The Spirit Animal House has officially closed up shop!

For the rest of 2008, at least. Let's all cross our fingers, hooves, wings and paws that it will open up its doors once more in a year's time, when we un-"leash" SPIRIT ANIMAL HOUSE PARTY II: THE PAJAMA JAM upon the world.

This is just a little note from your favorite fashion-blogging wolf, sea turtle and scrappy kitten-cat letting you know that we've decided to play Secret Santa on y'all- all raffle prizes are in the mail! Please drop us a line and tell us the story of that magical morning when you checked your mail and received some awesome raffle prize that you totally weren't expecting!

We are proud to announce that we raised almost SEVEN HUNDRED BONES for our charities; watch out for some serious Ed McMahon/giant check-style surprising in the coming weeks.

And last but not least, Thank you x a billion to everybody who bought a raffle ticket, donated to the raffle, came to Spirit Animal House, and helped us set it up. Without you, we would have died.

In Pictures: Spirit Animal House!

Spirit Animal House lives! Just kidding, but we do have some lovely pics of our party to share with you, courtesy of photographer Martha Burzynski. We're surprised she even got these because it was super-dark in there. (Nothing like some bright lights to harsh on the swanky vibe!) If you want to take a gander at more Spirit Animal House coverage, Racked did a sweet little write-up of the party as well, and there are more photos of more pretty things there. Enjoy!

I made all these little origami animals. There were more! I can make an origami fox in my sleep now:

+ Continue reading "In Pictures: Spirit Animal House!"

The Spirit Animals Have Gone Hibernatin'!

Spirit Animal House...what can we say? It was a damn good time! You missed me in my seasons-old Marc Jacobs dress, Liz in pigtails and cowboy boots and Laura Jane doing pretty much the best raffle emceeing on earth fueled on adrenaline and a shot of Absolut Pear. We debuted the products of our origami skills, people won lots of prizes and bought lots of pretty things at the mini-market, we gave out gift bags to lots of folks and raised a lot of money for our pet causes! We're still recovering from the party -- we're letting our spirit animals go into hiberation, and we ourselves are going on a little blog vacation -- but will be back to our regularly scheduled programming by next Monday, when we promise to go back to avant-wack attacks, musings on the curious state of Chuck Bass' hair and other assorted random pop culture obsessions.

Thanks again for all those who came by, bought something from all our gorgeous vendors, bought a ticket for our amazing , shambolic, completely nutty raffle, saw the bands, wandered in and had a good time!

And extra special thanks:

Our mini-market vendors: Clarabella, Dangerous Mathematicians, Sodafine, Artists & Fleas
Katie Rose and Paul, our DJs
Speck Mountain, who played a lovely set
Ver Sacrum
The staff at Pianos
All our friends who guarded over the raffle ticket bag when we asked them, held onto our wallets, helped us schlep, and were just generally darlings all around
All the designers, artists and businesses that donated goods for the raffle
Everyone who came
Everyone who came and said hi!
Everyone who bought a ticket to either of the raffles
Everyone in the world who is cool and inspiring and nice and fun to be around

xo Kat, Liz and Laura
nogoodforme.com bloggers and Spirit Animal Rescue League

PS - The nogoodforme.com signature cocktail is a TOO GOOD FOR YOU: a white wine spritzer with a shot of amaretto.

It's Here: Spirit Animal House!!

Ladies and gents, we are really just beyondwordsexcitedandampedandpsyched: today is our party and we hope you can be there!

Need a little primer? Miss the last three weeks of nogoodforme.com? Here's the full slate of happenings tonight at Pianos in NYC, starting at 8pm!

MINI-MARKET
We have an amazing group of vendors (Charm School Design, Clarabella, Dangerous Mathematicians, Sodafine, and, squeaking in at the last minute, some peeps from Artists & Fleas) selling some small wares in the upstairs space as part of our Indie Fashion Lounge. Starting at 8pm.
----> WHO'S SELLING WHAT

EVENT-ONLY RAFFLE
It's $5 per entry ticket into our event-only raffle, where partygoers can win prizes from the likes of Mociun, Habitude, Laura Dawson, Feral Childe, Asli Filinta, Popomomo, and so, so much more. Everything will be on display upstairs at the Indie Fashion Lounge, but you can peruse beforehand via the Internerd:
----> SEE THE PRIZE BOOTY YOU COULD WIN

PERFORMANCES BY SPECK MOUNTAIN AND VER SACRUM
LJ's own Ver Sacrum takes the stage at 10:30pm with their special brand of torch folk, and then we are proud to present Chicago's very own Speck Mountain at 11:30pm, who will bring it all down with their beautiful, moody dream-pop.
----> SAMPLE Ver Sacrum
----> SAMPLE Speck Mountain

GIFTBAGS!
It's not a party without swag and we have got some! The first 20 or so peeps for the music performances will get a deluxe gift bag featuring eco-booty from folks like Naturenvy, Lily Lambert Fragrances, Mixed Chick, Eco-Me and (cross your fingers that the stuff gets here ontime) John Masters Organics. The first 20 or so people who buy a raffle ticket will get a not-as-deluxe-but-still-nice gift bag! (Sorry, it's hard to explain!) Mucho thanks to the following for their kind donations on this front -- show them some love!
----> Naturenvy
----> Eco-Me
----> Lily Lambert Fragrances
----> Mixed Chicks
----> John Masters Organics

OUR SIGNATURE COCKTAIL!
Dudes, what other blog would take it upon themselves to create a fun new drink? Try a Too Good For You and kick up your dancing shoes! Want to know what it is? You'll have to wait till it's ready for its closeup at Spirit Animal House!

PLUS! We'll have snacks, candy and cake (free!), the music will be fabulous, the dudes will be cute and the ladies will be super-fine. Do you really need anything else? Ditch that lame Fashion Week afterparty with grumpy anorexics and failed models and come to Pianos tonight for a bubblin' good time! If you can't be there, send your spirit animal -- we'll take good care of it, we promise!

And remember, the whole shebang's a benefit for BARC, PAWS/LA and ARK II! And if you can't be there, you can still buy a raffle ticket for the Internet raffle, on sale via Paypal till the end of the night:

Down to the Wire: The Spirit Animal House Raffle!

Okay, folks, Spirit Animal House is just about to drop and, yeah, you know the drill: get a raffle ticket soon! The deadline is Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at midnight Pacific time for the internet-only drawing, and tickets are only available through Paypal for that; the event-only raffle is, duh, event-only and you gotta get your fanny down to Pianos on Tuesday night to take part in the actual Spirit Animal House party, where those raffle tickets go for $5. Yeah, I know, we've been chattering about our prizes for what seems like ages now, but what can we say? Check out the full roster on our raffle prizes page (we've got a few more, believe it or not, straggling in), be visually stimulated by our prize collage below...and then buy a ticket! Last chance is today!

Amazingly and overwhelmingly, we gathered over 70 prizes for the Spirit Animal House raffle! We thank ALL the amazing designers, artists, authors, and business owners who donated a prize out of the kindness of their hearts and their tenderness towards animals -- after all, the proceeds from these little babies go to Brooklyn Animal Resource Center, PAWS/LA, and Animal Rights Kollective in Toronto. We look forward to helping some happy kitties, puppies and the people who love them, and to finding these lovely objects a beautiful new home:

Spirit Animal House's Eco-Fashion Superstars: Mociun, Popomomo, Habitude & Andira International

Because we're not satisfied just helping out the animals a bit, we Spirit Animal House-dwellers are also trying to do a little good for Mama Earth with our soon-to-go-down charity raffle. To that end, we've selected some serious eco-fashion superstars as four of our featured designers - going clockwise from top left there's Mociun, who works with sustainable fabrics and awesomely hand-designed textiles to produce gorgeousness such as this dress (as well as the 3 t-shirts Brooklyn designer/Bowie-lover Caitlin Mociun also donated to Spirit Animal House); Popomomo, creator of this to-die-for organic-cotton sundress that's very much like the sunshine-cupcake-yellow wonder Laura Jane modeled in our Sodafine Fantasy Shopping Spree a little while back; Andira International, a very special label that not only prints their tees on eco-friendly fabrics but also supports rainforest communities by donating a tree to a child involved in Kids Saving the Rain Forest for every item sold from their Rain Tee collection; and Habitude, who gave us this lovely kimono pieced top and produces all of its organic- and sustainable-fabric-based apparel domestically (and, FYI, I very nearly picked up Habitude's organic hemp/silk double-v tie-back dress to wear tonight at Spirit Animal House, but then I didn't, and now I'm still coveting it quite madly).

Don't forget: Today's the last day to buy your $2 raffle tickets online, soooooooo...hop to it!

Love: Laura Dawson

Laura Dawson started off as a stylist in the music industry and began her Brooklyn-based line in 2002. Since then, she's been featured all over the place, including mentions in Lucky, NYLON and other cool places. It's easy to see why her work's been getting tons of attention: her dresses, tops and bottoms are all youthful, kicky and eye-catching -- and pretty much guaranteed to get you all sorts of "I love that dress!" refrains when you're out and about at night. I love how her designs have a lot of clever detailing and favor unusual shapes and silhouettes, but they're still on the urbanely clean tip, making them completely wearable and enduring beyond the current season. City girls will love Laura Dawson, but so will funky librarians, studious rock stars and other gloriously contradictory creatures -- she's very versatile, and it will be exciting to see her grow and expand as a designer. We're so psyched that she is kindly donating her zebra dress to our event-only raffle drawing at Spirit Animal House this Tuesday night at Pianos -- this would be one of the top prizes I'd choose for myself, personally, because it's really just the best thing ever. You can be there to fight me for it, or you can just buy a ticket for the internet raffle and avoid reckoning with me 'cause I'm super-tough and will throw down.

Imaginary Shopping Spree: Feral Childe, tons of killer t-shirts

Feral Childe brooch

I have this tendency to think anything with the word "feral" in the title is just about the coolest thing ever, so you should know that I am naturally predisposed to think the world of Feral Childe, the fashion label based in good ol' Brooklyn, NY, where their work is locally produced. Feral Childe was born out of a flourishing friendship between Alice Wu and Moriah Carlson, two hyper-creative, industrious people, and their work has developed a reputation for combining playful, whimsical details and motifs with spot-on silhouettes and tailoring. We are pleased, psyched, overjoyed and amped to be offering an artful brooch from Feral Childe as part of our event-only raffle at Spirit Animal House! This little charmer is not just a cool accessory, with a lovely stone animal festooned with shiny, happy ribbons, but it's practically a one-of-a-kind work of art. And if Lady Luck bestows upon you a winning ticket at our raffle on Tuesday, it could be all yours. (Kat)

TEES PLEASE: The Raffle Edition!

I love t-shirts. They are perfect. I love t-shirts so much that I had to invent an entire Ultimate Fashion Challenge to stop myself from wearing them every single day of my life forever! But one day, the Ultimate Fashion Challenge will be over, and I can return to my happy and peaceful t-shirted existence of old. If you are the type of girl who loves to rock a t-shirt and/or a dude, you'll be really stoked to find out that we have about seven trillion of them in both our online and IRL raffles! The Quiet Life is the brainchild of ex-skate rat/skate brat Andy Mueller, and I'm personally hoping that Michael Showalter will show up to Spirit Animal House so that he'll win one of Andy's Ts and look really hot in it to me. I'm also hoping that Sho will attend for other reasons (to give me a hug?), but whatevy. We also have some really pretty organic t-shirts from eco-designer Alena Hennessey, whose designs are always whimsical, dreamy and totally animal-centric, which we obviously love. And lastly, Toronto, Ontario's own Ziliotto Designs have kindly donated two adorable chien t-shirts, which would especially rule to win if your very own spirit animal happened to be a petit chien! But mine isn't. Mine is a CHAT.

And, as ever:

Spotlight on StyleDetox.com (and a coupon code for readers!)

The indie online boutique Style Detox was started up by a former music industry publicist in San Francisco, and the link to music shows through its indie- and rockabilly-influenced inventory and jewelry selection. There are dresses that would make an early Gwen Stefani salivate (including a checker picnic print halter dress so cute that it makes me wish I could wear gingham without looking like a dork), and super-cute quirky jewelry selections. The site also carries a carefully selected collection of vintage items of all sorts, and best of all -- everything is super reasonably-priced! Which also means, I've noticed, that things sell out fast, so my advice is to pick up what you want when you can. There's no excuse not to, especially since Style Detox is offering a coupon code for 10% off for nogoodforme readers: just enter nogoodforme10 at checkout and let the magic happen. (By the way, this coupon won't expire, like, ever! Fire at will!) They also donated some adorable jewelry to our Spirit Animal House charity raffle, so clickety-click on the little button below to buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win these (and many, many other wonderful things!)

Love: Asli Filinta

Asli Filinta is really our kind of lady and the type of designer we love to discover and support. She is from Turkey, which is the country that is third on my list of places I really, really am dying to go to. She loves music and art and lots of things D.I.Y.; her designs are beautifully fun and joyous and life-affirming and gleefully non-conformist; it's impossible not to wear her wonderful accessories and clothes and not be full of optimism and excitement and buoyancy. When I picked up our Asli Filinta prize from Dernier Cri for our Spirit Animal House party event-only raffle, I flipped my shizzit in the best way possible -- her hats and scarves are so beautifully made and insanely, beautifully quirky, you pretty much would freak yourself out in the best way possible just by wearing this. Take, for instance, this white straw fedora with a feather and an elephant applique, so outrageously adorable that it would put all the hats at the Kentucky Derby to shame. It's basically perfect for that girl whose inspired by equal parts Zelda Fitzgerald and Iris Apfel:

We also picked up two super-fly scarves that will make everyone on the street bow down at your cuteness, should be lucky enough to wear them:

Seriously, I kind of pass out from the fabulousness from it all. It just makes me happy to look at -- imagine how you'd feel wearing it! I envy the lucky winners who get to pick these babies out at our raffle drawing on Tuesday. Maybe it will be you? Lucky bastards...

Love: Sarah Wilmer & Felix-Gabriel Smith & Sarajo Frieden

I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but guess what? On September 9th, nogoodforme.com is hosting a party called Spirit Animal House. Over the course of the past week of my life, I have had precisely one non-Spirit Animal House-related thought- it was, "I wonder if it's true that sometimes Venus Williams purposely loses tennis matches to Serena because of weird psychological sibling business." But besides that time I thought that about the Williams sisters, nope, sorry: in the wild world of Inside Laura Jane's Head, it's Spirit Animal House or nothin'.

Luckily for me, SPIRIT ANIMAL HOUSE is the coolest thing that ever happened in the history of time, and there is heaps and tons and dollops and bounds and miles (and etc.) of awesome stuff to think about. One thing I used to think about in my pre-Spirit Animal House existence was art. In my new life, I think about art as it relates to Spirit Animal House. Which is highly preferable to no art at all!

All you awesome people (to whom I owe my firstborn child) who will be attending The Actual Event have a shot at winning what I like to call The nogoodforme.com Ready-made Art collection. If you're anything like me at all, you aspire to one day actually own real art. If you're anything like me at all, you are too broke to afford even a piece of the crappy Mom-style art they sell at suburban non-art galleries. You know, watercolors of cottages and things like that. If you're anything like me at all, you are attending Spirit Animal House and will be purchasing several raffle tickets, which cost less than the price of ONE DRINK. And, if you're anything like me at all, you are presently hoping to high heaven that your raffle ticket may pay off into winning some cheap, brilliant, hot CONTEMPORARY ART.

At left, you will see an absolutely gorgeous and appropriately animal-themed photograph taken by Sarah Wilmer, a Brooklyn-based music, fashion and fine art photographer who once took pictures of me dressed up as Claudia Kishi. Sarah's work, though diverse, is tied together by a fantastically spooky, haunted mansion-y aesthetic and a lot of expertly-accessed shadows and darkness.

We are highly stoked that Los Angeles-based illustrator Sarajo Frieden was able to contribute one of her Burning Dresser linopresses (seen at right), which I have coveted for a long, long year (ever since seeing it on the ReForm School website, upon which I Imaginary Shopping Spree thrice-weekly, or maybe septa-weekly). I love this print because it balances scrappiness and elegance with a level of panache I could only dream of. A lot of Sarajo's work looks like textiles, and probably should be, and probably will be.

Last but not certainly not least is an original contempo-psychedelic (I just made that term up!) illustration (seen above) by Felix-Gabriel Smith, who is totally going places and has some of the best dude style I've ever seen in my life (just so you know). Gabriel's work sort of looks like the cover of Odessey and Oracle by the Zombies collided with Galaga and a meteorologist's e-mail inbox.

And of course, our Internet-only prizes are still available for your acquisitional purposes, and you can do so by clicking the handy-dandy Paypal button below.

Have a lovely Spirit Animal House! Oops, I mean day.

We only want to see you laughing in the Purple Rain

I'm still mega-ly coveting every last item featured in my modcloth.com-centric Imaginary Shopping Spree post from a few months back - I mean, dag, how great would the Pan Am bag look with the apple shirt?? As Bill Murray in What About Bob? would say: Gimme gimme gimme, I need, I need! Anyway, cutie-pie modcloth was kind enough to donate this adorable umbrella by Finnish label Marimekko to the Spirit Animal House charity raffle. It's called Purple Rain, which is probably the hottest lyric-referencing umbrella name I can think of - although if I were to invent an umbrella I'd probably call it something like "It Never Rains in Southern California, Except in January and February When It Rains Kind of a Lot and It's So Fucking Annoying." "Purple Rain" is a little bit catchier though, probs.

P.S. This one's event-only, but please do treat yourself to a few $2 raffle tickets and the chance to win one (or more!!) or our other fabulous prizes.

Love: La Familia Green

I was psyched to write up paper goods company La Familia Green because they're based in my old stomping grounds of Chicago, IL, and therefore it allows me to expound upon on one of my pet theories: everyone in Chicago I know is incredibly literary and writerly and creative in the least pretentious way possible, and I think because it's so brutally, harshly cold in Chicago in the winter that you never leave your house, which gives residents an entire season to read and write and basically dwell in the vast beauty and trickery of words. I have been considering at least a part-time return to Chicago within a year or so (to be closer to horses, family and to pay cheaper rent so I can save for my thesis film), so I just may be able to test out my theory. And if I do, I will probably stock up on lots of notebooks at stationery from La Familia Green and send lots of letters to people saying how much I miss NYC and how it's so damn cold in Chicago, waaaaah. Because I'm a wuss. But wouldn't you love to get a note on cards and letter stock with such charming, clever, humorous designs? The best thing is that all cards are handmade in small quantities, so each little piece is like a bit of art. For our raffle, La Familia Green were kind enough to donate a tote, card set, some buttons and a particularly brilliant journal whose cover is made out of an old VHS copy of The Breakfast Club -- which you can win by buying a raffle ticket for our prize drawing. (I'm particularly fond of the luchadore button.)

Spirit Animal House, the Mini-Market: Charm School Design, Clarabella, Dangerous Mathematicians, Sodafine

We're super-stoked to announce the stellar mini-market line-up for our little Spirit Animal House event! As one of the main attractions of our "Indie Fashion Lounge", the sexy geniuses below will be live and in person at Pianos on Tuesday night in the swanky upstairs room, swilling a cocktail or two and selling a few of their wares. We've got a nice range of sellers, and ladies of any aesthetic persuasion (and the people who love them) should be able to find a charming addition or two to add to their arsenal of sartorial splendor. Read up on 'em below, check out their websites and contact them if you have any special requests, questions or just want to show them some love. And of course, come to Spirit Animal House this Tuesday at Pianos, where the Lounge kicks off at 8pm upstairs. Bring your fuss, feathers and dancing shoes -- and your wallets, too!

CHARM SCHOOL DESIGN

Who: charm school design: fanciful headwear and jewelry
What's selling at Spirit Animal House: feather and flower headbands and clips, range $25-$75.
Forms of payment accepted: cash or check!
Questions? Requests? Want a sneak peak? charmschooldesign@gmail.com or etsy site: charmschooldesign.etsy.com.

It's always a bit of a risk to say someone's the first to do something, but I reckon that Alita Edgar is certainly one of the feathered headband pioneers -- she's been making them for ages, and her work has recently been featured in the likes of NYLON. Certainly, in a now-crowded field full of cheap or poorly made imitations, Alita's work stands out for its quality and thoughtful design. Anyone I know who worn one of her headbands always gets a huge passel of compliments, they're that charming and unique. You can pick one up at our Spirit Animal House party; Alita's also kindly donating a pheasant feather cuff to the event-only raffle that night, which you can win if you buy a ticket for $5 (at the event, sorry!)

CLARABELLA

Who: Clarabella, supporting the best in independent accessories design... Shoes, Jewelry, Handbags.
What's selling at Spirit Animal House: Shoes from Tashkent by Cheyenne, Leather goods from Tracey Tanner, Jewelry by Nicole Gagne, Bags by Kristen Aronsson and much more!
Forms of payment accepted: Cash and Credit Card
Questions? Requests? Want a sneak peak? www.clarabellanyc.com, any questions email: erin@clarabellanyc.com

We've shown Clarabella lots of love before and are huge, huge fans of Erin Whelan's boutique, which is chock-a-block full of feminine, modern jewelry, bags, shoes and accessories. It's starting to create a buzz, having recently been written up in the likes of Daily Candy, but we've been fans for ages and are psyched Clarabella's been getting all this attention. Erin's also a charmingly lovely lady herself, and you can meet her in person at the Spirit Animal House party where she'll be selling a lovely assortment of things, including some Tracy Tanner accessories I've had my eye on for awhile. Clarabella is donating a lovely Andrea Brueckner tote in coral to our event-only raffle.

DANGEROUS MATHEMATICIANS

Who: A clothing boutique for smart and sexy women, which carries Dangerous Mathematicians label clothing, select European clothing labels, and jewelry by independent New York designers. New lingerie section offers stylish and affordable lingerie.
What's selling at Spirit Animal House: t-shirts, Dangerous Mathematicians corset-belts, lingerie (from underwear to bustiers) and clearance items (including clothing, hosiery) $10-$100
Forms of payment accepted: Cash and credit
Questions? Requests? Want a sneak peak? info@dangerousmathematicians.com, www.dangerousmathematicians.com, (212) 460 5356, or come to the store at 176 Rivington Street. They open at 2 pm Wed-Sun.

Besides having probably one of the coolest names ever for anything, Dangerous Mathematicians sells elegant, playful clothes and smartly sultry lingerie in their Lower East Side boutique. It's all perfect for that smartly dressed girl with a bit of a racy side, and you can sample DM's wares at the Spirit Animal House party, where owner Karen will be selling all sorts of accoutrements for your inner sensual intellectual. Karen is also kindly donating a Dangerous Mathematicians T-shirt and a garter belt with stockings from her lingerie section for our Spirit Animal House event-only raffle: ooh la la!

SODAFINE

Who: Sodafine boutique is Brooklyn's finest source for eco and indie and local designer wares including clothing, accessories and footwear.
What's selling at Spirit Animal House: assorted t-shirts ($20-$40), accessories by Purldrop ($30-$50), artist illustrated pocket mirrors ($7), mi-spa roll on perfumes ($15), Valerian cards and stationery ($3-$6), Happy Owl glass pins ($9), sprout studio earrings ($15-$35), Brooklyn Novelty totes ($20)...
Questions? Requests? Want a sneak peak? info@sodafine.com, http://sodafine.com, (718) 230-3060

Ah, how we love Sodafine! There's so much cool stuff in this little Williamsburg retail gem: why don't you check out our Fantasy Shopping Spree we did at Sodafine for yourself and see for yourself? We are psyched that Erin Weckerle from Sodafine will be there in person and selling some of her favorite small wares at Spirit Animal House. She's also kindly donating a Sodafine gift certificate for some lucky person to win at our event-only raffle -- good luck deciding if you want to apply it to an amazing Bahar Shahpar top, or a Popomomo dress, or a Cecilia Prado frock or...or...or...

Spirit Animal House Booty: Snoozer Loser totes!

We've shown our Love for Snoozer Loser before, and we still stand by every word we wrote: they're geniuses with the hand printing, and their floaty, relaxed designs are rendered in the freshest, prettiest colors and designs. Snoozer Loser are expanding into totes and such for the fall, and lucky for us, we scored two to give away as prizes through our Spirit Animal House charity raffle benefiting animal-related charities like Brooklyn's own BARC. Aren't they beauties? You can win them, of course, by doing the old clicky-clicky on the button below and buying your fine self a raffle ticket or two. You can win a bunch of other very cool things as well. Trust us, you have nothing to lose -- you may win a beautiful objet, and you absolutely will be helping out a kitty or puppy or two.

Love: Josh Jakus

Unlike the Canon of Great Art, which is totally boring, the Canon of Great Design is as exciting as Helter Skelter, and I mean that. Great design is actually, literally as exciting as the song "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles. I don't doubt that in fifty years time, Josh Jakus will be the latest inductee to said Canon (which, for the record, probably includes some William Morris chairs or something, Anni Albers' paper clip necklace, the spaceship that went to the moon, and the Dyson vac). I also think that in fifty years every single bag will look like the Josh Jakus UM bag: backpacks, briefcases, suitcases, Judith Leiber sequined clutches, etc.

As per usuelle, nogoodforme.com is totally ahead of its time. Fifty years before UM bags become ubiquitous, we've already got one under our belts, and, because we're really amazing sweethearts, we're giving it to YOU, and then we're giving the money we make from giving it to YOU to the bereft animals of three entire urban metropoli!

Just clickery-dickery dock on the convenient little button sitting beneath this sentence, fork over two dollars, and you will probably win the Josh Jakus UM Clutch, or maybe ONE OF THESE THINGS or maybe ALL OF THESE THINGS! Whoa! I bet you'll totally sweep the raffle.

FURTHER PROOF THAT JOSH JAKUS IS A TOTAL GENIUS:

Jezebel Stationery: Correspondence for the Vagabond Heart

I became infatuated with Jezebel Stationery's paper wares because of the gorgeous use of silhouettes, but I fell in love with the Brooklyn-based company for the poetic names and titles it calls its t-shirts, tote bags and note cards. The look of Leigh Batnick's work is classical and rooted in traditions like old photography and 19th century silhouettes, but there's a fresh, modern twist to the actual scenarios and images depicted. Lovers of vintage, language and vintage language will love the nods to the Gilded Ages of past, and those with angelic poets in their hearts will fall in love with the words inscribed. Listen to the names of the items Jezebel donated to our Spirit Animal House event, and you'll hear how the words are just as imaginative and beautiful as the designs themselves:

(left to right: "one day blanche birthed a mad, bad bibliophile" organic cotton tee; "dear virginia, an odalisque on a payphone" tote bag)

(left to right: box of cards: "waltzing matilda at the cafe lovely" box of cards, and "for louise moon, fragile as fingernails" box of cards)

Keep an eye on Batnick -- not only is she now selling their own jewelry, but she's also launching an interior design branch in 2009 and is working on a capsule collection of dresses. If it's anything like her cards and t-shirts, it is sure to be full of a straightforward grace. Needless to say, you can get a jump on your Jezebel fix and get a chance to win the tote or the card sets by buying a ticket to our Spirit Animal House raffle. (If you're dying for the shirt, you have to come to the actual party!)

Deck your neck! Hot chains from the Spirit Animal House raffle

I'm a total necklace-aholic; I couldn't care less if my ears and wrists are forever left bare, so long as my neck's decked out in lots of lovely charms hung on some pretty piece of metal. If I had my druthers, I'd keep every last one of these gorgeous pieces from the Spirit Animal House raffle all to myself - but I'm quite sure that Kat, Laura, and all the animals of the world would frown on such thievery. And who can stand the sight of a frowny cow or duck-billed platypus? For smiles all around, clickety-click the PayPal button down below and get yourself some $2 raffle tickets. All the little critters will thank you profusely, I'm sure.

Top row: Sex Slider necklace by Ach Ach Liebling; bunny necklace by the ever-awesome and animal-loving Frozen Peas Accessories (whose Rotten Tooth necklace I'm soooo smitten with right now); the Ms. Pacman dogtag from Tiny Armour's Pacman Fever collection.

Bottom row: Danielle Petrosa's Pattie Boyd Ceramic Necklace (geniusly double-sided, with Pattie & George Harrison on one side and Pattie & Eric Clapton on the other); Stephanie Simek's Single Eyelash necklace; and feather necklace from the fabulous Miss KK Miss KK.