Love: Blood Is The New Black

Saturday night I went to the spring launch party for Blood Is The New Black, a superwow L.A.-based line that does t-shirts as wearable art. Because it was about 9 zillion degrees this weekend and my brain felt like it was melting away, and because my main M.O. for the evening was to catch Abe Vigoda's set, I didn't really get to see much of the t-shirts till checking them out online later on. But basically the deal is that Blood Is The New Black teams up with a slew of groovy artists (like Keren Richter and Dan Monick, for instance), each of whom design their own little collection of tees (and sometimes tote bags). The shirts seem to run from $25 to $40, but you can also pick up a $25 "Blind Bargain Bag" featuring five overstock shirts from the Blood Is The New Black artist of your choosing.

I kind of want every single shirt from the spring line, but these are probably my faves:

"Meow's It Goin'?" by Keith Shore

"Monster Mash" by Keith Shore

"Man's Best Friend" by Cali DeWitt:

"Snakey" by Patrick Jilbert:

Eco-Love: FIN

One of the exciting things about sustainable style is that it's such an "emerging" field (from the design perspective at least) that it's almost ten times more exciting to discover a new name or label. Such is the case with FIN, an eco-luxury label based in Oslo, Norway. What I love about FIN (besides their commitment to fair trade manufacturing and sustainable materials, including organic cotton and the intriguingly named wild hand-spun silk) is how they mix in urban, hard-edged styles with a very classic, even ladylike sensibility: a rockin' one-shouldered dress co-exists with a beautifully designed trench or a gracefully draped camisole. It could be schizo but it's not, because each piece is united by its careful attention to line, proportion and a certain restraint. The result is a collection of beautiful pieces that are investments, not flash, and are gently poetic and unpretentious.

FIN is carried online by the fabulous Equita, where I'm currently stalking this one-shouldered dress (among many other things.)

Stop the Presses! I FOUND MY SUMMER SHOE!

It's called "love at first sight," and while I rarely believe in it for human beings, I totally believe in it for fashion.

Keep Company Joie de Vivre slip-on shoes, $50, from Tobi. Cruelty- and sweatshop-free, too! We've talked up Keep a million times before; I think they are geniuses. I love how they combine the sportiness of a slip-on shoe with the old-school classicism of toile de Jouy print. So charming!

Eco-Love: Good Society Jeans

I first fell for Good Society because their jeans reminded me so much of my beloved A.P.C. jeans: a gorgeously dark indigo wash, plain unadorned pockets, no-frills styling elevated by an attention to line and detail. And their back pockets sat low on the seat, a flattering feature that gives the effect of cool, nonchalant slouchiness without actual, flattery-warping slouchiness. (Katayone Adeli trousers used to do this back in the day with their back pockets, and they were the best pants I've ever worn.) Good Society makes jeans for dudes and ladies and is masterminded by Slings and Stones founder Aidan Dinh, who was looking to create a denim line at a more moderate price point than the super-luxe Slings and Stones label. Like its older sister label, Good Society is highly ethical: it's made from fair trade labor in India and made of organic cotton, and 10% of the profits are allocated for various charitable causes. So it's goodness all around, all while looking good. And who can argue with that? Available at various online shops, including Tobi, which carries the awesome slim leg style.

Love: Viridis Luxe Kimono Sweater

I am always on the lookout for a great sweater, and I really want this one. What more is there to say? This has great detailing at the sleeve, and Viridis Luxe consistently makes luxurious-feeling clothes in beautifully draped sort of shapes, often using fabrics like bamboo blends and, yes, hemp. So not crunchy, though -- more like a L.A. little sister of Rick Owens. (Who is, never forget, an L.A. dude at heart.)

Love: Cordata T-Shirt at Anthropologie

A few years ago, I saw a t-shirt at Anthropologie that took my breath away. Made by Lulu, it was a lovely pale blue, and it was artfully appliqued with fabric so that it looked as if a gorgeous, oversized flower was blooming onto the t-shirt. I stalked the t-shirt for ages and finally got over the $98 price tag to buy it with the help of a friend's employee discount. And you know, I haven't regretted paying that much for a t-shirt since: it's beautiful and wonderfully soft, it has a feminine, forgiving cut, it's lasted for years and it still brings me pleasure to wear it every springtime, just as the weather warms up and the flowers really are in bloom. So it's a great joy to highlight another Lulu t-shirt at Anthropologie, this time in a pale sage green. As gentle, beautiful and casually gorgeous as my pale blue wonder, the Cordata t-shirt is a pretty penny, but trust me: if you love it in the picture, you will love it in real life. Some pieces are life-long love affairs, and this is one of them.

Love: Poketo tees

Right now I'm the sickest I've ever been in my life, or least since mid-December of 1996, but today I forced myself to go for a little walk to Chango for an iced chai soy latte (a new and fervent obsession of mine, born at about 10 o'clock this morning at a Starbucks in Pacific Palisades). On the way back I walked past The Kids Are Alright and was delighted to find their window cutely displaying a t-shirt with a design by our dear pal Anke Weckmann. The tee's part of a lovely apparel line from Poketo, who also sell bags and wallets and jewelry and stationery and homeware (such as these darling bird-adorned dishes that I want to own when I'm about three degrees more grown-up). They've got dozens of tees with designs by a bunch of different artists, like Jeana Sohn and Sigrid Astrup and Leah Chun, all priced $15-$36. Here's my three faves: Anke's, Realeza by Laura Varsky, and Jungle by Hannah Stouffer (part of Poketo's sustainable collection, and thus 70 percent bamboo and 30 percent organic cotton):

nogoodforme.com's Music/Movies 2007 List-O-Rama

As promised, here's our big ol' compiling of the movies and musics we most loved in beautiful 2007. And if you didn't already check out our top 10 whatevs of 2007 list, please do: The new-and-improved post now includes a list from contributing editor Laura Jane, and if you do the math more correctly than I did you'll find that it's actually a top 11 list (because we're all about more bang for your buck, man).

Happy new year to all!

Music love:

+ Liz:

10. Panda Bear, Person Pitch
9. PJ Harvey, White Chalk
8. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
7. Devendra Banhart, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
6. Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam
5. Ataxia, Automatic Writing II
4. No Age, Weirdo Rippers
3. Lavender Diamond, Imagine Our Love
2. Mary Timony, The Shapes We Make
1. Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight

Also: "Paper Planes" by M.I.A., "What's a Girl to Do?" by Bat for Lashes, "Now Now" by St. Vincent, every track I heard off the Kanye record, "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice, anything I could get my hands on by Alberta Cross, "Golden Skans" by the Klaxons. And "Time Bomb" by Beck is probably my favorite song of the year; the first three seconds totally break my mind. But mostly I just listened to Neil Young all the time.

Lavender Diamond sings a new song at this year's Fuck Yeah Fest:

+ Kat:

(in no particular order)

+ Scout Niblett, This Fool Can Die Now
+ PJ Harvey, White Chalk
+ M.I.A., Kala
+ Castanets, In the Vines
+ Justice, †
+ Burial, Untrue
+ Blonde Redhead, 23
+ Angels of Light, We Are Him
+ Magik Markers, Boss
+ Chromatics, Night Drive
+ Calla, Strength in Numbers
+ The Boggs, Forts
+ Kanye West, Graduation
+ Various Artists, Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s - 1980s

Scout Niblett's "Kiss" with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (such a beautiful video):

Movie love:

+Liz

10. I'm Not There (or maybe Knocked Up; I don't know)
9. Broken English
8. Air Guitar Nation
7. Rescue Dawn
6. 2 Days in Paris
5. Into the Wild
4. No Country For Old Men
3. Juno
2. Superbad
1. Waitress

A deleted scene from 2 Days in Paris, which performed the unlikely feat of making me fond of Adam Goldberg all over again:

+ Kat

(no particular order except for the top 2)

+ Killer of Sheep (just completely beautiful)
+ Eastern Promises (Viggo + Cronenberg = way better than A History of Violence)
+ Superbad (I enjoyed this ten times more than Knocked Up, if only because I didn't have to swallow 1. a ridiculous plot point and 2. problematic politics)
+ Dans Paris (for lovers of French New Wave)
+ Persepolis
+ Stephanie Daley (there's one intense scene in here with some of the best directing I've seen this year)
+ This is England
+ Ratatouille (any movie wins with a character named Anton Ego)
+ There Will Be Blood (it won't be out till Dec. 26 - it sprawls and gets a little unwieldy but it's on here because of Daniel Day-Lewis' amazing performance and the score by Jonny Greenwood)
+ Juno (for the sharp script and for Ellen Page and Michael Cera)
+ No Country for Old Men
+ Across the Universe (loopy but fun)
+ I'm Not There (for Cate Blanchett's iconic performance, for Charlotte Gainsbourg, and for taking risks that films don't really take nowadays)

Although it must be said that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pretty much ruled my year. And this is the best thing I saw in 2007, thanks to Cathy from Show Me Your Titles, our favorite new feminist film podcast:

nogoodforme.com's top 10 whatevs of 2007

Before we list off all the movies and musics that made our hearts go boom in 2007, we're going to get into the much more important stuff of the year - like new favorite blogs and boutiques and beauty products and big huge crushes of all sorts of stripes. Dig the randomness!

+ Liz:

Most life-altering footwear purchase: cowboy boots
Most life-altering beauty finds: Giovanni Styling Glue (goodbye, frizzy head!), Skin Amnesty Restore/Protect Serum (hello, happy skin!)
Grooviest onstage attire: Jenny Lewis and Becky Stark and Patti Smith
Most inappropriate crushes: Michael Cera and Emile Hirsch
Most beloved new blog: Cat Party
Accessories trend I thought I'd be into forever but apparently I'm already over it: feather headbands (so good while it lasted, though)
Most irresistible online boutique: Bona Drag (I heart my Erica Weiner wolf tooth necklace)
Best reason not to get out of bed on a weekend morning: Marie Antoinette on DVD, plus some rose petal raspberry macarons from Boule L.A.
Number-one new style idol: St. Vincent
Most adorable yet potentially uncool choice of TV fashion icon: Mary-Louise Parker on Weeds (surely somebody else is with me on this - the woman really knows how to wear a t-shirt)
Most covetable eco-fashion line: Anna Cohen

(L to R: Mary-Louise Parker, St. Vincent, suit by Anna Cohen)

+ Kat:

Most life-altering footwear purchase: Faux Balenciaga ankle boots; or the vintage English riding boots I scored on ebay
Most life-altering beauty finds: Comme des Garcons Incense: Avignon; the Gap Individuals fragrance series, particular the Visionary and the Original scents (I've been looking for a good yet subtle leather-fragrance scent for ages)
Grooviest onstage attire: The dude from Deerhunter, Kazu from Blonde Redhead, Bat for Lashes
Most inappropriate crushes: I don't think it's inappropriate, but I do have huge crushes on Ben Whishaw and Romain Duris
Most beloved new blog: A Very Beautiful Stranger - surely the most stylish boy in Norway, no?
Accessories trend I thought I'd be over but apparently I'm still into it: Gigantic scarves (but not keffiyehs, the cultural appropriation issues are way too ick)
Most irresistible online boutique: Oak, or Yoox for deals on Rick Owens' Lilies and DRKSHDW lines
Best reason not to get out of bed on a weekend morning: J.B.G.
Number-one new style idol: Clemence Poesy
Most adorable yet potentially uncool choice of TV fashion icon: Um, I don't get to watch much television these days...I still miss Olivia D'Abo from "The Wonder Years"
Most covetable eco-fashion line: Beau Soleil

(L to R: Bradford Cox of Deerhunter; Clemence Poesy; Romain Duris)

+ Laura:

Most life-altering footwear purchase: OKAY FINE WHATEVER: my stupid, ugly, much-loathed Sorel Caribou boots. Speaking strictly in terms of life-alteration, I must admit it is rather nice to know that, even as my nose and fingers feel like they are about to crack off my body, my feet will always be toasty and dry.
Most life-altering beauty finds: Note to all big-eyelash obsessives everywhere: toss out your Benefit BadGal Lash and replace it with a tube of Fresh Supernova mascara; I guarantee you'll never go back.
Grooviest onstage attire: I would probably be struggling with this one a whole lot less if I listened to any music made beyond the year 1974. I don't know exactly what Betty Davis wore onstage, but whatever it happened to be, I'm sure groovy is the understatement of the century.
Most inappropriate crushes: Unbelievably enough, my ironic crush on Zac Efron was never really ironic at all. Oh yeah, and the fact that Hugh Grant stuck his fingers in some girl's mouth while he was PDA-ing her at a chichi London restaurant only made me want him more than ever.
Most beloved new blog: I second Cat Party.
Accessories trend I thought I'd be into forever but apparently I'm already over it: In March, I bought this neon slap bracelet with a giant stuffed frog charm on it that I thought was pretty fly. While it was entirely instrumental in the successful realization of my brief foray into Nu Rave Peter Pan-chic, um, well, yeah. I'm over it.
Most irresistible online boutique: One of my favorite games in the world is called Visiting Creatures of Comfort And Pretending I Can Afford Everything I Want. I fill up my Shopping Bag with about $10,000 worth of merchandise, then close the window and spend the rest of the day feeling sorry for myself.
Best reason not to get out of bed on a weekend morning: An extra-large coffee from Cafe Depot (one of the only things I'll miss about Montreal), dried pineapple rings, a brand-new crossword book, thermal leggings, and my boyfriend looking cute in J.Crew polar bear-print jammer pants.
Number-one new style idol: Al Pacino in Serpico
Most adorable yet potentially uncool choice of TV fashion icon: Kumar on House?
Most covetable eco-fashion line: Keep Company sneakers!

(L to R: Al (well, duh); dashing young Zac; Betty Davis)

White Light, White Magic

Two very special things I meant to tell you about many moons ago: White Magic's new-ish EP Dark Stars (it came out in late October) and this beautiful stuff called White Light (an essential-oil-based "aroma mister" concocted by Conscious Colors). They work as a pair because they've both got a sort of ethereal loveliness and would be ideal for transforming your bedroom into what one lady we luff might describe as a "gypsy den." And if you've got someone in your life who's fond of sipping lavender tea and wearing flowy dresses a la Stevie Nicks on the cover of Bella Donna, I'd very much recommend packaging these two together for a holiday gift.

Dark Stars is only four songs but they're all stunning, making it a much more consistently seductive CD than their full-length (last year's Dat Rosa Mel Apibus). There's lots of creepy piano, sleepy guitar, and witchy lyrics delivered in Mira Billotte's gorgeously Grace Slick-esque voice - download my favorite track, "Shine On Heaven", to hear for yourself. It's almost got me wishing I still lived in New England so I could while away some snowy morning hiding under the covers and playing the songs over and over and, I don't know, writing in a dream journal. (That kind of thing doesn't make as much sense in L.A.)

White Light, meanwhile, is a mix of pure flower essences blended to "protect your aura and emit the energy of white light." It's created by Los Osos, California-based aromatherapist Constance Hart, and the lavender/jasmine/tuberose/gardenia formula so perfectly fills the room with an airy-fresh floral scent - kind of like living inside an enchanted garden.

And while I'm here please allow me to state that I do adore Mira Billotte's rendition of "As I Went Out One Morning" from the I'm Not There soundtrack (mp3 available at The Runout Groove). It's a snappy little straight-up cover yet stays far away from anything remotely like a Dylan impression, thus making in far superior (in my mind) to Cat Power's version of "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again" (my favorite Bob Dylan song ever, and now I maybe don't like Cat Power at all anymore - blehh).

Love: Muji, Erin Fetherston for Target, Ports 1961 Sample Sale, In God We Trust, High Places on Mistletonia

I interrupt my semi-periodic scroffhole-disappearance-hermit-becoming to tell you all the style-related things I am loving recently. (Unrelated note: I completely underestimated how going to graduate school in a creative field can really drain you in really bizarre ways. You do things like avoid the Internet and travel out to random nature parks to stare at the playground socialization of small children vis-a-vis the Third World nannies community.) This is my "ooh la love" list of late, the things that make me happy despite the gloriously biting wind and amusingly bitter people:

1. Muji opened in Manhattan! And now all my paper goods fantasies have come true! I love how everything is minimal and Zen and how everything in the store, from soaps to sweatshirts, avoids looking studiously trendy but somehow manages to be chic and wonderful. I have never had such strong, emotional feelings about how aesthetically beautiful pens can be till Muji rocked my world. Muji, you make me happy to be a consumer.

2. There's one Erin Fetherston for Target dress that works for me! Upon first look I thought the Erin Fetherston line for Target seemed charming but way too cutesy-young for me, especially now that I'm all about my old combat boots these days and feeling mean and tough and grizzled like a real New Yorker and general cranky person. But the black chiffon Peter Pan collar dress works really well in my wardrobe: I unprim it by unbuttoning the top few buttons and rolling up the sleeves, so it reads a bit more Chanel-y/Lady Amanda Harlech than Lolita/infantilizing. It is a perfect "terrorize the students I TA with completely dense French-people critical theory" type of dress, especially with fierce Balenciaga-ish ankle boots. I highly recommend if you want a simple, chic yet swishy cold-weather LBD, although you will need to reinforce the buttons so they don't pop off with a simple thumbing.

3. The Ports 1961 sample sale. I love their sweaters and knits; so much of this Canadian line is beautiful and luxurious but in a friendly, modest way. Go Canada! If I could tattoo a maple leaf upon a major artery, I would. Details: Thursday, November 29th from 11am to 6pm. 601 W 26th St at Eleventh Ave, suite 875 (212-414-1050).

4. In God We Trust is one of my favorite boutiques in the New York City area. It's been so for awhile, but I haven't mentioned here so I am remedying that terrible, horrid oversight on my part. I love stepping inside of the store because it is like my own little piece of "Twin Peaks" in New York, with this cozy-earthy aesthetic all the way down to their house label's lumberjack plaid dresses and denim jumpers that are done so well they don't even seem so jumperlike. I am a Midwesterner at heart and will always have affection for things that remind me of "Little House on the Prairie" or Johnny Appleseed and apple orchards in general, and visiting In God We Trust always makes me wish they would take over the Great Plains and make everything earthy, restrained and just a touch ironically preppy. If you are looking for a lovely gift to give from In God We Trust, please do bestow upon someone their brass ID bracelet with lion charm because you indeed have the heart of a lion and love them so much.

5. And finally, holiday records are kind of weird, it is true, but Australian label Mistletone (who have released Beach House, Dan Deacon and a slew of others) are putting out a holiday comp called Mistletonia. You can download a track on it from Brooklyn dreampop outfit High Places, which the dudes from Pitchfork described as "a sort of dubbed-out half-cover of "Iko Iko,"" which is actually right, for once, so good on them. The High Places song is called "New Grace" and is really pretty and bright and much better than that John Mellencamp Christmas song (although I have strange affection for that at times, damn the Midwesterner in me.)

And now I return to the darkness of my scroffhole, armed with my Muji pens and black dresses and plaid gloves and pretty songs, only to emerge for the occasional movie and sample sale. What a strange creature I've become.

The Sads & No Age are Susan Cianciolo's favorite bands

If you live in New York and want to do me a favor, please head on over to Uniqlo and buy me this fantastic Sads/No Age shirt designed by Susan Cianciolo (the back reads "are my favorite bands," FYI). Or just buy it for yourself; that would make me real happy too. But it's only $15. And it's my birthday next month.

If you live in L.A., on the other hand, you should do yourself a favor (and how!) by going to see No Age (whom you may know from either Sasha Frere-Jones's profile in the recent New Yorker or from my own incessant clamoring about how great they are) sometime this week. They're playing with the unstoppable Mika Miko both tonight (at Echoplex, with Black Dice) and Sunday (at The Smell, with Jay Reatard). Here's some songs to listen to: "Dead Plane" (at 20 Jazz Funk Greats) and "Neck Escaper" (at Hate Something Beautiful). I love you and I generally like my t-shirts size medium.

Love: Linotte/Anke Weckmann

I think Kat and I both discovered the incomparably lovely Anke Weckmann through her beautiful zine Beyond, sadly long defunct. (I have really fond memories of reading my first issue of Beyond many moons ago, so enthralled that I had keep it pressed up against the steering wheel whilst navigating rush-hour traffic in downtown Boston.) It's been way exciting to watch Anke as she metamorphoses into a superstar illustrator, landing her work in big fancy publications like Bust and Plan B and The Guardian (to name but a few). And now she's gone and opened up an Etsy shop (under the name Linotte), where she's selling wallets, bags, pins, and other such totally-not-spendy treats that show off her darling illustrations.

What I love most about Anke's creations is essentially the same as what I loved most about her zine: They've got some sweet, innocent spirit that makes you sigh and fawn, but at the same time there's a quiet sophistication that keeps things from ever turning cutesy. Just a few seconds ago I stuck one of her bird stickers on my shiny new MacBook, and now I badly want these adorable screenprints:

Love: 34 Pieces

Sometimes I have this weird guilt about writing a fashion blog. Maybe it's the innate dorkiness of the word "blog," or maybe it's because this is more like some fantasy shopping list than what I really can or do buy, or maybe it's because deep down we're always struggling with having to come up with new! fresh! content all the time while believing that it's important to figure out ways to consume fashion more thoughtfully. (And to be honest, there's something really fun about the shopping experiment. Last year I did one where nothing entered my wardrobe without something leaving, and it made for interesting thought experiments.)

So when we see blogs like 34 Pieces, we are excited and inspired. 34 Pieces is exactly that: a 34-piece wardrobe that the editor culls from to create her daily outfit, proving that one doesn't need an overstuffed closet to look fabulous. Not only does this remind us of those magazine features we love where you see a few pieces combined in several different ways, but the items in 34 Pieces are just perfect in that refined, A.P.C.-type of way, done up with many great accessories. Our own "34 pieces" would be very different, but that's besides the point: it's about knowing your own self and life, and being ingenious and inventive with what you have.

Love: Gentle People

I just discovered Gentle People at the very lovely Oh Joy!, and now I want Italian designer/calligrapher Barbara Calzolari to work her magic on every piece of clothing I own. Often partnering with Lavinia Turra, Barbara literally turns fashion into poetry by stitching and embroidering words onto dresses and tops and jeans and sometimes even wedding gowns. She also does illustration for La Perla's magalogue and dabbles in "food writing" (such as with this peace pepper), but I love her fashion stuff most - especially those fantastic jeans.

Love: Swan Diamond Rose Dresses

There are many things I love about warmer weather: rooftops in the city, higher margarita consumption, afternoons in the park, flowers in bloom, and sartorially speaking, adorable print summer dresses that you can just throw on with sandals or flip-flops and go. Who can resist a sweet little summer dress? Especially when they're made by Swan Diamond Rose, a label with a penchant for the loveliest frocks you'll ever get to wear. I love how the clothes are quietly girly without being too frilly or saccharine, and even better, I love the fact that they're handmade with loving care and attention to detail. There's truly something special and timeless about these dresses, as if you know you'll keep them for years and pass them onto your daughter (or someone else you love) one day. Big plus: they're made of thrifted and vintage fabrics and created in very limited numbers, so they are truly one-of-a-kind. Don't you love the idea that something is dearly, uniquely yours? So go ahead, be the prettiest girl in your zip code this summer...

Way Too Much Fun: Paloozahead

Okay, so you're supposed to upload a picture of your own head for Paloozahead. But since we're secretive like that, we did one of our all-time eternally stylish private icons -- Brigitte Bardot -- and tried to style her in the best rock festival chic we could manage, considering the limited options. We thought about going the Avril Lavigne pop-punk princess route, and even tried out a sort of nu-rave thing that is so trendy these days. But Brigitte wasn't havin' it, so we did the old standby -- denim mini, cowboy boots, mixed up with a black t-shirt and rapper chains. (Hey, it works for Cat Power sometimes.) And then we did the weirdo hipster 80s Jane Fonda thing, too. Who should be our mascot?

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Love: Habitude's spring dresses

Spring has sprung and all I want is dresses, dresses, dresses. I'm even putting myself on a dress-only clothes-purchasing diet, as the t-shirt + jeans thing is getting so old and I'd much rather feel all twirly and carefree and girlish for now.

The dresses I covet most each come from Habitude's spring/summer 2007 collection: There's the hemp-silk charmeuse empire dress (left) and the organic cotton gathered empire dress (not left); both are available at The Green Loop. Habitude's fantastic because they use organic and sustainable fabrics and produce everything domestically. And - as we learned from the wonderful fiftyRX3 - designer Laura Chapuis first got into ecofashion upon pairing up with Diane Von Furstenburg to create an outfit out of recycled-plastic-based fabrics while studying at FIT. After working in the fashion industry for eight years, Laura split New York and shipped off to Texas to find something a little more meaningful. There she discovered that most of the organic cotton in the U.S. was grown in Texas, and - voila - Habitude was breathed to life.

Oh, and all you New Yorkers can get Habitude stuff at Kaight, whose online shop I just discovered five seconds ago and has already taken over my life, in a really nice way.

Where Have All The Eskimo Kissers Gone?

We're really fond of boys and girls who give eskimo kisses, but sadly we can't remember the last time we crossed paths with any such paragons of kindergartener-style charm. If anything can bring eskimo kissing back, though, it's most likely this happy little t-shirt from Bonbi Forest. Wearing it out at night is kind of a guarantee that some hopeful little scamp is going to come toddling up to you, all eager to rub noses. Which could be a good thing or a really annoying thing; we're not sure. So probably you should just buy the shirt ($30 at CUT + PASTE) because it's so adorable and because it's handmade by Bonbi Forest creator Lee May Foster, who also paints and draws and makes jewelry. We love Lee May already because her bio talks about horse beasts and mythological creatures and actually uses the word "trundle," which we're going to try and popularize along with the whole eskimo kissing thing. Total cuteness overload.

Love: Costello Tagliapietra, F/W 2007

How can anyone go wrong with a beautifully draped jersey dress, done up in colors that manage to be both muted and saturated at the same time? These Brooklyn fellows may look like lumberjacks, but they make the most refined clothes -- one could easily see a wide variety of women wearing their dresses, which is no small talent these days. Want, want, want...

Love: Nisa SF frilly vests

L.A. winters are fun because you get to pretend to be cold and wear kinda-dumb stuff like fingerless gloves and knit scarves with t-shirts. Sometimes I even daydream about getting a pair of nylon, rainbow-striped snow boots, but then I figure that I might end up hating myself at least a little bit.

Anyway - more than anything right now I want a frilly vest from Nisa SF, in beautiful navy blue: I love it because it reminds me lots of Marty's "life preserver" from Back to the Future, but turned all pretty with fancy ruffles.

And I really could use it right now, as it's a chilly 55 degrees and I'm in this cafe where for some reason everybody keeps neglecting to close the door after they enter or leave. I want to be like my second-grade teacher and ask, "Do you live in a barn?" and they would have to say "no," since there are no barns in Echo Park. Instead I keep getting up over and over to close the door, which is slightly embarrassing 'cause then everyone gets to see that I'm totally wearing fake UGGs.

Love: Marcello Toshi shoes

Tonight's the night for Gen Art's 9th Annual Fresh Faces in Fashion L.A. Show, which I sadly will not be attending. At last year's show my favorite discovery was Fancy Pony Land, and - taking a sneak-peek at this year's designer's - my favorite for 2006 shows a very Fancy Pony Land-esque predilection for big color and unabashed girliness. Marcello Toshi, a Peru-based shoe line, creates all its boots and heels without the use of preprocessed materials. Because they're not down with factory production, all shoes are handcrafted - which means it takes three days of work to make one pair. Making our hearts swell bigger with love, all of Marcello Toshi's styles get their names from Peruvian slang words (except for the Babydoll shoe, though that was originally named after the word for "beer").

We very strongly encourage you to drool over the Fall 2006 Marcello Toshi collection, which includes these pretty little things:

Gen Art's 9th Annual Fresh Faces in Fashion L.A. Show happens tonight from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

Love: Senada Theory

Thailand, represent! I'm always psyched to see designers from my ancestral land arrive here in the U.S., and the latest to come out of Bangkok's fledgling fashion scene is Senada Theory. They were just Senada way back when we first mentioned them here, but the label's girlish, feminine vibe still remains intact. The line is designed by Chanita Preechawitayakul (you can call her Lee); she may have studied biochemistry initially, but her designs reveals a love of detail and an emphasis on beautiful textiles (incidentally, one of Thailand's biggest exports.) You can now get Senada Theory online at Satine Boutique.

Love: Ciel

Sometimes I get the random wedding dress help request but I'm always at a loss to help, having no inclination at all to promote the wedding industrial complex. But recently someone dropped a message asking for a very specific request: to help find a dress that was low-key, stylish, pretty, could be worn again, casual enough for a late-summer, last-minute garden wedding, not thousands upon thousands of dollars, and finally, eco-friendly in some way or another. And wouldn't you know, I actually know of such a dress: this lovely tea frock from Ciel, one of my favorite eco-fashion lines. Ciel is a British-based brand designed by Sarah Ratty, and from their selection of fabrics colored with azo free dyes to their use of factories that comply with fair labor practices, they're upstanding examples of sustainable, eco-friendly fashion. But just as important, Ciel makes some gorgeous, gorgeous clothes that are worthy of being heirlooms, to be passed on from one generation to the next - their romantically bohemian dresses, sweaters, skirts and tops have fans like Cate Blanchett and Sienna Miller.

Love: Lyell

Goodness, we're full of love this week. But what can we say? Life is good, especially when you have the lovely designs of Lyell to look at. One can easily imagine someone like Sofia Coppola or Zooey Deschanel in the cult NYC label: Lyell is ladylike in a way that isn't a caricature of femininity, and the line of dresses, tops and bottoms would be prim if they weren't so clean and relaxed. Distinctions of uptown and downtown don't matter here - only a quiet elegance for the girl that goes for subtlety over flash every time.

Love: Leontine Hagoort handbags

This is my dream back-to-school bag:

It's by Leontine Hagoort, a former handbag designer for Esprit and Oilily. The Kids Are Alright in Echo Park is carrying a bunch of her bags right now, and whenever I walk past their front window I stare longingly at this beautiful, flower-adorned thing staring back at me and I dream of petting its lovely fake fur.

(Never mind that I've got no school to go back to; I can still covet hard.)

Love: Avita

We love ecofashion and the principles behind it, being lovers of the earth and other fun things like that. But let's be honest, it's slightly difficult to find examples of labels where the "fashion" takes just as much precedence as the "eco." Take my new obsession with bamboo fabric, for instance - it started with a set of perfectly celadon green bedsheets, and now I'm absolutely fixated on finding some perfectly, artfully draped clothing in bamboo. Along with being a genius eco-cloth - hypoallergic, fast-drying, pesticide-free, biodegradable and friendly to sustainable growing practices - bamboo is incredibly soft and pliant, more similar to silk or cashmere than cotton, and it wouldn't be too hard to imagine beautiful clothing with such a wonderful material.

My search for the ultimate beautiful bamboo cloth top yielded lots of activewear (including companies that could give American Apparel a run for their money) but it was discouraging not to be able to find something that didn't take creative advantage of the supple qualities of the cloth. But then I found Avita. The brainchild of L.A. designer Amanda Shi, Avita first came onto the radar for using cashmere in an everyday, relaxed way to create their sort of California casual designs. As a company they've been adding earth-friendly materials to their repertoire, including organic cotton, recycled cashmere and now, bamboo. I really love this top, available at online boutique Vibe, which falls into the slightly medieval thing going on for autumn. Body-conscious yet flowing, restrained yet romantic, and it's sustainable, too - a great example of taking full advantage of the opportunity to make the utilitarian into something aesthetically interesting, which is what fashion is about, after all.

Love: Skull, Bones and the Art of Banks Violette

Our radar always perks up when touches of Goth restraint and dark romanticism pop up outside the usual subcultures, especially lately in the work of artist Banks Violette, who has been rising to prominence in the art world in the past few years. Violette's inscrutable, cryptic references to Scandinavian death metal are lacquered beneath a sculptural command of the wood, black mirrors and materials that make up his installation work, and like any proper metalhead, skulls and bones pop up prominently in his drawings and paintings. (To catch some of those death metal references, read Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind. It's genuinely weird.)

In honor of the exhibition that Banks Violette is curating next month at Bortolami Dayan, and because we love the dark imagery as an antidote to pretty, girlish thing happening in fashion now, here are some of our favorite skull jewelry pieces, which we think look best when subversively juxtaposed against a subdued, feminine dress.

Rachel Leigh @ shopbop.com:

Amy Shutt @ day-lab.com:

Madame Fancy Pants:

Viola Valone @ shopintuition.com:

And finally art by Banks Violette, from 2002's "Arroyo Grande 7.22.95" at Team Gallery:

Love: Tsumori Chisato

This is turning into one of Those Weeks: you know, the ones with multiple deadlines everyday, a to-do list that seems to press upon the margins of your attention span till all you feel is the pressure, the pressure, the never-ending pressure of it all...and then you see some photos of pretty designer clothing by Tsumori Chisato and it's like leaping through fields of flowers mentally. The Tokyo-based cult designer, who shows in Paris, is known for her simple lines, bold use of print and colors and a quality that I like to call "whimsy without being flimsy." Looking at Chisato's gorgeous print dresses and charming tops calms me down and makes me feel happy that spring is coming. Until the next deadline, that is...

>> Buy Tsumori Chisato online at Satine Boutique

>> Buy her work also at LaRedoute (for cheap!)

Keep Company

My roommate and I were talking one night, reminiscing about fashion trends from our more innocent days in late grade school/early junior high. (Friendship pins? Vuarnet sunglasses? Z. Cavaricci? Anyone?) I fondly remembered how everyone had those little oxford tennis shoes: how plain and comfortable they were, and how everyone would scrawl lyrics, band names and crushes on their blank canvas. (Rob Cariss, I would still die on a double-decker bus with you.) So you can imagine how I freaked when someone sent me a link to Keep Company and I spied their selection of oxford tennis shoes: I have complete love for their grey-and-pinstriped canvas shoes, and then I discovered there's a particularly rad sweatshirt featuring a design by one of our favorite Los Angeles artists, Ashley Macomber. I love their plaid t-shirt so much, it's not even funny. And like icing on top of that cupcake, the company is ethical and aware and pretty rad all-around:

Keep is a shoe company, a clothing company, an amalgam of interests, a way of being, a force, a language, a family and many other things. Our kicks are for ladies, though sometimes our promos are unisex. We produce our shoes in Brazil and we work with people we respect, love and who make us laugh. We aim to keep things personal. We do everything the way we think it should be done. We pay attention to details.

We do Keep for all the women who have their game tight, who work hard to make things happen, who spread positivity and energy around them, who take care of their loved ones and most importantly take care of themselves. We make Keep shoes for those women who are tired of clown shoes, too many bells and whistles, and the misappropriation of the color pink.

We start to believe in fashion again when we hear about companies like Keep.

Love: Cutout Flats

Cute, comfortable, and arty, cutout flats work beautifully with spring's folkloric and handicraft motifs. Some favorite examples for a wide range of budgets down below!

From Sigerson Morrison:

From Target:

From Steve Madden:

Victor-Schechter: T-Shirts As Works of Art

I am so delinquent: I'd been meaning to write about Victor-Schechter since, oh, last year. Their t-shirts, featuring drawings and artwork by artists, caught my eye with their simplicity and subtlety, and the fact that there aren't many produced lowers the possibility of everyone in your zip code having one. But then you know, all sorts of life stuff happened so what can you do? Luckily for you and me, the t-shirt company is releasing their second line, and it features artists like Will Rogan, Harrell Fletcher (who started the very awesome Learning to Love You More with video/performance artist Miranda July) and Satomi Matsuzaki from Deerhoof. So don't be tardy like me and get one already.

Spring Frocks! Anthropologie "Twelve Palms" Dress

You know when it's the first day of spring and everyone seems to wear some version of a floral sundress? Well, if you're a contrarian but still want the dress action going, wear this quirky-cool one instead.