Fashion Structures

To inaugurate the new Resnick pavilion, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art brings us Fashioning Fashion, an exploration of fabrics, cuts, trims etc. from the late 18th century to the 1910's. The exhibition is very poorly staged, compared to the recent fashion show about American women, at the Met, which featured settings and characters seemingly interacting. Here, each piece is displayed in a box, archive-style. What a lost opportunity!

Next week I will show you my favorite pieces, but in the meantime here are some dramatic fashion structures - various kinds of corsets and other "figure enhancing" devices that are tremendously architectural. By the way, the show also features padded jackets to make men's chests seem bulkier and "waist binders," also for men.
One fascinating phenomenon is how developments in technology allow fashion to be transformed - case in point, this metal panier that could be created thanks to breakthroughs in the use of steel.

Contrasting with all those metal structures, supreme designer Paul Poiret's exquisite 1915 brassière (below) offers another type of support altogether...

Happy Colors

At my mechanic's, a giant Winnie The Pooh tests drives a red car.

I've had the same iPod mini for almost 5 years - I just can't let it go because 1) it works fine and 2) it was a present from someone precious. But when I see those new candy-like Nanos...

Pretty cards that landed in my mailbox; even better when they come in an envelope adorned with cool stamps.

On Main Street in Santa Monica, a gate and a building get a fresh coat of paint.

Makeovers

The Museum of Natural History, a few blocks away from my New York abode, has undergone a serious makeover. Like many old art institutions around the world (the Louvre in Paris and the Covent Garden opera house in London come to mind), the building has a new appendage, in the form of a metal and steel structure. That is where visitors now enter and discover the solar system floating around, as they go up a spiraling, upwards walkway flooded with sunlight.
My ancient Mini iPod has also been revamped, with products from DCI. With those fun earphones, no more need for diamond studs from Tiffany's... As for that tiny cube, it's actually a speaker that allows me to listen to some music and NPR podcasts in my little room.
On my playlist: NPR's Fresh Air, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Bookworm, and music by Björk, Debussy, Bach. What are you listening to?