mary kate olsen // yellow heels

Thank you fellow unincarcerated adult citizens of the USA for doing your civic duty and voting on Tuesday. Now we all deserve a good Mary Kate Olsen scan from the vaults for being so good.

hot child in the kitchen // cooking style

Ever since the weather cooled down I have been loving my kitchen. It's warm and cozy and it's where the food is (yum). Something about working in the kitchen is sexy, maybe it's the control or the old school domesticity of it, but as you can see from the photos above I'm not the only one who is feeling the heat.

Maison Martin Margiela // H&M

What's your jacket, Margiela? Soon enough kids, soon enough. November 15th the Maison Martin Margiela collection for H&M goes on sale. Here are some goodies from the lookbook. Those burgundy boots with the plexiglass heel are insane, so is that little leather glove handbag.

Whenever I go into H&M I always end up finding the best stuff on the mens side, and this collection follows suit with the dudes getting some of the best offerings. Shoot I would wear the whole outfit on the left and those little white booties are pretty killer too.

spring '13 // dries van noten

If you have been following the coverage of the Spring '13 shows it was apparent that there was a backlash from the print explosion that was everywhere on the runways in the past few seasons. Many designers did away with prints altogether or went with a seriously sparse black and white palette. It did feel refreshing after the digital print extravanganza, but honestly I can't see myself wanting to dress head to toe in black come Spring.

Thank God for Dries Van Noten just doing his thing as usual, combining prints in a way that makes me want to involve myself in illegal activities just so I could afford an item or two. Come on, one regretful night for those plaid heels doesn't sound too bad.

All photos courtesy of Style.com

1994 // looney toons t-shirts

According to Urban Outfitters it's 1994 all over again friends! I for one couldn't be more excited because the 90's are by far the best decade known to man. Just check me out back then (that's me in the middle), rocking my grunge looney tunes t-shirt that I got at Water Country back in 94' lookin' all cool, rulin' those elementary hallways.

Obviously my shirt is way better than the one offered at Urban Outfitters (pre-fading is a little lame) but it certainly scratches that 90's itch.

UPDATE: Love how this photo was featured on Buzzfeed.com under regrettable 90's trends. No regrets, no apologies! If Buzzfeed ever wants to re-do that blog with a single person providing photographic evidence that they were involved in every single one of those trends I think I might be able to do that.

T-shirt // Junk Food Looney Coolio Bugsy t-shirt $39 available at Urban Outfitters.

hair // badass braid

Spikes have been pretty prevalent in the fashion scene for a while (pink hair too) so it is rare to see something new in these realms, which is why this image took me so much by surprise. 

The spikes look dangerous which is always appealing yet set against that my-little-pony cotton candy plait of hair and the shockingly serene outfit it really sends the look into unnamed territory. Fashion doesn't throw me off balance too much (we've seen it all haven't we?) I wish it did more.

Photo // Stockholm Streetstyle

90's // kate moss

Browsing the shelves in the library the other day putting off work, I came across a book on beauty through the decades. This gem of a photo in the 90's section brought me back to the days when I would cover my walls with every Kate Moss/Calvin Klein ad I could get my hands on. As a youth in the 90's the Calvin Klein Jeans ad's made a HUGE impression on me. To this day I prefer the no-makeup, all american, waif look they idealized.

A young Kate Moss + an ass like that = you're welcome New York.

candy // house of holland

Every once in a while House of Holland produces some piece of candy like this t-shirt that I am completely unable to resist. Remember those tights with the garter image imposed on them? Such a sweet idea.

Combining stripes, an athletic lucky number seven and clashy color combos is almost unfair, how can a girl raised on a healthy 90's fashion diet say no?

House of holland t-shirt available at Asos $102.

santigold

This woman can do no wrong. No matter who she's collaborating with, be it Beastie Boys, Basement Jaxx or N.A.S.A., she is always on fire. Featuring prominently on the Surface Scan end of summer megamix, Santigold deserves a solo post so we can bask in her greatness (loving the Cleopatra lids).

$6004 // Balmain

Alright admittedly I don't know too much about the pricing of consumer goods except that apparently, us consumers don't like whole numbers. For example if this Balmain dress were priced at say $6000 why in the world would anyone buy this dress?? No, they're right $6004 is much more reasonable.

Balmain dress $6004 available at net-a-porter.

M.I.A. // green machine

Continuing on yesterdays post, M.I.A. takes the camoflage look up a few notches on the cover of Dazed magazine and follows that up by rocking every shade of green in the known spectrum from acid lips to a foliage filled mane. Skilled in color theory, the lady also knows how to craft a tune. Check out Bad Girls and the rest of my end of summer megamix:

Peso - A$AP Rocky

Shot Caller - French Montana

Where Have You Been - Rihanna

Bad Girls - M.I.A feat. Missy Elliot

Nightcall - Kavinsky feat. Lovefoxxx

Pirate in the Water - Santigold

Mercy - Kanye West

Disparate Youth - Santigold

Lemme See - Usher feat. Rick Ross

i can't see you // camoflage

J. Crew is probably not the first spot you would think of to pick up some camo but in collaboration with Wallace & Barnes they produced this fine looking speciman that you see above you. (Hint: it's in the men's section.)

I don't have any camo pieces in my wardrobe right now but I still have memories of a pair of Ralph Lauren skinny desert camo crops that I would do bad things to know what happened to.

Wallace & Barnes for J. Crew mens camouflage shirt $168.

happy saturday

Happy Saturday! You made it through the week. Now go have a ham sandwich at the beach, you deserve it.

shops // international playground

Magazines are one of my guilty pleasures. I only say guilty because I spend too much money on them and you know the trees...Anyways I'm always ripping out images and articles to save and have been scanning them recently leading to this fine blog Surface Scan that you see before you.

In one of my stacks of clippings I recently came across this article from Lucky magazine about new boutiques popping up across the country, which probably came out a few years back. I was curious to see how these shops were doing down the line and googled them up. Some were MIA but International Playground based out of NYC seems to be doing fine. Most of the brands like H. Fredriksson and Mary Meyer, I'd never heard of before, but I'm certainly glad I know them now. (Sadly the paint splattered jeans are not for sale.)

For some reason all the new arrivals are on sale, so go now.

Clockwise from top left // Mary Meyer cage crop top $61, H. Fredriksson orange dress $231, H. Fredriksson skirt $220, Kuba Dabrowski x MARIOS skirt $279, Daniel Palillo destroy top $57.40, H. Fredriksson top $121

hiking style // randonnee

Alright, it's officially time to go to Japan. There are enough chicks living there who combine their love of fashion and outdoor fun that they get a magazine exclusively devoted to the combo. Randonnee magazine, you are the coolest publication ever.

tie dye transition // shabd

Ever since it got really hot I have been thinking about tie dying up a little something because if you have ever gone to camp you know the summer isn't complete without some dyin'. A ton of different brands had the same idea this summer season but the absolute best I've come across are these sweet tops from Shabd, which are hand dyed by the artist in NYC. If you would rather make your own the designer also teaches classes at the Textile Arts Center.

Now that summer is almost over I'm thinking tie dye will look even sicker come fall mixed in with some darker shades, maybe a blazer. Yup procrastination pays off in the end, I'm just going to keep telling myself that.

Top // Shabd bodysuits $92. Bottom // Shabd unisex t-shirts $105, Shabd unisex tank tops $98.

Cher shows us how to dress in the summer

Ah Cher, what a multi-talented performer and did the lady know how to dress. Check out the variety of summer looks we have here, from some super casual morning getup, to fresh as a daisy garden party, onto hippie nature queen, and then out of nowhere she works in these luxe, slinky hot summer nights getups covered in fur and glitter that just work. You have got to respect.

print // vice 2

Years after the original Do's and Don'ts was let loose on the literary market, Vice has finally returned with a sequel. I am not lying when I say that the original is one of my favorite books of all time. My love for the fashion world is as deep and unironic as they come, but come on now, fashion is fun and silly and this book reminds us of that in the filthiest ways possible.

Vice Do's and Don'ts Book 2 available at Urban Outfitters $20.