marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc marc

First collection of the week with a point of view, and something new to contribute... Marc said that he didn't want girls all wearing black and studs, and that they should be themselves instead, bla bla bla... Cliches aside, I thought this was a cool collection with a less literal definition of the meaning of cool. With the scarves balled around the neck, ballerina buns, kooky layering, and overall slouchy Comme Des Garcons feel, it's a different kind of confident woman which I always appreciate as I feel I can identify with her more than with the Balmain "rebels." This season's rebel is so much more interesting, and doesn't need shoulder pads or spikes to show that she's tough... Taking your boyfriend's button down, sticking a frothy Erin Fetherston-like number over it and topping it with a fringed bag is a lot more edgy in my opinion than wearing the same tired bleached jeans and combat boots...

coconuts, plenty of junk food

NEW COCOROSIE!!!! FINALLY! I was SO excited to find this the other day. Apparently, it's a tour only CD EP with no plans for release, but it's on youtube and I used file conversion sites to turn the videos into mp3s... I'd seen a couple live videos with them where the music was a little too techno/dance for my taste but from listening to coconuts, plenty of junk food I'm glad to see that they haven't completely abandoned their beautiful freak folk roots. Okay, track by track review, ready?
Coconuts- my least favorite; the fake flute solo interludes I find a little unbearable.
Happy Eyez- I'd seen a live version of this on youtube and loved it, the lyrics are so cute! They call me wee willy winky...
Milkman- beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. There are parts of it that remind me of Charles Foster Kane's wife's voice in Citizen Kane, with Sierra's fragile warble and washed up opera singer tone.
Joseph City- I love this, as it paints a whole different picture for me than other CocoRosie tracks. This is the first time I've ever gotten an abandoned urban jazz club kind of feel from their music. Makes me picture them in an empty bar sitting at the piano bench together in long tattered white dresses...
Spirit Lake- I keep thinking I'm hearing Rufus Wainwright in the beginning. This is nice too, a little reminiscent of Armageddon from Noah's Ark...

Here are the Youtube links...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H16z-3AtUR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTA4iRTc3eE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocKiErJ64ik&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r60GFrOyj0o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmLJRvvFi9o&feature=related

if you're going to san francisco, make sure to wear...

Found this blouse in my friend's dress-up closet today and thought it was so Woodstock... I bleached the skirt this summer and bought the fake flowers at the dollar store this morning, I just couldn't resist! I have this odd attraction to fake flowers, I know I'm going to be one of those old ladies with potted plastic ferns all around my house and weird fabric orchids in vases full of mancala beads instead of water...

the flower that drank the moon

So, I know I'm not the first blog-writing, alt-music listening, graphic-novel reading, fashion-interested teenager to have discovered the movie Ghost World or anything, but I watched it last night on youtube and I have to say that I LOVED it. It's really a very beautiful movie, kind of the anti-Amelie, in my opinion. Well, now that I've brought up Amelie an explanation is warranted... Amelie: a quirky french film about a lonely girl who finds beauty in the small, mundane everyday details of her life and performs random acts of kindness, hangs out with insightful old guys and has cute retro fashion sense .
Ghost World: a quirky american film about two lonely girls with affectionate contempt for their suburban habitat who keep up continuously sardonic mockery of the world around them. They also enjoy observing the people and places around them, and Enid (the anti-Amelie herself) keeps a journal as well, but they perform random acts of meanness. Insightful old guys also come into play, but in a much more uncomfortable sense.
Despite the grittier surroundings and pessimistic attitude, I found Ghost World to be just as beautiful and moving (if not more) as the highly stylized Amelie, and it is thought provoking, hilarious and depressing all at the same time. And since I guess this is kind of a fashion blog, I should also add that I am obsessed with Enid's clothes and being a huge garage-sale-junkie I flipped out during the garage sale scene in the movie... What would I not give to rummage through Enid's piles of cast-off retro 50s dresses, cool t-shirts, and schoolgirl skirts?