It's Going to Be a Thing / Educate Yoself! Part II

This month's It's Going to Be a Thing - Obi Belts! (Below - a particularly wearable variety)


I hold a special place in my heart for Obi Belts as 1. They are from Japan 2. I made one of my own for my fabric history class. Actually I really wish I could wear it, but I made it with indigo dyed fabric, which is awesome, but would rub off on my clothes. I need to figure out a solution for this problem... 3. I had to listen to a report about the history of Obi's during above said class.

Moving on!


I noticed a LOT of obi belts during the Fall 2009 Fashion week. This is what got me thinking about them as plausible to become a widespread trend. As you are all aware, belts have just been so popular for quite a few years now, and I don't see that ending anytime soon. In my opinion obis are the best of all that belts have to offer. They come in many different styles, and are functional, but so cute too. Below is an obi from the Rag and Bone show.


Obis also made an appearance at the Lacoste show:


Elie Tahari was practically a lesson in the history of the obi as they used everything from the early, skinny variety, to the later, wider variety of obi. Though I didn't particularly care for most of the clothes, the show is worth taking a look at for the belts alone.

Well, you all just lucked out. I was planning on giving you a little history lesson concerning the obi belt and their development over time. But it turns out there aren't any readily available websites concerning this issue, so as I do not want to go on my memory of the history of the obi belt alone, I will spare you all so I don't risk spreading any erroneous information. The obi belt is a fascinating article of clothing and deserves historical accuracy. So let's just leave it at - the obi started out really skinny, then gradually got wider and wider until the mid to late Edo period (abouts 1600 - 1870) when it reached it's pinnacle of necessity, width, and ornateness. Also - just a common fact here. The obi belt is used to secure kimono. Just throwin out the obvious facts here. Just in case.

Well, that's it I guess. I am willing to give a lecture on Obi and Kimono any day. Just let me know when and you can book me for a lecture hall near you. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be waiting by my phone.
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iTunes Challenge!

A new month, a new theme, a new iTunes playlist. It is inevitable.

I thought this month's playlist ought to reflect the idea of aspiring to live up to one's mentors, while staying true to the unique self. Soooo.... what would be better than cover songs? Nothing.

There you have it. Your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to find all of your best (or only) cover songs in which an artist rerecords a famous song with a unique take on it. You may be surprised by what you come up with.


Here... I'll give you a jumping off point:
"Yesterday" by Boyz II Men is a cover of The Beatles song by the same name.
or... "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor was originally recorded by Prince.
Now what can you come up with?

P.S. - As a bonus, tack on three songs by any artist that you would cover if you had a band, and explain what you would do differently with each song to make it a unique interpretation.

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What Happened to Worst Dressed?

A slight hiccup in our best/worst dressed pool. There was no worst dressed list this year. Stars and starlet's alike played it safe. In fact, rather than a worst dressed list People magazine ran a page of "Mistake?" dresses, not sure themselves if any blunders were made. So I leave it to you. Mistake?

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Book Review: Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Conner by Brad Gooch

From square one, my interactions with this biography of Miss Mary Flannery O'Connor were fraught with drama. I walked into my local Borders with the intent, nay the need, to pick a memoir that would define my own self. I had to know my mentor or else I felt surely that I had lost myself. What would be my ambitions? Who's footsteps would I tread in, like a child hopping through boot tracks left in heavy snow. I felt, oddly, as if this choice would map all subsequent choices, as if this decision would reveal "the figure in the carpet" of my life as I began to weave it.
Well, anyways, after a bought with horrific doubt as I decided that Susan Sontag was not the woman I aimed to be (she was all intellect without the grounding forces of faith and hope) I considered Edith Wharton but felt my own upbringing was too unlike hers (and I ached at the thought of reading 700 pages of life story, no matter who the writer was behind the words)so I nearly walked out. And then I spied it... the wall of new biographies standing along a far wall. And there it was" "Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor" by Brad Gooch.


I chose O'Connor to serve as my mentor figure simply because she was so glaringly unlike the other female figures I considered. She seemed to be the only woman in the room who matched success with simplicity, and a depth of mind with a depth of character that did not require illicit love affairs and bouts of alcoholism and madness to add spice to her life and her work. That, and I felt a warm and happy resolve at picking a fellow, humble Georgia native (not to mention I was drawn to those darn peacock feathers on the cover, as I was--you all know--Mrs. Peacock for Halloween). In short, our meeting seemed predestined. The figure in the carpet was becoming clear.
Now, there are three things that y'all ought to know about this book, and this woman. First, Flannery's best work appeared after she was forced to go back home following her Lupus diagnosis. This should be a message to us all that we will thrive when we stay true to our selves and do not try to replicate the incidences in the lives of others (i.e. we don't all have to live in NYC to be artists). A strange lesson indeed when considering this month to be wrapped up so completely in our attempt to find a mentor to emulate.
Second, she worked her whole life toward coming closer to her sense of the spiritual world. I never expected to take this lesson away from the book but she displayed a humility and patience in her study of theology that reminds me of images of Buddhist monks, and acetic hermits. There is a poise to her spirituality that I'm drawn to, wanting to harbor a similar meditation in my own life. I can't help but believe that we all have a spiritual self that needs nurtured in order to maintain our grasp on those things that truly matter in this world. This seemed to be a sense of inner power for her. I can only hope to grasp something of that for myself, a church of thought and being far removed from the material and trivial.
And finally, Gooch's book was by no means a perfect one. It played out too chronologically, and seemed so hands-off as if he was somewhat afraid to grasp the fabric of this life too tightly. But all is forgiven, as Flannery herself is left to emerge from the words. Again, that figure in the carpet is sought after and seen without the magnifying glass of our biographer. No wonder he titled the book "A" biography instead of "the" biography of Flannery O'Connor.
So, in short, I quite enjoyed reading this book, and feel so sure that I have made the right choice of mentor in the end. My life can now unfurl without regret. Mmm-mmm. :)
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Book Review: Personal Icon Month

The month of March was "Personal Icon" month for the book club portion of the salon. Pretty self-explanatory but both Casey and I chose a memoir or biography about a person we admired. So far this has turned out to be an extremely fulfilling month and I encourage everyone to participate with their own personal icon! It's not too late to find an icon/book! So I chose the book "Me: Stories of my Life" by Katharine Hepburn.



Honestly I chose to read about Katharine Hepburn because I really admire her sense of style. Also, she has a strong but sensitive spirit in all of her movies that I've always admired, so that was another reason I wanted to read about her. But really, it was mostly because of her sense of style :). I am so pleased to say that after reading this book I have so much more to admire about her. I won't go into specifics about her life so you will still feel compelled to read the book, but I will just say that her joie de vivre, strong spirit, and honesty all inspired and touched me. I can only hope to lead a life half as interesting as hers was. But even if that doesn't pan out, I hope that I can capture her amazing spirit and lead my life with the style, grace, and strength that she did. She was truly a force to be reckoned with and she never let anything or anyone change who she was. So inspiring.

And besides how admirable Katharine was, this book was so interesting in the glance that it gave into Hollywood during it's most glamorous days. Katharine spoke openly and honestly about everything and this held true for her discussion about the movies she was in, how the film industry worked, and the people she met on her films. This was a great little slice of the fascinating world of 1930's and 40's Hollywood.

Well Katharine - here's to you. You'll always be an inspiration to me. You were one classy lady.


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