Hello Saloners!

I'm here with your word of the week once again and its a real doozy this week. Try and use it sometime this week. Whenever the opportunity arises. I've tried it this weekend and its a real crowd pleaser.

Boondoggle:

do useless, wasteful, or trivial work

work of little or no value done merely to look busy

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Modern Rakes?

I had a thought while watching the movie Made of Honor yesterday, and I think it is interesting enough to warrant its own Salon post. I'm interested to hear what you all think on the matter.

So my thought was this: We all know about the idea of "The Rake" (see below), and even better, "The Rake Reformed," but is there a modern day equivalent to this?




Some candidates:
The Douchebag

Pros: Exhibits such self-destructive, egocentric, lothario ways as seen in the historical rake.
Cons: I'm pretty sure a rake is supposed to be desirable. This douche is not. Would we even care about reforming this guy?

The Lothario

Russell Brand is quite the ladies man in England. Also so is Calum Best apparently - but do we even know who he is? I tried to think of some lotharios from America, but all I kept thinking of was Wilmer Valderrama and that was a little too vintage for me. So we'll just deal with Russell until someone can think of a better example.
Pros: A ladies man exhibits some pretty self-evident rake behavior: i.e. getting with a lot of ladies.
Cons: Rakes weren't only ladies men. They were debauchers of innocence! Purveyors of vice! The lothario just seems to be missing that extra spark.

"The Bro"

Pros: As best defined by Brody Jenner - this guy exhibits a little of the two categories already mentioned plus some. Dabbling in douche-baggery, with some womanizing on the side, "The Bro" also has a strong attachment to his group of guy friends (aka band of Bros). When together, these bros work as a team to increase their levels of debauchery and vice. I'm thinking that this need for male comraderie resembles the gentlemen's clubs of Regency fame.
Cons: When together, these bands of bros can experience a little "revertigo". I'm not sure rakes were ever as immature as these dudes seem to be when together. And would rakes really have had "bromances"? Not sure.

Barney Stinson

Pros: Ah Barney. Ladies Man. Bro. Sharp Dresser. Wee bit of a douche? You represent that little area in the Vin Diagram of dude-dom where all of the above categories intersect. And as we have seen from the show, you are already on your way to being reformed, and oh it is good. Robin you will be one lucky bitch when you two finally get together!
Cons: Fictional?

Are there any categories that you all think should be added to this discussion? And who do you all think is pulling ahead in the race for becoming the Modern Rake?
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Word of the Week!

Hello saloners,
This week's word is a little belated I realize but up until last night I was unsure if I had found a word worthy of joining this most prestigious of written records. But at last as I was reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles I found the answer I sought. In fact I found a couple of answers which might occur in the weeks to come. But this week I wanted to feature an oft overlooked word that I believe deserves not to be left in the past.

Bygones: Things that happened in the past.

Like I said it seems simple but this word has a certain panache and deserves a more common usage especially by a group that strives for just this sort of style in our every day lives.

Here is a quote from Thomas Hardy in which the word is used three times in one sentence (Bravo Hardy).

"Bygones would never be complete bygones till she was a bygone herself." Tess of the D'Urbervilles, pg. 349. Read More......

The Obama's first dance

OMG! How much do you love our first couple?!?! I feel like a squealing middle schooler.

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iTunes Challenge: Inauguration Edition

On this day of the Inauguration of our 44th President of the United States of America, I do hereby propose an iTunes challenge in commemoration of this most monumental of days. I challenge you all to make a playlist that will remind you of the hope and promise that this day represents. My playlist is after the cut. Happy iTunes-ing!




Aquarius - Cast of Hair
Three Hopeful Thoughts - Rilo Kiley
My Generation - The Who
I Have Confidence - The Sound of Music
America, F**ck Yeah - Team America
Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
If I Had A Hammer - Peter, Paul, and Mary
Hella Good - No Doubt
King of New York - Newsies
Invincible - Muse
I'm A Believer - The Monkees
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye (This song is dedicated to the First Couple. How awesome would this night be? Thank YOU Mr. President. *salute*)
Go Where You Wanna Go - The Mamas and the Papas
Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows - Lesley Gore
Do You Believe in Magic - Lovin' Spoonful
Just Around The Riverbend - Pocahontas
Life is Wonderful - Jason Mraz
You Make my Dreams - Hall and Oates
Let's Live for Today -The Grass Roots
I've Got Rhythm - Glenn Miller
Because we Can - Moulin Rouge
When You Wish Upon a Star - Pinnochio
Ain't No Mountain - Diana Ross
The Times They Are A-Changin - Bob Dylan
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Word of the Week!

Hello Saloners,

Here again is your word of the week. Have you ever been strolling along a busy street or attending a crowded party or attending a concert and thought to yourself- "Self, I wish I had some new word to appropriately describe these masses."

Well, I have discovered the answer you've been searching for. Thanks to the indelible Chuck Bass and his recent mission to locate where rock bottom is actually located, we now have rediscovered the word Hoi Polloi.

Hoi Polloi:

An expression meaning "the many" in Greek, is used in English to denote "the masses" or "the people", usually in a derogatory sense.

The phrase became known to English scholars probably from Pericles' Funeral Oration, as mentioned in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles uses it in a positive way when praising the Athenian democracy, contrasting it with hoi oligoi, "the few". Its current English usage originated in the early 19th century, a time when it was generally accepted one must know Greek and Latin in order to be well educated. The phrase was originally written in Greek letters. Knowledge of these languages would serve to set apart the speaker from the common people who did not have that education.

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Salon Event!

I had an idea for a salon event the other day. It could always correspond with Personal Icon month, or it could just be a free-standing salon event if we don't want to wait that long to do it. We can collectively decide that I guess. So I will explain the idea after the cut, but I will give you a little hint before the cut. :)




So my idea is to have a "Personal Style" event. Right about now you might be thinking - What in heck are you talking about Amy? Hold your horses - I'll tell you (I just realized that his post is sounding more and more like an informercial. Damn).

It is my belief that everyone has a very personalized sense of style - it's just that it's hard to see it from where you stand. It is also my belief that if someone is interested, they could really benefit (stylistically speaking) from knowing what that style is, and how they can use it to create a defined and cohesive life. So my idea is to have an all out event where we all just sit down and, through various style exercises, figure out what our most basic sense of style is (or at least what we wish it was).

I'll give you some examples of what kind of exercises I mean. 1. - write down words that you wish reflected you (I'll guarantee you that you already have clothes/other lifestyle routines that reflect those words). 2. - create a pictorial list of people who's style you always like/clothes you really really love/etc. 3. - make a list of all of the clothes you can remember from your life that you have loved an obscene amount. (i.e. you think I have a love of nautical things for no reason? four words - kitty cat sailor dress.) There will be other such exercises as well, I just haven't thought of them yet.

Besides the style exercises, we could maybe watch a very stylish movie (like Contempt which I just watched and will be the inspiration for my summer wardrobe this year, or maybe some movie that is less French. And with less of Brigitte Bardot's ass.) And maybe we could eat some stylish snacks. Like...... chocolate tuxedo strawberries? Idk - we can work on that if you all decide you are interested in having such an event. So just let me know what you all think!
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Word of the Week!

Hello again happy people,
Though it appears that this post was an Amy production it is actually I, Allison. For some reason my own log in did not like the video embed that I had in mind and so adjustments had to be made. Never the less, I persevered and here is your Word of the Week!

Indelible:
Having the quality of being difficult to remove, wash away, blot out, or efface;
incapable of being canceled, lost, or forgotten.

*word courtesy of Amy 

Need an example?
Here is a classic one, though perhaps singular to our own group:


That's right. What is more indelible than a memorably humorous commercial starring our New Zealand heart throb.

For another and perhaps more clear cut example:

That's not coming out. Rather indelible wouldn't you say?

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Book Review: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

After reading The Maltese Falcon, all I can say is that Dashiell Hammett would have been a pretty stand-up screenwriter. Strip away the description a bit and pack it into that standard skeletal formatting and you have a nice rough draft of what turned into John Huston's subsequent script by the same name. There's just one thing about screenwriting you have to keep in mind: dialogue is your best friend and you ain't got much else to thread your art on. So I guess you could say he's doing everything right. The only problem is that his 'Falcon' isn't a script at all. It's a novel and the same rules just don't apply.

Example of good dialogue:

"Jesus God! is this the first thing you guys ever stole? You're a fine lot of lollipops! What are you going to do next--get down and pray?"

Geeze Louise, he cracks me up! This is a good show of how kick ass Sam Spade is, as well as a show of how characters are larger than life and chock full of attitude. Perfect exaggerations. I want to be so cool. Verdict: Dialogue, awesome; Characters: the coolest.

Example of bad writing:

"Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth. His nostrils curved back to make another, smaller, v. His yellow-grey eyes were horizontal. The v motif was picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases about a hooked nose, and his pale crown hair grew down--from high flat temples--into a point on his forehead. He looked rather pleasantly like a blond satan."

Oy vay, where to start? I now ardently hate the letter v, how do you look pleasantly like a blond satan, and did he really just write "the v motif picked up again??" See, if this was done in scene description he could have gotten away with it. Mere design notes. But in literature?? Tsk tsk, sir. You should know better than to let your audience know that you're weaving in a motif. That's like a magician explaining his tricks!

Anyways... the point is that Hammett's work would work if he'd take his own thumb off the page and let me get to reading. Too often it reads slower than it ought to because he's telling you how to see it instead of just showing you. Still, you gotta admit he sees it straight. The book may not function perfectly on paper, but it exudes so much style I have to go buy a hanky now so I can delicately mop it off my stricken brow. That and I could toss Brigid O'Shaugnessy just to get one more scene with Spade in the same room with Effie Perine. Shoot, every time they pair up you'll start to wonder if your local private eye is looking for a new secretary because, well, that's just damn sexy.

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Get ready for some spring and summer lust/Over the slump!

Oh man y'all - I SOOOOO got over my It's Going To Be A Thing slump. I did some soul-searching (aka looked at Net-A-Porter all morning), and I've been inspired for what's going to be a thing next.

This is going to be a long post so after the cut get ready for SERIOUSLY wanting it to be warmer weather!


Ok guys, so I'm sticking with my dress theory, so everything I post today will be dresses. I mean seriously though - a dress is an outfit in one piece - it just makes sense. Another reason dresses just make sense is because they're just more feminine and after the masculine inundation we've had in the past few seasons (which I've loved btdubs), it's time for the pendulum to start swinging back the other way. Now I think that vestiges of masculinity will remain in our fashion choices - but now there will be much more play of masculine vs. feminine - think pairing a blazer over a soft, swingy dress, or wearing masculine oxford flats with a figure-flattering floral. I think this will serve to create a VERY interesting time in fashion. Woohoo - so excited!

Another compelling point in the resurgence of femininity - during the great depression, clothing went from the more masculine influenced styles of the 1920's, to softer, more figure flattering silhouettes during the 1930's. It makes sense because how I was saying yesterday - figure flattering pieces, like those of the 1930's, are generally things that you just want to wear over and over again. Also, the softer and prettier clothes call to mind a happier, perhaps more innocent time and provide a good escape from the more stressful times that we are going through. I see us heading in that same direction now. Coincidence or not? Who knows! Drawing parallels through history y'all! History is fun.

Moving on. So what does the resurgence of femininity mean, and how will it affect us? To me, this means we will be seeing a lot more florals, a lot more ice cream colors (part feminine, part happy!), more softer and draped fabrics, and more 1930's style tailoring. This style will present the perfect antidote to our depressing economic climate. Here are some dresses (a la Net-A-Porter) that I think encompass this burgeoning trend PERFECTLY.

3.1 Phillip Lim:




Alice + Olivia:


See by Chloe:


Fendi:


TIBI:


Richard Nicoll:


Zac Posen:

I'm so pumped guys. Honestly if this isn't a wide-spread thing, I don't even care. Because it is SO going to be a thing in my wardrobe this upcoming spring/summer season.
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It's Going to Be a Thing: Economic Crisis Edition

It's been a little while since I've made an It's Going to Be a Thing post, but honestly I just haven't been inspired recently (except in menswear type things, which I don't think y'all really care about - but note: a mass popularity of the knitted tie is imminent).

But as for fashion that will affect us... I've been at a bit of a loss. So I decided to make this into a discussion post. Namely, what I'm interested in, is how will our economic crisis affect what we wear?

Here are some things that I'm thinking:

1. Obviously we will spend less and use what we already have more.
2. What we DO choose to spend money on will be good basics - things that can go with what we already have and will be very functional.
3. Quality will become increasingly important. Quality of fabric, Quality of cut, etc.
4. The things we buy will be easy to care for. Nobody needs the extra costs of dry-cleaning now.

Here are some things I'm wondering about. Will neutrals become more popular than color as they can work with more? Will texture take precedence over pattern as that can work with more? Will the prevalence of pattern decrease? Will our clothes become more conservative to reflect the somber feeling our country is experiencing? OR will we go in the opposite direction and opt for happier clothing as a way to combat those hard time blues? So many interesting things to think about!

As for me - I certainly don't plan on buying less color - I want more color if anything! And I never really care for a lot of pattern anyway. But I definitely am more interested in thicker fabrics that last a long time, like wools for winter, and cottons for summer. Also, I feel like I want to buy more dresses (big surprise) - but seriously - it's a total outfit in one piece! MUCH more economical. I also definitely feel that I want things that are more well tailored and figure flattering - these are things that will boost your confidence and make you WANT to wear something over and over and over again so you don't have to go out buying more!

Here is something else to think about. In the past, times of financial depression encouraged more women to sew their own clothing. Do you think this is even possible today?! I feel like people are so out of touch with self-sufficiency that that idea wouldn't even occur to most people. I am totally going to actually make some of the patterns (see below) that I have for some of my new summer clothes instead of just buying all new clothes. But then I've had these patterns and have really wanted to make them anyway. But maybe before they wouldn't have been the bulk of my new clothes for the summer season like they probably will be this year.


So I feel like there is a lot to think about concerning this issue. What do you all think will be the effects of our economic depression on our clothing choices? What are you looking for/are you planning on changing anything in order to suit the times? I'm interested in what you all have to say.

(An aside - in my research for this post, I found a surprisingly interesting article which - though not relating to fashion per se - had some things to say about other style choices. Read if you dare.) Read More......

Reading List for 2009

Happy anniversary, Salon! You're officially one year young, and it's time to celebrate. Forget the traditional party hats, and noisemakers, dearie. You are a true New Year's baby, and you get a different sort of gift: resolutions, ambitions, and (best of all) a new reading list! Hmm... and cake is always allowed. It is a party after all.

One brief amendment: a shorter list. It would seem that we, your humble and neophyte parents, mere little women, had great expectations for you this past year. We are a confederacy of dunces! We forgot that you were in the age of innocence with a heart so white and fresh from the ghost road of the underworld. You were a mere infant, a stranger in a strange land, and new to the rites of passage on the road of life. Well here's to the hours past, and to the years to come. We are ready to take possession of ourselves and amend our love's work (if not now, when?) and shorten our book list from two books every month to one. One book will be mandatory and SHALL be read (the punishment is banishment to the jungle, nay the inferno where angels fear to tread). Thus it is written, thus it is law.
Let us now return to our party going, our cakes and ale. We have reached the end of the affair.
Farewell my lovely,
Casey & Amy, proud parents of The Salon.

P.S. Can you find the 22 book titles hidden in the previous paragraph?? :)

Now for the book list...


The following literary works SHALL be read as organized by month in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Nine A.D.

January: "It's Time to Try Something New (Again)" Month

Book: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

February: "Women's Historical Fiction" Month

Book: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

March: "Personal Icon" Month (Biography/Autobiography)

Book: Choose your own. Amy, for example, is reading Me by Katherine Hepburn

April: "Big Names, Lesser Known Works" Month

Book: Sanditon and Lady Susan by Jane Austen

May: "Music Appreciation" Month (Nonfiction)

Book: You Choose.  For example, Casey is reading The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia

June: "English Is Not My Native Language" Month

Book: The Lonely Hearts Club by Raul Nunez

July: "Southern Charm" Month

Book: Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty compared with The Color Purple by Alice Walker 

(A rare exception to the one book rule)

August: "I love to laugh" Month (Nonfiction)

Book: Some kind of humorous nonfiction a la Chelsea Handler or John Hodgman

September: "Bestsellers" Month

Book: TBA.  Will be decided once the years bestsellers are known.  We aren't clairvoyant, wish as we may.

October: "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" Month (Nonfiction)

Book: How to Pick a Peach by Russ Parsons

November: "The Future's Lookin' Bleak (a.k.a. Dystopian)" Month

Book: The Island by Aldous Huxley

December: "Merry Christmas to You!" Month

Book: Buy what you want and read yourself happy into 2010!  :)

Thus concludes the listing of the books of 2009.
You're Welcome.

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Word of the Week!

This is a new idea I had for a post. How often have some number of us been conversing and mentioned a word that made us wonder why that isn't used more often? This is our answer to that quandary. If you desire to bring back into common usage any particular turn of phrase, this is where you post. Or if you heard a word somewhere and thought what a wonderfully depictive, vivid, and/or eloquent vocabularial (i made that word up) tidbit, then you can post that too if you think it worthy of being shared. For this first edition I call upon my own experience of the past couple days. For I find myself using a particular word which I have come to truly admire. And so without further ado, here is our first Word of the Week!

Beleaguered: Plagued; beset by trouble or difficulty
-or- surrounded so as to prevent escape; overwhelmed; crushed


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Here's to 2009 in Books! (/needless information)

Disclaimer: I am not posting this because I think this will be even remotely interesting to anyone else. I just feel compelled to, probably because I just spent like five minutes doing math (!!!) and I want to let you all know it.

So as this is January 1, 2009 (TOTALLY just put 8 on accident for the first time this new year), I got to look back on my reading accomplishments from 2008 and it was very exciting to me. So as you probably know, I keep track of what books I read and how many pages, etc: so I finally got to tally it all up from 2008, and since I started doing this in 2007, I got the added bonus of comparing my stats to the previous year's stats! VERY interesting! I know you all are holding your breaths wondering about the outcome. So here it is: 2008 in Books

Total Books Read: 58 (up 8 books from 2007)
Total Pages Read: 18,347 (up 2,334 pages from 2007)
Average Pages read per Day: 50.3 (up 6.4 pages from 2007)

And this was not a part of my "official" tally, but I just got curious (even though I probably don't want to actually know), so I'm going to do some math real quick and give you all a little interesting tidbit for the 2008 reading year.

Total Romance Novels Read: 21 (up 12 from 2007)

Wow! That was WAY more embarrassing than I thought it would be! (side note: I did NOT know how to spell "embarrass" right there. I had to take like 5 minutes to look it up. Who knew there were two r's?! That was the last thing I would have guessed I was doing wrong in that word). But seriously, I sincerely wish I hadn't counted those figures up just now. But interestingly enough, I didn't read any romance novels during the summer besides like the week before school started back up again. That makes absolutely no sense to me at all. But whatever!

Well - if you actually read this post, I'm impressed. And I'm curious if any of the rest of you have any 2008 reading stats that you would like to share.

On a final note: I hope 2009 is a good reading year for everyone - and may all of your book stats increase from 2008 (that's one of my goals for 2009, so I'm assuming you mare share it). Read More......