asked Us how to build up a fall/winter wardrobe. So, Elena from Arizona, here are all our respective answers...just in time for the fall sales, no less.

ALL KATS ARE GREY

Leave it to me to give the boringest, straightforward, trying-to-be-helpful answer -- can't help it, it's the Virgo rising in me. Anyway: I love fall! Sartorially speaking, autumn is when I am at my happiest, because it means I get to comfortably wear the things I love most: jackets, boots, scarves, coats. Plus, the fall fashion season fulfills my heart's deep desire for fashion to be beautiful and practical -- because fall fashion won't work unless it, above all, keeps you cozy and warm. As I am getting older, I am starting to appreciate the loveliness that is utility and simplicity and I have developed this weird obsession with paring things down and keepin' it real and Making It Last and Being Happy With It For As Long As You Can.

It takes awhile to "build" a wardrobe; I feel like most people go through phases of experimenting with different fashion selves and trying on all sorts of ideas, which is necessary and positive to approaching fashion as creative self-expression. Once you've got an idea of where you want to go and what does and doesn't work for you and your life, though, you can start thinking of investing in great pieces that can carry you through the years. In the most general sense, I dig the idea of getting a great coat and/or jacket and then finding a great shoe. A great jacket can do so much for even the most basic outfit in your wardrobe, and it can last ages; it's often the most powerful piece of a wardrobe. It will swaddle you in warmth when you need it and empower you with structure and sharpness. It's like armor at its best -- it both announces you and protects you, whether it's a classic equestrian-type coat that's strong sturdy or an adorable swingy little cape. A great shoe, whether it's a boot or whatever, will basically dictate what bottoms will work for you. (For instance, most of my favorite boots are flat, so I can't really rock wide-legged trousers on my frame with them, for instance.) It's necessary to choose well if you're investing in a shoe, because the wrong one can literally paralyze you, and that would suck and keep you from doing fun things in life. From there, you have tops, dresses, sweaters, and other assorted pieces, which are more playful and expressive. There's no general advice to give there, really, other than to have fun and try to not go overboard (as I usually can do). It's all up to you and what you want your style to be, but I feel the great base of most fashion aesthetics begin with your roots (shoes) and your armor (coats). But that's just my opinion.

Anyway, all that advice was probably really boring and bougie. Whatever! This is what's in my personal heavy rotation for fall. Half of this stuff is old, but half is new, and that to me is a dream wardrobe -- solid basics that you only need a little to update upon each season.

(1.1 & 1.2: Jackets! One heavier for outdoors, one light for indoors. 2: Drapey, flow-y cardigan. 3. Grey silk button-down. I wear it as a jacket over a t-shirt or tank. 4.1 & 4.2: Dresses! Tunics, really. Worn with leggings and boots or over skinny jeans. 5: SCARVES!! 6.1 & 6.2: Ankle boots. One night and one day. Both surprisingly comfortable. 9: A necklace from Nashelle. Pretty! I always like to buy one pretty piece of jewelry a season. Where are my pants, you ask? I don't wear any! Kidding, they're just the same old skinny jeans and leggings I wear all the time. I did get a pair of Corpus jeans for fall and they're pretty awesome. I recommend. Oh, and I got my long-coveted cropped double-breasted pea coat with a gift certificate from Armani Exchange. P.S., me skipping 7 & 8 is not me trying to be like Martin Margiela. I just forgot to change it in Photoshop.) NOT PICTURED: In the fall, I drink lots of drinks involving Jack Daniels. I like Jack and gingers a lot, but Jack and Coke will do. And sometimes I just like Jack.

LAURA JANE IS GROWING UP:

1. Red Lipstick: Tons and tons of it, every single day. I want it to be a Thing About Me. I want to drink soda out of straws and people will know it was my soda because of the lipstick stains. Oh, and it has to be NARS Jungle Red: a pure, undiluted, unadulterated hyper-concentrated red's red. I'm hot.

2. Black and white (and red): When I was a little kid, I would often read a trashy adolescent-girl series called Sleepover Friends. I guess it wasn't so much trashy as it was crappy, and beneath my reading level. One of the Sleepover Friends was a loud-mouthed director-type named Stephanie (she was the one I Related To) who only wore black, white and red, every single day, which is really impressively high-concept for a pre-teen. Stephanie probably grew up to be the head curator of the MoMA's Architecture wing, or something. Anyway, Stephanie from Sleepover Friends is 100% my Style Icon for Autumn 2008 (TAKE THAT, CLAUDIA KISHI!!!). Black and white and red, all the time. I'm dying my hair black, and fully embracing my vampiric paleness. If you've got it, flaunt it, right?

3. Beer: Drinking white wine spritzers is so last summer. BORING! The only thing hotter than being the girl at the bar drinking whiskey and sodas (who I will never be, because I have a low tolerance for hard alcohol) is being the girl at the bar knocking back a beer. Grolsch is a good choice because the logotype is pretty, and "Grolsch" is a fun word to say. I also think it is really hot to drink Strongbow cider. That's my second choice, if they don't got Grolsch.

4. Ratty faux-fur coat: MY RATTY FUR COAT is back and better than ever. It affords my new badass-ly elegant style a nice, restrained hit of scrappiness, and calls to mind the only two people who ever rocked b&w harder than Stephanie from Sleepover Friends: JOHN LENNON AND YOKO ONO. I just don't think I will ever tire of my ratty faux-fur coat; it's been five straight winters and I still love it like it was my first-born son. Speaking of first-born sons, I'll probably still be wearing this coat when I'm picking my first-born son up from school or going to PTA meetings or whatevs. "Eeeewww, her coat smells like twelve-year-old Grolsch splatter!" the other moms will say. Those judgmental bitches.

5. Black high-waisted pleated-front ankle-length San & Soni trousers: These pants are so hot that they make me feel okay about becoming one of those stupid losers who carries flats around in their bag so that when you go indoors you can remove your practical winter boots and show off your sexy ankles. I showed these pants to my dad, and he was in a state of disbelief that pleating is "back". "Not for you, Dad," I said, "Just for me."

Dudes, don't wear pleated pants! Please! Leave that shit to Laura Jane. (Laura Jane)

AN APPLE ON MY HEAD & A SONG IN MY HEART

1. Okay, first of all: I thought it'd be so adorable if I took my photo with an apple on my head, but apparently I lack the skill and coordination required to balance said apple on my noggin whilst photographing myself and actually end up including my autumn-essential cardigan in the picture. (Now I'll NEVER be a teen model!) So: The cardigan's from The Stupidstore and it's got these really groovy suede elbow patches, but I couldn't work those into the photo either (because the only thing harder than taking a self-portrait while balancing an apple on your head is taking a self-portrait while balancing an apple on your head and showing off your really groovy suede elbow patches). If you're really curious, here's the catalogue pic of the back. And I included a cardigan-obscuring shot of the apple here, just so you'd all know that I really did balance it for a bit (in case you thought I get my kicks by lying about putting apples on my head).

2. Secondly: I'm not through with amassing all my autumn '08 essentials just yet! This weekend I'm going to use a big exciting gift card thing and get myself a plaid flannel button-down, a just-above-the-knee-length skirt in either red or navy (possibly pleated), and a second pair of leggings (not to be worn all together, FYI). Pretty basic stuff, really. Mostly I plan on wearing lots of sleeveless dresses and the Stupidstore cardigan, plus - of course - my trusty old cowboy boots. Oh, and after this weekend I'm going on a clothes-shopping fast for ONE MONTH. So if you see me around town and I'm trolling for new jeans or ridiculous t-shirts, please arrest me! I can blog from the clink.

3. Lastly, what fall? It's 94 degrees today!

(Liz)

Tags: advice, apples are the new hats, basics, beer, black and white, cardigans, Claudia Kishi, fall fashion, Forever 21, grey, L.A. is hot, minimalism, ratty fur coats, red lipstick, scrappy is dead, shopping fasts, Sleepover Friends, wardrobe advice

Monday , October 20, 2008

Ask Y'All Anything: Snappy Breakfast Ideas

I've been on this kick lately where I try to eat a decent breakfast, since "breakfast is the most important meal," as the infamous they keep telling me. I think it's true, though -- for the most part since being diligent about morning sustenance, I find myself a happier, more productive person when I eat a good breakfast. I don't get cranky, I work with more focus and life is just better overall. Yay, breakfast! But lately I find myself falling into the "yogurt-with-fresh-fruit-and-almonds" rut. It's not a bad rut to be in (especially since I discovered the amazingness that is Icelandic skyr recently. Skyr = YUM.) But ruts are still ruts. So, anyone out there got some kicky little breakfast ideas and recipes out there that aren't breakfast cereal or yogurt-based? What breakfast meals keeps you happy and zooming along in your life like a cheerful little bee?

Tags: Ask Us Anything, breakfast, food, Iceland, recipes, skyr

Friday , September 26, 2008

Ask Y'All Anything: How shall I rouge my cheeks?

I've recently started wearing blush for the first time in my life. It's kinda funny 'cause I'm naturally pretty rosy-cheeked and prone to blushing at the drop of a hat (so annoying). But I've been using Bare Escentuals mineral makeup for about a year now and, though I love it, sometimes it has the effect of making me look slightly dead. Also, it seems that makeup-provided rosy-cheekness is far more fetching than that natural flush that happens when it's cold out or I'm drinking red wine or a cute boy says he likes my shoes. And besides, as Nancy Botwin says: all girls look better with blush. (I actually don't find that to be true, but maybe it's true for me. Plus the rosy-cheek thing goes along with my newly hatched plans to become either a princess from a Ukrainian fairy tale or Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail.)

Lately I've been using this Cover Girl stuff and it's fine but not really turning my world inside out. So here's one of those reverse advice column kind of deals, where I ask you a question and you give me lots of answers and then I do exactly as you say, or maybe not. Please tell me: Which brand of blush would you recommend? I'm probably not going to spend $8 million, but I'm more than willing to go beyond the drugstore. Please help me; I want to look just like Christian Bale and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Velvet Goldmine.

(Velvet Goldmine images courtesy of the lovely Screenmusings)

Tags: advice, Bare Escentuals, blush, makeup, Mary Poppins, nancy botwin, rosy cheeks, Velvet Goldmine

Thursday , September 18, 2008

Ask Us Anything: Style Icons

I was wondering who is/are everyone's style icon/s?

-- Olivia

Actually, we are way more interested in hearing about your style icons. (We devoted a whole series to our style icons, which you can peruse here, in case you want our answers.) So, dear readers, we address you directly with the query of "Who are your style icons?"

In the interest of sharing, here are a few more from each of us that our democratic process excluded from officially extolling.

Kat: Dita Von Teese & the Duke Spirit's Liela Moss

Laura: Geri Halliwell at the 1997 BRIT Awards; Moon the Loon

Liz: Jenny Lewis & Mary Timony (cuz Jeans+T-Shirt=Hottest)

Tags: Dita Von Teese, Geri Halliwell, Jenny Lewis, Keith Moon, Liela Moss, Mary Timony, reader participation, style idols, the Duke Spirit

Thursday , August 7, 2008

Ask Us Anything: Top 5 Beatles Tunes

I find it awfully tantalizing when Laura Jane says that such-and-such is [the/her][##][best/favorite][fill-in-the-blank] without revealing what ranks higher!

care to at least share your top five Beatles tunes? (though you seem like the type to rank their entire catalogue...!) or any other lists you'd like to share?

-- cmn

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE BEATLES SONGS
By: Laura Jane Faulds

5. Girl

A million love songs are lies, but Girl is the truest. Being in love is never very fun when it actually hits; leave it to John Lennon, the most perceptive human being ever to have existed, to write a snide and sarcastic anti-love love song that quite simply Nails It All. The reality of Love is that it is an annoying mix of self-doubt and preoccupation, confusion and reverence, inconvenience and palpitation. Sort of like: "When I think of all the times I tried so hard to leave her/She will turn to me and start to cry/And she promises the earth to me and I believe her/After all this time I don't know why."

Later on in his life, John Lennon said that this song was about the dream of Yoko Ono before he'd ever met her. I personally prefer to believe that it's about Laura Jane Faulds, but hey: if it's not gonna be me, I'm happy it's Yoko. This song is AMAZING also because of: 1) the "I'm John Lennon and I'm so cool for using the sound of myself sucking on a joint as a percussive embellishment" sound FX, and 2) the George/Paul backing vocal refrain of "tit-tit-tit-tit-tit" which is the noise of the Beatles being awesomely immature and seeing if they could get away with saying "tit" in a song (apparently they could).

This song was never released as a single or performed live (as far as I know), so instead of watching a super-rad Candlestick Park performance of this song, you are going to have to settle for watching one of those weird Youtube clip-vids that nerdfaces put together so that Beatles-obsessed bloggers will have something to supplement their "Girl is my fifth-favorite Beatles song" op-eds with. This video features an image of Paul McCartney wearing his thick-framed black glasses, which is really, um, Paulicious of him, so that's cool:

4. Rain

I didn't hear Rain until relatively late in my life because it's not on any of the long-players and once upon a time I was fourteen and ignorant and lived in a Wikipedia-free Universe where these things happened sometimes. Then I heard it on Past Masters Volume I Could Give a Shit and could not believe my ears, and that's when Girl got bumped down to Slot #5 and either Please Please Me or Twist and Shout lost its spot in the uber-exclusive Laura Jane's Top Five Hearts Club Band. Rain is sparkly and exciting and danceable and contemplative and anti-Normie and positive and negative and SO COOL I CAN'T EVEN DEAL WITH IT WHY DO THE BEATLES HAVE TO BE SO GOOD OMG OMG OMG @$&#@*$&#@!(.

Once upon one day, it was four-ish years ago and I hated everybody in the world and was not as worldly and wise as I am right now. I walked up and down Graham Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, from the bridge to Borinquen-ville, and the rain poured down on me and I cried and felt really in tune with nature and knew that from that moment on I would never care if it rained again, and I was right. When it rains, I get all self-righteous and make a big obnoxious deal about how I don't care if I get wet because I'm just like John Lennon: We are of the Universe, and you know what it's worth.

Oh yeah: and saying the backwards vocals in this song RULE is quite the understatement; unfortunately for me, the English language is by far too limited to explain just how "good" they sound. The Beatles also used the existence of the song Rain as an excuse to invent music videos:

3. Long, Long, Long

This might seem like a weird choice to be my third-favorite Beatles song of all time, but I love it particularly for that very reason. Long, Long, Long a secret surprise that only real Beatles fans get to know about; I pity all the half-baked Beatles fans of the world who listen to that stupid Beatles Number One Hits CD and totally ignore the existence of opalescent gems like this one. Long, Long, Long is the last song on Side C of The White Album, tracked directly after Helter Skelter, which is so boisterous and "Look at me! Look at me!" it makes a Gay Pride Parade look like a Zen monastery. The insanely-underrated Long, Long, Long is a Harrison-penned love song to his Lord and Savior Hare Hare Krishna or what-have-you, but in my life, it's always been the song I turn to when I need to pine, ache, and feel out-of-control sorry for myself.

When I first met my ex-boyfriend/first love, he lived in crappy Hamilton, Ontario and I lived in Brooklyn. I was dating somebody else (who I pretty much abhorred, or at least was really, really, really annoyed by) and was totally overwhelmed by my sophomore-year workload (which I dealt with by procrastinating like a madman and then pulling all-nighters five-odd nights a week), and had not yet learned how to handle my shit on any level. I remember one sleep-deprived evening where I sat on the hardwood floor with my knees tucked up to my chest and my head tucked into my knees. I listened to this song over and over again crying and missing my beloved. I have never felt so much in my life as I did that night. I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it.

It is a natural fact that I start crying 9 out of 10 times that I listen to Long, Long, Long, and you should too!

2. Strawberry Fields Forever

I don't know how to explain this. Why should I? Writing a paragraph about why Strawberry Fields Forever is my second-favorite Beatles song of all time is like writing a paragraph about why I have brown eyes (actually, I don't even have brown eyes- they're hazel, but I always feel like a snot and a half saying "hazel" instead of "brown"; like- get over it! Nobody cares, loser!). Strawberry Fields Forever is my go-to for days when I am feeling overwhelmed or a little heavy on the malaise; any emotion that is in any way with tinged with negativity can be instantly soothed by listening to Strawberry Fields Forever. The art I respond to the most usually reminds me of past lives I may or may not have lived; songs or images or phrases evocative of dream-states, nothings, nevers, nethers and parallel I-have-no-ideas. Strawberry Fields Forever is the soundtrack to the infinity of all the years you didn't exist yet. Strawberry Fields Forever is a gift.

George Harrison also has hazel eyes:

1. Hey Jude

hey jude.jpg

Once, approximately one month and one week and four days ago, I was sitting on the steps of the church on the corner of Grand St. and Leonard St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a couple of girl friends and a dude. I asked the ladies and gentleman to name their favorite Beatles song; bro said, "I guess it's Hey Jude, but that's SO OBVIOUS, you don't want your favorite Beatles song to be something so boring-"

You know what? I have John Lennon and Paul McCartney's names tattooed on my body. What the hell do I care if my favorite Beatles song is an unoriginal choice? What? Should I say my favorite Beatles song is Mean Mr. Mustard or Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite? Because it isn't! It's frickin-frackin Hey Jude, because Hey Jude is the best pop song ever written, and if your need to self-define as oddball is so great that you would pick Savoy Freaking Truffle over Hey Freaking Jude to be your favorite Beatles song- (pause for deep breath)- check yourself before you wreck yourself! The movement you need is on your shoulder.

The only problem I have with naming Hey Jude as my favorite Beatles song is that it sort of kills me that it has to be a Paul song and not a John song, but OH THE HELL WELL: Hey Jude is objectively the best Beatles song there is. It's a fact, Jack, and we all just have to bow our heads, cock our brows, curl our lips and admit to ourselves and the Universe forever that Paul won this round. He straight-up did. Paul McCartney wrote the best Beatles song; John Lennon didn't. That's the way it is; there you go. Case Closed. And now you know.

Here is a madly good video of a Hey Jude rehearsal; John Lennon is in top wack-a-doodle form for this one.

PS: Some other favorites:
-Run for your Life
-Don't Pass Me By (hells yeah Ringo!)
-Happiness is a Warm Gun
-Lovely Rita
-Eight Days a Week
-Only a Northern Song
-The Inner Light
-I Am the Walrus
-Baby You're a Rich Man
-I LOVE THE BEATLES THEY ARE ALL SO GOOD WOW DAMN HOLY HELL I LOVE THE BEATLES

Some ones I think kind of suck:
-In My Life (schmaltz)
-Blackbird (proto-Jack Johnson schmaltz)
-The Long and Winding Road (such schmaltz it isn't even worth saying it's schmaltz)
-Rocky Raccoon
-WHILE MY STUPID LAME LOSERY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS BORINGLY AND PLODDINGLY AND RUINS THE WHITE ALBUM BECAUSE OF ITS POOR PLACEMENT

Tags: Ask Us Anything, George Harrison, John Lennon, Laura loves The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Pauliciousness, pop music, Ringo Starr

Wednesday , August 6, 2008

Ask Us Anything: Red Lipstick De-Virgination

I want to move into the world of red lipstick, or lip stain, but where to start? What's a lovely brand and shade that isn't too garish and is a good starter for a lipstick virgin?

-- Laura

+ Continue reading "Ask Us Anything: Red Lipstick De-Virgination"

Tags: beauty, Cherries in the Snow, Daniel Craig, Fresh, heartbreak, international espionage, Nars, red lipstick, Wet 'N Wild, Yves Saint Laurent

Wednesday , July 30, 2008

Ask Us Anything: LJ's Headscarf Tying Technique

From Sarah:

HI! I love the scarfs that Laura Jane uses as headband type-things. I was just wondering how she ties them?

+ Continue reading "Ask Us Anything: LJ's Headscarf Tying Technique"

Tags: American Eagle Awesome, Ask Us Anything, headscarves, obvious Photoshop brightness/contrast-ing, step-by-step tutorials

Saturday , July 26, 2008

Ask Us Anything!

Have a burning sartorial dilemma? Need mixtape advice? Just want to indulge your deep desire to ask near-strangers a completely random question? The doctors are in and our lemonade stand is open now at nogoodforme.com, so if you've got a question you've ever wanted to ask us -- about fashion, about music, about anything, really! -- then leave it as a comment below or email us at editors (at) nogoodforme (dot) com.

lucy doctor stand.jpg

P.S. - Actually, if you required psychiatric help, you should probably ask elsewhere. Although we have been known to give decent lurve advice on occasion...

Tags: advice, Ask Us Anything, impertinence, questions