The View From My Window

Last of the lilacs.

Quilts Gone Wild

Via Jezebel

So Jo Ann Fabric stores are refusing to stock this months Ouilter's Home magazine because there are some "controversial" quilts in the "quilts gone wild" issue.
Seems the folks at Jo Ann's think they know better then their ADULT customers what they can and cannot handle. This after the guy who publishes said magazine went to all the trouble to have the shocking issue shrink warped.

Jesus quilts, quilts about racism...shocking stuff.
One of the quilts has penises on it.


Yes, little tiny penises on fabric.
I am shocked, shocked I say at how disappointed I am that there are no huge quited blue penises on that quilt.

Bonnie Cashin and Coach

Coach has a new line of bags inspired by Bonnie Cashin.
While they are cute, and dude they are seriously cute in some awesome colors, for the same amount of money (or less) you can buy a great vintage Cashin bag.
Like here and here and here or this great red Cashin at Dorothea's Closet.

Skylark

We all know that Ceil Chapman designed dresses that loved the female form, but did you also know that there was a line of her designs that are part of Spadea Patterns American Designer series?
The above pattern is an example of Chapman's "skylark" silhouette, which she used in more then one collection and in several fabrics as well.
The shoulder baring collar drapes over the bust and stands up in the back while the slim fitting skirt echos the draping across the hip area. Two full skirt panels are attached over the slim skirt and are designed to bring to mind the movement of a bird in flight.

This pattern is available for purchase at Sew-Retro Vintage Patterns here.

Crazy Drama

Courtney Love is being sued by a designer who made some custom garments for Love (made from vintage and trims owned by Love) but claims Love never paid for them (allegedly) and then went on to try and ruin the gals reputation via Twitter and, I guess, MySpace.....that is not alleged since Courtney did that pretty publicly.

I actually have no opinion of either gal except that the drah-ma displayed in the lawsuit filing is delish.

Jebus, that is some crazy shit.
"oi vey dont fuck with my wradrobe or you willend up in a circle of corched eaeth hunted til your dead"

I don't know either of these folks, they might both be nuts or nice gals, but this does make for some fun reading when I should be working.
The only thing that would have made it better is if Love wrote everything in LOLspeech:

"oi vey doan fuck wif mah wradrobe or youz will end up in a circle of scorched earth hunted til ur dead"

Wicked Twilight

I finished Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West the other night and I can't remember when I have been so pleasantly surprised by a book as I was by Wicked.
The novel is a re-imagining of the story of OZ Gregory Maguire from the point of view of Elphaba, the witch we all remember from Wizard of OZ.
It really was a hell of a good read and once I started reading it it was hard to put down.
I've never been every good at explaining why I do or do not like a book, I just know when I do and I really loved this book and the discussion it raises on the nature of good and evil.
I am beginning a re-read tonight and am adding the next book Son of a Witch to my queue on Paperspine.

I would love to see this as a movie, not as the musical, just a screenplay based on the book. I would probably enjoy it.
And not in the way I enjoyed the movie Twilight.

We watched Twilight last night and lordy it sucked...but sucked in that awesome way that makes you laugh and enjoy the film in spite of yourself.

Sad

I was all excited about President Obama's Internet Townhall today until I read Twitter and found out that Alabamapink had passed away.
Amanda was someone I did not know IRL, we did not even have an on-line "relationship", but I felt like I knew her because I have read her comments on Pajiba for a few years now and was following her treatment for leukemia on her blog.
She faced her diagnosis and treatments with a fierce determination, strength and humor I admired....in many ways she reminded me of my friend Peggy who also died of cancer at such a young age.
Such brave women.
They are my heroes.

(And may I say that it is with no small amount of anger that I note the number of asshats like Dick Chaney/Karl Rove/Roger Ayles/Glen Beck who are still alive while she is gone.)

Amanda is survived by her husband and 3 year old son, family and friends and a whole on-line community that will not soon forget her.

Requiescat in Pace




I will also note that once again the President has made the weed lovers sad by saying he will not be legalizing pot as a way to help the economy. He also inferred that those of us who voted the question up might be high.
Ya think?
What about industrial hemp though?

So Say We All

Awesome.
Frakkin' awesome.

Cazy Hats

Some people are too talented and they make the rest of us look like losers.
Take Angie who owns Dorothea's Closet.
Such lovely, lovely vintage...oh, and she makes hats too.

Show off.

Both of these crazy awesome hats are available at Sugarlids.

Just a Reminder

"Have you noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff?"
Carlin

Yep, 2% of the spending bill is wasteful earmark shit....except for my stuff.

*Yes, Jon Stewart is awesome.

Colbert and The Rand Illusion

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Rand Illusion

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
NASA Name Contest

"When millions are losing jobs, losing hope, nothing is more important then putting yourself first."

Carmen

I've had a girl crush on Carmen Dell'Orefice since I was a teenager and I'll admit I had hopes of looking like her as I got older.
Sadly the women in my family are not goddesses with amazing cheekbones so it was not to be.


She is still so lovely at 77 and I guess still working since she lost her life savings to Bernie Madoff.
What a guy, what a story.

Via Jezebel....

Thirteen Yards

13 yards.
That is how big the skirt is at the hem.
Twelve gores.
12!
All those folds and seaming and...wow.
"Princess line dress with waistline seam...short sleeves.
Neckline...deeply scooped and edged with band which stands up and away from neck.
Short, formal length.
Extremely wide twelve-gored skirt has insets of fabric folds in each seam...godets set into skirt edge. "


This would make a wonderful wedding dress, unique.

From Advance Imports, #113, early 1950's, A. Battilocchi-Rome.

A. Battilochi seems to also have been called Biki of Milan. I found a mention of her here and an article here:
"Italian dressmaker (1906-1999). She wore a bright green turban when, in 1996, I saw her for the last time. Elvira Leonardi Bouyeure, known as Biki in the world of fashion, was working in her atelier on the ground floor of her house in via Sant'Andrea in Milan, where she lived and worked. I, the reporter, was almost falling asleep; she, the subject of the interview, and 90 years old, was bursting with energy: "Today I'm starting the Japan Collection. Together with my daughter Roberta, I've finished the children's line and I'm sketching the dresses for my very faithful, special, very rich women, who are allergic to today's bric-a-brac, just like my adored Maria would have been." Maria was Maria Callas. Biki taught her how to dress, she was her Pygmalion of manners and the wardrobe."

No really. Green turban, Maria Callas.
Go read the whole write up.

The pattern is for sale at Sew-Retro Vintage Sewing Patterns.

Really?

The new Republican meme is "OMGZ11!!!!1111!!! how can the President do anything but focus on the economy right now. Stem cells are a distraction. Science bad. Religion good. Fact based science really, really bad. ROBOTS! Where are my robot arms!!!!"

Bush's inability to think and chew gum at the same time created a conservative punditry that is freaked out to realize that Obama is able to deal with 3 or 4 national problems simultaneously.
Get used to it children, it is gonna be a long 8 years for y'all.

My Robot Husband

Via Bob Cesca:

At a Marriage Rally in North Carolina:
David Gibbs III, a lawyer who in 2005 fought to keep brain-damaged Terri Schiavo on life support, told rally participants gay marriage would "open the door to unusual marriage in North Carolina.

"Why not polygamy, or three or four spouses?" Gibbs asked. "Maybe people will want to marry their pets or robots."

ROBOTS!!!!! They want to marry your wymins!

(See it is not just Fundies in Arkansas who are nuts)

How awesome would it be if you could marry a robot?
Or your Dog for that matter.
My husband has yet to meet me at the door when I come home whining and wagging his tail, so glad to see me that he just about jumps though the glass.

As it is I could give a shit who marries who/what. Marry a couch if it pleases you, but once you do you can't throw it in the burn pile after it is worn out or send it too the dump.

and how awesome is it that one can find a picture from the 1930's of a robot wedding? Who knew that in the 30's women were already choosing robots over actual men for spouses. Americans were sooooo decadent in the 20's and early 30's.

Thunder and Lightning

I think David Brooks is an ass.
I now watch News Hour Tivo'd so I can skip over Brooks spewing and just listing to the other dudes.
I really don't like Maureen Dowd much either for oh, so many annoying reasons, but I did enjoy this column she wrote. Besides the fact that we now know she rides around in taxis with Brooks and asks him about Mrs. O's arms we also got this:

"In the taxi, when I asked David Brooks about her amazing arms, he indicated it was time for her to cover up. “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.”

I wonder why David is uncomfortable with the biceps?
Is he one of those guys who think since they can't control their upper arm attractions that it is up to us ladies to cover them up?
Maybe he is just an old fuddy duddy who wonders why the First Lady is out with her head uncovered and no gloves.
(and I just might be a fuddy duddy cause I would love if we still wore hats and gloves out in public...more for economic and astetic reasons since I know that gloves and hats are actually a big pain in the ass to have to deal with.)

Talk to me when Michelle starts wearing PJ pants and slippers to the grocery store, then I'll worry about what she is wearing.
(and really 20somethings, what is it with the slippers and PJs at WalMart. Is it that hard to slip on a pair of knit pants and Keds?)

Mrs. O and I are the same age and if my shoulders/arms looked as good as hers I would be sleeveless 24/7, 365 days a year.

At least she wears cardigans now and again.
As it is, even Jackie went sleeveless on occasion.

Goin' Galt

I've been thinking about the whole "Going Galt" movement and wondering how anyone can be so full of themselves. It just seems so selfish to me.

“Why should I continue to work 60-80 hour work weeks so that I can pay more taxes to support the 50% of the population who don’t pay federal taxes and feel they deserve more handouts from the government? I don’t feel that I was lucky or fortunate to be where I am today because I remember the times of working all night and sacrifices to be where I am today… How many employees put in that kind of effort into their job?”

But you were lucky.
Or you were in the right place at the right time, maybe you had family or friends who helped you in ways you will never know.
Sure you worked hard, but there are TONS of folks who worked just as hard as you did who’s business did not take off.
It really is all about fate and luck and karma so stop thinking you did this on your own.

We are all in this together and while individualism is a good thing no one lives on an island.
One way or another you benefited from what someone else or your gov’t did.

I was just looking at pictures of the folks in California living in a tent city. Working people who worked hard, but have lost everything. Maybe the "going Galt" proponents think they just didn’t work hard enough.
It made me think how selfish and un-seemly all of this “going Galt” BS seems.
“I’ve got mine (at least my $249,999) and screw you” is not the way to make a country or Democracy work.

Werewolf Congress

Bob Cesca is right, Colbert is a genius.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Doom Bunker - Jack Jacobs and Stephen Moore

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
Joke of the Day

This might be better then the "Paste Eater" bit on the Daily Show.

The Demise of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace

Here's the deal.
If John McCain is sending out "tweets" then twitter is no longer cool.
If your mom is on Facebook and can "friend" you, Facebook will soon go the way of LiveJournal.
And the only reason your mom is on MySpace is to see what YOU are doing on MySpace, so take down those "sexy" pictures.

If I am doing any of the above, then they are no longer relevant.
I have tried:
LiveJournal (which I did like)
MySpace (which I hate)
Twitter (which I just don't get...I don't care about the minutiae of any ones life, except maybe Neil and Sockington. Even then I don't want to know when either takes a bathroom break.)
and FaceBook (which I have decided is only good for posting pictures of the teenager across the street and tagging it so he can freak out that some hotty will see him as a chubby, but cute kid of 6...or finding a picture my sister posted of my teenage nephew in a big chicken costume and showing it to my teen so he can LOL at said cousin. Which my sister and mom were the whole point of FaceBook for me, I just wanted to see if they would friend me or ignore me. Issues much?)

Really, this gal has decided that all of these Internet networking sites are just a big waste of energy and time. If I want to talk to someone, I'll pick up the phone or email them.
If I want to rant, I do it here, and if I want to get in contact with someone from high school....oh, wait I have no desire to get in contact with anyone from high school.*
That's why I do not go to reunions.

*Except for Theresa Schultz who lives in Phoenix and was my BFF in highschool and for some reason we drifted apart (and it has nothing to do with the fact that I found out that you DID get it on with Frank who I was in love with FOREVER. Seriously, nothing to do with that). I would assume this is natural as our lives took different paths, but it would be cool to say hi. So Theresa Schultz, who lives in Phoenix and works as an architect for some large firm, email me if you ever google your name and this blog pops up...Julie says hi.

Back to Vintage...Ceil and a Wedding

Ceil Chapman:


50's "Sabrina Look" Wedding Dress



I never use live models so it was interesting to see these dresses on a real body. The wedding dress would not go on any of my mannequins, but did fit my friend like a glove.
What was really amazing was how sexy she looked in the Ceil.
She is very thin and, well, not that well endowed, but the dress made her look like she had an hourglass figure.
It is a testament to what a well designed dress can do for you.
Both items are available at Damn Good Vintage and linked above.