DEGREES OF HYSTERIA/GENTLEMEN

Wickedly Chic

Givenchy takes us OVER THE EDGE with these fierce and beautifully detailed hoods. Clearly the most daring accessories of any of the men’s collections for Spring/Summer 2011. I say, BRAVO!

ESOTERIC ESSAYAGES

Fabulous Footwear

Shoes should be about self-expression. Wear your heart on your feet! Have fun! Be whimsical! Be youthful! Be daring! Make a statement! Make people swoon! Make people laugh! Let your shoes start conversations.

Kobi Levi- Footwear Design boldly takes us to the place our feet want to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEGREES OF HYSTERIA

Here Comes The Rain

The Rain Chandelier by Ilanel Design Studio is an eye-catching cascade of shimmering raindrops offering a charming chime of the flutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEGREES OF HYSTERIA

Your Laptop Deserves To Look As Stylish As You Do

There are times when you simply want to listen to music at home straight off your laptop, but then how does one do this and still look stylish? Well… La Boite Concept brings us the first high fidelity speaker system designed for laptops. The Laptop Dock LD 120 by La Boite Concept is a full service docking station that allows you to connect your computer via USB cable, while also charging your iPhone and iPods, using only a single plug (thank heavens for anything that minimizes unsightly cords). The unit is sleek and stylish, created with an 8-layer piano lacquer finish and a natural leather desk pad, this sexy solution to rocking out while working is also environmental friendly. Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous!

CHARMING & GORGEOUS

The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library… Swoon!

Los Angeles is full of hidden gems. One could spend a lifetime in this city and never fully come to know all of its glorious facets. One of LA’s best kept secrets is the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Built between 1924 to 1926, the library boasts a breathtaking collection of rare books and manuscripts, predominantly English literature and history, dating 1641 to 1800. The feather in this grand chapeau, is that The Clark Library has the world’s most comprehensive collection of Oscar Wilde manuscripts and materials. The collection is a treasure trove, offering an inspirational archive that touches the soul and stirs the emotions. It is rare that we have to opportunity to come so close to a great artist.

The Clark Library is open to the public Monday through Friday, with tours available upon appointment. There are also a number of delightful events offered throughout the year. This is a must do/must see for any aesthete.

SCHOOL NIGHTS

When Art Openings Are More Fashionable Than Any Club: Design Loves Art

School Nights are great nights for arts and culture in Los Angeles. Tonight Albertine & Odette hit the Pacific Design Center for the Design Loves Art opening receptions. It was a gorgeous mash-up of art and fashion and we loved every bit of it!

ESOTERIC ESSAYAGES

The Ultimate Ski Pant

Well, as someone who does not actually ski, but who is mad about haute ski wear, I nearly choked when I came across this pair of  Rare 1960s Woodstock print Rossignol ski pants! I mean… really… envision yourself sauntering into the lounge of “destination ski resort” as everyone stops and stares… mouth agape… as you order an adult haute chocolate and cozy up by the fire…. I am positive that these pants are the secret ingredient to making friends with all of the most interesting people and getting invited to all of the very best parties…. Do you dare?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can get them at: http://www.kakkoiimono.com/

Here is what they have to say about them on their website:

“Reported by Rossignol to most likely have been custom one-offs for a special customer as they have no record of a line of these being made. Considering they were found in Montana, home of ski bums for decades, that’s not an unlikely provenance.

Reversible pants of solid blue on one side and extraordinarily kakkoii cotton duck screen-printed with the crowd scene at Woodstock on the most important side. Appears that no faces are repeated (we’ve seen a pair of jeans of the same vibe with a repeated pattern). Blue zippers up the full length of outseam.

As shred-ready as these are, they belong in the pantheon of unique vintage textiles and, as such, would be best served box-framed and displayed in your ski chalet. Cross-appeal for vintage, sport, ski, Woodstock, and music collectors. Truly one-of-a-kind. Long ago separated from a matching vest, but unlikely to resurface. Label: Rossignol. Excellent condition. Size M: waist up to 34″, inseam 32″

Price: $17,000.00

 

 

SCHOLARLY MUSINGS

Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde

” The artist is the creator of beautiful things.

To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.

The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.

Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are cultivated. For these there is hope.

They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

The nineteen century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

The nineteen century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.

The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.

No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.

No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.

Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.

From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor’s craft is the type.

All art is at once surface and symbol.

Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.

It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.

Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.

When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.

We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

All art is useless.”

-Oscar Wilde, Preface from The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

CHARMING & GORGEOUS

Cotton Candy: A Classic

Today I have had the most intense craving for Cotton Candy. I have never been able to resist the pink and blue puffs. As a child they always made me think of fabulously outrageous bouffant hairdos. Cotton Candy is one of the great symbols of childhood and its carefree fun. It never fails to alight a smile upon my face and set my heart racing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESOTERIC ESSAYAGES

Valentino: This Season’s Statement Making Bag

Valentino’s Crystal-Embellished Feather Clutch is the perfect accessory for bewitching Autumn nights. The pale blush of the feathers are tipped in ebony, reminiscent of a balmy sunset giving way to blackest night, ushered in by the fierce calls of so many glistening-winged birds.