During my first year of law school I had a section-mate who was an older student. He was in this late 30s when we were all mostly in our 20s. He had a Harley and wore clothes befitting someone who would own a hog. We had nothing in common except for the afternoon rides up the winding, narrow hills behind the school and sometimes Mulholland Drive. It was a fun way to break up the monotony of studying. I’ve never learned to ride a motorcycle myself, but my favorite travel memories are usually of seeing countrysides, mountainsides, alleys, freeways and just everyday traffic from the back of one. I think it’s a little about the danger, a lot about the speed, and mostly about the thrill of putting your life into someone else’s hands. For this control freak, it’s a great release to not be in control. (Sidebar to my parents who may be freaking out if not surprised as they read today’s entry: I always wore a helmet).
Anyway, I don’t really do the whole rocker chic thing in my real life. It’s mostly just in my head, but I do love leather jackets, especially the motorcycle style. I’ve never met a cow I wanted to eat but do have more leather jackets than anyone in her right mind should, yet I am still lusting after a grey Balenciaga motorcycle one…for years now. Can’t find it anywhere but it’s still on my fashion bucket list. This season I’m lucky that so many designers have embraced the motorcycle vibe in their collections, and I’d like to FIMTSO a couple today.
Test Item: Banana Republic nubuck moto jacket in a stone color and the recently released red Zac Posen one for Target.
Look 1: the idea of this look should probably have stayed in my head because i’m not sure how i feel after i see it in the pic, but here is the BR jacket over an M Missoni dress and Dior patent slides.
Look 2: The Zac Posen version is a better fit on me, and I’m pairing it with an Alberta Ferretti LBT (Lil Black Top which we gals–and by gals I mean me–can’t seem to stop collecting), black theory slim flood pants, and crocodile Prada mules. Remember what I said above about cows? The same applies to reptiles!
Look 3: This is probably how you would find me on weekends with the Zac jacket over a Chanel tank, Exhilaration skinny jeans in an extra dirty rinse, and the same Dior slides in Look 1.
I really want to do at least 4 looks per FITMSO episode but I’m having one of those days where I just feel fashion-blocked. Give me a rain check and I’ll see if I can’t FIMTSO this test item again later this week, esp the Banana jacket whose color I am still swooning over.
Tags: Balenciaga, Banana Republic, FIMTSO, leather jacket, motorcycle, Zac Posen for Target
Don’t squint. There’s nothing wrong with your computer screen, or your eyes. Relax and sit back. It’s just me taking you through a hazy dream tunnel…
and sooner or later your vision will become clearer…
But trust me, when we arrive at the little town of Durbuy, you will think you are still dreaming and have to pinch yourself…
because can any tiny town be this beautiful except through the magic of Hollywood or Disneyworld? Well, in this case, it’s a mix of smart tourism planning and luck from Mother Nature. I’d taken you to Durbuy before on a slightly warmer day, but in the winter time, Durbuy’s Christmas Market is a real joy to behold:
On the ground, the world’s smallest town is bustling with visitors bundled up in their winter clothes while browsing for holiday gifts…
or chasing the cold with some hot wine, Christmas boudins, or tartiflette
at tall dining tables under heat lamps:
As for me, I’m still feeling like the Michelin man in my winter clothes…
as I walk through the quaint streets soaking in the holiday spirits…
But you know, the good thing about wearing big jackets is that you can stuff your tummy with rich food and no one’s the wiser–yes, I have my third Belgian waffle in as many days…
yet still find room for the monstrously delicious croustillons,
also known as heaven in confectioner’s sugar:
So while hopped up on sugar, I make another round of the tiny town,
and end up at this very same spot (btw, doesn’t that tower look like a face?)…
that I showed you the last time I was in Durbuy…
and I must say I’m a little more in love with the town under snow
because it makes me want to do this…
and this…you’d better duck–I have a pretty good arm!
My Balenciaga bag and I will see you at the next market…
Tags: Balenciaga, Belgian waffle, boudin, croustillons, Durbuy, tartiflette
A reader emailed me that my purses get to see more of the world than some people she knows, and the Balenciaga Day bag you see above is just starting to become one of the better workhorses I have for the road. It folds flat in my carry-on bag, is super light, and holds tons of stuff. I don’t have to baby it in bad weather, and as distressed as the leather looks, I can still feel a bit rocker chic when I carry it around town.
Since we are talking about handbags, let’s visit a tannery in Fes,
where back-breaking hard work takes place almost every day so that we can have the bags, shoes, rugs, and other leather goods that Fes is so famous for.
When tourists walk around the Medina, they are approached by older children and young men offering to take them on a tour of a tannery. You can negotiate the price for their services beforehand and at the end of the tour be firm in your decision to let them take you to a carpet or souvenir shop or not. These unofficial guides can be very persistent, but your polite albeit firm answer will save everyone time and frustration.
In my case the young guide is an enthusiastic student who speaks perfect French and English in addition to Arabic, Berber, Spanish and some German. I feel outmatched…
and overdressed as one tiny misstep and I could fall into any of the vats, Gucci jacket and all…but I like living precariously 
!
Some of the sheep are sheared using this blade and their wool is used for blankets, carpets and other textiles:
Hides of less fortunate animals such as sheep, goats, and camels are washed several times then stacked,
after which a blue coating is applied to the backing of the hides:
After the washing, the hides are lined up on rooftops,
balconies,
and hills to dry under the bright African sun:
These vats are filled with dyes and pigeon droppings whose ammonia works to soften the skins! The odor is definitely strong here and I can imagine it to be much less tolerable on a warm summer day.
Today saffron is the color of choice at this tannery:
At other times you can see a few different colors such as the vivid red on the hides seen dotting another hillside behind us as used by another tannery:
Dyes can be mixed by using nature’s bounty like pomegranates, indigo, cinnamon, and acacia. If only the tannery had been feeling multicolor on the day I was there–now that would have been a lucky photo session!
From the rooftop I am able to get these shots of the tannery:
Once the hides are ready for use, the workers gather in small tin-roofed rooms to work on crafts like camel-hide musical instruments that make popular souvenirs:
Working conditions are definitely tough by western standards…
and I know I’m very, very lucky to be a visitor instead of a worker here…this could easily have been my lot in life had the stars been aligned just a bit differently…
Tags: acacia, Balenciaga, Day bag, dyes, Fes, Gucci, pomegranates, saffron, tannery
So Halloween this year fell on a Saturday under a very full moon. No costume party for me this time, which turned out to be a good thing because I’d been feeling sick all week, and by the time the weekend rolled around I was pooped…though I suppose I could have gone to a party dressed as a swine flu victim.
When I don’t feel well I try to do busy work to distract myself from my misery. I’m here to tell you that plan never works. What I did was reorganize my closet which was once a spare bedroom. Even bought new furniture to create more storage, but before the furniture could go in, I had to take everything out of there and cram them into my home office. So now while the furniture looks great in my closet, I am sitting here at my desk almost in a fetal position, typing this, buried under the mounds of clothes and what not. I don’t know what possessed me to think this was a good idea. It may take a whole week of uninterrupted concentration to clean up this mess.
Anyway, Halloween Saturday started early at geek central, aka Fry’s Electronics, since I’m in the market for a netbook. Beetlejuice didn’t help me…
but I was just comparison shopping anyway. And my next stop was at Best Buy. No costumed employees there but I think I know which netbook I want now. A few more pit stops and it was time to refuel at a Vietnamese restaurant that specialized in dishes from Central VN (Huế). The best part was that I got to find a vegetarian bún bò Huế:
and a non-vegetarian bánh bèo (one of my all time fav snacks):
Vietnamese food tends to be quite salty, so I had to wash it down with a strawberry limeade from Sonic:
I know, you can take a girl out of Texas but you can’t really take Texas out of her. There’s a Sonic practically on every block in Dallas but here, I had to go all the way to Anaheim to find one! Anyhow, by 6pm I was back home and an hour later I was off to see the LA Clippers play the Dallas Mavs.
LA Live is a sports-entertainment complex playing a key role in reviving downtown LA. The Lakers, Clippers, and Kings play at the STAPLES Center,
and within this campus there are venues like the Nokia Theater/Plaza,
ESPN zone, Grammy Museum, and a bunch of restaurants:
Given that it was a Halloween Saturday and the Clippers playing (sorry guys), the arena was only about 40% full. But it was a pretty good game and at least during half time, the entertainment was an enjoyable group performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller…
While I was enjoying my typical junk food fare,
I got to see Dracula,
and a bunch of people dressed as pimps and wenches. Oh wait, they weren’t in costume.
The Clippers tried hard but they also went down like the Lakers the night before. And by the time we all went outside, there were quite a few people, definitely in costume, at the Nokia Plaza:
But c’mon, this is LA. We don’t need Halloween to see all the freaks. And maybe next Halloween I can dress up in a Clipper uniform and they’ll let me play.
PS: this is a new feature I’ll try to incorporate into my entries because some of you have asked me to talk more about fashion, particularly working the ODJs (outfit du jour) into the story. So what was I wearing today on my day off? JCrew sherpa hoodie, Marni tank, Mossimo green khakis, Balenciaga leather bracelet, navy leather Converse sneakers, and Chanel grey camera bag:
Tags: Balenciaga, Chanel, Clippers, Converse, Halloween, JCrew, Marni, Nokia Plaza, Staple Center, Thriller
