I’m in trouble deep. Or at least deep into a mountain of retailer emails letting me know how simple and great Father’s Day shopping is! Here’s the thing, though. What if your dad doesn’t golf, isn’t a cigar smoker or doesn’t use cuff links? You’re kind of shit out of luck.
While I have no answers (it would be giving in if I made a list of the Things Your Dad Really Wants), I do have MANY opinions. Having combed through all the “What to Get Dad” lists, here is my list of what you should absolutely NOT get him off these lists
This first one came from today’s Barneys Babble. You know, I love Simon Doonan as much as the rest of them, but this is not a good choice. Do not get your dad these suggestive cuff links. Ewwy. Grossss.
Sometimes I wonder what some people are thinking. Sometimes I wonder what I’m thinking even listening to some of these people. At any rate, this little ditty was on the Red Envelope under $50 Father’s Day list. I do understand this could be for a “new dad” from the wife, but c’mon. Wholly inappropriate. And I know Sex and the City came out today and everyone’s feeling randy, but do not get your dad this spin the bottle sex game.
Eco-chic is something that, when done right, is a beautiful thing. This thing above, this is not a beautiful thing. At all. I don’t care if your dad is Lance Armstrong (Does he have kids? Sheryl? Nothing?), do not get your dad this bike cog framed clock.
Another gem from Red Envelope (are they sending you an email every 12 hours too?). These remind me of those super girly enamel flower-printed hammers they always near the checkout at hardware stores. Clearly if the hammer has some exotic print on it the person in question will suddenly looove doing housework. Maybe your dad DOES love doing housework, though. In that case my suggestion would be to get him real tools then. Unless you’re trying to make him look like one, do not get your dad sports team printed tools.
I got an email from TOMS and thought, that’s weird to try and spin these into a father’s day angle. If you can finagle your way into convincing your dad that you made a donation in his honor to a good cause by buying yourself a pair of TOMS, I say go for it. If that isn’t feasible, I’d say TOMS aren’t the most father’s day friendly idea. So, unless your dad is flamingly gay (which would kind of be awesome because maybe you could do a two-for-one deal) or a hipster, do not get your dad a pair of TOMS.
Aaaaand scene.
{Photos courtesy of barneys.com, redenvelope.com, delight.com and tomsshoes.com}
Names can be a powerful thing. They can thrust you into a world of pain if they’re too old-fashioned, or ridicule if they happen to rhyme with something particularly unsavory (or savory for that matter). They can also fate you to be instantly and forever popular, like if your name is Amber or something. (Seriously, find me an Amber who wasn’t cool during the K-12 years. It’s impossible.)
In fashion circles names can also be a great way to align oneself with an existing chic and respectable image, you know like girls with Yorkies named Coco, or lipsticks named for top fashionistas.
So it shouldn’t have been too surprising that eventually someone would give themselves their own Anna Wintour stamp of approval by nominal affiliation*. Except it is sort of a shockingly bold statement to make about oneself, not to mention some big promises to make good on. Kind of like Bush’s recent WW2 allusions. Like that’s making his to-do list more accessible.
Tomorrow a new brand of watches named for the infamous ‘editrix’ will debut at the JCK jewelry trade show. And what wonders will a Wintour watch posses? “You will understand when you see it,” a representative from the brand cryptically told WWD. Fur watchbands splashed with red paint? Quartz technology that conveniently skips mealtimes? Ultrabright indiglo to shine through the darkest of big black sunglasses? Only time will tell!
*See Radar Online? That’s another way to do the ancient-modern tango. Plus, who doesn’t love a pun?
{Medium Bow Ring in Sterling $125 ($1050 for 24K Gold); Large Moonsnail Necklace $750 (Sterling); Pylon Tile Bracelet $1800}
Once upon a time I had a little friend whose mother came from Louisiana (PR: Lose-iana). She would come to French class and show us how to make beniets, she’d bring a king cake into school for us at Mardi Gras and once they gave me a very Louisiana present: a silver ionic colum-shaped ring from New Orleans-based jewelry designer Mignon Faget.
Being a sophomore in high school at the time and more or less completely irresponsible, I ended up losing the ring while babysitting. And not having the ring right in front of my nose any longer, I haven’t thought about Mignon Faget or my little friend much recently. Thanks to the requisite seasonal June wedding flutter, style.com reminded me of the line while covering MF cake pulls last week.
{I feel like piling a bunch of these Auger Charm Bracelets would be really awesome.}
I don’t typically have the attention span required for jewelry browsing, but filled with nostalgia, I’ve now been perusing the Mignon Faget sight for nearly an hour! Scattered you’ll find some of my top picks. Too bad, my ring seems to no longer be in production! I guess I’ll just have to keep on resorting to my own nostalgia.
Here is what Mlle Chanel always did the best: mixing the highest elegance with absolute comfort. I’m particularly in love with her big deep suede couch with is so good looking, but you can also tell it’s much more comfortable that your average pretty couch. It’s dreary here in LA today — how nice it would be to go home to that couch and a wheat table for prosperity (or fecundity?).
As my free time has recently been entirely swallowed up into a whirlwind of unpacking, anchor-installing and endless heaping trips to the dumpster, I am in a full-fledged nesting mode. Even my sartorial interests and desires are domestically-inspired. Perhaps this is my secret inspiration for being so sutterly in love with these red sequined Miu Miu pumps. Sitting here in my usually cozy cube, I now am utterly consumed with an impossible desire to deliver myself to my own front stoop with a few clicks of the heel…
My dear readers are so savvy and are probably already well aware of the short film being produced by Tod’s, directed by Dennis Hopper and starred in by Gwyneth Paltrow.
What they may not know, though, is that some of the filming and behind the scenes footage has recently been uploaded onto the Tod’s website!
The drag is you’ll have to download it onto your desktop and the download time is kind of hefty. The upside is you can then watch Dennis Hopper handing big red flowers to Gwyneth Paltrow in the Campo dei Fiori. Which is always nice.
Here to save us all is a new blog and e-commerce site, London Cycle Chic, ripe with cuter-than-buttons resources for bikes and various accessories. You’ll find everything from outfit options that are snug where it counts but loose in the right ways (read: capes, skinnies and ’swishy skirts’) to plaid boxes and wicker baskets. They even have a link to a company that makes a cuter option for clipping your pants, although I feel skeptical about how clipping one’s pants could ever look convincingly cute.
At any rate, grab Toto, strap on your wicker and start peddling my pretties!
{Photo couresy of the Sartorialist and London Cycle Chic.}
