what is love?

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

DEEEGORGEOUS

JOHN FLUEVOG, my teen years dream label (Remember the old store on Prince Street?), has re-issued their Munster flare heel suede buckle shoes.

THIS IS SO MAJOR FOR ME, YOU GUYS.
NOW I CAN LIVE THE DREAM.

What dream, you ask?  Good question!
A simple dream: to be Lady Miss Kier, posing mystically in the Milky Way, while enormous blurry daisies float by and an Asian deejay in striped pants slomo  speedskates on by.

I can't. I mean. I have waited for this for YEARS!
Do you realize I have a permanent eBay alert for Fluevogs?! But no one ever sells that shit! At least not in my size! WTF, world?!?
If you are an avid reader of White Lightning, you know how I feel about this.

Please refer to this post from *2007*, in which I declare the 90s are back (just saying but I was ahead of the 90s trend in that I NEVER LEFT THE 90s)

What took so long, Fluevz???!

I NEED to have these.

Sadly, I just spent a how do you say, fuckload of money on this here twitter&blog machine and so ALAS there is approximately 37 cents in the "lifetime shoe dreams fund".

...But what if I can't live without them? I must figure out a way.

PS I posted these and a bunch of other things I am loving right now over at StyledOn..check it out if you're feeling clicky.

showroom visit: be & d

A couple weeks ago (I told ya, BACKLOGZ!!) I stopped by the Be&D showroom to peruse the PreFall and FW2010 collections. I had already poked around during press days but I was late (poor form!!) and had forgotten my camera (profesh!) and so...they were nice enough to let me roll through again, this time much more prepared.

I have new favorite bag. And it is the Be&D Dallas.
It was the missing component to complete this new favorite outfit that consists of: my now-constantly-worn under.ligne dress (thanks again Doo-Ri!) and resurrected Chloé docs, Surface2Air jangle, Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons brass plate ring.

THE GENESIS IN RED

It's like..a soft semi-hippie-ish PS1. Does that make sense? It's a top handle satchel, with a longer strap, but it's all in squishy supersoft leatheryloveliness.
It is basically a perfect bag.

Runner up for my affections:

Animal printed soft suedeyness plus messenger bagness plus a metal chain. I'm a sucker for a metal chain.
I want to wear this with a pea coat and bellbottoms and my new clogs and be like Cher Horowitz channeling Ali McGraw in Love Story except I don't die and I keep my bangs and the part of Ryan O'Neal is played by Ethan Embry in Empire Records. He was only ever that cute again in Can't Hardly Wait and then..what happeend to him anyways?!?!

Um sorry, where was I?

BAGS. RIGHT.
I was really feeling this one as well.

I sat down and had some talk times with the man behind the line, Mr Steve Dumain (read: he nodded and laughed politely as I talked talked talked...as I am unfortunately WONT to do. Oopsydoops.). He digs bloggers and old movies and liked my new shoes. WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

One of the coolest things about Be&D was that they make all of these bags here.
I went back behind the showroom where it's like a leather wonderland old school workshop!
People making the bags by hand here in the Garment District! Pretty rare these days. Very cool I would say.

Thank you Steve for taking the time to chat it up. And thank you Courtney for letting me photograph and try on everything in the showroom for probably way too long.

reds

I have NOT been able to stop looking at these pictures of Bea Szenfeld's collection since I spied them last week on StyleBubble....

The RED RED RED of it all!
Ginormo paillettes!!
Her freckles!!!
And her stare.

I am mesmerized and enchanted and more than a teeeeensy bit jellyballs.

in my mind's eye

The vibe for the McQ FW10 lookbook is baaaaaasically my dream self as a goth in 1997.
I loved wearing my hair in Bjork-balls and I was dying it black back then, too.

I've been growing my bangs long long all winter and now I want them kiddie-scissors-gone-awry shortshortshort.

 MCQ BY ALEXANDER MCQUEEN FW2010

Don't you want to buy a bunch of pants at the thrift and seam rip the hell out of them and then..just..glue gun smockdress thing?

  MCQ BY ALEXANDER MCQUEEN FW2010

Hey now, my Chloé doc boots!
And a tablecloth from a GothScottish picnic.
And your tallest friend's sweater.
Why do I want to wear it all so badly?
I would look like a homeless shoplifter in this and YET.
And. Yet.
It looks so perfect. If not a tad bulky.

PS, I bought 99 cent black lipstick last night for reasons unknown to me.
I put it on and scared myself.

afternoon delights

My longtimelove affair with Osborn oxfords (which started last year when I bought the perfect African print pair at the Brooklyn Flea Market) hit levels of insanity when Keren and I visited their studio last week!!

SO MANY OPTIONS. As we all know, I bought the pair I am wearing and Keren went with the ones she is wearing....

CHUKKA BOOTS!

I want them all.

Information on how to get your very own pair(s) and/or CUSTOM MADE SHOES included in my post over at my joint on Full Frontal Fashion..go go go!

for when the moon is in yr seventh house or when jupiter aligns with mars. or just right now.

One of my most handsome and talented friends (and as I have many of those, this is saying a lot), Mr Derrick Cruz, the man behind Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons (aka my favorite jewelry aka YOUR favorite jewelry) (PS-Derrick is who made the giant brass knuckle plate ring that I wear all time that so many of you freak out over...Just FYIslers) has a new F/W 2010 collaboration already up with our friends at Bblessing.

I WANT THEM ALL: SATURN, JUPITER, MARS, THE SUN, VENUS, MERCURY, THE MOON. NO CLUE IF THAT IS THE ORDER ABOVE, I'M NOT SUSAN MILLER YA DIG?

The 7 Sacred Planets !

Stickpins in brass or sterling silver, perfect for:

fascinators or lapels or hairbows or ties or cummerbunds or spats or plackets or balaclavas.

Or like..your shirt. UP TO YOU! This is America! PUT IT ANYWHERE YOU WANT!

Since Derrick RULES, he's made a special discount for WHITE LIGHTNING lovers like yrselves: 7planetswhitelightning gets you 20% off on the site!

I need a sharp mystical accessory like YESTERDAY...Which one should I get (all of them)??!

transitive properties

Good Morning, hotsteppers & lyrical gangsters.
I have a little Sensual SAT Prep question prepared for you.. Please have your pencils ready and eyes on your own paper.

Q:
If I love my dear blöggerganger LouLou (who really IS my British twin)...

... and LouLouLovesYou, (by way of making the cuhuuuutest silky underyourclothessituations) how many pairs of knickers with hearts on the ass can I buy before I spend all my rent money?

When you have successfully finished the equation, please pass your scantrons –face down– to the front of the room.

Thank you, class dismissed.

it's good to want things

Oh hey..guess what? MIA (heyyyy 90s brands, what UP) makes Swedish clog sandals that as good as Hasbeens (as far as I am concerned) and they sell them at Urban Outfitters for about one third the price. (And curiously...they were about $20 less at the Urban store than they were on the MIA site??)

Anyways..that only means one thing. MINE.

MIA CLOG SANDALS // AA CABLE KNIT KNEE SOCKS // MIU MIU S/S 05 TOTE

I consider it a cheap thrill.

Until I get those maroon patent No. 6s.
And I find a way to snag those Celine dream weavers (the potential sock/tights & polyester dress combinations are thrilling me to bits).

ADDENDUM:
PS. So many comments and emails about my bag!...I've posted it before. Here it is in it's runway glory, S/S 2005:

It was the first thing I had ever bought at Miu Miu, and at the time it was the most I had ever spent on any one object in my life (I think it was about $480..oh how PRICES have changed). Every year around this time I get the urge to bust it out for a while; it still holds up! Plus it is ENORMOUS. I used to have it covered in tons of thrift brooches (lots of what you see here) but now it's just Nefertiti, a tie clip and a giant plastic emerald..YA KNOW, CASUAL.

PPS, Real Talk: I also have that giant swirl pin. I would bough this entire collection if I could've; it is an all time favorite !

heaven speaks italian

I went to Miu Miu and I matched the walls.

VINTAGE DRESS // TARGARTE NUDE MESH SOCKS // MIU MIU SATIN & LEATHER CLOG HEELS

Then I tried on these perfect Miu Miu satin and leather wonder heels.
Then I melted into the upholstery and disappeared, because nothing would ever be so perfect ever everrrr again.

The End.
I am posting this from another dimension..we get free wifi here !

the shoe whore's dilemma

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMOREEEEE.
Everyone is talking clogs, everyone is getting clogs, everyone is Twitterin' clogs, clogclogcloggggzzz!

For the record, I never STOPPED loving a clog. I have clogs. I wear clogs. I want NEW CLOGS.
I WANT THESE,  I NEED THESE. GIVE THEM TO ME! 

 K-K-KINDA DYING

I have no money for shoes right now, my closet is overflowing and all my friends are buying Swedish Hasbeens at an alarming rate.

In my dream clog reality (and all this workin ain't fer nothin, ONE OF THESE will be mine quite soon, mark my words..), I would have all of the above.

Hasbeen boots, Celine wedges, Chanel anklebreakers, Jeffrey Campbell red devils, Zara hippie wedge, No. 6 shiny T-straps...Fucking DELIGHTFUL, right?

I have been thinking on this for way too long; I think it will be a pair from No. 6. In maroon patent leather. I already went to the store with Lesley (who has Swedish Hasbeens from Sweden, which seems specialer than regs ones) and tried on every single pair they have; I love that you can design your own...you could really spend all day there (I did).

Please let the record reflect that I still hold out hope for some sort of Celine miracle. Throw a penny in a fountain fer me, k?

fashion emergency

Please send one of those rescue Saint Bernards....

...with these LD TUTTLE strapwedge dreamboats in a Red Cross rescue barrel around it's neck.

V V NECESSARY FOR ME TO CONTINUE LIVING.


Thank you very much for your time.

what's more perfect than perfect?

I stopped by Kate Fleming's studio to see her Fall 2010 collection. I want it all.

 THE KNAPP SATCHEL, MY DREAM BAG. KATHERINE FLEMING F/W 2010

More pictures and words and a video and stuff over at my Sundance blog. Check it!

can't stop, won't stop

I

 CAN'T

STOP

FREAKING 

OUT

  OVER

THESE 

SHOES

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BALENCIAGA F/W 2010 AKA ABSOLUTE SHOE PERFECTION

They are a combination of so many incredible and seriously rad references.

To my eye, I see:
Eames bent plywood chairs, mineral deposits, salt shakers, Gerrit Reitveld chairs, my childhood FisherPrice rollerskates that clicked onto your shoes, sedimentary rock, and oh...the hopes and dreams of my entire lifetime?

I have never been so excited to see something in real life. 

I know I say it often but I REALLY will try to do anything in my power to own those bent plywood beauties. Although any of them would make me happy for the rest of my life, let's get real.

Sorta speechless.

haunted

I am completely obsessed with this image.

PRADA F/W 2010

Knits plus knits over knits and shiny belt and ugly shoes and a Snooki Bumpit bun and THOSE GLASSES.
All over Mariacarla, who really does make my heart stand still.

I want to go to there.

the english understand me

DYINGGGGG OVER THESE TWO. I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOUUUUUU.

CHARLES ANASTASE // FALL 2010

PRIMARY ELECTRIC COLOR OVERLOADDDDDD! Well, primary/CMYK. I mean, after the creamblackgrey ocean of NYFW weren't yr eyeballs THIRSTAY for some a this? I love you Charles Anastase. I hope to one day fondle yer wares I R L. I want that yellow coat, with my denim osh kosh bgosh overalls dress, and these crazytown red snakeyprint Anastase shoes and that brunette girl's LARAINE NEWMAN HAIR! Yes, how much do I have to go on about loving frizzy hair ntil we all do? SO good.

ERDEM // FALL 2010

I swear to Gaga, if I do not find a way to get these Erdem blurryfloralphotoprint hiking boots I will die one thousand horrible deaths. This is my favorite collection of all shows so far, I can see myself in ALL OF IT. I LOVE ERDEM. It is always gorgeous feminineness..but dark and cool, not sappy or saccharine. This look with the giant poncho pocket flower shirtdress sitchernation? With matching boot and tiny sock? Is exactly what I want to look lke every fucking day of my LIFE.

Please do not let it go unnoticed that my desktop for the Erdem collage is Erdem. METABLOGGIN in THE TWENTYDIME.

How much coffee did I have this morning, you ask? None of your beeswax! (lots, yay!)

leather ladies

Phoebe Philo knows my inner thoughts. She must!

CÉLINE S/S 2010 // SHOT BY JUERGEN TELLER

LOOOK AT THOSSSSSE SHOESSSS. Those are my hippie woodstock freelove summerstomping dreams COME TRUE!

I think I could change the world in those shoes...AND be 5'10",  like Cindy Crawford.

it keeps getting better

I am not ready to stop freaking out over pre-fall. DON'T MAKE ME!

MIU MIU PRE-FALL 2010

Ho-lee shit on a bitchy 70s private school girl shingle. I wish I could say I DIE in about 14 languages, including ASL and Morse code. BECAUSE THIS IS THAT GOOD. 

I keep hearing Candy Pratts Price's voice from Unzipped in my head- "I'm not fond of plaids" every time I see a plaid, which is funny because I live for a plaid and can't figure out why anyone wouldn't be fond of them.

You know what else I am fond of? A fur, a toggle, a popcorn poof thigh high, and a double-breasted anything. I CANNOT WAIT for the full fall runway.

frenchy

Please, let this entire outfit be mine. Well, the sweater and the platforms at least? (I don't dig on bangles)

SONIA RYKIEL FOR H&M

I'll take the hair too. 

This shit drops February 20 aka Saturday aka meet you there?

i'm better when i cover my face

Make a note in your Fil-o-fax: PRE-FALL TWENTYDIME is all about A HOOD. Furry, fuzzy, leathah, wool...any way ya want it.

GIAMBATTISTA VALLI  //  LANVIN  //  CELINE

PRE-FALL 2010

Dear Celine Leather Cape That Looks As If It Borders On Naugahyde:
Better sleep with one eye open BECAUSE I AM COMIN' FOR YOU, BITCH. And Imma take that striped tunic, too.

Luv,
WL

looking forward

Nothing makes you feel more like an addict than when you a tiny taste of your poison and see yourself go CRAZAYYYY. I am so starved for runway, you guys! So ready for the season to start again...PRE-FALLIN:

PROENZA SCHOULER PRE-FALL 2010

OOOOH JACK AND LAZARO, such dark and goth-y preps! This SHOULD HAVE BEEN what Jenny's character was on GG in the beginning, straight up GOTHIP GIRL. God, that shaggy fur...what a dream. PS has quickly become the bag I NEED NEED NEED IN ALL CAPS PLEASE GIMME GIMME NOW; look at the SIZE of that one. Dreamboat America.

GIVENCHY PRE-FALL 2010

Cropped balloony layers...leather, wool and fur..all the things I want to wear when it's cold, really. That white parka is PERFECT. I will also never not love a Givenchy Nightingale and to have one as a rolling suitcase would be seriousssllyyy BALLER.

BALENCIAGA PRE-FALL 2010

THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKIN BOUT.  Colored tights (with a sheer inner thigh panel!), shoes that look like that were made out of stuff from the Home Depot, trash bag plastic crop tops, stripes and patterns and wrongisright. Why are there NEVER detail shots on Pre-Fall??? So unfair. I want to see every angle of these shoes! If they don't sell these tights, I will be distraught. You don't want that Nicolas..do you? This reminds me of the color combos of the gals in BLOW UP, so 60s future thought. Loving loving love.

Musical accompaniment, P(f)ree Fallin