We spent the last week and weekend with wonderful friends and family doing lovely gubly Christmas things: watching a Christmas Carol at the Shakespeare Tavern, roasting marshmallows at the Decatur bonfire, and making gingerbread houses.

I love desserts more than candy, so if I had been Hansel or Gretel, the witch wouldn’t have lured me with any amount of lollipops. However, had she been wearing Nina Ricci platforms and singing Bad Romance, I would have tottered after her in hopes of these.

Gagaloo, are you home?

Thanks for bearing with us, lovely readers! We’re almost out of the holiday madness, and our postings and comments will be a bit more regular!

We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season too!!!

Spaceship by L.A.T.I. from L.A.T.I. on Vimeo.
So a few posts back I gushed about my adoration for pop phenom Lady Gaga while swearing that I’m usually much more of an Indie rock kind of girl. I should stop pigeon-holing myself into such music genres. Our gorgeous fellow alum of Agnes Scott College, L.A.T.I. (Latisha Cotto) just put out her first video, the single “Spaceship” off of her debut album (out next year).

We love Lady Gaga for her gutsiness, the power of her voice and her disciplined focus on her passion. L.A.T.I. is the same but for the R&B world- and we actually know her! Cath, ‘Tish (as we knew her then) and I all lived in the same dorm our first  year at Agnes Scott, and I remember hearing ‘Tish belt out songs in the shower. Normally this would be annoying (sitting in your dorm room trying to study or get much needed sleep), but she was so talented I didn’t give a hoot and wanted her keep singing… and she has! From the ASC dorm showers to a sound studio in Miami!!!

Congrats, ‘Tish!!! We see big things ahead for you (and hopefully we’ll see you at our 5 Year Reunion– eesh has it been that long? — in the spring!).

Check out L.A.T.I.’s video above and her myspace here.

A big thank you to Liz Blair for these illustrations of us! We feel so honored by first the lovely Linda of Misketch and now the renaissance woman Liz!

Go check out Liz’s blog, she has a great illustration of Susie Bubble too!

Click photos to enlarge. Photo credit.

Apologies if 1) you’ve already spied these Lady Gaga/Annie Leibovitz wonders in the December American Vogue and/or 2) you are sick of hearing me ramble on about Lady Gaga. I think it’s turned into a little (teeny, baby) obsession. 

I’m usually more of an indie rock girl than anything else, but I can’t stop watching for her next outfit and listening to her latest release. You know how everyone dressed as Lady Gaga for Halloween this year (including yours truly)? Well, I did it not because I thought it was a good excuse to wear a leotard out in public or to see what I looked like blond, but because I truly think she is kind of awesome. 

I like her because she’s not a hypocrite (former pop princesses that sold sex appeal more than musical talent, and stressed “saving yourself” for marriage always left me scratching my head), she’s not into being catty towards other women, and she is a huge champion of gay rights. Oh yeah, and she can sing and she pushes the boundaries of fashion and wearable art. 

 I think I feel kind of bashful whenever I listen to too much pop music, but when it’s good, it’s good- right? Are you guys gaga for Gaga like moi?

We hope you guys had an awesome Halloween last night! This is just a little preview of our Gaga and Yoko costumes. Let us know what you think!

ps- Cath didn’t get as photo crazy as I did (hence the moving Lady Gaga graphics), but there are some great shots of her with “John Lennon” that you’ll love!

Even though Lar and I moved into this apartment about four months ago, we’re still in the decorating phase. Why is it that we never seem to have enough bookshelves? Last weekend I decided it was about time to put up these floating shelves from Ikea. My dad was kind enough to help me anchor them on to the wall. Two hours, six giant holes in the drywall, some books and two paintings by Lar later, my weekend project was complete!

I wore this outfit a couple of days later and thought it kind of fit in with the bookshelves somehow. You can’t see the shoes, but the dress is from Miss Selfridge (years ago), H&M belt and cardi and my favorite Nixon watch.

The lighting wasn’t great when we were taking these photos, so I’ve only included one closeup view.

Urban Oufitters ($228) vs. Jildor ($140) for the same exact shoe, my Jeffrey Campbell thigh-highs.

Now, why am I babbling about these shoes again? Because it shocks me that Urban marks their wares up like they do. I have always had a love/hate relationship with UO (the clothing design is great, but the quality for the marked-up price is less than mediocre). So I wanted to let you lovely readers know… if you are contemplating the thigh-high purchase, it seems Jildor is the way to go.*

*I’m not getting a commission form Jildor- I had never heard of them before my thigh-high search- but I hate that you guys might be scammed out of $88! Happy “thrifty” boot shopping!

Catherine and I are both girly girls. Okay, I might be girlier (see above outfit for proof). That doesn’t mean I adore pink and ruffles, I just like a bit of softness and beauty every once and a while- not exactly the trend at the moment. I mean, I’ve embraced the studs, bandage dresses, leather, flannel and cut-offs of the last couple of seasons, but I get really excited when I see something unabashedly feminine. 

Earlier this week we took our mom to see Bright Star, a gorgeous movie by Jane Campion about John Keats’ love, Fanny Brawne. The music, the scenery, the clothes, the art direction, the acting- everything in this movie is beautiful. Watch the trailer here. This movie isn’t snarky or action-packed or gory, nor does it contain a single vampire or zombie- but I love it for that. I had forgotten what it was like just to revel in something that is beautiful and true (their love story isn’t a fairy tale and is based on real letters between Keats and Brawne).

Fashionistas, you’ll enjoy Fanny’s costumes most of all (see the photos below). Who doesn’t love a Regency era fashion designer? Apparently a present-day Keats would have totally swooned over our blogs. Yeah. I’ll keep this thing up if I get a sonnet it out of it. 

Get thee to a movie theater and watch it. You too, gentlemen readers- especially if you like literature and/or history. I think more of this sort of thing in everyone’s life  balances out all the turdiness that life can throw your way. (Did I just write “turdiness”? Oh yes, Keats would have loved this blog).

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!

So a few weeks ago my new Norwegian Wood Corset reminded me of a Sargent painting, today it’s my bf’s hat (and mustache) that reminds me of a Van Gogh painting. I think I’m a little starved of art history classes (it’s been a few years since university), so I hope you guys don’t mind me getting all Sister Wendy on you (Don’t know who Sister Wendy is? Go here and listen to her tell Bill Moyers about art. You’ll be a changed person. Or at least entertained by a nun- I swear).

My bf is less hirsute than Van Gogh’s gentleman, and their hats differ in design, but they relate as a portrait pairing. Or maybe I just really, really like men in hats (and mustaches) with a hint of fauvism. Rahhh! (cat claw motion).

image credit

Let me know when you guys get tired of the art history lessons. Working in design I don’t have much of an outlet for my secret desire to just sit in museums all day and drool at paintings, so it seeps into this “fashion” blog.

Happy midweek! It’s almost almost Friday!

Maybe we are divided by continents, time zones, cultures, beliefs, but one way you know we are actually all the same? Fried dough. Delicious, aromatic, crispy on outside, pillowy on the inside… every single culture around the world has created some delicious something made of fried dough.

One of the best places to experience this is at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. It’s a little tourist-trap-y because it’s such an institution (they are open 24/7 except Christmas and “on the day an occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans“), but you have to go for the cafe au lait and the beignets.

Our three orders of beignets.

My cafe au lait. Nom, nom, nom…

The devastation of our table post-beignet devouring and au lait slurping.

There’s also a place in New Orleans called Cafe Beignet that I think makes better beignets (blasphemy, I know!). They are a little over-cooked at Cafe du Monde. Regardless, you have to stop by at least one morning and evening in NOLA (the rest of the mornings and evenings go to Cafe Beignet- and then roll yourself back to your hotel) for the ambience.

Hope you guys are having a good Monday! I need a beignet and cafe au lait right now to combat the drizzly, cold of this Atlanta morning.