Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Lana Del Rey & Au Revoir


I wrote a follow-up to my controversial Lana Del Rey post, which I did for Amber's Mouthwash almost a year ago.

If you're into Lana Del Rey, it's definitely worth a read. If you're not into Lana Del Rey, or honestly don't know who the hell that is, the post is still worth a read because I'm fucking awesome.

Find it here: http://ambersmouthwash.blogspot.com/2012/08/jennys-mouthwash-lana-del-rey-re-visited.html

I'm going to be frolicking among palm trees for the next week, so this is going to be my last post until next weekend.

If you miss me, be sure to re-read every single old post in my archives. I'm not even joking.

Ciao!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

It is given to a fortunate few to be born at the right time, in the right place, with the right talents. In recent fashion there are three: Chanel, Dior, and Mary Quant.

-Ernestine Carter, fashion journalist in the 1960s


When Mary Quant was a child in the 1940s, she used to cut up her bedsheets and sew them into clothes.

She studied fashion in college and met her future husband, Alexander, there.

Mary started to make clothes for herself and her friends, an eclectic group of vibrant, 20-something artists, who despised the stuffy, conservative housewife look of the 1950s.


Using fabrics bought at Harrod's, she made short tunic dresses, low-waisted flare pants, and brightly colored tights.

In 1955, her business-minded husband helped her open a boutique, called Bazaar, in London.

She filled her shop with white, plastic knee-high lace-up boots and tight, skinny rib sweaters in stripes, and plastic raincoats in bold colors.

Inspired by ballerinas, she started selling a tiny little skirt she named after her favorite car: the Mini.


With the help of edgy fashion shows and hip window displays, she quickly became the most popular designer in London. Her clothes were shockingly daring, youthful, vibrant, flirtatious, and affordable.


The word coined by the fashion industry and media to describe her new style was "Mod."





By 1963, teenage and 20-something girls in the United States were begging for her designs. She turned her company into a global empire.

The mini skirt became such a cultural phenomenon, affluent designers, such as Yves Saint Laurent, were forced to follow in her footsteps.

She also started a cosmetic line, which introduced the world's first waterproof mascara.

The hottest supermodel of the decade, Twiggy, rocked her looks on and off the runway.




Mary and her husband club-hopped with artists and musicians and threw elaborate, wild parties at their Chelsea penthouse.


Her own personal style heavily influenced culture as well. Her Vidal Sassoon bob became the most copied haircut of the decade, and turned the hair dresser into a household name.


Although Mary and her husband seemed delightfully in love while moving around their glamorous circles, their marriage was rocky. Alexander was an alcoholic womanizer who didn't even attempt to hide his adulterous affairs from his wife. Mary was too in love with him to leave him. It was a decade sprinkled with violent fights and shattered wine glasses.


By the late 1960s, while on top of the world, she invented hotpants, which became the next big craze.


By the 1970s, however, her rock star status started waning. The hippie movement shifted style away from swinging London and into a long-haired, laid-back bohemian revolution.

In 2000, the Mary Quant empire was taken over by a Japanese company.

The fashion icon, now widowed, faded away into retirement.

Mary currently lives in the English countryside with her new man and spends most of her free time giving art lessons to her adoring grandchildren.

Monday, August 27, 2012

And the winner is....

The winner of my Shabby Apple $50 gift card is...

Randi from A Modern Day Fairy Tale!

Congrats, girl! I'm going to send your e-mail addy over to the Shabby Apple PR department, and you should be hearing from them shortly.

As for the rest of you, don't be sad. I actually have a couple more exciting giveaways coming up in the near future. Yay!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Queen of Diamonds

 
Gorgeous. Demanding. Brazen. Self-centered. Self-loathing. Vain. Lush. Fag hag. Bitch. Sweetheart. Mother. Daughter. Spoiled. Diamonds.

Hollywood.


Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.


It's not the having, it's the getting.


Everything makes me nervous - except making films.


I don't like my voice. I don't like the way I look. I don't like the way I move. I don't like the way I act. I mean, period. So, you know, I don't like myself.


There's something meretricious and superficial about having to look into the camera knowing you should look your best, knowing you should try to look pretty. It's all about self and I hate that, unless it's with someone I love taking my picture.


If someone's dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I'm certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.


I don't pretend to be an ordinary housewife.


I've only slept with men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?


I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can’t possess radiance, you can only admire it.


The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.


You find out who your real friends are when you're involved in a scandal.


Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.


Eventually the inner you shapes the outer you.

 
Follow your passion, follow your heart, and the things you need will come.


When people say: she’s got everything, I’ve only one answer: I haven’t had tomorrow.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Can I buy you a drink?

If you know me, or even read my last post for god's sake, you know I love my liquor.

Not in a sloppy dime store moonshine jug kind of way. But in a more sophisticated, pink champagne in a glittery crystal flute kind of way. (Or so I kid myself).

Well, when I'm rich and famous, I'm going to be traveling the world quite often. It's going to be sad, because I'm going to miss my family and friends back home, but I'm going to remain strong. One of the ways I'll cheer myself up will be to visit one of the bars I have listed below.

These are five of the coolest bars in the entire world. And if I'm feeling generous, and you happen to be there, I might just buy you a drink at one of them.

Cheers!

Absolut Ice Bar (Stockholm)


Literally the coolest, Absolut Stockholm is the world's first permanent ice bar, where the temperature is -5 degrees Celsius all year round. Drinks are served in large hollow ice cubes. The bar, walls, and tables consist of clear ice blocks.


Patrons are required to wear a warm cape and gloves. You can order delicious cocktails, such as the Icemopolitan (their version of a cosmo), Snowflake (coconut peach), and Husky Sledge (cinnamon and apple, mmmm).


Bar Surya (London)


At this popular bar, going green has never been more glamorous. Dancing actually is good for the environment. The bar has a unique flooring system that allows dancers to generate the power needed to run the air conditioner. The floor is made up of crystals which are pressed together as people dance, creating a current used for the power.


The bar also features recycled materials, such as ground up cell phones, as well as tables with legs made out of old magazines.


Harry's New York Bar (Paris)


I'm a journalist. And a literary nerd. So, I had to include Harry's. The bar was opened up in 1911 by an American. A decade later, in the stylish 1920s, wealthy Americans, as well as the literary and artistic community, started moving to Paris. Harry's New York Bar became the stomping ground for icons such as Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Rita Hayworth, and Humphrey Bogart, to name a few.


This cozy hole-in-the-wall joint even invented some famous cocktails you might recognize, like the Bloody Mary, French 75, and the Side Car.


Tiki Ti (Los Angeles)


If you've seen old Hollywood films, this bar should get you excited. You know the tiki bar scene. It's the 1950s. A pouty blonde and a dark handsome stranger are sipping exotic drinks out of pineapples, with little colorful umbrellas sticking out of them. Then shots fire.


Well, this Polynesian-themed bar on Sunset Boulevard is the epitome of that scene, minus the gangsters. Established in 1961, it used to be the go-to place for golden era film stars, who would meet there before venturing out to more glamorous and expensive nightclubs.


Skyview Bar (Dubai)


If you're afraid of heights, you might want to avoid this place. Suspended 200 meters above sea level, it provides the most spectacular views of Dubai, which is one of the world's most beautiful cities.


The drinks may cost a fortune, but the experience is certainly worth more. It ranks high on tourists' to-do lists. A little advice: catch the view before sunset. And book ahead. This place gets crowded. Fast.


So, which bar do you think is the coolest?

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

What's in my bag?!?

I've been blogging for three and a half years. Maybe more. I'm not exactly sure. There's been a lot of drinking involved. JUST KIDDING. (Kind of).

Anyway, over the years one post that always pops up on various fashion blogs I follow is the "What's in my Bag?" feature.

Girls empty their designer purses and take photos of what was in them.

"Oh look, there's my brand new Chanel lipstick! And my Prada sunglasses. Omg I totally forgot I randomly had this diamond skull Alexander McQueen ring in my purse! Silly me!"

You get the point.

Well, I decided to share with you what is in my bag. You might be surprised what's in it! I might be surprised what's in it!

Here we go:



Holy shit. Why did I have so much crap in my purse?!

Let's take a closer look at some of the items:


There's a smattering of receipts from fine dining establishments, such as Jack in the Box, Taco Bell, KFC, and Fire House Subs.


On closer look, it appears that at 10:26 p.m. on July 9, I really, really needed three tubs of hummus and two cartons of goat cheese from my local grocery store.


There is a note telling myself "Don't do it!!!" which terrifies me, because I have absolutely no idea what I'm not supposed to do. I must have written it months ago and now I forgot. Knowing me, I've probably already done it, too.


I have some vitamins I purchased eight months ago and still haven't opened. There is also an almost empty bottle of ibuprofen which I take every time I have dinner with my parents.


I might just be the only news reporter who uses a Barbie notepad for work.


And here's a Polaroid shell case my friend Craig asked me to throw away for him god knows how long ago. Clearly, I forgot to do so.

Anyway, sorry my contents are not as fabulous as all the other fashion bloggers. But this is my life in a bag.


What do you think?