500 Days of Summer

The sweet but not saccharin story line of the upcoming 500 Days of Summer grabbed my attention before I even saw the trailer itself. Combining the one and only Zooey Deschanel, a suddenly adorable Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and a soundtrack including Hall & Oates, The Smiths, and Regina Spektor, the movie has left me more than a little obsessed:



On top of the pretty faces, good music, (I've started listening to "You Make My Dreams Come True" before work in the mornings) and all-too-relatable story line (with the exception of a statement made by fellow Katie Girl, Randi, who claims that she is always the Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this story. I couldn't agree more), the movie has a laid back, almost retro feel to it. The trailer has a way of making the mundane seem exciting, comfortable, and just cute all at the same time. Even Zooey's office-appropriate attire is desirable, as seen here in a shot with Gordon-Levitt and director Marc Webb.

Her simple blue button-up, denim skirt, and the loose schoolgirl-style bows featured in her hair throughout the trailer are totally mimic-able, and something I'll start doing right about now.

Our only complaint? The elevator scene at the start of the trailer. If this were the real world, it would go without saying that these two adorably intellectual office mates would like The Smiths. And really, the dude would probably ignore her. But hey-that won't stop us, and our hair bows, from making it out to 500 Days of Summer when it opens this summer.

How To Dress Like: Edie Beale

We’d all agree that having a modicum of a fashion sense would involve a bit of marching to the beat of your own drum…but that shit gets tiring! Sometimes it really is easier to throw on a sweatshirt and call it a day. It’s still cold outside. In these times of need, though – all you need is a bit of a reminder that looking weird is fun!



Just take a que from Little Edie, who if you don't already know (how can you live!) was the sickest dressing spinster to ever live. Once the most popular debutante of New York high society, Edie ended up living a Cinderella-esqe existence with her overbearing mother (Big Edie…naturally) in a dilapidating mansion cohabited by cats and raccoons in East Hampton. Though barely any of her outfits actually resembled real garments, Edie was pretty clear about what she did and didn’t like.

Because Edie's magpie look actually fuels that 'I just want to frolick in the grass' spring fever we've all been feeling - I've broken her look down into 5 easy steps!


Step 1: Grab a towel, sheet or sweater – wrap it around you face and tie the ends behind your neck (if you are using a sweater…just stick your face straight through the neck hole and tie similarly)






Step 2: Grab a massive brooch (the bigger and sparklier the better) – pin it either on-top of your head or at the base of your neck







Step 3: Break out a bathing-suit or a leotard (avoid 80’s colours though…that’s not really what she was about) and even though its still cold - who gives a shit…






Step 4: If you have a sarong, great! If not…a scarf will do. Now wrap it around your legs and pin it or tuck it into the leg of your suit (a trick I picked up on Halloween…)







Step 5: Simple, wide flats (a tad of a heel is good!) are essential to Edie’s look – she was a deb, after all.






Et voila! Dilapidated Hampton's Chic!

Reading Rainbow: A Freewheelin' Time

Suze Rotolo's A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties is 'dont judge a book by it's cover' case in point. You'd recognize it, of course as the cover of Bob Dylan's '63 breakthrough The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and Suze is of course, most recognizable as the gal on his shoulder. I had asked my Dylan loving daddy for the book a few months ago, and I had largely assumed it would read like the diary of an ex-girlfriend who had finally gotten her publishable forum.

What I learned however, was that Suze could never be cast as the woman behind the man - her story was too valid on its own of being shared. Suze cleverly weaves details of their innocent and passionate love affair (crushing love letters included) through the story of her Red Diaper upbringing (she was the child of Italian communists during the McCarthy era) and her role in the creative community of Greenwich Village. Amongst the anecdotes of characters, events and episodes - Suze never makes claims on Dylan, never alludes to their relationship being any more important than his to other women, regardless of how much the reader might want to protest. She is wholly honest, to the point of being heartbreakingly relateable.

If you've ever wondered how active or passionate you would have been had you been born some 40 years earlier, Suze is pretty hard to beat. You read her story and you just feel, well inadequate...

Spotted: The Lucy Cut

While out and about on what ended up being a bit of a hazy night, I found myself doing some impromptu trendspotting. There was a certain girl I noticed as soon as she walked into the room. In true Katie Girl fashion, I promptly began stalking her with high hopes of getting some sort of picture of...her hair.

What Agyness did for the pixie cut, and what Tao Okamoto is presumably doing for the bowl cut, this girl may soon be doing for what we'll call the Lucy cut.

Despite the fact that so many of us couldn't pull off this look — and I won't even mention upkeep — there's potential here for something seriously adorable. Picture it this summer, with a big floppy bow, checkered button-up, jean shorts and either Keds or sandals. Pictured here, Lucy and Ricky are practically sauntering down Driggs after a late brunch.

Maybe it's not for either of us, or many of you, but we think there's some definite steam behind the Lucy cut. After all, who doesn't love Lucy?

And Now, A Special Katie Girls Presentation:

Way down below the Mason-Dixon line, deep in mint julep and bluegrass country, lived three lovely little girls who slept in a great big blue fabric bin. This particular bin spilled over with luscious fabrics — chiffon, pin stripes, satin-faced organza.

The girls stayed in the bin working ever so hard on their senior collections during their final year of fashion school. Just for giggles, Teeny began making big hair bows and eventually, they began showing up at critiques looking like dolls who had somehow missed their nap time.

After graduation, the three girls found themselves once again lounging around together, but this time they were in a great big city! They continued to wear their bows, but started thinking about other things to do. Housey had a cat named Zoe, and she liked to wear their bow and tie creations around the house. "Since Zoe likes our bows so much," the girls thought, "maybe other animals and little girls (or boys) would too!" And after a bright and sunny brunch, it was decided: the three girls would form teeny house bunny.

The girls decided to put their hearts and souls into their bow and jewelry box creations. It was the perfect mix: teeny liked things to be neat and shiny, housey liked to put things together, and bunny liked to hop around and search for treasures for the bows.


And there they were — teeny house bunny. Just three little girls, bored with the ordinary, making fantasy out of fabric scraps.



So now you know: when I'm not filling my time with the duties of being a Katie Girl, I'm 1/3 of a hair accessories and jewelry line with some former Savannah College of Art & Design friends. We started the line a few months ago, and named it after a variation of our nicknames — teeny house bunny. Everything is designed by us and made by hand in our little studio up in the sky (also known as the living room of their sixth floor walk-up). We've had some relative success (trunk shows at Henri Bendel's! a purchase by Paris Hilton! on sale at Thistle & Clover!) and are working on new pieces and more jewelry.

I was at my older sister's darling house in North Carolina this weekend and decided to have a mini-photo shoot one morning. Let me know what you think!

ps-If you feel like showing some love, the pieces are available at:

Thistle & Clover in Fort Greene (http://www.thistleclover.com/),
at occasional Henri Bendel's trunk shows (http://www.henribendel.com/)
and via Etsy (www.teenyhousebunny.etsy.com/). xoxo, KG

Talent Scout: Twain by D Suppa & L Tamaki

No doubt that one talented designer can usually produce quite nice results, but put two awesomely talented designers together and the result is pure genius! Such is the case with the Twain Collection, by Danielle Suppa and Lauren Tamaki.

The two met while studying fashion design at Ryerson University in Toronto and have shared a love for quirky design ever since. Both awesome in their own right, Danielle is a creative assistant at Joe Fresh as well as the mastermind behind Le Petit Beret and Lauren is an illustrator currently studying at the Alberta College of Art & Design (She even drew this sketch for us!)

The two designers created Twain as a sort of quiet celebration of the nerd, the bookworm who hasn't realized her clothes are a bit too tight. "We loved the idea of making uniformy boys clothes for a girl", says Danielle. "It's like she has to wear a uniform, but she's making it her own". In an equally nerdy fashion, the two even created a custom wood-grain print that looks somewhere in between a desk-top and a library floor! (See why we love to pimp our friends?)

And because we're certain you can't get enough of these lovely ladies (we sure as hell can't!) check out their other projects!

Le Petit Beret by Danielle Suppa http://www.petitberet.com/
Illustrations by Lauren Tamaki http://laurentamaki.com/

(portrait by Lauren Tamaki, photos by Sai Sivanesan)

Paris Nous Aimons!

After a wham-bam week of such visual stimulation, it's been beyond difficult to process all the shows, let alone pick favorites. So what conclusion we've come to is somewhere in the middle: instead of trying to decipher exactly why we love the shows that we do, we've handed out some much coveted Katie Girl Superlatives. Drum roll, please....

(clockwise from top left)

the comeback kid (aka third time's the charm)
Ungaro

most likely to don on a winter getaway weekend in another lifetime

Miu Miu

best drape of silk charmeuse

Balenciaga

best use of color

Dries Van Noten

TIE:

closest we've come to wanting to buy something with a logo

and

best use of 80's trends without looking like everything else this season

Louis Vuitton

best interpretation of the trend he started

Balmain

collection we want to wear right now. no, really. right now.
Chloé

TIE:

best farewell (?) we weren't expecting
&
most amazing shoes that we'll never be able to walk in

Nina Ricci

ps. we borrowed these pictures from style.com

Grey Gardens vs. Grey Gardens

Like any Edie Beale (both Little and Big!) enthusiast, I've been awaiting HBO's remake of the 1975 documentary (how can you remake a documentary?) Grey Gardens for quite a while now...and the trailer is finally out! The original was so wholly unique and fascinating that it's really hard to picture that kind of replication, especially as Drew Barrymore, aka Josie Grossy as Little Edie. Like really? In any case, there's no use getting my knickers in an knot quite yet! Let's just compare and contrast, shall we?

Long Live Le Schiap!

When 50 Cent said "I love you like a fat kid love cake", he must have been referring to the Surrealist 30's. I, like Fiddy, am just a little more than obsessed with that era in art and fashion, as well as anything that is a throwback to the wildly creative time. Subtle references usually do the trick, but an overt ode, like Dolce & Gabbana's fall dedication to the queen of the movement, Elsa Schiaparelli, sent me soaring.

Ballooned shoulders and nipped waists were, of course, major elements of the collection, but what really had me tickled pink (or shall I say shocking) were the trompe-l’oeil accoutrements! Gloves were seamlessly transformed into headbands and scarves as well as lipstick cases and watches into necklaces - so seamless in fact, they had me wondering where the artistry ended and the design began...

Bravo, boys! Bravo!

ps. we borrowed these pictures from style.com

Can We Hang Out With You, Sarah Kuhn?

Whether we're spending endless nights trolling the internet for party recaps or actually attending and staring around the room of those parties thinking 'hey, wanna be besties?', it's pretty safe to say that we, like most of you, are crushing on a lot of the people who cohabit the industry we call home.

In that vein, Can We Hang Out With You is a section dedicated to those that we have the pleasure of knowing who happen to be so freaking cool that we just want to, well, hang out with them!  

It was a no brainer to choose Sarah Kuhn, Teen Vogue's Accessories Editor and all around Katie Girl as our first matinee idol. Aside from her enviable posish, we both totally dig Sarah's style, creativity and warmth. Plus, she's in a band!


Because we love her, we put her to a quick q&a session...here's the result!

What is your job title, and what does it mean? I'm the Accessories Editor at Teen Vogue. It means I search for all the jewels, socks, belts, hats and sunglasses for our photoshoots.

What did you study in school? What did you do before you worked at Teen Vogue? I studied Russian, Middle Eastern and Fashion History as well as Theory...after that I wrote fashion, art and music reviews, assisted stylists, and worked in a vintage store.

What's your favourite collection of all time? (so hard!) I loved the velvet and leather dresses from Christoper Kane’s fall '07 collection.

What has your favourite career-related experience been so far? The people I have met and all the trips to Las Vegas (really!)

We hear that you've lived all over! Give us a short version of that story... I was born and raised in Nashville and have lived in Brooklyn since ’03. In between I was in Israel, Ohio, Philly, Boston, Cali and London.

What do you love about where you live now? I love South Williamsburg. I love my house. The JMZ beats the L train. Trophy Bar is fun and Mexico 2000 is delicious. My bodega is also the friendliest.

Can you describe your style without using phrases like boho chic, old Hollywood glamour or anything with a twist? Avoid phrases? How is that possible? ... All I can say is I have been into recession chic long before the economic crisis of '09.

Tell us about your band! There are three of us. A triangle situation… We are called Left Coast. We are a little dark and hypnotic. There are some dub, drone, psych and other influences going on...
(http://www.myspace.com/xoleftcoast)   

What would you be doing if it weren't for your current job? Making more music and art.

If you had to choose...MET or MOMA? I am planning a trip to the MET soon to check out the Arts of Africa/ Oceania section. Want to come?

(photo credits: christopher kane fall '07 pictures via style.com, sarah's picture via the sartorialist, band picture courtnesy of molly surno)