Kristen Elmer » 2010 » April

kristen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:51:45 +0000

Still sad about his death – but glad that his brand will continue, just as beautifully executed, postmortem.

Calvin Klein Shoes

kristen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:12:52 +0000

Generally speaking, I really like Calvin Klein shoes and handbags – it’s another case of liking accessories much more than their actual RTW designs (Betsey Johnson is another example). I got to see a greater range of designs formally working in Handbags and Shoes (which I miss), but I still love seeing them on display in store. Lord and Taylor’s last day of Friends and Family was Monday, and I course had to take advantage of the discount and went to browse and take pics of my favs.

I love these shoes. There is something about the design and the metallic that just gets me. They were in their latest ad campaign so they are probably familiar, but I can’t get enough of them. They speak to me.

So then I was shocked to come across another table of Calvin’s and find these! What are they?! I kind of understand the ones on the left but I would never pick Calvin Klein as the destination for that type of shoe (or would I? – I’m torn here), and they are growing on me a little, but I think they are actually made to look worse by the ones on the right. Hideous. No form, bad color, material, design. I understand creating presentations to an extent, but this just screams markdown to me. Very disappointing.

Notes on my Job

kristen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:04:31 +0000

I don’t understand running in an office – I do not work in an ER.

Or micromanagement.

Handbags

kristen — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:56:42 +0000

Love these – VBH bags on Gilt today, handmade in Florence, the cheapest of the 4 is $559 (the blue one). These are amazing but I have a thing against snake and alligator skin, so alas, I can’t buy them.

The MoMA

kristen — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:19:37 +0000

Visited the MoMA for the first time on Friday with Tim as part of the Free Fridays they have going on – it was great to get in for free, but the amount of people can get tiresome and aggravating as does the fact that the Tim Burton Exhibit was sold out and was 90% of the reason for going. But I still happy to see the Marina Abramovic Exhibition (“The Artist is Present” http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965) – I had read about it and was very intrigued. I don’t really know anything about performance art but really like it; and especially enjoyed watching people’s reactions to live nude performers – it makes many people uncomfortable, which is interesting (and sad?). We explored 3 floors and vowed to come back before the Time Burton exhibit closes (which is soon!), and see the rest. I was a bit surprised though – I thought everything I saw was very tame and tasteful – feelings I don’t normally have at Modern Art Museums. But onto my photographic choices (none from Marina Abramovic’s – but I encourage everyone to just see it in person):

Red-orange is one of my favorite colors.

Coco Chanel! (I’m bad with crediting people – advanced apologizes, will work on it for the future)

I’ve seen this before and love it – thought it was Irving Penn, could be wrong.

I love pictures of America during the first half of the 20th century – especially outside of urban locations. This picture was entitled something to the extent of “Raising Rents.” I personally would kill to pay $1.50 a week!

Great colors, kind of disturbing – I’m sold.

New Dress!

kristen — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:21:56 +0000

Went to a samples sale at work today (Lord & Taylor), expecting/hoping to get some good finds. It was actually fairly expensive and didn’t have a great selection (will give Macys.com props for having muucchhh better sample sales – but better samples sales are not worth everything else that’s horrible with that corporation. I digress). But! I did discover a dress from Zara (possibly used to knock off) for $10! Haven’t tried it on but I assume it’ll fit – if not, I’ll make it into a shirt.

A News Discussion

kristen — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:31:53 +0000

I normally shake my head at something over the course of reading the news on the way to work and was surprised that three such articles made me shake my head long enough to write about them. The first was a revelation that the mine that exploded in West Virginia has a history of “patterns of violation.” (article here: http://s.nyt.com/u/yHc) I find it upsetting and disturbing that not more was done to prevent incidences, i.e. EXPLOSIONS, and protect the people working in the mines. Mining is not a walk in the park, it’s not an office 9-5 job – it’s dangerous. Companies that own mines should make their employees feel as safe as they can – and I understand there are limitations, and there are definitely risks and uncontrollable elements to this type of work, but it’s just sad that the safety and well being of human beings are secondary to profit and lower expenses.

Next was the additional information surrounding the case of the 15 year old girl that committed suicide after being bullied by classmates. (Article: http://s.nyt.com/u/yJf) As a person that was teased fairly relentlessly in my younger years with absolutely no action taken, I feel for this girl and her family (specifically her sister that found her). When will this stop?! Kids are assholes and teasing and being mean is part of the childhood experience – to an extent. How many more kids have to kill themselves or kill their classmates until we decide that maybe sometimes the adults that run schools should maybe step in and do something about it. As a previous camp counselor, I feel the administrations pain as well. With litigation seemingly on the rise, the administration can be limited in what they can do without parents freaking out and claiming something. So parents – step it up. Stop raising assholes. Pay attention to your child’s behavior. And listen to the teachers who watch them everyday for more hours than you do – sometimes your child is no angel and you must take action, because it is not always “a phase.” Moving on.

Finally, Greece. Oh Greece. So desperate to become part of such a stupid Union. Now look what you’ve done! (Article: http://s.nyt.com/u/ys3) I’ve been ranting to people who will listen (not too many) for years about how the European Union is a joke, but it’s really only taken a world recession for it to fully come into light (I do honestly wish that people just thought I was weird instead for years rather than a recession though) *Note: I fully benefited from the Euro, so I can’t totally bash it, but just because it benefited me and other world travelers doesn’t mean it was actually a good idea*. Basic premise of the EU: good. Follow through and everything else: bad. So everyone (rich countries) were soooo eager to expand and include everyone. “Hey guys (poor[er] countries)! This’ll be great! Let’s all join forces and have a single monetary unit and pretend to be friends! The world will think we’re sooo progressive! Especially those conservative backwards Americans! No, no, don’t worry if you’re economy isn’t in great shape, once you join, it’ll get better – we swear.” And now, when shit hits the fan, countries like Germany are putting their foot down and not helping said countries. Funny how that happens. *Another note: Greece was really irresponsible and really is mostly at fault for this, but someone maybe should have put their foot down in the first place and not let them in, or now that they did all take at least partial responsibility for it.* I can clearly write a book about this, so I’ll stop, I think you get the point.

Tattoo Inspiration

kristen — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:11:56 +0000

I’ve always loved tattoos but never really wanted one until fairly recently (about the last year or so) – I just never really thought I’d want to put something on my body permanently. Semi-irrational view from someone with an implanted piercing on their chest. But I guess it was more a lack of desire than resistance. I have an idea for my ribcage that I’m still developing, but an idea for my forearms has taken precedence and may actually become a reality. I want something in white on my whole forearm between the end of my hand and my elbow – on both arms, preferably symmetrical (because I’m OCD like that). This is still in the works as well, but I want something vein-y, vine-y, lace-y, flower-y, etc – you get the drift. The first is a sketch by Lauren, the second an amazing lace tank that I like in general, but also acts as inspiration for said tattoo.

Vintage Pattern Discovery!

kristen — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:49:16 +0000

In what seems to be my never ending move to New York (now 2+ years), I requested another shipment of belongings from Chicago. I wanted my random assortment of vintage patterns to be included in said package, and much to my surprise, my sister Lauren mentioned she discovered a few patterns in the mass of “collectibles,” if you will, we inherited from my Great-Grandma. They are in perfect condition as she never got around to using them. A majority of the things we discovered (yarn, knitting needles, hoops, macrame, etc) are either half started, or barely touched – and I realized that maybe my knack for starting countless projects is actually inherited? Interestingly, my Grandma has briefly mentioned that she was really creative and would cut up old garments and patterns and re-fashion them (fancy that!) – a gift that my Grandma herself never developed (her strengths lie more in accuracy and beautifully, patiently done work). Lauren and I have always thought ourselves odd-men-out, but maybe not! But onto patterns:

And a pattern for men’s boxers! I love it!

My Etsy Shop

kristen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:00:02 +0000

I opened an Etsy shop about a month ago now, and it’s still in the beginning stages and needs some additional posts, but I still wanted to post the first link of many reminders to come:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristenelmer