Jonesing for a Jumpsuit on a Budget

Until I can figure out how to get in on the boatloads of money being made in the international drug trade, I will never be able to afford anything remotely on par with these smokin'-hot jumpsuits by Alexander McQueen, Chloe, and Marc Jacobs. Luckily my trusty standby, Urban Outfitters, has released a Silence and Noise version that seems just fabulous enough for an almost-but-not-quite-yet-college-English-professor like myself...

MCQ Wool Tuxedo Jumpsuit, $670, Net-a-porter.

Alexander McQueen All-in-One Tuxedo, $2,540, Net-a-porter.

Marc Jacobs Velvet Jumpsuit, $2,050, Net-a-porter.

Chloe double-breasted jumpsuit, $1,650, Net-a-porter.

My Fix: Silence and Noise Button-up Jumpsuit, $78, Urban Outfitters.

Round / Circle Sunglasses: The New Specs for 2009

I am definitely NOT a sucker for every trend, but when it comes to sunglasses, I will admit to jumping on the trend-bandwagon. There is just something about a new pair of sunglasses that can make a tired, old ensemble feel new again...and they don't have to be a big investment! 2008 was the year of the Wayfarer-style-specs [which I'm still loving dammit!]. Before that, it was the huge-framed, 1970's-meets-your-grandma look. And now the John Lennon round-frames are making a comeback. I'm totally psyched to try a pair out...particularly since I've sat on my old sunglasses a few too many times over the past months. Here are some adorable options:

Milky Round Circle sunglasses, $24, Urban Outfitters.

Peabody Round sunglasses, $24, Urban Outfitters.

The Annie Glasses, Tortoise, $40, Nasty Gal Vintage.

Part II: Upcoming Exhibits and Gallery Openings, 2009.

Here is Part II, my dears -- the ultimate inspiring museum guide for 2009 [well, MY ultimate, at least!].

11. Musee D'Orsay, Paris. Pierre-Louis Pierson: Portrait Album of Countess of Castiglione. A recent acquistition by the museum and a work of major cultural importance. The 21 page album presents eighteen portraits of the Castiglione family, some of which have never been exhibited before. These photographs, in which Virginia Oldoïni (1837-1899) posed for Louis Pierson, Napoleon III's official photographer, are really more "tableaux vivants" than portraits. Ongoing exhibit.

12. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Showa Sophistication: Japan in the 1930's. The Museum recently acquired seventeen Japanese paintings largely produced and exhibited in Tokyo in the 1930s—the early Shōwa era—an overlooked period in the history of the arts in Japan. In many cases the subject matter, as well as the size, gave these paintings a commanding presence: large, elegant images of skiers, of stylish tea-house attendants in an art deco tea room, of young women in the latest Parisian fashion standing on the prow of a sailboat, and of a traditional Japanese woman standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree. Feb 11 - Nov 9, 2009.


13.Oklahoma City Museum of Art, OK. Harlem Renaissance. Organized by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Harlem Renaissance will examine the “vogue” of Harlem in the 1920s, the art of the “New Negro,” and the artistic legacy of the 1920s and 1930s. The exhibit will include paintings, sculptures, and photographs by artists such as Richmond Barthé, Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, William H. Johnson, Malvin Gray Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, James VanDerZee, and others. Feb 5 - April 19, 2009.


14. Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA. Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés. Marcel Duchamp’s enigmatic assemblage Étant donnés has been described by the artist Jasper Johns as “the strangest work of art in any museum.” Permanently installed at the Museum since 1969, this three-dimensional environmental tableau offers an unforgettable and untranslatable experience to those who peer through the two small holes in the solid wooden door. Celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the work going on public display, this exhibition consists of Duchamp’s extraordinary assemblage, along with close to eighty works of art related to its installment, including all the known studies, photographs, erotic objects, and other materials. July 7 - Nov 1, 2009.


15. Tate Online [Link for Modern & Britain], London, UK. . Futurism. Futurism represents a significant revision of the accepted understanding of this major Italian movement and returns it to the central position that it occupied in the avant-garde of the years immediately preceding the First World War. Celebrating the centenary of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s publication of the Founding and First Manifesto of Futurism in February 1909, the exhibition will be a major landmark and the first large-scale showing of Futurism in Britain in thirty years. June 12 - Sep 20, 2009.

16. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion. Exploring the reciprocal relationship between high fashion and evolving ideals of beauty, The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion focuses on iconic models of the 20th century and their roles in projecting, and sometimes inspiring, the fashion of their respective eras. The exhibition, organized by historical period from 1945 to 1995, will feature haute couture and ready-to-wear masterworks accompanied by fashion photography and video footage of models who epitomized their epochs. May 6 - Aug 9, 2009.

17. The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, NY. Seduction. Seduction will be the first chronological exploration of the role of sexuality in fashion. The exhibition will feature over seventy looks from the mid-eighteenth century to the present, using objects from the Museum’s permanent collection. Through June 16, 2009.


18. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans. First published in France in 1958 and in the United States in 1959, Robert Frank's The Americans is widely celebrated as the most important photography book published since World War II. Including 83 photographs made largely in 1955 and 1956 while Frank (b. 1924) traveled around the United States, the book looked beneath the surface of American life to reveal a profound sense of alienation, angst, and loneliness. Through April 26, 2009.


19. The National Gallery, London. Love. Arguably love has been the inspiration for more great art than any other human emotion. Nevertheless it presents a challenge to the visual artist. How do you depict love? How do you convey its complexity and intensity?
Comprising works of art from the 15th century to the present day, this exhibition explored how artists have represented this most powerful of emotions. July 24 - Oct 5, 2009.

20. Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Jenny Holzer Retrospective. Jenny Holzer's pioneering approach to language as a carrier of content and her use of nontraditional media and public settings as vehicles for that content make her one of the most interesting and significant artists working today. Alternating between fact and fiction, the public and the private, the universal and the particular, Holzer's work offers an incisive social and psychological portrait of our times. Opens March 12, 2009.

Cupid in the Form of a Shoe

I know it is not Valentine's Day yet...but I love you. Will you be mine??
[Yailla, Nine West].

Part I: Upcoming Exhibits and Gallery Openings, 2009.

As much as I need my fashion fix, I need my art fix, too! Here is Part I [2 parts total] of my list of upcoming and ongoing museum exhibits from around the globe -- all well worth checking out in 2009. Now all I need is a flying carpet to take me to...

1. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX. The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African-American Art. See the works of more than fifty African-American artists from the late 1800s to the early years of this century. June 6-Aug. 23, 2009.

2. Art Institute of Chicago Museum. Impressionism Returns. After a nearly six-month absence, works from the museum’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection return. Ongoing exhibit.

3. The British Museum. The Intimate Portrait: Drawings, miniatures and pastels from Ramsay to Lawrence. This exhibition explores the fascinating but relatively unknown aspect of intimate portraiture that flourished in Georgian and Regency Britain between the1730s and 1830s. March 5 - May 31.

4. Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY. From the Village to Vogue: The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith. Trained at Cooper Union, Art Smith, an African American, opened his first shop on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village in 1946. One of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-twentieth century, Smith was also an active supporter of black and gay civil rights, an avid jazz enthusiast, and a supporter of early black modern dance groups. Through July 19th.



5. Dallas Museum of Art, TX. Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design. A major exhibition organized by the Victoria & Albert Museum, offers a new approach to surrealism, examining its impact on architecture, design, and the decorative arts. Oct 4, 2009 - Jan 24, 2010.

6. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK. 101 Ranch: The Real Wild West. Over 300 items relating to the famous 101 Ranch in Ponca City, OK and its Wild West Show. Through January 25, 2009.

7. Guggenheim, NY. Frank Lloyd Wright: From within Outward. an exhibition about the significance of Wright’s thinking about space and the large impact this has had on the organization of modern life. May 15 - Aug 23, 2009.

8. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA. Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna 1575-1725. In the late 16th century, the Carracci family of painters from Bologna burst onto the scene with tremendous energy and vitality, raising art to new heights. Their heroic achievement set standards that were to remain authoritative for more than 200 years. Through May 3, 2009.

9. Los Angeles County Museum of Art [LACMA], CA. Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008. The first major exhibition to bring together the magazine's historic archive of rare vintage prints with its contemporary photographs. Through March 1, 2009.

10. The Louvre, Paris. The Gates of Heaven: Visions of the World in Ancient Egypt. Containing about 350 artefacts spanning three millennia, from the Old Kingdom to the Roman Period, the exhibition endeavours to place everyday objects in their social, religious and artistic context. March 6 - June, 29, 2009.

**I ALSO ADDED NEW LINKS LISTS ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT -- FOR SHOPPING AND FOR MUSEUM SITES. CHECK THEM OUT!

Drop Japan: Streetstyle Crack

Drop Japan is my new favorite streetstyle blog, and it is seriously addictive. Seriously. My eyes were throbbing and my butt fell asleep after browsing for hours. Here are just a few of MY favorites...