L-A: Y’all, I’m sick this week. Like, took a sick day and it still lingered around for days kind of sick. The kind that isn’t sick enough to stay home anymore, but just enough to make it hard to exist. And to annoy your co-workers as you go through a a box of tissues in two days. So forgive me if I’m a little light on favourites.
Hates
GQ for being mildly d-baggy.
So, I’m at the drug store buying lozenges, multiple packs of tissues and some nail polish when I see this:
And I was prepared to write it off as unklassy, but whatever, sex sells blahblahblah. Until I’m listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour and they start talking about the amazing piece of profile writing in GQ this month about Michelle Williams. So I head over to GQ to see more about it. And this is still how they’re selling great writing:
Some Like Her Hot
It seemed crazy at first. Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe? Come on. We knew Williams could act—but could she make us drool? America, we have our answer. Meet the winner of GQ‘s (okay, yes, unofficial) award for best actress
For all intents and purposes, they’re pitching this story to me like they’re Maxim effing magazine. It’s not the pseudo-risqué photography that’s got my knickers in a knot. It’s that they can’t bother to at least write some headlines that actually touch on the actual story (they talk Heath Ledger) or that they’ve allegedly got some great writing there (I haven’t read it yet, but I do trust the folks at Pop Culture Happy Hour). So, for that, I’m officially frowning at you GQ.
Favourites
1. We’re kind of a big deal.
That's us as a feature story. No bigs.
So is Ben (but you already knew that) and The Vegan Butcher. And so are the other bloggers in this city. When Kim interviewed us, we were happy to answer questions and forget about it. And then boom! We are in the middle of an awesome story and oh hey! that’s a photo of us!
2. Kate Spade clearly loves me
Right…so they kicked off their year of the pattern with stripes.
So that means, my birthday month was full of nautical and stripes over at Kate Spade. It’s a wonder I didn’t go stark raving mad and just buy one of everything. Particularly the nautical jewelery (which comes in a necklace, bracelet, ring and earrings…you know I want to collect the whole set).
In the meantime, I got a cute anchored number from Jewelmint. This is merely a stop gap. I still want the whole set.
3. Rachel Bilson is pretty much the most adorbs.
As much as we love us some Marissa Cooper round these parts, Summer Roberts will forever be our homegirl.
4. And like the title of the post says:
Oh hells yes. They are totally mine. (but not with those particular jeans). And I will eventually write an entire blog post about them (when the weather is better and I can take them outside for a “photoshoot”).
And now on to covet something new. I will put that new covet out into the universe like I believe in the Secret or some junk and it will totally become mine (because I won’t shut up for years and I’ll start sending links to people around gift giving holidays).
Ally: Yay to Friday! Fairly big snowstorm about to hit Halifax so I’m stoked to home-office-it for the day. Speaking of home offices, Ben and I have decided to co-write a post to be published on one or both of our sites called, “How to Operate with the Self-Employed/Entitled”. It will include helpful pointers such as, “We don’t do rush hour.” Wait for it.
I don’t have many favourites this week, and I don’t want to hold up the publishing of the post, so I’ll just take you direct to the Crappy Pop Video of the Week with a promise that I will have funny things to say next week (or at least I will be funny in my own head).
Look, judge me all you want for my pretend crushes on douchey rapper types, but I know enough to know that Pitbull is all kinds of wrong. How is he famous? Selena Gomez could “rap” better than this. In fact, I think she does:
L-A: The title of this post could also be “eras which I romanticize and would likely time travel to, should time travel ever be possible.” The beauty of this is that no one will ever hold me to this declaration, unless one of you has a magic time travel machine. Because some of the places in the past I romanticize are probably kind of horrible (like when I was little and thought it’d be rad to live in a dirt hole by a river bank with ma and pa and churn butter? Awesome idea, Li’l L-A. You don’t even like changing the cat litter). And I’m sure landing in this dream era would cause me to go into a massive panic attack, clutch my purse close to my chest and possibly die of fear because NYC way back then looks gritty y’all. And not in a charming movie set kind of way. But real gritty. Where a dude would stab you as soon as look at you and Times Square wasn’t exactly a tourist destination.
Anyway, possibly inspired by Ally’s desire to be an 80s rock groupie and a link The Husband sent me of 1980s NYC, I’ve decided that this is totally an era I can dig fashion wise. Not one that I particularly want to inspire my current style, but that I can dig on as a general era of awesome. I mean, shit. That city had swag.
I bet if I time traveled there, I'd totally be BFF with John and Yoko and wear hats together.
So, I went on a hunt for non-celebrity, non-disco images that show you why I dig the swag of that general time period (I totally guessed at 1978 to 1982). I’m going to try to properly credit photographers.
You will probably never be this cool. That's okay.
1980s short shorts and knee socks are totally where it's at in my books.
the leather jackets are killing me.
What up, shearling coat gang?
Yeah, pretty much everything about this street style rocks my world. I really do wish I could look that cool. I also wish I could have grown up in 1980s NYC, because I probably wouldn’t have been terrified of the joint. I’d be all, whatevs, this is where I live and it’d be the early 1980s, so no one would fear for my safety if I walked two blocks from my house by myself. Like this kid.
That’s the NYC I grew up watching. Is it any wonder I romanticize it? Big city living with your pet llama sounded pretty sweet to me. Even this song about the subway kind of made losing your purse sound not so bad, just a think that might happen.
Even the NYC muppets had swag back then. It’s decided. I would totally travel back in time for the style.
Ally: Due to a virus my computer picked up yesterday, which meant spending the day in Intensive Care at PC Medic, I will not be adding to this post. Not because I don’t think it’s worthy of my comments, but because the workload waiting in front of me due to missing an entire day is making me pee my pants a little bits.
Ally: Last week I inferred that I was slightly intrigued in the magical mystique that is the rock band groupie. I discussed this over lunch on Friday with Official Intern Krista and L-A. While I don’t necessarily believe they endorsed this sentiment, I think they preferred it over my crush on Pretend Boyfriend Eminem (this seems to deeply upset Krista on many levels, mostly because he is getting precariously close to “ending up like Axl Rose”).
Chemical peel, much?
Krista also had this to say when asked her thoughts on the whole groupie issue, “My love for Duran Duran is still deep and abiding. John Taylor 4Eva.”
Speaking of Axl Rose, which we were.
Look at all the fun they’re having at the two minute mark. The excitement, the smoking with reckless abandon, the overuse of hoop earrings (seriously, I miss big hoop earrings). At this point, and at any other point in the future where it is questioned, I want to be clear that I was never an Axl Rose girl. Slash? Different story. Hit up 3:35 in the video and tell me you don’t wish you were one of the bridesmaids getting to chase that down the aisle. Just me? I would also like to be clear before we go any further that I don’t actually wish to engage in the actions of a groupie (besides smoking with reckless abandon with vodka on ice), I’m writing this post to share my love for their clothes, or lack thereof.
(Editors note: In “researching” this blog post, I came across the following site which ranks individual members of rock bands for their talents in the boudoir. It’s hysterical.)
While I tend to lean towards the rock groupie era of the late 80′s/early 90′s, the obvious go-to groupie icon is that of Penny Lane as played by Kate Hudson (when I used to like her) in Almost Famous.
Who can forget that coat? Or the boots?
I wonder if the rock stars provide the clothing bursary?
The story is that Penny Lane was based heavily on Bebe Buell probably most famous for being the mother of Liv Tyler (“conceived” with Stephen Tyler)
One of her more modest outfits. Lookit how pretty Steven was!
Rod would not have been one of my groupie targets, for the record.
The original "leggings as pants" ensemble. Daring, yet dashing.
And while the pose is not particularly klassy, I do indeed love the knotted blouse crop-top look. You know, if I was 20 and driving around on tour buses.
I think she's asking for another drink.
Apparently Topshop did an entire collection dedicated to the 70′s groupie back in 2009. How did I miss this? Oh, right. I was 20 months pregnant. Not what Mick Jagger was likely looking for.
White powder sold separately.
Yes, it was a more subtle sensuality being dished out by the seventies groupies, something that is lost on the current day model.
They just don't sell jean shorts like that these days.
I adore the above photo. Looking at it, I can’t help but think of this song:
Don’t lie. It’s catchy. Sigh, I am so old.
These days, the groupies don’t even try anymore. It’s a lost art.
The physics around the dress worn by the young lady on the far right goes over my head. Physics in general goes over my head.
It bothers me that these girls don’t even want to go to the bar with Axl Rose and his posse, they’re ok with heading straight to the hotel lobby for the after-party, and that’s not cool. Who’s raising you wrong, my bitches?
Of course, our modern day rock star “groupie” icon has to be Kate Moss:
I think I've referenced this photo previously (maybe to piss L-A off on purpose).
Sexy (yes, L-A, debatable), casual, and certain to get on the bus for the full tour experience. This is likely more up L-A’s alley (pun!):
S/S D&G Collection
L-A’s classy and sassy. She’s only going on the tour bus if there is a promise of boxed wine and unlimited amounts of “Treat yo’ self” days from the rock star in question.
I don’t get much of a chance to dress up like a rock star groupie these days, but I’m looking for an excuse (meaning L-A needs to set this up as an FPQT challenge, which I will only agree to in the warmer weather. You can’t do groupie in a puffy coat and hiking boots required for the bullshit Nova Scotia weather. Word?)
