the nogoodforme interview: Quiet Hero

Quiet Hero are a mysterious entity masking themselves as a new clothing line, but there is no mistaken how utterly beautiful their wares are. In a world where the t-shirt is ubiquitous and sorrow and uncertainty pervade the land, Quiet Hero's contributions to the genre stand out for the daring and sheer gorgeousness of their artwork. With a Quiet Hero t-shirt, quick glances easily turn into flat-out staring, much in the same way a work of art commands and rivets your gaze. Not only do Quiet Hero's designs prove that there are no gimmicks needed with artistry and beauty, but the fledgling company does the right thing by making some of their clothing eco-friendly, using a blend of super-sustainable bamboo and organic cotton. [Edit: actually, they make one t-shirt that is fully eco, and it is here and really lovely.] They also donate a part of their proceeds to various charitable organizations as well -- see, heroic all around. Trust me, if you stand for all that is good and true about the world, you would do yourself proud by wearing one of these magical beauties.

We had a chance to pose some questions to Lee Selman, the owner and brains behind Quiet Hero; Carla Naden art-directs the visual magic, while Nik Hawks does the heavy lifting. Being stealthy sorts, this is what we got out of these smooth operators. There are no juicy details about making out or beauty tricks that they'll admit to, but I have a feeling that Quiet Hero would want to you live your own grand adventure anyway.

How did you get started?
Really the whole Quiet Hero thing started almost 7 years ago today, in a sunny breakfast cafe on a cold and bright Indianapolis day. There are details beyond that, details within details, rather than bore you with tales of ocean storms and desert sands, sailors and nomads, food, fancy, and love letters, I'll skip around the high points and hit some turning points.

What is the inspiration behind Quiet Hero?
The designs I wanted weren't anything you could find. I wanted the best of roller-skating mixed with modern, a twist of politics and savage slashes of color. I wanted the kind of t-shirt you'd find in the back of Johnny Depp's laundry room in France; something you could throw on and look two parts pouty international model and one part happy free-range chicken; I wanted something with heart.

Who are all the players behind Quiet Hero and how did you all connect?
I had my own kick-ass background, but being a woman wanderer wasn't enough to launch a phenom. For that I needed a volcano-talent artist and a half man, half amazing commando. That was enough. I met those two characters in two different cafes under very different circumstances. I had a gut instinct that overcame my initial hesitancy with both of them, and as usual, my guts were right.

What's behind the name "Quiet Hero"?
We called this beast Quiet Hero after shifting and shuffling and stomping through a long list of almost-right names. We always manage to make an entrance more akin to a drunken yeti than a Quiet Hero, but then, it's a lot more fun to be loud. We do our quiet stuff...quietly.

What advice would you give for someone aspiring to start their own line?
Live hard and rest easy. This whole messy story dripping with bear fat and celery sticks came into being because each of the three of us are hell-bent on doing the things we like to do. As long as we do that, we know we're alive. Not safe against pain, or misery, or the death of a friend, but alive and burning our candle at all six ends as bright as a thousand suns.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Mary Timony

I forgot I interviewed Mary Timony. That's pretty weird, considering that she's one of my favorite people ever and that, upon landing said interview, I ran all around town shouting it from the rooftops (metaphorically, or whatever). I don't know what the hell my problem is, but ultimately it makes sense for me to post the interview so soon after our brilliant and groundbreaking Style Icon series: Mary's sort of like my personal patron saint of girls who always wear jeans + t-shirt; I've probably copped her look more than any other rock dame I've ever gone bananas for, and it's all worked out fantastically thus far.

But my absurdly huge collection of beautiful thrift-store-bought tees is not all I owe to Mary Timony. Basically, her music's been my number-one creative inspiration for the past decade, and whenever I get around to making some sort of book, she'll surely be thanked in the liner notes. I can't even tell you where to start if you don't already have her records; they're all so damn great and each shows off Mary's guitar god/weirdo poet thing in its own genius and gorgeous ways. But 3hive's got a nice little selection of mp3s from her last three albums, so maybe you could start there and see what most strikes your fancy. For now, though, go on and plunge into our happily unearthed MT interview, and maybe skip the last question if you'd prefer not to know the depths of my unabashed dorkiness.

What was your first experience in making music? I took piano lessons in second grade. Then in third grade I took viola lessons. That lasted until I was 15. I remember singing "You Light Up My Life" in music class in second grade.

Who are your all-time favorite bands? Off the top of my head, I will just spout off a bunch of stuff. Yes, Can, Jimi Hendrix, RIchard Hell and The Voidoids, Television, The Slits, The Raincoats, Fugazi, Polvo, any of Ash Bowie's projects, any of Christina Billote's bands, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Steve Howe solo records, Alice Coltrane, The Adverts, The Stranglers, The Who, Moondog - I'm sure this list could go on and on...

How did you go about discovering new music when you were in high school/college? My friends took me to local shows in DC while the HarDCore scene was happening in the 80s. That's how I found out about punk. I met lots of people playing indie-rock music in Boston in the early 90s.

What most inspires your music? Daydreaming, long walks

What have you been listening to lately? The Evens, Welcome, Battles

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Not telling

What do you like to wear onstage? I have to wear clothes that I can move around in while I'm playing, and clothes that I can load heavy equipment in, so usually I just wear jeans and a t-shirt. Occasionally I'll spice it up and try wearing a more flashy shirt, but I don't usually really get dressed up on tour because there's usually not too much time, and the clubs are kinda dirty, and it takes too much effort! But I do my best to look presentable. Usually I have one or two pairs of pants that I wear the whole time! Then I rotate shirts. Skirts are usually out of the question, because I have to much stuff to do, and things to climb across. I guess it mostly has to do with loading, now that I think about it. But also it feels weird to me to play in a skirt.

Name one clothing item you always take on tour with you. Like I was saying, I usually try to have at least one shirt that makes it look like I tried to put some effort into looking nice. Other than that, I have to wear shoes that I can move in, and that slide around on stage, and that I can load gear in. I usually opt for Converse.

What's the craziest/weirdest/most memorable show you've ever played? With the band Green 4 we played in a person's barn in Maine. It was a private party but we didn't know beforehand.

If you could choose any locale in the universe to play a show, where would it be? How about an island off Greece?

Who are your style idols? To be honest, I don't have any. I don't know, maybe Joni Mitchell circa Blue? Or perhaps Richard Hell in the early 70s. Not for me, though - for boys.

What are your favorite places to clothes-shop (in your city or elsewhere)? In DC, it would be thrift stores.

Lastly: When The Golden Dove first came out, I was living in Boston, and one day while stopped at a red light in Harvard Square, I took out the CD booklet and started looking through it. There was a car full of kids next to me, and this 13-year-old girl leaned out the window and shouted, "Who is that cat-human lady?" and then started hissing and purring and clawing at the window. Anyway, my question is: Do you ever wear that cat mask these days? [Editor's note: Look up and to the right for a glimpse at the mask I'm nerdily referring to.] I don't wear it. I had it as a Halloween costume one year. But I still have it in my possessions, yes.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Diane Vadino of Bunnyshop

One of my hunky-doriest afternoons in recent months was the Saturday I drove up to Sherman Oaks, had a really successful shopping excursion at Buffalo Exchange, then celebrated said success by heading to Dupar's to eat blueberry pie and drink coffee and read many chapters of Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino. In Smart Girls, Diane (she of my personal favorite fashion blog evarrr, the much-beloved Bunnyshop) introduces us to a Jersey girl named Betsy Nilssen who's pluckily enduring such traumas as her lifelong best friend's impending wedding, a brain-melting assistant-editor gig at a fashion website, and a rollercoaster-y kind of romance with one very troublesome co-worker - all while grappling with a certain pre-millennial panic that's got her stocking up on freeze-dried pot roast. It's all so much whip-smart, giddy fun, even as all that twenty-something single-girl torment hits way close to home.

Confession: Diane actually did this interview way back in December, but I'm just getting around to posting it now: Sometimes it's just really hard for me to do stuff. Still, better late than never, and all that, and Diane's musings on New Jersey shopping secrets and the hotness of Rab from Johnny Tremain are so worth the wait.

How was Smart Girls Like Me born? It's weird because I never really set out to write a book. I'd been doing loads of spoken word slams, and always felt like a big dummy because I'd be competing against people doing pieces about oppression or war or economic injustice - and there I was doing these pieces about some guy who dissed me at a bar. But all those pieces added up to a story I was really desperate to tell and at a certain point I just started looking at them as small parts of a larger whole.

Is there a heavy autobiographical element to your lead character? How's that affected the experience of having the book read by so many people? It's so crazy because you know, there are definitely those times when I'm just sitting around with nothing to do and I'll look at some of the reviews online, and one of them I just saw was like "incredibly annoying characters" - and you're just like, hey! This whole experience has been about learning how to get over stuff like that - there's an element to it that's like reliving middle school, but at 32. So, yeah, definitely, Betsy's enough me and some of the others are enough people in my world that when they're read as incredibly annoying, there's a real pinch.

What are your all-time favorite books? Were there any books that were particularly influential/inspiring in writing Smart Girls Like Me? There are just so many. I wrote the first draft of Smart Girls in second person, because all those spoken word pieces were in second person - that turned out to be a big mistake, but I spent a lot of time reading two books that use it about a billion times better than I was able to: Lorrie Moore's Self Help and Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City. And then a million more. I love For Whom the Bell Tolls, and West With the Night, and anything by John McPhee. I just read The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, and it's amazing - so short, which is something I would really like to try next. In the Cut by Susannah Moore has my favorite ending of any book I've ever read. And at one point I was going back and forth a lot between my boyfriend in London, school in San Francisco, and home in New York, and I had a copy of JD Salinger's Franny and Zooey in each place, because it was just so right in so many ways.

Who do you consider the most stylish girls (and/or boys) among fictional characters in the book world? Oh! That is really hard. I keep thinking of Cecelia in Atonement but I'm sure I'm just actually thinking of Keira Knightley. I can say that my number one fiction-character crush was on Rab in Johnny Tremain. Am sure he was super stylish in Revolutionary War-type manner.

We love how Betsy is so New Jersey-loyal. Any fashion treasures/secrets/insider-y info about New Jersey you'd care to share with us? Oh, so much! I actually grew up in the outlet capital of central Jersey, in Flemington. (It was super exciting when we got a J. Crew a few years ago.) There are loads of great antique towns, like Somerville, Lambertville and Red Bank. My favorite vintage store on the planet is Incogneeto, in Somerville - I've actually witnessed NYC vintage shop owners come in and buy all this stock (and then, I bet, jack up the prices.)

What's the relationship between Bunnyshop and your fiction-writing? Are they pretty separate from each other, or do you find that they feed off each other? They're really super separate. I was worried for a while that Bunnyshop would eat up all that head space that the fiction should use, and I also worry that Bunnyshop's just so time-consuming that it'll always end up coming first - you know, just that classic thing where work comes before doing something fun. (I worry a lot.)

So, tell us all about how you started Bunnyshop. I'd been working at a fashion magazine for ages (at least ages in my-resume time), having come to it with an absolute disdain for/fear of fashion - I literally interviewed for my job in a jean skirt and (unbelievably ugly) polo top. But I really came to appreciate it, or at least parts of it, in those four years, and I wanted to see if I could apply any of what I'd learned.

What was your original vision for the blog? I had no idea what it was going to be - I remember e-mailing my sister and being like, Wouldn't it be cool if there was a blog where you could tell people about cool lip balms? I'm really excited to do more with it this year (two words: tote bags.)

Who are some of your favorite fashion designers? I love Courreges and Chloe and Balenciaga and Vena Cava and Rodarte. I cannot afford any of them, so I bought a sewing machine instead.

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around your town or in the whole wide world)? Most of my favorite things are from Topshop - it really does that thing right of making something super cool that's not a billion dollars - it's going to be weird/awesome when it comes to the U.S. In San Francisco there's this amazing vintage shop called Painted Bird in the Mission that's awesome and affordable - I also love Candy Store on 16th and Flicka on Fillmore. In NY I love Bird in Brooklyn, Loom in Park Slope and Bloomingdales, if I need something vaguely professional - but I probably pick up most things at H&M or Forever 21 or on eBay.

Who are your style idols? I just love some of the French singers and actresses from the 60s, like Francoise Hardy and Chantal Goya. And I am in love with Charlotte Gainsbourg. I think part of it is that they don't seem to be fearful of aging, or part of some super fucked-up youth-bimbo machine. Which is boring and stupid and lame. Beth Ditto! She's amazing. I just saw her in a documentary about a rock music camp for girls and she literally made the hair on my arm stand up, she was so incredible. I don't think she's ever looked in a mirror and said, "I'm too fat to wear [x]," and that is super-inspiring.

Whose closet would you most like to raid? Carla Bruni, I love her. Especially now that she is dating Nicolas Sarkozy (so super random) she can probably get a whole bunch of stuff free.

What's your favorite clothing item (or outfit) lately? I hate pants - I have lots of denim, but only one pair of pants-like items that aren't jeans. (They're cargo pants.) So anything but that, basically. I've noticed that I basically give up in winter and pretty much just wait for it to get warm again.

Who are your favorite bands/musicians? Bruce Springsteen! But also Regina Spektor, the National, Sleater-Kinney, Feist, Lily Allen, MIA, the Killers, Mull Historical Society, Kanye West. I just drove cross country and back and I ended up listening to a lot of audiobooks, too, most by Bill Bryson.

What music do you like to listen to when primping? I have a whole routine for Kanye West's "Stronger" - I freaking love that song. I also have some interpretive dances for most of the Legally Blonde soundtrack.

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. I am sure I am not the only person out there who still loves the theme song from The Greatest American Hero.

Favorite makeout music? I actually really like CNN or something on in the background. That is probably sort of weird.

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Without a doubt: John Taylor from Duran Duran.

What's next for you in terms of projects, books, etc.? Ha! Learning to cook something other than orzo. Watching Project Runway and learning to sew better and make letterpress cards and I'm actually trying to make the audiobook for Smart Girls into a project for art school, where I'm a junior. I have a bit of a problem focusing. Otherwise, I'm sort of sifting through ideas to see what's going to stick.

Lastly but not leastly - share one of your deepest secrets to clothes-shopping success, pretty please? Oh! Mm, I don't know about secrets but I do have one rule I try to abide, which is that any purchase over $200 needs to be held overnight and then bought the next day. Basically I need to be treated like a six-year-old in a candy, ribbon and pony store.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Heather Rose of Bona Drag

Clicking through online boutique Bona Drag makes me wanna go all Supermarket Sweep and snatch up every last pretty thing for myself. I'd start with the Paint By Numbers horsey tee and move on to Erica Weiner's Wolf Tooth necklace (complete with real coyote tooth!) and then probably grab me some vintage fringey black ankle boots. And for all my Smiths-crazed pals who, like Bona Drag proprietress Heather Rose herself, worship Morrissey lots more than I do: this fabulous, fabulous Morrissey watch. (Seriously y'all, the holidays are upon us and what better gift could you possibly ever find for your favorite Smiths-lover?)

I now send you off to shop away, but first: a few words from the lovely Miss Bona Drag herself.

Who are some of your favorite fashion designers? Hannah Bartie and her line With Hearts In My Eyes. This works well cause she's also my best friend. It's all handmade in limited quantities, very amazing and very wearable. I'm also completely in love with Danielle Petrosa's jewelry line. As far as couture, I enjoy looking at Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Pucci.

Who are your style idols? This always changes and it's usually characters from movies. Right now it's Nancy from I Love You Alice B Toklas.

Who's your dream customer? I would love to see what Miranda July would choose from my shop. I guess I would just love to see her do anything.

What's your favorite look lately? My current favorites are Native American inspired jewelry, anything with fringe, vintage tuxedo dresses and always tons of blush.

Who are your most loved bands/musicians? Morrissey, Cat Power, Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Silver Jews, Aimee Mann, AC/DC, Mary J Blige, Linda Ronstadt, Cat Stevens, Echo & The Bunnymen, Jawbreaker, Low, Magnetic Fields, and Sinead O'Connor

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. I have a lot of those. My favorites are Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt and Horses by Patti Smith.

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Morrissey. The name of my shop is named after a record of his, which means "nice outfit."

What's the best part about running Bona Drag? I love supporting my favorite independent designers and trying to inspire creative people to create.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Stephanie Simek

Stephanie Simek is a lady with many plates spinning, a hand in a whole slew of pies, and whatever other fun little metaphors you can come up with to suggest dizzying busyness. She and her beau Adam Keller run Portland's Rererato, a live-in music & art & film & video & everything else space created from a former Hare Krishna temple. They're also collaborators on polymorphous art project Baby Bird, and Stephanie's now in the midst of developing a series of "science project-inspired photographs and objects." All in the meanwhile, the 25-year-old New Jersey transplant has recently launched a jewelry line, featuring a series of sterling silver necklaces whose eyelash pendants are made of 100-percent-real human hair. Eek!


Tell us all about how you started your jewelry line. It's still very new. I designed the Eyelash Necklace a few months back as part of a series of objects, photographs, and installations I'm working on called Systems, Functions, Circuits, Dreams. So the jewelry-making process just sort of evolved out of that experience. Since then, I've designed more pieces and am watching it slowly grow.

What was your original vision for the line? Translating beautiful moments and feelings into wearable pieces. I also think a lot about reinterpreting and experimenting with different materials.

What are the greatest inspirations for your work? Lately, it would probably be elements from my dreams.

Who are some of your favorite fashion/jewelry designers? Lately I've been admiring the work of Dragana Perisic and Yuki Mitsuyasu. Also, some of Moschino's quirkier pieces.

Who are your style idols? Michel Gondry

What's your favorite clothing item lately? I have a small collection of one-piece jumpsuits I wear constantly.

Who's your favorite band? Luna

What music do you like to listen to when primping? Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet on cassette.

Are there any bands you find particularly inspiring to listen to while working on your designs? Sometimes I listen to music, but I have a tendency to tune most things out when I am focusing.

Favorite makeout music? See above.

Any advice for girls/boys out there dreaming of launching their own jewelry line? Go for it! Make it an obsession. Produce as much work as you can. It also helps to create an extremely affordable lifestyle, so you can spend as much time working as possible.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Joanna Petrone of Ach Ach Liebling

Joanna Petrone borrowed her jewelry line's name from a Stereo Total song, a few sweet deutsch syllables meaning "Oh Oh Darling." And Ach Ach Liebling's necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and cuffs truly are so darling - but they've sort of got a dark edge too: Along with the deer-boys and kitten-faced foxes displayed in Joanna's necklaces, there's some less cuddly stuff like dead birds and guns and, um, whales under siege. But somehow it's all equally, wildly charming, and we're very fond of the signature pieces featuring vintage-illustration-printed pendants strung from delicate brass chains (as in that lovely little seagull necklace below). Also, we can't get over the bad-ass-ness of Joanna as shown here in her leather apron and goggles - and please note that fine collection of bourbon, vodka, and assorted other hootch in the background.

Tell us all about how you started Ach Ach Liebling. It started in 2006, somewhat by accident. I had just come away from an office job where I was not happy. I didn't exactly know what to do with myself. I wanted to focus on writing, but no one wanted to pay me for that.
Jewelry-making was my hobby - the small-scale of it was well-suited to my itty-bitty apartment - but I noticed that, over time, I'd been putting more and more time and thought into it. After amassing more finished projects than I knew what to do with, on the encouragement of friends, I started to think about selling jewelry. I wasn't thinking about it in terms of grand life plans, but I wanted the things I made to go to use instead of sitting around and gathering dust. The thought of earning a little pin money appealed to me, too.
I live down the block from some great independent boutiques: Breezy from Needles and Pens and Jenny from the Candy-Store encouraged me a lot. It's hard to overstate their generosity or its effect. I was fortunate to be able to benefit from their experience; I could stop in to ask questions or get an opinion. They gave me pointers, critiqued my work, and provided the feedback I needed. Getting to know them and meeting other women like them in the fashion/craft/retail industries was an eye-opening experience for me. I was only a year out of Stanford, where my major was English. I'd not had much previous exposure to the trade, and jewelry and business had never been on my radar, careerwise. But the last job I'd had, the one my education had prepared me so meticulously for, had been such a bust. Then when I met all these smart, hip, independent women with their own stores or design companies or soap businesses or whatever, it was like a light had gone on. I all of a sudden had a new model for how to support myself by working creatively. I like hard work and I like using my brain, so the challenge appealed to me. I was like, "I could do that, too," and then I just decided, "I am going to make this happen."

What was your original vision for your label? I didn't even have a name for my company until the night before the application for my first craft fair was due, so to say I had an "original vision" for it would be a stretch. As for developing a kind of brand aesthetic, though, that's something I've never really worried about. I definitely have tendencies: My work doesn't usually feature gems or much wire work; I use a lot of non-precious materials and like to incorporate objects from other industries; most of the jewelry I make is thematic, either belonging to or containing a set of related images, objects, or symbols; and there are certain motifs I returns to (boats and animals and railroads, for instance). I don't try to force that stuff in there. That's just me - my style, my interests. I can't really help that certain aspects of myself leak out into my work. I feel like it's kind of futile for designers or artists or writers to point to a style and go, "I want to make stuff like that." That's just infatuation. And, just like you learned from afterschool specials, if you change who you are to win over your crush, you just look like a fool in the end.
I think people are who they are - you don't get to choose and that's something that will always catch up to you. Fighting your instincts, trying to make things that go against your natural inclinations - that's uphill work.

Who are your favorite designers? Nooworks makes my favorite sweats and tees. Secrets of Charm makes very attractive dresses. In jewelry, Naughty Secretary Club and Erica Weiner Jewelry are both funky, witty lines. The designers, Jennifer Perkins and Erica Weiner, have been very successful selling quirky hand-made jewelry at reasonable prices and making a living. They're kind of my role models in that way.

Who are your style idols? Amelia Bloomer, Radclyffe Hall and Una Troubridge, Montgomery Clift, Petra Von Kant, Johnny Cash, Marianne Faithfull, Pam Grier, Marlene Dietrich, The Switchblade Sisters, Carol from Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt, all of Joan Didion's heroines (but especially Inez).

Whose closet would you most like to raid? It would be cool to have a time machine that could take me to Edith Head's costume shop. I'd play dress-up there!

What's your favorite clothing item lately? Jeans and a good bra. I'm also a big fan of my leather shop apron. It's really good at protecting me from fire and acid!

What have you been listening to lately? PJ Harvey, Cat Power, The Magnetic Fields, Yo La Tengo, The Smiths, The Go-Betweens, stellastar*, Nick Cave, Stereo Total, Kathleen Hanna, Tracy + The Plastics, Joseph Childress, Joanna Newsom.

Who are your all-time favorite bands? Pet Shop Boys, The Knife

Name one record you loved as a little kid that you still listen to today. Really, I'm still listening to most of what I listened to as a kid. My dad is really into music, so there was always good stuff playing. The Talking Heads was my first concert, I think. I was five-ish.

Favorite makeout music? "Fuck the Pain Away" by Peaches

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? PJ Harvey

What's your favorite place to clothes-shop? My favorite store right now is Miette in San Francisco, but it's not an apparel shop. They sell candy. Sweet, sweet candy. I smile every time I go in.

What do you listen to when working on your designs? For a while, I watched nothing but Buffy the Vampire Slayer - episode after episode, over and over, on loop. Now I mostly listen to a lot of public radio.

What advice do you have for boys/girls looking to start their own label? Be brave. Get out in the world and talk to people. Don't be afraid to reach out to those who are more experienced than you. Be critical of the culture you participate in. Be honest and forthright and set your own standards. Don't say recycled when you really mean vintage.

What's your favorite thing about running Ach Ach Liebling? The diversity of the people I interact with regularly is one of the best parts about my work. Since I run all aspects of the business, I talk to everyone from retailers to suppliers to tool- and dye-makers to other jewelers to people from every trade I have passing contact with to my customers. I meet people from all walks of life, and that's a really special experience.

What are the biggest inspirations for your work? Usually, whatever movie or book or nerdy interest has me gripped at the moment will prompt some new ideas. But ideas are really the easy part. It's researching materials and engineering a wearable object, making prototypes and perfecting them that's the challenge. Then you get to make it over and over and over and over again. I wouldn't keep doing it if it weren't for the women and men who wear my jewelry and look totally fierce and imbue each piece with their own style and personality whenever they put one on. It's the best feeling when someone tells you they like something you labored over. I want to make things that make people delighted - that's my inspiration.

The nogoodforme.com Interview: Justin & Cyd of Subversive Jewelry

My first taste of Subversive Jewelry came midway through my sophomore year at Parsons School of Design, when my best schoolfriend Cyd Mullen suddenly started showing up for Departmental Seminar 3 wearing oversized necklaces adorned with plastic horses, vintage keys, Mickey Mouse charms, and the like. When bombarded with compliments and exclamations about said baubles, the always cool Ms. Mullen would simply shrug it off and say she started working for an old friend from Pittsburgh, the jewelry designer Justin Giunta. Fast forward two years, and suddenly Subversive has been nominated for a CFDA Award while Amber Valletta (and a monkey) is busy rocking the line in a photoshoot for American Vogue. I was only the tiniest bit envious.

Subversive's latest creations are as delicious, whimsical and, um, subversive as ever, though significantly more subdued, refined and elegant (fittingly, they have recently launched a Bridal Collection: the very thought of it makes me want to get married STAT). That's called progress, my friends, and I for one am certainly digging the additional dose of chic. But enough from me: please allow Subversive founder/designer Justin and his assistant/production manager Cyd to speak on their own behalfs. Merci buckets!

Tell us all about how you guys got started with Subversive.

Justin: I got started by making a charm bracelet filled with gun charms for my friend's birthday! Everyone wanted one, so I made a 12-piece collection around ironically arranging charms into narratives.
Cyd: Justin started Subversive in 2003. I got wrapped up in things with my Pittsburgh connection. Justin claims Pittsburgh is the center of the universe; I just lucked out with him as my high school chemistry tutor.

What do you guys listen to when you're working on your designs?

Justin: Everything from Steely Dan to Art Brut.
Cyd: EVERYTHING! Seriously, we listen to music all day and have totally played out our entire iTunes library. I can't listen to Steely Dan again. Recently, I've been listening to Nic Harcourt on KCRW.com. He has a great show called Morning Becomes Eclectic.

What are your biggest inspirations?

Justin: The Entirety of Art History!
Cyd: Justin continues to inspire me everyday. He is a very talented artist. Make sure to checkout his paintings at www.justingiunta.com.

What's your favorite thing about being in control of your own designs, rather than designing for someone else?

Justin: I always defined being an artist by being able to sustain a livelihood from the things I make with my hands. Creating each piece of jewelry is
both engaging and rewarding for me, every time.
Cyd: Wearing it!

Any advice for girls/boys out there dreaming of launching their own label?

Justin: Starting something new seems increasingly daunting these days, but you have to be determined and sincere in your pursuit: if you put the emphasis on making your product great, and are confident in sharing your creative viewpoint, the rest will follow suit.

Who are your favorite designers?

Justin: Viktor & Rolf, Martin Margiela, Alexander Mcqueen.
Cyd: I recently saw Patti Smith play, and she looked good decked out in Ann Demeulemeester. But for me, I've been saving my pennies for Chloe's Doc-inspired platforms.

Define your aesthetic sensibilities in three words.

Justin: AFRICAN PIRATE CHIC

Who are your style idols?

Justin: Andre 3000.

Whose closet would you most like to raid?

Justin: I am happy in my own closet!
Cyd: Laura Faulds' (Editor's note: I am Laura Faulds, and seriously, it's not that great)

What's your favorite clothing item lately?

Justin: Shoes. I have never been into shoes, until recently.
Cyd: I've been wearing my black Marni platforms every day. I really am a sucker for platforms. But really, I can't wait for winter so I can wear my gold Missy Elliot-style puffy jacket that I bought secondhand in Pittsburgh for $11 (Editor's note: I know this coat well, and it is pretty fabulous).

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around your town or in the whole wide world)?

Justin: I shop all over the place, I love B.Blessing in the LES, the environment lends to the lifestyle for sale.

Who are your favorite bands?

Justin: No comment.
Cyd: The Sultans of Ping.

What music do you like to listen to when primping?

Justin: I let the iTunes DJ work it out; it always gives me something to gear me into the evening.
Cyd: Recently I've been listening to Edith Piaf. I don't know any French, so I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do before our upcoming Paris trip.

Name one record/song you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today.

Justin: Green Earrings by Steely Dan and Art Garfunkel's Breakaway album.
Cyd:The Smiths. I'm sorry, but my parents played 'em all the time.

Favorite makeout music?

Justin: Hip-Hop

Who's your number-one all-time music crush?

Justin: Fiona Apple- I would love to give her something to sing about!

Name one clothing/beauty/jewelry item you could not live without.

Justin: A belt!
Cyd: Subversive Jewelry's gold laser-cut headband!

And with that, below are a couple more Subversive baubles for y'all to drool over. Gorgeous!

the nogoodforme.com interview: Shelley Short

It's tragically rare that we find someone to fill the aching void left by the breakup of our beloved Belly some ten years ago. But Shelley Short's sweet voice bears such an uncanny similarity to Tanya Donelly's, and the music's so dreamy and luminous like the spookiest songs on Star and King and all those bootlegs I've amassed over the years. Much of Shelley's Captain Wild Horse (Rides The Heart Of Tomorrow) has more of a folky/country feel, though, thanks in part to the lovely strings and ukulele and piano all throughout (check out three of the songs for yourself, here). So while it makes sense that the Chicago-to-L.A. transplant is crazy for Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams, we were a little more surprised - in that delighted kind of way - to discover that Shelley's earliest musical influences were The Muppets and Dr. Demento. Before interviewing Shelley, I hadn't heard Barnes & Barnes' "Fish Heads" in a very long time, but now I've just bought it on iTunes and I'm playing it over and over and reminiscing about dancing around my dad's livingroom in 1983, and all of life is just so weird and fun.

What was your first experience in making music? It was singing along to The Muppet Show record and Dr. Demento records over and over again with my brother up in my bedroom. There was a record player at the foot of my bed and we would learn all the words to the songs, like Kermit the Frog singing "Lydia the Encyclopedia" and that Dr. Demento song called "Fish Heads." There was always music around while I was growing up. My parents and older brother were always listening to all kind of music and we had all kinds of instruments around, like a piano and a trombone, a bass and drums.

Who are your all-time favorite bands/musicians? Ron Davies, Ween, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Dylan, Melanie, Joanna Newsom, Joni Mitchell, Lester Young, Joseph Spence, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, George Bresson, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Alexis Gideon, Cyndi Lauper, Jay-Z...Man, that's all I can think of right now!

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. Cyndi Lauper, She's So Unusual.

How did you go about discovering new music when you were younger? All I had to do was hang around or ask my family…They were always discovering new things but also had a really big record collection of all kinds of music. I got into Ween and Nirvana in high school, and at the same time I was listening to Jimmie Rodgers records over and over again for hours. There seemed to be a song that existed for every mood I was ever in at the time. And sometimes all I had to do was ask.

Where do you find inspiration for your music? I try to find it everywhere, or anywhere. When I'm working with kids, they inspire me a lot.

What are your favorite books and movies? Call It Sleep by Henry Roth and Ask The Dust by John Fante are books I've read recently that stick out. I was reading a lot of John Fante before I moved to L.A., to prepare for it. Muriel's Wedding is a great movie and I recently watched Happiness of the Katakuris, which is a really crazy-wonderful film.

Who are your style idols? Eleanor Roosevelt

Name one clothing/beauty item you always take on tour with you. Toothbrush and shoes

What's the craziest/weirdest/most memorable show you've ever played? I remember playing a show in Caspar, California, at a beautiful place called the Caspar Inn, right on the shore. It was a nice place to stay because you get your own room with a window overlooking the ocean. It was such a nice little spot to stop and play! I also had a great time opening up for M. Ward in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theatre - it was a few weeks before I moved to L.A. from Chicago, and a van full of my friends came out for the show and we all had so much fun, plus the Pabst Theatre was such a beautiful place to play.

If you could choose any locale in the universe to play a show, where would it be? Dublin, Ireland. Everything is such a special kind of green there.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Alberta Poon of Wet Confetti/Frozen Peas Accessories

I never get sick of stringing together glowing words about the illustrious Alberta Poon: Here and here and here, and one time in Venus, I've swooned about the formidable cuteness of Alberta's Frozen Peas Accessories line and/or the hot synthy snarl of her Portland-based post-punk band Wet Confetti. So, now, we're going to let you read all about the bassist/designer/generally crushable polymath in her own words. Then you should go listen to a bunch of Wet Confetti songs on their MySpace. And then you should buy yourself an Ornery Owl Necklace (below, right) or a Dino Love Wallet (further below, left) or some other cuddly treat from Frozen Peas. But whatever you do, don't try to start your own band and/or accessories label until after you've passed the bar or finished up medical school - them's the rules according to Alberta.

Tell us all about how you started Frozen Peas Accessories. Frozen Peas started back in 2004 when I decided I could be making stuff as good as the stuff I was selling at this boutique I was working at. We had a lot of local designers consigning at the boutique and some of it was awesome and some of it was crap. I thought, "What the hell, whatever I attempt to make will at least be better than the crap here." But it ended up even better than I could have imagined!

What was your original vision for Frozen Peas? I imagined it very colorful, fun, nature/animal-oriented, and that's what it is exactly. I hoped that teenagers to 50-year-olds, women and men would enjoy it - and they do!

What do you listen to when you're working on your designs? What I'm into changes from week to week. Right now I’ve been listening to Ellen Alien, The Thermals, Joanna Newsom, Kickball, Neil Young, The Cure, etc.

What are your biggest inspirations? Obviously animals. I am an animal freak. I'm always watching the Discovery Channel and pointing out cute dogs to my boyfriend (which, by the way, is all dogs).

What's your favorite thing about running Frozen Peas? When I get a random email from someone on the other side of the world telling me how much they love my designs. And the fact that I work for myself is priceless!

Any advice for girls/boys out there dreaming of launching their own label? Just go for it! You don't have much to lose, do you? Unless you're in law school or something and drop out.

Who are your favorite designers? Studio Acorn, Genevieve Dillinger, Hazel Cox, Kate & Holly from Seaplane, Small Things, No Star Clothing, Monsieur T.

Who are your style idols? Kate Moss, Karen O, Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller

Whose closet would you most like to raid? Kate Moss

What's your favorite clothing item lately? Shorts. It's hot out, man.

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around your town or in the whole wide world)? Seaplane, Magpie, Blue, Mini Mini Market.

Who are your favorite bands? Kickball, The Thermals, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, The Cure, Blonde Redhead, Television.

What music do you like to listen to when primping? Live with Regis and Kelly. I know it's not music.

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream

Favorite makeout music? Uhhh gross!

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Robert Smith

What was your first experience in making music? In high school I started to learn how to play bass. It was weird 'cause I thought I was too old to just start learning how to play music. But I was instantly hooked and it changed my life forever.

What do you like to wear onstage? I like wearing really short skirts or dresses, then some baggy-ass shirt or something to go with it. I usually wear sneakers so I don't eat it on stage.

Name one clothing/beauty/jewelry item you always take on tour with you. I always bring a necklace I made on tour. I get asked about Frozen Peas so much that it's good to have some representation. Vans shoes are awesome on tour cause you can just slip them on or off so easily, which is nice when you're in a van for eight hours at a time.

What's the craziest show you've ever played? We've had a few really really crazy shows. All of them were house of loft-space shows. They all consisted of kids going absolutely nuts, alcohol, floors almost collapsing, furniture collapsing, and blood.

Any advice for girls/boys out their looking to start a band? Just go for it. Unless you're in like medical school or something.

the nogoodforme.com interview: 31 Corn Lane

Interviewing the ladies of 31 Corn Lane is like crashing a sleepover, only without the fear of having your bra wind up in the freezer if you fall asleep first. Creators of super-cheery, grade-school-reminiscent, seagull-adorned accessories and totes, the sisters Sperber (Teeter and twins Heather and Amy) gab away about everything from Lee Radziwill and the Bay City Rollers to the joys of "dressing like a Pink Lady from Grease kicking it in Phys Ed class" and ratting your hair like Amy Winehouse. Make sure to cue up the Annie soundtrack before reading on.

Tell us all about how you started 31 Corn Lane. It was 1998 and all three sisters were living in the West Village of New York City. We had an amazing life: went to tons of rock shows, hosted themed house parties, orchestrated slumber jams with our girlpals and just the made the most ridiculously ah-mazing memories. Only one downer: the whole gang was crunched into 500 square feet - space was soooooo tight! We had heard chit-chat about an artist subsidized housing community called the Westbeth located a few blocks away. The premise of it was to help struggling artists make their way through the expensive twists and turns of city life. Needless to say, we became determined to apply and, fortunately for us, there are very few things that can stand in our way when we set our sights on something. No matter that we weren't artists and we weren't struggling, we were going to find out way into affordable housing if it was the last thing we did!

So one night we pow-wowed in our (little little) living room, brainstorming as to exactly what our "art" could be. One of us, can't remember who, suggested tote bags, because at the time, not too many girls were sporting extra-cute rock-and-roll-specific ones.

So we purchased supplies, hand-sewed and screenprinted them right there in the micro-apartment. The first line was a bubblegum-pink tote with an extra-tuff cherry-red skull-n-crossbones centered on the front. We included a batch of them with our application and then had a sizable amount left. We gifted some to our sassiest girlpals and then ended up getting an offer to sell the rest at the coolest punk rock record store in our li'l Jersey hometown. We set them up for sale and they moved out of there faster than the fastest hotcakes!

This ended up giving us all a collective epiphany. "Holy Cow," we thought. "This is the best feeling ever! People like our wares! If we make more, cool girls will actually buy them!" Soooooo, we kept making them, improving them with each new season and never ever looked back. Our best sisterly idea to date!

Turns out we've never got into the community because we didn't fit the income bracket, but the best reward we got out of trying is the most important part of present life - owning our own company.

What was your original vision for 31 Corn Lane? Our vision, first and foremost, was to have every single item we designed and produced somehow tie back to our family, our childhood memories, or something we loved. To date, we've never strayed from that intention, which is awesome on a myriad of levels. We've come to find that shoppers really enjoy the personalized identity that 31 Corn Lane presents. (Sidenote: Our company name is the childhood address of where we grew up! Mom and Pops still live there, swear!) They like to know that there is history and meaning behind what they're purchasing. Best part is, we know this for defs, because they've repeatedly told us so!

As a result of this feedback, we've remained ultra-mega-committed to always keeping it personalized, no matter how much larger we grow. We never want to lose that sense of personality, that special touch.

In terms of what our original (and present) vision for 31CL was/is, we always dreamed of having a storefront with totes and accessories and couches and good tunes up front, and a design studio in the back where our gaggle of small dogs could hang and snooze and snuggle, much like Built by Wendy's flagship store - a warm and creative environment that we can report to everyday and meet new sassy new people like ourselves. For now, howevs, we hold down full-time jobs, and work on 31CL from home in our spare time.

We will get there sooner rather than later, it's a promise!

Who are some of your favorite designers?

Sis Teeter: Luella Bartley, Built By Wendy, Marc Jacobs, Snack Mountain and Judy Rosen (not just cause of her awesome spazz-tastic wares, but also because she's loud as the dickens and is a taxidermist on the side. Punk!).

Sis Aim: Ditto, Teet named to best ones. I also love Lady Luck Rules OK from England, and I also love Biba and her vision for a unique shopping experience.

Sis Heath: I love Topshop, Oak, and Marc by Marc Jacobs. Oh wait! Do mind-blowing key vintage pieces on eBay count?

Who are your style idols?

Sis Teeter: Jackie O., Karen O, and Wendy O. Williams - the Magical Oh-Oh Trio. (Sidenote: Not to neglect Sister Heather, but she doesn't have an O in her name.)

Sis Aim: I kind of love the girl who works at the local liquor store. She rocks these looks like it's nobody business. God bless creative dressers.

Sis Heath: I love little Edie Beale from Grey Gardens, the documentary film made in the mid 70s about Jackie O's crazy hideaway cousins. I also live for any girl with a well-pulled together, messy spectacular look.

Whose closet would you most like to raid?

Sis Teeter: Oh dude, Sister Heather's, no contest! I have the easiest access to it, can swiftly steal stuff when she's not looking, and only have to deal with Mom when I get caught, which is always. It's a ginormous walk-in teeming over with Marc Jacobs, high-end Japanese streetwear, and classy-lady-style thrift items, like an indie-rock/Williamsburg hipster version of JLo or Mariah Carey's closet. I would take it one step further than just raiding it; I would like to live in there, nestled snugly between the neatly labeled (Whattup, Brother P-Touch!) "Leisure Wear" and "Summer Looks" baskets.

Sis Aim: I would love to go back to the 70s Granny-takes-a-trip-to-the-dress-shop days to see what key items they kept in the stock room.

Sis Heath: Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of Jackie O., would be one for sure. I suspect Elton John has a pretty amazing closet, too. I would also love a few hours in my grandmother's (her name is Grace Ribustelli and she was a total vision) closet from when she was a young women. I have recently been through her older sister's closet and its absolutely beautiful – style of dress from the 1920s was such an aesthetically perfect affair.

What's your favorite clothing item (or outfit) lately?

Sis Teeter: My thrift ninja best friend just bought this mind-blowing sweater. I'd say it's a late 60s number, puke brown, made by "Janice, Junior Styles for Her" that looks like a gingerbread house and has an attached scarf, excessive pockets, micro pom-pom buttons and lettuce edging. This look, combined with my skinny denims and ridiculously oversized sunglasses, has been my style uniform for almost three weeks straight. I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm kind of a dirtbag.

Sis Aim: I have this red short gym suit from the 50s. It has bloomers built into the legs. When not dressing like a Pink Lady from Grease kicking it in Phys Ed class, I look like a 70s sitcom mom - complete with high-waisted denims and poo-poo-brown clogs.

Sis Heath: I'm going thought this phase right now where I always want to dress like I'm going to a sailing club or a lawn party, but enjoy putting a twist on the look by throwing on a scarf from India. You know, sort of like preppy meets 1960s London, High Street.

Who are your favorite bands?

Sis Teeter: Oh snap, I love, like, 50 scrillion different bands in life but for the sake of conveying the most unabashed super stoke out for this particular answer, I will only focus on one. I am unhealthily obsessed with a band from Austin, TX, called Okkervil River. They are the best music-makers of right now with maybe the worstest name ever, which is way rad, because as a territorial listener of tunery, it helps keep them relatively small because most indie elitists think they're a bluegrass group. I describe them as "Goth Americana," only because they are stylistically similar to, like, Wilco, yet with the saddest, darkest lyrics and most ridiculously beautiful, poppy melodies. I listened to their last album Black Sheep Boy maybe 90 bazillion times, thinking I could never love anything more, that is, until I got my greasy little hands on a contraband advance of their newest effort, The Stage Names - which I am on my record-setting way to gratuitously overplaying. Will Sheff, lead singer and lyricist, is a brilliant brilliant boy who I would very much to build a life with.

Sis Aim: Teeter, don't kill me, but I watch Fuse all day. I love all the baby emo bands on the forefront right now, i.e., Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Man, the list goes on. (Sidenote from Sis Teeter: I am so going to kill you. How embarrassing!)

Sis Heath: I love NPR and listen to it exclusively while driving my adult contemporary station wagon. I especially love Ira Glass from This American Life. In addition, I often listen to the Stayin' Alive soundtrack. (Sidenote from Sis Teeter: Heath, Ira Glass totes isn't a band or musician, yr kind of tarted, but we love you!)

What do you listen to when primping?

Sis Teeter: This is e-z. A Swedish pop band called I'm from Barcelona, 'cause they might be the most adorable thing since that child actor with the 5-inch thick coke bottle glasses in Jerry Maguire. I'm from Barcelona had me at hello.

Also, yeah, it's embarrassing and might make me sound totes self-obsessed, but I'm not gonna lie here, I mean really, we're all friends. I listen to my own band LadybiRdS' new record (It's called Regional Community Theater) a lot a lot cause it's not out yet and I can't believe I had anything to do with making it exist. It's electro-tastic cheezepop, which I've found makes an excellent soundtrack for hair-crimping and the application of sparkle eyeshadow.

Sis Aim: Amy Winehouse is awesome. I have started to ratt my hair kind of like hers.

Sis Heath: Wait, do you mean like, primping to actually leave the house? Truth be told, at present, I not involved with the outside world. I am sure this will change once Rob and Big goes into reruns - however, until then there will be no primping for me. Wait! Does brushing my teeth before my work day, while my yappy little chihuahua incessantly barks count?

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today.

Sis Teeter: That Bay City Rollers record with the song "Give A Little Love" on it, the one that features them all on the cover, in their layered hair and tartan bell-bottomed, overalled finest. We had a special choreographed dance routine that we would perform while it played on vinyl in the living room, with Mom and Dad as our (captive) repeat pattern audience, natch.

And! And! And! The Annie soundtrack - 100 years later and I still sing it on the daily. No lie.

Sis Aim: Oh god Teeter, I love the Annie soundtrack too. I also love the Grease soundtrack and the Flashdance theme song. I still break into tears and dance when I hear "What a Feeling."

Sis Heath: Hands down, Annie soundtrack. "Dumb dog, why are you following me? / I ain't got a crumb, dog/ How about letting me be?" Sonic perfection!

Favorite makeout music?

Sis Teeter: I'm moderately bananas, so most dudes never wanna make out with me. And the ones that do are usually supes-gross or dirty or tarted and don't intentionally read, except for magazines and the internets. So I can't accurately answer this question, although I do remember once making out to Lenny Kravitz, when I was like 14. Ewh, gross.

Sis Aim: That would be the Dashboard Confessional's "Screaming Infidelities." Come on, Teet, don't make fun of me.

Sis Heather: While my boyfriend really likes Prince (and can sing high and tight just like the him), we always seem to end up making out to New Order or the soundtrack to Stayin' Alive. You should totally give it a listen. I mean really, there's nothing like kissing to the track "Satan's Alley."

Who's your number-one all-time music crush?

Sis Teeter: Probably Daryl Palumbo from Glassjaw and Head Automatica. He broke my heart into a million aching pieces and made me totally next-level batshit insane, but I can't imagine ever loving anyone more than him.

(Sidenote: The sisters will be soooo mad at that ever-so-unhealthy answer, but whatevs.com!)

Sis Aim: TEETER FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET OVER IT!!! In other news, we all know I crushed out on Travis Morrison, the lead singer of The Dismemberment Plan.

Sis Heath: Garrett Klahn from Texas Is The Reason. Babe alert.

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around your town or in the whole wide world)?

Sis Teeter: The Projectionist in Boise, Idaho - it's so amazingly craft-tacular that it's also completely overwhelming. We don't sell 31CL in there, even though we've tried valiantly, cause they're, like, over budget or cooler than us or something. Dang, cuts like a knife!

Sis Aim: 31CL is carried in some of the best stores in the world. One of many that I am a huge fan of is Minnie Wilde in San Francisco. They make the coolest clothes for our bags to hang with! And then there's the Mini Mini Market here in Brooklyn; they're our total local fave.

Sis Heath: Geez, that's so tuff, because right now with my severe mood swings and this nasty parasite I picked up on my latest work trip to India, I can't even think about shopping unless the store has a really clean and comfy ladies room!

What do you listen to when you're working on your designs? I know for a fact that Aim and I have rocked to HelloGoodbye and Kelly Clarkson while working. As previously mentioned, she plays the Fuse network 24/7 as well, so the overall design soundtrack ranges from sweeping Top 40 hometown Texas grrrl jams to painful half-a-million dollar, wall-of-noise, 20th wave mainstreamo tantrum rock videos.

Any advice for girls/boys out there dreaming of launching their own label? For sure! Start small and always be accessible to yr audience, answer their e-mails, sell at craft fairs and meet them. Focus squarely on improving yr product with every new design, hook up yr coolest friends with gear so they can cruise town and spread the word by looking good.

Most importantly, don't be afraid or talk yourself out of starting because you think you can't afford it - we started 31 Corn Lane with only $300 dollars per sister! And it's grown exponentially every year.

Always remember this, "If you make it, someone will buy it." It sounds overzealous, but it's so so so true. A unique, quality product will always be able to find a core audience. People love shopping it up!

What's your favorite thing about running 31 Corn Lane?

Three of the best things so far, check it:

1. Going back to our NJ alma mater, Shrewsbury Boro School, to talk to the small fries at Career Day about starting yr own business. They were so amped.

2. Opening an issue of Budget Living, one of our stylistically favorite print mags, and seeing a multi-page feature about the open-air markets in London, England. On the front page of the story was this photo of a cluster of ADORABLE girls. We noticed right away that one of the girls just happens to be rocking our bag, the "Classy Lady" design from a few years back. Our bag! In London! HOLY COW! From the small streets of suburban New Jersey into the hands of fashiony fantastic UK cuties.

Bestest. Feeling. Ever.

3. Lastly but not leastly, being on the subway platform, or on an airplane or bus - and seeing the cutest girl in the whole darn crowd rocking one of our bags. Going up to them and saying "hi" and telling them that yr part of the company that made their tote - and hearing about how much they love it, and then leaving the scene usually having made a new friend. As Dad Sperber has repeatedly said "Girls, always make yr circle bigger!"

What are your biggest inspirations? Job one is honoring our amazing family legacy and the people we love and letting the world know how super psyched we are to be Sperbers! In this lifetime we all got super lucky.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Misha

A recent Stereogum Band to Watch, Misha formed when its two members - John Chao and model Ashley Yao, who grew up together in Taiwan - randomly ran into each other in New York after being out of touch for 15 years. Given the crushing charm of both the band's backstory and its newly released debut record Teardrop Sweetheart, we shouldn't have been very surprised to find that Ash and John make for the world's most adorable interview subjects.

Still, the cuteness overload sort of konked us over the head and now we're dreaming of becoming best friends with the couple at some point so we can wear Stella McCartney cashmere jumpers together and go visit fascist facialists and not make out to Rush.

In the meantime, we're playing Misha's songs A LOT, especially the loungy one that somehow slyly references both "Baby Got Back" and "The Girl From Ipanema" (it's called "Anaconda," and it's currently battling Harry Potter for control of my brain - which is a miraculous feat indeed). Go download their lovely "Summersend" over at Pitchfork and prepare to spend the next few minutes wistfully going "awww..." over and over again.

How did Misha come together? Misha came about because I [John] was working in California while Ash was in New York, and I was sending her music almost daily as little toys or presents. And then she started getting into the spirit and giving ideas and edits and so forth, so by the end of the summer we had a lot of songs, including the Tomlab single, "In A Hundred Years."

Who are your favorite bands? Ash says she has fewer long-term favorites, since she doesn't do as much music, but she loves Duran Duran and David Bowie. For me, I have a few musicians or bands that I love that I've listened to over and over again: Joe Henry, Jeff Buckley, and Crowded House are very close to me, and then Astor Piazzolla, Joseph Spence, Arto Lindsay, Los Lobos, Jayhawks, Burt Bacharach, lots of old Chinese and Bollywood music, of course The Beatles and Pink Floyd, Bill Frisell, Nortec Collective, Ron Sexsmith, almost anything else by Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, lots of stuff by Jon Brion, and Dwight Yoakam and Wallace Roney and Artur Rubinstein! He's awesome.

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. The Velvet Underground and Nico for Ash. For John, Louis Armstrong's Greatest Hits.

What have you been listening to lately? Fugiya and Miyagi, PB&J, Junior Boys, and Hot Chip for Ash. For John, Richard Thompson, Bert Jansch, The Beatles' Love and Bob Dylan.

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Technically, our answer is each other. But if you asked Ash, really she'd say The Strokes. I think when I was younger, I had a crush on Sam Phillips and the lead singer of Shivaree and Wong Faye. Ash also wants to know if Johnny Depp counts as a band. Even if not, Johnny Depp.

Favorite makeout music? Al Green! Sad to say, but it's true. He's the bizzomb. Also, Brenda Holloway, and anything by Burt Bacharach. And Nusrat. It used to be Radiohead, when we was angsty. But never, never ever was it Rush. Ever. That never happened.

What do you like to wear onstage? This is hard, as we've never toured together. But...if imaginary, it would have to be dresses: Ash likes Vanessa Bruno, Stella McCartney, and our friend Thomas Chen's label Yitan for Ash. (Tommy's an up-and-coming designer who went to Parsons with Ash's sister Annie.) I'm going to go with a t-shirt that's not too tight or too loose, and corduroy pants. This makes me sound like I'm a beardo disco lovah, but really, I like cords. They'z comfee.

Name one clothing/beauty item you always take on tour with you. Caudalie grape water, according to Ash: It's a facial spray she likes a lot. (According to me, one could easily mistaken it for fabric freshener if one were in a rush and one's jacket smelled "iffy" due to the hot New York summer.) And a Stella McCartney cashmere jumper for the clothing item. My beauty item is a toothbrush, AND toothpaste - this is definitely one of those "don't take one without the other." This goes for shoes and socks as well. (Trust me on that last one.)

Tell us a beauty secret. Ash says drink lots of water, and go see a good facialist once a month. Ash goes to a facialist in the city. (I almost typed fascist. This is probably subliminal.)

Who are your style idols? For Ash, Kate Moss, because she can put anything together and look good. Plus she's versatile - she can look grungy or sophisticated. Career-wise, she's been very successful, which is admirable, even if she's not the greatest role model, no pun intended. And Ethel Park, Ash's friend who's an assistant fashion editor at Vogue - Ethel has the best accessories and combinations. She always has the "it" pieces from all the shows. Ash is very jealous.

Any favorite fashion designers/labels? Yitan again. Thakoon. Marc Jacobs. Nicolas Ghesquiere. Demeulemeester. Phillip Lim.

What are your favorite places to clothes-shop in your city? Aside from Barneys and Barneys Co-op if Ash had the money, it would have to be Beacon's Closet in Brooklyn, and Opening Ceremony in Nolita. And Century 21, which has good cheap stuff.

Any advice for girls/boys out there looking to start a band? Um, it's so hard to give advice when we're just figuring it out! Definitely make music you want to listen to, not just what's cool right now. And don't do the easy thing too much, because if it sounds too easy to you, it probably will sound too easy to someone else. Have fun making music - and don't think everything else sucks. Definitely trust your instincts: If something sounds a little off, or doesn't feel good, change it! It's okay if it screws things up, because taking a chance is always better. And sometimes, watch TV or do something else while you're making music, it will make getting past writer's block a lot easier.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Starlight Mints

I first discovered Starlight Mints about a year ago via Fluxblog - that magical place where about 3 out of 5 obsessable music things are discovered these days - in a post that said something about the band out-Bowie-ing Bowie himself. That feels sorta blasphemous to us (being creatures of undying David Bowie worship at all), but we can't deny that the Norman, Oklahoma-based foursome's latest record Drowatown is crammed with lots of smart, bubblegum-sticky pop and grandiose orchestral arrangements that come off so dreamy (instead of clunky/pretentious, as could easily happen in the hands of a way less fun band - go download "Inside of Me" as proof of their pure catchiness).

Starlight Mints may also have a Bowie-esque predilection for things of a slightly foppish nature, as drummer Andy Nunez (sharp-dressed dude on the far left there) has tipped us off to his Brigitte Bardot crush and affection for French pop. He also introduced us to the concept of making out to the 2001 score, which I think might've just broken my mind (but in a good way).

What was your first experience in making music? A tennis racket/pots-and-pan band in my parents' garage.

Who are your favorite bands? Too many to name them all...We love the 60s, The Kinks to French pop (Serge Gainsbourg, etc.); the no-wave movement of the late 70s (Gang of Four, etc.); and a lot of the so-called alternative new-wave bands of the 80s (The Cure, Talk Talk, etc.).

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. Wings at the Speed of Sound was on my parents' turntable a lot. I still love that record!

What have you been listening to lately? Enon, Juana Molina, Spoon, LCD Soundsystem, to name a few.

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? a young Brigitte Bardot

Favorite makeout music? 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack (Strauss)

What do you like to wear onstage? Anything with a really high soft thread count that doesn't advertise something.

Name one beauty product you always take on tour with you. We are fans of all Aveda products.

What's the craziest show you've ever played? One time we ended a tour in Portland, Oregon, and had to get to CMJ in NYC in two days. We showed up just in time to play...it was surreal to say the least.

Tell us a beauty secret. Sleep till you can't sleep anymore.

Who are your style idols? Devo had some of the all-time greatest stage style.

Any favorite fashion designers/labels? Camper shoes and Modern Amusement are some of our faves.

What are your favorite places to clothes-shop in your city? Gypsy Shoes, but we buy most of our clothes when we're traveling.

Any advice for girls/boys looking to start a band? Do it because you love it, because it can be hard to make a career out of it!

What are the biggest inspirations for your music? After a while it becomes hard to know what inspires us. Most of all we love the idea of making money doing something we would do for free.

(Starlight Mints photo by Christian Pitt)

the nogoodforme.com interview: Jenny Kwok of CUT + PASTE

I first got hooked on CUT + PASTE a few summers ago, when I stumbled upon and snatched up my now-beloved Roxy Marj polka-dotted bag with the shiny-pink dove applique. Ever since then, the online consignment shop has been my favorite spot for discovering new and exciting D.I.Y./handmade goods. (One of my most intensely coveted finds in recent months: Those gorgeous Krystal Sullivan feather earrings we featured a while back.) Newly relocated to Istanbul, CUT + PASTE founder Jenny Kwok clues us in on how she goes about curating the shop, plus shares her love for Hitchcock ladies and Clash City Rockers.

Tell us all about how you started CUT + PASTE. I started CUT+PASTE in the summer of 2002. I do web design and was freelancing at the time. I had a much more open schedule so it also allowed me to sew and do crafts. I was eBaying some of my stuff at the time, but was looking for a more appropriate place to sell my things...so I put two and two together and built my own website!

What was your original vision for CUT + PASTE? My original intention for CUT+PASTE was to sell my own things and have the site be more a representation of my personal work. After realizing there was no outlet for handmade stuff on the web (though I was meeting a lot of crafty people online), I decided to offer consignment. Word spread like wildfire and I went from getting just a few applications a week to getting close to 10 a day from people interested in selling on the site.

How do you decide what to sell? I usually look for things that are handmade, interesting, unique, and clever, and I consider their "sellability" (is the price right? Materials? Craftsmanship?). And I try to pick things that are seasonal and that you wouldn't be able to find elsewhere online.

Who are your favorite fashion designers? Roxy Marj, Marni, Talla, Eley Kishimoto

Who are your style idols? Zooey Deschanel, Frecklewonder, Milla Jovovich, Kate Moss, the leading ladies of Hitchcock films. I'm mostly a jeans and t-shirt kind a gal, but I do like to dress up every now and then. I like things that are comfortable and vintage patterns and cuts.

What's your favorite clothing item lately? Lately it's been so hot here I've got to wear something easy...I've been wearing a lot of vintage day dresses and strappy sandals.

Who are your favorite bands? I don't have favorites and I listen to all sorts of stuff, so I'll just list what I have been recently listening to: The Clash, Desmond Dekker, Notwist, John Lennon.

What do you like to listen to while primping? Something peppy and fast cuz I'm usually runny late.

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. Top Gun soundtrack

Favorite makeout music? Hmmm...maybe some Rod Stewart.

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Paul Simonon

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around town or in the whole wide world)? Mars (Berkeley); Built by Wendy (NY); Minnie Wilde (SF); thriftstores (Fresno, my hometown); flea markets (everywhere); Sodafine (NY); Beklina, Le Train Bleu (online); Bis, Avante-East Vintage, Grand Bazaar, Topshop (Istanbul)

What's the most rewarding aspect of running CUT + PASTE? Meeting so many great amazing and nice people.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Cajsa of Cajsita Design

Two things we love above all else: pretty trinkets adorned with birds, and pretty trinkets adorned with the faces of our most crushed-upon style idols. With Cajsita Design, the new-ish jewelry line from 27-year-old Cajsa Westerman, we get both and it's oh so happy-making. Reaching out across the seas from her native Sweden, Cajsa shares the story behind the "sprawly style" that infuses her fantastically kitschy/minimalistic collection.

Tell us all about how you started Cajsita Design. It was around two years ago when I began making my own jewelry: I was in the middle of my political science studies at university and needed a creative outlet. When I was younger I had always jumped from one creative thing to another, and even wanted to design clothes, but then I safed out when it was time to apply for university. Jewelry design turned out to fit my impatient nature very well, as I can see the results fast and working with the tiny details is kind of soothing. Just a little more than a year ago I felt confident enough to actually start selling my things. My then-boyfriend, who had been selling his art before, was probably the one who pushed me the most to attend craft fairs and go to shops and sell; he made me feel my creations were special enough. From the start I've gotten very positive response, which boosted my ego - so now I'm unstoppable!

What was your original vision for Cajsita? In the beginning I didn't have a vision per se, I just wanted some new cool jewelry that I couldn't find in the stores. Something different that stood out and was both sophisticated and fun! And when I discovered shrinky dinks, hama mini beads and all the gorgeous vintage brass charms out there, I kind of found my thing, even though it's still a very sprawly style.

What are the greatest inspirations for your work? It's difficult to pick out just a few things; many times it simply feels like an idea enters my brain and I have no idea where it came from. But probably it came from some of the following: 20s to 50s fashion (the best decades!), Japanese streetstyle (I flip through Fruits a lot), politics in general (e.g., I wanted diamond jewelry that looked really fake after I studied the diamond industry), toy stores (love to make something beautiful out of simple and even childish materials), nature, movies, art history, and stylish people in general. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for new materials and unexpected symbols!

Who are some of your favorite fashion and/or jewelry designers? A mix of minimalism and girly sums it up pretty well: I adore Vivienne Westwood, Commes des Garcons and Marc Jacobs, as well as Swedish designers Lovisa Burfitt and Helena Horstedt. When it comes to jewelry, Subversive Jewelry is my mostest favorite, and designers with unique visions like Grainne Morton, Melanie Bilenker, and Margaux Lange inspire me too.

Who are your style idols? The ones featured on my style icon necklaces! Generally, it's quite an eclectic mix, as in my designs: I like Dita von Teese's old-style glamour A LOT, Bjork and Chloe Sevigny because they are quite fearless in their choices (Bjork in terms of shape and colors, and Chloe by being ten steps ahead at all times). And Kirsten Dunst! She is the epitome of thriftstore chic, always very cool. People who bend the rules and come up with new ways to wear things is always refreshing. There are a lot of people whose style I like, but would never be able to wear myself, you have to find your own combo that makes you feel the most glamorous. Of men, I think Rufus Wainwright is very elegant and dandy-like with a touch of a craziness.

What's your favorite clothing item (or outfit) lately? It's hard to dress well in the summer, but Minimarket's knotted tee has saved many of even the hottest days lately; it's the most comfy cool thing.

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around your town or in the whole wide world)? Here in Sweden, it's definitely Tjallamalla in Stockholm and Malmo: They have a great mix of both bigger Scandinavian brands and indie designers. Other than that, I mostly go to thriftstores - usually it's better quality than the chains and I don't support their inevitable sweatshops.

Who are your favorite bands/musicians? Antony & the Johnsons, Bjork, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright and Morrissey.

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? Morrissey!

What do you listen to while you're working on your jewelry? I like to listen to Bjork a lot, and other electronic music you can dance to - it keeps my energy up and once in a while I jump around in my apartment to keep my body from getting to stiff being bent over the work space so much.

Any advice for girls/boys out there dreaming of launching their own label? It feels like I am still learning so much myself. But if you're really passionate about something: Just do it! You can start out small after you feel safe in your field, maybe register on Etsy and participate in local craft fairs - when you get feedback on your things, it will be a good guide where to take your designs next. I have also learned a lot of things as a member of various craft communities, uneducated as I am in the creative field, haha!

What's your favorite thing about running Cajsita? That I get to do what I love the most! The feeling of joy when I come up with a great new design, getting to meet my customers, and best of all: seeing people wear my designs!

the nogoodforme.com interview: Erin Weckerle from Sodafine

Sometimes when I'm supposed to be doing productive stuff like making money or dealing with the zillion or so promo CDs currently building a scary fortress betwixt me and the rest of my apartment, I end up fawning over chunky-heeled jade maryjanes and organic cotton veggie-dyed indigo jeans and other precious things featured in Sodafine's online shop. The impeccably tasted curator of said shop is Erin Weckerle, who's especially fond of handmade, vintage, and eco-friendly goods and has run her Williamsburg boutique (one of the top five reasons why I'd very much like to develop an invisible aircraft that provides hyperspeed-fast travel from L.A. to New York) solo for a little over two years now. She's also the reason why I'm currently in the midst of a weird Linda Ronstadt obsession, which you'll find out more about below - along with Erin's picks for her favorite indie designers, Brooklyn boutiques, and New Zealand pop bands.

Tell us all about how you started Sodafine. I started Sodafine back in Philadelphia with a couple of my friends from art school in late 2002. We were in the backroom of this great shop, Vagabond. It was kind of a spontaneous thing: I was selling my handknits at Vagabond, and one day, when I stopped in to see how they were doing, the owners asked if I would be interested in doing something with the backspace. I was working at a record store, and as a tourguide at an abandoned prison, and dj-ing around town at the time, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try out being my own boss without much risk or financial investment. Once I realized that this was something I really liked doing, and could do well, Sodafine moved to Brooklyn in 2004 to have our own storefront.

What was your original vision for the store? How do you go about deciding what to sell? Sodafine started out selling mostly vintage clothing with bits and pieces of handmade items made by myself and my then-partners, and it grew from there. We started selling more of our friends' work, and word-of-mouth brought more and more indie designers. I choose items and designers that have a quirky take on fashion, but also pay attention to details and craftsmanship. I'm not that interested in specific trends or designer names. I carry quite a bit of lines that utilize eco-fabrics, and to me, that's an extension of caring about craftmanship: being concerned about how clothing is made, and by whom, and how everything we do is a part of the big picture.

Who are some of your favorite fashion designers? Feral Childe, Bahar Shahpar, Camilla Norrback, Myth & Ritual, and for the big names I usually like James Coviello, Anna Sui, Chloe, Tsumori Chisato. Zandra Rhodes and Biba are my old-school favorites.

Who are your style idols? Maybe some mix of Jennifer Herrema, Anna Karina, Goldie Hawn in Shampoo, Eva Hesse, Stone Poneys-era Linda Ronstadt, Miranda July.

Whose closet would you most like to raid? Show Pony owner Kime Buzzelli's. You know she must have the most killer vintage dresses in there!

Who are your favorite bands/musicians? I love New Zealand pop! Like The Cannanes, Tall Dwarfs, The Clean, The Verlaines, Alastair, Galbraith. But I have a pretty expansive music appetite. Lately on heavy rotation: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Howling Hex, White Magic, Harry Nilsson, His Name Is Alive, Las Malas Amistades, Dog Faced Hermans, New Sound of Numbers, The Long Blondes

What music do you like to listen to when primping? Roxy Music

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. Pink Floyd The Wall. "Another Brick in the Wall" was my first favorite song - my dad used to listen the The Wall (on eight track!) continuously.

What music do you like to play in the shop? It's a random shuffle all day - I like to keep it pretty upbeat and I try not to play too much crazy-noisy/borderline offensive stuff. Sometimes I have to run up to the stereo when the iPod lands on Throbbing Gristle or something like that!

What are some of your favorite clothing shops (around town or in the whole wide world)? In Brooklyn: Mandate of Heaven has some amazing handmade party dresses, In God We Trust has a very clear vision of their aesthetic, and Dear Fieldbinder has a magical (and dangerous) way with making you feel like dropping $300 or $400 is a perfectly natural thing to do. When I go back to Philly (my boyfriend still lives there), I always stop in at Vagabond. I love browsing CUT + PASTE, Le Train Bleu, Creatures of Comfort, and Seaplane online.

What's your favorite clothing item lately? My Chie Mihara Namis [left]. I wear them almost every day.

Any advice for girls/boys out there dreaming of opening their own shop? You don't need a ton of money to start, but you're going to have to work hard! Be realistic about your goals and start at a level that you can handle and slowly build from that as you learn more and refine your vision. There are tons of forums and blogs for people starting their own businesses, read them! Or pick up some small business guides from your local bookstore.

What's your favorite thing about running Sodafine? Definitely the relationships I've developed with designers I carry, and with other shop owners in my neighborhood and beyond. They keep me inspired and we support each other, and that's an amazing thing!

the nogoodforme.com interview: Girl Talk

Girl Talk makes me equally and giddily nostalgic for my middle-school days of taping Bell Biv Devoe off the Top 40 station and my early high-school days of taping Nirvana off the local college station. Which is maybe why I've been playing his third record Night Ripper at least thrice weekly ever since first hearing it last winter: Those hundreds of samples of everything from Positive K and Paula Abdul to Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth - plus the classic rock, the hip-hop, the M.I.A. and the X-Ray Spex - feel like someone's unburied every mixtape I ever made/received, tossed them all in a blender, and somehow ended up with the best party album you've ever heard. (And if you've yet to experience Night Ripper for yourself, get thee to Illegal Art and download the two available mp3s ahora.)

Having just quit his dayjob in biomedical engineering last month, Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis, a 25-year-old Pittsburghian) had some free time to inform us of his undying Kid 'n Play love, the essentialness of basketball shorts to tour wardrobe, and his going-out plans for last Saturday night.

What was your first experience in making music? I played saxophone in 3rd grade. I don't know how I got involved with that particular instrument, but unfortunately, I never really learned how to rock out with it.

Who are your favorite bands? I guess my all-time favorites would have to Nirvana, Dr. Dre, Hall & Oates, and Merzbow.

Name one record you loved when you were a little kid that you still listen to today. The House Party 2 soundtrack

Do you remember the first time you heard Nirvana? I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on MTV News, and with the excitement over that song, I could sense that something amazing was happening. It was just like, "Wow, those guys don't even seem like they care!" I think many people my age were hit with the same exact idea simultaneously: "I can do that." The music seemed so weird to me.

Favorite Nirvana song? "Drain You."

When you were a kid, how did you go about discovering new music? I attended Lollapalooza '95 the summer before 8th grade. At that show, I met a Pittsburgh promoter by the name of Manny Theiner. He was handing out pamphlets about local music. Through that pamphlet, I discovered college radio. I started obsessively listening to Carnegie Mellon's and Pitt's stations. Along with that, I started attending shows and reading zines. The Internet was also started to boom around that period, so that helped out a bit.

What have you been listening to lately? Smashmouth, Justice, UGK, Genesis, Midnite Snake, Wiz Khalifa

Favorite makeout music? Air, Moon Safari; T-Pain; Soul for Real

Who's your number-one all-time music crush? L7 [below], the whole band

What do you like to wear onstage? This year, I've been doing a 3-piece suit at festivals and some potentially disposable athletic gear for normal shows.

Name one clothing item you always take on tour with you. Basketball shorts - for sleeping, swimming, performing, and hooping

What's the craziest show you've ever played? In 2004, I played in Nagasaki, Japan, at a rented-out karaoke room with some wild punk bands. There were about 40 people there crammed in the room, everyone was in their socks, and people were jumping all over the furniture.

We hear that you used to have a synchronized dance squad for your live shows. What was that like? Yeah, we had between 5 and 10 members, depending on the show. I never officially got rid of them, it just kind of faded out. When the audiences started dancing and partying more at my shows, there was less of a need to entertain. Anyway, it seems like an official dance squad would just hold back the party. People like to jump on stage. I like it to be as unorganized as possible.

You've described Girl Talk as "party-oriented music." What are the main ingredients for an insane party? Sweat, nudity, law-breaking, strobe lights, keg stands, loud music, dancing, friends, lovers, booze, talking, yelling, fireworks, pools, bathrooms with working locks, no books.

What's next for Girl Talk? I'm going over my friend Richard's house in about 30 minutes. We'll probably drink some IC Lights and then go to a psychedelic rock concert.

the nogoodforme.com interview: Kime Buzzelli

Lucky ducks in Portland get to go see painter Kime Buzzelli's latest exhibition at Motel gallery starting today. And even luckier ducks in L.A. get to go visit Kime's beautiful boutique Show Pony any time they please. Our favorite little pink paradise in Echo Park, Show Pony is like a gem-encrusted treasure trove of so many dreamy vintage and D.I.Y. creations, plus Kime's own one-of-a-kind, handcrafted fashions that have shrouded the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal and those Jane's Addiction boys. Here, the artist/proprietress/designer herself tells us of her lifelong George Harrison crush, her most adored celebrity customer (hint: we like her too), and all the magic things that go on inside that "crafty gypsy den."

Tell us about how you started Show Pony. I was working on m