Suburban Snob

Where We Find the Strangeness

"It is often said that New York is a city for only the very rich and the very poor. It is less often said that New York is also, at least for those of us who came there from somewhere else, a city for only the very young. For the loners and creators." - Joan Didion, Slouching Toward Bethlehem 

I wonder why I am attracted to the city because sometimes I don't feel worthy. Mostly though because I am too sensitive, too easily swayed by illusions and romance. Or so I thought. I thought I was too sweet for the edge but I understand the attraction now. I love to watch people try to be tough. I love the varying gaits, the city in squares, the psychology of skyscrapers. Most of all I love people, the strangeness of distance and proximity. Corruption and compassion. The seriousness of suits and slum swagger. 

Tony Kushner said that New York City is "the strange place, the melting pot where nothing melted." I believe it, and people may fear it. But "it" is only a fear of understanding. Those who can see the beauty and tragedy of small city scenes and break down movement and pace are tough enough and worthy of this city. 

All previous reflection is inspired by an article I read about Paul McDonough's New York City photography between 1968-1978. His photos have those city subtleties. I feel no distance from his eccentric characters, only jealousy in missing his moments of human revelation. He makes pictorial sense of strangeness. "You were not looking for photographs, but for the raw material that would make you want to photograph; the gesture or expression that demanded to be recorded. You were in the moment and you didn’t judge or qualify."

I am particularly interested in his photography in contrast to Californian culture and imagery during this time. I have been indulging in Didion, and realized I often abstract history because it is the easiest thing to do, generalizing a decade and not dissecting it. So it's been fun switching between time zones, traveling East Coast and West Coast through the words and photographs. All in all people are people, but cross the country, watch the continent become a coast and dregs of dryness, and then a sea, and watch people change. That is the beauty of humanity. We change but never really change. 

Paul McDonough - New York City 

Paul McDonough -New York City 

Paul McDonough - New York City

Paul McDonough -New York City 

Paul McDonough -New York City 

 

Annie Leibovitz - California 

Annie Leibovitz - California 

Photograph of Joan Didion 

Fashion Week

It has been a while and I know that's how I begin most of my posts. But personal indulgences, even fashion, always seem to be put on pause when the "important" things kick in: like school and applications, alarm clocks, and uniforms. I can't preach this time about balance, because I am figuring it out for myself. I can't promise lots of posts this fall, but I will make sure to sporadically keep my readers updated. 

I am a senior, which means I am older, frenzied, nostalgic, and reflective. However to be honest, I still feel young, I still get excited about going to class, and I still label my binders. You think you would grow out of these academic habits, but I don't feel like this is my "last" yet: my last first day, my last year in kilts, my last year at home. I still feel young. 

My friend Alex turned 18 and so my friends and I celebrated with tickets to the Derek Lam show at Lincoln Center. This was like my Christmas: the early morning thrill as I woke up, dressed up, and drove into the city. (Wearing a Marni top, sick studded jeans from Opening Ceremony and new Ann Demeulemeester buckle-up sandals.) 

Inside the show. I like this picture because it depicts the frenzy and commotion of fashion. Lined against the wall is a whole throng of photographers. I think one of the most magical moments of that morning was when the lights faded and suddenly lights flash, and there is a noise that sounds like waves and that noise is the undulations of camera clicks.    

The collection was beautiful. It reverted back to an old glamour, very minialmistic, clean, wearable, with these Cali-blonde women. Color was subtle and even sightly muted.    

You envy them, loathe them, idolize them, but they are these quite dolls. They are neatly lined up, one by one dressed and pulled at. Still cool to see the models from the Lela Rose show prepare for the runway.  

    

 

All and all it was an amazing morning. Even saw Rachel Zoe and Leighton Meester. It reminded me that fashion is this world of extreme fantasy and reality. There is that beauty, the models, the lights, and fabric. And then there are the photographers, the press, and buyers. I love it all. 

 

 

 

 

Far Away (Part II)

(Couldn't fit all the photos on one post!)

Vintage necklace that was my BB's and a new dress from the sidewalk sale.  

Im in awe of this house that we passed the last night on a trip to see the sunset. It is perfectly isolated, detached from a bee-busy little town. It is eerie, beautiful, and shocking.        

Love these signs. The town has such charm with the shingles, cobblestones, and cracked paths.    

 

Far Away (Part I)

Here is a photo journal from a recent trip to Nantucket: an indulgent weekend of laziness, of good food, of aimless car-rides, of books and rocking chairs. Not sure if I am going to get much of that in the next few months.

Straight out of the camera. The sky is really this beautiful and when I stare at it long enough I am convinced it is a painting.    

Traveling in style: with sandy beach chairs, bumping around in a pick-up-truck.   

I'm a foodie and I fell for the seaside treats, the small farm stands tucked in corners of roads, the ice cream in homemade waffle cones.   

Traveled to the tip of the island one day, amazing how a road that wraps and bends over miles stops, stops all of a sudden at a lighthouse and an ocean.  

My beautiful friend Adrienne in Kate Sylvester (designer from Australia.) What a view from a rooftop that requires a climb up a narrow, wooden ladder.    

On the Road

I tried to remember the last time I was here, this road, my road. It's the hazy one, with the fields, and looming sunshine. I am convinced it absorbs light and holds it, for me, for a neighbor, for the people who want to believe in beauty. 

I took a walk today, remembering that this road is a dead end, but it continues to go on, because I go on, mapping out a growth of the girl who lives in a white house. Fairy-tale like, perhaps? That's what I like to believe when I come out here. 

Some new summer favorites: my hat, the splendid T,  the Vince baggy pants, and the Lanvin flats I got 90% off! Ridiculous mark down from the sidewalk sale  

 
 

Have been reading some oldies: Fahrenheit 451, Lolita, Slaughterhouse Five, all eccentric, raw, and insanely captivating. Hope summer means a good book for my readers. Enjoy the end of July before August bridges pure summer and an imminent fall. xo 

Emma

I have a sister; she is my everything, Emma. She is nine going on twenty nine, and she gets it. She is going to change the world and I am just watching it all happen. Watching her grow up and watching her do something right, simply because it is right.

Emma started a charity fund about a year ago, which benefits research for Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. She calls her foundation Joy To the World, appropriate because she is bringing so much joy, yet with such an unassuming compassion. She has raised over $2,000 for her cause by selling homemade jewelry, and on Friday and Saturday (July 16-17) she is setting up shop on the corner of Greenwich Avenue during the annual summer side walk sale. For those of you who live near the infamous Ave, come check out her beautiful pieces and support the cause. (@ 5 Lewis Street).

A picture of a few pieces ready to be sold. Emma is a talent. 

 

A Floral Fourth

Spent 4th of July in the fairy-tale haven called the Hamptons. It's a wonderland of perfectly cut hedges, roads that wrap around fields, and night-time skies that set in shades of watercolors. Inspired by all of that I wore a Cynthia Steffe ruffled, flower printed dress (if you recall, a few months ago I posted some photos from the runway collection.) Was more than thrilled to find this dress on sale. Paired with Cynthia Vincent wooden heals.  

I admittedly look a bit frazzled here, but embrace it, loving the way the wind was coming up from the ocean and messing up my hair. So, I ate my all American meal - corn on the cob, a hot dog, and ice cream facing the third hole on my left and the ocean on my right. Doesn't get better than that. 
 

Caught one of my friends Alex staring out at the view, and what a wonderful view. Her dress is also perfectly nautical & patriotic, blending into a July 4th summer scene. 
 

After dinner took a drive with my friends, and was in awe of the sunset. 

 So summer is entering its July lull, the middle month of 100 degree weather (yes it is almost 102 degrees back home in CT) and fashion fixes. Here is my advice for your last minute summer essentials.

Rompers may seem a bit intimidating( I too admit that I was first skeptical of the jumpsuits and drawstrings), but rompers are extremely flattering and once you find the right fit you won't turn back. 

 

Nautical printed items are in and obviously in. Stripes are everywhere from cute sun dresses such as Alex's Rag and Bone get up in a previous photo to knits to tees. So my suggestion is to really wear out your stripes, because come fall nautical will just become nauseating and over worn . 

    Diane Von Furstenburg: Resort 2010 Jason Wu: Resort 2010     

   
 
 
Bring on the prints from floral to graphic to animal. Color blocking and patterns are perfect touches to heat up a summer wardrobe. (Don't be afraid to mix and match.)

Proenza Schouler: Spring 2010       Shopbop print on print trend: Tank- Dolce Vita ($70),       Shorts- twenty8twelve ($230), Necklase- Fallon ($44)

     

 ....and buy on sale!!! Retailers are ready to stuff racks with winter coats and cashmere so don't buy your last minute summer stuffers full price. Be a savvy and smart shopper.

Bows, Studs, and Red Soles: not so much a trend, but instead an insane combo of three of my favorite things. I never thought they would all come together, but Christian Louboutin made it happen....

  
 

Hope to show my take on these trends in a future post. Until then stay cool, but look hot. 

     

A Bit of Everything

So this is me: the Lili who has endured Vergil, who has survived AP prep books, SAT IIs, and a report card. Junior year is over and so the stress subsides and it is almost July and I am reading books for a Thursday evening book club, and I know how to cook now (stuffed french toast is my speciality), I'm spinning Sunday mornings, and I am instigating a self-restoration, purging myself of late nights and textbooks and academic agony. My suggestion for my readers: find a small hobby, one that is satisfying, not one for the resume, one for you.

I'm sorry I have been M.I.A, so to make up for lost time here is a collection of some outfits and events.

 

Photos from my birthday party...I turned 17 in my blogging absence and celebrated with friends, pink balloons and rock candy. 

 

 

These Payless for Alice and Olivia shoes are amazing: only $35! For you shoe hunters, hungry for a good deal, I suggest you look at this line. Sure not all the shoes are practical, but for $35 it's hard to resist bows and platforms. (Even saw Whitney Port wearing them on the streets of NYC ;)

 

 

My mom turned 50, June 1st, so the night before my English and Math finals I was dancing to oldies, making toasts in a room of 200 with Sea-breezes and warm chocolate cake. Here are some photos from the night at Rebecca's Restaurant.   

Mama Ro taught me my fashion a,b,c's. To celebrate her birthday she dressed 15 mannequins in clothes she has accumulated through the decades. What a collection! Any fashion lover would envy the Dolce floral set or the fur hats or the short short Levi shorts. 

    

My friend Alex in an Adam dress while I am wearing a pink metallic, small-name designer dress. (Mangarossa) I love this dress: the contrast of a soft blush shade with the firm, almost shield like- exposed corset that provides a toughness in texture.
 
 
 
 
 
My mom on the right, looking good at 50. Here is a part of an ode I wrote for her and gave as a speech:

But, I want to sing the world over, so they can understand,

the people who think I am just a daughter, she is just my mother.

I want to sing of a love because it is strong and so is she.

 

It is a love, one you can’t measure in birthday cards,

declarations of admiration,

one you cannot just insist exists

 

It is a love measured in small things,

Measured in coffee cups, because every morning my mother drinks her coffee, tan,

half and half, in boxer shorts, slight smiles, and good mornings and

I love the way she makes her coffee

 

And I love that she is slender,

elliptical hips, treadmill thighs, a body invoking jealousy,

but she is so modest, so strong.

And sometimes I watch her run, and her eyes get narrow and

I could say I love you a thousand times right there or cry

because there she is, my mother who runs to feel something,

to feel the pain, to challenge it, to overcome it.

 

And I love the way she tells me I am wrong, because she says no one else

will and it makes me tough, braver.

I never admitted it, but I am only strong because she has taught me to be strong.

 

I can only love because she has taught me that family is love, the heart

of a life in the face of high school, growing up, crying, and home is

 

Sunday mornings Emma dancing to the beating of eggs, Papi and Tommy talking about

Algebra, the history channel, the stock market and

Mommy cracking jokes, funny faces, a tomboy turned beautiful rock and roll house wife

 

I love the swag, the boyfriend jeans, the platforms, down Greenwich Ave

I love the way she dances

And I love when she tells me not to work so hard and I justify with, but college

and  She just tells me that this is life, you do what you can do

I love the old stories the ones about the Beverly hills hotel and saving up quarters to buy fresh donuts or eating ice cream out of junior high school tennis trophies

 

I love the way she says I love you to Papi and crawls into bed with Emma.

I love her hands, that are now bruised, and she tries to hide them, but I think 50 years is beautiful, she is beautiful.

 

So this is not just a love poem, this is not just a thank you,

This is for my mother, for Mommy

For the woman who holds back tears for me, just so I can smile

For the woman who tells me to believe in greater things

Who tells me I shall be great

Who tells me to believe in love

Who tells me to believe in bravery  

So here is the long post to make up for the lost time. I promise to keep them coming....a photo from one of my favorite blogs (Jak & Jill Blog)...how cool are these shoes?!? 

 

Another great pair:

 

An Explanation for my Absence

So the blog has not died. It's just on pause as I study madly for my APs. Two more weeks and I am back! 

New shoes I got for my birthday last week. 

 

Derek Lam and Croque Madames

I guess I never understood why people would self-inflict vulnerability. Like that girl in the plays who will sing in front of hundreds of eyes and climb scales with a voice and try so hard not to feel fragile on a stage. Or a football player who can wear pads and helmets, and can grit his teeth with black lines across his face, yet he still knows there is pain imminent. But, the girl who forgot her line and stumbled will still take a bow and the football player will play on and they were vulnerable, but found some sense of strength to just keep moving forward. 

I knew a blog meant being a more public version of myself. I suppose I "self-inflicted" this world  of exposure, and I write posts, and use words and people can dissect those words and then feel some entitlement to dissect me. That's a consequence I guess of taking a risk. I could give a sermon about taking risks or living life, but that all has been said before and from negativity I have simply learned and can advise: be happy in vulnerability because it does not have to be something that makes you weak. It can be a small thrill. It can be something that forces you to be strong and to stand out. 

Here are some photos from a day trip to NYC with my mom. I am loving these new Rag and Bone platforms.

 

We went into the Derek Lam store in Soho, which is so lovely and is segmented by glass bubbles that wrap around through the store. It has an Alice and Wonderland quality, with spiral mazes of glass.