IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT

Well, okay, it's actually Tuesday. However, this is just a little post to note that Anne Hathaway is hosting SNL this weekend. I, for one, will be watching  with a glass of red wine and some magazines.

PS: (Do you read and watch television at the same time? I don't read novels so much as flip through fashion and architecture magazines and mostly look at pictures. I know that some people don't understand doing both at once, which makes perfect sense, but for some reason it's the most relaxing thing for me).  

PPS: Rihanna is the musical guest. This just gets better.



FASHION DESIGN AND SOCIETY

Arizona Muse photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinhoodh Matadin for Louis Vuitton, Resort 2013

Parson's The New School for Design has an MFA in Fashion Design and Society. Part of its description reads "Fashion is a system that brings together material resources, human capital, and artistic vision in a single garment. And that garment's cultural reception, dissemination through the marketplace, and ultimate disposal involves an equally complex chain of activity." 

The title of this degree alone connects so many dots for me. Fashion design is an artistic process that connects with society in a way that, I would argue, is unmatched my any other creative industry (besides architecture). I love that Parson's is making this connection with a Masters level degree. The program was initiated with support of the famed Parson's alumna Donna Karan. 

 

Backstage at Donna Karan. Image from donnakaran.com

CAREER PASSION (OR LACK-THERE-OF)

Image via The Sartorialist

Do you know exactly what your career passion is? I don't. Sometimes I think that I do, but I don't. I tell people that I have a passion for architecture and fashion, which is VERY true, but how exactly that plays into my career, I do not know. I also love journalism and the english language and world history and, somewhere deep inside me, I think that if one day I can just become a professor of something at a university somewhere that would be incredible. I want to create a brand (of apparel?) and I want to have a successful and fullfilling career. As do most of us, right? So when I came across an article in the New York Times about letting go of your career passion, I immediately dropped what I was doing and read every word.

"Growing up, we were told by guidance couselors, career advice books, the news media and others to 'follow our passion.' This advice assumes that we all have a pre-existing passion waiting to be discovered. If we have the courage to discover this calling and to match it to our livelihood, the thinking goes, we'll endup happy. If we lack this courage, we'll end up bored and unfullfilled-or worse, in law school."

Ha! It's good to know that there are others out there (even people that end up writing for The New York Times), that haven't always had a clear vision of their careers and what exactly it was going to look like.

Jason Wu in his office via vogue.com

(A constant source of inspiration, Helmet Lang). 

FALL TREND: RED SKINNIES

Color, at least for me, is the last thing I reach for in my closet. I typically run to the blacks, greys (I love greys!) and basic whites. They are classic and easy and go with everything. So now that the weather is changing and the leaves are turning, I find myself with a stack of neutral v-neck sweaters (my winter uniform). To brighten things up a bit, I would love to find a great pair of red or burgundy jeans. The picture above shows J.Crew's toothpick jeans in velvet; a modern addiction to any autumn/winter wardrobe.

via 

DECISIONS

I read the most interesting thought about making decisions the other day...

 

Image via leslie m k

While reading a Vanity Fair article written by Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, among many others), I came across what President Obama has to say about the smaller decisions of day-to-day life while being The President:

"'You'll see I only wear gray or blue suits,' he said. 'I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.' He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one's ability to make further decisions. It's why shopping is so exhausting."You need to focus on your decision-making energy. You need to routine yourself. You can't be going through the day distracted by trivia.'"

 Image source unknown

I found this so eye opening. Of course I am not going to give up shopping (obviously!), but it does make me stop and think about what I spend my time and energy thinking about. For someone that over thinks even the smallest decisions, and even still agonizes over what could have been AFTER the decision has been made, the realization of how draining this is (I forget how much energy it takes!) is an important one. 

So my simple idea is this. Maybe I could shop less by buying more at one time. Not a dress here, a pair of pants the next week, and so on. Instead, I could think about what I need for the two or three months (or six!?) and spend one day shopping for it. Then, I wear what is in my closet, and that's that. It's a thought!

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emma and ryan - photo source unknown

SAILS

As our summer is rapidly coming to an end, I thought I'd share this unique and intriguing new company. DVELAS is a team of Spanish architects and designers that take old sails (yes, from actual sailboats!) and create furniture. How great is that?  

 

This is what I wish I were doing at this moment...

All images via DVELAS. I learnt of DVELAS through Design-Milk.