Prada, Schiaparelli and Eataly

I finally got to go see Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations at the Met. I have never seen a more exquisitely curated show I have seen thus far (I am doing a Museums studies concentration so I have seen and studied my fair share of exhibits), though I can't exactly compare it with the McQueen exhibit last year since I didn't get to go see it firsthand. Through the exhibit, you can see exactly how Schiaparelli was incredibly modern and ahead of her time –– sometimes I have trouble distinguishing which piece was designed by Prada or Schiaparelli. I wasn't allowed to take photos of the exhibit so I don't have any to share, but I wouldn't have shared much anyway since I don't want to spoil it for anybody. Should you find yourself in New York, you really must do yourself a favour and go.

After going to the exhibit, I paid a visit to Eataly. I've been wanting to visit for the longest time, but never actually found the opportunity to go until now. I think I overdid by ordering wayyyyy too many pastries (which were a little too sweet) but thankfully I had a great espresso to cut the sweetness and wash it all down.

I really overindulged in the senses today: in sight with the exhibit and in taste with the great food and drinks at Eataly. I'm enjoying myself so much that I really don't want to go –– alas, tomorrow I leave for Greece. I have post scheduled to publish in a few days and hopefully that works. I'll try to do more fashion-heavy posts in the future, and until then, I will see you all in Greece. Τα λέμε!

Coney Island Photo Diary

For a well known New York landmark, Coney Island is surprisingly gritty as a tourist spot. It's not your generic amusement park though, so I suppose that same grittiness gives it a unique character that cannot be experienced elsewhere. Nevertheless, Luna Park was still fun; I did all the generic touristy things like going on the Cyclone (which was scary since it's so old and rickety), the Wonder Wheel and of course, getting hot dogs at Nathan's.

I finally saw the Prada + Elsa Schiaparelli exhibit and went to Eataly today, but more on that later. Toodles.

Out in the City

My cousin and I went out to go watch The Avengers (2012) at a theatre in Times Square today and I have to say Joss Whedon really outdid himself with this one. I didn't expect it to be that entertaining or funny and it totally delivered on all fronts. I can never get enough of Tony Stark's huge ego (Robert Downey Jr. is my other "old(-er) man" crush other than Colin Firth) and the Hulk's utter lack of a sense of humour. I didn't watch Thor or Captain America so I missed a few references here and there and was sad not to see Edward Norton, but all in all it was fantastic summer blockbuster :)

We stopped by Shake Shack nearby perhaps it was because we were so so so hungry, but I gotta say the double Shackburger is definitely up there in the top three best burgers I've eaten IN MY LIFE.

Anyhow I figured we were so close to Bryant Park, I might as well go to my favourite magazine store ever called Around the World Inc. I know I'm using a lot of superlatives here so far but you've got to believe me when this magazine store has every art/fashion/culture magazine you could ever want. I picked up a old issue of The Gentlewomen and spent the rest of the afternoon at the park reading. I'm sad I didn't have the chance to read the latest issue of Acne Paper yet since it got to my college mail box on the final day of school so I had it shipped to Vancouver. I figured I wouldn't have much of chance anyway being so busy in Greece until the end of July but you'll be sure that I'll do a write up on it for the blog. Daphne Groeneveld looks amazing on the cover of Self Service, but at $35  it can wait for another time. I plan to visit the Prada + Elsa Schiaparelli exhibit tomorrow at the Met so I should hit the lights and catch up my beauty sleep. I will write again very soon now the school is over!

MHL Love

PHOTOS COURTESY OF  MHL X  HOUYHMHNM

I've 2/3 of the way done! I've just finished what felt like the longest paper I've written ever since high school (a brutal fifteen page art history research paper) since most of my class work for the past two years consisted mostly of problem sets, exams or short three to four page papers. All I have left is my Econometrics exam and a tour I have to lead at the school museum tomorrow and that's it! I don't leave for Greece until 20th from Logan (since I'm travelling with the school and all) so I'll be blogging from NYC when housing kicks me out this Saturday. I went on Tumblr for a little blogging break and did not expect see these set of Margaret Howell photos from the S/S 2012 MHL catalogue.

At first I didn't know what MHL was, but apparently it's a new line that Margaret Howell opened up in Shoreditch and is crazy popular in Japan. Where can I get my hands out some without needing to read Japanese (from online stores there) or visiting the UK personally? These were found via HOUYHMHNM, which seems to be some mix of online shopping platform and magazine. (I wonder how you would pronounce a name like that :-S)

One more great MHL news is that Margaret Howell will be teaming up with Converse Jack Purcell to create two different pairs of chucks in black and off-white. I personally dig the off-white ones better. MHL white chucks + clothing from catalogue would make the ideal summer wardrobe EVER. Girl can dream.

A few more things before I sign off:

• My A Single Man (2009) fashion in film recap been linked to a Guardian fashion blog post, which is pretty cool since it's never happened to lil' ol' me before. It seems like I'm not the only one who's (still) in love with Nick Hoult's mohair sweater. I have a counterargument against the suggestion that the new The Great Gatsby (2012) movie will bring back all things 20s when it's released on Christmas later this year.
• I opened a super nerdy economics blog on tumblr, which I will update regularly when I'm blogging here. Follow me if you'd like :)
• I've come across some photos from the blog on Tumblr recently. I'm frankly flattered that someone would deem them reblog-worthy, but please link back. That's all I ask for, especially when the photos are of my physical self (why does that sound weird...) rather than, say a photo I took of a book I liked or a place I've visited. Even if I am just your average college student and not a professional photographer whose income depends on royalties or whatnot. Muchas gracias.
• A friend had lent me her copy of Fifty Shades of Grey (2011), which I was über curious to read since it's not everyday where each book of a trilogy occupies the NYTimes bestseller list places #1, #2, and #3 for what seems like forever now. Curiousity got the best the of me as I don't think I've ever cringed so much since I was forced to watch High School Musical when I was twelve at my friend's slumber birthday party (she, as the birthday girl, picked it). I suppose it was not all for naught since I enjoyed reading the tumblr parody of it immensely. It stops just short of being 'it's so bad it's good' à la so many fan fictions out there. I do however want to buy the trilogy as a prank for my mum for Mother's Day since it's a) super inappropriate and b) we all know how asexual married Asian couples with teenage kids can get. My advice is save your brain cells and valuable time and do NOT read the books, but if you still insist on it, don't say I didn't warn you.

And off to study for my last exam of the school year I go. Wish me luck! I'll write again soon.

With Grace, Elegance and Comfort

Yesterday after my last class for the year, I decided to take a little mental break and watch a documentary. I randomly came across the documentary, Ballerina (2006) and thought, why the heck not and watched the entire thing in one go. I wasn't planning on writing about it; the documentary was quite fascinating but wasn't shot in a particularly stylistic way that would warrant a write up on a blog that focuses on aesthetics, however the film stayed with me and I still can't quite stop thinking about it.

I never was one of those little girls who aspired to be ballerinas or signed up for dance classes so I'm thoroughly surprised at how impressionable the film was on me. Regardless, I'm rather intrigued by their "ballerina-off-duty" looks: a combo of casually put together comfy leotards and leggings. It's rather sad that word "comfy" has such bad connotations attached to it nowadays. Granted the word conjures images of yoga pants, Uggs, jeggings as pants etc., along with some other words along the lines of being either unkempt or unpolished. I attribute to this the popularity of certain TV shows like Mad Men, to an extent that I do appreciate in alerting to those who are oblivious of the fact that somethings should just not be worn in public, but it does sadden me that comfort is so often a quality overlooked in favour of pure style for most women. It also struck me that basics are seen as completely boring, when they are in fact so very important to the wardrobe (at least in mine).

The point here is that I hope there will be a renewed appreciation of the simple, "boring" basics and that there can be much beauty in the less than perfect. Most of the time, what really gets me are the slight, unique imperfections of things.

Edit: I knew something was missing from this post! The documentary reminded me of the wonderful editorial Acne Paper did for their Youth Issue. The editorial however focused on the Bolshoi, who you could say are rivals to the Mariinsky in the world of Russian ballet.