HEY YOU! NOGOODFORME.COM is now found at...NOGOODFORME.COM! You've stumbled upon our old mirror site instead. Please point your browsers to NOGOODFORME.COM instead and update your newsfeed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/nogoodforme/tYOS. Thanks and we shall see you at NOGOODFORME.COM!
Previous Page In This Category | HOME | Next Page In This Category
Thursday , July 24, 2008
Accessories (And Q&A): Nashelle
When I first saw the jewelry of Nashelle, I had that rare feeling of being mesmerized by the grace, simplicity and beauty of the design. There's a lovely quality of serenity to the designs from Nashelle, a line based out of Bend, Oregon -- they echo the shapes and motifs of nature and are a bit Art Nouveau in feeling and are so elegantly done that each piece is like a little piece of art. It's a line for people looking for something personal and organic in feeling -- for those looking for genuine emotion and meaning rather than flash or trendiness in their fashion. Plus, Nashelle is totally fair trade and uses recycled metals and recycled 14k gold, kicking in an eco-friendly angle to their operation.
Nashelle designer Heather Beeson was also kind enough to answer a few questions for us about her background and inspirations behind such lovely work.
+ Continue reading "Accessories (And Q&A): Nashelle"
Tags: accessories, Alaska, eco-fashion, fair trade, jewelry, nashelle
+ Posted
by Kat in Accessories
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! | 
| Leave
a comment | Comments
(1)
Tuesday , July 15, 2008
the nogoodforme interview: Francesca Lia Block!
I'm sort of stumbling over words to express how super-, maximum-, ultra-excited we are to be running an interview with one of our most collectively beloved authors, Francesca Lia Block. Legions of fans of books such as Weetzie Bat, The Hanged Man, Violet & Claire and many, many, many others need no introduction to Block -- she inspires such a devoted, passionate following with her readers that I can definitely hear the collective excitement already in various outlets of girl culture. (Liz, Laura and I all spent time on the witchbaby list, dedicated to all things FLB, and first "met" there and exchanged zines through it, so you can imagine the sentimental pull that doing an interview with FLB has for us...we literally wouldn't be here together if not for her work!) The thing is that her books are powerful, honest, beautiful and go way beyond the genre definition of "young adult" or what have you. People become so enchanted with Block's books that they become an intrinsic part of them, especially when the stories have such lush prose, starry-eyed plots and vibrant, sometimes poisonous Angeleno beauty. Entering the Francesca Lia Block fictional universe is like entering a world where beauty can be extracted from pain, where magic happens with a kiss, where food, friends, clothes, music, art and creativity jangle alongside one another like charms on a bracelet, linked together by love and sorrow and everything else. Being part of that imaginative realm, even for a few hours -- no one looks at the world in quite the same way again. To take a phrase from one of my favorite FLB short stories ever, life is the big romance in her stories, and that's something we don't forget here.
+ Continue reading "the nogoodforme interview: Francesca Lia Block!"
Tags: books, Francesca Lia Block, influences, magical realism, pantheon of awesome, Weetzie Bat
+ Posted
by Kat in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
| Leave
a comment | Comments
(7)
Tuesday , July 8, 2008
the nogoodforme interview: Austin James Band
Austin James Band makes me wanna tap dance, a feat perhaps only paralleled by The Ohio Players on "Love Rollercoaster" (wacky, I know). I think maybe it's got to do with the Long Beach, California-based quintet's sounding very RAM-y to me at moments, which in turn recalls my mom talking about tap-dancing to "Dear Boy" in her college dorm room. All that sunny-sweet Vaudeville-style pop just gets me shuffling off to Buffalo, man.
If you're in the mood to attempt a little soft-shoe yourself, go listen to Austin James Band here. And if you live within reasonable distance (or, hell, even wildly unreasonable distance) of Sunset Strip, definitely check out the band tonight at The Key Club (8:20 sharp!). And for now, read our little interview with the boys, in which they speak of Duck Hunt, donuts, toy-vacuum-cleaners-as-guitars, the evanescent appeal of Wreckx-N-Effect (debatable, I'd say), and one big fat Paul McCartney crush.
+ Continue reading "the nogoodforme interview: Austin James Band"
Tags: Austin James Band, Duck Hunt, epic lagoons, Harry Potter, interviews, music, Paul McCartney
+ Posted
by Liz in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
| Leave
a comment | Comments
(1)
Tuesday , June 24, 2008
the nogoodforme interview: Erin Whelan of Clarabella, NYC
If it's possible to have a crush on a place, then my current place-crush would be on accessories boutique Clarabella -- probably one of New York's hidden retail treasures and a prime source for some amazing wardrobe accents. We've given shout-outs to the space before, but can you blame us? Being inside Clarabella is a bit like stumbling into the private dressing room of a particularly well-lived dame who's managed to acquire all sorts of gorgeous bijoux and accoutrements during some amazing adventures and travels. (But because it's a store and not a closet, you get to go through everything and take home whatever you can buy!) The selection of accessories within this music box of a boutique is well-curated, high quality and generous in its aesthetic diversity -- there's something for any discerning woman, whether she's an old-school romantic looking for a future heirloom or an edgier rock 'n roller with a thing for Victoriana and fierce shoes. What ties it all together at Clarabella is a friendly intelligence and genuine charm, which reflects in the warm, polished woods of the decor to the beautiful art on the walls to the encouraging DIY spirit of its jewelry-making classes. All of which, of course, echo the spirit of its owner, Erin Whelan, who started the store after spending time in the trenches of the music industry. Don't be surprised if you get the urge to start your own cozy little enterprise after reading our interview with Erin -- the true warmth of Clarabella and its owner will inspire you with pioneer spirit and a passion for independence.
+ Continue reading "the nogoodforme interview: Erin Whelan of Clarabella, NYC"
+ Posted
by Kat in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
Friday , June 20, 2008
siteLA's All-Girl Collective: Wildly Exceeding Outlandish Expectations of Awesomeness A couple weekends ago while heading home from the truly magnificent Vegan Spot, I walked past an unassuming gallery-type space with lots of surfboards displayed in the window. One of the boards was signed by my fantasy BFF Flea, which I took as a solid indication that many awesome things must go on inside. And then just a few days later, BOOM, Kat forwarded me an email all about said goings-on, and they're even more awesome than I could've ever imagined. Turns out the space is called siteLA, and it's home to an amazing all-girl collective put together by Quiksilver. Over the course of the year, six women are serving as siteLA's "Visionaries in Residence," using the space to work on a whole slew of personal projects - and then show off those projects to the public. From left to right in the above photo, there's Jesse Rodato (an aspiring architect and interior designer who's working on developing mobile skate parks for inner-city kids), Dorothy Le, (a bicycling activist who's organizing Safety Sirens, "a fun, innovative and sexy project that will encourage safe cycling in L.A."), Pilar Diaz (a singer/songwriter and former Los Abandoned frontwoman, now prepping her bilingual solo debut), Khrystyne Zurian (an automotive designer, currently creating the interior and exterior of an eco-friendly concept vehicle), Sarah Anderson (one half of the performance/music/sound/video/interactive group Lucky Dragons and head of the dance troupe People, a publishing house called Glaciers of Nice, and collaborative-drawing group Sumi Ink Club), and Beth Jones (a fashion blogger set to launch her own business, The Vintage Society). This Saturday night siteLA's hosting one of its many events, a cocktail party for the launch of TheVintageSociety.com (and opening reception for a group exhibition showcasing four L.A.-based textile artists). Earlier in the day, Beth will be presenting her very groovy Traveling Shirt project (more info below) at a Summer Solstice BBQ celebrating the launch of the new Quiksilver women's collection (1 to 6 p.m. at The Closet in Santa Monica). Beth and I chatted for a bit about her big plans for The Vintage Society, the radness of siteLA, and her favorite places to vintage-shop around town - keep on reading for some choice shopping secrets, and do come out to the siteLA party tomorrow. (It's practically right across the street from my house, so totally feel free to come over and drink mojitos on the front steps beforehand. I've got fresh organic mint!)
+ Continue reading "siteLA's All-Girl Collective: Wildly Exceeding Outlandish Expectations of Awesomeness"
+ Posted
by Liz in Events
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
Wednesday , June 11, 2008
the nogoodforme interview: Princeton One of the reviews for L.A.-based trio Princeton points out that the all-boy indie-pop band "feels like they just stepped out of a Wes Anderson movie," and that's pretty much right-on: Over the past few days I've been listening "Leonard Woolf" (from their just-released EP Bloomsbury) over and over and thinking how it would be just perfect for chugging along on the Darjeeling Limited and sipping sweet lime with Adrien Brody. And then we could all experience some really poignant moment in slow motion, let go of our Marc Jacobs baggage, and finally be FREE. Until that day comes, we've got this happy little interview with the lads, and I'm pleased as punch to report that there's much talk of cupcakes and donuts. So do read on, and don't forget to check out Princeton's residency at Silverlake Lounge next month.
+ Continue reading "the nogoodforme interview: Princeton"
+ Posted
by Liz in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
Wednesday , June 4, 2008
the nogoodforme interview: Thelma Bjork Jonsdottir of THELMA Design I first caught wind of of THELMA Design's avant-baroque headpieces via the second-greatest fashion blog on the entire Internet, Style Bubble (if you're super Thelma-hungry, check out Susie's write-up here). I immediately fell crazy in love with Icelandic-born, Paris-based designer Thelma Bjork Jonsdottir's work. There is nothing I love more in the world than headdresses, hairbands, hats and headpieces. I fantasize about living in a world where I could wear a crown of bluebonnets around my head while running out to the corner store, or maybe affixing a Narwhal horn to a strip of tie-dyed leather and rocking it on mass transit. Thelma's designs make me feel like my outlandish headdress fantasies may one day become a reality; really, I'd rather wear any of her innovative and meticulously-crafted headpieces than some stupid whale horn or whatever. That silvery starfishy confection in the lower righthand corner of the image below is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's better than candy, even, and would look SO COOL with jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe since I wrote about her on my blog she'll give me one? Here's hoping! Anyway, I was so enamoured with Thelma's work that I got right to work on setting up an ngfm Q&A with her. As you'd imagine, her responses to our slightly silly Qs are as fanciful, elegant and imaginative as her designs. Read on!
+ Continue reading "the nogoodforme interview: Thelma Bjork Jonsdottir of THELMA Design"
+ Posted
by Laura in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
Thursday , May 22, 2008
the nogoodforme interview: nogoodforme.com! It might be kind of silly to do our own interview as part of our fifth birthday celebrations, but I take full responsibility -- 'twas my suggestion as editorial director, and you can blame all pretentiousness charges on me. I really want this to be less about me, however, than about paying tribute to my super-foxy comrades in awesome: Liz and Laura, two of the coolest girls I know in the whole wide universe -- and three parallel universes over. Well before I started nogoodforme.com in 2003, I actually had known Liz and Laura through zines; I can say with great honesty that they've been some of my favorite writers since forever. So it was such a huge, happy deal for me to get them to come on board this little cruise ship. They've both brought their own idiosyncratic, brilliantly unique takes on life, culture and all things fabulous to nogoodforme, and I can truly say that this blog would not exist without them. Yet it struck me that I had no idea what Liz's favorite beauty secret was, or what album from childhood Laura still rocks to this day. That seemed totes wrong, you know? It needed to be rectified before we embarked on any more birthdays, and this was my solution. A lot has changed in the blogosphere since I started this baby, but one thing that doesn't change is the passion and inspiration you need to keep a blog going. The best thing about having Liz and Laura as my compatriots is that they constantly inspire me with their collective wit, talent and hotness. They're probably super-embarrassed at how I'm going on about them, but you know what? They're rock stars in my eyes, I believe in gratitude and I wanted to use our five-year birthday to give them some public love. So my champagne glass is raised to Liz and Laura, to the last five years, and to the many moons of the beautiful and true we hope to document here in the future. And we raise a glass to you, dear readers! Thank you so much for reading! Gold rings to you all from nogoodforme.com, where our game is tight, our aim is true and our hearts are full of how perfectly awesome life can be. We share it with each other, and we enjoy sharing with you. (Kat)
+ Continue reading "the nogoodforme interview: nogoodforme.com!"
+ Posted
by Kat, Liz and Laura in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
Thursday , April 3, 2008
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? What is the inspiration behind Quiet Hero? Who are all the players behind Quiet Hero and how did you all connect? What's behind the name "Quiet Hero"? What advice would you give for someone aspiring to start their own line?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
+ Posted
by Kat in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! |
Tuesday , April 1, 2008
the nogoodforme.com interview: Mary Timony 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. 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.
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.
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.
+ Posted
by Liz in Interviews
| Permalink | Stumble This! | Digg This! | Previous Page In This Category | HOME | Next Page In This Category
